There comes a time in every student's semester when they simply can't read any more novels, write any more papers, or even discuss anything remotely academic. This time usually comes about halfway through the semester and is commonly referred to as "Spring Break". This strange phenomenon usually lasts for a week, but my schedule in London has afforded me a full two weeks off! (It was actually a little bit more because of weekends, cancelled classes, and Fridays off.)
Because of the length of my break this post will come in a series of installments. I envision only 2 or 3 volumes to this epic, however I often surprise myself with my ability to write far more than originally planned.
My spring break began on the evening of Wednesday, the 9th of April after attending a play called "The Weir" for class. As soon as I returned to my flat around 10:30pm I began packing for my 7am flight, which required me to leave my flat at 3:30am to catch a train to the airport. I know what you're thinking, why didn't I pack sooner? I'll tell you why: because I spent about a week stressing out over the idea of packing two weeks of clothing and toiletries into one small carry on. Plus, I am known to procrastinate when it comes to packing. I think I finished packing - and repacking - everything by about 2am and got a full 45 minutes of sleep before I had to wake up, get dressed, and begin my adventure. For all those wondering: yes, I did manage to pack enought clothes for 15 days; yes, I did have to narrow down my selections to one outfit per day; and yes, I did have to sit on my suitcase in order to close it. The important thing is that I was able to pack everything in a carry on and I thought that deserved a celebration so I ate a whole bar of dark chocolate that night.
I thought the first leg of my journey would be almost completely stress free until I was actually sitting on a plane, flying high above the Swiss Alps. I realized that my plane was scheduled to arrive at 9:50 in Milan and that my train to Lugano, Switzerland was scheduled to leave Milano Centrale at 11:10. For some reason I gave myself only an hour and 20 minutes to arrive at the airport, go through border security, and take an hour-long bus ride to the train station. For some reason I thought I was superhuman and could stop time to embark on my great adventure. I was wrong. I was one of the last people to get off the plane and one of the last people to pass through customs. By the time I found the bus I needed to take I had about 45 minutes until my train left the station. Maybe the roads will be completely empty because of some obscure Italian holiday, I thought. Alas, my optimism was too far-fetched. When I got on the bus I was under the impression that it was a direct bus to Milano Centrale. I had absolutely no idea that we would be stopping at a smaller train station/events arena before my final destination, and that most people would be getting off there. When the bus stopped at 11:15 (there was a lot of traffic - that Italian holiday I was hoping for must have put every car on the road) I zoomed off in the hopes that my train was delayed for some odd reason and that I would be able to make it onto my original train. In my mind there was still an obscure Italian holiday, only at this moment it was responsible for delaying everything.
I wandered around this relatively small train station for at least 10 minutes in search of the correct train platform, an information booth, English signs, and wifi. I couldn't find any of those things. After the 10 minutes was up I suspected that I was not, in fact, at Milano Centrale, but that I had gotten off my bus too soon. Finally I found a man who spoke a little bit of English who confirmed my suspicions. He began to tell me how to take public transportation to the train station, but I had to stop him and ask where I could find a taxi. Taking public transport would have entailed taking a suburban train to an underground station and taking 2 different lines on the underground only to walk about 7 minutes to the actual train station. Don't forget that I know very very little Italian. Taking a taxi was going to be much more expensive, but I realized that it was the only way I would actually make it to the train station without being abducted or ending up in a completely different city. My taxi driver gave me a flat rate for getting to the train station (don't worry mom and dad, the meter was also running and the flat rate turned out to be € 1 less than the metered rate. I've lived in New York long enough to know how to get the best deal from a cab driver) and upon learning that I was going to Lugano, offered to drive me there for €140. I was tempted to just stay in the car and not have to deal with any other modes of transportation, but I could hear the faint cry of my wallet at the sound of losing that much money.
I got to the train station (finally) and got a ticket for the next possible train, which gave me about 2 and a half hours to sit in the station and calm down before my next journey. (Read: which gave me about 2 and a half hours to run frantically around the train station in search of an actual wifi connection that would allow me to tell my friend in Switzerland what had happened and that I would be late. Though, in retrospect I realize he must have already known I would be late because my train had arrived in Lugano about 30 minutes before I had even gotten to Milano Centrale.) I ate a little, read a little, and then found my seat on the train. The journey from Milan to Lugano was beautiful. I passed through northern Italy, saw Lake Como from my seat on the train, and arrived in the charming town of Lugano.
This is the end of Part I of my Spring Break Saga. I realize I left you all with a cliffhanger and that this part only recounts the events of about 15 hours of a 16 day adventure, but the events of those first 15 hours were exciting (not to mention stressful) enough for me to feel like I needed to share them with the internet. I am now realizing that this tale will consist of way more than just 2 volumes, but this is my way of making up for the lack of posts in the past month and a half.
To be continued....
