Sorry Mom
06:00. My phone is dead. My 05:00 alarm to catch my 05:30 train to meet my mom in Munich airport did not go off (second time this trip). I charge it to find several missed calls, texts, and half a dozen emails about the flight I booked for my mom. Meal voucher. Meal voucher. Hotel voucher. We're sorry. "Hey Nick, they canceled my flight, I could use some help figuring this out." Thankfully by the time I called back just after 06:00, my mom was already in a shuttle to the hotel in Chicago, with a flight to Houston, then Munich, scheduled for the next day. This really sucked for her, but was kind of a blessing for me, buying an extra day in Zurich. And like any good tourist, rather than spend time in Zurich, I got on the soonest train to Liechtenstein. Another unexpected adventure, stopping for coffee and lunch, and seeing the home of the Prince and Princess and their royal horses. Then finally, a train to Munich. What a couple of days...
Having my mom join me in Europe was actually my dad's idea. After I mentioned I'd be visiting family in Finland again and offered to bring him along, he talked about how much my mother would love to go to Europe, but it has always been too expensive to go on a travel group tour, and she's afraid to travel alone. So after my siblings paid for the flight for my dad to Finland, I made a point to keep bringing up a trip to Europe with my mom as well. She remained hesitant, but was eventually convinced, and I booked her first flight before she could change her mind.
After the flight snafu, mom finally landed in Munich in the morning as planned, just a day late. I met her at the airport, where she looked tired from the multiple days of travel it took to get there, but excited for the adventure to come. We took the S-Bahn to the city center and were on our way.
One thing I immediately found interesting was her fascination with a building I found particularly uninteresting. From the train station, we had been walking for less than five minutes before we came across it. I wouldn't have thought about it for a second, but she had to stop to take photos. For transparency, it was the District Court Munich I building. This was her first time in Europe, so something I'd become desensitized to, she was just experiencing for the first time.
In Munich, there were several things to do, but again, I found it all a bit too posh for my liking. The Munich Residenz was filled with a wealth of unique antiquities. The Glockenspiel show at noon will be unwatchable for anyone born after 2010 because it lasts several minutes. We did the Deutsches Museum and walked through the Englischer Garten to see the surfers on the Eisbach standing wave, but nobody was out. Munich was also the first place a lack of public restrooms became very apparent, so managing our bladders turned into another logistical priority for the next few weeks. All of it was what I had come to expect from pretty much any European city, but for my mom it was all new and exciting.
Taking an early train, we made our way to Salzburg, Austria, one of the cleanest cities I have ever been in. The Hohensalzburg Fortress sits overlooking the city, and is hard to miss. The streets beneath wind back and forth with narrow pedestrian passageways and shops, and the river was beautiful to walk along and take the whole city in. My mom made a point to keep in touch with dad at least every few days. One night we spent over an hour in the Mirabell Gardens while they talked on the phone about whatever it is they talk about. Probably politics. So I let them, and I just meandered around and took photos as the sun was setting, looked at tickets for a classical music concert that night (way too expensive!) and read.
The obsession with Burger King started in Innsbruck. I have to admit, BK is better in Europe than the US, but it became a staple in our diet for the next two weeks. I didn't complain, as it was cheap and easy, and didn't require thought or deliberation. I could just direct us to the nearest one and she'd almost suggest we stop there, even though that was my plan all along. Anyway, in Innsbruck, the city itself was pretty chill, but the best part was taking the Nordkette cable car up to Hafelekar, the Top of Innsbruck, and hiking the last few feet all the way to the peak. This was the first snow I came across on my journey, despite it getting below 0C in northern Finland in September. If I ever go back here, I will go earlier in the season, and actually hike all the way up and down, and be one of the tiny moving dots people can see from the cable car above.
Leaving Austria we took the train through the beautiful Brenner Pass and stopped in Bolzano for lunch. The dessert shop we stopped in had to have been the best of the whole trip, and we got to try our first Italian pizza. The scenery was exactly what I wanted to see of Italy. That was the high point.
Now, before I get onto the rest of Italy, I need to air some grievances and offend some people. They don't know how to make good coffee. The pizza is nothing compared to a New York slice. Many people are rude. And I have it on good authority that Italian wine doesn't hold up next to Bordeaux. So while the history here is worth crossing an ocean for, and I will likely return at some point in my life, I don't think this travel destination should be as frequently visited as it is.
Before making our way south, we wanted to spend a day in Venice, so we set up Verona as our base and traveled from there. We had one night to explore the notable sights, which were the medieval Castelvecchio Bridge, the ancient Ponte Pietra, and the Verona Arena, which would be dwarfed by our visit to Rome a week later. Unfortunately Venice was not as much of a highlight as I had hoped due to poor planning on my part. If I were to go back, I would do so earlier in the year before it starts to flood, when there's not a marathon taking place, and just pay the stupid 90 euro fee for a gondola tour.
Another high-speed train took us to Florence, which was beautiful, but it seemed like they replaced all the trees with art, which I particularly was not a fan of. The Bargello, the Accademia (David statue) and the Uffizi were all great, if stereotypical, tourist destinations. The Medici Chapel right by our hotel was wonderful too, and honestly I preferred its paintings to the Sistine Chapel we saw later. We also did the obligatory Pisa and Lucca daytrip.
Rather than take the high-speed train out of Florence to Rome we decided to make a daytrip to Siena and overnight in Orvieto. On paper I thought this was going to be really fun, but the reality was that we didn't get to spend time in either place.
First, we get to Siena. I struggled to figure out the bus route, but eventually mom got help from the locals who explained there were a bunch of escalators to the top of the hill. That in itself was a cool experience! It went on forever. So we walked into the central area, grabbed some snack pizza which was really good (I got a second piece), and then after flip flopping I decided we were going to catch the original train after all. So we had to haul ass back to the station! Sorry mom. It was basically a 5k run in Siena for my mom. I was walking faster than my normal pace, which is already around 10 minutes per kilometer. I'm known for walking exceptionally fast for no reason in particular. I was really hoping a bus would pass us on the way since I had bought tickets we didn't use on the way up, but that didn't happen. We made it back to the escalators just as it was starting to rain, and then by the time we got to the bottom it was downpouring. I still had to get the bags out of storage, so I had my mom take the underground tunnel to try and find our track, and I ran outside to the station storage and the guy quickly helped me get our stuff. I figured out where our train was just in time, conveniently on the first track! So right as I got to the train with the bags, my mom got to the top of the stairs for the track, and we hopped on. Close to a minute to spare, not even concerned about it. I've had closer. We could've stopped to take some more photos if we wanted!
My mom was a little bit winded, and I could see the stress melting off her as we sat down on the train. I think part of her thought we were on the wrong train still, which is a concern I never managed to talk her out of on a single train the entire trip. Even if we had missed it, there would have been another in an hour and a half, so it would have been just fine anyway, maybe actually better.
But this is where the adventure gets even better. Along the way, the train stopped at a station (as they do), but just kept sitting there. And didn't move. Maybe 15 to 30 minutes had passed, until one of the staff walked past speaking Italian, and then everyone started getting off the train. Thankfully she came back and explained there was an issue with one of the doors, and the train was canceled. So now, we were stranded in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully they had a bus that showed up 30 minutes later to take us to Orvieto, but boy was it an adventure. The driver was sending it across the Italian hillsides.
Because of the delay in getting to Orvieto, we really didn't see much with daylight. The next day, we took the earliest bus to the train station since the cable car didn't get us there until five minutes before departure.
In Rome we had an early check-in at the Airbnb and went straight to the Colosseum. The only tickets available were the 24-hour Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine ones. Oops! Should've planned further ahead to see either the underground or the attic. It was still nice, and we saw plenty just walking around the upper level and taking photos. The Roman Forum first thing the next morning was the better of the two. Fewer people, cooler weather, and more space to walk around and read as you please. It felt like you were really able to experience it rather than waddle around with thousands of other tourists, taking you out of the moment and away from the historical significance.
We also did an afternoon at the Vatican (looonngg tour). If I go back I'd definitely try to get tickets to walk around at my own pace rather than a guided tour. It felt like we were rushed on things that looked interesting, and spent too much time talking in rooms I didn't care about. It was hot and crowded for most of it, and there was too much standing for both of us. Neither of us wanted to be on our feet by the end. Seeing the Sistine Chapel was the main thing we were there for.
Our last day in Rome we rented bikes and rode down the Appian Way. This was one of the better parts of Italy for me. If I had been alone I would have gone to the end, maybe next time... The only disappointment is that I wanted to get close to the aqueducts, but after biking down some roads that may have been private driveways, it was clear there wasn't easy access to them without trespassing. Still, a very cool thing to see.
The end of the trip took us to Naples for just a couple days. I had already walked through one pair of shoes at this point in the trip, so I had another pair ordered online to a pickup point in the city ahead of arriving. We were mainly here as a base for Pompeii, and for flights slightly cheaper than the ones out of Rome. Our host was incredibly kind, and the only reason I don't have harsher things to say about Italy.
We took the suburban train down to Pompeii for the day, which was one of the best days of the trip. It happened to be a free day. The vultures will still try to get your money though. Mom and I went separate ways so I could cover more ground. There was an artsy area hidden in one of the corners, the Villa of the Mysteries, which I'm glad I found. I also made my way into the amphitheater which replaced my need to ever visit the floor of the Colosseum. Seeing the casts of the bodies was interesting, and it makes you wonder what they were thinking with impending doom on the horizon.
As things wrapped up, we headed back to Naples for the last night. Mom had a flight back to Duluth and I to Budapest, continuing on with my journey. We had a taxi booked for 04:00 to get us to the airport on time, where we went our separate ways.
I keep circling back to what my purpose is. On this trip. In this world. But I'm not in a place to ask. Not mentally, and not standing where I'm standing. In Pompeii thousands of people died in an afternoon and you can see what they left behind. In Rome there are aqueducts built before Christ. Useless for centuries, still standing in somebody's field. For three weeks I wasn't even here for me. My own place in history has been making sure my mom could manage the stairs, getting us on the right train, and knowing where the nearest Burger King was. Now she's on a plane home and I'm alone again for the first time since Munich. It might stay that way for a while.