From Here to There

(Sorry, but there are no photos in this post)

April, 2016. In my youth, I spent several summer vacations at my grandparents cabin in the Gallatin Valley south of Bozeman, Montana. If I went alone, or with my friend Kris, I usually traveled by train. I loved that adventure, and still think it’s be best way to travel if you have the time (and money) to go that route. It gives you a real sense of the area you’re traveling through and is MY favoite way to “see the country”. My decision to travel via train through Southern Europe was therefore an easy one. I’d be spending most of my time in the major cities, so traveling between them by train was the best way for me to see the other side of life in those countries.

The trains in Europe are mostly electric – and high speed. The seats in 1st class are comfy, and not that much more expensive than going “2nd class”. I purchased a Eurail Spain pass for the three days I’d be traveling in that country, simply because it made my 1st class tickets cheaper overall. Traveling through France and Italy I just paid the going rate for 1st class, which was still pretty affordable.

Most trains provided a power-source so that I could plug in my electronic devices. Unfortunately, I forgot to gather up the charger for my camera battery (and one of my spare batteries) when I got off the train in Venice, so that was a lesson learned (I was able to get a new adapter when stores opened the following Monday, so not a huge deal). If you need wi-fi while en route, trains are not for you. Even wi-fi at the stations is “iffy”.

Train travel is an opportunity to meet other travelers and hear their stories. On this trip I met several – from all over the world. Communication was not always easy (I don’t speak ANY French or Italian, and very little Spanish) but the rest of the world seems to be multi-lingual, so most of those I met spoke at least SOME English.

Communication became key when I was traveling by train in France. On the trains and in the stations in that country, announcements were NEVER made in English (most announcements in Spain and Italy are in the native language AND English). When my train from Montpellier to Marseilles was delayed, two very nice Language students from England kept me up to date on the situation as the delay grew from 10 to 50 minutes. Once we got underway, those same girls were nice enough to track me down on the train to let me know an announcment (in French) had said my next train (to Nice) was being held for those of going on to that city. I was very relieved. The kindness of strangers.

The next day, my train ride from Nice to Milan was going along very nicely, until tragedy struck. We were stopped in a small town, and I noticed that although the station seemed abandoned, we weren’t moving on. I assumed we were waiting for another train to pass, and then the announcement came that everyone had to get off the train. Someone from the town had committed suicide by walking in front of our train, and we’d run them over. Solemnly, everyone disembarked, and we lined up at the next platform waiting for the local train that would take us the rest of the way into Milan. It was hard to avoid seeing the white sheets covering the remains on the tracks under our original train (a mere 40 feet away), and it’s an image that, once seen, is not easily forgotten. We all crammed into the replacement train, many sitting on their luggage, and many standing. A local Italian woman sitting next to me said it was the third train death in the last 3 days – the other two accidental. It was a sad and sobering experience, to say the least.

By the time we got to the station in Milan I had about 15 minutes to use the bathroom and get to my next train (on the other end of the station, of course). Once settled into the nearly deserted 1st class car, the quiet and solitude was a welcome relief. I had many thoughts to process.

I’m hoping the rest of my train journeys through Italy are uneventful. At least I don’t have any more connections to make.