An Adventurous Train Ride on Travel Tuesday

I am so pleased to welcome my very first contributor to Travel Tuesdays!Canadian blogger The Adventurer has very generously agreed to sprinkle my blog with some of her writing charm and guest post for me about her travels in Europe.  Thanks so much for the post, Erin! If anyone else would like to guest post on Travel Tuesdays for The Misadventures of Miss Manship, please email me at mizzmanship@hotmail.com.

Lots of love!
xxx

Five Mother Hens & A Foreign Baby Chick

My first time getting on a train in Italy I was stuffed in a carriage for six, filled beyond capacity with angry Italian men who yelled...a lot. Oh, and that one shy little Italian girl. So in actuality we were OVER stuffed. Beyond belief. This story however...has no problems with seating. Or sweaty, angry Italian men.

 I was on my way to Genoa and happened to be in a train carriage made up entirely of women. Where I was by FAR the youngest.  Due to my last Italian train adventure...I was relieved to see this and quietly took my seat, smiling at the woman across from me.  As I sat there quietly, the women around me transformed until they were COMPLETELY like mother hens. So sweet and caring and clucking over me...especially once they figured out that I didn't speak Italian!

Now, you have to understand that none of them really SPOKE English, but they'd been trying to share some of the MOST delicious homemade treats with me...and trying to talk with me...and they were so cute that I think that I automatically fell a little bit in love with them. In the 'I had a really bad week and need someone to take care of me' kind of way.

Now, as we were sitting there and I was trying to be polite and not eat ALL of their WAY too delicious food..they started clucking amongst themselves about something. Being a foreigner, I was (mostly) oblivious...because well, the lack of understanding the Italian language thing sort of lets you tune out.

But then, I realized that they were directing their rapid Italian at ME...and I got a little concerned. Especially when they started yelling and pointing and acting a little too much like the Italian men I had encountered on the train the last time I was in Italy. I was worried - what had I done? Had I eaten too much? Too little? Something not intended for me? Oh jeeze - what had I got myself into. Why oh WHY didn't I listen mother about not taking food from strangers. Hadn't I got it through my thick skull that mothers know everything and are ALWAYS RIGHT?!

But then they used a word I could understand! SUCCESS! They were talking about my BILLETO! Peeeeeeeerfect! I hadn't upset them all! There were no problems of too much or too little. All was good...no worries here! - Except...wait. ...What about my ticket now?! And suddenly I got MORE concerned...the train was about to leave and they were having a very heated discussion about my ticket. Enter me starting to lose my cool a little as I became terrified that there was something wrong with my ticket.

So I was pretty confused...and on the brink of freaking out when the one who speaks the MOST English (aka...none --> very little) out of the group tried to translate...And no word of a lie...she just started yelling: "OBLITERATE! OBLITERATE!"   And the others...following her lead were like "SI! SI! OBLITERATE! OBLITERATE!" So of course...I'm all like WHAT THE?!?!? And I'm SO confused and have NO idea what they're talking about...except now I'm pretty sure that all Italians are NUTS and there is no way they're going to convince me to OBLITERATE my ticket. No matter HOW good their little balls of pastry heaven are.

The youngest of the Hens pulls out her ticket, points and goes “Obliterate...ticketo!" (because of COURSE, you must add an O or an A to the end of EVERY word...duh.) I take a deep breath. And breathe a sigh of relief.  Then I calmly pull out my ticket...and show my dear little hens that YES, I have indeed validated my ticket.  Happy now that all was taken care of - they continued on their merry way, clucking amongst themselves in their beautiful Italian all the while stuffing me full of the most delicious pastries I've ever encountered.

Perfect-O!