There is no "why" in ital-Y

Italy has been, lets just say, different than I expected. If I could give any future traveler any advice, I would tell them to have as few expectations as possible. Most places will rarely meet or match any of the expectations that one has for it. I do know that the further north I went the better time I had and the more I liked it. By the time I got to Verona (our last stop in Italy) we had learned to just take it as it came. There were many interesting experiences such as the title of this entry... Being new to the world of european trains we were trying to catch the next train from Florance to Venice. Nat, Jeff and I had to validate our eurorail passes, and rebecca had to buy a ticket for the train. I was told by the man behind the glass that I needed to pay an "upgrade" fee for the next available train, little did I know and he refused to explain that the next train was one of the nice highspeed trains. I asked him for, what seemed like the 20th time WHY?? and he replied by pompously telling me... "there is no WHY in Italy!"... now that I am miles away from that train station and the glass seperating me and that train worker, I can laugh and deem that comment one of my favorites of my trip. That quote encompases much of the ways in which the people of italy work. They work on their own time, if your time doesnt coencide with their time, well thats just too bad. Going through Italy has broken down many of the romantisized movie ideas that I have had about the place, but it dose have a certian charm that you cant look for. It is only when you are wondering and expecting nothing that something unexpected happens which can make the trip. In Florance we were wandering a side street when we heard the piano and singing. We stopped at the door of a little music shop where a cute old man was playing and singing inside. We stood and listened while he sang and played for us, winking and smiling the whole time... It was something that I will remember always, that was what I was looking for in Italy. There was the endless Gilato, and the amazing little mom and pop resturants that we found with fantastic italian food and so many other little places along the way that will pull together my experiences in Italy. The big sights were fun, but it was the interactions with the italian people that made the trip what it was.

Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes. I had a great time in Venice on the 20th. We had dinner at a resturant right on the Cannal, and then went to Santa Margarita (the plaza where the young people hang out). I had my first italian lessons that night form some of the italian boys there, they couldnt understand me, and I couldnt understand them, but we did our best... Probably one of the more funny exchanges Ive had here, for sure...

I can sum up my time in verona with two things... Moter Scooters and Opera... we decided to rent moter scooters the last day we were there, sorry mom and dad... but dont worry all you parents, we rode them around the parking lot and the immediate area around our hotel and relized that that was not the day God had it planned for us to DIE. I was pretty scared, but it was fun going around the parking lot. That was an attempt to live our italian dreams, but the parking lot was good enough for me, if there had been no crazy italian drivers on the road, i might have thought about it twice. That night, we went to an opera in the Verona Roman Arena, one of the coolest things Ive done so far... I enjoyed it a lot and it was an awesome experience to have. It was very well done... Well, I am off to eat, i will continue the updates soon...