Day 44
Train Stations 13
Bus Stations 11
Ferries 2
Currency Exchanges 6

Today was interesting. We left Pula for Trieste at 6:00 AM (ouch) and traversed three different countries all before 9:00 AM. From Croatia, through Slovenia, to Italy. Trieste is in the very northeast part of Italy and it's chilly and a little cloudy.
I felt like a bunch of yuck on the bus from not being able to sleep well last night and from a little bit of motion sickness. We arrived in Trieste at 8:45 AM. We, of course, had no map, no Euro, no where to stay.... only a half baked plan of the necessary steps to take in order to FIND a map, Euro, and a place to stay. I had absolutely no energy for it, which must have been evident, because Mike sat me down in a cafe, ordered me a cappacino, and left in search. I got my necessary caffine in take while studying a little Italian. It's such a relief find an easy language.
We found the tourist office with no avail and with it, a book of local accomodation. So we simply picked one that was nearby (Hotel Agata) and set off. It was up a crazy long hill so we kept climbing, climbing, climbing through narrow lanes of cobblestone streets with towering European buildings on every side and vespa scooters constantly whizzing by. We finally found it, Hotel Agata, and quickly realized that it wasn't a hotel at all, but someone's apartment. Truly a private residence. We rang the bell but no one answered. It was a discouraging moment. I knew our only other option in the area was close, but I knew for sure it was a private residence because the name of the place was Kristine Hecker. We quickly found it, entered, climbed five flights of stairs, and very timidly ran her bell. It felt a little weird just showing up on some random person's doorstep, unannounced, carrying backpacks, sweaty from hills and stairs.
She answered the door within seconds and I quickly said, "Parla English?" She looked a little startled, but replied, "Yes."
I said, "Grazie. We are looking for accomodation."
She says, "Oh, come right in...."
And that was that.
She's a crazy, older Italian woman who has a PhD in French Literature and who teaches German for a living at University. She is a bit nosy and WAY TOO accomodating, but we are (and will be) eternally grateful for her hospitality. We got a little tray of chocolate, grapes, and cookies, fresh filtered water, we got our own SLIPPERS!
There is a Nepalese woman and her seven year old son living there. I don't know what's up with that, but they are very nice.
Our day of sightseeing was lame, but the FOOD and the WINE was divine!

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I got really sick tonight. I don't know what happened. I turned evil while sightseeing and had to come back to the apartment. I went to sleep around 4:30 PM and woke up at 6:00 PM feeling like death. I remember saying, "Oh, this is not good." I felt like I did in Peru when something in the water turned my stomach inside out. What's amazing is that I went back to sleep, slept soundly, and when I awoke again at 7:00 PM, I was feverish and sweaty, but I felt a LOT better. The room was cold, so I obviously broke some sort of fever and my body had just waged an all out offensive on whatever foreign ailment invaded me.
Kristine was very kind and offered me some Naan soup (home made). It was fantastic!