Bonjourno from Italia!

I have been in Venice for about two and a half days now and it's been interesting....

I got in really late, around midnight, took the water bus (as you do) and found my hostel no problem. The next morning I woke up, decided to grab a coffee and go over my free map to decide what would be on the days agenda. Only problem: Insanely windy outside. I go to sip my coffee and my map flies away, right past a woman who just watches it, makes no move to stop it. I get up to go after it but, as a result of her inaction, into the canal goes the map. I'm visibly annoyed with her and, I think as an olive branch, she asks me to sit with her. Sure, why not.

She is British and super nice it turns out. We sit and talk for about 4 hrs when I decide it's time to go see the city and she asks if she can come with me. I should have known then. But I didn't. So I say ok and we spend the day together. It doesn't take long for me to realize that she is heavy on the bottle and has come here to run away from some issues. She is divorced, her husband just got remarried, her daughter is a semi mild form of my cousin Kristen and I think she just needed a break. Don't get me wrong, she is really nice and interesting but by the end of the day I was exhausted and searching for an excuse to bid farewell. I finally do and then she asks if I want to meet her at 11 the next day, yesterday. How am I supposed to answer that? So I said yes.

Yesterday we met and walked through a really cool part of Venice, totally residential and not crowded. We got some lunch- gnocchi with prawns- and she got DRUNK. By the time we left she was slirring her words, not following my sentences, a hot mess. She asks if I want another drink, I said naw I'm good, maybe we should get some coffee? She is determined to stick with the wine. So we go to another place, I get coffee and even more annoyed with her than yesterday and she gets crazier. THEN she asks if she can come with me to Virgil's!!! Are you kidding me? When I said I didn't think it was appropriate, I'm his guest at his house and I can't just show up with a rando. She drunkenly slurs " it's ok, I get it, you don't want to take someone who could be your mom on holiday". Jesus Christ woman, get it together. She then announces that Bologna (where I'm doing a short crossover on my way to meet Virgil tonight) is a free city and she will come with me there. I mean I guess I can't stop her. I was laughing bc I know she was hammered and over reacting, kept repeating sentences and getting details of the train wrong.

Like I said, she is nice and, actually, it's sad. This is why I took this trip, so I don't end up like a crazy British lady who got married at 20, had kids at 22 and is now looking back wishing she was a 23 year old exploring the world with no ties. She is border line stalking me trying to live vicariously through me but it's just not possible. Meeting her has made me really appreciate this trip and this time even more than I already did. I realize now, even more then before, that now is the time for this and not to feel guilty about it like I can sometimes talk myself into doing.

My train leaves in an hr and I'm interested to see if she will show up or not. With or without her, I plan on eating some serious pasta bolognese for lunch and heading to Parma solo tonight.

Never a dull moment,
Lindsey