Nov 10, 2010

The Italian Odyssey Part II

I left the baggage claim section of the airport, still a little bummed for not having my bag, but very happy to be in Italy.  The best thing about it all was that my friend Pondia was there and she's always got my back.  She is the kind of person that if you are falling off a cliff she would fall faster and have a soft landing cushion for you to land and would be waiting right next to it with a glass of whisky.  Really, that's how much of my back she's got. 

My mom taught me never to discuss money in conversations, but she never said anything about blogging, so let me confess: I am awfully broke.  Don't get me wrong, I have an awesome job with a juicy paycheck that comes every month.  Unfortunately, I also have this  urge to travel a lot.  I went to the Bahamas in the Spring on a cruise with the Bear and we decided that cruising was awesome and we wanted to do it again.  Again was this September when we decided to cruise Alaska.  Before that we went to the beach a thousand times because we were tired or it was my birthday or we just wanted to go to the beach.  We also went to Palm Springs because we wanted to go to Coachella (note to self: write a blog about Coachella) and to Orlando because I always go to Orlando for Halloween. 

The thing is that every time I go on vacation I spend like my credit card is on vacations too.  I cannot resist outlets, American Wal*Mart (Mexican Wal*Mart is very different and I hate it), Abercrombie, and Target.  Yes, I'm Mexican white trash and I love it.  The mechanics of this compulsive buying goes like this: I buy and buy and buy and buy and buy and then my credit card maxes out and ladies in stores will look at me with lamb eyes and a voice as if she was informing the death of someone and say: "Sorry, credit not approved."  And what will I do?  I WILL TAKE OUT ANOTHER CARD!!!  Somebody help me, I'm sick!!  This goes on and on.  If the trip is long enough, I will max out ALL of my credit cards, and that is what happened in Orlando.  Worry not, I was still able to buy my Hogwarts sweatshirt and four pairs of shoes.

Aaaaaaaanywho, I'm broke.  Back to Italy...

I found Mary at the airport and told her about my bag, she said she had my back (told ya!).  We went to get a cab and showed them the address of the hotel.  They said this was one hour away and it would be around 150€.  Whaaaaaaaat??? In Mexico for 150€ you can go to Acapulco by plane (points for Mexico)!!  OK, worry not, P&G's got me covered.  Do you accept American Express, Mr. Super Expensive Taxi Man?  No, of course I don't, this is Europe.  We take Diners Club, but American Express is out of the question.  GRRRR.  The not-so-kind taxi driver suggested that I went to the ATM and took out money.  So I did, and the ATM did not take Amex either.  I was coat-less in the cold, penny-less, and 100km away from where I was supposed to be.  Mary, in her true spirit, said: I can pay for the taxi, and when you find an ATM that takes Amex, you pay me back.  Do you love this girl or what?  We went to the hotel in Castelfranco Veneto, we found an ATM that took Amex, and we walked around to get to know the town.  We had an awesome pasta for dinner, with a 9€ wine bottle (in Mexico for 9€ there's no way you get chianti, points for Italy).


The next day I had to go to work so I wear Mary's clothes to the office.  I don't understand a thing the Italians are saying but they are all handsome so I smile at them and say "Si" and they smile back at me and it is good.  They took us out to lunch to a typical Italian place where it was all pizza and pasta... yummy!!! I have pasta.  After a long day of arduous work, I came back to the hotel around 7:00pm full of hope and ask the lady at the check-in desk if my bag is there.  She says no,  I feel sad, but go back to happy again because I am in Italy with one of my best friends and I can go have pizza!! 

This is just the first two days... This will certainly be continued. 

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