Our agenda for that day was to go to Pisa in the morning and then back to Florence to catch a train to Venice. Boy.......what an incredibly long day it became.
The journey to Pisa was uneventful enough, and upon arriving, we decided to walk from the train station. To save a few Euros, I think this was the First and Worst mistake/decision we made! Due to our slow stroll (took us about 20 mins), by the time we arrived at the Leaning Tower, we realised we had only 1 hour to spare before we had to catch our returning train to Florence.
So we cancelled our guided trip up inside the tower and just hung around outside with everyone else, and snapped some photos.
Then, to our horror, it started to rain. Of course we weren't carrying umbrellas! Luckily it was only for a short few minutes. Started our jaunt back to the train station and made it onto the platform just in time! I seriously believe I have never walked this fast in my life. Reflecting back, I'm actually quite proud of myself! Heh.
Back at the Florence train station, we collected our really-heavy!!!! luggage from the luggage counter, bought some snacks and waited for our Venice train to arrive. Came time to board and dragged our really-heavy!!! luggage up the stairs of the train, squeezed past the passengers to get the luggage rack which HAD to be at the other end of the coach from where we boarded, heaved our really-heavy!!! luggages up the rack, went in search of our seats to discover they were being occupied by a family, and after some sign language and broken English (on their part), found out to our (1st) horror THAT WE HAD BOARDED THE WRONG TRAIN!!! This train was headed for Rome.
So we made a mad-dash back to our really-heavy!!! lugagge, dragged them down, and found to our (2nd) horror that THE DOORS HAD CLOSED!!! Looking around frantically, we could not see any attendants around. This is, after all Europe, where everything is automated and labour cost is sky-high.
So, I did the only thing that I could - I punched on the emergency alarm button. And we just stood there waiting 'calmly' for someone to come whilst the rest of the passengers were looking around and wondering what had just happened to trigger the alarm! In retrospect, luckily no one panicked thinking 'terrorist threat!' Hee hee. Well, in true Italian fashion, the attendant only turned up many many minutes later. After explaining to him and showing him our tickets, he pointed out to us that our train is "there", pointing towards the next train.
By the time they got the doors re-opened, (took another few minutes of walkie-talkie communication back and forth), and we lugged our really-heavy!!! luggage our of the train, we were just in time to see our Venetian-bound train pull away.......
I think my colleague was in a near-panic stage by this time, but I was just so tired that I just flopped down on my really-heavy!!! luggage. Well, we managed to board the next train but it wasn't a direct train. It stopped on the mainland and we had to drag our really-heavy!!! luggage down a flight stairs, cross underneath to the other side, up a flight of stairs to board our connecting train. By the time we arrive proper, it was about 8pm and very dark.
The rest of the night is summarised below, but just to bear in mind, all these was done with our really-heavy!!! luggage:-
1. Boarded water taxi which did not go all the way to our intended stop as indicated on the route map due to the 'late' hour, so had to change water taxi halfway;
2. Walked up and down some flights of stairs along the bridge, across San Marco square (rather eerie and creepy in the dark to 2 very cold and hungry strangers), to our little B&B.
3. Climbed up this little tine steep spirally stairs to the reception to be told that our room is in the annexe block "round the corner".
I think it was the BEST BED I have ever slept on that night.......
I deem that day as an 'Adventure'. I mean, if we'd gone with a tour group, I would never have known that I was capable of brisk walking, sign language, lugging heavy items, and best of all, would never have had the experience of activating a train alarm system :-)
As I was falling asleep, I could only think, "Thank God for small favours. I'm so lucky my really-heavy!!! luggage strap did not break..."
Pisa, Italy?
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