# Milan, Italy



## Ramblin_Rose (Jan 24, 2008)

There in Milan, Italy, I got off the bus and at the hotel they took our passports. Until 2:00 none of us in the group from the United States of America were allowed to check in. Around the corner was a place where they sold pizza, so there was the next stop. Half the group was already in there when they had locked the door. No one else was to have to put up with the ugly Americans and their bad manners. Ha, bad manners to that. The vendor guy at the corner was smiling and then pointed at me which immediately pissed me off. _Don't fucking point at me that's rude._ 

Regardless, I did not get anything to eat but had a glass of the most delicious white wine I had ever tasted in my life. The elevation was high and I only had half a glass and I was pretty sure I was wasted. The girl across the table from me and her boyfriend were aggravating. They seemed to think they were culturally-aware hippy embracers but at the same time took showers and weren't hippies at all. I was interested in her because she had about five holes in her ears but it turns out that was just a facade to be totally self-absorbed and annoying. Eventually in the trip we managed to get our points across to each other.

I could tell that a lot of the people on the trip who were politically aware (the primaries were held the morning I left the USA) were concentrating on the war in Iraq. I thought this was ignorant as anything else in the world. It was, ugh, mainstream. The concerns of myself were the illegal immigants taking jobs someone else could have, non-voters, patriot act and the realization that while we are fighting for right in another country we are getting ours in our very yard taken away by some masked hand that no one wants to pay attention too. It's easy to focus on what is obviously wrong, killing, but how do we know what the focus is really on? I believed that it was to take our focus away from what was really important. So, I end up leaving in anger. No one wanted to be with me. I was like let's go outside! No. Of course. 

I got up and stormed out of there so quick. The kid from my hometown was with us and he was in the bathroom. I flung open that door and practically caused a scene. It was one of those doors that flew open more than you think it will, in the restaurant in Milan. Back at the hotel I checked into a room. They gave me the wrong room and wouldn't listen to me explain it but.....hey....another story right? 

The next day we were to leave for Vienna, Austria by overnight train. A guided tour took us around the city by bus and then on foot. Through a church with zodiac signs in the marble floor, organs, candles, unich basement houses and wonderful art everywhere. Stained glass and carved wood doors with people, angels, roses and religion type stuff in them. There was a statue of a guy with his skin wrapped around him. It was so cool. He was an apostle and I took the picture. You could see his face behind him hanging off his shoulder like the end of a piece of fabric. 

Anyway, I ended up at this place and our "adult" says if you want you can do this or this. A few of us decided to stay. There was a man playing guitar and some people milling around selling things for money. There were a lot of cats and I thought that was neat. Plus, there was like this bridge and under it was grass and I really wanted to go down there but there were, like, people there. I was with this group. The bathroom was my next stop becasue I stuck my hand in some European bird poop. I was like, "I need to wash my hand, like immediately" so I walked to the information center. Then all the way back to where the bathroom is. I come out and don't see the group anywhere. 

I walk around more listening to the music. My neon green gloves became necessary soon. I made a wish in a pond and thought of places I'd seen like this. It was three courtyards and a building with two floors surrounding the inner courtyard, which is where the pool was. A fountain was at one end towards the hotel and a park at the other end.

Soon enough, I realized that it was getting dark and I thought my group had left. Whatever. I couldn't believe it. I did not plan the trip so I had no map, no hotel name and we'd only been there a day. Plus I was with the group tour so I did not take the directions to get where we were! I was totally left behind. Who leaves when someone is in the bathroom?! Messed up, right!? Absolutely unbelievable irresponsiblity; I hate people like that a lot, so much. Luckily, I had walked around the day before and remembered one of the streets I'd walked down around the block of the hotel. Some hotel called Star Hotel but that was only the chain not the name. 

Then I got approached by a dark Italian man who said he was a Swede. Uh no you aren't Swedish, I thought. He had a map and wanted to take me to the train station but I wouldn't let him and he would not leave the area until I was leaving, it seemed like. I had to go back to information and get a map. They did not seem to care that I was like the lost kid in the supermarket about to get kidnapped for life! Eventually I got the map and that damn lying Swede would not leave me alone and I kept having to shake his hand a million times goodbye at every meeting. 

There was a black man who spoke great English selling bracelettes. I hadn't even had a chance to exhaust my currency. He forced me to take it and said it would bring me good luck. He tied it tight around my wrist. Lucky for me I had food in my back and warm stuff in case I had to stay there, with the cats in the grassy area. There was this one black one that I wanted to get to know and hang out with maybe later. That guy tied that braclette around my wrist so tight; it's still on my wrist. The left one. It is still bringing me good luck. I started to walk our to find my hotel and he said, "I love you". It was great and I made it back to my hotel. 

I had to cry when I saw everyone. I thought for sure they were going to send me back and deport me! There had been a requirement of me having to write an essay about the times I'd been arrested on campus and such. Then I had to talk to an administrator about being allowed to go and was told that I couldn't act up, had to dress nice, no smoking pot etc. I said, "this is bogus. I haven't done anything wrong". Maybe she should have said something to the entire group that almost left me in another country because they are so disrespectful and they even could be stupid. Honestly, I get yelled at AND no one else can act appropriately? It does not make sense but, again another story. 

Needless to say I was pissed. I had to cry to make sure everyone knew I did not do it on purpose. I should have been allowed to just yell at everyone but who knows when I could have gotten sent back right? So I had to put myself aside when I shouldn't have had to. I was so mad at that kid from my hometown. He said he didn't hear me but I knew he had he laughed when I touched the bird poop. It was weird; we were all in a different country for the first time and I'm not one to announce every detail of my life and where I'm going to everyone all the time anyway. Well, I got on the train and rode it to Vienna, Austria.


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## finn (Jan 28, 2008)

Ramblin_Rose said:


> The concerns of myself were the illegal immigrants taking jobs someone else could have...


So, if some Canadian trainhoppers were to cross the border via freight and take some construction jobs to buy stuff they need, would you be against that? That would be messed up.


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