Day 67.
Up at 7:00 this morning to get ready. After breakfast at 8:30 we finished getting our stuff together, paid and walked to the station. The bus to the airport left at 9:55 and was full of people obviously getting the same flight as us. Checking in was easy and my suitcase weighed in at 19.8kg, with an allowance of 20kg! My accordion passed security without a problem, thankfully. We moved through to the departure lounge before everyone was told to leave because passport checks hadn't been done at the entrance to the departure. So, we all had to form a huge queue, which spread half way around the airport, and have our passports checked.
Then came boarding. We went through the gate but were all held in a corridor for half an hour before another corridor for ten minutes. Finally we boarded the plane and took off half an hour late. At 13:30 (BST) we landed.
So, there ends my Italian gap year adventure. It's an experience I'll never forget. I've learned so much about accordions and Italian life, and my Italian has come on leaps and bounds. I met lots of great people and made new friends and contacts. I'm very sad it's over and I'll miss it greatly but hopefully I'll return and see everyone again in the not too distant future.
Thanks for reading!
Grazie, salve x
Day 66.
We had to get up very early this morning (6:30) to get ready and catch the train to Genova. When we were ready to go we said our emotional goodbyes to the Beltrami family. Ivana cried and said she'd confront her fear of flying to come to England and visit, which was very touching.
Claudio drove us to the station and we were in plenty of time to catch our train at 8:40. It was then announced the train was delayed by an hour! This was later reduced to half an hour, but when the train did arrive it sat at Stradella for fifteen minutes and everybody got off while it waited. Once we were on the move the train seemed very slow and, taking everything into account, we arrived in Genova Brignole about an hour late. We also had trouble with our printed ticket because Claudio had printed the receipt and not the tickets, but the guard let us go.
We walked straight to our hotel, which took two minutes, where we left our bags in storage. We then had the rest of the day to explore Genova. First we walked up the main high street to the orange fountain - the water is orange, presumably caused by a mineral or a metal. We sat there and took photos in the sun before entering Palazzo Ducale where we found a car boot-style sale with lots of stalls selling old items, dating back a long time (jewellery, furniture, snuff boxes, pen knives etc). It continued outside where we found a stall selling pin badges. We bought an Italian flag pin and two accordion pins. The stall holder gave us a free one of Genoa FC after I engaged him in Italian conversation about football.
After buying a map we walked down a busy street, passing the Duomo (cathedral) and found a little cafe, where we ate sandwiches and shared a salad. Stephanie wanted to buy a Genova souvenir, so we went to a visitors centre and bought a magnet. We managed to then find our way to the harbour, which was teaming with people, and we sat in the sweltering sun looking at boats and the sea. Genova is a big port and there were lots of huge ferries and ships. We walked past the aquarium after baulking at the prices and came across... a pirate ship!! It cost 5€ each to go on board, so we thought "Why not?!" It was teaming with children and their parents. Everything on board felt fake and cheap - the cannons were plastic, but we later discovered why. It wasn't an actual old ship. It was built in 1985 and used as the set for Robert Polanski's film "Pirates". It cost $8.2m to build and was capable of sailing at speeds up to 5 knots.
Next we confused ourselves. We'd found where we wanted to go next on the map but I completely underestimated the scale of the map so we ended up taking an utterly pointless one-stop Metro journey. Oh well, it was fun! We eventually walked to our destination - via Garibaldi; a street famous for its beautiful 16th century architecture. There were speakers all along it playing classical music. From there we walked back to the orange fountain and took the Metro one stop back to Brignole. We went back to the hotel to check into our room and collect our bags. At 18:30 we walked up the brick steps, as on Wednesday, and took pictures of Genova in the evening sun.
After descending the steps we walked through nearby streets in search of somewhere to eat. We came across a delightful little restaurant, furnished in brick and wood. We both had pasta dishes.
Finally, we went in search of an open gelateria - easier said than done at 21:00 on a Sunday night! We eventually found one and ate the last ice cream of our trip while walking back to the hotel. We did our final bits of packing and went to bed.
Ciao x
Day 65.
We got up at 9:30 this morning and at 10:30 we made our way to the workshop for the last time. I had to print off my boarding pass and pick up some things. Claudio had repaired an accordion part of mine to take back to England and he also gave me some materials to be able to do accordion maintenance in England. I forgot to take my passport for the online check-in so Stephanie went home to get it.
When we left the shop we took photos outside the shop with Claudio and Stefano. We then walked into Stradella for lunch at Alternative Cafe again. We shared a large ham and tuna panino and a toastie. After that we walked to the station to buy our tickets for tomorrow morning, but found the ticket office shut. Bother. We then walked to the gelateria for the last time and they said they were sorry to see me go! We shook hands before Stephanie and I went to eat our ice cream by the bell tower. Then we bought crisps for tomorrow before sitting in the little communal gardens for a chat.
Eventually we got home and set about starting the packing process and sorting the flat out. Very stressful! I packed pretty quickly though, I must say. Later in the afternoon we went with Erica and Ivana to a supermarket before going back to the station as Erica was convinced there was a self-service ticket machine. We'd checked earlier and there wasn't one. Erica checked herself, and there still wasn't one! We went home again and Erica told Claudio about the ticket dilemma, so he set about trying to order them online. He had all sorts of problems with the website, and was at it for about an hour, but eventually they were booked. Stephanie and I then carried on packing/sorting as well as writing a card for the Beltramis.
At 8pm we went next door for our final night in Stradella. Ivana had made lots of pizzas and Erica had made cheesecake with sprinkles on it! Stephanie and I were joined by: the four Beltramis, Daniele, Valerio, Stefano, Kleidi and Kleidi's parents. At the end of the pizza course I was presented with a scroll of mock certificate for working at Beltrami Accordions! We then presented them with a card, a Taplow Youth Choir CD, shortbread, Percy Pigs and a wooden train spelling out BELTRAMI, which we bought in the market in Milan. After dessert Kleidi helped us plan what to do in Genova tomorrow. Matteo rang to say goodbye, as did Ivana's parents. I'm going to miss them all so much! I left a bag of Percy Pigs for Mattero.
We left at 00:30 after saying goodbye to everyone except the Beltramis. We finished some last bits of packing and went to bed.
Buona notte x
