We left Varenna on the first train out to Milan, and hit the Monday morning rush hour commute. The train quickly filled and became stuffy, standing room only, on this muggy morning.
It felt good to get out.
The Milano Centrale station is on of the biggest and best in Europe. The huge “train parking” structure is so long that entire 11 car trains plus two engines fit under it, so wide that it has at least 16 tracks side by side. And the entrance hall itself is a massive, old stone structure, with colorful old tile work and lights, and modern arrival and departure boards, plus a whole array of ticket services, shops and cafes.
We found on bistrot and grabbed an orange juice to cool off.
Our next train was a luxurious high-speed to Venice, but we were getting off in Verona. Unfortunately this leg of the trip only lasted an hour. These high speed trains (this one tops out at 360 KM/hr or about 224 mph) are really fun and comfortable to ride.
We spent the next tree and a half hours on a slow, old Italian train, on a two hour forty-five minute route. Worse, the train had no air conditioning, and just the little top windows that crack open.
To top it off, the heat wave is still smothering Europe, and it was 101 as we passed through central Italy working our way up, oh so slowly, into the mountains and some (hopefully) cooler air.
There were a lot of complaints by the passengers and a lot of shrugging by the train staff. Most of us, Gail and I included, fell into a heat-induced stupor, barely able to do anything but drip sweat.
This was NOT a good trip.
When we got to Bolzano we were still low in elevation, but surrounded by high snow-covered peaks, so the heat seemed even more trapped. The sky over the mountaintops was dark and stormy.
We entered a long, long tunnel that took like 15 minutes to go through. When we emerged on the other side of the mountain the sky was black and the little air coming in through the windows was cooler. As we pulled into Fortezza, our stop, it was hailing and pouring rain, thunder rolling through the valley.
We got soaked but I didn’t care; the cool air was such a relief at last!
We caught the next colorful little SAD regional commuter train (We have ridden this route several times in the past, combing bus and trains to get to the smaller mountain villages here in the Dolomite - SüdTirol region.) which took us to Lienz, Austria. These little trains are new, clean, comfortable and go from village to village through some of the most spectacular scenery. I especially like the area around Innichen - San Candido, jagged peaks scraping the clouds above the little houses.
We got to Lienz exactly on time (these Austrians are so damn punctual) and Ralph and Angelika were there waiting for us.
Hugs all around, and we went to the grocery store to pick up some supplies for our little apartment. They dropped us off and promised to contact us later with plans for tomorrow.
Hugs with Frau Tiefenbacher welcoming us back, and we settled into our little apartment, walked around the village, then made a simple dinner and drank a bottle of the great Austrian wine made from the Blaufränkisch grapes.