I landed in Milan with a mission: metro, transfer, Megabus to Padua. On this mission, I had to constantly remind myself, “Thou shalt not judge.” But people still befuddled me. While on the train, a seemingly-sober man sat in front of me, coughed several times without covering his mouth and then took a nap by flopping onto the trash bin beside him. While on the Megabus to Padua, the man beside me kicked his shoes and socks off (remaining barefoot for his entire journey), the couple behind me sucked face like there was no tomorrow, and someone passed gassed knowing that the windows were unable to be opened.
Another person who befuddled me was the man who approached me while I waited inside McDonald’s after I arrived in Padua. While I eagerly awaited the arrival of my friend who I planned to meet, the man tried to holla at me. I’ve been holla’d at in the past and on that day I considered a different tactic. I apologize to my readers who are hard of hearing, but I pretended to be deaf and made up some sign language in response to his remarks.
Then the man drew out words with his fingers on the table in front of me, letter by letter! Wow. So I said, “I’m not deaf. I just don’t speak Italian.” Then the man started speaking in English! Persistence. He offered to buy me coffee and I declined. I turned my back to him and stood in a corner until my friend arrived. Bless!
It was a joyous reunion! We hadn’t seen each other since last semester at Cornell and we were looking forward to the journey ahead of us. She gave me a mini-tour of Padua and we ended it with a stop at Capatoast where I ate the biggest sandwich of my life: 15 x 19cm!
That night, we hopped on a Megabus to Naples and slept through the night into the early morning. While in Naples, I learned that sometimes roads are even and sometimes they’re not; people occasionally park on sidewalks; civilians hardcore jaywalk and you can too as long as you follow the masses; street names are difficult to find and don’t hang from intersections because the traffic lights are on the side; you can take the public city bus for free, but the posted schedules don’t have times, just location names; it’s acceptable to take your dog pretty much anywhere; pizza in Naples is the bomb.com, but tap water isn’t free and at many restaurants you have to pay to sit; Italians are literally blunt with food descriptions and straightforward with compliments; American music is popular and prevalent in Italy.
After a day full of exploring, we realized we needed to travel to our hostel in Sant’Agnello. While waiting at a bus stop, my friend asked a guy near us if he knew when the bus we needed was coming and his reply was no. My friend and I didn’t say anything aloud to each other, but we were both thinking the same thing: we can’t be in the streets of Naples at night. The bus stop was at an elevated location that overlooked a field where children were playing. Seconds after my friend’s initial question, the lights surrounding the field came on. In that moment, we knew, we had to get home quickly as night had already approached us.
Despite the bad timing and poor planning on our part, we were so elated when the bus we needed came our way and was able to drop us off near the train station. After taking a train to Sant’Agnello, we were surprised to see what appeared to be a spiritual gathering, but had strikingly scary similarities to a KKK gathering. Unsure what to make of the situation due to our ignorance of the city’s observances, we felt blessed knowing that our hostel was in the opposite direction. After finally arriving, we were ready to relax and sleep.
But were we?
That was the night I heard the most terrifying snoring ever. I prayed for that woman. If I wasn’t a deep sleeper, I don’t know how I would have been able to sleep. #AlwaysPackEarPlugs
The next day was the first time I’d ever made a purchase from a store and didn’t receive change. Although the man had owed my friend and I less than one euro, change matters! But I didn’t know Italian (still don’t) and my friend is still learning. So we just left after making our purchases instead of arguing. After being adventurous in Sant’Agnello’s adjacent boroughs, we traveled to Pompei!
We actually didn’t take a guided tour of the ruins because we misread the schedule times. But all was well and we still took these dope pictures in front!
Being touristy works up an appetite and after taking a train to Sorrento and exploring for a bit, we were on a mission to eat at a restaurant…given that it met the following criteria: no sitting fee, inside seating (it was dark and the temperature had dropped, *Gucci Mane voice* bur!), free Wi-Fi, and an outlet for my friend to charge her phone. We found a place and were satisfied.
The following day was probably one of the most beautiful days of my life. While travelling to the Amalfi coast and bouncing in between cities via bus because the sidewalks are nearly non-existent, I was literally in awe one moment after another.
Although this day was very beautiful, it was also very dark. While on a trip through Ravello, an inland area, the bus driver picked up more passengers. It is important here that I note you are required to present your Sita ticket to ride on the Sita bus, but tickets are sold at the bottom, not the top of the cliffs or in between. The bus driver stopped and two American tourists carrying backpacks (almost the size of me) wanted to get on the bus. They didn’t speak Italian so a local behind them served as a translator. The two tourists didn’t have tickets and asked if they could pay the driver, buy a ticket on the bus, or buy a ticket after the bus returned to its location at the bottom of the cliff. All the answers were no. From their appearance and bags, I assumed they hiked up the cliffs (and this would explain why they didn’t have tickets, as they can be used infinitely many times for up to 24 hours after purchase). Unfortunately, the bus driver did not let them on.
The route actually required the driver to make a U-turn after a while and yet again, he stopped in front of the tourists, but did not let them get on the bus. ALSO, what really irked me is the fact that the driver let on Italian people who did not have tickets. They simply exchanged some words in Italian my friend and I didn’t know, walked on the bus, and sat down. AND THEN after the driver made his way back to our original location, he briefly stopped the bus as another Sita bus was approaching in the opposite direction. My friend translated his speech and he said, “Watch out for the tourists,” WITH A SMILE ON HIS FACE. After she whispered this to me, I cried on the inside. It’s hard out here being a tourist. And my friend and I were about to get a heavy dose of a bad predicament ourselves.
After hopping off the bus when we returned to Amalfi, we made the decision to travel to Salerno, the farthest stop. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Explore, grab dinner, head back. Well, as were on the bus, we saw a sign: “Salerno 22.” Okay, so 22km to go.
30 minutes later, we saw a sign: “Salerno 20.” Oh no. Traffic was TOO deep. As I mentioned previously, the sidewalks were nearly non-existent so hopping off the bus to walk was not an option. Instead, we decided to hop off the bus when it stopped in Maiori because we figured we’d catch a different bus returning to Amalfi. We didn’t want to continue traveling to Salerno because night was approaching and we were informed that buses would stop running at 9ish.
After picture time…
we walked to the closest bus stop…and then realized we were in a sticky situation. Did I mention it was Easter Weekend? As we read the holiday schedule for buses…it appeared that no more were coming that night. *gulp*
It was dark. Our phones were dying. The only open Wi-Fi was at a café that wasn’t close to the bus stop. Home was an hour and a half drive away, so yet again, walking was not an option. I asked my friend questions about what we were going to do and her responses were either along the lines of, “I don’t know” or “We’ll figure it out.” After looking online and seeing that a bus could potentially come our way eventually, she had the mentality of “When and what bus will come?” whereas I thought, “What if the bus doesn’t come?” Possible options that ran through my mind were stay at a hotel or take a taxi…but really stay at a hotel because an hour and a half in a taxi would be extremely expensive. We saw a man who hitchhiked and got a ride. I’ve only hitchhiked with a friend once in my life and it was from Cornell’s campus to an area off campus. Maiori was unfamiliar territory. No taking chances.
That was the night I learned what I do when I am most nervous: sing. Crazy, right? My friend and I paced at the bus stop and we were so antsy. It was some amount of time after 9, after the time this bus was apparently supposed to appear. Thinking that we were out of luck, my friend and I decided to walk back to the café with Wi-Fi and somehow figure out a miracle. It was then that real fear struck as we were catcalled via whistles from men in shadows. We could not see the men as we walked faster and faster, but guess what we did see…A BUS!
I gave up track many years ago, but in that moment, I sprinted. My friend and I ran as fast as we could back to the stop and caught the bus. Hallelujah.
Next issue.
That bus would only take us back to Amalfi and we needed to get back to Sorrento. By the grace of God, when we approached the parking lot, there was a bus with the word “Sorrento” on it. We immediately switched buses after it parked and to say we were relieved would be an understatement. As I reflect on that ride, I remember what I value most about that conversation. My friend said that her family members say when people start to worry is when they lose faith and doubt Him. I have always known I need to work on my anxiety in difficult situations. Knowing that despite being stranded far from the hostel on a cliff for hours at night in a random city with a foreign language and a dying phone and thirsty intimidating men, I was able to pull through with the strength of my good friend by my side, I am confident that I can make it through anything.
Since you’ve made it this far in my recount, I will simply say that I have more to say. But, I will leave you with the statement above as other moments during my trip did not have as much of an impact on my life as that one did. Dear reader, in whatever trials and tribulations you go through, keep the faith. You can do it.
Tea With Kea 