I did cross the bridge when I came to it. Found a bed in a hostel the night before I left. A cheap place, another building with no elevator. I think it's called the Blue Planet. A no-frill place. What is good about the place is that it is just beside the Paris-Lyon station. The next morning, I woke up early and slip out of the room while the other guys were still sound asleep. It is time to leave the Eiffel tower behind, time to take a ride.
I arrived at the station with plenty of time to spare. All the shops are not yet open for the day. The trains are parked on their tracks. The staff are getting ready for the day as passengers for the early train trickled in. One Indian guy walked in in a ill-fitting suit. He started asking around for some direction. One of the guy convinced him to move away from the waiting area. And I saw them both walking out of the station. I am not sure if I have grown untrusting of my fellow human being, but it also surprise me how trusting others can be.
About 4 hours after leaving Paris Gare Lyon, I arrived in Zurich for the transit. The connecting train to Milan leaves in less than an hour, so there is no point leaving the station.
There was a market set up within the train station. I found in familiar when I saw it in one of those travellogue program on TV. According that show, the market comes to the station on Wednesday. Well, it WAS a Wednesday. I have this feeling the show was trying to make the market like it was a farmer's market right out in the open, and not just something they shot within the confine of the Zurich station, or RailCity as the Swiss calls it.
The lack of scene with long shot support my suspicion. Maybe the crew decided to fill in 15minutes of airtime food-tasting around the market while waiting for their train. See, I told you I am not very trusting.
Anyway, see those clocks that are ambiquious in these pictures of the station? Them with the thin second hand with a red solid circle. These are the Swiss Rail clock.
The Swiss Railway owns the design.
Apple, the folks that gave you the iMAc, iPad, iPod and iPhone was apparently iGnorant of the fact. Or choose to ignore it. Apple put the Swiss Rail clock on their iOS6 and got into trouble with Swiss Rail. Well, Apple is rich, so they paid off Swiss Rail over this infringement. Apple got it wrong on so many level. Don't they know the greatest folk hero to the Swiss is William Tell? He who shoot apples for target practise?
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| Taken from web. |
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| Taken from web. |
The connecting train to Milan left on time. I thought I would be going all the way to Milan. And will reach it by late afternoon and could then find a connection to Bologna. Well, remember that curse of the catacomb? It was about to strike. Along the way, it looks wet and gloomy. Although it wasn't heavy downpour outside the window, apparently there were heavy rain ahead of us.
Because barely an hour after leaving Zurich, the conductors started going down the train informing the passengers that we need to leave the train and change to buses. The wet weather had caused a stretch of hillside ahead to collapse. The landslide had block the tracks and the tunnel ahead.
I thought the bus would go round the affected railway track over road, and then take us to a station further south to connect to another train heading straight to Milan. I was being too optimistic then.
We got off at Erstfeld and the Swiss railway staff directed us onto the waiting buses.
Looks like we were somewhere in the Swiss mountain. It's apparent it had been raining earlier.
One couple who understood French and German probably heard about where the landslide was from the conductor. They were able to point to the landslide from the bus and actually took some pictures. For me, the bus whizzed pass too fast for me to rubber-neck. That couple looks like they were of retirement age.
After half an hour on the bus, we were dropped off at the Goschenen station. I was sitting on the second last row in the bus. That old couple were on the same row across the aisle. Behind us, on the very last row, were a younger couple with a toddler in tow. As we all got ready to alight, I notice a fat wallet on the last row. By then, the young couple were already ahead of me. I tapped on the shoulder of the guy and ask if the wallet belongs to him. He just took it without a word and then handed it over to the woman. It was the older couple who were more appreciative. The husband (I supposed his English is better than the wife) started thanking me: "Oh, thank you thank you. It's a good thing you return it. He really should thank you." It's weird he should be thanking me for another stranger. I think the act of returning the wallet was what was need to lift the curse of the catacomb.
As I walk over into the station, I saw a Matterhord Gotthard Bahn train slide pass us. I was sure we are in the mountain.
Although Swiss Rail was able get enough bus to move us from Erstfeld to Goschenen, the trains are an entirely different matter. With the landslide, the train schedule was screwed. The beauty about rail travel is that if everything run like clockwork, all you need to do as a passenger is to spend some effort with the timetable and plan out your connection. But when one train in the link fall behind schedule, it affect your entire schedule. It's near impossible for the railway to squeeze another train on the track for you to make up lost time.
The wait at Goschenen wasn't long, slightly longer than what it took for a train technician in flourescent orange overall to hook up a train to the engine.
Well, at least the Swiss rail staff stay around until the train south came along and picked us all up. From then a team of Italian conductors took over. That's when thing started to get confusing.
Will this take me direct to Milano?
No?
So, how many more transit?
Depends? On what?
On whether I am getting off at Milano Centrale or Milano P Garibal?
Milano Centrale? How many transit?
Well, I never got any straight answer. To be fair, I don't think the conductors the timetable in their head.
There were two Japanese guys going to Milano Centrale, they too couldn't get any answer from the conductors.
The old couple from the bus, they were luckier. They got off a few stations south. Even while struggling with his four hugh luggage, the husband still managed to thank me again for returning someone else's wallet. I was wondering, if it was HIS wallet I returned, would he marry off his granddaughter to me?
Chiasso is the border station, I have to get through some immigration formalities before getting into Italy. I got the help of the Swiss rail staff at the station. At last, someone with access to a PC to call up the timetable. Tickets were printed out for me so that I know the trains and stations to get to in order to end up in Milano Centrale. A passenger heading out to Milano was helpful enough to point out the train to take after I crossed over to the Italian side of the platform.
And so, after 6 trains, 1 bus and 5 transits, I was finally in Milano. It's been one heck of a day. I scrapped my plan to head further to Bologna.
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