Oh My Freakin' Gosh

So, the language barrier... sucks.

Thus far, our experiences on the world traveling have been a bit... crappy. We arrived at the Dublin airport two hours ahead of schedule (so four hours before our flight) in order to share a taxi to split the cost. Somehow we managed to kill the time with reading or playing cards.

The flight itself was quite grand. Flying over the Alps was AMAZING! We tried to take pictures, but none could really capture what we were seeing. I definitely want to go to Switzerland now. We also had a female pilot, which I don't think I have ever had before. The flight was only three hours and passed pretty quickly.

Then we arrived in Italy, and that is where our problems began. We waited at baggage claim for a little over an hour.. an hour! No reasons, just everyone standing around for an hour. We had a fear that we would again lose our luggage, and as we are moving on tomorrow, we were a bit worried about it catching up with us. But it finally came!

So, as it was getting later, we did find English-speaking persons at the info desk at the airport. They directed us a bus that would get us to the main train station, from which our directions to the hostel started. We made it to the station okay- but then all hell broke loose. Well, not really. We waited for a train at one terminal, but all the trains that came were direct to Pompeii, and not what we wanted. Then we tried the Metro, but we had no idea what line to get on. Then we asked some police to point us to a bus- one happened to speak English (thank Jesus) and pointed us to where we could catch a bus. After standing around for about half an hour and realizing that we had no idea what we were doing, we broke down and decided to get a taxi. We were warned that they rip off tourists... and they did. €40 later, we got to Portici- but it didn't really feel safe standing outside at the bus park at 11 pm not knowing any Italian, so I'll accept a €40 bill. However, he dropped us off at a round about... and we still had to wander around to find our hostel. After taking a wrong turn, we had an Italian man chase us down saying stuff in Italian. He pointed down a scary road, and Duncan started to follow him...

Ok, here's where I have to interject, so that it doesn't seem like I am leading Whitney into harrowing and irresponsible danger at every turn. let me begin by saying that I am helpless here- I don't know who to trust and who to be wary of, and speaking none of the language doesn't help. And, as Whitney has appointed me the leader around here, it fell on me to decide how to proceed.

Now, if you are in a completely strange town at 11 at night, and an old man approaches you and starts gesturing down a dark alley and trying to say something to you, your first instinct is to get the hell away. Like... in Atlanta, for instance. Stranger danger, and all that. Really, I am just confused by him, and the Italians won't let you go away until they are done with you. Turns out, he was indeed pointing us to the right place, which we never would have found by ourselves, and I felt mortified by my ignorance of his attempt to help. Luckily, an old Italian lady led us there, saving the day with the word "hostel?", and all was well.

I need to say, though, I hate being helpless here. The bus and train system is horribly confusing and the routes are nowhere to be comprehensibly found, and I feel like and idiot when all I can do is give a blank stare and point to my ear whenever trying to get help or solicit a service... I hope it gets better.

Anyway, having made it clear that I would never be led like a blind puppy to put Whitney in harrowing peril, here's her again!

I love that little Italian woman. She was like a grandmother, and I owe the sleep I get tonight to her. I'd also like to say that the door she pointed us through looked at first to lead to a carpark. I thought, oh hell, where are we? But luckily, we are safe... and about to go to bed, to head to Pompeii in the morning. Wish us luck, that it goes better than tonight has.

Oh Dublin, I miss thee!

Oh English, I miss thee too!