So traveling is never fun. Whenever someone asks the age old question: "If you had a superpower WHAT WOULD IT BE?" I always answer to be able to control time & space. To be able to teleport would be a super convenient power to have. Oh I'm bored let me just go over to Australia real quick, I'm hungry let me just pop over in Paris for baguette, oh I'm stranded in Pisa because of a train workers strike? No worries I gotchu, imma teleport us right back to Firenze. Life would be grand, and besides what is exciting about wanting to fly (I really cannot stand when people say thats the super power they'd choose, everyone says it but let's be real what is exciting about flying.... so you say you want to be a bird?)
So my 12 hour travel experience from France to Italy was eventful to say the least. Sparknote version: metro into Paris from Vanves, wait around 2 hours for bus, get painfully full of delicious croissants/pain au chocolats, take hour and a half bus from Paris to our airport in Tille, hour and a halfish flight to Pisa, take train from Pisa aeroporto to Pisa Centrale, oh our train back to Firenze SMN is delayed a half hour....to an hour.... to 16 hours... that's cool Italy start a strike at ten at night on a Saturday that's helpful nbd, frantically go into survivor mode trying to figure out how to get back to Florence, meet up with 3 BU chicks who are also stranded trying to get back, my program advisor Chiara is our savior calling her trying to find a way back, get on a city bus back to the airport (would have been better if they decided to strike 20 minutes prior), literally BOOK IT amazing race status off the bus to the airport to find another bus back to Florence, bus it back an hour and twenty later and finally get in Florence at 1:30 AM.
We survived, It was Lauren's 21st bday finally, nothing like some good life experience from traveling, Courtney had a complete Izzie Stevens hysterically laughing/crying moment, I busted out some values game questions (light edition) while waiting for our bus back to Florence after a night of hell to calm the tension, and I really hope traveling to London/Ireland next month will be so much less stressful... and we're taking the bus back and forth to the Pisa airport from now on.
Sidenote: What's the point of having a public bathroom if you lock it after ten o'clock? Riddle me that Pisa train station. Homeboy really had to go to the bathroom and even the McDonalds (which was the only thing functioning, thanks for not striking fast food workers so I could have dinner) bathroom was broken... thank you hotel that was unhelpful to us trying to get back to Florence for at least letting me use your bathroom (though the sinks were weird and orange... not okay)
View of Pisa/sunset from the plane
Finally thought we were headed home... casual workers strike says otherwise.
unexpected twist of the night
Me being a complete hobo eating MickeyDs on the floor of a foreign train station.
WE GOT ON THE BUS TO GET BACK TO FLORENCE!
Ryanair saves the day? If only your website wasn't such a bitch and a half trying to book a flight I'd like you ryanair
It was a long day..
So as we were waiting to get on the bus back we all screamed of joy thinking this was our bus, it was however not but the driver THOROUGHLY enjoyed the enthusiasm we sent his way and when he drove around the airport he beeped at us every time he drove by, we made his night.
Moral of the story: The wind blows for anyone who has been stranded in a foreign country!
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