Long story, but I was now on my way back to Italy to meet up with my dear friend Melanie for a whirlwind tour of Northern Italy since she only had ten days to travel. My flight from Edinburgh didn't start off well as either something about me alerted security or I was just randomly selected to endure a very personal and thorough body search in front of my fellow passengers. At the gate, we were held up by a sweet Italian teenage boy on his knees with his flute case in his hands begging Ryanair to let him take it on board even though it was two inches longer than what was allowed in their ridiculous set of parameters for carryons. After 15 minutes of begging and grovelling they let him slide. The flight was full of Italians. It was the noisiest, funnest flight I've ever taken. Even though it was late, everyone was chatting, laughing, eating, and drinking! I love Italians! They can have fun anywhere, even on a rotten, late night Ryanair flight!

By the time I got to Termini Station it was too late to walk to my pension and the busses had stopped running, so I took a cab. Melanie was going to be a day late, so I had to share the dorm alone with a young American couple. It was strange as they were in a double bed and I was next to them in a single. It felt like they were the parents and I was their really old kid! If Mel had been in the other single, it wouldn't have been weird at all. Did not hear from her until the next day. Her and her daughter's flight had been delayed due to the hurricane. I had been moved into a nice private room with a big, comfortable bed. I think the pension owners felt sorry for me. I took the time to catch up on laundry, reading, a pedicure, news, email, etc. since I had seen most everything in Rome already. Mel finally arrived a day later after an exhausting flight and layover and virtually no sleep in three days.

Next day we had a scrumptious fish dinner in a little restaurant near our pension and took off to see the sights. Hit most of the usual places the following day and the same wonderful restaurant for another great meal. After two days, we took a night sleeper train to Venice, bunking with two very disagreeable and sullen Italian women who spoke no English. Just as well, as I'm sure they would have had nothing nice to say. We hit Venice at 7 a.m. and hung out in a warm, crowded bakery devouring lovely pastries and the best espresso on the planet until we could check into our hostel. It was the same place that Lizzy and I had stayed in June and we slept in the same beds! How weird! We immediately hit the streets and got lost in the maze. Made our way to St. Mark's Square and went in the cathedral. We had missed it when we were here in June as the line was really long. The tide had left several inches of water inside so we had to walk on wood planks. It was worth the effort though. So lovely. We walked until dark checking out churches, boutiques, bakeries, gelato stands, and candy stores. Took a Traghetto gondola ride across the Grand Canal to St. Mary's Basilica and found a tiny, hidden restaurant where we feasted on pasta, fish, bread, and wine. We were exhausted, our feet hurt, and our knees were protesting by the time we got back to our hostel. Spent one more day exploring Venice then took the train for Verona. Found a great pension and spent the next day visiting the many churches, the arena, and Juliet's House (supposedly the location of the famous balcony scene from Shakespeare's play.) It was a beautiful site but a bit of a letdown as all of the love letters left by visitors to Juliet had been taken from the famous wall and put in a mailbox! The hundreds of love locks on the patio door and statue of Juliet were nice though. We met a lady on the way to the train station who suggested that we check out Lucca, which we decided to do after Pisa. We arrived in Pisa late but luckily (or unluckily) the hostel was close to the station. It was in a seedy neighborhood and the place was pretty tacky but the gorgeous owner, Lorenzo, made up for all of its deficiencies. Our lone roomie was a cute, likeable, intoxicated guy from Czech Republic. Hit the beautiful Piazza Dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles) with it's beautiful cathedral and famous leaning tower the next morning. I was skeptical, thinking that the tower would be just another lame excuse to get travellers to visit an otherwise dull town, but it turned out to be worth the trip! What a crazy site it is! It's hard to take your eyes off of the thing!

Hit the train for Lucca in the afternoon. What an adorable city with its massive wall, lovely shady parks, and narrow quiet streets. I want to live there! It has to be my favorite city in Italy. Our pension was beautiful with large wood windows that opened up onto the main street through town. Mel was laid up with an increasingly sore knee, so I took off alone to find a bank and check out the town. Hit several cute squares and churches then several shops to gather our dinner. We feasted on pesto, bread, sun dried tomatoes, olives, cheese, prosciutto, and a local red wine in our pension. We could have stayed much longer in lovely Lucca but Mel had to meet up with her daughters in Rome the next day so we hobbled off to the train station early next morning.

After saying goodbye to Melanie at Termini that afternoon, I caught a night train to Nice. It was not a sleeper and I was crammed into a six-seat compartment with five others. Luckily, I sat next to a very nice young man from China, Quebo, who was studying architecture in Genoa. He was interesting and funny and we talked for hours. My wrenched and swollen knee was painful and only felt slightly better when my leg was fully extended but everyone tried to accommodate me by shuffling their feet around.

Had a five-hour layover in Ventimiglia at 12:30 a.m. The station was open but the waiting room with chairs was locked. There were a lot of scary-looking guys who kept walking by and trying to start a conversation. One offered to be my "protector" for the night (for a small fee of course!) It was then that I decided to try and spend the night in the bathroom, but it was locked. It was cold, windy, and had started raining so I went inside the equallly cold station and found the only other women (three young girls from Tangier) who had barricaded themselves in the only free corner (except for one intoxicated homeless guy) and they made room for me to join them. The marble floor was freezing so I ended up sleeping (one eye open) scrunched up on my pack, my day pack under my head, and my jacket over me. The homeless guy wasn't happy about sharing his bedroom with four others. Since I was the last in, I had to sleep next to him! Ugh! He had a cup of beer next to him and I marveled at his self control in saving it for later until I realized that since it was pouring rain and the bathrooms were locked, it wasn't beer at all! It was a miserable five hours and I was more than ready to catch the train for Nice at 5:30 a.m. Goodbye Italy, again!