Gays, Trains, and Automobiles
Last night, I couldn't find my ring. This isn't just any ring: this was the ring my mother bought me as a souvenir in Delphi, Greece. My mother and I traveled there on our first trip together in 2010 and after visiting the "center of the ancient world" and getting our fortunes from the invisible Oracle, my mother bought me a ring to commemorate our experience and remember probably the best day on our trip.
The ring itself is significant: it depicts Athena, goddess of so much more than just her perceived stamp of being a deity of war. Athena was also the goddess of knowledge, a minor goddess of love, music, and one of the most beautiful goddesses to have ever lived.
This ring represented several things to me: our trip, new experiences, my bond between my mother and I. I literally wear this ring almost everyday, so when I again couldn't find it today, I began to panic.
I literally tore the room I was staying in apart 839428496715 times. I took an extra hour and a half trying to find it, but couldn't.
On my way out the door to the airport I asked my host to send it to me if he found it, to which he agreed. But I was leaving Milano sans ring and with a heavy heart.
I knew I was late and scampered across the streets of Milan as quick as my hobbit legs could get me there. I first had to take the metro yellow line to Duomo, Milan's famous cathedral.
Next I had to transfer to the red metro line. This involved me lugging my 60 lbs worth of luggage up to street level from the underground. Once I reached the Cadorna station, I then had to take the express train to Milano Malpenza airport.
THEN, I realized the train let out at terminal 1 and I needed terminal 2. I raced out of the terminal like I was in Home Alone 5. I saw a woman who looked as frantic as I, asked her if she wanted to share a cab, and we did. She was a lovely French woman living in Milan.
At this point, my plane had already closed boarding and I only had 15 minutes before my flight. Upon hearing this, the French woman told me not to pay her for the taxi but to jump out of the cab as quick as we got there, haul ass to the ticket counter, and pray that I made my flight. I tried to give her money but she insisted. At least the can driver drove like a bat out of hell.
I ran as fast as I could. The entire trip there I knew my time was dwindling and I kept "secret"-ing that the flight would be delayed and that I would still make it.
I did not.
The boarding was closed and the plane was supposedly taxi-ing away when I got to the counter. I was told to go to another ticket counter where I would possibly be able to book a flight on a different airline. Apparently an airline strike had suspended any further flights on EasyJet for the night and up until the weekend. Not cute.
The guy behind the ticket counter informed me that the ticket on AirItalia would cost me €245. Or he suggested I check out the internet kiosk to check to see if there were any high speed trains going from Milano to Rome tonight.
Of course I paid to use the internet only to realize that I was unable to purchase same day tickets for the high speed train. No bene.
So here I sit, back on the express train BACK to Milan. At this point I have two options: I can either get to Centralle Station and buy a train ticket there or potentially wait until a 7 am flight tomorrow morning, pay €95 euro in transfer ticket fees, and take my chances that that EasyJet flight won't be cancelled due to the strike.
I choose option A. I'm wishing/hoping/praying on a star that there will still be tickets available tonight to get me to Rome that won't cost more than €95. Otherwise I'll be potentially staying with my hosts again tomorrow morning.
I just put my head against the seat and wanted to cry but I was too angry at myself. Had I not recklessly misplaced my ring then even more recklessly missed my flight, I would almost be in Rome by now...
Just now I reached into the side pocket of my backpack to grab my water bottle for a drink. Upon putting it back into the pocket, I looked down and guess what I saw?
There, clear as day in the pocket on the outside of my backpack that does close and is really more like a cup holder, was my bloody Athena ring!!!!
I just burst into tears. So little sleep, so many trains, so much stress, and then finally the relief of finding my ring was too much for me to handle.
I wonder why I even worried so much about a possession in the first place.
At least for now, there's a glimmer of hope for me. Ticket or no ticket, I'm so grateful to have found my ring.
Hopefully I'll be able to get to Rome tonight, too!
