Late friday night I got aboard a night train leaving from Munich to Milan. The idea was that I'd sleep the whole way and then be awake and refreshed when arriving in Milan. Afterwards I'd jump on a direct train to Nice, France, where I'd meet my sister tomorrow.
.
Oh what an adventure this was.
.
So, I get to my train early, being always prepared as I am. I got all comfy on the bottom rack in a room of six beds (three stacked on each side, hardly no room in the middle). Shortly thereafter, right before the train leaves, a chinese couple and two German ladies took their places in the cabin. After a long day of walking in Munich, I quickly fell asleep to be awakened a half an hour later by the Schaffner, who had come to check our tickets and passports. As he was explaining when the sixth guest would be arriving, he mentioned that we would be traveling through Ulm, Germany.
.
I love Ulm, I used to live in Ulm. But this was very very bad news. I only wanted to go to Milan... Munich to Milan directly is simple. You just go straight through Austria. But Stuttgart is toward France! Now, you may ask why this is important, when the train will end in Milan anyway. Well, for those of you who have ever used an Eurailpass, there are only certain countries that you are allowed to travel in. My pass includes Germany France Austria Italy Croatia and Slovenia. But what is the missing piece? Well, it's a little neutral country called Switzerland. And as it turned out, Ulm to Milan goes through Switzerland. I told this to the Schaffner, and he immediately said, "well, it looks like you'll be kicked out in Basel." I asked him when, he said, "probably at around 2:30 am.
.
Basel is the armpit of Switzerland, and it is a very difficult place to be if you're trying to get to Milan. Especially no fun at 2:30 am. Well, needless to say I didn't sleep well with thoughts that I might be kicked out in a few hours, and not knowing what to do.
.
I eventually did fall asleep, and I awoke to a police office knocking at our cabin door. I immediately recognized that it was light outside... It looks like I made it. Here's how... Americans are really cool. I got through just because I'm an Ami. I don't know why, but I think it's because they are afraid of me and my army. I don't know.
.
So there I was in Italy. The first thing I did was get robbed. I love Italians. It was at 7 am too. Not exactly prime crime time. I guess I stand out pretty easy as a toursit, and as dumb as I am, I allowed this forty-year old woman help me buy a metro ticket. Yeah, she bought me a day pass but kept the change. I yelled at her, but all I could get back was about eighty cents. She got away with an Euro. I think she tried to tell me that it was a reimbursement for her assistance, but I say, "give it back, you thief"... Italy got the best of me.
.
The next problem was the status of that next train I wanted to take to Nice. I went to make a reservation, but apparently all trains that were heading to Nice were booked, and I was out of luck. Well, I quickly checked out the city, the duomo (went to the roof--very cool), and I was really impressed with the Galleria. It was impressive just how big and spacious everything is. I wanted to see Da Vinci's "Last Supper", but apparently you have to make an appointment a month in advance, so I missed out on that.
.
I then had to decide how to get to Nice. This is when I did something very atypical of me. I started a train journey not knowing ahead of time if it would take me where I want. I guess one good thing about me being in Europe is that it is breaking me out of my "O.C.D." shell. I jumped on a train to Torino, as it was towards the western part of Italy and somewhat in the direction of Nice, and I was hoping that there would be a train going from there to Cumeo then to Nice. I was in luck for once, as when arriving in Torino, a very helpful english-speaking Trenitalia employee gave me the times and connections to Nice.
.
It worked. I led me on one of the most beautiful train rides I have ever had. After leaving Cumeo, the train (slowly) heads up into the italian alps towards the french border, and it weaves it's way through mountain valley's and long tunnels. Everything was so green and the area looked so real, not like the heavy tourist areas that I'd been to for the past four days. I took a number of pics from the train window. They're amazing and I'll upload them as soon as I get the chance.
.
It was during this time on the train that I got some reading done as well. I finished "A room with a view" by E.M. Forster. This book has easily found itself on my favs list. I highly suggest it. One of the thoughts conveyed in the book was about different types of people in respect to what type of tourists they are. This stood out, as coincidentally, i'm a tourist too. But basically, Forster claims that one type of tourist leaves home without actually ever leaving, that is, they go to these exotic places and experience things that they could have seen at home. Forster puts it so, that these types buy trinkets that they could easily find cheaper in London. I find that funny. Then there are the other types who go to learn something or be enriched by something, and although I admit that sometimes I'll visit a city just to say that I've been there, I also like to say that I'm the type that goes places to really experience something. I don't know. It'll likely not be at Friesole but I hope to see something unique. Take the train from Cumeo to Nice for example, and you'll find someplace completely exotic to the world. It may not mean much to say, "I've been to Trende", but it seems more significant of a place than Olympia park in Munich or something like that.
.
I don't know. Those are just my thoughts.
No comments:
Post a Comment