A twenty year adventure and more

Bad luck and bad weather seem to have been following us, but our very late arrival in Venice has hopefully changed things for the better. Full disclosure warning, there will be a LOT of photos in this post, because the past 48 hours have been an unbelievable feast for the eyes and soul.

Let’s start at the beginning of Friday. A day of very long travel, and intricately planned, and equally strict timelines. We departed the Bogentrakt hotel at the right time in the morning (getting people out of bed, including myself, can sometimes be a bit of a challenge), and headed to the Chur train station to get the Bernia Express; spectacular ride through the Swiss Alps, and down into NorthEastern Italy.

The day was overcast, and given our high altitude route, it seemed likely that we were going to be completely socked in. So much for the extra funds committed to the scenic coaches on the train.

We left Chur and travelled along the valley floor. The foothills flanking verdant green fields, and autumn trees of gold and yellow (birch, poplar and tamaracks mixed in with evergreens seem to be dominant). The views were breathtaking, and the closed skies turned out to be a quite lovely addition to the ride at this altitude, giving depth and perspective to the giant mountains arising around us.

It was all too perfect. And then, about 45 minutes into the four hour ride, the train came to a stop at a red signal. And stayed stopped. After about ten miniutes or so stopped on the tracks, the engineer came on the radio. In Dutch, he explained something we could not make out, and the train erupted with chatter (the majority of our fellow passengers understanding Dutch). between the fuss and discussion we could make out “malfunction” “one hour” “stopped here.”

Well shit. we had 15 minutes to catch our connecting train in Tirano, so that we could then catch our train in Milan two hours later. Yet again, we were f-ed. Who is this trick playing spirit that has decided to follow along and comically curse our travels so far? I’d be happy to leave them behind.

Finally we get back on route, in less than the alloyed hour, but still far beyond our ability to catch our next train. At this point I have learned how to cancel train reservations (Milan to Venice is a bullet train that was €40 above our Eurail Pass), been in touch with our Vacation Rental host (we have until 10pm to check in, not a miniute later, and if it’s after 8pm there will be an additional 40€ cash payment), and debated our next course of action (do we cancel Venice all together?). Great.

On the plus side, we have now climbed to about 2300m (7000-ish feet) above sea level, and the clouds have lifted. The beauty of Switzerland was blinding.

At the time, had I realized how spectacular the Bernia region is, we would have opted to stay there and hike the thousands of trails, camp if we could, or venture hut to hut. It is definitely a place I would be happy to return to, and one ripe for adventure and the love of the outdoors.

At Bernia we had reached the peak of the ride, passing glaciers, waterfalls, valleys, and glacial fields, and we started the decent back down to Tirano, Italy. The way up, and down is riddled with switchback and corkscrews down the mountains, and the train creeps along at 40km/hr or so as you look down the cliff sides to the valley below.

When we were near Tirano, we were informed by the conductor that there was construction on the train tracks between Tirano and Sondrio, and no trains actually existed between the two. The train company was running busses, but there was no indication of this when we booked our train tickets, nor was there any indication at the station when we arrived,

We were told that the Bernia Express was set to arrive at 12:55 (about 50mins late) with the bus set to depart at 12:56. “You’ll have to run.” He informed us unsympathetically.

When we rolled into the station at 12:57, we knew our precisely planned day was shot. So, on to the next plan. There was a bus set to leave two hours later, and after much strategic standing, jostling and shoving we were able to secure seats (only 40 for over 200 passengers). back in the road again, we were now able to book the very last seats on the 7:15pm bullet from Milan to Venice Santa Lucia, set to arrive at 9:42pm. A tight squeeze with a 10pm deadline.

We had enough time in Milan to stick our head out the station doors, grab some food, use the pay bathroom and find our seats scattered all over the train (last miniute bookings, at least we got the seats). This was our first experience with a bullet train that makes stops and guess what? Yup, some were delayed. By the time we arrived at Venice we were 10mins late. 9:52. We had 8mins to get to our rental. Thank heavens it was just up the way from the train station, so we took our earlier conductors advice and all but ran. At 9:58 we met our host, paid the 40€ cash late fee, and got in the door. Slightly stressful to say the least!

But oh was it worth it! Venice is a spectacular City. Totally unique, totally pedestrian, ancient and beautiful and completely fascinating. Venice speaks to me in so many ways. The walkability, the boating culture, the seas and architecture and history are all simply perfect.

We are travellers that tend more towards off the beaten track travel where possible, and in this Venice did not disappoint. On our way to the “sights,” we based our movements on taking roads where there were less crowds. At one point, JG stepped inside an open door (quite presumptuously I thought at the time), and discovered a rehabilitated vacation rental apartment.

In there we met Franchesco the hotelier of Casa Dei Prittori apartments (https://www.casadeipittori.com). He talked to us about his spectacular building, some of the history of Venice, and explained the MOSE system to us. Yet another feat of Ventian engineering, MOSE is a newly developed sea wall project (still under construction) which is slated to be fully built by 2025 , and will keep the ever present tidal floods at bay (https://www.mosevenezia.eu/project/?lang=en). He commented that at this time of year, it would not be unusual to be standing ankle deep in seawater, inside the house, and all through the town when the tides were up. So far, it’s implementation at its current stage of development has been successful, though likely decimated the tourist rubber boot industry.

Taking a page out of JGs presumptuous book, the next open door I passed I walked through, and much to our surprise and delight, we found a small art gallery on the other side (Antikyan Gallery).

Inside, Albanian artist Ararat Sarkissian (https://www.homofaber.com/en/discover/discover-ararat-sarkissian?amp) was doing a demonstration of his process of block printing on handmade paper (made out of unbleached, uninked recyclables with okra as a glue). The kids were given the chance to try their hand at his technique, free of charge.

Next stop was Doge’s Palace for a peek from the square. Certainly not off the beaten track, it was a zoo, but the building is worth a look.

After Doge’s Palace, we spent a lot of time wandering. We ate lunch overlooking the Venetian Arsenal (ship yards), where they began building warships in 1100, to become the primary power in the Mediterranean for almost 700 years.

At this point, after a lot of walking, and a busy day, we started to work our way home through San Paolo, enjoying the more open streets, and the crowds of University students enjoying a sunny Saturday.

A quick test at home, and we departed to find dinner in our high our hood of Cannaregio, the one neighbourhood we had yet to visit.

All in all, Venice was quite perfect, I wouldn’t hesitate to suggest it to someone but for a few hesitations. The crowds weee extreme. We were there on a Saturday, which surely wouldn’t have helped; but moving around San Marco was quite a feat in patience and persistence.

I also noticed a significant shortage of green space. Parks were fenced and locked, grass was non-existent and I could count on one hand the number of trees we saw over the course of a day’s travel. Aside from this, I could also see myself spending a significant amount of time in Venice, enjoying the walking and boating, and watching people of all cultures, sizes, shapes and ages move through. I also find, for my crippling inability to absorb new languages, Italian seems to flow quite easily through my brain and off my tongue. At least I think so, but those listening to me may cringe.

As I write, we are in the first leg of our journey to Bomarzo, a town of 500 in the Orte region. This train has been timely, and our Vacation Rental host has said they will pick us up at the Attigliano-Bomarzo station, about 7km away from Bomarzo. It’ll be nice to be away from the crowds, and back in greener spaces, but let’s see what happens next!