Roamin' Catholic: Ohhhh nooooo

Getting to Siena was an ordeal. Our room in Riomaggiore was at the very tip top of the town. So high up, that Boo and I didn’t even eat dinner one night because we didn’t want to bother going into the town to get food only to have to climb back up. Justifiably, we were worried about getting our luggage down to the train station. (I don’t think I’ve ever been on a trip where I thought, ‘Wow, I sure didn’t pack enough. I wish I had gobs more things to lug around’ No, it’s always, “What the H-E-double hockey stick was I think packing all of this crap?” Among countless other profanities directed towards my oversized suitcase). So we asked Maria (the owner of our room – Emiliano’s mother, who abandoned Melissa at the train station) to drive us to the train station in the morning. She agreed and said, “No problem! I drive you!” Great! Well the agreed upon time rolls around, and Maria is not to be found. So Boo struts up to her house (she lives directly above us), uses her great Italian skills to tell Maria’s mother for Maria to get her butt in gear. (The room renting business is apparently a family affair). Crisis averted: we make our train.

BUT! I forgot to validate the ticket beforehand! You have to stamp your ticket at these little machines or else it’s not valid. We’ve been doing this the whole time, Rick Steves even warned us about it, but I just plumb forgot to do it. So at each stop – for 3 stops – I would jump out of the train to find one of those little yellow machines to stamp our ticket. The first one was out of service, and I couldn’t even find a machine at the second two stops. Each time, Boo would fret that I wouldn’t make it back on the train in time. And she had good reason – I had all of our cash and credit cards. She would not have gotten very far.

After the third stop, I had finally had enough and decided to just give up. Just when I had surrendered, here comes the train official strolling through our car asking to see everyone’s ticket. Well shit. So I hand him our unvalidated tickets, play dumb (funny thing: playing the dumb tourist is not so much acting, it’s just my life), and he writes us each a ticket: 5 euro a piece, which we pay on the spot. Not a big deal, but our tickets were only 10 euro a piece, so that’s half the price right there. Whatevs, we managed that debacle with only slight embarrassment.

The blow to my pride hurt more than the ten euros

When we arrive to Pisa, we have to change trains. Not our strong suit. Our train was already delayed so we really had two minutes to get on our next train. But we did it! Success! But the train is incredibly crowded. We’re forced to stand not even in a car, but the little compartment with the doors that joins two cars together. It’s croweded, there is absolutely no airflow, and it doesn’t smell too pleasant. Well we’re speeding along, suffocating the entire away, and another official asks to see our ticket. He looks them over and says, “Oh no!” And I’m like I know, I know, we already got in trouble – here’s the citation we received. And he replies, “No, you were supposed to get off at the last stop.” Well shit, again. The whole compartment collectively replies, “Ohhhh nooo.” – including Boo. He instructs us to stay on this train to Florence, and buy new tickets there for Siena.

So we do that. We arrive to Florence, successfully buy new tickets, find the correct train (this one’s direct – no changing train confusion), and 10 minutes outside of Siena – The. Train. Breaks. Down. This Italian guy sitting behind us is all hot and bothered by the situation – shouting “vaffanculo!” (which incidentally, is the only Italian I know). Turns out he speaks English, and is trying to be Boo’s best friend explaining to her what the train problem is and suggesting that we all just walk to Siena. Eventually, the train is up and running and again and we finally make it to Siena.

When we get to our hotel, our luck finally changed. An American woman, who was leaving, offers us a ticket that she had bought that gets you in to all of the sites in Siena. She didn’t have time to see the Duomo and a couple of other things so she gave it to us as we were checking in. That was about the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me! We were so pleased that we immediately set out to explore Siena and visited The Duomo, Piazza de Campo, and the St. Catherine of Siena’s House and Church. We saw St. Catherine of Siena’s head (and finger, but the head was way more impressive). Mom didn’t believe and she was like, isn’t it just a painting? And I said no, that’s the real deal. It’s a miracle! And then we realized - that’s about all there is to do in Siena.