“We made a mistake” – those are not the most enticing words of greeting.
If you can’t tell from the title of this blog, we aren’t too fond of Priceline.com. Like, not at all.
Now let me fill you in.
We got off the train (in awe that we actually made it!) and headed to the hotel we had booked through Priceline. Hotel Aline. On the website, we said that we wanted a hotel for 6 adults, and it booked us two rooms at that hotel. Once in Florence, it took us awhile to find because the sign and actual hotel was on one side of the street, but you had to go into a completely different building on the other side of the street to check in. We finally found it, went up, and were greeted with those lovely words- “We made a mistake.” As it turns out, they didn’t actually have room for us even though we already paid for our rooms, so they were sending us to another hotel down the street. She told us where it was and how to get there, so we went on our way. Well, we get to the next “hotel” and it’s definitely a house. An apartment house. We go up, knock, and three little dogs start barking away. We go in, and they know we’re coming. We ask them about the rooms and quickly find out that they speak ZERO English. Not a word. Ohhh boy. Well, they only would give us rooms for 4 people. No, we could not have 2 people sleep on the ground because that is illegal in Italy. No, we couldn’t get two 3-person rooms, because Hotel Aline was only paying for two 2-person rooms. After lots of communication issues and phone calls, we made the trek BACK to Hotel Aline to talk to the woman there that actually did speak some English. By this point, it was SO hot, we had been trying to figure out the hotel for 2 hours now, and it was Michelle’s birthday. Not quite the best situation! The other girls were getting really frustrated, so another girl and I went up to talk to the lady alone. I was planning on going in and nicely telling her that we paid for rooms for 6 people at her hotel, so it was her responsibility to accommodate those bed spaces for us at a hotel elsewhere.
However, when I walked up the stairs I was greeted with a finger in my face and a line telling me that I needed to be quiet and listen to what she had to say—before I had even opened my mouth. She went on to yell at us about how we only paid for 4 bed spaces, and yes we could stay at her place and she would love it, because then she could call the police on us and we would be arrested. We would be sleeping 3 people in two 2-person rooms. She had two 2-person rooms available, which obviously meant she knew we had six people when she opened with her one-liner- “we made a mistake.” After yelling at us for a good ten minutes, she stopped talking finally. My plan of being sweet and polite went out the window the second she said she wanted to call the police on us. We made a reservation at your hotel and were going to give you business, you made a mistake, and now it’s our faults and you’re yelling at us and threatening the police? Yeah, not happening. I waited a good ten seconds of silence after she finished talking to make sure she was done. Then I started talking. And after my first sentence, she interrupted me and started yelling again. I stopped talking, then informed her that I had patiently listened to what she had said so now I would like to speak without being interrupted. She wasn’t very good at waiting her turn to talk. Maybe it’s a culture thing, I don’t know. It was quite annoying though. The language barrier made it very hard to communicate logic. In fact, I still don’t even know what she was thinking or how she rationalized any of this. We were sick of her and she was not budging and kept bringing up the police, so we walked out, went to the other place, sucked it up and paid for two more people, and stayed in the bedrooms of their house. It was definitely an interesting hotel experience. We felt like we should be telling them where we were going and ask what our curfew was when we walked out through their living room.
This whole situation probably wasn’t helped by the fact that it was 6:30 pm and none of us had eaten since 8:15 am. We were starving, so we went out to find a restaurant to eat at for Michelle’s birthday. Our hungry stomachs made our decision making quick- we went into the first place we saw! Unfortunately, the restaurant’s pizza oven wasn’t on so we couldn’t get that. I got Spaghetti Carbonara (I like Mom and Dad’s better!), Michelle got spaghetti with red sauce, and we split half-and-half. We also got a bottle of wine for our table. I don’t remember exactly what it was, but it was good!
After dinner, we walked around the city. We walked around and some girls did some shopping, tried on shoes (of course), and got huge gelatos. Chocolate for me! Surprise? It shouldn’t be! :) We couldn’t see the David statue because it closed soon, and there was a HUGE line that was too long for the hours it was open. We decided that we could settle for the replica, so we went and found it and took pictures in front of it. Right next to the replica there was an orchestra setting up. We decided it would be fun to watch it with our yummy gelato! While we were waiting, Brittany, Brittany, and I went to find a bathroom…or “water closet” and wondered how expensive it would be this time (yes, you have to pay to use the restroom EVERYWHERE!).
This turned into quite the experience. We walked and walked. The public ones were closed by now. We asked some people on the streets- “Bathroom? Bano?? Toilet??? Water Closet????” Nothing. I only I knew every language… :) We finally asked someone and then pointed us down some stairs. They were part of a restaurant, but we (I) didn’t care because it was at the verge of an emergency at this point. I was the one who had to go the most, so I went in first. I opened the door, turned on the light, and it was a “common” area for washing hands. I opened the women’s door and it was a single tiny little room. With a huge cockroach on the ground. That was running around frantically. Deep breathe. Ready, go. I went in and closed the door and the girls waited in the sink area. Well, the toilet was stacked with toilet paper and disgustingness so it was hard enough already to make this work, and the addition of a crittering cockroach on the ground didn’t make it easy. I swear it was attracted to my feet. I was jumping from foot to foot, trying to avoid it and wondering how I’d ever go to the bathroom. Not happening. I took the next 5 minutes to get the cockroach out of the bathroom by telling it to go to the door because there were more people out there. Five minutes later, it finally crawled under the door and left. Success!...greeted by screams from the Brittanies. They bolted out the door, but at least now I was able to go to the bathroom, or at least try. Nope. All of the sudden, the lights went completely out! And did I mention the pile of trash in the corner infested with more cockroaches? Me, in tiny bathroom, with tons of cockroaches, in the dark, alone. “Hello…? Guys? Anyone?” No response. Well, this would be fun! Finally one Brittany came back in, noticed the lights off, and turned them back on. They said a man had left the men’s restroom so he must have hit my light by accident. Finally I just went to the bathroom and darted out of that place. It was quite traumatizing. Thankfully I was going back to the jazz orchestra to let them soothe me, and on the way back I saw a man with two Chloe dogs (maltese)!!!!! I didn’t care if he spoke English, I NEEDED to pet them! I went over to him, pointed at the dogs with my eyebrows up (American Sign Language in practice), and he nodded yes. The girls practically had to drag me away from the dogs after awhile. I just miss my doggie so much! Everyone wish her a happy birthday on June 18. :)
We walked around to see the other sites of Florence, then eventually made it back to the house “hotel.” Keep in mind that today was Michelle’s birthday! We booked a full-day tour of Tuscany for the next day, so we decided to celebrate the next day as Michelle’s 21st birthday. The tour would pick us up at 8:30 am at the train station, then take us to Siena, a farm/vineyard, San Gimignano, and Pisa, then back to the train station at 8:30 pm.
I had internet at the hotel which meant Skype (yay!)…but also that I went to sleep at 4 am and woke up at 6 am (not so yay). I got to talk to my Mom and Dad for awhile (and see Chloe!!!), and then to my boyfriend Patrick, whose birthday is tomorrow (or today for me, since it was July 6 already). Then it was time for my 2 hours of sleep (on my little house “hotel” bed that had a questionable hair on it). Goodnight!
If you can’t tell from the title of this blog, we aren’t too fond of Priceline.com. Like, not at all.
Now let me fill you in.
We got off the train (in awe that we actually made it!) and headed to the hotel we had booked through Priceline. Hotel Aline. On the website, we said that we wanted a hotel for 6 adults, and it booked us two rooms at that hotel. Once in Florence, it took us awhile to find because the sign and actual hotel was on one side of the street, but you had to go into a completely different building on the other side of the street to check in. We finally found it, went up, and were greeted with those lovely words- “We made a mistake.” As it turns out, they didn’t actually have room for us even though we already paid for our rooms, so they were sending us to another hotel down the street. She told us where it was and how to get there, so we went on our way. Well, we get to the next “hotel” and it’s definitely a house. An apartment house. We go up, knock, and three little dogs start barking away. We go in, and they know we’re coming. We ask them about the rooms and quickly find out that they speak ZERO English. Not a word. Ohhh boy. Well, they only would give us rooms for 4 people. No, we could not have 2 people sleep on the ground because that is illegal in Italy. No, we couldn’t get two 3-person rooms, because Hotel Aline was only paying for two 2-person rooms. After lots of communication issues and phone calls, we made the trek BACK to Hotel Aline to talk to the woman there that actually did speak some English. By this point, it was SO hot, we had been trying to figure out the hotel for 2 hours now, and it was Michelle’s birthday. Not quite the best situation! The other girls were getting really frustrated, so another girl and I went up to talk to the lady alone. I was planning on going in and nicely telling her that we paid for rooms for 6 people at her hotel, so it was her responsibility to accommodate those bed spaces for us at a hotel elsewhere.
However, when I walked up the stairs I was greeted with a finger in my face and a line telling me that I needed to be quiet and listen to what she had to say—before I had even opened my mouth. She went on to yell at us about how we only paid for 4 bed spaces, and yes we could stay at her place and she would love it, because then she could call the police on us and we would be arrested. We would be sleeping 3 people in two 2-person rooms. She had two 2-person rooms available, which obviously meant she knew we had six people when she opened with her one-liner- “we made a mistake.” After yelling at us for a good ten minutes, she stopped talking finally. My plan of being sweet and polite went out the window the second she said she wanted to call the police on us. We made a reservation at your hotel and were going to give you business, you made a mistake, and now it’s our faults and you’re yelling at us and threatening the police? Yeah, not happening. I waited a good ten seconds of silence after she finished talking to make sure she was done. Then I started talking. And after my first sentence, she interrupted me and started yelling again. I stopped talking, then informed her that I had patiently listened to what she had said so now I would like to speak without being interrupted. She wasn’t very good at waiting her turn to talk. Maybe it’s a culture thing, I don’t know. It was quite annoying though. The language barrier made it very hard to communicate logic. In fact, I still don’t even know what she was thinking or how she rationalized any of this. We were sick of her and she was not budging and kept bringing up the police, so we walked out, went to the other place, sucked it up and paid for two more people, and stayed in the bedrooms of their house. It was definitely an interesting hotel experience. We felt like we should be telling them where we were going and ask what our curfew was when we walked out through their living room.
This whole situation probably wasn’t helped by the fact that it was 6:30 pm and none of us had eaten since 8:15 am. We were starving, so we went out to find a restaurant to eat at for Michelle’s birthday. Our hungry stomachs made our decision making quick- we went into the first place we saw! Unfortunately, the restaurant’s pizza oven wasn’t on so we couldn’t get that. I got Spaghetti Carbonara (I like Mom and Dad’s better!), Michelle got spaghetti with red sauce, and we split half-and-half. We also got a bottle of wine for our table. I don’t remember exactly what it was, but it was good!
After dinner, we walked around the city. We walked around and some girls did some shopping, tried on shoes (of course), and got huge gelatos. Chocolate for me! Surprise? It shouldn’t be! :) We couldn’t see the David statue because it closed soon, and there was a HUGE line that was too long for the hours it was open. We decided that we could settle for the replica, so we went and found it and took pictures in front of it. Right next to the replica there was an orchestra setting up. We decided it would be fun to watch it with our yummy gelato! While we were waiting, Brittany, Brittany, and I went to find a bathroom…or “water closet” and wondered how expensive it would be this time (yes, you have to pay to use the restroom EVERYWHERE!).
This turned into quite the experience. We walked and walked. The public ones were closed by now. We asked some people on the streets- “Bathroom? Bano?? Toilet??? Water Closet????” Nothing. I only I knew every language… :) We finally asked someone and then pointed us down some stairs. They were part of a restaurant, but we (I) didn’t care because it was at the verge of an emergency at this point. I was the one who had to go the most, so I went in first. I opened the door, turned on the light, and it was a “common” area for washing hands. I opened the women’s door and it was a single tiny little room. With a huge cockroach on the ground. That was running around frantically. Deep breathe. Ready, go. I went in and closed the door and the girls waited in the sink area. Well, the toilet was stacked with toilet paper and disgustingness so it was hard enough already to make this work, and the addition of a crittering cockroach on the ground didn’t make it easy. I swear it was attracted to my feet. I was jumping from foot to foot, trying to avoid it and wondering how I’d ever go to the bathroom. Not happening. I took the next 5 minutes to get the cockroach out of the bathroom by telling it to go to the door because there were more people out there. Five minutes later, it finally crawled under the door and left. Success!...greeted by screams from the Brittanies. They bolted out the door, but at least now I was able to go to the bathroom, or at least try. Nope. All of the sudden, the lights went completely out! And did I mention the pile of trash in the corner infested with more cockroaches? Me, in tiny bathroom, with tons of cockroaches, in the dark, alone. “Hello…? Guys? Anyone?” No response. Well, this would be fun! Finally one Brittany came back in, noticed the lights off, and turned them back on. They said a man had left the men’s restroom so he must have hit my light by accident. Finally I just went to the bathroom and darted out of that place. It was quite traumatizing. Thankfully I was going back to the jazz orchestra to let them soothe me, and on the way back I saw a man with two Chloe dogs (maltese)!!!!! I didn’t care if he spoke English, I NEEDED to pet them! I went over to him, pointed at the dogs with my eyebrows up (American Sign Language in practice), and he nodded yes. The girls practically had to drag me away from the dogs after awhile. I just miss my doggie so much! Everyone wish her a happy birthday on June 18. :)
We walked around to see the other sites of Florence, then eventually made it back to the house “hotel.” Keep in mind that today was Michelle’s birthday! We booked a full-day tour of Tuscany for the next day, so we decided to celebrate the next day as Michelle’s 21st birthday. The tour would pick us up at 8:30 am at the train station, then take us to Siena, a farm/vineyard, San Gimignano, and Pisa, then back to the train station at 8:30 pm.
I had internet at the hotel which meant Skype (yay!)…but also that I went to sleep at 4 am and woke up at 6 am (not so yay). I got to talk to my Mom and Dad for awhile (and see Chloe!!!), and then to my boyfriend Patrick, whose birthday is tomorrow (or today for me, since it was July 6 already). Then it was time for my 2 hours of sleep (on my little house “hotel” bed that had a questionable hair on it). Goodnight!
Where we THOUGHT we were going to stay...
One of the many walks back and forth...
Happy 21st Birthday Michelle!
I took this for you, Syd!
David Statue Replica
Doggies! I miss my Chloe!
Florence at dusk
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