Italia - First official port

Next morning, I took the 7 am train to Florence. I could feel it now, I am exhausted already. I arrived in Florence after switching my train in Pisa. I wanted to go see the tower, but unfortunately had no enough time. I waited for Hongyu, my Chinese friend, and then took the bus to our hostel. I was so tired that I decided to take a nap then go explore the city. Hongyu and I kept asking for the bus stop and finally made it to David's statue. Apparently, the real David's Statue is in Academia, Florence and you have to buy a ticket to see it. However, we went to an open area where there was a copy of David's statue and some tents for sellers. The view from up there was amazing. Florence at night is so beautiful. It Reminded me of Pittsburgh view from Mount Washington ( and the wonderful Jared ^_^ ) and that of Cairo from the Citadel.

Hongyu decided that she would go see Florence in the morning, but I did not want to. I was exhausted physically and psychologically. Probably a little bit homesick, tired from moving around for over a week now with no rest, disappointed from the way some of the field lab classmates interacted with us ( or did not interact with us) or maybe both. Speaking of that, the international students group bonded so well in just few hours, and maybe that was my expectation from my fellow class mates. Is that cultural shock 101 all over again, who knows? Hopefully not and it's just a very little bit of homesickness, lol. Good thing though is they had Shatafaaaa in the hostel. My fellow Egyptians will get that ;)

Anyway, Florence is beautiful if you love art. If you just appreciate art if it's there and won't run after it, like me, then Florence is a nice stop for a day or a night. The following morning, Rachel (my second roommate from Canada/Taiwan) and I took the train to Venice. She didn't buy a ticket and decided to buy one on the train since there was no time, we had only 2 minutes for the train to leave after already being delayed for 15 minutes. On the train, luckily, the conductor was kind and let her buy a ticket. It was almost double my ticket price but at least she got a comfortable chair after sitting in front of the toilet ;) And the moment has come, we arrived in Venice. My favourite Italian city!! It is simply magnificent.

We went to grab pizza and then received a text from Hongyu that she arrived. I went to see her and we then ran into Charlotte and Evilyn. We all got the day pass for 20 euros to access any water bus in Venice. One way ticket is for 6 or 7 euros, so a day pass was a better deal. We went around Venice and saw how beautiful this city is. Everything is just surrounded by water and the sides match the water perfectly well. On our way to St. Mark's square, that peaceful place full of pigeons, we ran into Brenda and Mahima (friends from Kenya and Nepal), and we were all delighted to see one another. They had a rough night on their train but at least we saw them and they made it safely ;) We walked around Venice, took pictures, rode water buses, but most importantly, enjoyed the company.

We went to the hotel, checked in, then went for dinner. Pizza and ice cream. The waiter was so nice, tried to sell us good but not expensive pizza. Brenda and Mahima had to go catch their train, Evilyn and Hongyu went to their hostel. Charlotte, Rachel and I walked around and sat by the water. Venice is beautiful at night! It makes you fall in love with it without even trying! It's definitely my favourite Italian city so far. The following day, we went to Murano Island which is famous for glass making and Burano Island which is famous for lace making. Burano Island is a small one, but I loved it. The houses are close to one another and each house is beautifully and differently coloured, blue, red, yellow…

Burano Island

Rachel and I then headed to the bus station to catch our overnight bus to Naples to meet the ship again. Rachel could not get on the bus because to get on MegaBus you must have an online ticket. (Already purchased, you can't purchase on the bus.) She spent the night in Venice and took bla bla car the next morning. (Shared a car with some people and split the ride cost)

I took the bus at 9:45 pm from Venice and arrived at 9:20 am in Naples/Napoli. Napoli reminded me a lot of Alexandria, Egypt. You can cross the streets whenever and wherever you want, a bit crowded and advertisements are everywhere. Even the entrance to Napoli looks like that of Alex, they even have Carrefour (hyper market) at the entrance like that at Alex :D I stayed at a café with Wi-Fi and charged my laptop. Hongyu joined me later and of course we had to try Napolitano pizza. Yum yummy! Walked around for a bit then went to the port and waited to board. Finally, I am on the ship!

Napolitano Pizza

Something I realized in all the Italian cities I have been to is that Italians are pretty chilled. They take their time to work, to get you food, to talk, … everything. They also have a lunch break from 1 to 4 pm in most places, and you would find shops closed at that time. Also, on Sunday, it is hard to find any open shops unless it is a very touristy area. There are also many water fountains all over Italy whether to admire or drink from. Depending on which city you are in bus qualities and their costs will differ. In Napoli for example, a bus ride is for 1 euro which is 20 cents less than that in Florence, but there is a significant difference in quality. Also, it helps to write down where you want go in case the driver or passenger doesn't get your accent.

P.S. They cancelled Turkey from the itinerary, and we are heading to Croatia next. I was a little bit disappointed. Don't get me wrong. Croatia is definitely beautiful, but Turkey was my top destination on the list. Couldn't they at least stop by Egypt instead? :D