[ITALY] Mission: Cheap Tickets to Florence

In the Spring of 2006, I enrolled in a summer semester for NYU in Florence for Screenwriting classes. I was afraid I would never get accepted to FAMU in Prague.




Even though I eventually did get accepted into BOTH programs, I was stoked to go to the country of my heritage, and was even more enthralled when I found out that many of my fellow students from Sight & Sound Video/Documentary were going to be there as well.

Willis, Jessie, Jessica, Asal, JR, and Drew were all taking a "30-sec Commercial Reel" class with legendary underground filmmaker, Amos Poe. We decided to travel together, and me being the cheap sorta-Jew that I am, took on the task of researching every single airline under the sun for the perfect price. We finally settled on a plan of action, which required us to take three forms of transportation within a span of 10 hours.

I had never been overseas before, let alone been on a plane for more than 2 hours. None of us really spoke fluent Italian. I hardly had enough money to eat, let alone fly. It was gonna be a trip, alright.....

***


From: Tara Rose Stromberg
Date: Friday, May 12, 2006 6:03 pm
Subject: URGENT! I have booked a train!.....for me....

Dear Asal and Jessie and Jessica and Willis (yes, the male comes last...),

So I just booked a train at 12 noon for the 14th, this Sunday, when we arrive in Milan and need to get to Florence. I went on TrenItalia, put in Milan and Florence as the departure and destination and chose the Eurostar train that leaves at 12:00 and arrives at 14:45. Attached is a copy of my Purchase summary. Look at it. Use it. Wear it out. It is your best pal forever and always.
So there you have it. We just have to get there by 12. somehow. Jessie said that the bus from the airport is cheaper than cabbie, so that looks god. I'm gonna call a travel agent and find out exactly how far away the airport is from the train station. God help me.

So please, CALL OR E-MAIL me to let me know you got this and have purchased a ticket, so I know we're all set, and no one gets left out. If not, I will be calling your ass tonight. :P

We'll meet at the terminal tomorrow afternoon; I will be there hella early due to my nueroticism, and Jessie, I believe, is meeting us Sunday at the train station or airport, right? Right. 

Now I'm going to pack. Because I haven't done any of that yet. Stop laughing, it's not funny. :(

See ya soon!!! (And I best be hearing from ya...)

Tara

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From: Andrew S. Willis

Sent: Friday, May 12, 2006 11:07 pm

To: Tara Rose Stromberg

Cc: Asal, Jessie, Jessica

Subject: Re: URGENT! I have booked a train!.....for me....

Hey guys,

1. Tara- don't hate the playa hate the game.

2. I made my reservation, all is well I have my confirmation code and all that jazz so that's good.

3. So uh... on the train website, there is a tiny little button in the top right hand corner that says "english" you click on it, and it makes you happy. At least it made me happy. what with the translating and all.

4. I'm in the city right now, is anyone up for splitting a cab ride to JFK? I dun know, seems like a good idea. Let me know.

5. Holy crap we're going to Italy.

That is all.

~Willis