The six bed dorm in the Venetian hostel had become seven beds for the night.
On Sunday night, it would be just me and Daniel, the boy with the ripped jeans from Melbourne. I would sit in my black slip on the bed across from him, darning his jeans, first using up all the red thread (cotton, to him) and then the green. We’d tell stories and laugh and drink red wine out of flimsy plastic cups. And before going to sleep, we’d set the alarm for 8:00, to get up early to pack and go in search of Internet and coffee. And after, I wouldn’t say good-bye, but leave for the train when he’d gone upstairs to pee.
But before all that, in the beginning, there were seven beds in a six bed dorm and we were all a little drunk.
Woo Hoo!!!
Melbourne boys are always worth it!
You minx!
More stories like these please. I like that you always leave your readers in suspense and wanting…more….hee hee We are all living our lives vicariously through you…hanging on your every word & thought…you are a great writer!
i love this vignette.
Your writing is amazing. I got so lost in this little snippet; especially the last line. I felt millions of miles away from my desk for a moment. I think you should create a journal full of these stories together with your travel tips from your other blog and publish it. This Fish’s Travel Journal. And then leave space for readers to record their own travel stories. I would buy it
ahhh, another benefit of travelling alone!
(and yeah, aussies met in hostels are the best kind of trouble)
At one time I was one of those occupying one of the “other” beds in a hostel. There’s nothing more lonely than occupying one of the “other” beds in a hostel.
Awesome!
I’ve never met an aussie in a dorm, but it certainly sounds like it was promising…
Thanks for another moment of escape.
You go Girl!
You must, must, MUST go to the Cinque Terre if you are anywhere near Italy! I promise you won’t be diappointed. After backpacking through Europe several times, it has to be in my Top 5 Fab list!
Is it possible to get a link to ‘On the Road’ from this site? I always read at work and never bookmark pages. I’ve been getting there from one of your entries, but alarmingly, that entry is now at the very bottom! One more post and I’ll lose On the Road.
Fish, you should come to Melbourne where there are lots of lovely boys…
Is Australia on your itinerary?
Thanks for all the lovely travel stories
The link to On the Road is in the LINKS drop-down box on the right.
Is it wrong that I get a total pang of jealousy that he got to hang with you while in your undies?
Neilpuck:
Boy I hope not…because that would make every male reader of this blog very very wrong. Myself included.
Sitting there in a slip darning jeans. If I put Sig’s portrait up on the Sears Tower it still wouldn’t be a larger Freudian image.
Ouch. That made my heart pang a little
thanks for the great story! i’m assuming that just like pumpkin soup made your list of what’s to love in milan this goes on the list of what’s to love in venice.
hey now! mine was from Melbourne too. Does the fact that she couldn’t get a drink in my country make me a dirtbag? I say no.
You snuck out? That bad, huh?
You know why I love writing? Because this post contains my entire story with the boy from Melbourne. All of it. Nothing happened with him. It is, however, a set up for my story with the other six people who slept in that dorm.
And I snuck out, because I was tired of goodbyes. I’d already said goodbye to the Gondola Kids and I didn’t want to do it again.
FISH: I’m loving reading your travelogue. I lived in Bell’Italia for the past 2 years, South of Firenze (see my blog archive) If you need help, fun, or some good connections outside of a hostel in the Cortona / Firenze areas, send me an email at tuttivabene (at) mac (dot) com and I’d love to introduce you to some amazing, fun people …! Be lonely no more!! — Viaggiatore.
What hostel are you staying in in Venice? I stayed in a hostel that did the same thing for the night – added an extra bed. Venice has to be my favorite city in the world – it was just amazing and wonderful and everything great.
Why in the world is it that girls do this??? Sometimes I meet girls on chance encounters and sometimes it’s a blind date, but a small percent of the time, they’re either gone when I come back or they get up to powder their nose. and never come back, even if I think we’re having a decent time. And if it’s not going well, I am polite and at least finish my dinner and say good night at the end. Sometimes I wait for 30 mins or an hour wondering what’s going on, and I can get pretty upset waitng for them during that time period. I just find it to be very rude and inconsiderate, just my $0.02
good times, girl!