The Run Down:
- Getting around Milan was stressful
-I partied in an abandoned museum for NYE
-I boarded in Italy and Austria
-I stayed wtih two more great couch surfers
                 

 

              So words can’t describe the feeling of being at home… The warmth of my own bed, the houses lite up with Christmas lights, parties with familiar faces and my family’s sense of humor. Had I known how good all these would have felt after being away for four months, I probably would have stayed longer. However, when I bought my ticket home, I decided to split my trip in two, a week or so at home, and another week or so traveling.

                  I decided to try NYE in another country, Italy. My flight from Omaha to Madrid was scheduled to leave December 30^th and arrive at Early NYE morning.  While I waited during my layover in Atlanta, I enjoyed a few Blue Moons before boarding. I thought my boarding time was 7 but when I double checked my ticket at 6:50, I realized that was take off time! So I rushed to the boarding gate where they called me by name.  Because I had yet to be assigned a seat there was one in the premium area ( in between 1^st class and economy) which meant as much free booze as I wanted. So yet again, being late didn’t prove to be as awful as everyone says. My row-mate was an attractive doctor who thought we should get drunk together on our free booze. We had good conversation, watched a few movies and laughed at the drunken old man on my other side that was trying to hit on me. Towards the last few hours of the trip I got “the spins” which are awful anywhere but being on a flight took it to a whole new level.

                  When we arrived in Madrid I was exhausted.  I caught a cab with my new friend and he paid for the fair until his apartment and it a cheap ride to my friend’s , Brock, place from there. Brock had given me a set of keys and let me keep my snowboard in his apartment while I went home.  When I got to his place he was on vacation so I slept for a few hours, showered and then made my journey back to the airport with my bag and board. Too exhausted to try to figure out the metro, I took a cab. I rested on the airport floor for a bit longer then finally boarded my flight to Milan.

                  My couchsurfer had told me there was a direct train from the airport to a station near his place, and he would meet me there. After my plane landed I asked where I needed to go to get the train, to which they replied, “There is no train”…oh ok awesome…. “So, how do I get  HERE”, I said, pointing at the name on my phone.  “You will have to take the bus from the main station then get a train from there”. It seemed like a pain but manageable. I thought I would just call my couchsurfer and ask him what train I needed to take. But when I attempted this, my phone told me I didn’t have enough money to call…or text. Now I was screwed. I was in the middle of the central station of Milan, hungover, lugging around a heavy snowboard bag that was cutting into my shoulders as I attempted to wear it like a backpack and an actual backpack on my front side, trying to read Italian train names, and having no idea where to go. I decided I needed to find Wi-Fi in order to add my money to my phone. Because it was late and NYE, nearly everything was closed. I finally found a bar upstairs that advertised Wi-Fi. “Oh I’m sorry you need an Italian SIM card for the Wi-Fi to work”.

 

                  Of course I do. So again I threw on my backpacks and wandered around. Finally I found a police officer to ask for a payphone.  Piecing together his broken English, I understood the payphone was on platform 21, three fourths of the way down. Why? Why on earth would you put a pay phone in a place that absolutely NO ONE would ever look?? SO dumb. After throwing in euro after euro, pushing random buttons, hitting the phone on the poll, I finally figured out how to get it into English and make my call to the couch surfer “Hey, there wasn’t a train so I took a bus to the Central Station, where do I go from here?” I asked.  “Oh ok no problem, what you’re going to need to do is take metro num--- THIS PHONE IS TEMPORARLY OUT OF ORDER”.

                  AHHHHHHH!!!! Are you F’ing kidding me?!?! Now I was repeatedly bashing the phone on the pole, audibly cursing and completely stressed. THIS is what I left the comfort of my warm bed for!? To spend NYE in a piss smelling train station, hung-over and exhausted, with bunch of other homeless people in the same boat? Great decision, Amber. You really make good life choices… Worthless.

 

                  Thankfully, although I could not send texts, my couchsurfer can send them “Take Metro 3 to Dergano and I will meet you there”. Finally, an answer to my question of  “Where do I need to go?” After asking a few people for help I was able to get there. When I arrived I walked around hoping someone would approach me like they knew me.  A few minutes Lorenzo found me, helped me with my bags and we walked to his house.  Inside a few of his friends were visiting and they warmed up some food for me while I got ready for the evening.  Thankful to have arrived just shy of midnight, I was ready to have a drink or two. We rang in the New Year at an old vacant museum that was turned into a Couchsurfing party equipped with lights, music, videos and booze. A lot of Lorenzo’s friends were there, most of who spoke English. We visited the whole night, dancing, laughing and drinking.  That night we went home and I crashed on the couch and didn’t wake up until 2:30 the next afternoon.

 

                  The next day was rather slow paced. Lorenzo made some pasta; we went sight seeing a bit and then went to a restaurant for drinks and supper. (I thought Spain was good at feeding you while you drink but in Italy you buy a drink and you get a free all you can eat buffet!)  Originally Lorenzo was going to drive us to go snowboarding but then he had to work. So that night we searched the Internet for other ways to get me to the Italian Alps. Unfortunately there weren’t quite as many buses going as I would have like, and the only ones I could take were leaving the next day and tickets were supposed to be purchases ahead of time. The bus left at 7:15 in the morning and since the shop didn’t open until 9, my only option was to take the metro to the bus station early that morning and hope I could buy my ticket at the station or on the bus.

                  That next morning my metro ran a little slow and I didn’t arrive until 7:13, rushing up the stairs with my bag and board, I got to the ticket desk where there was a huge line. I knew I wouldn’t make it through the line in time so I rushed out and found the bus. In broken English I was told to buy my ticket inside. Again I went to the back of the long line and (not very hopeful) I waited. The driver came in a few minutes later and pushed everyone aside so I could get to the front and purchase my ticket.  I boarded the bus and we were on our way. There was a large snowstorm so the bus ride took a lot longer but we finally arrived to the Lombardia ski area.

 

                  Once my ticket was purchased I had to take a…well I have no idea what it was called… it was like one cart of a train, a large gondola type thing that went through the inside of the mountain for about 10 minutes. When it stopped we got out and we were up on a ski resort with a few villages and lifts. Because of the snowstorm it was impossible to see more than one chair in front of me the whole day. The fresh powder was nice and I enjoyed a few short hours of boarding before having to catch the bus back. That night we had some more pasta and look into other cities I could visit the next day. After a few hours of sleep I was up again traveling the next day, this time to the port city of Genoa.

 

                  The train took a few hours but I arrived early and had the entire day to wander around.  The city was built into the hills so I walked ton of steps. Up, down, and around small streets and alleys all throughout the city.  Old buildings, cool churches and soooo many mopeds filled the streets.  I had heard there was a fantastic aquarium in the city, but when I went to look at prices it was nearly 25 euro that I wasn’t able to afford. I was walking along side the aquarium down to the port end when I saw a gate that looked unlocked. I went and opened it and no one stopped me so I assumed it was ok as it just lead to a restaurant and the aquarium café. I entered the café because the door was open because a few children were playing outside. Once in the café I debated getting a tea, but then I read a sign that said “This way to exhibits”…so I did what anyone would do- I followed the signs, and BOOM I was in the aquarium FO’ FREE! All the arrows on the walls kept directing me back to the café, but I pushed my way through the oncoming traffic and walked the aquarium backwards. There were some nice exhibits, jumping dolphins, manatees, sharks and a Biodiversity Exhibit featuring information on Darwinism….and Jesus, Mary, & Joseph nativity scene (…odd).  After successfully sneaking through the whole aquarium, I made my way back to the train station. After arriving back in Milan, Lorenzo and I went out for some authentic Italian pizza, pasta, and wine and called it a night.

                  My time in Italy was great but Austria was calling. Bright and early I took a train from Milan to Innsbruck, Austria. It was a five-hour train and it snowed most of the time, so I had high hopes for the snow in Austria. Unfortunately, once I arrived in Innsbruck there was no snow to be found. From Innsbruck I took a train to Jenbach. From Jenbach I took a train through the valley of some Austrian Alps until I arrived at Kaltenbach where I received an offer to stay with a couchsurfer. The entire valley was green as the weather had been too warm to keep the snow, but the peaks were still capped.  Once in Kaltenbach I took a local shuttle up to my couchsurfers one-room studio. She was an Australian girl living on the mountain for the season and offered her bed to share for anyone who wanted to hit up the mountain for a few days.

                  That night, although tired, I decided to go out, as it was a Saturday night. We had a ton of fun drinking and dancing in the packed bar. That night, headlamps on, we drunkenly trekked up an extremely steep hill, through the woods, back to her house. The next morning I woke around 11 and she informed me she was staying in for the day and I could use her pass.  Again, it was snowing but it made for some soft snow and a nice half-day of snowboarding which was topped with the best, most delicious cheese soup known to man! That night we took it easy, watching a movie, and going to bed early. The next morning I packed my bag and we left it down at the ski shop, we then took the gondola and spent a full day hitting up the whole mountain, and because of the snow the night before, we were able to off-piste in some fresh powder. After a few drinks at the bottom I gathered by goods and made my way back to the train stop.

                  My couchsurfer had told me I could purchase my ticket on the train from the conductor, but he never came (free 5 euro train to Jenbach!). At Jenbach she told me to buy a train ticket to Munich but when I arrived the desk was closed and the automatic machine didn’t have the option of buying the ticket. Luckily a few Germans, who also spoke English, were attempting to get to Munich as well and said we could buy our tickets on the train.  The train was packed and I had to sit outside the little booth next to the luggage and large bags. I slowly watch the conductor go down each booth collecting tickets. Just before he got to me, the train stopped and he stepped out because we were in Germany and the staff changed. But the new conductor went to the next train section and I got out of paying for the 40 euro train ride! Once in Munich I did decided it would be safer if I actually bough a ticket to the airport, given I was probably playing Russian roulette with my karma at this point.  Thus my trains from Kaltenbach to the Munich Airport were 10 instead of 55 Euro!

                  I arrived at the airport around 11 and wandered around for a few hours before sleeping on some vacant restaurant booths. The next morning I got my flight back to Madrid where I stayed with Brock one night before taking the 5-hour train ride back to Ourense. It was an exhausting, stressful, exciting, fun, fantastic trip and wouldn’t have changed a thing.