Dave Matthews in Padua

Ciao everyone!

Last night, we went to the Dave Matthews concert in Padua, which is up near Venice. We amazingly purchased the tickets this past Saturday, so everything fell together very quickly. Me, Maggie and Kevin met the Florence for Fun travel agency at 5 pm at the train station. Then, we and 40 other kids boarded the bus for our 3 hour trip! Kevin and Maggie had picked up some delicious Chinese food, and Maria Pia had packed me a sandwich, so we had plenty to eat. We also brought along champagne and beer for the concert, since we knew they wouldn't check our bags. Good way to save money :)

On the bus, we met some cool kids that were sitting behind us. Their names were Jordan and Tasha and they're studying here for a semester. We played games and kept ourselves entertained with them for the whole ride.

We arrived at the concert about 15 minutes before it started, so that was perfect timing. The venue was great. It was small, so that made it perfect to see Dave. All of the standing room tickets down on the floor had been sold out a long time ago, so we had actual seats. It was less rowdy in our section, but it was nice because it wasn't full, and we were able to move up and spread out a little more. We had a great view. Dave played lots of songs from his new album, probably because the Italians don't know many of the obscure songs. However, I expected more of his popular old songs, because I figured the Italians would know them best. He wanted to go in a different direction, I guess. I found the whole experience pretty funny because I'm so used to seeing him in America, where everyone speaks English. This time, after every song, he said "Grazie mille" instead of "thank you," so that was weird to hear. After saying "Ciao, grazie" right in the beginning of the show, he then said "and that's all I know of Italian. So, from here on out it's English for the rest of the night." I'm sure most of the Italians understood him anyway.

The concert ended around midnight and we got back to the bus. We arrived in Florence at 3:30 am. Before we left, I had asked the guides if it was possible to stop mid-route, when we passed by my area. I was expecting a "no" but wanted to try so that I could avoid a 15 euro cab. Surprisingly enough, they were fine with it! So, when we got to my area, the bus driver let me off and I walked about 10 minutes to my house- for free :) I got in around 4 am and crashed.

On a side note, we booked a trip to the Amalfi Coast yesterday and I'm so excited! We'll be going April 15th to the 18th. It's an incredible deal. For 200 euro, we get bus transportation there and back (which by train alone is 140 euro), 3 nights in a 3-star hotel, 3 breakfasts, 2 dinners, a boat to Capri, discounted entrance into the Blue Grotto, discounted boat trip around the island of Capri, and transportation to Sorrento, Positano and Pompeii. Sooooo awesome! I can't wait!

So glad it's finally the weekend. I have lots to do today so that I can have plenty of time to hang out with Lindsey tomorrow when she comes. She's one of Carla's friends who lived in my hall last year, and she is from Basking Ridge, New Jersey. She's studying in Rome for the semester, so it will be fun to see her.

A dopo!