Finally, redemption!

Well, today was a looong day, but I now have my bag, and a new camera is on the way. I only took one picture, when I finally got back to Orvieto, the sunset from my window was just etheral.


This morning I woke up early and went to the restaurnt to call Alitalia to be sure they had my bag. After a doppio espresso, I set off to catch a train to Rome.


I bought an Italian magazine, to avoid people in the city assuming that I was a dumb tourist. Had some more espresso, then hopped on the train. I *heart* train travel, I am now convinced that it's the way to go.


Arriving in Rome was... a bit overwhelming at first. I think my Italian accent is a little too believable, because whenever I tried to ask someone a question, they went off in a big long speech, and then I would give up. What I eventually gathered was that there was a train that ran to Roma aeroporto, but it wouldn't be running again until the afternoon- when the baggage counter would have been closed.


So... I found a cache of taxi drivers, and asked how much it was to Roma Fuma-whada-hou-da aeroporto, and it turned out to be... alot, 40 euro! I asked how to walk there (all in Italian) and they were being dramatic Italianos, talking quickly, and my pleas of "parla lentamente, por favore!" seemed to go unnoticed. Finally I shouted "Io non sono italiana!! Parla lentamente!!" and they stopped and started apologizing profusely. They hadn't realized I wasn't Italian, which was actually pretty inconvenient for me, I found that sometimes NOT utilizing the language was actually more helpful. Finally, I found out the the airport was 25 kilometers away, and I would never be able to walk there. I got a taxi- whose driver was really excited about practicing his exceedingly minimal english, and set out on my way.


If you've ever been in a car in Rome, I'm sure you're aware that traffic laws don't really matter, and lanes are a non issue. As long as your tailgating skills are on par, and your horn works well, you're good to go. Add to that my taxi driver's Italian-English dictionary gripped in both his hands, open, in front of the steering wheel, and him being far more concerned about practica inglese than driving... and yeah. Luckily, driving in Vegas has me well adjusted the the casual nature of vehicular homicide in large cities, so I was... just not alarmed. C'est la vie.


The airport was... I hate Alitalia with the burning passion of a thousand dying suns. After asking everyone who worked for them, being directed to circle half the airport twice, and going through (the comapratively lax- I didn't even have to remove my shoes, LOL) the baggage counter person tried to tell me to go somewhere else, and I finally lost it and just shouted "NO!". She looked at me, felt the searing glare of doom emanating from my now firey eyes, and murmered "er, I will walk with you."


Got to the baggage claim room, they looked at the wall of bags that nowhere near matched the description, and I walked to the other side and grabbed my bag, fuming, because at this point I had spent over two hours walking circles around the airport.


When it's all said and done, I highly reccomend NEVER EVER EVER EVER flying Alitalia for ANY reason. They are... big piles of poopie.


I skipped out of the airport as fast as I could, got my biglietta (ticket) for the 15:06 train back to the Roma termini, ran down the aisle, and got to the door of the train just in time to see the whites of the door guy's eyes as he shut the door and stared blankly at my hopeless despiration. Luckily the next trena was only 36 minutes away, but it was just... a jerk move.


Arrived at termini, the next train to Orvieto wasn't until 18:20. I didn't have enough time to do anything great, and the bag was heavy, so I tried to walk as far away from the the station as I reasonably could, but still ended up having to eat a mediocre and overpriced tourist meal. I did, however, look over my maps and orient myself to Roma's layout, and was beginning to become proficient with the rail system, so I take that as a positive.


I also witnessed a totally awesome and dramatic hand-waving-knuckle-biting-chin-brushing argument between some old man and the waiter over a cappucino. It was truly awesome and stereotypical in every fun way possible, and I had to cover my face with my menu because I was laughing so hard. After yelling, hand waving, and insulting each other's grandmothers, the guy sat down and quitely finished his coffee, then a few minutes later laughed and joked with his waiter about it as he paid for his drink. When in Rome!


I arrived back in Orvieto, and took the funicolore (tilty-cabley-slanted-streetcarish-mountain dealy on rails) up to the plateau, which drops you off on the exact opposite side of the citta from where I live.


Er, Dad, I'm not sure if your suitcase wheels will ever be the same after surviving a mile uphill on cobblestone... sorry about that in advance if there's some collateral axle damage.


Upon arrival at the B & B, I quite pathetically dragged the suitcase up four flights of stairs, on my butt, one step at a time, groaning. Upon reaching my bedroom, I threw open the window to witness the glorious sunset electronics just can't do justice to, pictured above.


I had my stuff, and I was back. I laid down for a second, then walked to the ristorante to let Chef Polegri know that I had arrived safely. One of my awesome roomates had collected to-go boxes of all the meals they had that day, because she feared that I may have gone hungry.


So... in the end, all is now well. I have socks (calzini) in abundance!

Ciao! Buena sera.