Finally have my wallet back, sort of...

Today, I received my new bank and credit cards. As most of you know already, upon my return from spring break travels, my wallet was stolen. Today, I also went to get a new public transportation card, so its like I have my wallet back, although senza the wallet.

The public transportation system in Milano is extensive and quite efficient, at least most of the time, but sometimes seems a bit faulty. For example, I have a card which I can recharge each month. It costs me 17 Euro for one month, but then I have unlimited rides on all buses, metros and trains within the Milano system. The strange part, however, is that I must carry my receipt as proof that I paid the 17 Euro. My first month here, before I was informed of this information, I threw out my receipt. The next time I rode a train, the transportation police came around to check tickets. I showed my card and he said something in Italian which I did not understand at first. Eventually, I gathered that he was asking to see my receipt. I managed to lie and say it was at home, and the guy was nice enough to let me go without a ticket, but I was lucky. For people who do not have one of these electronic cards, they must buy paper tickets for each time they ride any form of transportation. So for me to go to and come back from school, it technically takes 4 tickets, or 4 Euro. The metro, however, is the only transportation where you have to use a ticket in order to get on (unless you jump over the turn style, which I have seen people do). The trains and buses are basically on an honor system. There is a machine on the bus and at the train station, but a lot of people take the risk and do not use their tickets. Thus, why they have transportation police. I have been taking the risk since I lost my wallet because it was actually cheaper then recharging my card for April again. The monthly recharge on the transportation card goes by the literal month, versus 30 days, so if I had immediately asked for a new card, I would have had to pay 17 Euro for only 2 weeks. Long story short, it was cheaper for me to buy the regular tickets when I needed them instead of recharging a new card. But, now that the first of the month has come, I got my new card (replacement fee of 15 Euro) and charged it (17 Euro) for the month of May. I feel a lot more secure now that I have this card back. Dodging the transportation police is doable, but not exactly easy. These police, however, are what I find faulty about the whole system. It takes a lot of money to pay these guys and it takes very little money to install the ticket machines at the front of the bus and make people get on only in the front.... This is how it works in Turkey. You must get on the bus at the front door and swipe your ticket or pay the fee (some buses have a guy sitting behind a change counter selling the tickets). Why on earth would you pay 1000s of people to patrol the transportation system when you could get rid of them so easily?? I would not have to carry my receipt around either....that would be nice.

Anyways, thats my rant of the day...

One more week of classes here, then 3 exams and my semester is over. Shortest semester EVER.

My interview got rescheduled for Monday due to the fact that tomorrow is Labor Day in Europe, so the Consulate is closed.

No real other news currently. I will try to take some pictures this weekend and post those. Apparently I am going to have lunch with my friend in the 'country' on Saturday. We shall see how that goes. Ciao

Sardegna Pictures

Finally posted the rest of the pictures from Sardegna:

PICTURES

I just added them to the Sardegna album, so you will have to scroll down to find the new ones. Also, don't miss the video of Sam jumping into the ocean. It is the last photo.

Turkey Pictures

PICTURES

There are a lot...Perhaps too many...And you have seen most of the places before.

Finally back in Milan

So after a crazy two weeks full of travel on all kinds of transportation, I am finally back in Milan. It will take ages to describe the past two weeks, so expect a few posts.

So the first trip was to my friend's house in Sardegna. I left Milan on Tuesday, April 7, around 8am. The airport, however, is about an hour bus ride away from Milan. And since transportation here in Milan does not open back up until 6am, it was a bit of a challenge to get there. I went to Sam and Arseniy's house Monday night. We left there around 3am. Walked to a bus stop and waited about half an hour for the bus that runs all night, around the city. It should have taken us directly to Central Station, where the bus to the airport leaves from, but unfortunately...It stopped.. So we get off, having no idea where we are or how to get to Central Station... Fortunately, there was a car riding behind the bus, trying to follow it to Central. The two guys in the car got out and went to ask the bus driver how to get there, and when they came back, we asked for a ride. They graciously agreed to take us and we finally got to Central around 430am. Got on the next bus to the airport, checked in, and waited. Sam and Arseniy's flight left an hour before mine because they went to a different airport on Sardegna. Finally arrived in Sardegna and called my friend to find out how to get to her house. She told me to take a bus, which didnt leave for 45 minutes. Took the bus, got off, waited an hour for the next bus. Got off, waited another hour for the next bus, and finally arrived in Palau, Sardegna. From there, I had to take a ferry to La Maddalena, the island where my friend's house is. So after 14 hours or so of travel, I finally arrived. Arseniy and sam arrived a few hours after me. They flew into the airport at Cagliari, while I flew into the airport at Alghero. If you look at the map, you can find Cagliari in the south, and Alghero is in the north east (look for the airport symbol). Unfortunately, my Italian friend failed to tell us that there is an airport directly south of her house, which would have made our lives so much easier. Anyways, so looking at the map again, I had to go from Alghero to Sassari, to Tempio (in the middle of the northern half) to Palau (not listed but on the north western coast. La Maddalena is one of the islands off that coast.

After finally arriving and having a good nights sleep, we did a little exploring. The weather was not so nice, really cold and only one day of sunshine, but the beaches were really pretty. You can see most of the pictures here:

PICTURES

Then, on the way back to Milan, another fun filled travel adventure. Our flights were for Sunday, April 12.. ie Easter. Silly us planning to travel on Easter Sunday in Cattholic Italy. My flight was at 6am, so I had to go to the airport Saturday night, without a doubt. There was no way I could travel back across Sardegna in time. Arseniy and Sam were also flying out of Alghero this time, but their flight was not until 5pm. So technically they would have been fine, but it being Easter Sunday, the bus schedule was not normal. So instead of risking it, they came with me Saturday night. We got to the last bus stop 45 minutes too late and had to take a taxi to the airport (40 Euro). We got to the airport around 930 or 10... and 4 other travelers joined us for the long night. The benches at the airport were impossible to lie on, thanks to seat dividers. The floor was too cold to lay on.. Needless to say, it was another sleepless night. I finally got back to my house in Milan around 10am, so an even longer travel time if you include the time at the airport.

So in the end, it was really great to see Sardegna, but the trip could have been better. I have more pictures, but they are on my other camera which I let Arseniy borrow. I will post those as soon as possible.

After spending a night in Milan (not even 24 hours actually), a very nice friend took me to the airport at 5am the next morning. My flight to Turkey left around 7am. I arrived in Turkey around noon or 1pm, and waited for my friend, who arrived around 530pm. We spent one night in Istanbul, one night on a bus, two nights in Olympos, one night in Ankara, and then another night on a bus and in the airport. It was a very rushed trip, but I wanted to show my friend more than just Ankara. I think she had a good time, but she may have been a little bored for some of it. I generally speak Turkish with my friends there, so she was left out sometimes. Overall though she enjoyed herself and I got to see most of my friends, though for a very short time.

Pictures from Turkey will be up soon.

Spring Break Plans..

Tomorrow I am heading to Sardinia. I will return to Milan on Sunday. My phone should still work there, but I am not sure yet. Then, next Monday, I am heading to Turkey. I will be back in Milan on the 19th. When I get to Turkey, I will be using my Turkish sim card again. So if you want to call, use that number. It is listed on the right side of this page. I promise many pictures upon my return. Ciao