2005-10-24

Happiness Abounds!

Gah, I don't even know where to begin!

So much is going on! So many emotions! So many minutes spent talking on the phone to Patrick!
SO!

Yesterday...

I headed to Padova, got myself settled in at my hostel. I took a bus there and everything!! The hostel is pretty good, you get a great breakfast and cheap (incredibly comfy) beds. Top notch!

I have become somewhat of a spectacle there, let me tell you. Being the only young woman and from Canada, I'm like a center ring circus act. There are two guys that are just too much, one is Italian and the other Pakistani. Oh man. I think that if they keep up like last night, I might have to change hostels. I'm not scared for my safety or anything, in fact, I feel very safe, but they are just annoying the heck out of me. Each of them simply stares at me and asks me out to dinner and the like, tells me they like me... bah! Disastro! Thankfully, there was a swiss guy at the table who could kind of counter balance things for me and he helped me from crying and or punching in some faces. A protector, if you will!

AND. We might as well just get the creep factor out of the way before I tell you the amazingness of Padova so far. Carlos, the Amsterdam bus man, has officially moved to Creep Central and is sharing top position. Thankfully, he doesn't know where I am, and I've managed to block his phone number from my phone. He only called me 17 times yesterday. And text messaged me 4. Creep. Central. I've got it covered though, I think he kinda figured it out, and I even resorted to making up a boyfriend and everything. Didn't faze him at first, but you know, when I mentioned I want to get married, he got the hint. haha. I hope one of you is prepared to fly over to Italy in the event I do see him and he questions my relationship status. Teresa. I'm looking at you for this one.

I don't really know why.

ANYWAYS! So much! Let me tell you the awesome of Padova now, because seriously, there is A LOT. I'm absolutly loving it.

Last night, I was rescued from Pakman (clever name, eh? it was either that, or Nut, because his name is Sultan... like sultanas.... nevermind.) by this Albanian guy, named, of all things, Dario. For those of you completely out of the loop, that is, in fact, the name of my father. So, Dario comes over and starts talking to me, and about five minutes later he invited me for a walk about Padova at night. Sooo beautiful! In Prato della Valle, which is surrounded by statues and water, they light up everything and it's seriously magical. We spent a good few hours hanging out and talking in broken English and Italian, it was really fun. He's 20 and he plays volleyball for Padova Uni, where he's been going to school for a year. It was nice to be out of the hostel at night. I have to say, though, I've gotten some courage up this last month and where I'm comfortable, I do quite a bit of night walking by myself. It's a totally different experience. I reccommend it.

SO! Then I went back to the hostel and all the creep central was going on, so I went to bed.

This morning, I woke up and went for breakfast with Dario and the like, which was tasty, and went back up to my room. I met this girl named Suzana from Australia (they are taking over Europe, those Aussies) and we've spent the day so far just wandering around Padova. It's beautiful and lively and engaging. I really like it.

We stumbled on St. Anthony's Cathedral and it was honestly breath-taking. It might have just showed up seeing the Pope. The cathedral inside is amazing--- dark and beautiful and stunning. The artwork is amazing, but it's very personal and not cold and empty like the bigger cathedrals. It hasn't been... touristized. So we went to one of the little chapels, where there was a priest there, whom kind of talked to us a little bit in Italian.

We went and said a little prayer in this small chapel, and the priest came over and blessed us and sprinkled us with holy water. He said a beautiful prayer for us in Italian (which I understood, YES!) praying for protection and a beautiful and happy experience in our travels. Then he wished us a great and safe trip. When he asked where we were from, he held both of our hands and was so happy. 'What a long way! It's so beautiful you are here!' It was so warm and just gorgeous! It made my trip to Padova. Both Suzana and I were like... it was special, folks.

Then, we went around the cathedral, which is amazing. I wish I could have taken pictures. We saw all the reliquaries, which included his tomb, but also his cloak and tunic, AND his jaw and tounge... weird, but very catholic reliquaryish. I studied alot of this stuff in Art History, so it was like double the awesome for me.

Suzana is great because she's also travelling alone, AND she's got the exact same travel 'technique' as I do, so we've spent all day wandering around and getting very lost. It's brilliant! Nice to have company, too. She's really a sweet one. I think this afternoon we might check out the university and go for a tour, see where Gallileo lectured and the like. Should be really interesting!

So, so far things have been fantastic. I was creeped out a bit yesterday when it was Carlos overload, but Patrick lent a good ear on the phone and all was well. Seriously, you guys are SO lucky you're not around the same time zone at me. If you were, you would be facing the same fate as our dear Patrick, whom recieves random phone calls and odd times on odd days, and then he must listen to either whiney crap or just plain crap. I highly enourage that everyone chips in to buy him caller ID so he may stop picking up the phone.

So, thats my story morning glories! Things are once again beautiful, although rainy. See?? DO YOU SEE??? I've almost cured myself of rain blues.

Things are well. Things are fun. Still haven't gotten a hold of my cousin, but hopefully that will be fixed soon. I hope you're all healthy and happy and freakin' loving life. And if you aren't, please, live vicariously through me. Feel free. :D

AND! I was told that my Italian isn't that bad. And my favorite food is now Kebabs. And all the parents of young children here are in their 40's... no young couples. And my umbrella is the biggest pain in the butt to carry around. And I'm excited to go back to Como. AND now thats all....

love, nicole 11:24 a.m.

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