Mobile Marble View

Today was a very, very, very long travel day. We departed our Lucca apartment at 10 am with our pannier laden bikes to catch the 10:42 train to Pisa and did not lay our heads down onto our pillows in our Aosta apartment until 10 pm. In between, was non-stop travel: four trains plus one bus. On the Regional Veloce train we crossed the Arno River into Pisa. We had just enough time (20 minutes) to cram our bikes into one elevator down and another up to get to the binario (track) for the Intercity train to Genoa. Fortunately, we had assigned second class seats, but our bikes got to hang in the first class car. Since we were two cars away, we locked the bikes to make sure they were “safe”. En route to Genoa, we passed through Carrara with a view of the infamous white marble quarry that was the source of Michelangelo’s ‘David’. We had only 10 minutes to make our next connection, it is stressful enough to negotiate packed bikes off and on trains and then from one track to another which at best involves two elevator rides, (worst if stairs are only option). The train was late so our 10 minutes dwindled to zero minutes. Yikes! Fortunately our Regional Veloce train to Torino was waiting for us on the adjacent track. We literally rolled our bikes a few feet across the platform and onto the next train. Whew! AND there was actually a bike car and we had it all to ourselves! The extra photo shows our Bike Fridays hanging in the bike car and our panniers up on the rack. But, hey…the day is not over yet! We arrrive to the Torino Terminal station and have about an hour wait for the NEXT train. It is a big train terminal with shops and cafes. It was actually a welcome reprieve to sit for an hour and people-watch. I snacked on pecorino cheese and brown bread, while the pigeons cleaned up my dropped crumbs. The regional train to Ivrea was packed and there was no bike car, nor bike racks. We settled ourselves in the widely spaced handicapped seats, feeling lucky that we snagged them and prayed that no wheelchairs came aboard. I think these seats were vacant because the alarm for emergency SOS button next to the seat was ringing…and kept ringing for the entire hour ride. By the time we reached Ivrea my head ached, my stomach was growling and I was tired. We only had 15 minutes to make the next connection which would take us to our final destination, Aosta. The Ivrea-Aosta train is temporarily out of service for track repairs, so we had to catch the bus “substitute” instead. There were absolutely no signs indicating where to catch the bus. We went to the wrong place and of course, missed the bus. That was just as well, considering we also had to fold up and bag our bikes to stash them on the bus. It takes me at least 15 minutes to do that alone! After a brief period of panic, a bus from Aosta arrived and the driver assured us that another bus will be heading back within the hour. It did, we boarded the bus and rode up into the mountains and off into the sunset. It was dark when we arrived and had to assemble our bikes under a street lamp. The apartment was a short walk/ride across the piazza. Restaurants were closing, but a late night bar near our place was open. Dinner was a well-deserved/needed gin & tonic, negroni and a shared small bar “pizza”.