Italy Day One

Yesterday is a blur already.   We flew from Indy to Atlanta, and then from Atlanta to Venice.  There were some delays getting the plane in Atlanta off the ground, but other than that, it went smoothly. 

It was my first full night spent on a plane.  I can’t claim to have enjoyed it, but it got me here, so that’s something.  

Side note: this week has been unusually hot in Venice.  Boy, did the 90 degree weather make everything we had to do to get to Duino just sooo much more enjoyable.  Anyway, after going through Customs and getting our luggage (none was lost, thank goodness!) we started the stressful and confusing task of taking the bus.  Mike managed to get the tickets near the baggage claim using a machine, and we headed out to try to find the right bus in a sea of them.  We found the right bus stop after a woman kindly told us we were on the wrong bus as it was about to pull out.  Then we had to wait because two of the scheduled buses didn’t show up for who knows why.  Then a bus finally did come and about three people got off.  Three more got on and the bus left.  Unfortunately, we were not those three.  But after several minutes of waiting in the heat, (did I mention it was hot?) another bus arrived.  Thankfully, we did get on this one, but it was a close call.  Mike almost got left at the airport because they tried to tell him there was no room.  We all managed to find seats, though. 

Then came the train station.  I don’t really even want to talk about the train station…  I’ll save a description of that experience for another day.  Maybe…

At last, we got off the train at Monfalcone, and there was Andy!  We had made it.   We weren’t in Duino yet, but at that point, we could depend on someone else to know how to get to where we were going, and I think that was a relief to all of us.

Fifteen minutes later, and we were in Duino.  It’s a beautiful small town on the Adriatic coast.  There’s a castle and a college right on the cliffs.  The college is where Andy and Spencer are holding the festival.  There’s a small piazza in the center of town, with a

Edit to add - That last sentence is incomplete because I fell asleep.  It was going to say something about a castle though, in case you’re wondering.  I’m afraid this is all you’ll hear about our first day for now, as I’ve just written the second day’s post, and I’m too tired to finish this one.  Sorry!

Jenna