What to do on a long train ride

            Colin and I many times were on trains, which exceeded 8 hours in duration. To some people this sounds like an idea of death, but to me its chump change. That’s nothing compared to an 11-hour bus ride from Baltimore to Columbus, Ohio, which I completed alone last fall. Or a 17-hour drive from Baltimore to Miami, which I completed a little over a year ago. I live for traveling. Most people would probably wonder what I did to “pass the time.” A few of the trains had Wi-Fi, but most did not. My phone only worked with Wi-Fi, so many times on the train I was out of touch with everything going on in the world, but I was actually experiencing the world in a much realer way- looking out the window. From the solar panel fields in Germany, to the Swiss lakes, to the Norwegian mountains and rivers, the world was virtually tangible, and I had never experienced it like this.

            When it was dark out, I would read on my computer. I have all seven Harry Potter books downloaded in PDF form on my computer. But most of the time was spent looking out the window at the scenery. At points, I was so engaged with the scenery that an hour would go by without even noticing it. At times, I would listen to my iPod, but making sure to look out the window at the same time. A couple of times I had to nap just because we had to get up very early for the trains but I’m not a very good napper on moving vehicles- or in general really.

            I know a lot of people who would get antsy on a long train ride, but to me they are peaceful. Most of the kids in the Loyola group flew to all their destinations but I’d get sick of the airports. The flexibility with the train pass was incredible, because if we missed one, there was most likely another coming within the hour. I would definitely recommend taking the train if the opportunity presents itself. Maybe I’m just weird and don’t mind spending half a day in a confined vehicle, but I’m glad I don’t.

Norway

                  Something about Norway was amazing. I’m not sure if it was that I was traveling alone not knowing exactly where I was going. Maybe it was the weekend getaway to a ski village 3 hours south of the capital city, Oslo. The train ride provided me with a sense of serenity that I hadn’t experienced in a while. Enjoying a cold beer while looking out the window, marveled by the snowcapped mountains, and the ice-cold fresh water streams running parallel with the train tracks I was riding on. When people ask me how Norway was, it is difficult for me to even put it’s beauty into words, and I feel bad that I can’t portray everything I saw- the pictures don’t even do it justice. The 9:15 sunset over the mountains was something out of a movie, which I watched from my front row seat at a ski resort restaurant. I was able to meet up with my Norwegian friend Vegard, a former Loyola soccer player who transferred back to Norway midway through freshman year. I’m a firm believer that the relationships we have and make with others are one of the most important things in life. He introduced me to some of his Olympian friends and I became star struck. The flight from Oslo to Edinburgh felt like a dream. Watching the sun go down on a clear day from 30,000 feet up, while looking down at the snow on top of the mountains for as far as the eye could see. The rest of my spring break was spent in mostly major cities with other people so this was an amazing getaway I shared with myself. 

An E-mail to a Friend

Mr. President,
            As I sit here on this train from Copenhagen, Denmark to Stockholm, Sweden, I can’t help but think about your “Open letter to the Student Body,” and its emphasis on the power and importance of building relationships. When I arrived in Copenhagen at 3am Wednesday morning, I was supposed to stay with Matt Marsh who engaged too much in some extracurriculars that night and had already been out like a light for over an hour.  My stubborn self wasn’t going to go out and spend big bucks on a hotel for a couple hours, so I walked to a park near the address where he told me he was staying. Wasn’t my best idea to set up camp on a picnic table 15 yards from a river, because if I had actually woken up there I might be looking like a present day Ted Williams. I put my head down for not more than a minute until I heard two girls speaking what sounded like perfect English. I got up and walked over trying not to look like a homeless creepo, and asked “Are you American?” One told me she was Swedish and I don’t know if the other one said anything. “Oh never mind, sorry” I responded. They asked what I was doing there and I had to explain the situation about how I was screwed over. They insisted that I stayed with them, and me being me, did. Nothing to lose but my life, right? We stayed up until the early hours of the night, conversing over a glass of white. Emmy, from Sweden was 25 and studying in Stockholm. I slept in her bed. Kate, her friend, was 22, from England doing the same thing. Relationships.

            The next night Marsh and I couldn’t stay at his friend’s apartment, so I texted my new friend again and again, the invite was extended. We both stayed there again. Relationships.

            Yesterday, Marsh left me to go to Rome and I had a decision to make. Either I could take an overnight train and arrive in Stockholm at 6 am or stay another night and get there at two the following day. I chose the latter. She joked that I was going to move in. If there was ever such thing as overstaying your welcome, it wouldn’t apply here- the girl loved me. Last night, we went to a bar to meet up with her friend who she hadn’t seen in over a year. Turns out the girl was born and raised in Boston for ten years before moving to Germany, and now Sweden. We had a long conversation, and she gave me her business card. She also is going to Stockholm today so I’m going to text her when I get there and we’re planning on going out. Amazing. Relationships.

            If I never said anything in that park would I be right here right now? Snowball’s chance in Haiti. It’s unbelievable what you can get out of by starting a simple conversation with someone.

            Tomorrow, I will wake up early and get on an 11 hour train from Stockholm, to Geilo, Norway- a small ski village town, three hours south of the nation’s capital, Oslo. A normal person would never go to Geilo, but that’s where I have a relationship. I’m not sure if you remember Vegard, but he was at Loyola our freshman year for soccer. The Norwegian native decided that his 3 months in the Loyola soccer program was not for him, and transferred back to Oslo. During this short period of time I was able to get to know Vegard very well, and now I’m going to Geilo, Norway to stay with him and his friends in a cabin in the mountains. Relationships, relationships, relationships.

Switzerland

            Before we left Rome, I called Hans on the payphone and told him that we would arrive in Zurich at 7:00. He asked the train number, and we briefly spoke before we had to get on the train. Colin and I were about 40 minutes outside of Zurich, trying to get some final naptime in, when I heard a voice say “Will!” Startled, I look up and it was Hans. Somehow he got on the train somewhere and was walking up and down the train looking for us. Don’t know how he did, don’t know really why he did it, it was absolute bananas. Straight up hoodwink stuff. Part of me wanted to start calling him Hans Houdini. I called my Dad and told him this story and he said, “that’s what Swiss guards do- they’re just amazing”. Here’s some background on Hans:
            My dad met Hans while he was studying in Rome for 4 years. At the time Hans was a Swiss guard working at the Vatican every day. (Not exactly sure how they met though). Hans was... well I don’t know how to say it other than, “big time.” He was Pope John Paul II’s right hand man. Whenever the Pope would travel somewhere, Hans was on the plane (or pope mobile) with him. Right before a Papal speech, Hans was the guy who would hand the Pontfix the sheet of paper. He showed Colin and I many photo albums of him and John Paul II, who by the way, is set to be canonized as a saint next week at the Vatican. The albums included photos of the Pope with his family, his wife Carol, and two little daughters (at the time) Claire and Kathleen. The Pope actually baptized Claire – talk about a conversation starter, “Hey I’m Claire, and I was baptized by a saint- what was your name again?” Hans told us that once or twice a week, he would just walk up to the Pope’s room and they would just have normal, friendly conversations. In May of 1981, the day there was an attempt on the Pope’s life, Hans was there. He heard the gunshots and immediately sprinted, tracked down the assailant, tackled him, and helped detain him in the Vatican prison. You literally cannot make this stuff up. Hans was a Swiss guard for “20 years, 1 month, and 17 days” and loved every minute of it.”
            I have known him practically my entire life, as when he comes to America every 2 years, a stop in Worcester, Massachusetts is high on his to-do list. He and Carol plan to come stay with us for a couple of days in July. He and Carol took Colin and I in with open arms, and every time I would thank them, they would counter with thanks and gratitude for the many times they stayed with us in Worcester. We got there on Thursday and when I told them we were leaving Saturday they were upset because they wanted us to stay longer!

            Thursday night, we had a light dinner and went to bed pretty early after a long day of travel, and Carol offered to do our laundry, which was incredible- and much appreciated. They both had things to do for Good Friday so they were all worried that we would be bored.

            Colin and I woke up around 10 and planned to go to Luzern, a quaint city about 45 minutes away- which my family and I had gone to the last time we visited in 2003. Hans took us 20 minutes of the way because he wanted to make sure we got on the correct connecting train. Great guy. It was kind of overcast in Luzern but we walked all along the river, checking out the boats, and beautiful Swiss Alps off in the distance. We sat down for lunch and then walked to the Jesuit Church for a Good Friday service at 3:00- which was interesting. If I knew a lick of German it probably would have been a little better, but I don’t. It was an experience, but it’s the thought that counts. We got out of church and decided to head back to Wadenswil because it had started to rain. The walk from the train station to their house could definitely have been drier, but we made it.

            We dried off and Carol had made a cheese fondue, which is the national food of Switzerland, accompanied by the national drink, white wine. The white wine was quickly substituted for red because Hans doesn’t like white. Hans gets what Hans wants. It was absolutely incredible. We dipped bread, pears, and potatoes, and I think I had enough to nourish all the Swiss Guards. We shared stories about our visits to one another, and Hans told some stories about him and my dad, which were hilarious. We ended the night watching the Stations of the Cross live on TV at the Coliseum where Pope Francis was.

            We woke up this morning, and had breakfast waiting for us on the table. Carol had packed us lunches to take on the train, and we couldn’t thank her enough. Hans walked us to the train station but it wouldn’t be a trip to Switzerland without chocolate. He bought us about 8 things of Lindt chocolate, which is like the best of all time. He took the train with us all the way to the last stop in Switzerland- just because he wanted to see us off. Hospitality like you read about. It was an awesome visit and I look forward to returning the favor(s) in Worcester this summer. #locals

Florence

            After a loooooong day of traveling (I’m talking 15 hours) we finally made it to Florence. Train delay city. We had planned to arrive around 5:00 but didn’t end up getting there until around nine. So when we got off the train we frantically searched for WiFi so I could get in touch with my friend Paige, who we planned on staying with. I had three messages from her wondering where we were, but she gave me her address and we made the 20-minute walk to her apartment. She was living with four girls, one of which I had met when I went to visit Paige at South Carolina last fall, and the other two go to SC as well.  It was already late but we went out on the town for a while to some different spots.

            On Saturday, we woke up and went to their school brunch which was an interesting experience. The culinary students at their university in Florence who were training to become 5-star chefs prepared it all. I saw a lot of food that I would never imagine seeing for breakfast or lunch. Maybe even ever. I think I had approximately 1 egg. It was pretty much Bizzaro World in a restaurant. Anyways, Paige took us around the Italian leather market, which was pretty cool. We went to a gelato milkshake place that changed my life forever. And I thought McDonalds milkshakes were good. We walked by the famous Duomo where I saw a Loyola girl studying in Belgium for the year, who I also ran into in Dublin while I was with my family. Really small world. We went back to the room to nap for a little, when I was blindsided with a text from Tombari and Rebecca White (who study with us in Newcastle) saying that they were in Florence. Somehow they decoded a picture I posted and found out that I was in Florence. Still don’t really get how they did it, but you gotta keep your head on a swivel I guess.

            We invited them to Paige’s and then we all went out after. There were a lot of locals at the place but we pretty much just kept to ourselves because we didn’t know how to communicate with anyone else. We tried to find the Secret Bakery that Paige had been raving about the entire time, but apparently it was so secret that it didn’t exist- because she couldn’t find it.

            Sunday, we went to Gusto Pizzeria, which they said os the best pizza place in Florence, and it was. The line was out the door, but it was worth the wait, and it was a beautiful day. We walked along the Ponte Vecchio, and I took a Transformation picture standing in the same spot I had 11 years earlier in Florence. My dad loved it, and showed everyone and their mother.

            Florence brought back a lot of memories from when I was there when I was 9- and I remember climbing to the top of the Duomo- although we were unable to do that this time around. I remembered the statue of David at the Academy, but that needed to bee booked weeks in advance. Florence had a lot more tourists than I remember, but I feel like that is an overarching theme throughout Europe, that tourists are growing by the year.

            Colin and I went to Palm Sunday mass at the Duomo, and although it was in Italian, it was still very nice, and the music was beautiful. Tombari and Rebecca were waiting for us after mass and we walked around and hung out.

            We were sitting on a monument around 11 at night and for some reason looked to my right and saw Julia Bemis- who also studies at Newcastle with us from Loyola. We were just looking at each other for a good 3 seconds which felt like 20 minutes, trying to comprehend if it was reality. I asked “is that Julia?” and she came walking over and everyone was pretty much stunned. She was with her family and they came over and chitchatted for a while with them. It was all just unbelievable. Small world city.

            Today we woke up and are currently on the train to Roma! I can’t wait to go back it’s one of my favorite cities.