Over the River and through the Woods……

A Happy Thanksgiving to All of You!

We were up bright and early this morning raring to get on with our day. The owner of the B&B was knocking at our door at 5:45 AM ready to help us with our suitcases!
We hurried up and got downstairs and he took us to the train station. We got there early enough to catch the 6:08 AM train to Genoa.

Upon getting to Genoa we found a bite to eat and waited for our train. They finally put up the track number, a mere 10 minutes before leaving. Of course everyone made a mad dash down the stairs, under the track, and then up the stairs to get to the train. We joined right in with them. Once we found our seats, we discovered that we were sitting near the hotel owner’s daughter, Christine. She works at the hotel also and so we have gotten to know her. She and her husband were going to Milan also and they took the train from Santa Margherita straight there—no changing or lugging. Of course the train people neglected to tell us there was a direct train to Milan. We could have slept in an extra hour!!!!

We then arrived in Milan and found our train to Stuttgart. Lucky for us the tracks were at street level (or I should say train level) and we didn’t have to do the carrying of the luggage up and down the stairs.

Once we were under way we quickly realized “We aren’t in Kansas anymore”! Since we have been traveling in Italy we have rarely been asked for our ticket, let alone our EurailPass. We had to show our ticket at least 3 or 4 times and our EurailPass twice.
And then….the Italian language that we had gotten used to suddenly changed to German which we aren’t used to at all.

Well if we have talked about gorgeous scenery, we are sorry to bore you again. But the Italian Alps and Swiss Alps that we have gone through is some of the most beautiful countryside we have seen. There are trees everywhere, rivers, beautiful lakes and waterfalls, snow-capped mountains, and Swiss chalets, and Heidi and Peter the goat-herder. OK I just wanted to see who was reading this thoroughly but everything but Heidi and Peter is true! I said to Jim, “Now this feels like Thanksgiving. Over the river and through the woods...” We sure wish we had family to share our ham sandwiches with!

OK—NO MORE NICE STUFF!!!! WE JUST GOT KICKED OFF THE TRAIN (along with everyone else)!

The train started having problems and we were delayed ½ hour as they tried to fix it. We then went a little while more and stopped and they announced, in GERMAN, that we would have to get off the train and they were towing our train away.

Of course the moans and groans gave away something to us. Then everyone started packing up their stuff and I quickly asked someone if they spoke English and could they tell us what was happening. They did and we went with the group, out into the cold, no dinner in the dining restaurant, and missing our next connection completely.

The German people and the German train staff were very upset because this was an Italian train and German trains never break down! In fact, this train is being discontinued because it breaks down all the time on this route (something about the electricity being different). The Germans were having a hey day berating the Italian trains.

The poor train master came by and offered everyone a 20% discount on future trips and helped us figure out how to get to Stuttgart and then to Nuremburg. As Jim explained a couple of days ago, we had a VERY tight schedule and the trains to our hotel were getting less and less.

We finally got to Stuttgart, saw that we had a few minutes delay, and by now we are tired, hungry and thirsty (it was 9:15 PM). And right before us, like a mirage in the desert, was our Thanksgiving Dinner—BURGER KING! Yes there in Stuttgart was a good old-fashioned American hamburger joint that even gave us ice in our drinks.

We hurriedly ate our hamburgers and fries and found our next train and found a seat and settled in for the cold, winter’s night. We finally arrived at our hotel 3 hours later than planned, 11:15 PM, and were so appreciative of a wonderful Best Western hotel staff that checked us in quickly.

We first stepped on a train at 6:00 AM and stepped off at 11:00 PM. That is one long day. Print this post