the downright "dirty" of travel

i sometimes worry what people may think of my blog. not that i am writing it for people in particular as it is just some random writings to remember the positive aspects in life. however, i do not want people to think that my life is all "sunshine and roses".

i think i have made that plainly so when i am in school. i know i have complained frequently of how tired, stressed i am and just wanting a break from the assignments. however i don't know if i portray it so in my personal life. however, i do think that my personal life is just that, personal. sure there is bad, i think anyone would be lying to say that they have never had an arguement, or stressed on the person they love. however, sometimes i think we concentrate too much on the negative (which mark says is very easy to do) instead of striving to see the positive light, what one has learned and what to prevent the next time.

so in light of this, i am going to talk about the down and dirty (literally) of an experience that happened to myself in europe. this will show how my life is not roses and can (literally) stink!

mark and i used a wide variety of transportation while we were abroad. planes, trains, automobiles, boats and legs. what we enjoyed the most (as we do not get the same experience here) was train travel. trains were cozy, but still had room, air conditioned and we got the added bonus of gazing out the window checking out the different country side (i know, it sounds like kittens and puppy dogs).

then we boarded a train in italy. now i am by NO means insulting the transportation in italy as my scope is quite limited. BUT i will say that this train in particular was a little more rustic compared to what we had encountered in previous countries.

a little background on what got us to this train. we took a train from cardiff to london, where we were to meet a reserved airport taxi. unfortunately our train was late leaving from cardiff and the taxi left. mark (thankfully being assertive) got the taxi to come back, but wasting precious time as we needed to be on the plane boarding for italy at 11:15 am and we were in the taxi at 10. ugh. we managed to get to the airport at 10:45 (we may have been in panic mode, especially when seeing the monster lines to check in). however they called final check ins for pisa and off we went onto our plane. once in pisa, we caught a bus to the train station and caught our train with a mere 5 minutes to spare.

now you may ask, why is this important? well. with all the time constraints it left little in the way of a bathroom break for either of us. this brings us to the current train. as we were on our way to the cinque terre we rode in this train. it was okay although nothing to be exciting about as it did lack certain amenities like spacious seating and air conditioning that we praised about before. i had decided i needed to take a bathroom break. so off i went in search of a toilet on this giant train.

going through two train cars i found it. as i readied myself, sitting on the seat, i found it strange that i felt a gust of wind come up my back. i then proceeded to "relieve" myself, and mere moments later sheer panic came.

"omigoodness, omigoodness," i exclaimed as i felt tiny droplets come whoshing up, spraying my back.

stopping midstream i looked down and saw a giant hole in the toilet leading directly down to the ground. and yes by ground i mean the railway tracks. i just found out i was attempting to pee all over italy but they rejected that idea and the train gust brought it right back up to my back! not believing my luck (and yes, you think i would have learned) i attempted again. same result. stopping midstream again i slightly freaked (and oddly laughed at the complete absurdity of the situation) and attempted to work the tap of the sink.....yes you can believe that that did not work either (but it did as i found out from mark later on. apparently there was was a foot pedal that i couldn't see in panicked attempt for cleanliness).

out of the bathroom i left, a little smellier (that is an understatement) and i proceeded to tell mark of my mishaps. all this as i bathed in hand sanitizer. i don't think mark stopped laughing until he decided he needed to check this bathroom out. out he came, smug, strutting back to our seats, laughing again.

"what," i asked.
"the bathroom is obviously built for a man," he replied

grrrrr. so what is the lesson here folks as i strive to be positive.

LOOK BEFORE YOU PEE!

love