Travel Trauma

OK... so, I didn't have the best day on Saturday. I woke up early and caught my train to Venice. It was a gorgeous ride through the Austrian - Italian Alps and I was really looking forward to Venice! I got there around 1 pm and it was hot & muggy - a bit of a shock soming from the mountains!!!! Iwent straight to the TI since I did not have reservations for a place to stay. Uh oh. The TI wasn't overly helpful and it was the first one that did NOT book hostels!!?? They only book hotels! Shit. So, burdened with all of my stuff, I headed out in search of a bed. 2 hours later, soaked with sweat and miserable, I hadn't found a place for less than 150 Euros a night!! Fuck! So, I made the decision to simply walk around Venice and see all the major sights, then head out to Florence. So, for 6 - 7 hours, I lugged all of my shit al aroud Venice, fighting the crowds and desperately trying to stay hydrated! I crossed the Rialto Bridge (several times, actually), went to St. Mark's square and was assaulted by pigeons (yes, I have a picture!!), and got lost in the winding narrow alleyways! That would have been a lot more fun if I did not have my backpack. But oh well!! While wandering, I did find the mask maker who created all of the masks for the film Eyes Wide Shut, which was very cool! Wow! The masks were amazing!! So, once I hit the Grand Canal around 6pm, I decided I would take a Vaporetto back to the train station. So, I waited in line, but the surly clerk demanded exact change - did I have it?? No, I did not. So, I walked. And for a good hour, I was terribly lost. I finally found the train station and hopped on the next train to Florence. I had a 45 minute layovr in Bologne, which was fine! I hadn't eaten all day and I was starving! So, I grabbed a quick bite and headed over to Platform 3 - which is where I was told to go. So, as the minutes pass by, I fight off the homeless italian men and wonder why no one else was there! As the departure time rapidly approached and there was no sign of the train, I went and asked at te office if there was a delay. No, there wasn't. I was on the wrong Platform 3!!! They have like 5 Platform 3s aand no distinction between them!!! Fuck! I missed my train and had to catch the next one. It was a seedy slow local train. I was staning in the corrider looking out over a pitch black Tuscan countryside, when this girl came up to me andsputtered something in Italian. I was so exhausted that I couldn't understand her, so I said (in English) that I don't speak Italian. She laughed right in my face and hurried into her compartment and told her companions about the ridiculous American who said "I speak Italian" to her. No, I said I don't, you hateful little bitch!! I said nothing to hr and simply stewed as the train slowly made it's way to Firenze - Campo Marte. Around midnight, the train finally pulls into the suburban station. It was dark and deserted and immediately I wished I wasn't alone. So, I pulled up my big girl britches, and found the night bus station to go to the Santa Maria Novella station in the center of Florence. The next bus towards my hostel was not for another 40 minutes, so I decided to walk. The nice gentleman at the newstand assured me that it was only a 10-15 minute walk to Via Cavour and showed me on the map. It seemed simple enough, so I headed off. Over an hour of wandering through dark and deserted Florentine streets, I finally found my hostel. I rang the bell and they buzzed me in. Well, the building was devided into 2 section with 2 stairwells, but I was so exhausted that I just did not grasp this! I walked up and down the wrong stairs I don't know how many times. When I got to the lobby for the final time, I broke down and started to cry. Oh god, I was going to have to sleep in the train station spending the night being molested by horny Italian men!!!! Nooooooooo!!! sob sob Fortunately, I saw the little passageway that led to the other stairs and as I rounded the corner, there was a guy getting off the elevator. He told me to go up 1 flight of stairs and the hostel is right there. sob sob Thanks! So, I walked up the stairs and the hostel was right there! Luckily, they had 1 bed left!!! So, at 1:30 am, I checked in and passed out.