Subject: More from Cor
Hoi nochmals!
The computer lab's kinda empty right now, so I'll spend a few more minutes catching you up.
Allison and I took a night train from Berlin to Rome, which was good, since the whole trip was about 22 hours- which isn't NEARLY as long on a train as in a car or plane, cause you can get up and walk around, AND see something of interest out the window! (I'm kind of fond of the whole European train experience!) Actually the night train was only to Basel, then we had to change trains. The first train wasn't all that good- we reserved "couchettes," which are the 2nd class version of the 1st class sleeper cars. Turns out they were kind of like airplane seats that only recline about 45 degrees. I was ok, but it wasn't the best sleeping arrangement, but poor Allison was miserable- she couldn't sleep at all! :(
The next train was very nice, though. To get from Basel (nw corner of Switzerland- actually, France and Germany meet there as well) to Milan, we had to go through some of the High Alps, in Switzerland. For the entire time we rode through this country (3 or 4 hours?) I think my jaw was dropped.
The view was absolutely fantastic!!! It had to be one of the best I had ever seen!
If you look at a map, we went south-ish from Basel, then headed southeast, making a stop in Luzern as we headed towards Tessin (in the SE corner, the Italian-speaking part of the country- look for Bellinzona-it's a city in this canton that we made a stop in).
Near Basel it was mountainous, but still fairly rounded and very green. As we went south the peaks started getting higher and the valleys steeper.
Everything green still was an amazing emerald green, but there were many peaks in the not-to-distant background that were sheer stone, and many were snow-capped!
We passed by some amazing lakes where the water looked absolutely crystal clear.
We also went through about a billion tunnels, more and more, and for longer and longer duration as we continued along.
The nice Swiss couple we were sitting next to explained that these tunnels were needed to climb to the right elevation to continue along!
They had a whole book of maps of Switzerland that they kept showing us- they kind of acted as personal tour guides for Allion and me, which I thought was very sweet of them. On their map, these tunnels were shown as loops, almost teardop-shaped. We kept going in circles underground! At one point this couple pointed out a church that was way above us on the mountainside, and told us to keep it in mind. Then we went into a tunnel. When we came back out again, we went by this church again, only this time we were at the same level. Then another tunnel. Then we came back out again, and you know what? There's that church again! I was impressed! :)
When we arrived in Bellinzona this couple left- they were going to spend a few days in another town nearby, hiking along the mountainside during the day, then staying in a hotel somewhere at night. They said they did this a lot. They were older, retired, I think, but were so active! I thought that was really cool!
Once we crossed into Tessin, everything began to have a much more Italian look to it- the houses were closer together, more often with orangey-tiled roofs, and pale pink, orange or yellow stucco, than the more stereotypical Swiss farmhouses that we had been seeing before.
Based on what people were wearing, it was also much warmer here! We'd been wearing heavy jackets, long-sleeved shirts, and jeans for the past few weeks, and now people were coming onto the train with t-shirts! It's amazing how good of a weather barrier a big mountain range can be! :)
We crossed the Italian border, and the border patrol came on to check everyone's passport. They looked kind of scary, very militaristic. I didn't get a stamp in my passport. :( When we arrived in Milan, we had to change trains, but didn't know when our connecting train left. We couldn't find anything leaving for Rome anytime soon, so I tried to ask a few people who looked official. THey all told me they were too busy, almost shouted at me, and finally someone pointed me to an information desk. I was glad there was a counter there where someone spoke English, because apparently our connecting train didn't exist, and we had to take one that arrived an hour later! (I don't think my baby knowledge of Italian could have gotten that across to me!) So we changed some money and tried to call Matt, so that he wouldn't be waiting at Roma Termini for an hour or so!
BUT, we only got bills, no coins, and the phone took coins. Allison went to find a shop to buy something in and get change, and I stood next to the phone with all our bags, trying to ask people if they had change for my smallest bill, with no luck. (It was really kind of funny, my question consisted of more sign language than anything else!) I was starting to get really nervous bec. our train left in 15 minutes, and Allison wasn't back yet. I also knew she couldn't walk very fast bec. her foot was bothering her. Finally, w/ about 8 minutes left, she got back, I called Rome, and Ginelle answered the phone. I gave her the message quickly, and then she said Matt was there, if I wanted to talked to him. I said no, no time, and practically hung up on her mid-sentence. (Sorry Ginelle!) :)
Then we booked it for our train. We arrived on the TRACK with about 2 minutes, and it seemed to take FOREVER before we found a 2nd class car that we could get on! We finally got on the train w/ about 30 seconds to spare! I know I tend to leave everything til the last minute but that was a LITTLE too close, even for me!
The train was packed, and it took forever before we found seats, but we eventually ended up in a booth with a German girl, 2 men from Kenya, and an Italian man. We had a lot of fun- Allison, the German and I could speak in German, the 2 Kenyan men could speak with Allison and me in English, to each other in Swahili, and to the other man in Italian! The German girl and I could follow a bit of the Italian, but not much, and the Italian man could follow a bit of English, but not much. It really made for a funny conversation!!!!!! :)
These 4 people got off, in Florence, I think, and then two Italian boys, 17 and 18, I think, sat down. Their English was about as good as my Italian, which is not saying much, so the four of us tried for the remaining few hours to talk, even though sentences that consisted of more than one word were a major accomplishment! Sign language, drawings, and my little dictionary became INCREDIBLY helpful! But we had a lot of fun-at one point we saw the moon rise, and it was a huge orangey-yellow disc in the sky, and one guy pointed to it and started howling at it!
That was my crazy crash course in Italian!
When we arrived at Roma Termini, it was SO nice to see Matt again, to know we'd finally arrived, AND to be able to talk to a good friend again, IN ENGLISH!
Ok, enough for now. Phew!
Tschau tschau!
Cory :)
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