What an eventful week! It was Poland's national
holiday this week and my friend, Lütfullah and
I booked to travel around Italy during this time.
 |
| Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral) |
From the
beginning we ran into difficulties! We realised that the only train available
to Wroclaw was leaving at 8.30pm, leaving us in Wroclaw 6 hours earlier than we
needed to be! We ended up spending 3 hours in McDonalds and then slept in the
airport for 2 hours!
When we got to Milan, we were greeted by rain and wind. Wet and tired, we walked the forty-five minutes to our hostel, the website said a ten minute walk, only to be told we could not get into our rooms for another four hours. Despite our difficulties in Milan, we still managed to enjoy ourselves visiting parks, the cathedral and a bar, of course and it got nicer as the day went on.
 |
| In the main square of Milan |
 |
| Beautiful day in Venice |
In Venice, we had booked to stay in a campsite on the
mainland, as it was cheaper. As it was a little out of the way, we found it
difficult to find at first, attempting to hitchhike part of the way. Nonetheless,
the next day we traveled to Venice and it was the most beautiful place I have
ever been and definitely want to return for longer.
In
Bologna we were met by our ‘host’, through the ‘couchsurfing’ website, Anna
(Couchsurfing, 2013). She took us on a tour around her city, showing us the
historical sites, such as the cathedrals, the Mayors building and the 3 main squares.
In the evening, Anna cooked us a delicious authentic Italian dinner and she
invited her friends who were German, South Korean and of course Italian!
 |
| Our Couchsurfing Host in Bologna, Anna |
Unfortunately
we were very tired the following day in Florence however I still appreciated
the beauty of Florence, especially the views from the bridges overlooking the
river. In the evening we bought ingredients and tried to imitate Anna’s
beautiful pasta dish in Bologna. That night was very special in Italy as it 30th
April, the day before International Worker’s day. In every street corner, bands
were playing; people were singing, dancing and laughing, it was a lovely way to
remember Florence.
 |
| Just before the party started! |
 |
| At the Spanish Steps |
The sun
was splitting the trees the following day when we visited Rome. Every corner we
turned in Rome seemed to be picturesque, with a story to tell. We got so
distracted with Rome we almost missed our flight back to Budapest!
 |
| The Colosseum |
In
Budapest, we booked to stay in a hostel called ‘Grandio Party Hostel’. We
arrived at 1am
at the door, which was locked. We waited for someone to come and
check us in for an hour! Eventually the person on duty woke up. Needless to
say, we were a little annoyed. The Hostel itself was very interesting, covered
in artistic graffiti; however it was obvious that some of the guests were contributing
to this! We enjoyed our day in Budapest walking around the markets and sitting
by the river.
 |
| Grandio Party Hostel |
We then
had to visit Vienna for a day as our train was fully booked to Krakow. We went
to a carnival in Vienna. Afterwards, we accidentally walked into, what seemed to
be a protest to legalise marijuana! People were walking around with marijuana
potted plants in their hands, dancing to drum and bass music, whilst the police
stood by and watched. It was very surreal to say the least! I researched this
after to find out it is called the ‘Global Marijuana March’ which occurs on the first Saturday in April (Gottfried, 2004).
 |
| Vienna Carnival |
 |
| The Beginning of the Vienna Global Marjuana March |
 |
| Austrian Man we met |
In conclusion, from graffiti covered hostels to Marijuana marches,
my eyes were opened on this trip. I was very sad to see the number of people who
are homeless and the amount of poverty within Italy, Hungary and Austria. Despite
being in tourist destinations, it was still very apparent, we passed many people sleeping in doorways, on park benches, on the subway, with their suitcases and shopping carts beside them. We spoke to an Austrian
man who had recently become homeless and he seemed tired, depressed and fed up
with life, but was still very friendly to us. I couldn't help but feel guilty for all the luxuries I enjoy in my
life, when all he wanted was a place to call home. “Home is a notion that only nations of the homeless fully
appreciate and only the uprooted comprehend” (Stegner, 1992).
References:
CS available at; https://www.couchsurfing.org/
accessed on 03/05/13
Gottfried, T. (2004) ‘The Facts About
Marijuana’ Marshall Cavendish
Stegner,
W. (1992) ‘Angle of Repose’ Penguin
No comments:
Post a Comment