2004.10.05 to Milan
Arrived in Bari before 09:00 - but not before some Italian police asked all the foreign (read: minority) passengers to show passport ID... Bought our reservations to Milano at the main station for only 12 euros (vs. the 20 euros from Roma to Bari on the Eurostar train) since this was a Eurostar Italia train as well. It really was a high-speed train!
The train travelled north along Italy's east coast and with a few stops along the way, it stopped at Ancona. We didn't know that Ancona was lined with endless kilometres of beaches! And with Ancona being the last stop before Milan, I noticed that the majority of the Italian passengers all of a sudden became very well-dressed...
Got into Milano Centrale at 19:00 and "tried" to buy our night train tickets to Barcelona. "Tried" because I double-checked our Eurail timetable too late - realized that there was no night train on Tuesdays! That extra day in Santorini created this setback. The cost of the supplementary fare to go to Barcelona the next day cost 59 euros shockingly. We asked about Paris which is just as far if not more so, and the supplement was only 15 euros. We decided to move ahead, to not stay in Milan, and see how the cost going to Barcelona from Paris would be later on. Before boarding our night train though, we were hungry for some real food and bought a chicken 'kebab' for dinner. It was panini bread instead of a pita but still very good. While walking around I noticed a lot of Filipinos living in this expensive Italian city. A Little Manila here?
This night train would be our first time in a couchette car and saw how cramped the 2nd-class 6-bed compartment was. The only other passenger in the compartment was an Australian woman and she was glad to be leaving "dirty and expensive" Italy as well. She was vacationing on what Aussie's receive after 10 years of work - 3 months off, with full pay! Getting some hours of decent sleep in a row was next to impossible while the train came to abrupt stops or always shook over bumps...
The train travelled north along Italy's east coast and with a few stops along the way, it stopped at Ancona. We didn't know that Ancona was lined with endless kilometres of beaches! And with Ancona being the last stop before Milan, I noticed that the majority of the Italian passengers all of a sudden became very well-dressed...
Got into Milano Centrale at 19:00 and "tried" to buy our night train tickets to Barcelona. "Tried" because I double-checked our Eurail timetable too late - realized that there was no night train on Tuesdays! That extra day in Santorini created this setback. The cost of the supplementary fare to go to Barcelona the next day cost 59 euros shockingly. We asked about Paris which is just as far if not more so, and the supplement was only 15 euros. We decided to move ahead, to not stay in Milan, and see how the cost going to Barcelona from Paris would be later on. Before boarding our night train though, we were hungry for some real food and bought a chicken 'kebab' for dinner. It was panini bread instead of a pita but still very good. While walking around I noticed a lot of Filipinos living in this expensive Italian city. A Little Manila here?
This night train would be our first time in a couchette car and saw how cramped the 2nd-class 6-bed compartment was. The only other passenger in the compartment was an Australian woman and she was glad to be leaving "dirty and expensive" Italy as well. She was vacationing on what Aussie's receive after 10 years of work - 3 months off, with full pay! Getting some hours of decent sleep in a row was next to impossible while the train came to abrupt stops or always shook over bumps...
posted by ET at 01:48
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