chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a choo-choo

I've already talked about train travel but have saved my discussion about night trains for its own post. I only took 2 night trains, Paris to Milan and Venice to Munich, but from each, I learned which ones to take and not to take next time I galavant around Europe.

I initially planned to ride the night trains in order to cut down on my budget, because I already had my train pass, and to also cut down on travel time. The Paris to Rome train was a great use of my travel time because instead of spending almost an entire day traveling from one to the other, I was in Paris one night and Italy the next morning. So it was a great use of time for that, but the 25Euro reservation fee didn't save me any money. In short, time savings, great! Money savings, not.

Venice to Munich, when looking back, was one I decided was not worth the time advantage for a couple of reasons. I didn't know when Anne and Lauren were departing Venice for Vienna so I made the assumption they would be in Venice through early evening. Instead, they headed back mid-afternoon so I had 7 hours to kill. Because the reservation fee of the night train cost as much as a hostel would have, it would have been a better use of my time to take an afternoon train to Munich then spend a night in a real bed. This wouldn't have added any time for me to see Munich but had I not taken the train I could have slept in a real bed and had a shower. And real beds are much better than train beds. And any shower is better than no shower.

The sleeping conditions weren't bad on the train, but they're not prime either. In the generic couchettes of the night trains, the cheapest sleeping quarters you can get on a train because they dont have seats, there are 6 beds. The beds are narrow bunks, 3 on each side, which can be folded against the wall while the botton can be converted into a bench for sitting. Not uncomfortable, but it gets cramped when the couchette is full, especially since the luggage space is really limited. Each person gets sheets, a blanket and pillow so its not a bad night's sleep, just crowded. In my Paris to Milan couchette, I shared with 3 other 20-30 year olds. On the Venice to Munich train I shared with a cute Japanese family of mother, father, 2 yr old and 6 month old. Though they had little kids and more people, I liked that train better. They offered to switch my bottom seat for the top which I graciously accepted so I climbed to my bunk and crashed, all alone in my own little "bunk" world. Next thing I know, the conductor is waking me because we are arriving in Munich, Germany. They are very good about waking you with enough time to orient yourself and get your shoes, luggage, clothing etc. together.

So there's my schpeel about night trains. It all depends on what the circumstances of your travel are and how much you're willing to pay, but they're a convenient way to get to one location to another far way without wasting a day where you could be sight seeing. And though a little small, its a bed, pillow and blanket so you can at least have a decent night's sleep.

the Vatican Museum

I woke up early on my first day in Rome. Well, not horribly early, but earlier than anyone else in my room. Breakfast, and the internet downstairs, opened at a certain hour so I waited until then to head downstairs for food and then out for the day. As I mentioned in my last post, free/already paid for food was vital to maintaining happiness and staying on budget so I was not to miss breakfast. After eating toast or cereal, I can't remember which one, I stole some packaged croissants and headed out for my busy day. I had 2 days to see a LOT of sights so I had to get started.

My plan was to start the day in the Vatican which is on the other side of the city as my hostel so I hopped on the Rome Metro. The metro was nice...clean and not too crowded for being around 9AM. Their ticket machines also took cash...holla! 10 minutes later I emerged from underground and headed in the direction of the Vatican museum. As I came around one corner and saw the Vatican wall for the first time, I was a little floored. It was as if I had came upon a castle trying to keep out any and all people. It was huge!!!

I walked up the block, found the entrance to the Vatican Museum and headed inside. The price of admission was 14Euro ($21) which was the most expensive European museum I visited the entire trip. But it was worth it...almost. Only about half of the exhibits had English translations so that was where it fell short. But the rest was terrific! Having no expectations about it except knowing it was where the Sistine Chapel is located, I think had a definite affect on my opinion towards the museum. Not knowing what others thought or what kinds of things to look out for was very interesting.

The mummy exhibit was very interesting, but very similar to the Lourve so nothing spectacular. Imhotep's tomb is in the Vatican though so my "Mummy" loving heart jumped a little upon seeing that. The museum is a massive maze...I had no idea where in the building I was at any point...I just followed the signs that led me from exhibit to exhibit. I was astounded by all the artwork, especially the collection of statues and sculptures. Not only were there a huge number of them in the open exhibit halls, but I came upon multiple closed off hallways filled with sculptures and items. Really spectacular.

After viewing the mummies, sculptures, bathtubs and the hall of maps the museum led me into Raphael's apartments. What I didn't know until walking into the apartments was that the museum used to be the living quarters of the Pope so Raphael's apartments are the former rooms of the Pope who commissioned Raphael to paint the frescoes in each room. There are 3 or 4 rooms in total and all 4 walls in each large room are painted floor to ceiling. The ceilings also each have a unique depiction painted upon them. For example, some of the paintings showed Raphael's interpretation of the coronations of various Popes. They were fascinating, beautiful and really wonderful to look at. The immense amount of talent needed to do what Raphael and his apprentices did is impossible for me to imagine. So much skill...

Up next after Raphael's apartments was the modern art exhibit. Though I'm not too into modern art, I did enjoy this section as it had many paintings and pieces of art showing the crucifixion of Jesus. Most of the artwork I've seen depicting the crucifixion are realistic looking, fascinating and many of them are hundreds of years old. These modern pieces were just as fascinating, just because they were just so unique and different than what I was used to seeing.

After the modern art exhibit it was finally time to see the Sistine Chapel, the last segment of the Vatican Museum. My knowledge of the Sistine Chapel begins and ends in elementary school. I don't know what grade it was, probably 5th, but I remember seeing a video about Michaelangelo painting the chapel's ceiling. He was laying on his back on top of a lot of scaffolding and paint was dripping in his eye. So that was my pretext to the Sistine Chapel and like I said before, having no expectations was wonderful. The Sistine Chapel is GORGEOUS and indescribable. My jaw dropped the moment I walked in and it took awhile for my brain to gain back function enough to close it.

Photographs are not allowed inside the chapel, but in all honesty any pictures I could have taken would not have done it any justice. The chapel is the tourist mecca for the entire museum so it was crowded when I arrived. Not horribly, claustrophobic crowded but there were enough people to make me not want to stand in the middle. They have benches lining the walls so you can sit and look up; I took a seat on a bench along the back wall and it was the perfect view. I could see the entire ceiling well enough and I had a full view of the frescoe on the wall behind the altar. It was that frescoe that I spent at least 5 minutes staring at it as it was so beautiful. So gorgeous. There were just so many elements to it to look at and admire and soak in. I didn't know what any of it meant, but it didn't matter.

After telling myself multiple times "just 1 more minute of staring" I finally, and reluctantly, got up off the bench and exited the chapel, looking back at the gorgeous work of art one last time. There was still much to see.

certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living – miriam beard

The night train from Paris arrives in Milan right on time. I'd slept for most of the trip so I am as rested as can be after sleeping on a fake bed. I hang out in the Milan train station for about 20 minutes before my train headed for Rome begins to board. I hop on and since Europe isn't late because it's awesome, we depart and arrive in Rome right on schedule. Anne, my sister, and Lauren, her roommate are waiting at the end of the platform since their train back to Vienna is about to begin boarding. We talk and catch up in the 10 minutes we have together but then they must leave and I need to drop my bag off at the hostel.

The hostel is only a 5 minute walk from the train terminal but its a little hard to find as there is no sign outside the entryway. After a short backtracking moment though I figure it all out and go through the process of dropping my bag off. Then it's back to the train terminals and onto a train down to Naples. And from there I hop on another train to Pompei. Based on my research I did beforehand, I knew there were 2 train stops you can get off of...1 nearer to the center of the town and the other at the ruins. But I was running out of time if I wanted to spend a few hours at the site, so I get on the first train headed to Pompei...going only to the center of town. I'll have to find my way from there I guess...

The farther you get from big cities, the less they speak English. Therefore I get no help with directions to the Pompei Ruins from the station attendant in Pompei. I have the general direction in mind so I head that way and somehow end up at the entrance. And as I think it's the front entrance it takes me a little while to understand the map the site gave me for the ruins. None of the roads exist where I think they do...and that's cuz I had come through the back way. Once I get my bearings though I head off through the ruins.

There's no words to describe the fascinating and enormous ruins of Pompei. Mt. Vesuvius, which I could just see through the clouds, erupted a ton of years ago encasing and preserving an entire civilization in dirt, ash, lava etc. So when you hear that one (or maybe just me) might think "ok, it'll all be old stone things that are falling apart and are hard to appreciate because I can't imagine what it was supposed to be like." Nope, I was WRONG. Yes, there are a lot of old stone things, some of which may be considered falling apart.

But there are also a lot of stone and brick buildings that almost look new and flawless. The artwork has been preserved fantastically and though outside all the time and exposed to the forces of nature, the colors are still bright and distinct.

The tiling in the ceilings, walls and floors looks almost new. Or maybe not new, but really close to it. My jaw drops seeing all these things that are thousands of years old yet appearing less than a hundred.
It's almost like the people of the city of Pompei wanted to create their own Plimoth Plantation without actors and using all real things, not replications or duplicates. So outstanding. And HUGE -- it's 164 acres which is like 150-160 football fields.

I don't remember any of the names of the Temples or the houses and the histories behind any of them so I will leave you with the rest of my favorite pictures I took and let you try and take in and appreciate the amazingness. But like I said, it's really hard to capture how truly outstanding Pompei is without being there yourself.

The sun set fast by the end of my 3 or so hours there. Even though it had been that long the time had flown by as there was so much to see and take in. As I'm walking back to the train station a homeless dog starts to follow me and I don't want it to. Just when I think it's been distracted enough by trash it catches up to me. I get nervous for a second that it will follow me onto the train as I'm getting close to the station but it gets sidetracked once more and so I cross the street and speed my step in order to throw it off. Thankfully, it works. I arrive back in Rome around 7 or 8 and am extremely tired. My room is really nice and big and I have 5 roommates but it's so spread out it's not a bad situation at all. I take a shower which feels so wonderful since it's been almost 2 days without one and I get ready for touring the next day. Rome, here I come.

i travel not to go anywhere, but to go....the great affair is to move - Robert Louis Stevenson

Metro...Commuter...Long-Distance...Night... All types of trains...All trains I rode at least once. For 3 weeks the European rail system was something I admired, depended on and hated all at the same time. Admiration because America doesn't hold a candle to Europe in regards to train transportation. Dependency because the trains were my only means of transpo besides my own two feet. And hatred because of unexpected fees and multiple problems with reservations.

Upon purchasing a Global EurailPass (certainly worth the money!) that allowed me 15 days of unlimited travel anywhere in 21 different countries, I received a free map and timetable along with booklet on how to use to the train system. When I arrived in Paris I had a plan: all I had to do was make a few train reservations for certain long-distance trains and the 2 night trains I would be taking. I knew there would be a "small fee" attached to them all, especially the night trains, however, when I hear "small fee" I think of 3-5Euro, not 5-15. I was not very happy when train reservations for 3 trains plus 1 night train amounted to $66. And since I could only do some of the Italian train reservations while in Paris, knowing there would be even more fees made me very frustrated. I had expected/budgeted in my mind $20-30 so having to pay that much was NOT fun.

My other ordeal while making train reservations that morning was dealing with the trains I wanted being booked already. Orignally my plan was to take an afternoon train from Paris to Milan, then a night train from Milan to Rome. I had read that the fees for night trains in Italy were less than in France and from the Eurail timetable I believed you could get a reclining seat which costs less than a couchette. However, the train to Milan was booked, as was the direct night train to Rome (my second option) so I was slightly panicked as I don't like disruption to my plans I've thought very carefully about. Especially when I was meeting Anne based off the time I originally planned. After mentally calming myself down I asked about a night train to Milan, and then a early morning train down to Rome. YES, they had one available!! I was at least going to make it to Rome, even if it was going to be 3 hours later.

So some words of advice for future train travelers...Reserve your seats online in advance if you can. And if you can't, have back-up plans. There may be seats available on the trains, but they aren't for 2nd Class Global Pass people. So unless you want to pay like a 70-100Euro fee to get on that first train option by upgrading yourself, have back-up plans. Also, I was traveleing between Paris and Rome on a Sunday night so traveling between major cities on a Sunday night might not have been the best choice. I also advise all of you double check the tickets you receive from the window person before leaving because the date might be wrong. Although the person I was dealing with spoke English well enough for me to make the reservations, he booked me on the train for the wrong date. I luckily found out though, not because I looked, but because I was trying to change my tickets and they pointed it out to me. Which leads me to another piece of advice...in France at least, they have the languages that are spoken at each window listed on monitors above so look for those if you don't speak French.

Traveling in multiple foreign countries when you don't speak any of the languages makes yourself very vulnerable to mistakes and miscommunication like I experienced with the train reservations. I was definitely expecting to have some problems, but it didn't make them any less frustrating. The good thing was that I learned from my mistakes and when I had to make my other reservations I was prepared and had no problems. I think that's it for the rambling and advice about reservations. Since this post is already long enough, I'll add my thoughts about riding the trains later.

a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step - lao tzu

We land at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport right on time; it's cloudy and the ground is wet. After exiting the plane I make my way first to the bathroom and then to Passport Control. There is a bit of a line, but I don't care as I'm not in any rush; nothing opens in the city til 8:30 or 9 anyway. The process is uneventful of course until I get to the head of the line. A French woman starts yelling and arguing with one of the men in the windows and the woman sharing the booth with him begins to intervene yet her window is open. I go to her and get my passport stamped quickly, thank goodness there are no questions asked. The crazy French lady is scary and I want to get the hell out of there. Yelling is scarier when you have NO idea what is being said. Onto the train station...

After only getting lost a lil bit because the directions signs pointed me in the wrong direction, I make it to the train platform, purchase my ticket and hop on the next train heading toward the city. The ride is uneventful except it does get a little crowded due to the commuters from the suburbs getting on and packing the train.

We arrive at Gare du Nord (North Station) some time later and when I leave the station I'm able to get my bearings well enough.


A short 15-min walk up a slightly inclined street and I enter the doors to Le Village Hostel. It's dead quiet except for the radio they have playing. The gentleman at the desk is kind enough and after a bit of repacking I place my bag in the storage room, pick up a map and head out for the day.

For transportation in Paris my plan was to use the bike system they have called "Velib." For a single-day ticket ($1.50), you have unlimited use of the bikes which you pick up and drop off at hundreds of stations around the city. It's a replacement for the bus or train and as long as you keep the ride under 30 minutes, its a free trip. Because my hostel is right at the bottom of the Sacre Couer, there are a couple of stations right nearby and I head over to one as the first to-do. Yet they do not accept my Visa bank card and I must give up that idea and use the Metro the next 2 days. Oh well...

I find the nearest Metro station very easily and hop on a train headed for the Champs de Mars...not directly, but with a couple of transfers. I arise from the underground at the Hotel des Invalides stop (not where I wanted to be it's close enough) and begin the walk towards the Eiffel Tower. It's still cloudy but I can see it's clearing up fast which is very good. I don't want to pay to go up a tower that I can't see anything from. Passing by cute Parisian children walking to school and delivery men starting their days, I'm wondering where the heck this tower is. I'm very close by, not near any tall buildings and knowing the Eiffel is quite large, why am I not seeing it jutting into the sky? I finally make it to the edge of the Champs de Mars, glance to my right and there it is...the Eiffel Tower.