My epic European adventure

dd
Tomorrow evening, I’m flying from Bergamo, Italy to Bristol, England. After a night and a day in Bristol – if all goes as planned* – I’ll travel to the following places.

1.) Bristol to Pembroke Dock, Wales (bus)
2.) Pembroke Dock to Rosslare Harbour, Republic of Ireland (ferry)
3.) Rosslare Harbour to Cork (bus)
4.) Cork to Limerick, Kilkenny, or Blarney (bus or train, yet to be decided)
5.) Limerick, Kilkenny, or Blarney to Dublin (ditto)
6.) Dublin to Belfast, North Ireland (bus)
7.) Belfast to Stranraer, Scotland (ferry)
8.) Stranraer to Glasgow (bus)
9.) Glasgow to Barcelona, Spain (plane)
10.) Barcelona to Madrid (overnight train, with bunkbeds!)
11.) Madrid to Bergamo, Italy (plane)
12.) Bergamo to Crema (Razor scooter)

My journey, in theory, will last from Wednesday, April 8 to Sunday, April 19. In all: five countries, three planes, two ferries, one Guinness Factory tour, and more buses, trains, tourist information centers, supermarkets, and awesome accents than I plan to count.

I can’t wait.

*Note: In Italian, you don’t “knock on wood.” Instead, you “touch iron.” When such “touch iron” situations come up, many Italian males like to reach for their groin, in an effort to suggest that the “contents” of said region resemble a piece of iron.

Know, therefore, that immediately after writing that sentence (“if all goes as planned”), I touched iron, just to be safe.


The only major hiccup I’ve encountered – touch iron – came today, when I received an email from the fine folks at the Bank of America security center alerting me to suspicious account activity. Moments later, reviewing my balance, I couldn’t blame them, as my card had been used to purchase planes, trains, buses, and ferries across five countries (and in three languages).

The email instructed me to call some number with an 877 area code. Not wanting to spend my time and calling card money waiting on hold, I decided to see if I could resolve the issue using the wonderfully convenient Bank of America online chat feature. (For those of you Bank of America customers reading this right now, know that online, you can chat instantly with a customer service representative. It’s amazing. The minutes, perhaps hours, that you would normally spend calling customer service are transformed into a four minute – and, mind you, very pleasant – instant messaging dialogue. I’ve used it three times in the last month, and recommend it highly.)

Anyway, here are the highlights of my chat:


Ashleigh: Hello! Thank you for being valued Bank of America Customer. My name is Ashleigh. How may I assist you today with your personal accounts?
You: Hello, Ashleigh. I wanted to confirm a purchase that I just made online with my CampusEdge checking card
Ashleigh: Yes, how are you doing?
You: Shortly after making the purchase, I received an email about potentially suspicious account activity. Which I totally understand, because I was buying a train ticket in Spain.
You: The email told me to call a phone number to confirm the purchase.
Ashleigh: That is correct.
You: But the problem is that I'm in Italy. Thus, calling home is really expensive.
Ashleigh: To begin with, may I have your complete name as it appears on your statement?
You: Nathan J Randall
Ashleigh: Thank you, Nathan. I would request you not to worry! I will provide you the toll free number, will that be fine for you?
You: The thing is, calling such numbers from international phones still costs money, as far as I know.
You: I could be wrong.
Ashleigh: Yes, you are wrong.
Ashleigh: I apologize to mention that.
You: No, it's okay.
Ashleigh: Thank you for your kind understanding.
You: I appreciate your honesty.
Ashleigh: Thank you for your appreciation!
You: It's a pleasure.
Ashleigh: Nathan, I will be happy to assist you as best I can from our side. Could you please confirm the last four digits of your account?
You: 1234

Note: for those of you hoping to rob me of my money and identity, know that I just changed that number to a fictitious one.
Or did I…

Ashleigh: Thank you for the information.
You: You're welcome.
Ashleigh: I see that the transaction is pending to your account and might clear by tomorrow.
You: Indeed.
Ashleigh: I would like to inform you that you can contact us from Italy using the following steps:
You: Okay.

Note: Here, Ashleigh very kindly gave me a list of numbers I could call.

You: Thanks for your help, Ashleigh.
You: And have an excellent day.
Ashleigh: You are more than welcome!
Ashleigh: Thank you for your appreciation!
Ashleigh: I wish your issue would be resolved as soon as possible!
Ashleigh: It was a pleasure assisting you today.
Ashleigh: Enjoy the rest of your day! To close this chat session, click the "Close" button in the upper right corner of this chat window.
Ashleigh: Bye and take care! Your compliments are our Bonus!


Taking Ashleigh’s advice, I called a toll free 800 number, only to be asked to enter the 877 number that the suspicious account activity email had initially given me. When I entered the 877 number, however, I was told that I would be charged the International Direct Dialing Fee, and to hang up immediately if said International Direct Dialing Fee did not tickle my economic fancy. Summary: I was right! The toll free number, when dialed abroad, was not, in fact, toll free!

It may be that my four-year-old and hand-me-down Italian cellphone just couldn’t deal with the technological effort necessary to connect me to the supposedly free international operator back in the States, but – given that I was leaving in 48 hours – I didn’t have time to waste. Therefore, I called in the muscle. A.k.a. my mother. Who, doing as she always does, managed to sort everything out for me within the hour.


And so, all that sit between now and Wednesday night’s departure are two hours of natural science lectures here at Pacioli, three hours of private lessons outside of school, and final packing preparations.


Again, I can’t wait.

I’ll be sure to keep you posted on how the adventures turn out.

For now, be well, and touch iron. If not for your own safety, then for mine.


Best,

Nate