We woke up at 9:00am, packed everything up, returned our keys, and said thanks to the owner of the hostel. We left the hostel around 10:00am walking toward the train station. The problem was that today was a national holiday and that everything was once again closed. We desperately needed to find an internet cafe so we could send an email to Ettore, Blake's Italian roommate who we would be staying with in Vicenza, as he still did not know what time we were arriving. We couldn't find one and decided to hope for the best and figure something out when we arrived to Vicenza (we had Ettore's Spanish number but not his Italian one).
The train ride to Vicenza was nice as we passed snow covered fields. We were sitting at a table next to an older man reading a history magazine and a girl from Mexico. Blake and I broke out our picnic and began to converse in Spanish (we had tried to be speaking in Spanish for most of the trip as to not lose our level while being away from Spain). Blake forgot the word for "peel" as he tried to describe what he was doing to the tangerine. He asked the Mexican girl how to say it and started an hour and a half conversation in Spanish. We arrived in Vicenza at 1:30pm and exited the train, hoping to have luck running into Ettore.
There was a ton of snow on the ground as we left the station and found an open internet cafe. We sent Ettore a message and then decided to go back to the train station. Thankfully, Ettore called us and we able to meet up with him about 15 minutes later.
Our Italian host and his father picked us up from the train station in their car. They loaded our bags into the trunk and drove us through the city to their apartment building. Ettore is a character. Small, slim, 5' 5" he looks like an American Apparel model. He speaks perfect Spanish with an Italian accent. In typical Italian fashion, he is not afraid to argue as we would see later when we had mishaps with the train going to Venice. He likes to smoke and drum. His black beard and black rimmed glasses fit him very well.
What I was hoping for came true, as we entered the large, wood floor piso with high book shelves, Ettore's family had a huge Italian meal waiting for us. Amazing, homemade pasta, succulent ham, and fresh fruit. The 10 euro bottle of wine that we brought for his family was quite good. Our conversation over lunch was a mix between Spanish, Italian and English, as Ettore spoke to us in Spanish although his family didn't speak any Spanish they could understand most of what we were saying. His father is a doctor who speaks a fair amount of English. In regards to Italian, I could understand it when they spoke very slowly. It was fun to be able to understand a little having never studied it.
After lunch, Ettore showed us our beds in his room. While it was still light out, Ettore wanted to show us Vicenza. We piled into the car, brushing the snow from the windshield. We drove through the city and then up to a look out point. The roads and walls were covered in snow. There was a palace with little gnomes lining the walls. It was very pretty and very cold outside. We kept walking down the rode until we came to what looked like an old southern mansion. As it turned out, this was an architectural style of houses designed by an architect from Vicenza. The style, with the small dome and four pillars, had been transported to the United States and specifically the styles of houses of Southern plantation owners. We kept driving and came to a National Park where we walked in a field of snow. We didn't stay out very long as it was very cold.
Back in Ettore's room we made our beds and played drums. I played the djimbe.
The next few hours were fun as went up and down the elevator stopping at the pisos of Ettore's old friends. We hung out with his girlfriend and friends using a combination of limited English and Spanish. Ettore's mother made us pizza and we quickly ate it as an appetizer. Ettore made a ton of pasta with fresh pesto. Excellent. We went downstairs around 2:00am to sleep. Tomorrow we would be getting up early to have plenty of time in Venice.
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