05/01/2022: Train to Naples

Well, both the weather gods and the travel gods were with us this morning. The forecast had been for rain early today, which wouldn’t have been much fun waiting for the shuttle bus to the train station or standing on the platform waiting for the train. But it was a fair morning with no rain. We were sad to leave our lovely Airbnb in Corniglia.

Today is a long travel day with a couple train transfers, the first being only 5 minutes between trains. I was pretty nervous about that transfer since the TrenItalia is notoriously late. The good news is that the La Spezia station is small compared to others and we had been there transferring trains on our way to Corniglia, so we knew what to expect. We made that connection okay having to carry the luggage down a flight a stairs. In spite of the short transfer time, I opted to find the elevator to go back up to the platform, which thankfully there was one right where we needed it to be.

Connection made, we traveled first to Pisa, where Christine had a little incident with a slippery floor and luggage that wouldn’t cooperate which fell over and pulled her over onto the floor. Fortunately, no harm came to her or the luggage and we continued on to our next train. From Pisa it was on to Rome and then to Naples. We were on a local train both to Rome and to Naples and stopped at a bazillion little towns along the way. I didn’t mind because I like to see the countryside and to look at the villages as they pass by. We had lovely scenery most of the way. We went along some snow capped mountains in an area where the industry is granite and marble, seeing both huge chunks of granite waiting to be cut and giant slabs of beautiful granite and marble waiting to be trucked off for someone’s kitchen or bath. Then we traversed agricultural areas where grapes are the big crop, but lots of vegetables were growing in the fields.

The big cities, like Milan, Rome, and Naples have enormous train stations. Roma Termini has about 26 platforms, some seem a mile away from the terminal building. And a word of caution. If you need a bathroom, be prepared to pay a Euro to enter, and you need a Euro coin. Almost everywhere we have been, it costs a Euro to use a public bathroom. And it’s always interesting trying to figure out how to use the fixtures, like how to latch doors, turn on faucets, know how to get paper towels out of machines, etc.

The train from Rome to Naples was very crowded, our first time in a crowded train. But everything was going okay until the travel gods knocked off for the night. We were due in to the Naples station at 7:35, but 15 minutes before arrival the train came to a halt. I didn’t think much of it at first as I figured there was a timing issue with trains going in and out of the station. Ten minutes later we were still sitting. And then it got pretty chaotic. There was a dreadful noise coming from the train, kind of like the cranking of a car battery trying to start. Then the train engineer came hurriedly down the aisle and looked in a compartment a bit behind us. He then rushed back up the aisle to the engine car. Then he came hurriedly down the aisle, this time with a phone pressed to his ear and he was having a very animated conversation with someone. A conductor came along and was telling everyone there was a problem that was being worked on. A group of young men sitting in the upper section of the compartment behind us, and right over the compartment the engineer kept looking in, got into the act with comments and suggestions and sounds of frustration. A young man sitting across from us had very good English and so he conversed with us about his thoughts on train travel and what might be going on. The engineer ran up and down the aisle probably 20 times, often shouting into the phone. We felt sorry for him because he was clearly doing his best and he looked so frazzled. Other passengers in our car were getting antsy, and some found the whole thing hilarious and were laughing hysterically every time the engineer came racing down the aisle. Meanwhile, it had gotten dark and there we were sitting out on a track 15 minutes from the station. We thought maybe they would bring an empty train to us and we would have to get on to another train, but that seemed terribly dangerous as there were trains going into and coming out of the station so having people out on the tracks seemed crazy. Eventually, the train regained some connection to the power source (most of the trains are electric) and we inched our way into the station about 2 hours after we were supposed to arrive. I think the engineer stopped the train just within a couple of feet past the last and longest platform in the station so we walked what seemed like a mile to the terminal building.

Then it was out into wild, crazy Naples. We had picked a hotel within walking distance of the train station, only about 5 minutes away. It took some time to get our bearings in relation to the map we had, but thanks to a Burger King as a landmark, we went down the correct street toward our hotel. It was quite overwhelming and a bit scary. Hawkers and groups of young men were all over the place. Apparently, Piazza Garabaldi in front of the train station is the where lots of immigrants congregate and we had to walk through the crowd dragging our suitcases and carrying our backpacks. In about 5 blocks we took a right down a rather dark alleyway and thankfully saw a sign Hotel Bella Napoli. Yeah!

So, exhausted, we finally arrived at our hotel in Naples after more than 12 hours traveling and collapsed into bed very soon thereafter. We were relieved to be safe and sound.,

3 thoughts on “05/01/2022: Train to Naples”

  1. Brava ! O dolce Napoli (verse 2, Santa Lucía)…Sounds like you had a true Italiano experience…and. Oh yes, I remember the crowd trying to make a few lira (back then) at the Termini. But also, the fascinating cobble streets, laundry strung across, the lovely waterfront near L’uovo, and helpful people,like your train-mate, here and there. By now, you’ve likely seen much more including Pompei. I missed Ischia, opting for Capri. Looking forward to your next report. wm

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