We’re back on the train. This time we are traveling south from Milan to Florence and then connecting to the small walled city, Lucca. Two years ago we were in Florence and although I enjoyed the city I found it was overrun with tourists. I am hoping that Lucca is a bit less crowded and more manageable by foot.
Milan was far more interesting than I expected. For a big city it was easy to navigate (save my error on our last evening where we found ourselves in a less desirable part of town but were rescued by a couple our age whose daughter attends Boston College) than I expected. As usual we walked a lot. My favorite was the Cimitero Monumentale (Monumental Cemetery). I have never seen such an extensive collection of ornate, sculpture laden mausoleums and grave stones in my life.
Amy left this morning from Milan for Seattle. She was sad to leave Europe but looked forward to the wonderful year she has ahead of her. She will live in a house in Bellingham with 4 other girls and have a year of learning all sorts of new things. From my perspective the only downside is cooking, but perhaps she will enjoy cooking more than I do.
Yesterday we joined Amy in a day trip to Locarno, Switzerland. She met Sidney, a Swiss friend who attended Seattle Central with her. He is now back in Switzerland and traveled from Zurich just to see Amy. He was delightful and I think they really enjoyed reconnecting. Much to our glee, the thundershowers that we expected never materialized and we enjoyed a mild, sunny day. Locarno is a lovely town at the edge of Lake Maggiore. Mark and I hiked up to the Madonna del Sasso, a monastery precariously perched on the side of the mountain. Once again we marveled at the risks taken by the workers who endured the heights and sheer drops necessary to construct this magnificent building. It is truly amazing.
We had quite an interesting train ride back to Milan from Locarno last night. While looking out the window, I met a man from Poland who does business with a lot of American firms. During our conversation, he talked about the influx of Americans to Poland. He hoped that America would rebound economically while he lambasted our poor nutritional habits. The subject of the American diet was also brought up on the train today by a young Italian bio-tech entrepreneur who is particularly interested in the rise of tumors in the US. He is convinced that our chemically enhanced food is the culprit. As a cancer survivor, I find this analysis worth further inquiry.
We also witnessed our first fisticuffs on the ride back to Milan. Even in a language we didn’t understand, it was upsetting to hear one drunk screaming at another for most of the ride home. When they started duking it out, I was really concerned but Mark and our new found Polish friend Pieto seemed non-pulsed. When we arrived in Milan we received handshakes and apologies from all the men.
We are beginning to get a handle on the Italian train system. There are three levels of trains in Italy. Even though we have first class Eurrail passes, it is obligatory to purchase a $10E reservation for the AV, ESCITY, and EC trains. The IE and EXP trains are $3E to reserve a seat but the reservation is not mandatory. R and RV trains do have reservations. Thank you to the clerk who finally explained this to us.
September has arrived and with it school is back in session. For all our friends young and old, happy back to school. We look forward to fewer tourists and more locals. Ciao!
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