Thursday, 19 of September, 2019.
The bus to Venice it should leave at five o’clock. I check in the electronic board, for the schedule, and it says “Platform 14”, so I go over there and wait. I think it is weird because all the buses from Flixbus are parking in the platforms at the beginning of the station, like as any company it has its own few parking spots. But I thought that maybe the one to Venice it will stop in here. In any case I keep an eye on the number of the buses arriving in those first platforms, just in case.
A bus from another company arrives at Platform 14. And it is going to Venice. But the number of the bus is not the same one as I have in my ticket. I ask the driver if he knows anything and the only thing he tells me is that Flixbus it parks on those first platforms.
So I go back in there, to Flixbus platforms, and wait. I realize that there are a few people also complaining about delays. I am hoping it is for the same bus as I but after some minutes, their bus arrives. But there is still two guys waiting for a bus. I approach them and ask for which bus they are waiting – “To Venice” – they say. OK, it is not just me.
We start to talk. They are very friendly and nice. Jay and AJ are from Canada and are spending some holidays in Italy. We spend some time talking because they are really cool and funny and charming. Probably a perfect mix between be born and raised in Canada with Nigerian and Senegalese ascendancy. Two very handsome and interesting man talking to me while we wait for the bus.
After six in the evening I decide go and ask for information to one of the Flixbus drivers. He is very gentle and try to help as much as he can. When he checks in his phone schedule, he does not see anything about our bus, like as it does not exist. He talks with his partner driver but they do not know what to do.
We know that calling the company it might not work (since it did not work to anybody else) so we walk into the ticket office. The guy working in there is so inefficient as a cone in a football play. Plus he is a completely jerk! He says he can do nothing and get irritated when we say he should help us. He even asks why we are making so many questions to him! What? Are you insane? This is your job! You supposed to know this things! Then, he limit himself to just point to the screen of his computer where it says that the bus it was in time. Me and Jay just leave, knowing that the asshole will not do anything. We are laughing because the situation it sounds comic but completely not possible to happened but still pissed.
The guys finally decide to call the company. It is around seven o’clock. The lady says something incredible: our bus it was cancelled! And, we all were informed of that in our emails, as she can see in her computer. Jay laugh. He just calmly tells her: “How could you had send the email to me if I did not give my email to anyone at the ticket office? I just bought the ticket in here, at the station, 30 minutes before de departure, they should know already that the bus it was cancelled but nobody tells me anything, and I did not give them my email, so please tell me to whom you send the warn because to me it was not.” There is nothing she can do. Of course. And we cannot take the next bus, at seven o`clock, because it is already full. The only thing is taking the bus at eight or something, but she needs to send us new tickets. It is so comic that when I talk to her, she also tells me that an email was sent to me to tell me about the cancellation. There is no email because they do not have my address! You maybe sent the email to your mother but not to me!
The only reason why this whole thing it is not a completely disaster is because I am with the guys. We are making fun and laughing all the time. They are super cool! So they decide to go eat something and I will buy some food. They stay at a coffee shop, because Jay needs to charge his phone, and I go and buy some stuff for a sandwich.
We go back to the station, passing in front of the ticket office I decide go and inform the stupid attendant that our, bus it was actually cancelled, but as the guys tell me later, he just did a face of “I really do not care”. Asshole!
I eat my sandwich and the bus arrive. Me and the guys set apart but it is all right because I need to finish my travel plans and we all probably want to rest a bit.
Finally we arrive and the guys are going to their Airbnb. They decide to walk, instead of taking the boat, just to make me company. So sweet. But Venice is a bitch to people get lost, with all those tiny alleys and the maps just do not work at all, so we spend a bit more time to find their place then expected. And it is cold. Windy cold.
We finally get in there but since I cannot stay with them, they kindly accept that I leave my stuff for the night (since I will sleep somewhere in the street so it is safer), and I can leave the stuff there for the next day, so I can go around the town easily. Yay!
I search for a park to make my camp but when I arrive in there is not as much as a Park as I am a Princess. So I just crash in a alley, unfortunately not able to sleep very well because of the mosquitoes. At least nobody bothers me and next morning I go to the guys, take a shower and get ready to Venice!