Tuesday 2/24- OK, so I got your attention. Maybe it wasn't all that bad, but it definitely could have been better. Even on paper the day was not very fun. Since there were no flights from the Arles area to the Pisa area, taking the train was the only option. I planned out my itinerary weeks ago and had a bad feeling from the beginning.
I woke up at a jolly 4:15 after going to bed past midnight. I somehow showered and got downstairs to my taxi on time. The trip was €12, an increase of 20% but nothing to break the bank. When I looked at the departures screen, I noticed "retard probaboule 1h". Retard is right. I have never been to a country where the trains are always late. OK, maybe Italy, but not this bad. But, besides sitting in the freezing Arles train station at 5am for an hour totally exhausted, there was another problem. I had to connect in Nice to take a train to Genoa where there was a final connection to Pisa. Due to the retard, the hour buffer I gave myself was gone. There was nothing I could do about it but hope for the best.
The train did come about an hour late and I got to my coach and seat. The car was second class with reclining seats and smelled pretty rank with dozens of sleeping people all the way from Luxembourg and other stops in between. I got to my seat only to find a dude with his sock-covered feet on it. Nice. "Excusez-moi." Riiiight. In any event, I tried to sleep as best as I could but the sun came up and the scenery was too spectacular to sleep through. The tracks follow the Mediterranean coast for a good deal of the journey so you can imagine the view out of the south window is nice. Blue water, palm trees, Roman pines, cypress trees, pastel buildings, the works. And occasionally, a snow capped mountain to the north. It took over four hours to reach Nice for reasons I know not and I missed my train by about 10 minutes.
So I went to the ticket office in the station- which is horrible by the way. No elevator and escalators at all, so nuts to me and my 50 pound plus bag (I've been accumulating some research materials). After a 15 minute wait, the woman told me to go to another place to get the situation reseolved. The next woman, after I explained the problem, gave an "allors" and went to talk to the manager for several minutes. She explained that the ticket to Genoa was ok but that I'd have to take a train to Ventimiglia, the first city across the border in Italy and change trains there. So I did that and asked the lady there and she told me to get on a train for Santo Stefano. I wasn't sure if Santo Stefano was near Genoa or what, but I placed my trust in her. It turned out that at long last I got to Genoa, but after being crammed in with all my bags, passing in and out of consciousness and enjoying the continuing pleasant scenery.
When I alighted off the train in Genoa, I had no idea where I was and had to lug my bag up three flights of stairs, again no escalators. Worse still, no signs in sight and no train station in sight either. What is going on? After fumbling around for several minutes, I followed the approximate direction of the tracks which were underground and found the fabled stazione. And went straight to the ticket counter and then information desk. The lady there gave me "special permission" to use my ticket on a later train which I got to just in time. In the end this final leg that I am taking now is perfectly fine and I am looking forward to a good meal- didn't have time to eat save for some French mini-breakfast bars, a few chocolate cookies and some dried apple pieces from an Italian machine- and a good night's sleep.
Addendum- the final leg dragged on and on, stopping at every little podunk town on the coast. Didn't get in to Pisa Centrale until past 7pm and had a panini. I was either on the train or waiting in a train station for 14 hours!!! Not something I'd repeat in exactly the same manner. Wheeled my bag over the cobblestones to the hotel, getting slightly lost on the way. The hotel is very nice- advertised as four starts, but I'd give it 3 or 3.5. Looking forward to the free breakfast tomorrow. Went out and got a banana, an apple, a powerade, and some spaghetti putanesca to go, all for only €7.30. What a bargain- good, too. Since it is Carnivale tonight, there are many young people on the streets, probably from the University of Pisa. Many nice cafes and bistros. Need to upload my departmental funding request before bed. So endeth the twenty-second day.
Pictures on my cell phone, maybe to come later.
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