Well, I am back in Madrid after the l-o-n-g, much needed holiday weekend. The fact that I made it out of Spain at all was a blessing - turns out on Friday afternoon, the air traffic controllers went on a wildcat strike and it ended up shutting down Spanish airspace until Sunday morning. I barely made it out in time. My flight was supposed to leave at 4, but we were delayed until around 4:30. 5:00 is when they shut things down. How lucky was I! I read online that over 250,000 people were stranded in Spain. Funny thing was, I didn't even know about the strike until Saturday. What makes it more interesting is that I read online that there are 2,300 air traffic controllers in Spain. 130 of them make more than 600,000 euro a year, while over 715 make more than 340,000 euro a year. They were on strike because of pay (what else.) But honestly, it's kind of hard to have sympathy for them, knowing how much money they make and how many people are unemployed in this country. (Spain has the highest unemployment percentage in the European Union - around 20%.) Needless to say, people were very upset, especially since this was a holiday weekend. They were angry with the air traffic controllers because of their "timing," saying it was planned and that they didn't care about the general public. Needless to say, the government declared a state of alert/emergency - it was the first time it was used since the end of Franco´s rule in 1974. So in a mere four months, I have lived through a general strike and a state of emergency in Spain. Crazy!
On the plane, I was able to sit in the emergency exit row and I loved having the extra legroom! I flew into Milan and immediately bought a ticket for the shuttle that would take me to the airport. The funny thing was, as soon as the lady started speaking Italian to me, I responded in Spanish, NOT English. Italian and Spanish are very closely related and I can understand Italian almost perfectly. I just can't respond back in Italian. The first night I was limited to si (yes), no, and grazie (thank you.) But as the weekend progressed it got better and better. By the end of my trip, I could even respond in Italian. (Limited though!) Traffic was awful and the ride into the train station took longer than I anticipated. I had planned on eating dinner at a nearby restaurant, because I had been dreaming about pasta and pizza all week. But, because of the flight delay and the shuttle ride, I had to scarf down a sandwich in the train station. Either it was really good, or I was starving!
Italian trains were far different than I imagined. Spain has a very nice train system and the trains are well-kept and leave on time. Italian ones are the exact opposite. Some of the trains looked like a huge monster had thrown up on them and others were littered in graffiti. They are also notoriously late. Our train left the station thirty minutes late! I rode the train for five hours to Ancona. The entire time I was freezing and really didn't sleep much. I was nervous too, because I had no clue where we were. The train didn't make announcements since it was a night train. I dozed off and on until one a.m. and then stayed awake the rest of the time. I finally made it to Ancona at 2:30 in the morning and Brian and Jason, two missionaries that are sponsored by my home church were there to pick me up! I got settled in at the Rotert's house and crashed!
Saturday morning, I woke up to a quiet house. I was surprised to learn that kids in Italy have school Monday-Saturday, 8 am-1 pm. After breakfast, Heidi, Francesca (the youngest Rotert), and myself walked down to the water and also walked down the Viale (the main street) to the other end. Ancona is a beautiful seaside town. It's not a tourist place, which I loved! The town sits out into the Adriatic Sea like an elbow, and is surrounded by water for the most part. Because of this, Ancona is one of the few places in the entire world where the sun rises and sets over the water! We went back to the house - it was freezing! Heidi made a wonderful lunch - tortellini con panna (cream). After lunch, Heidi and I went back out and she drove me to the port side of the city. I saw the duomo (the main church) and then we drove down to the center and walked around there. We went to the market, to the piazza, and a few other places. We ended the evening with homemade pizza and focaccia bread!
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| Adriatic Sea, Ancona, Italy |
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| Chloe and I with our gelato! |
Sunday was my birthday, and honestly, it just felt like another day. Does this mean that I'm getting old?! Heidi made a mean french toast for breakfast, made out of panettone, which is an Italian sweet bread that is typical for Christmastime. I wanted to bring back a box with me, but I just couldn't figure out how to do it! I heard that you can buy it in the states though. Sunday morning we spent lounging around, which was so nice to do! After lunch, Heidi, myself, Trey, and Chloe drove to Portonovo, which is a beach. I saw the cliff where Pinocchio jumped off according to legends, and also a summer home of Napoleon. We then drove back into town and had gelato! It had been two and a half years since my last trip to Italy, so I forgot just how good real gelato is. I don't think I can eat it anywhere else but in Italy! (Okay, that's a lie. No way I would ever give up eating ice cream!) After our gelato, we went to church. It was so nice to see the team in action! I remember when the church first started planning the Italian church. Daddy always had meetings on Sunday evenings. But this was my first time seeing everything! The church is lovely and totally in Italian, which meant I understood bits and pieces, but not much. After church we had dinner, potluck-style. I found out that I really like fig spread on cheese. It was yummy! We went home and then I went to bed. Heidi, bless her heart, drove me to the train station at 3:30 am. When we got to the station, we discovered my train was 45 minutes late! It wasn't bad though. Heidi stayed with me for awhile. I learned that the police uniforms are designed by Armani. There is something that puts me at ease, knowing I am protected by Armani-clad people....I also learned that Italians are scared to death that the wind/air current can cause you to get sick or get a pain in your neck or back! For example, if someone wakes up the next day with a backache, they will say that they must have caught a wind current the day before! Can you imagine calling into work and telling your boss that you can't come in because of the wind?!
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| The Casey and Rotert Families. And two of their friends. |
I took the train into Verona. April, another Team Expansion missionary met me at the train station. After I dropped my things off at her flat, we went to a cafe for breakfast. I had brioche (croissant) with chocolate and a macchiato. We then went to the grocery and went back to the house. After lunch and relaxing for a bit, April walked me to town and I went off on my own, because she had a meeting. I walked up the hill to Castel San Pietro and had a beautiful view of the city. Afterwards, I corssed the bridge and wandered the city. The best part about it was coming up to and seeing Juliet's house. Although, the movie, Letters to Juliet makes the place look completely different. And no, you cannot write letters and stick them into the wall. April met me a little while later and we walked around more. We ended the evening with dinner. I ate a wonderful pizza carbonara and bruschetta. It was so good!
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| Standing on Juliet's balcony! |
Tuesday morning, we woke up and took the regional train to Venice. It has been a lifelong dream to go to Venice and to ride in a gondola boat. Venice is the most unique city I have ever been to in my life. It is quite romantic, if you have a significant other! So it really didn't work for me! We spend hours walking through the streets, over bridges, and I did my Christmas shopping :) The highlight of the day was riding in a gondola boat! I had looked prices up before I left and had decided not to do it - the price is 80 euro for a 35 minute ride, per person! It was late in the afternoon and a gondolier approached us and offered a 25 minute ride for 25 euro per person! I couldn't pass it up and neither could April, even though she gets motion sickness! It was truly a dream come true and it felt so surreal!
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| Sitting in the gondola boat! |
I had another early train Wednesday morning to catch. I arrived in Milan a little after 9:30 am. I took a taxi into the center of town and walked around for a bit. I walked into the duomo (main cathedral) and got to see a mass in progress, since it was the Immaculate Conception holiday. I also saw some of the stores and the inner shopaholic in me was trying to come out! But I behaved. I went back to the station, took the shuttle back to the airport, and flew back to Madrid.
This weekend was absolutely wonderful and relaxing. It was definitely a weekend to remember!
Quote of the Day: "Though we travel the world over to find beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Italian Word of the Day: Preggo - thank you (among other uses. This was my favorite word!)
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