I have a way back to London at last. Eurostar apparently added more trains in Brussels and I booked a train leaving at 3pm Friday. I’m looking at about 36 hours of traveling before I make it back to London, anywhere from four to ten different trains depending on how many connections I end up with between Zurich and Brussels, at least 10 hours spent in a train station with not much to do. No shower. And I’m missing my housing appointment, so I don’t get to pick my room for next year. Dehui will take care of that. But I’m going back to London. My flight was officially canceled just this afternoon, so no worries about whether or not I’m doing the right thing. The volcano appears to be spewing more ash again anyway. RyanAir has yet to offer me a refund on my flight.

Anyway, today I went to the island of Murano, which is where they do all the glass-blowing and such. Walked around for a while. Bought presents for people. Came back early by boat. It’s weird that for people here the boat is the taxi/subway/bus/etc. There were kids on their way home from school in the afternoon on the boat. To bed early tonight, then the saga of returning begins bright and early at 5am. Not looking forward to it in the slightest, but trying not to think about what’s coming too much. I’ve stayed awake that long before, so if it comes to that, I’ve got Red Bull on my side. Bring it on, European train system. Looking forward to being in my room again.

— Lauren