Brindisi

I have very little to say about Brindidsi.

Pompeii

COMING SOON

Marine Gate

Naples

Napoli, another ugly modern city. Although to be fair it was in the middle of a garbage strike which meant we weren't seeing it at its best unless you like piles of garbage in the street. In what was to be a common refrain in Greece they started setting fire to things shortly after we left. We saw very little of the city since it was just a stopping off point on our way to Pompeii. It was still unimpressive. The number of homeless people we walked past just going to the station was extraordinary.

Rome

It would be hard for a place to make a worse impression on me. Rome ruined my entire trip. What was supposed to be a three-week victory lap with my friends became shortened by a week and lost the main goal. Turkey was the country that I'd been pining for all year but I needed to get other people interested in order to afford the rental car. The sites are too far away to rely on public transport. It was to be the perfect conclusion to my trip. Greece and Italy were almost an afterthought, added on to attract interest. Rome killed that. Some cheeky little bastard with a cruel smirk stole my wallet on the subway. So no Driver's License and no Credit Card, the two things necessary to pick up my prepaid car in Turkey. Not only did I lose four months worth of planning and dreaming in a heartbeat but I lost all the hotels and equipment that I paid for in advance. So I paid full price for Turkey and gained nothing but bitterness from it.Way to leave an impression Rome.

I can't believe that I'm saying this but Rome is an ugly city. I'd honestly rather spend time in New York. At least that city's honest about what it is. Rome passes itself off as the epitome of culture but while I was there all that I saw was a typical modern city with the occasional relics scattered throughout. Not that those relics aren't worth pursuing, but the city adds nothing to them. I can only assume that we missed the nice bit somehow (we stayed mostly on the east side of the city). Admittedly, having my life ruined didn't improve my opinion any but I was disappointed before that. Either the west side is infinitely superior in every way or Rome is the most overrated city in existence. Finding it hard to believe the latter I can only assume it's the former. Someday I will return to Rome and spend a few days there to determine the truth of it for myself.

Whether or not there is some hidden beauty in Rome it is a mean city. New York is an apt comparison. Nobody cares what happens to you and you're unlikely to get a sympathetic ear from the authorities. Anyone visiting should take my advice and be vigilant at all times. Rome can seriously mess up your life.

Florence

COMING SOON

Ravenna

COMING SOON

Ravenna was where we started having problems. To be honest, at this point most of these problems were my fault. The early morning trains (6 or sooner) are the cheapest ones and so I had us getting them every time we changed cities. You do that and you need a rest afterwards or you're good for nothing at all. Even with a full night's sleep it's hard to pull off. Even if we had to pay more it might have been worth getting later trains. Given the state of the train services it might have been better if we'd spent more time in fewer spots. Believe me, you'll be hearing more about the train system later. MUCH more. Anyway, we got to the train station in Pisa by about five. It was just down the street from our hotel. The ticket booths weren't open so we had to use the automated ones which was where we hit our first problem. There is an app for the iPhone that is essential for anyone brave or foolish enough to risk the Italian rail services. It's called iTreni and is the only time that prices, stops and times show up in the same place. It told us to get the 5:39 to Florence and then transfer to a train going to Ravenna. The ticket booth did not list this as an option. So the first ticket we brought had us making three stops at three different stations before we reached Ravenna. I should of held firm on Florence because we couldn't find a train going to the first station listed so we bought new tickets to Florence and hoped that the app was right about the transfer. Once on the train we relaxed until a ticket collector came by and told us that we needed to stamp our tickets before we left the station. The charge for not doing so was €40. Each. Anyone who's ever taken a train in Italy and knows what to expect may want to skip the next paragraph because it is essentially a giant rant about the Italian rail system.

Italy has the worst public transport 'system' that I have ever seen. It is a mass of incomprehensible gibberish so bad that even the Italians can't understand it. The stamped tickets was only the first of many problems we had with Italian trains. Charging €40 for a mistake that everyone is bound to make at least once is obscene. Worst of all is that there is no warning about it in advance. Admittedly, I don't speak Italian but there were no big signs over the machine or stamper or even on the ticket. Nothing to make it obvious that there was something that needed to be done before the ticket could be used. The yellow boxes where you stamp them are small and actually hidden away. I had wondered if we needed to validate tickets but there was nowhere obvious to do so so I assumed that the tickets themselves were enough. But no, the yellow boxes are hidden away out of plain sight where no one will find them unless they know what they're looking for. The French have a similar system but unlike the Italians you cannot get through to your train unless you've stamped your ticket. Their machines are impossible to miss. There is also a very small number of machines at each station which means that when one is broken (and they often are) you have to go to the opposite side of the station to validate them. Evil. It doesn't get better from there. The costs for different locations depends entirely on the company that runs the train. There is no centralized system. This would not normally be a problem except that when you buy the ticket there is no company listed on it. You can use it on any train going that way. Unless you know which train is cheapest, something impossible to find without iTreni or a very good grasp of Italian, you will be charged the additional amount when they check your ticket. The costs also vary depending on the time. Again, there's no way to know how much unless you're psychic or have access to an internet connection. The train companies are not always listed, the platforms vary, and the stations are mazes. To buy a ticket you wait in one of two lines, the purpose of which is not clear to me. They seem to be divided up by the company running them but it is rarely clear from that exactly which one you want. Even finding the ticket booths can sometimes be a problem. There is no one there who can help you. The Italians get by this by sleeping at the train station until their trains arrive! We saw a large number of people waiting on top of blankets and cushions. All told the Italian system reamed us for about €150 each in fines and missed tickets alone, and we did everything right and arrived to every train station at least an hour early. Avoid using public transport in Italy if at all possible!

Pisa

This trip was to be the final and biggest of all the ones  made this year. I spent all semester planning for and organizing and preparing for it. I was going to go to the three main counties for Roman enthusiasts and see the sites with friends whom I made while in England. It did not go as well as would be liked although I was able to salvage a lot of good memories out of it.

The trip started off well. We arrived in Pisa at around 9 PM. We found our hostel easily and it was right next to the train station which was good since we had a 5:39 train to the next stage in our journey. Since we got there at night we decided that we should take a quick look at the tower and then go to bed. Probably the best plan we could make. To get to the tower we had to cross over to the north side of the river.