It is a truth
universally acknowledged, that two young women in possession of American
descent, must be in want of Wi-Fi. –Jane Austen
With this in
mind Anne and I set out for McDonald’s and free internet. There is a sign right
next to our house that indicates that Mickey D’s is only two minutes away. Let
me just tell you, McDonald’s lies!
After walking
for about fifteen minutes we couldn’t find it. We didn’t think it could
possibly be farther than that. So we decided to walk back to the bus stop and
take a bus into the city to go to an internet café. We waited for about ten
minutes and the bus never showed up. (Side Note: I really do not understand the
bus system in Italy.) We decided that we must have passed McDonald’s and that
we should try to find it again. So we set out in pursuit of the golden arches.
On the way we decided to ask an elderly woman for directions. In Italian that
was so fast and spoken with such a heavy Tuscan accent that we could only make
out about every other word we gathered that McDonald’s was far away, about
another kilometer. As college students hardened by two weeks in Rome we thought
a kilometer was nothing… I mean it is less than a mile! So we recommenced our
journey. After about 20 minutes we found ourselves in the ghetto of the outskirts of
Siena. We didn’t think anyone would build a nice restaurant there (McDonald’s
are very fancy here in Italy), but we pressed onward anyway. Our effort was
rewarded with the sight of trash along the road, but it was not just any trash.
It was trash labeled “Big Mac” and “French Fries.” We thought that we must have
been getting closer. After another ten minutes I spotted flags waving in the
wind, flags emblazoned with golden arches. We had made it! So with shaking legs
we entered the restaurant only to find that there was only one worker and a line
of ten Italians. We decided to forego our much-anticipated cokes and just used
the internet. So in summary we walked two hours for fifteen minutes of
internet… I have never felt so American.
Why did we do
it? Sometimes you just really want to be connected to the outer world.
Ciao!
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