Following DaVinci to Milan

MILAN, ITALY -- May 12, 2006

I missed the first two morning trains to Milan. My alarm was set for 4:30 AM, but it was nearly two hours past that when I opened my eyes. So much for that plastic alarm clock strapped around my wrist. This isn't the first time it's failed me. I berated myself on my way to the breakfast room, but eased off immediately once a new story began to emerge. As of late last night, the Italian trains went on strike. Ulf, the owner of Nice's nicest youth hostel (St. Exupery, of course!) told me himself that he had made an emergency 2 AM drive to Ventimiglia, the town straddling the French-Italian border, over an hour away by car, to pick up a few travelers who had been stranded there.

Apparently, the strike was due to continue into the morning, affecting the first two trains to ride out of town from Nice. But the story was that, after that, all systems were go and things were back to normal, or as normal as they can be after a serious transportation upset. I thanked the stars that I hadn't risen at 4:30 AM just to find out, two hours later at the train station, that I could have stayed in bed after all.

I left for the train station with a foursome of Canadian travelers, also en route to Italy. They would be riding the same train as I to Genova, from where they were transferring to the Cinque Terre. I felt a surge of envy as I thought fondly of my days hiking the five-village trail, smelling the fragrant wildflowers dotting the hillsides, eating fresh seafood, aromatic pesto, and freshly baked foccacia, and enjoying the luxury of the most hypnotically beautiful views of the Ligurian Sea.

Apparently, they had heard of the Cinque Terre only a few days before, from another traveler staying at the hostel, and had decided to adjust their plans accordingly. (It continues to amaze me how many travelers I meet who don't seem to be very well-informed about the countries they are planning to explore! I seem to know more than 95% of the travelers I meet, and that is probably a conservative estimate. I'm not saying that to brag; it's just the truth. But I do have to remind myself that the study of nearly every pocket of this world has been my consuming passion for several years... I suppose all those long hours of research is starting to pay off...)

Two hours later, my train reservation was made, and I was headed in the direction of Milano. It was a long ride to the city, but I had a new novel to keep my mind off the fact that I was trading a day of Europe for the inside of a train compartment. Two days before, after mentioning to Ulf that I was looking for a bookstore where I could purchase a copy of Dan Brown's famed 'The DaVinci Code,' (nope, I'd never read it!), he offered to sell me his. And I had been saving it for this train trip, when I knew I'd have some time to really sink my teeth into it and get lost in its pages.

~Melanie