Since I went to bed so early, I kept waking up in the night thinking it was time to get up. I got up at like 1 and 5 and 6 and 7 and then finally I just stayed awake at 8. Our plan was to get our train reservations, explore, take our train to Perugia and then chill and have worship there. We were going to leave our bags at the hostel and come back for them but the front desk was closed all morning so there was no secure place to leave them and then someone to let us in later. We had to turn our keys in before 10 and we’d be back after that. We wanted to leave our bags because we wanted to take a water taxi to saint Marks basilica. Well with our bags we couldn’t do that, so our morning plans were kind of ruined. We went to the train station and got our reservations and then we walked around to find some breakfast. We stopped and I just got some coffee. We then walked around the canals and bridges to try to get our last glimpses of Venice. It was a bit sad we didn’t really get to have any experiences but it was cool to just visit Venice all the same. To actually see what the set up of the water city. We went to the station and boarded our train. It was a pretty nice train. Italy is weird about their trains, they don’t accept the Eurail only and they clean them after every ride, which props to them. We switched trains in Florence to a non reservation required train. It wasn’t very nice but hey, free. Italy’s landscape has been very plant populated. Distant hills and some large hills here and there. Pretty rolling landscape. The clouds were hanging low and in and on the hills which was cool. A lot of vineyards of course. A lot of small trees and farmland too. Lots and lots of trees. The fall colored leaves make the view very pleasing. They have a lot of plants that I am seeing for the first time. A lot of red roofed houses too. We finally made it to Perugia and we were kind of nervous since Mateo, Claire’s friend was picking us up. We didn’t know what to expect. But he and his cousin were right there when we got off the train. we split up into their cars and went to his house. His cousin didn’t speak English so their car ride was a bit awkward. But Claire and Mateo caught up. He is a super nice guy but he didn’t know where he was going since he doesn’t really live there, it’s their grandparents extra house. He was a bit of a crazy driver and got lost so it took us awhile to get there. The others made it there before us. As we drove up, it was in a hill in the country. It was classic Italian countryside. But instead of vineyards, they had olive trees! And they were beautiful. They just harvested their olives recently and made fresh olive oil. But they had rolling hills and trees everywhere. It was very scenic. The house had an upstairs and a downstairs. The downstairs was rented by a family so we just had the upstairs but it was perfect. It had a kitchen, dining room, living room in one room. It was cozy. Then two bedrooms with 5 beds and a bathroom and a room with a utility sink. Those rooms were all off a hallway. It was small but would serve us just fine. It was kind of like a cabin. It had wood beams and stone floors. It was kind of chilly so they turned the heaters on for us. They also called a taxi for us for the morning since it would be easier than trying to figure out the buses apparently. Mateos cousin left and Mateo took some of us to the Pam grocery store down the road. We got some sandwich stuff, breakfast stuff, and some sauce for our noodles. He helped us pick out the best bread and fresh cut ham. He was so helpful! He took us back to his place and then he offered to order us pizza since it was cheap here. He ordered us 3 pizzas so we each got a half of pizza for like 2.50 euros. That’s amazing. Annah made us some spaghetti too. We had church next. We just did our own service and discussed some thankfulness we felt. After that, It was kind of cold and I was sleeping on the couch so I got some blankets and laid down to warm up. I probably could’ve slept right then and there. We used our shower selector app and I was last so I wasn’t in a hurry to do much. We also don’t have Wi-Fi and my texting kind of quit working and my Netflix app signed me out and wouldn’t let me back in that day so I really had nothing to do. We had cards so they played cards while claire showered and I just rested on the couch. They let me shower next while they were in their game. That was nice of them. It was one of the best bathrooms we’ve had this whole trip because it was very homey feeling and warm in the little room. I made my bed on the couch and Annah got little space heaters out and I put one in the room I was sleeping in and it kept it warm for a bit. The house was kind of freaking us out though because there was a legit breathing sound in abby and Hannah’s room. No exaggeration, it sounds just like breathing but it didn’t go away. It just stayed consistent the whole time. Then we kept hearing like buzzing sounds like someone was trying to enter their gate. Also not having any form of connection to the world is a bit sketch. Especially since we were out in the countryside. We had an early morning the next day so I went to sleep.

Fun facts. We are on Bella Fontana road. Perugia is like the biggest city in its region so it’s it bigger deal than we realized. Italy is very environmentally conscious, they drive tiny cars and have to recycle. Recycling rules confuse us. I’m never sure where to put my trash. They have like 30 different bins. Okay maybe 4. But still.

Shoutout: Mateo! And Claire for being friends with Mateo and arranging our free housing. Mateo helped us a bunch! We would’ve been done for without him haha.