On the loose...

So I know it must seem that most of my updates and posts and whatnot are all about weekend trips and fun things we do with friends (and not about school and studying), but if I were to write about studying and reading the UN Charter (which is actually very interesting)- I highly suspect people would stop reading. So with that said... yesterday we became very familiar with this guy named Murphy and this law of his...

Around 11pm Thursday night Ian asked if any of us were interested in going to the beach tomorrow (Friday). Kurtis and I say that we are, so we all wake up around 8am Friday to catch the 9:50 train from Termini (a good hike from our apartment). We take the tram to the last stop, then walk, slower than we would have preferred, to the station- just missing the 9:50 train. No big deal though, we grab breakfast and wait for the 10:50 one. Which should put us at the beach right around noon. We got our tickets and around 10:35 we go to check the departures board with all the platforms and information about possible delays. What do we see? Not that our train is delayed, not that it's arrived, not that it's changed platforms, actually- we see nothing. The board was no longer working. Hmmmm... Ok- we can go look it up in the huge book they have. We find a train that we think is heading towards Napoli (two stops farther than Sperlonga, the beach we want), that is leaving at the right time- so we (Ian, L (Ian's friend), Kurtis, and I) jump on as its pulling away.

We know that we are (should be) heading south, so we keep looking out the windows hoping to see the ocean on our right. Realizing the whole time there is a very real possibility of seeing it on our left, which would start an entirely new adventure. We never see the ocean. Our ticket stub says to "Fondi-Sperlonga", so when we see the stop that says "Fondi", but no "Sperlonga" following, we decide it's smarter to ask someone than to just jump off (some stops have one name, then the next stop has the two names which is the one you actually want). We ask a couple sitting next to us, they deliberate and tell us that it is in fact the correct stop. So we rush to the doors, start pulling on them, and an official comes running up to us asking what we're doing. We tell him that we'd like to get off and he goes into this rant (in Italian of course) that we don't understand. I do understand though, one part where he says we can't. I ask why, and... the train starts moving. "Ah, perche andiamo." = "Ah, because we're going." "Si!" was his answer. So we stay right by the door, wait for the absolute second the train stops at the next station, Ian hurls open the doors and we rush off. No more playing around debating whether or not to get off.

So we end up in Fornia. A nice enough port city, right on the water with a small market that we walked around a bit. To backtrack a bit, that morning, Kurtis was supposed to have left at 5am to go on an Island hopping trip with a group, but when we all woke up at 8am and he was in the shower... well- he missed it. However, as we were walking around- I notice a sign that says "Ferry to the so and so Islands" (not actually "so and so", just can't remember what they were), the exact island that Kurtis was supposed to be on in about 3 hours. Just enough time for the ferry to get him there. Awesome. We tell Kurtis Buona Fortuna and Ian, L, and I head off back to the train station to get a train back to Fondi. After waiting for about 45 minutes or so, we get on the train and again, immediately jump off at Fondi.

At the Fondi station there's.... nothing. A small (100 sq. foot) station, a 20 sq. foot Tabbachi and not much else. We walk to the bus stop and find the schedule of buses that go to the beach. It's currently 1-ish, so our eyes slowly scan the column to find the next bus at.... 3:15. One had also just left at 12:50. Ok.... we wait for about 20 minutes and two girls walk out from the station after getting off a train, about our age and wearing bathing suits under their clothes. L goes for a walk to see if there was anything on the other side of the station and walks past the girls on her way back, so I ask "What language were they speaking???" "They weren't talking to each other." "Crap." We wait another 15 minutes or so and one asks us "Are you trying to get to the beach?" English. Awesome. So we join together, introduce ourselves, and meet the new girls, K and A. So incredibly slowly, 3 o'clock rolls around, then 3:10, 3:15 and.... nothing. 3:30... nothing. 3:40 and a bus pulls up. Finally. I ask to make sure that this is the right bus- he says no, that our bus will be here at 4. Of course it will be. 4:00... nothing. 4:20, the right bus shows up- we get on, and by 4:35 we're actually on the beach (supposed to be on the beach around 11, originally). But we're there, we're with new friends and we're in the water, finally. And as it turned out, K had never been in salt water before (Both K and A are from Iowa)! So that was fun, she immediately came to the realization that it really does taste salty.

We stay in the water for 15 minutes or so, then get on the by now, windy and chilly beach to warm up. Decide to walk around for a bit, explore the town, which I highly recommend for anyone who visits Napoli area. Absolutely beautiful little town on a hill, without the incredibly amounts of tourists that flock to the more well known locations. We also happended to walk into the filming of the movie "Capri"(emphasis is on the Ca syllable, not the "pri", as Americans think), which was very cool to be able to see. Walking around and being utterly confused most of the day really does work up an appetite, so we found a nice little restaurant after watching the sunset from the coast next to very impressive jagged island in the sea (pictures will be up sometime), so we really did, "sit and watch the sunset, turn the sky completely red" (little did we know at this point that we'd almost be forced to complete the next stanza as well...). So at dinner, we saw where the bus picks up people to bring them back to Fondi station to get on the train for Rome, which was right across from our restaurant, which we figured would be perfect. We watched a bus go by as we had just sat down around 7, didn't think much of it. So after dinner, around 8:30-8:45, we go to find the timetable and again our eyes scan across to find... the last bus was at 7:10. Alright, Murphy...

We can a taxi to get us to the station, who says that he'll be there in 10 minutes, hoping against hope that he can fit 5 people. We know at this point, that the last train to Rome leaves at 10:07. We need at least a half hour to get back to the station. So when 9:30 rolls around and no Taxi is in sight... K asks the question of "umm... should I be worried?" "No way, of course not, we'll get you home." Is what I immediately say, while thinking "I know that sleeping out on Pinkham is more comfortable than you'd think, sleeping on the sand will be wonderful!" 10 minutes later, the taxi gets there with 5 seats. He tells us that he can get us there in 10 minutes. Well, 13 minutes and one crazy ride later (by crazy read: going 140 in a 50), we arrive safe and sound at the station. We hop on the train with time to spare, and all settle down for what should be a quick, easy ride home. More or less it was. I was awoken once by the speaker saying something and all I caught was the tail end of it, saying "we apologize for this inconvenience". *You have got to be kidding me.* Ian wakes up as well and we start talking about what's going on, K then turns around, I ask her if she caught any of what they said before it and she goes "Oh, no... well at least we haven't noticed anything yet." "Anything? Like any inconvenience?" "Yeah", she says "I haven't noticed anything." To which I reply, "We're not moving!!!" "Oh... this isn't a stop?" As she looks out the window to see bridge and fields. "Oh." But 10 or so minutes later, we continue to Termini and get back safe and sound. Ian walks L home- I walk K and A home, then hop on the tram and how wonderful my bed felt that night is beyond words.

So all in all? Success or failure? Absolute success. We started the day smiling, we ended smiling and laughing. We made friends, we got closer with ones we'd already had. Yes, there were times when we were nervous, lost, utterly perplexed, and even wondering if we'd be sleeping on a beach somewhere with wet towels for blankets- but we were friends, we were together, and we, were On The Loose.