The train to Rome

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We left our lovely estate to head for the metropolis of Roma. Trains are the way to move in Italy. It is comfortable, almost lazy and lulling, to sit and watch the Italian countryside go by. But you know that ultimately you are arriving at another busy train terminal that will commence the next part of your Italian experience. After our driving experience in Florence, we all enjoyed the train.

We got to the Santa Maria Novella stazione in Firenze a little more than an hour before our train departed and of course there is great people watching. And everything you need is right there in the station: the Farmacia (where we re-stocked Mom on cough syrup and drops), the newstand, a lounge to rest in, even McDonalds (which we refuse to patronize while in Italy!), and toilets that you have to pay .70 euro to get into. Watching the train departures display was pretty entertaining. It is like the old, original digital clocks that have a zillion little flappers and every so often the entire board would just start clicking... clickety, clickety, click click click and all the entries would basically move up one line, while they added the next departure to the bottom of the board. They also provide admonitions in several languages at the very bottom of the board about getting your ticket stamped on the platform before getting on your train. This is well written about in all the travel guides. You do not want the train conductor to catch you on the train without a validated ticket, as he will immediately fine you at least 10 euro for not going through that one simple little motion before boarding. And they DO come through every train car and ask for proof that you have paid to be there.

Back to our wait... your train and departure time will be up on the board, but without a "bin" (departure platform) until about 15 minutes prior to leaving. Once your platform is added to the Board, you scurry over to that area, perusing the coaches of your train to figure out where your seats are. We were again in first class for this train ride, but it was quite different from our first train in design, space, and character. And there is never enough room for the luggage, so our larger cases ended up occupying untaken seats.

We decided to have lunch on the train this time. Going up to Florence the first day we noticed the Trenitalia lady come through the coach and request anyone who would like a reservation for the dining car to acknowledge themselves, and shortly thereafter there was an announcement over the speaker and many of the Italians in our coach got up and went to lunch. Later, they announced those without reservations could go. We didn't have lunch on that ride, but decided to experience that on our train ride back to Roma. We went to the dining car, which is a charming spot, and proceeded to have what equated to mediocre airplane food (who'da thunk...?), overpriced wine, cordial table service... ok, so now we can say we've had lunch on a moving train. And you can't beat the views. However, for those of you thinking of European train travel, we really don't recommend the full on table service dining experience. Most of the people we saw were approaching the self-service "bar" which is like a convenience cafe with everything you'd probably need or want for the hour and a half journey, and at a fraction of the price. Nonetheless, it was fun to have lunch on a train.

Now on to Roma!

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Photos

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At the Santa Maria Novella Stazione

028 adj
Modern fresco in the Stazione

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Clickety click goes the departures board...

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The trains pull into the Stazione, lined up in their "bins"

027
Waiting for "il treno"

Comments

[tommy]

Too mutch fun
The vidio really turned out great. Would love to see one of dad in the colleseum. Thanks for keeping up the blog!