It started with a bang -- we were having breakfast at the B&B, using the coffee machine. When we turned on the microwave, Bang. All the power went off. The power drain had been too much for the fuse or circuit breaker. It was 6:15am, and we needed to catch a bus into the central station, so couldn't spend time trying to work out how to restore power. Thankfully, we had a little torch, and were able to pack and leave.
We found the bus stop, on Rue des Philosophes, and travelled in to Gare Cornavin, the main railway station. Got to our platform in good time, and were about first into our carriage. That turned out to be a blessing too, as we were able to stow our sizeable cases in the very limited space provided. There was a deal of chaos at the next stop, with people weighed down with luggage trying to sort themselves and it out. We just sat and were thankful...
The trip to Milan took about four hours, and it was great to see more of the Alps as we travelled through the western edge of Switzerland.
The train goes through a valley with mountains including snow topped ones on either side and every square metre of land has crops on it, mostly grapes and maize. There is a lot of terracing with stone fences so that more of the land can be used. It looks very pretty with the neat houses nestled among the grape vines.
We reached Brig and then went through a very long tunnel (like about 10 minutes at 200kph) and then we were in Italy. Well, the contrast couldn't have been greater. Suddenly there was graffiti on every wall visible; houses were cement rendered and painted gaudy colours, buildings looked to be in poor repair and towns seemed uncared for. I have to say that I did wonder if this was evidence of a difference between the out working of Catholicism compared to the Protestant work ethic evident in Switzerland. Anyway, our first impressions of Italy did not improve as we alighted at Milan central, and decided to walk to the connecting railway station, Milano Porta Garibaldi. Every step dragging our laden cases tended to confirm our impression of Italy being a dirty, smelly and visitor-unfriendly place. We finally found a place to wait over an hour for our train, anxiously checking the display to find out which platform. It was still not showing 20 minutes before departure, so Dad went downstairs to check there. Ah, platform 13! Raced back to Mum, and we wasted valuable minutes trying to locate the platform, finally arriving breathless at our assigned seats only minutes before departure. Phew! (I think it was actually Platform 13 3/4 and was only visible for a short time!!)
This train raced towards Roma at speeds of up to 300kph! The countryside did improve after leaving Milano. Although flat it was cultivated again with grapes and maize mostly. It became more mountainous again as we neared Rome but the graffitied walls and dirty surroundings returned too. It is certainly not a visitor friendly place and we had great difficulty finding where the buses go from. While Dad was off trying to find where we needed to be, I was standing with our luggage when a man collapsed, falling forward on an escalator right in front of me. I had to pull him off the escalator; he seemed to be unconscious, and bleeding from wounds to his head. Numerous people rang for an ambulance and Dad was helping to make him more comfortable. Anyway, we left in time to see our bus leaving but thankfully didn't have long to wait for another despite it being Saturday. We saw the ambo's arrive too. I think drink may have played a part in his fall!
The bus ride was horrendous. Thankfully a lady told us she'd tell us where to get off as there was no notification of where you were in the bus like the Swiss busses. We found Giorgia with great relief and she told us she'd sent another email suggesting we take a taxi as the bus goes on an extremely circuitous route and she knew we'd be tired. Ho hum! (The "free wi-fi" on the train didn't include connection to the internet!) We are very thankful for this lovely place which is a completely separate little haven with bathroom attached. We also had a very beautiful 4-course dinner prepared by Andrea (chef husband)! They have 17 month old twin boys - very cute.
Bed news! You won't believe it but we have a top sheet and one full size doona! Not sure we'll cope!
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