The ups and downs

A friend once told me that people, mainly couples, fight more when on vacation than any other time. Why? Because we all expect perfection when we finally have the chance to relax and enjoy life. Vacation is supposed to be a time where you leave all of your daily problems and stressful life behind; you forget about deadlines and expectations, and take time for yourself. I can see how disappointing it might be, then, when your those days lying on the beach don't seem to happen the way you imagined. Have we romanticized travel so much that no matter what we do, it somehow disappoints?
Sometimes, the stress of a situation becomes so high that you forget why you chose to put yourself through it in the first place. Thankfully, I've been able to keep a cool head in some of the most difficult situations yet on my travels. Be it a train ride that is two hours behind schedule, when you have a connection in 5 minutes instead of the previewed two hours; or the very basic maps you get from the overcrowded tourist offices-that would rather let you know where Burger King and McDonalds are than truly historical sites.
Have you picked up on the fact that yes, it has been a rough couple of weeks? Pushing aside difficult mental and physical situations (I say let the past stay in the past), and unreliable transit, from the moment I got my TEFL certification at the end of July, I have seized every opportunity possible to truly live. Each day that has gone by has been filled with surprises. Spontaneity has taken the best of me now that I've let myself willingly follow it. Naturally, being a spontaneous traveler lends itself to stress...but it is so worth it! I never imagined that I would be where I am today, in a busy and cozy hostel in Rimini, five minutes from the Adriatic; or that I would have been to three countries in a matter of weeks. Nor did I imagine that I would have taken an uncomfortable night train to Graz, Austria to visit a really good friend and that I would have been privileged enough to be entertained by a stranger who decided to hang up a hammock in the middle of the train car's corridor.
Actually, when daydreaming about my upcoming adventures in Italy while at home in Milwaukee, I never would have been able to foresee these few months. That is why I tried so hard to leave all expectations back home. I'll take all that the world can give me at this point. I'm up for it.

So here's a quick run through of what I've been up to for the last two and a half weeks, (if you've made it this far, kudos to you!):
-After celebrating with my fellow TEFL classmates, a friend and I packed up our obnoxiously large backpacks and hit the road for Lucca. During the first five days, I went to Viareggio (the beach ;) ) twice, Pisa and Barga, a small town up in the mountains of Tuscany with a large Scottish population.
-Then came my birthday, which was simply a great day altogether, aside from the rain. I went to Pistoia to hang out with my another friend and her boyfriend with his family, who all threw me a surprise birthday party. It truly was the sweetest thing ever.
-Then, on the 6th I popped back over to Florence to visit the school once more (which again was an amazing experience) and then caught the night train to Austria.
-Finally in Graz, I had a great time reconnecting with a good friend and the traveled to Budapest, Vienna and her home town in Austria.

Now, I'm in the beach town of Rimini, and again haven't settled down. I simply went to the train station and looked at the possible choices, and decided that I would like to take the bus to the most ancient Republic of the World, the Republic of San Marino. Then, after crazy dreams about Bologna which I can't really remember, I decided to hop on the first train possible. My experience in Bologna will have to be for another time, but lets just say that I fell in love the second I walked under the first Portico.