Planes, Trains, & Autobuses, Part V

Street in Faenza

 "My favorite motion sickness cure is a can of Diet Coke. I just get someone to whack me firmly on the back of the head with it."  ~ Unknown

When last I left you, Mike and I had arrived at Roma Tiburtina in time to catch our train to Milan. Even though the bus was a bit late, we still had two hours to spare, so we headed to get cappuccino.  As is usually the case when I have a travel day coming up, I hadn't slept well the night before, so the lack of sleep combined with my bus carsickness gave me one royal headache. I was hoping the caffeine would help.  It didn't.

Luckily, when I booked the tickets, I chose seats that didn't face anyone else.  The first part of the three-hour trip was relatively quiet. I pulled the tray table down and put my head down.  I must have fallen asleep because I didn't realize we had stopped in Florence until the woman who got on there sat behind me and kicked my seat....accidentally, of course.

Pasture from Campo di Giove

The fast train from Rome-to-Milan has only two stops—Florence and Bologna.  Bologna, as I may have mentioned, is only a 25-30-minute train ride from Florence.  As we neared Bologna Centrale, I stared out of the window at the familiar scenery.

"I think I'll get off of the train when it stops," I told Mike.  He rolled his eyes.  "I mean it.  I'm going to stay here." 

"Yep," he answered and went back to listening to his podcast.

The aqueduct in Sulmona

Not long after we left Bologna, a cell phone rang.  The lady in the seat behind me answered it.

"PRONTO," she said LOUDLY, and so began her conversation...her long conversation...her long, LOUD conversation.

Let me step out of this short story for a minute to make a comment:  If the airlines ever permit cell phone usage while in flight, I may shoot myself.  People just don't have a clue how to courteously use cell phones in public.  I cannot understand how some people are so oblivious to the fact that their loud, long phone conversations are irritating, intrusive, and rude.

Santo Stefano di Sessiano

At any rate, the woman behind me spent a good 40 minutes talking and laughing loudly.  After a bit, I started repeating what she said.  LOUDLY.

"What did you say?"  What did you say?

"We should go to dinner."  We should go to dinner.

"It's so hot today."  It's so hot today.

And so on and on.  She probably never heard me because she was talking too much.

As we got off the train in Milan, she was still talking.

All things considered, except for my headache and the big mouth, the train trip wasn't so bad. We arrived in Milan on time, which was the important thing.  Since we had a day until we flew home, we went in search of the famous cathedral in the historic center, had lunch, repacked for the umpteenth time, and went to bed.

The next day was going to be long...long...