Studying Abroad In Italy

I'll never forget the day the boat service went on strike...in Venice. I was three weeks into my study abroad trip to Italy, having already been to Rome and Florence, and had taken an extra day in Venice before taking the train and meeting back up with my class in our base city, Castiglion Fiorentino. I was there with two other girls, but they were out on the Lido, and island off the coast, and I was on the main island. I had come down that morning from my hotel room to grab the complimentary coffee and pastry from the small, but welcoming, dining area of the Hotel Mignon, when I overhear a fellow tourist and her friend talking about a strike and how it would interrupt their plans to go to the beach that day. I walked up to the concierge and she confirmed my fears, the vaparetto water taxi was on strike. Now, at first that didn't cause many issues for me, after all, I was on the mainland and the train station was a walkable feat. However, for my friends, who unfortunately couldn't walk on water, they had the short end of the stick. My friends, I then realized, who were holding all of our train tickets.
I tried to get in contact with them, but neither were answering their phones. I then called my instructor, who basically said to leave them and buy another ticket. I guess "no man left behind" didn't apply in these circumstances. I ran to the train station, over canals and confused tourists attempting to find the Venice Biennale without the help of the water taxis, roller suitcase in tow. All the while hoping that my friends had somehow found a way of the island.
When I arrived, I looked around, waiting until the last possible second I could before I would have to quickly buy a ticket and hop on the train, when I saw to figures rushing off a small motorboat they had bribed into giving them a lift, only 3 minutes before the train was set to leave..