Europe by Train from Take That Vacation

EUROPE BY EURAIL
Italy, France, Germany
by Tim Anderson

If you aren't familiar with riding trains in Europe, check out Using Eurail.
Pisa
Our trip to Italy started with a flight in to Pisa – a great location to start from. Our experience in Pisa was wonderful, but our initial experience of finding our B&B was stressful. After purchasing our inexpensive ticket for the 5 minute train ride from the airport to Pisa Centrale, we walked to our B&B, Gli Arlecchini The Expedia map turned out to not have enough detail to clarify our route. The GPS turned out not to know our B&B and I couldn’t get a street address reading that matched. Half a block away, the locales didn’t recognize the destination or street we were hoping for. Finally we looked across the street and saw a number 14 with small print underneath it that was readable only up to a distance of a few feet. The door was solid with no other advertising. This was our accommodation, which is typical of B&B signage in Italy. Pisa had a great thunderstorm in the night from about 4am to 6am including pouring rain. In the morning this B&B provided a myriad of food and beverage choice.

Our host gave us walking instructions to the Campo dei Miracoli and the Leaning Tower along the Corso Italia. The route was an extremely pleasant stroll along a pedestrian only avenue that also crossed the River Arno. We felt like locals as we all ambled with purpose to our various destinations. About half way along the 15 minute walk the rain started. . Although we all got wet, this meant that the crowds at the Tower were non-existent. We headed first to the baptistery, which was an amazing experience. We were the only ones in it. The attendant came by and sang a complete harmonic echo song into the dome for us. Very special. I’m still blown away. Next we visited the sculptures and crypts in the Campo Santo, which is a walled cemetery on the piazza. This too was amazing, not only for the intricate carving, but because we again were the only ones there. Next we went to our appointed 9am tour of the Leaning Tower. There were only 8 of us who went up in the rainy weather. The ascent is via a stairway within the exterior wall, so no problem for those with height problems. It is disorienting to wind your way up though. When you reach the side that leans out the most, it makes your feet shift toward the outside and your head moves toward the centre. You feel like you are going to slide out through the narrow slits in the wall. The marble steps are worn and dug out from all the pilgrims who have made the climb through the ages. The walls are worn smooth by the hands that have reached out to maintain balance. At the top, there is an open area of bells and then one final small ascent to the very top, which was too much for my vertigo.

Campo dei Miracoli, Pisa

Campo Santo, Pisa
Our last visit was to the church. This was a more typical tourist visit for Italy. By the time the church opened, the rain let up and the tour buses arrived. The church was full of large groups being led in a variety of languages. The art on the walls is gigantic, but has a very dark wall paper appearance. The structure and alcoves are gigantic and impressive. Couldn’t help thinking how lucky we were up until then to have had the place to ourselves. Our trip to Pisa was fantastic.

Cinque Terre
We picked up our bags at Gli Arlecchini and caught the reserved train to La Spetzia. The next train was unreserved seating that stopped at all the Cinque Terre towns. I thought this would be a slow train twisting along the mountainous coast, but it was a fast train that spent most of its time in tunnels. So, there weren’t many views. Our stop at Vernazza was a shock. The nearly full train emptied and the people filled the one main street with little room to move. Not what we expected at all from the quaint little town. It was over run, apparently by a holiday weekend. The Vernazza accommodation was great, with a view of the town square, the bell tower and the bay. We immediately headed back on the train to Riomaggiore and then took the Lover’s Walk to Manarola. This too was crowded with people. There was seldom a break in the continuous string of walkers. At Manarola we picked a restaurant to eat at. We chose the one with Rick Steves pictured with the owner instead of the one recommended by Rick Steves” across the path. This was a remarkable and inexpensive meal. We had tofu pesto, tuna capriccio and spaghetti with meat sauce. All three of us raved about our meals. The waiter also scolded us that we should not tip for meals in Italy. There is separate pricing for seating and no tips. We then took the train back to Vernazza, hiked around town a bit and all fell asleep early.

Manarola, CinqueTerre

Vernazza, CinqueTerre

Lovers Walk, CinqueTerre
In the morning it was raining and we determined that we needed to leave right away if we hoped to see Monterosso al Mare. We retrieved my passport by paying the bill (cash only) and arrived in Monterosso with a 2 hour window. We found little to do in the rain. We spent our time at a quaint café with the balcony right on the oceanfront. We listened to the rain drops, ate brioche crema and drank café latte. The lattes were amazing. My addiction to European lattes and pastry was already well established. A thoroughly enjoyable morning in tune with the Italian spirit that dictates you move slowly and only when completely ready to do so.
Monte Carlo
It takes 3 trains, including one reservation, to get from Monterosso to Monaco, the stops being Genoa and Ventimiglia. The last section of open seating took us to our personal travel disaster in Monte Carlo. This town too was over run, this time by the time-trials for the Grand Prix. First it was difficult to exit the train, as there were throngs of people waiting to board the train. They rushed 5 deep from across the entire platform. As I tried to step out onto the platform, the flood blasted me backward. Those behind me shouted and pushed me out the door through the massive surge. When we tried to exit the station, the exit was blocked with chain link fence. An attendant finally explained in French that we would need to go to the end of the platform, turn left, take a tunnel that led to a side street and then climb the hill if I wanted to get to the aquarium at the Musee Oceanagraphique, (which Jacques Cousteau was once director of). Basically, the cab or bus ride normally taken would need to be made on foot today. My travel companions will never forgive me. We had to ask directions twice more along the way and climbed a hill with numerous steps with our luggage. Along the way I got pics of the race trials, the Palace, the statue of Grimaldi, the Cathedrale de Monaco and finally the aquarium. If we had arrived any other day, we could have taken the Azur Express Tourist Train to easily see all the sites in a very short period of time.

Monaco Cathedral

Seating for the Grand Prix of Monaco
The aquarium was a disappointment. It wasn’t nearly as nice as some other aquariums, such as Maui. It was a small aquarium that took up the lower two floors of the building. The third floor was a strange museum with some old relics from diving, bones of whales structured to complete skeletons, fossils, wooden boat models and various sea creatures preserved in formaldehyde. The top floor had some views of the city and the ocean, which was probably the best part. All in all, a disappointment. Not a great experience and some very unhappy travelers, who were developing calluses from pulling their bags. We found a free bus down the hill, but had to walk through town and then walked on the closed freeway that led to the train station. We got seating on the section to Nice and when we got there our hotel was visible from the station, so the angst over finding it disappeared immediately.

Nice
The Hotel Interlaken in Nice (not to be confused with the city of Interlaken, Switzerland) was supposed to be our worst accommodation of the trip, but it was very acceptable and extremely entertaining. The room was the only one we could find even months ahead, because the next day was the Grand Prix and the Cannes Film Festival was about to start too. The inflated prices brought a new clientele to this cheap hotel above a strip club and we felt right at home. The pink rooms were exactly as pictured on the internet. We headed out for dinner but were asked to leave our room key, which is common in Europe. On the street across from our hotel, a pizzeria had caught fire in the few minutes since our arrival and there were police and firemen everywhere. We could see firemen in the smoking building. As I took pictures, a woman with a young child tried to pick my empty coat pocket. We ate an enjoyable meal of trout, hamburger and pizza, all of which were very good. For $5 Euros the Interlaken Hotel also had wi-fi that even worked in our room. We phoned home to the family by computer and 3 calls cost 27 cents on Skype. There were lots of noises in the night at the hotel, but this stop turned out to be a pleasant and entertaining experience.

Nice
Nice to Paris
This was supposed to be our day to visit Monte Carlo and we were glad to wander around Nice and its beaches instead, while the crowds at the train station tried to get to the Grand Prix. We found pain au chocolat and cafe lattes at the Chinese delicatessen nearby and walked to the beach. The beach at Nice was gravel, but it had lovely patches of turquoise waters. The weather was warm and peaceful. Tops were optional on the beach, even though we were right down town We also wandered through the Marchee des Fleur and also past all the restaurants in a row on a street nearby. In the late afternoon, we caught the TGV high speed train to Paris. We’d been told it was sold out and that we couldn’t go any earlier in the day, so we were surprised when we boarded that we were the only ones in our coach. The high speed stops at a number of towns along the Cote d’Azur including Cannes. The farther south we got, the more beautiful the landscape. By the time we got to Toulon our coach was full and from there, the train goes non-stop to Paris at a speed of about 300km per hour. I was totally disoriented by the direction of the sunset, as I finally realized that large sections of Europe were now to the west, which took some adjusting on the part of someone who has always thought that anywhere in Europe is east. We found our way to the correct metro station and easily found our hotel at the Mercure in Place d’Italie.

Paris
The Mercure was a pleasant hotel, similar to those in the United States and Canada. The location a half block off the centre of Place d’Italie was perfect. There were excellent and inexpensive pain au chocolat (soft bread filled with chocolat) and café au lait (a latte) at the Amandine each morning. After 11 they also made crepe sale (savory) and crepe sucre (sweet). We were frequent visitors. There were several restaurants nearby. The Café Margeride seemed to be the most popular and offered free wi-fi. Meals in France seem to run around 8 – 12 Euros. The Place d’Italie also has a large mall with a Carrefour grocery store, McDonalds, KFC etc. It’s amazing how much more you can buy if you purchase sandwiches and beer at the large grocery chains. The best part of Place d’Italie is the easy access to the rest of Paris on the metro.
Metro tickets can be purchased with credit cards at machines throughout the subway. If your card won’t work, you’ll need to search for a location that will process it through an employee. You can buy single tickets, packs in multiples of ten or tickets for full days. The kiosks allow you to select a variety of languages, so it’s a straight forward process. We purchased a 2 day pass and put it to good use. It even worked on the funicular to Sacre Coeur. There’s a routine to follow in using the subway. First proceed to the large map and find your destination. Next slide your ticket into the machine and don’t forget to retrieve it if it’s reusable. Electronics today recognize the ticket regardless of how you insert it. The lines have different numbers and different colors. For each line you ride on, note the name of the last stop at the end of the line. You need to know this so you end up going the right direction when it comes time to decide which side of the track you will be on – the signs for the two end lines cause you to end up on the proper side. The last step is to wait about a minute and the train will be there. Some of the doors will only open if you pull a lever or push a button. Once you are on, keep watching for your exit. Most lines don’t do an announcement, but the stations are all clearly labeled. Getting around Paris is very simple, fast and inexpensive.

The Louvre
We didn’t reserve tickets at the Louvre and it wasn’t a problem. We spent 3 hours there rushing past exhibits. We started in the Denon section with the Italian painters and covered off the Mona Lisa early on. I had heard the actual picture was very small, so I was over prepared for the size. The strange thing for me is the throngs of people who have all chosen this as the most important painting in the world to see. Very strange people watching. Next we covered off the Greek section, which was quite small, but is very popular for the Venus de Milo, a sculpture discovered by a farmer on the Greek isle of Milo. Next we breezed through the Egyptian antiquities. The number of sarcophagi ranging from wood, to various types of stone and then to large boxes was interesting. There were lots of large carvings, such as Ramses and small trinkets were on display too. Well worthwhile. Next we covered the Dutch painters and by then we were exhausted and proceeded to other sights in Paris.

Young students in the Louvre
Arc de Triumphe
The Arc is easily accessible by subway. The lower sections were being restored, but, with the painted sheet covering, you couldn’t tell in pictures that it wasn’t real. There is underground access to the base of the Arc, where you can see the eternal flame for the unknown soldier. You can also pay to climb to the top of the Arc.

The Arc de Triumphe
La Tour Eiffel
It took nearly an hour of line ups for tickets and two elevator rides to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower. You can climb for free to the first of the 3 stages. Can’t image at busier times of year what it’s like for waiting. The ground level elevator ride starts at an angle, pauses to change angle and then goes straight up to the second stage. I found this the most difficult portion for fear of heights. You seem skyward bound and yet you know you aren’t 1/3 of the way yet. At the second stage stop you have open views where you are back about 10 feet from the edge with others below you up against the screens at the edge. I was panicky. A long wait facing inward to the crowds calmed me. The final ascent, though lengthy, was easier for me. At the top, it’s screened in and I had less difficulty than at the stage below. I was thrilled that I made it.

The Eiffel Tower

View of Sacre Coeur from the Eiffel Tower
Notre Dame
We started our second day by heading on the metro to Notre Dame. There is no charge to enter the church. Pictures are allowed, but flash is not supposed to be used. The stained glass was gorgeous. Patrons are seated in prayer, as tourists wander around them in a great circle. The cubicles around the edges had ornate carvings and places for confessional. One confessional was glassed in and a priest that looked like the pope was facing us as he talked to a woman across a desk. At various times priests spoke to the congregation from the alter area. The strangest aspect was that you could buy coins commemorating Notre Dame. The click of the secular coin purchases dropping from the machine contrasted with the silence of religion. We chose not to pay to climb up for a closer view of the gargoyles. The gargoyles seemed to be inconsistent with the religious atmosphere – more like a Dracula thriller than piety.

Notre Dame
Seine River Cruise
For $11 Euro each, we decided to see the sights by river. The location at Pont Neuf was within easy walking distance from Notre Dame. The number of sites to see along the river were numerous and some of the sculptures on the bridges were impressive too. The cruise passes Notre Dame, the Legislative Assembly, the Louvre, the Orsay Museum, the Eiffel Tower and a number of other sites. Very pleasant spending time on the Seine.

Seine River Cruise
Sacre Coeur
The subway easily takes you to Sacre Coeur.. If you have a day pass on the subway, it also is good for the funicular to Sacre Couer, saving you quite a climb for the final ascent. This church parallels Notre Dame for beauty inside and out. The contrast of the loud clicking of tourist coin dispenser against the solemnity of the church was an even greater here. We also strolled the streets of Montmarte beside the church and viewed the many displays by local artist, who were all available to sell their works or create portraits on demand. At the end of the day, we headed back to our favorite Amandine café for crepes, an appropriate conclusion to our visit to Paris.

Sacre Coeur

Chamonix
Our trip to Chamonix was in 3 sections. The first two hours was a TGV high speed reservation train to Lyon. I was surprised that the country side was all agricultural with lots of yellow fields of mustard. The two hour trip covered over half the distance that day, but it took more than three hours for the remaining two sections. The French trains have plug ins, so I was able to use my computer for several hours. The second section covered to St Germain les Bains. It was very busy at first and quickly got in to mountainous territory. At one of the stops, the train changed direction and we had to change seats to remain facing forward. As we approached St Germain, large white peaks loomed in the distance, which we eventually realized was our destination in Chamonix. From St Germain the train was a cute small bright red coach with extra large glass areas for viewing. The train was truly a local run, with stop buttons to push if you wanted to get off along the way. We watched a young woman get off at one stop and kiss her waiting boyfriend, as tears streamed down her eyes. At the next stop, a school boy got off and disappeared down a path into the woods. Very picturesque. The mountains of Chamonix revealed a large glacier streaming into the valley and a sparkling range of white.

Aiguille du Midi at top left, Chamonix, France

View from Aiguille du Midi, Chamonix, France

Our accommodation at the MGM Ginabelle residences was great. It was facing the train station. The top floor unit had a separate bedroom and a pull out couch. There were two large sky lights that filled the rooms with light. The living room sky light and the kitchen sliding door both looked out at the Chamonix range. When the clouds cleared in the evening, you could see the Aiguille du Midi and a faint light shining from the station at the top of the lift. The town was small and full of climbers, even though it was the off season. We wandered the quaint shops and streets, taking pictures of the excellent views of the mountains, the glacial river flowing through the middle of town and the alpine shops. There were a couple unusual practices at the lodging. One roll of toilet paper regardless of how many in your party or how long your stay – if you need more, go to town and buy it yourself. Secondly, when you check out, make sure to take your garbage with you to deposit in the outside garbage bins.

Aiguille du Midi, Chamonix range, France

We were up early the next morning and it was clear. There was no line up at the gondola and we purchased a day pass good for all the trams in the valley, which was a discount of about 25% over the two individual prices we were considering, plus another 10% discount for having a Eurail pass. Our gondola had two other pairs of tourists and there were about 15 – 20 climbers with full winter gear and pick axes. The trip to the first station, half way up, involved 3 towers. There was very little sway passing the towers. The second half of the ride had no towers. As you approached the top, the rock face kept getting closer and the wind howled, but again there was very little sway. The Aiguille is actually in two sections. When you step off the gondola, you walk over a bridge to the higher section. There you enter tunnels and you can see the climbers exiting the tunnels to begin their descent. An elevator whisks you to the highest platform. When the doors open, the wind at 25 mph and cold at -15 C blast you. I said, “Oh, no.” and the elevator attendant said “Oh, ya”. We laughed and entered the frigid world at 12,600 feet. We brought extra clothing and light gloves, but we began to get cold right away. Our thinking slowed and we started to be unable to distinguish whether we’d clicked the camera button and whether we were shooting pics or movies. After a very few minutes we retreated to the elevator. I noticed that I had no feeling in my index finger. We made our way back to the lower tower section and just missed the gondola down, which was a good thing. We discovered a heated café and several levels of observation decks where we enjoyed the views and delayed the desire to escape to the valley below. Then we made our hasty retreat. Back in Chamonix it was 30 degrees warmer and even though it was toasty, we took quite a while before we were ready to shed our winter clothes.

View from Aiguille du Midi, Chamonix, France
After lunch we took the short walk to the Montenvers cog wheel train. The cogs are used to raise trains up and down steep inclines. It went up about 4,000 feet to the back side of the Chamonix range where we reached the end of the Mer de Glace which is a 6 mile glacier that is rapidly receding. We took a gondola down to the glacier and then walked on stairs bolted to the mountain side for the final descent to man-made ice caves at the base. An amazing day in the Alps.

Mer de Glace, Montenvers Tram, Chamonix range, France
Interlaken
We had 4 trains the next day to Interlaken and an unexpected short bus ride. The first train was the Chamonix line we had arrived on. At Vallorcine we were surprised to be on a bus that visited 3 train stations, then we switched back on to the train. This is a common approach when they do maintenance on railway. The next train had small coaches with windows you could roll down. I stopped to take a picture and staff urged me to get on board as they were 2 minutes behind schedule – European trains run on time. We were way up high on a steep mountain side, passing little alpine villages clinging to the cliffs. We were thrilled to the point I could barely look out. Next the train slowed and engaged its cogs so that it could descend into the valley at Martigny. From there we caught a fast train to Visp. As we stepped out of the train our connection arrived on the adjoining platform. I actually understood from the directions in German that it was arriving. We went straight on. It took us to Spiez by going directly through a mountain. The Lötschberg Base Tunnel is the longest land tunnel in the world at 21.5 miles. It took about 16 minutes to traverse itat high speed. From Spiez the train wandered slowly down Lake Thundersee to Interlaken West and then we walked 4 blocks to our B&B at the Hotel Rundgenpark.

View from the top of the Shilthorn

Shilthorn Cablecar, final approach through the clouds
The Hotel Rugenpark B&B was a very pleasant B&B thanks to Ursula. The building itself is old and patched together with creaky uneven floors and low ceilings. Ursula on the other hand is vibrant and full of life. She gave us tea on arrival, planned a walk around town for us, gave directions to the best restaurants, helped us run the laundry, exchanged Euros for Swiss francs, gave us passes for free transportation in town and carried some of our bags up to the third floor. She also made recommendations that we try the Schilthorn instead of the Jungfraujoch and even sold us tickets by credit card. When we departed at 6:30 on the second morning, she packed a lunch for us and left it at our door that morning. I highly recommend the Rugenpark for its exceptional dedication to its clients.

Walking from Murren to Gimmelwald

Gimmelwald, cows winter in the basements of the houses

Cowbells, Gimmelwald

Descent from Gimmelwald
We were thrilled with the recommendation to head to the Schilthorn. After many weeks of cloud and rain at Interlaken, the weather cleared for our arrival. We took the local train for a few minutes from Interlaken West to Interlaken Ost. Next we took a train into the Jungfrau Valley to Lauterbrunnen. Then on to a cable car to Grutschalp. Next we took avery small train that climbed high up on the steep edges of the valley to Murren. From there we took a short stroll through Murren to the gondola to Birg and the final tram to the Schilthorn. This was a marked contrast to the Aiguille du Midi. It was calm with temperatures above freezing. We took lots of pictures and ate cheese and apples in the souvenir shop. When we headed back to the observation deck the second time, the view was completely obscured in cloud and we headed back to Murren. From there we walked down to Gimmelwald, which was the best part of the day. The weather was calm, warm and sunny. We were the only tourists around. Dandelions covered the hillsides and the cows each had a bell that clanged as they wandered the slopes. There were picturesque small houses and people were gardening, cutting fire word and harvesting grass for the cows. This was exactly the Alps that’s promoted in tourist materials. A highlight of our trip.

Fussen
The train trip to Fussen was long and uneventful. The pastoral views to Bern were nice. From Bern to Zurich was tunnels and manufacturing. From there to Lake Constance there was little to see. By the time we finished our third train ride to Buchloe, we were in farms and woods. The small train to Marktoberdorf was packed and then, for repair reasons, we had to take a bus the final 30k to Fussen. The landscaped was lovely, but hard to see from the bus, especially with our suitcases on our laps. We then took a cab to the Pension Waldmann. This spot was great. Friendly German service and a spacious room with no low ceilings. The restaurant smelled wonderful, so we headed straight for late lunch. The pork dumplings (schweinebraten) were very good, but the meatloaf, spatzli (egg noodles) and mushroom sauce was the winning dish. We then walked to the ticket centre for the castles and found that they wouldn’t sell use tickets in advance. The place was swamped with tourists, so we anticipated a challenging day the next morning. We walked through the fields at the base of the mountains that mark the border between Germany and Austria.
The line ups at Neuschwanstein can be crazy, but May was a good time of year. Staying nearby was also a benefit, as many tours come from Munich and return the same day, making noon hour particularly busy. Tickets can’t be purchased in advance. Once you buy tickets, you also need to decide how to get up to the castle from the ticket booth. It’s a strenuous climb, an inexpensive bus ride or a reasonable horse drawn wagon ride. The bus takes you higher than the wagons, to the bridge with an excellent view of the castle and the valley below it.

Neuschwanstein
The castle of Neuschwanstein (new swan stone)was interesting but King Ludwig was definitely crazy. His bedroom had wood carvings everywhere which took 14 wood carvers 4 years just to complete this room. There were hundreds of crests carved above his bed alone. The room was dark, with stained glass windows and no views. The paintings throughout and indeed the castle itself are a tribute to Richard Wagner and his operatic works. Only 6 of the other 120 bedrooms were completed before King Ludwig’s mysterious death by drowning in the nearby lake. Upon his death, construction stopped and the site opened to the public. I found it bizarre and hardly worthwhile.

Hohenschwangau and the Austrian Alps
After the castle we headed back to the Pension Waldmann for some more German cooking at lunch. The owning family were all at the tables eating, but invited us in for early lunch. Pork in mushroom soup and spatzli hit the spot. Next figuring out transportation to Garmisch Partenkirchen on the Monday holiday was a challenge. We took a cab to Fussen, stored our bags at the unattended bus station and wandered the main street and then through the lovely church beside the monastery. Next we caught a city bus to Reutte in Tirol. It had only 3 other passengers. We had two stops along the way, way off the main route. At Pachswang, we turned off the road on to a narrow paved bike path. Women with children in buggies had to move off the path so the bus could go through. Our 15 minute side trip yielded no passengers. Eventually we got to Ruette and purchased a Bayern ticket on the train. We went through Erhwald so we got to see the Zugspitze.

Garmisch/Partenkirchen
This town was very quaint. The buildings from prior Olympics are visible around the town and they will be the site of the Olympics again in 2018. We stayed at the Quality Konigshoff and it was great. It’s located right across from the train station and they gave us a quiet room on the back side with a view of the mountains. The rushing glacial river at the end of the property was great to look at. The room was more upscale than most we’d seen and included a full bath with hair dryer. That evening we noticed a popular spot that only served fancy ice cream sundaes and decided to turn desert into the main course for dinner that night. The next morning, the B&B’s included breakfast was fabulous, with scrambled eggs, smoked bacon, cereals, juices, coffee and of course the option for cheese and sliced meat. I was too tired of ascending mountains to try the Zugspitze, to the pleasure of my companions. We wandered the streets and bought a few souvenirs. Then we caught the train to Munich. Unfortunately they were working on one section of the line, so we had an unpleasant 20 minutes on a bus along the route.

Austrian Alps

Zugspitze

Garmisch / Partenkirchen
Muenchen (Munich)
In our brief visit to Munich, we stayed at the Creatif Hotel Elephant. We saw the Marienplatz where the figurines dance in the clock tower. Unfortunately they do so only at 11, 12 and 17. We next visited the Hofbrauhaus as we were starving. Ein mas Radler, bockwurst, meat loaf, homemade potato salad and potato dumplings were enjoyable. Music isn’t played between 4 and 6 so we came back a little later just to hear the crazy sounds and see the dancing. Our last stop was at English Park where we lucked out and found the surfers. They’ve placed rocks in the river to create a natural wave and surfers jump onto their boards from the edge and surf back and forth across the narrow river. Early in the morning we stoked up on supplies and had breakfast at the Munich train station before catching our train to Venice. The Munich train station is amazing, with many sandwich shops, coffee shops, pastry shops, restaurants and even book stores. We hated to leave the convenience of such a vast selection of foods.

Hofbrauhaus

Marienplatz

Venezia Mestre (Venice on the mainland)
Venice Mestre is not somewhere I’d recommend staying. Our accommodation was at the Hotel Roberta. Very nice looking on the internet but not in actuality. The long two block walk from the station was scary. The room had paper thin walls allowing you to hear conversations and televisions in the adjoining rooms. The bedspread had a hole in it. There was no air conditioning in the stuffy room. Opening the window allowed you to drown out the noise in the hotel with the traffic and animated conversations from the street below. We weren’t comfortable walking around that evening, so we headed back to the station for McDonalds and then straight back to the room. The room was half the price of a B&B in Venice San Lucia but definitely not worth the savings in my opinion.

Venezia San Lucia (Venice)
Early the next morning, we headed to the train station in Mestre. In order to buy a café latte and a pastry, you have to pay a cashier first and then head with your voucher to the service area. They gave us the wrong receipt, so we couldn’t complete our order without staff shouting back and forth in Italian to square the matter away. We then headed out to check the schedule and debated which of the numerous trains we would catch to Venezia S.L. We went to the cash only ticket machine and discovered you didn’t have to commit to a specific time. As I dropped the $1E coin in for each ticket, a train arrived on the track beside us and we hopped immediately on. We were in Venice in a few minutes and were feeling like seasoned travelers.
From the train station in Venice we carried and rolled our bags in search of Locanda Gaffaro. With no map due to my error, I was forced to use the laptop a couple of times and we asked directions once. We understood the directions even though they were entirely in Italian. Finally I was stumped as I seemed to be in the right location. A pleasant gentleman walked up and called us by name, which was shocking. He explained that he recognizes his clientele by the clicking of the luggage wheels on the pavement bricks. We stored the luggage and headed out to see the city.

View of St Marks from the tower
I never really fully understood that the city of Venice has no cars in it, just a tangled mass of canals, foot bridges and narrow pedestrian streets. It was easy to find the Rialto Bridge and the Piazza San Marco (St Marks). There are signs that continually point the way through the twisted maze to these premier locations. If you are going anywhere else, like back to your B&B, you are in quite a different situation altogether. Walking the pathways you continually come to places where there is no bridge across the canal you want to pass. Walking inland, you frequently come upon dead end court yards. It reminded me of a video game gone bad. Even our map didn’t help, as we couldn’t actually find where we were on it most of the time.
The Piazza San Marco was full of people even though it wasn’t the busy season. The Basillica had a long line up and we joined in for the free visit. The line moved fairly quickly and we were in within a half hour. Inside it was very strange. The interior was very dark and covered in large mosaics. It was a gloomy, faded atmosphere that was endearing. I paid the small charge to see the gold alter and extra charge to the second floor, which had a small museum with views down into the church and an outside balcony. The museum had the original 4 horses, which are duplicated on the outside of St Marks. It also had old books, mosaics and tapestries.

Next we went to the Palazzo Dulce, known in English as the Doge’s Palace. For the price, it’s a questionable visit. There were large rooms with ornate ceilings, dark oversized paintings and extensive dungeons. The most interesting part for me was the large collection of armor and weapons, including cross bows of every size and early revolvers. There was even armor for horses and children.

We stopped for lunch in the square. I had the most delicious Genovese sandwich of ham and soft white cheese, tomatoes and lettuce on a bun that was so soft it almost tasted doughy. In the heat, the cola was wonderful too, though I did realize later that the price for drinks was double in the square. We sat on a stone ledge in the shade and fed pigeons while we ate.

Feeling revived, we decided to ascend the Campanile (tower) next. The $8 Euro charge seemed excessive for a venture that looked to involve a climb of 200 – 250 steps. To our pleasure, the charge was for the elevator ride. The views at the top were an amazing 360 degree view of the city. The cool sea breeze was blowing through the tower creating a perfect recovery from the excessive warmth of the square below.

standing in a traghetto (gondola without seats)
From there, I led us on a disaster trying to find a vaporetto to cross the grand canal, but it turns out my failure to find one was related to the fact that I was actually looking for a traghetto. Finally we followed the only other reliable set of signage back to the train station and then we basically started over and retraced our route from the station to the B&B. We were worn out, sun stroked and blistered. Not a good afternoon.

Our room at Locanda Gaffaro was wonderful. The room was large and quiet with air conditioning and a full bath. We even had a balcony with a slight view in to a canal. The tile floors were pleasantly cool on our feet. I sat on the balcony and listened to the animated Italian conversations as unseen individuals prepared dinner in their apartments. Nighhawks screeched overhead. A gondolier was singing. Thunder rolled and a light mist of rain fell – enchanting. After a few hours to recover, we were ready to try Venice again. This time with much better results. First I planned a route to the nearest traghetto and this time we succeeded. There were passengers waiting and the price of 50 cents was posted. We were both in shock with what happened next. You board the gondola, but there are no seats. You shuffle to form two rows of standing passengers as the gondola rocks side to side. All those canoeing safety instructions flashed in my mind. The elderly woman in front of me exuded confidence. Off we went across the Grand Canal with everyone standing. What blast.
Next we wandered over the Rialto and found a waterfront table coming free. The matre di indicated the table was ours provided we would have dinner. This turned out to be a highlight of Venice. The waiter took our picture in one direction with the Rialto in the background and another with the gondolas for a background. He indicated photography was his second occupation. I had a draft beer, we shared an insalda mixta. I had spaghetti al fruiti de la mare. My partner was given parmesan cheese and when I asked for some the waiter indicated it was a mistake to put on this on my meal. He put a little on one small area just to show that he wouldn’t deny a customer the right to be stupid. He was right. This was the best spaghetti I’ve ever had – without parmesan. Lovely shrimp, scallops and tasty clams in the shell. Afterward we stood on the Rialto and watched the world as if frozen in time. An excellent conclusion to our stay in Venice, though we did get lost again on the way home and had to retrace our steps from the train station again.

View of the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge
In the morning we were at the station early. We knew the routine for buying café latte. There were no announcements for our train departure. We boarded and it left with no announcements whatsoever. At least this time our assigned seating was honored. Stranger still, they provided a free beverage and snack, air plane style. Meanwhile one of the passengers in front of us had forgotten to self stamp his ticket at the train station. A Gestapo impersonator charged him $65 payable on the spot. Always an adventure on Italian trains.
Firenze (Florence)
When we arrived at the station in Florence I had no idea which of the 3 exits to head out, so I was lost before I took a step out the door. A pattern was emerging in our Italian travels.

Our B&B at Residenza Castiglioni was enchanting. After the struggles of finding it about 3 blocks from the station, we buzzed up from the street and I spoke Italian, which is all the owner understood. We were buzzed in and then had a pleasant conversation where she talked a lot about the map of Florence and, because I’d studied the town, I knew what she was saying. She was so pleasant and sincere that she seemed like family. The cleaning staff helped out with English. Our room was unusual, with basically a painting on all four walls and the ceiling – kind of a mini Vatican. There was a closet behind the head board so you could walk completely around the bed. The bathroom door was barely discernible in the picture. There was a hair dryer too.

We headed to the Florence Cathedral (aka Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore) after having referred to the schedules of hours that the church and cupola are open. When I saw the church, I saw it I felt the same emotion that I’d had when I’d visited more than 40 years earlier with my childhood family. Inside the cathedral was large with an empty feeling. The paintings on the inside of the dome are fabulous. Next we ascended the dome. The off season wait was only about 10 minutes. I can’t imagine what it’s like in summer when they line up around the church. The trip is 463 stair steps with no elevator option. The spiral stair case at the outset was dizzying. When you get to the level of the beginning of the dome you enter in to the inside of the church at about 100 feet up with a view of the people below and the painted ceiling above. I was terrified on the narrow fully enclosed ledge and only glanced once for a few seconds at the fabulous views. Those in front wanted to stop and enjoy it and there was no room to pass, so I quietly panicked while I waited. From there we went back to the inside of the dome structure through some switch backs and then the final ascent which is straight up toward the top in a arc equal to the dome roof. As you go, you understand that the roof is above you and the dome painting is actually below you. The views are the top are great, but I couldn’t get near the rail.

After that we wandered past the Uffisi Museum and the statutes in the square nearby, walked over the Ponte Vecchio, peaked in the entrance to the Boboli gardens and walked past the San Cruce cathedral. I then realized we’d taken too long and we had to rush back to the B&B for our reserved tickets to Michelangelo’s David. We were both exhausted from walking in the heat. It was great to go past the line up and straight in to see David. Although we’d already seen the copy in the square at the Ufissi, the presentation of the real sculpture at the Accedamia is amazingly imposing. I flashed back to 40 years earlier again. The room makes the statue seem about 3 times the size that I expected and the detail is inspiring. We sat on a bench and just looked, as the statute draws you to stay. In the evening we had dinner in the square overlooking the statues by the Uffisi. That night was very noisy outside our B&B – people arguing, trash trucks collecting garbage after 10 pm, babies crying and all kinds of commotion. It must echo down the narrow streets, as the street we were on wasn’t very busy. Although many consider Florence a highlight, we didn’t actually enjoy it. Too busy, too touristy and the impression it made on me 40 years ago now was only a distant memory that couldn’t be found there anymore.

Napoli (Naples)
We were up too early for our free breakfast again in the morning. Over to the train station for our regular café lattes and the 3 hour ride to Naples. Naples was crazy, but fun. We stayed at the UNA Hotel – Napoli on the Piazza Garibaldi across from the train station. This was a lovely room, our best on the trip, with a full bath and marble tile. The room had wide screen TV and fancy remote controlling of all lights from the bed. There was a view of the piazza. When you opened the windows, the sounds of Napoli came blasting through. The square has cars coming in from 5 directions in a complicated traffic circle with no standard rules about where people or cars should be. Throw you life in your hands and cross wherever you feel you might survive. The horn honking is continuous; indicating that either the driver politely wants you to know they are there or impolitely wants you to get out of the way. Add a few sirens and encapsulate this in a ring of street vendors and you have the constant din of Napoli. Lots of fun.

Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius in the background

Streets of Pompeii
We headed on foot to the Circumvesuvia train from the Garibaldi station, adjoining the Napoli Centrale station. The Circumvesuvia is a small train full of graffiti and full of passengers heading to Pompeii. When you arrive at Pompeii, there are no directions and the throng of visitors humorously comes to a stop as people start to pull out maps trying to figure out where to go. We passed them and gambled to the right, which turned out to be correct. The site is quite amazing, not only for its ruins but for its size. We used the Rick Steves podcast map, which was great. We also had the podcast audio but unfortunately I’m not a certified iPod operator and the battery was dead, so we missed the audio accompaniment by Rick. In retrospect not a bad thing. We enjoyed following the map for three hours. Afterward we weren’t up to dinner out in Napoli so we ate a high end McDonalds burger this time. A very pleasant day and we both agreed that city, the ruins and the hotel all received an unexpectedly much higher rating than our Florence experience.

Capri
In the morning, we weren’t eager for more excursions, but felt less like staying in the hotel room all day. First we headed out for café latte and pastry at a local haunt. We knew the Italian routine by now. Buy at the cashier and then present your voucher to get your food and drink. We took a cab to the Motorolo Belvedore and caught the high speed cat to Capri. The Disney Magic was in port there and passengers from it said it was a great experience. Capri was another Italian tourist extravaganza. Multiple boats arriving regularly from the mainland. Buy tickets for the funicolore nearby, while those unfamiliar with the practice line up only to find they can’t get on without a ticket. The line up was long and we waited about 20 minutes for the funicular. At the top, in Capri proper, it was jammed with people. We began walking side streets and I’d brought a copy of a recommendation for a walk that I’d found on the internet. This turned out to be a highlight. We walked the Via Matrimonia to the Arco Naturale. It was a peaceful walk with few tourists in partly cloudy weather. The arch was magnificently large with a steep drop into the green waters below.

Natural Arch

Next we both proceeded to make ourselves ill with a visit to Anacapri. We took the local bus for $1.40 each. They jam pack them full of standing tourists and rush up the hill over speed bumps as they barely miss on coming traffic. I was at the back of the bus near the outside edge and the view was frightening. Three quarters of the way up the mountain side you go over a section where there is almost no rail and the road is suspended over the base of the island and the sea. From my viewpoint, standing up, it looked like we were going right off the road. At the top Anacapri was also filled with tourists and we both felt ill from stress of the bus ride. We walked to the Villa San Michele and this made the whole trip that day worthwhile. The $6 euro fee at this house was keeping all the tourists out. It was a lovely spot which included a tour of the house, the gardens and the best view on the island. The Swedish physician Axel Munthe adorned the property in statutes and roman art. At the edge of the garden, the sphinx was what made Capri worthwhile. Set in a corner, overlooking the islands and Capri in a manner that never allows you to see the face of the sphinx, it commands you to look with it instead of at it. Sitting on the nearby bench you could gaze with the sphinx to Naples in one direction and down on Capri at right angles. I spent quite a while there and then had no desire to spend time anywhere else on the island after that. I did enjoy a salada caprese (Capri salad) on the way out though. It’s made with tomato and mozzarella. The tomatoes and the spicing they use in Italy can’t be beat. That night we were scared to search for anywhere else to eat and enjoyed McDonalds burgers for a second night in Naples. In the evening I filmed the crazy square where honking cars and people dogged each other in a chaotic and yet commonplace pattern while ambulance and police sirens wailed intermittently. We were more than pleased to leave Naples the next morning, but we had some great experiences.

Villa San Michele, Capri
Roma (Rome)
I thought our room in Rome would be a challenge, but it turned out to be a very pleasant stay. I had read on the internet that it was difficult to locate the Maikol B&B so I’d already done a lot of research, including Google street views. Unfortunately, the first mistake I made was to think that the first plaza I arrived at was the Piazza Vortorino, but it actually was 3 blocks the other way. I was becoming more confident of my Italian and after asking directions, we made it to the square. The hotel entrance was a simple wood door beside the MAS store with the hotel name in tiny letters on the buzzer. The staff person was eager to use her English and immediately gave us a map and directions on how to get everywhere of interest. Everything was in walking distance, but with our new confidence on the subways, we used these to advantage too. The room had free internet, very nice air conditioning and lovely cappuccino delivered to your room with breakfast each morning.

Colosseum

Forum with Colosseum at top right
We walked 10 minutes to the Colosseum (Coliseum) and we were in among the hordes of tourists. It was definitely a mistake not to buy tickets in advance and definitely a mistake to visit attractions around noon. I understood that tickets were available at the Forum so we walked up there, but the line up looked too long. The other entrance for the forum was closed to tickets. We tried the Palatine Hill and the line there was longer than the Forum. We bit the bullet and lined up, which took an hour in the hot sun and put us in to sun stroke before the sight-seeing began. I’m never impressed by crowds, plus several others were sharing my complaint that the Forum map wasn’t accurate. Still it is quite impressive, no matter what your mood. We then made our way to the Colosseum and noticed the line up had decreased significantly. I was even less impressed with the Colosseum. I guess ruined buildings visited by hundreds of people don’t overly impress me no matter how big they are. Next we had to get out of the sun and a return to our B&B for several hours. We asked about places to eat as everything in the square was boarded up like a massive economic foreclosure. They told us it was afternoon and that everything closed at that time. They suggested waiting until 8pm for dinner.

Forum without tourists at dusk
When we got our energy back, we remembered the train station is a great place to find food and after a meal, we took the metro to the Spanish Steps. This was more pleasant and also intriguing to see all the people who come just to sit there. We then followed our map with difficulty to the Trevi Fountain. It was pleasant in the shade of evening, but busy. Then we went to the Pantheon and got seriously lost, despite the map. Plus the Pantheon was closed. We walked back to the B&B from there and had an unexpected pleasure. Our route went past the Forum and the Coliseum, which were both now devoid of tourists. We wandered the edges of the Forum and got great views of the empty spaces. It was worth it to be there at night, when all the tour buses had left. Very pleasing. Try to plan to visit major attractions early or late in the day.

Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain
The next morning, after a lovely breakfast in our room, we took the subway to St Peter’s Basilica. This was really the highlight of our trip to Rome. The basilica is magnificent and peaceful. The tombs of the Pope’s underneath makes you feel its importance and the depth of time. The main floor is immense and absorbs numerous lovely carvings and tributes to its Popes. The church is active and a service going on added faint singing that echoed through the building and its various caverns. I ended up taking two trips around and paused a long time to simply listen to the service. Then we went up the dome (cupola) and this was great too. It was an easier ascent than Florence, including a substantial elevator ride. I had difficulty at the top, but overcame this and enjoyed the views and the refreshing breeze. I had high expectations after that for the Vatican. We had reservations booked on the Vatican site and it was wonderful to pass the crowds waiting in the sun and go straight in.

St Peter's Basilica

St Peter's, gigantic inside

St Peter's, typical of numerous life size sculptures
Strange Sistine Chapel.
Unfortunately the rest of our Vatican experience didn’t match St Peter’s. It was our first guided tour of our vacation and it included almost an hour of pre lecture on the drawings of the Sistine Chapel. The discussion was interesting, but my back was breaking under the strain of standing still. Our own self guided tours go a break neck speed, not break back standstills, so this tour wasn’t fun. The four Raphael rooms involved lengthy descriptions of the detail in each picture too, but at least we were with the real pictures for that. The Sistine involves discussion before hand as it is an active church and guides can’t narrate tours in it.

Raphael painting on all 4 walls and the ceiling, Vatican
After 2.5 hours we made it to the Sistine. What a weird experience. A large dank room crammed with people to every corner. A uniformed official presided and continually made hissing noises at the crowd to maintain silence. At times he would clap too. The murmur from the crowd never ceased and quickly built to the point of another reprimand. It reminded me of the Dog Whisperer or a lion tamer controlling animals. When we finally got to the exit, a security guard waved his hand to indicate we could not leave, but did not speak. We had no idea why we couldn’t leave. A loudspeaker announcement in Italian ensued. I had the strangest sensation that the heathen had all been caged and were about to be dealt with. Then someone in a wheelchair came in through the exit, making it clear why our exit had been denied and we were allowed to leave. I went straight to confessional at St Peters.

The tour was over and we were on our own. We next stumbled on the nicest piece in the museum in my opinion – the life size stained glass of mother and child. After the disappointment of the tour, this item lifted my spirit and I wasn’t ready to leave the Vatican yet. We headed to the Etruscan Museum and something remarkable happened on the way. The crowds thinned and we started to have entire rooms to ourselves. We wandered through the painting gallery and the Etruscan Museum. We then discovered that the two large halls of statues, that were crammed with people and avoided on our tour, were now empty. We strolled around as if we owned the place and I thoroughly enjoyed this time.

Mother and Child

Vatican, tours have left for the day
We walked to the Pantheon from the Vatican. It was interesting, but I went mainly because it peaked my interest in the show Angels and Demons. Rafael and Italian Kings (Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I) are buried there. We wandered past the Trevi and the Spanish steps before catching the metro to our accommodation. In the morning we were off to the airport to start the cruise portion of our vacation through the eastern Mediterranean.