Saturday- March 3
My alarm went off early today, but not as early has yesterday, thank goodness. Lydia and I were meeting Michelle, Kristy and her roommate at the train station at 8:45 to take the 9:10 train to Viareggio.
I was so excited to go because I've been wanting to go to a beach here so badly, and since it's been warming up, I've been wanting to go even more. So when Lydia asked me Thursday if I'd want to go for the day I was all in.
Lydia and I ended up leaving a little later than we had anticipated, but we got to the station around 8:50. When we got to the meeting place we didn't see any of the people we were meeting. We stood there for a few minutes and then decided to go get our tickets and come back.
After we cam back to the meeting point it was 9:00, and we still didn't see anyone. Lydia called the people we had numbers of, but no one answered. We waited until 9:05 and decided to just get on the train. Maybe they were already on there since we were five minutes late to the meeting point. When we were on the train Lydia called again and still no one answered. So we hoped they were either on the train or just figured if they had missed it they would catch the next one and we could meet up with them there.
About 10 minutes into the train ride, the ticket man cam around to make sure everyone had one. When he was walking around I was thinking to myself, " Wow, it would really stink if someone didn't have a ticket and was just trying to catch a ride and got caught."
When he came to our seats I handed him my ticket and asked us if we spoke Italian. We said a little and when he spoke in Italian at first I thought he was saying we were sitting in first class and we needed to go back to second, since that's what we paid for. Then it hit me.
We forgot to get our tickets stamped by the yellow box, which is something you always have to do before getting on the train. If you don't you have to pay to full price of the ticket, which can sometimes be €50. My heart was suddenly in my throat. Thankfully the tick man was incredibly nice and let us have a freebee. I've been told it's a hit or a miss. When you forget to stamp your ticket the ticket man can either be really nice and let you go or make you pay it all.
After an hour and half train ride we arrived in Viareggio. When we got off we weren't sure where to go so we walked outside and Lydia spotted a map. The map said the beach was a few blocks ahead, and we just had to pick a street and walk straight. Pretty easy.
When we got to the end of the street we could see the water, but there was this big, white gate blocking our way to get to it. There was a sign that said it was €15 to get into it. I immediately registered that I would have to pay that to get to see the beach. I thought, "Are you kidding me?"
We could see that it was also a boardwalk, so we figured that's what you were paying for. So we decided to see if there was a way around paying, and we started walking down to the right. There were pretty apartment buildings along the coast and a pretty, very green park on the right as we walked. Every time there was a gap between buildings we thought we would be able to get through, but another big, white gate was blocking it.
After 15 minutes of walking that way, we decided to cross the street and venture into the park. It was so pretty and quaint. I hadn't walked through this much green in a long time because everything is just buildings and cities where I've been so far, beside seeing the countryside of Assisi.
When we got to the end of the park we crossed back to where we started where to entrance for the boardwalk began. We were just going to suck it up and pay it, but we didn't know if there would be restaurants in it. So we headed to the left this time and stopped to look at a menu outside of this one restaurant. It had a cute tent patio outside and that's where we wanted to sit. The menu prices were even better — only €6 or a dish of pasta.
It was about 11:45 and we could tell the restaurant was just opening. Their doors were opened, but since lunch doesn't really start until 1:00 in Italy, we decided we would just come back in a half hour or so. We kept walking down to the left and eventually to my right I saw the beach, and I didn't see a white gate!
Before we walked to the beach we decided to take a detour and we found saw a yaht dock and along this "river" there were a ton of boats. The water was so pretty and it led out into the ocean. We followed it and crossed the bridge to the other side. We were both so giddy from the beautiful weather and spectacular view we were taking in.
Once we hit the end of the dock we turned around and both gasped at the exact same time and then laughed in unison. The view of the mountains and the city was beautiful and we realized it at the same time. We started looking into the prices of the restaurants around here. It had a boardwalk feeling to it, and I felt like I was in Ocean City, Maryland. The prices were still cheap, but Lydia wasn't in the mood for any of the food being offered, so we walked back to the restaurant, which was relatively close.
It was a little more busy than before, so we knew it was finally open. We sat outside, and I let the sun rest on my face.
Lydia and I split the second best bruschetta I've had yet. When I ordered it I said bruschetta like I would at home, but then quickly corrected myself and said bru "sketta" because here the ch makes a "ka" sound. The waitress was too kind and laughed.
I also ordered the best pasta I've had yet. It was so good with fresh tomatoes mixed in with it. It was making my day even better than it already was.
After I ordered I went to use the restroom because I had only had to pee for the past hour or so! When I went to use the bathroom, I realized there was no toilet seat. This is the second time I've encountered this and I'm always flabbergasted by it. I laughed because when I sat down I nearly fell in the toilet and I squealed. When I went back out I warned Lydia. When she came out she was laughing and thanked me for the warning.
After lunch we headed back toward the boardwalk. As we approached the beach we were all smiles. With the blue skies, no clouds, and the teal blue sea we were happy as larks.
We walked down to the water and it was the happiest moment of my life. When I was little I always looked out into the ocean and wanted to know what it would be like to see the ocean from the other side. I finally got to set my feet in the other side of the Atlantic! It told Lydia it was really weird to think even though we couldn't see the other side our family was there. She said she didn't even think about that, but it was such a weird thought.
After taking pictures and gazing into the beautifulness, we found a spot where we rested for a bit. It was a little chilly, but it felt good laying in the sun. I put my jacket down for a semi-blanket and used my purse as a pillow — more so that no one would steal it when I wasn't looking. After listening to Adele for a few songs on my ipod, I ended up falling asleep for half hour and was surprised when it was already 3:00.
After I got out of my grogginess, we started walking off the beach to go get some gelato. On our way a man selling sunglasses came up to us and started listing off name brands, which I knew they weren't anyways. I told him "no grazie" because I had no interest in sunglasses. He kept trying to sell them to me and kindly smiled and said it again and walked away.
We went to this gelato place right off the beach which had one of the best gelato I've had yet. I had fior di latte, Kindle and chocolate mousse. Oh my goodness gracious it was yummy and eating it along the water was even better.
We walked on the boardwalk that led out farther in to the water and eventually at the end we had a spectacular view of the city and the mountains behind it.
After we sat on the end for a while we headed back into the town to drop into some shops. There was a store that had caught our attention earlier because it said things from €1 and €10. We were like that's in our budget! We didn't find much, but some of things inside were cute.
We then ventured into stores we couldn't afford, like Guess, but it was fun to dream. I found this dress I fell in love with and said when I'm rich I'm coming back!
We decided to head back to the beach for a little bit and hang out. When we stepped onto the sand we saw the sunglasses guy again. He didn't come up to us, but we decided to walk far away so he wouldn't have the chance to. Even though we were pretty far away he ended up following us, and I just knew he was going to try to sell them to us again. Lydia said, "Caitlin, don't say anything. Not even no grazie."
So when he came up to us he knelt down next to Lydia and started spitting out Italian. We didn't say anything and he still kept talking. Then he asked if we spoke Italian. We said no and he asked where we were from. We still didn't answer and then he STILL kept talking. I finally said "no grazie" and then thought to myself "crap, I just said I didn't know Italian."
He still kept trying to sell us them, and I became so annoyed. After we kept not responding he finally left. I'm usually very nice to salespeople, but these street vendor people, who sell them illegally anyway, have completely turned me off from sales. If you're pushy with me, I'm immediately going to write you off. It's just annoying when you say no five times and they still keep telling you to buy it.
While we were sitting on the beach a pug ran up to us, and it looked like he was going to come up to us to pet and then we walked right behind us. His owner called him back and then tried getting him to come back to us so we could pet him. The man was probably in his 50s and started speaking Italian to us. We said we only knew a little and he asked if we knew French because he did as well. But we communicated a little bit and he was just the cutest man and he kept trying to get his dog to come over to us.
After relaxing on the beach we decided to walk back on the boardwalk that led out to the sea for the sunset. It was beautiful to see the sun set on the blue waters.
When we got to the end I was standing next to these two girls, who looked to be about my age. I turned to Lydia and whispered, "Lydia, I think they're speaking English!" We hadn't heard a lick of English since leaving Florence because where we were wasn't a big tourist area.
We learned the two girls were from California and have been studying in Florence since August! I was in shock when they said that. The one girl is here until May and the other doesn't leave until August. I would love to live over here for an entire year! I would probably get very homesick at times, but the experience would be awesome. I wouldn't feel like I would be trying to fit everything into four months and trying to see everything.
After the sun set we decided to head back to the train station. On the way we saw a ton of little kids and adults in costumes. It was the last day for Carnivale and apparently it was very big in Viareggio today. It was entertaining to see everyone's outfits. It's basically their halloween and you could tell the kids were so excited.
When we got to the station we got our tickets and realized the next train left in five minutes and the next train didn't leave for another hour. So we booked it to platform six. When we got there Lydia said she had to go the bathroom and asked if we could just wait for the next one, which ended up coming in 20 minutes instead of an hour. So we went to the bathroom, which was the weirdest experience. It looked like an elevator door. You put your 50 cents in and the elevator door opened and you went inside. I really thought it was going to move and go up a floor. Then there was also a sign that said if you are in there for more than five minutes and alarm would go off and the door would open.
Luckily we made it out in time.
When we got back to the platform the train was still there. The doors closed, but when we walked up to them they opened up again. So we sat on the double decker again. After five minutes of sitting there the train didn't leave yet. I looked at Lydia and my eyes because huge.
"Lydia we didn't stamp our tickets again! We need to get off this train!"
We bolted and stamped our tickets. We got back on the train and just laughed because we didn't know how we forgot to stamp them after the experience this morning. The train didn't leave for another 10 minutes, so it didn't even matter.
The train ride went by fast while I listened to music and played multiple games of Spider — my latest addiction.
When we got home I just relaxed while I uploaded my pictures and finished up my blog about Milan.
Lydia and I found out that Michelle had been at the train station, but we missed each other completely. We must have been at the same place at different times. We were so bummed, but she said it was okay.
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