Somewhere amongst the magic of wandering the streets in Florence, drooling over the gorgeous displays of Gelato and being taken back by the beauty of it all, it came time to find a place that we could watch game 4 of the American League playoffs. I know, watching baseball while in one of the most romantic cities in the world may seem a little ridiculous to you, but hey, I’m married to a born and raised Cleveland guy. Anyway, the series had started when we landed into Genoa a few days earlier. We were exploring the city during the day and struggling to stay up til 3 a.m each morning trying to listen to the game on the radio which came in spotty at best. It was exhausting ! By the time we got to Florence it was game 4 and time to try to find a place that might be having the game on tv. With a little research, we came across the Monkey Bar which not only was showing the game but was also known to speak a bit of English. Perfect !

A little dark and dingy and a tad goth, we grabbed some beers and waited for the game to start. Before we knew it , the bar was packed with American College kids studying abroad, and sitting next to us was a travel agent from Canada. Did I mention the Indians were playing the Blue Jays? You can’t make this stuff up. We became instant friends, and chatted about our travels, where we came from, where we were going. We bought rounds of beers, cheered loudly and when the Indians lost , we were bought shots to help heal our broken hearts.

Side note: Don’t opt for the Nachos. We got a sad plate of chips topped with runny marinara sauce and bell peppers.

The point of this post, is simply that one of the best things about traveling abroad is when you find a small piece of home, meet new friends and have memories that will last a life time. Wanderlust is what crosses the barriers and brings people together.