I think for the last bit of the Trip (that is from our
arrival back at Castel Club Fusano to arriving in Ireland) I will let Morgan
narrate it for you! She is much more entertaining then me J....in fact I’ll let
here tell you the whole story of how we got from Assisi back to Ireland
ENJOY: (a little piece of a letter to her parents)
"After leaving the basilica, we walked back to the
hostel, picked up our bags, and made our ‘pilgrimage’ to the train station. I’m
referring to it as a ‘pilgrimage’ because we could have easily caught the town
bus to the station, but NO, let’s go out in style...and just walk the freaking
6kms to the station! No problem! Grrrr....such idiots...oh well....you’re only
young and stupid once!!! Plus, it was hot, sunny, and a beautiful sunset was
about to take place...so let’s drink it all in...because before we know
it...our fingers are going to feel like icicles back in Ireland!
So we began our trek to the station. Back roads of
Assisi. Not a single car around. He said Farewell to our beautiful Gondor,
looking back A LOT, wishing we didn’t have to leave; vowing we would be back!!!
We came to a mysterious 4 way stop...and had NO idea
which way to turn...we didn’t have enough time to walk back into town, and no
idea where to turn...but a la Assisi...it just happened that there was a man walking by, and just happened to speak fabulous English, and
he pointed us in the right direction. (Thanks for taking care of us, God! J
)
So we went on our way (which...in fact...required no
turning at all, but just a straight road, the WHOLE way...yep...geniuses I
know...)
Unlike our train adventure getting to Assisi, we
were such travel pros by now, it was easy as ABC.
We checked into the same hostel in Rome that we were
at previously, and on the train back to the hostel, we saw the girls from
London!!! So fun to get to catch up with them again!
To our dismay we weren’t put in the same room, so we
bid farewell to the Naomi and Frances, and headed to our room. We were
initially hoping to have a room to ourselves, since it was our last night and
wanted a solid night’s rest...but turns out there were two other girls
there...BUT...just happens that they
were American!
Shanna and Brianna from St. Paul, Minnesota! They’re
studying in Spain on exchange for the year, had a week off, so decided to see
Rome! And again, shocking, were lovely girls. We had SO MUCH FUN WITH THEM!
They were the kind of girls that we would have easily been friends with in the
real world. We just wanted them to come back to Ireland with us! Shanna is
particularly fond of Ireland and it’s on her dream list of places to go, so,
who knows, we might meet up again!
We just chatted up a storm like we had been
life-long friends catching up with one another! We were having such craic that
we didn’t even care about the lack of sleep. We all laid in our bunk beds and
chatted for HOURS like we were 12 year old girls at a slumber party!
1 30am approached, and although none of us were the
least bit tired, we forced ourselves to stop talking to shut off the light. 5
30am seemed to come the second I shut my eyes...ugh...was not happy...but for
the fun we had with the American girls, it was worth it J
We hopped on the 6 30 shuttle to the Termini Metro
Station, and from there, tried to decipher a route to get to the airport. The
only morning bus from the station to the airport had left already, so we were
forced to go to plan B.
We went to the information desk, which just happened to be empty (there was a queue
a mile long the first time we looked), told the lady where we were headed, and
she told us “Right, Train 21, leaving in 6 minutes, here are your tickets, GO”
GO GO GO.
Mom, if you’ve ever wanted to do the Amazing Race,
don’t do it.
a)
You’d kill dad
b)
You’d then die of a stress-induced
heart attack
It was by a miracle that we got on that train. Absolute
miracle how everything just happened
to fall into place for us.
The train brought us to the town of Ciampino, and
from there we had to find the shuttle bus to the airport, and turns out, it was
just outside the train station, and was leaving 5 minutes after we placed our
tired bums in the seats.
A quick ride to the airport, quick check-in, quick
security check, and we were on the plane...headed back to our blessed Ireland!
I am glad to write that there were NO emergency
landings this round. An uneventful and smooth flight, it was! Meaghan slept the
entire way...and I worked. I had to lead a massive 2000 person rally outside of
Dublin the next day and was supposed to be giving a talk on Confession...so I
had LOTS of homework to do....yikes!
Anywho, the then connecting bus ride from Dublin to
Donegal was also uneventful, thank God. We got back to Donegal, and crashed on
our couches.
Rome and Assisi was THE best trip I’ve ever been on.
I would definitely do both again, Assisi I would, in a perfect world, live in.
Ahhhhhh Assisi! Bellissimo!
So, after ALL these pages, this concludes our
Italian adventure!
Hope you’ve enjoyed my ramblings J
Ciao"
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