It's funny how sometimes no matter what you do, the universe just doesn't seem to want to line up for you. That's exactly what happened to us upon arriving to Italy.
Andrew and I had seperate flights from Amsterdam to Rome and by the time we had both arrived, gotten our bags, and found each other (2+ hours!), it was past 11:00pm. Our first sign of trouble came at the train station. It was so late that all the ticket counters were closed for the evening, and wouldn't you know it would be just our luck that the self-service machines wouldn't take our American credit cards. It is really amazing how desolate and empty the train station was....Shouldn't there be at least one person on duty at a train station if the trains are still running!? Fair assumption, in my opinion. Finally a train arrived and we were able to talk with the ticket guy on the train. We bought our tickets from him and climbed aboard...I discovered later that not only had he overcharged us for the tickets, but he also short changed me by 20 euro! Fail.
The train took us to the Rome Termini Station, which is the central train station for Rome, and it was supposed to be a 5 minute walk to our hostel from there. Upon getting to the station, we pulled out our map to figure out which direction we should head in. Because it was dark out, we had difficulty locating which intersection we were at on the street, as well as our location on the map itself. As we were both standing there over the map, a man walked up to us and said "Taxi?" We said "No, thank you" and continued looking at the map, while he tried to sell his services to a few other people. Once we were the only ones left on the platform, he walked back over to us and asked us where we were going. We showed him on the map where the hostel was located, and also tried to explain that it was only 5 minutes away, we just needed to know which street to go down. The man proceeded to tell us that we had gotten off at the wrong stop and that we were 30 minutes from the hostel! We tried to explain that we were fairly certain this was the right station, but the man was insistant that our hostel was nowhere near this station and not only were we were too far away to walk, but it was also a dangerous part of town. "I take you there, I take you there, this area -- no good at night for walking, I take you where you need to go. I get you there in 20 minutes, 25 euro, good price."
It was already past midnight, our packs were getting heavy, and we were beyond exhausted. It was dark out which can make it complicated to know where you're going even in a familiar city, and of course we had just arrived in a foreign city where we didn't speak the language -- so even if we hadn't encountered this supposedly helpful gentleman, we would have continued to struggle to figure out where to go. We both agreed that we felt like we didn't have much choice but to take this man's word for it and let him drive us to the hostel. At this point, we just wanted to get there, and this guy seemed certain that he knew where to go.
The man threw our stuff in the trunk of a car that could have easily passed as an unmarked police vehicle, put us in the back seat, and jumped into the passenger side next to an old dude who apparently was the driver. I immediately noticed that there was no fare machine in the car, but before I could say anything we were off. And when I say "off," I mean that the guy squealed tires getting away from that station, clearly speeding down the unconventionally narrow city streets, and was rounding corners like Jeff Gordon on methamphetamines. I was silently freaking out, having delusions about the Italian mafia and getting shot in the head on the bank of a river, having my organs sold on the Italian Black Market, or being drugged and sold into sexual slavery...you know, normal stuff. But Andrew was with me and his presence alone was comforting, not just because he is a naturally calm soul, but for those of you that don't know him, he is a very intimidating looking fellow. He could have easily schooled both of these shmucks if necessary, so I pushed my paranoid thoughts as far out of my mind as I could and tried to convince myself that a panic attack would not add anything positive to the moment.
Those bastards drove several blocks down the street, turned left, went under a bridge, then through a roundabout, veered onto another street, busted a u-turn, went back through the same round about, made a slight right turn and screeched to a halt on the corner of the building in which our hostel was located. The entire trip took, oh, maybe 5 minutes. I looked at Andrew and said "I don't think that was 25 euros worth of driving, do you?" We got out of the car, gathered our things, and I began shuffling through my money, audibly protesting the price. In the end, the guy settled for 20 euro, and the two men sped off onto the streets of Rome. Andrew and I agreed that there was something awfully janky with the situation that had just taken place, but due to our exhaustion, we resolved to worry about it in the morning.
We got up early to catch the train to Naples and after a worthless "continental breakfast" that consisted of corn flakes, warm milk, and rolls you could have built houses with they were so hard, we got directions from the receptionist and set out for the train station, which we were informed HAD been the correct one. The distance from the hostel? Two Blocks.
Heh. Good actors, those Italians!
Luckily, in the the end, there was no Italian Mafia, no auctioning of my organs and no being sold to a 65 year old, coked-up, Italian, nymphomaniac named Dante...Just your average good old-fashioned money scam. Damn it's great to be a tourist.
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| Andrew and me in Italy |
Gotta say, though...I am awfully thankful for this guy. If he hadn't been with me, I am sure I would have freaked out and just slept in the train station. Definitely wouldn't have gotten in that "taxi," nor would I have roamed unfamiliar streets at night with a 27 pound pack and a guitar.
What did I learn from this, you ask? Never arrive to a new destination at night. And I haven't since.
Benvenuti in Italia! ..........Welcome to Italy. Ummmmm yeah.
Very fitting song, I think ;-)
"Good instincts usually tell you what to do long before your head has figured it out" --Michael Burke
Peace & Blessings, until next time :-) XO
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