A weekend isn't enough time to make it as far east as Venice or as far south as Naples or Rome, so I decided to spend one night each in Milan and Florence, as well as a few hours in whatever cities I hit by train along the way, due to a lack of direct routes that didn't require an extra charge.
It took a bit of effort just for me to get to Italy; I had to change trains in Marseille and Nice before arriving in Ventimiglia, known in French as Vintimille, just on the other side of the border. It was after midnight by the time I got there, and the train I would be taking to Genoa didn't leave until 5am, so I pulled out my blanket prepared to sleep in the station. It worked for a little while, but around 2:30 or so I just couldn't stand sitting on the hard ground, so I decided to get up and go for a walk outside. The station was less than half a mile from the Mediterranean, so I walked to the rocky shore and sat for a while, just staring at the ocean. I walked around a bit longer getting back to the station around 4:30 and finally got on the regional train for Genova Piazza Principe.
I got into Genoa around 8:30 am and had about three hours until my next train, so I went for a walk around the city. Something about the ancientness of Italy made me want to take lots of pictures in black and white. This isn't to say other places I've been were un-ancienty, just maybe not in the same way. (And yes, un-ancienty. That's exactly the word I was going for. Bonus points if you know why.) This took care of my time there and soon I was on the train for Arquata Scrivia, where I had 40 minutes before the train to Milan.
I had a hostel booked for Friday night in the northern half of Milan, so after arriving at Centrale station I navigated the metro system to Affori to find it and drop off my bags. It was a little hard to find because it was on the grounds of on old psychiatric hospital. Still, it was pretty nice and relatively cheap so nothing to complain about... I then took the train back into town and went to the Duomo station, right in the centre of the city. There I found Milan's magnificent cathedral - absolutely gorgeous both inside and out. There was also a sort of antique car show going on in the plaza just outside of the Cathedral, so I watched that for a while, my one semester of Italian enough to barely grasp the commentary. After that wandering the streets of Milan, the centre of Italian fashion, eventually finding dinner and then some gelato before heading back to the hostel to get some sleep, recovering from the night before and getting ready for Saturday.
I got up Saturday, packed my things, and headed back into Milan, wandering for a bit before making my way back to the Centrale Station. With no real plan except my hostel reservation that night in Florence, I was free to take my time riding the rails without going directly there, which is also cheaper since I didn't need a reservation for regional trains. I went through Piacenza, Bologna and Prato, spending a little time in each before finally getting to Florence in the late afternoon.
I dropped my bags off at the hostel, which was luckily quite close to the Santa Maria Novella station where I had come in. I starting walking hoping to hit the monuments highlighted on the map the reception had given me. I passed many gorgeous churches - Florence is in fact a city known for its artists and architecture, so this isn't surprising. I went through a street market and ended up buying a cashmere scarf, which upon wearing was apparently enough for people to stop assuming I was a foreigner - I had a few people coming up to me and asking for directions in Italian! I tried to help if I could, but it was mostly Mi scusi, non parlo italiano. Many more plazas later I found the Ponte Vecchio, a famous old bridge that from the side looks like another row of houses, not something suspended over water. Quite remarkable. I had a florentine pizza for dinner and went back to the hostel when everything started to close. One of the girls in my room was from Paris, so I talked with her in French for a while, we even went for a late snack in a nearby café. I went to bed before too late because I knew Sunday was going to be rough...
No matter how early I left Florence, there was no way I would be able to get to Montpellier the same night. So I took my time to some extent, going to a 10:30 am mass at the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, the main duomo in the centre of Florence. This was actually really interesting, because it was mostly in Latin with gregorian chants, excepting the scriptures and homily in Italian. I was glad I went because otherwise the cathedral wasn't open to tourists on Sundays, and moreover I didn't really want to pay €8 to get in anyway.
From there I went to a café in the Piazza Indipendenza for lunch, and then headed to the station, where I caught the first train to Pisa. I was hoping to be there long enough to see the tower, but I only had an hour before the train to Genoa that I needed to take, and it just wasn't close enough to the station to make it on foot. Instead I walked as far as the river and took some pictures before getting back to the station and the train back.
Through Genova and again to Ventimiglia, where I caught a regional back to Nice. On the train I met some Japanese girls who were students in Nice, so I got my monthly Japanese conversation thing on (hahaha) and chatted with them until they got off in Eze-sur-mer, then finally getting to Nice around 9:30. There would be no more trains to Marseille until the morning, and having no real desire to sleep in a train station for that long, I walked a bit until I found a hostel with open rooms to sleep in until I could get a train. The hostel was run by some old ladies who were also running a restaurant, but being a Sunday night they really had no clientele for either; just two customers for the restaurant and me. I chatted with one for a time whilst she filled out my forms, she seemed really impressed with my French abilities, but really, I've been studying the language for over 10 years, so I hope I can hold a conversation by now.
I had an eight bed room to myself, but I went to bed as soon as I got there so I could leave around 5:30, get to the station and take the 6:02 to Marseille. I had an hour layover there so I took some pictures of the cityscape, finally getting on the train for Montpellier and getting back around 11, thinking I'd have about 15 minutes to get ready for class once I got back to my dorm. I hurried to get ready - but contrary to the email my programme had sent the campus was still mostly blocked and my professor never showed up. Oh well. At least I had a great time in Italy!
I got up Saturday, packed my things, and headed back into Milan, wandering for a bit before making my way back to the Centrale Station. With no real plan except my hostel reservation that night in Florence, I was free to take my time riding the rails without going directly there, which is also cheaper since I didn't need a reservation for regional trains. I went through Piacenza, Bologna and Prato, spending a little time in each before finally getting to Florence in the late afternoon.
I dropped my bags off at the hostel, which was luckily quite close to the Santa Maria Novella station where I had come in. I starting walking hoping to hit the monuments highlighted on the map the reception had given me. I passed many gorgeous churches - Florence is in fact a city known for its artists and architecture, so this isn't surprising. I went through a street market and ended up buying a cashmere scarf, which upon wearing was apparently enough for people to stop assuming I was a foreigner - I had a few people coming up to me and asking for directions in Italian! I tried to help if I could, but it was mostly Mi scusi, non parlo italiano. Many more plazas later I found the Ponte Vecchio, a famous old bridge that from the side looks like another row of houses, not something suspended over water. Quite remarkable. I had a florentine pizza for dinner and went back to the hostel when everything started to close. One of the girls in my room was from Paris, so I talked with her in French for a while, we even went for a late snack in a nearby café. I went to bed before too late because I knew Sunday was going to be rough...No matter how early I left Florence, there was no way I would be able to get to Montpellier the same night. So I took my time to some extent, going to a 10:30 am mass at the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, the main duomo in the centre of Florence. This was actually really interesting, because it was mostly in Latin with gregorian chants, excepting the scriptures and homily in Italian. I was glad I went because otherwise the cathedral wasn't open to tourists on Sundays, and moreover I didn't really want to pay €8 to get in anyway.
From there I went to a café in the Piazza Indipendenza for lunch, and then headed to the station, where I caught the first train to Pisa. I was hoping to be there long enough to see the tower, but I only had an hour before the train to Genoa that I needed to take, and it just wasn't close enough to the station to make it on foot. Instead I walked as far as the river and took some pictures before getting back to the station and the train back.
Through Genova and again to Ventimiglia, where I caught a regional back to Nice. On the train I met some Japanese girls who were students in Nice, so I got my monthly Japanese conversation thing on (hahaha) and chatted with them until they got off in Eze-sur-mer, then finally getting to Nice around 9:30. There would be no more trains to Marseille until the morning, and having no real desire to sleep in a train station for that long, I walked a bit until I found a hostel with open rooms to sleep in until I could get a train. The hostel was run by some old ladies who were also running a restaurant, but being a Sunday night they really had no clientele for either; just two customers for the restaurant and me. I chatted with one for a time whilst she filled out my forms, she seemed really impressed with my French abilities, but really, I've been studying the language for over 10 years, so I hope I can hold a conversation by now.
I had an eight bed room to myself, but I went to bed as soon as I got there so I could leave around 5:30, get to the station and take the 6:02 to Marseille. I had an hour layover there so I took some pictures of the cityscape, finally getting on the train for Montpellier and getting back around 11, thinking I'd have about 15 minutes to get ready for class once I got back to my dorm. I hurried to get ready - but contrary to the email my programme had sent the campus was still mostly blocked and my professor never showed up. Oh well. At least I had a great time in Italy!
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3 comments:
That's so cool the train station was so close to the Mediterranean. Also, I like the use of un-ancienty. I've never been to Italy (yet), but I found lots of places in Europe that called for black and white pictures. Dachau, Prague and Nuremberg. Though Nuremberg was mainly because my dad has old black and white pictures he took of the city when he was stationed in Germany during the 70s. Do you have any plans to visit Germany while you're abroad?
Indeed I do, it's one of the places I plan to hit on my spring break trip, albeit only the northern bits (hannover and hamburg)
Lucky! I was only able to travel in Bavaria while I studied in Germany. I wanted to go elsewhere, but it wasn't possible time-wise.
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