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Monday, December 20, 2021

Italy ~ All Aboard!

I am almost convinced it was that train ride in August that brought us back to Italy in November.

Milan's train station

That summer taste of Italian train travel from Venice to Milan was what made us want to return for more this fall. To our way of thinking, half the fun of Italian travel is getting to ride their trains!

Rome a mind-blowing number of tracks and trains

Italy was one of the first European countries we visited oh-so-many-years-ago, and our introduction to train travel began in Rome. I recall being overwhelmed by the enormity of the station, the bustle and the number of tracks and trains there.

Our train arriving in Cortona, Italy

On subsequent trips to Italy we've tried to include at least a train trip or two. Trains played prominently in our last, pre-Covid, trip to the Tuscan town of Cortona (yes, the one Frances Mayes put on the tourist map). We took the train both to and from the small village with its equally small train station. There was no confusion about getting the right train there ~ there was only one!

Masks are required in Italian train stations/trains and distancing encouraged

When finally last month we decided to return to Italy, we made train travel key to our 10-day adventure. We began by spending a few days in Bologna then we hopped a train to Verona for an overnight stay. Another train transported us o Venice where we spent the remainder of our time.

That Amazing Italian Train System

Waiting to board the train to Verona

Italy, a country about 3/4th the size of the state of California, has a railway system of 24,227 kilometers, or 15,054 miles. And with high speed trains that can reach 300 kph, or 186 mph, it has come a long way since its first railroad was constructed in 1839. That line between Napoli and Portici was built to connect the Royal Palace of Naples to the seaside. Now rail lines lace the country and trains travel with such frequency that picking a time to travel isn't difficult.

Trenitalia ticket offices

We purchased our Trenitalia tickets at the train stations.. Self-service machines also dispensed tickets but we took what we consider the easier route and used customer service. Staff spoke fluent English so we could ask questions about the options available to us and not guess using the self-service machines..

In what we assumed was an attempt at maintaining distancing, customers waited outside the ticket office until their number (generated by a small machine at the entry) was posted on the sign (to the left in the photo above). It isn't unlike the process used at cheese and meat counters in Greece.

Ticket to Venice for less than 10 euro

The tickets are easily understood. Using our trip to Venice as an example, the ticket showed both our destination and from where we were departing. Estimated times of departure and arrival were also provided. Perhaps the most important thing on the ticket was the type of train and its number. Tracks can change at the last minute so it is important to know which train you are looking for.

The class of travel and the price paid is also printed on the ticket. The QR code, that ubiquitous part of travel, I wrote about in an earlier post, was scanned by the conductor as he made his way through the car.

Second class on this modern train looked like this

We were impressed that certain of the cars were designed with space to park bicycles and included charging ports for electric bikes.

A train car with space for bicycles

Dogs, cats and other small domestic animals are welcome on board Italian trains. For a portion of our journey to Venice we watched this four-footed passenger be assured, kissed and caressed by his human who sat on the floor with him. (His owner muzzled him only when the train started and removed it the minute they stepped off the train.)

Pet-friendly train system

One tricky thing to remember is that the train you are riding might have started long before the station from which you are departing and may be traveling beyond your destination. You need to pay attention to the screens in each car showing the next destination and listen to the announcements made in Italian and English, prior to each stop.

Monitors throughout the car show 'next stop'

This photo of one of several monitors in our car was taken on the train from Bologna to Verona, and shows the train began in Rome and was ending in Bolzano. We were riding just a segment of the trip and needed to be alert to when the train arrived in Verona.

Binario or platform may be outside or inside

The good news is you don't check your bags on Italian trains.

And the bad news is you don't check your bags. So you'd better be able to lift and carry and stow the baggage you have with minimal effort. You may need to hoist the bags up or down when entering the train car while balancing on a narrow step that doesn't quite fill the gap between the platform and the train. (Fellow passengers don't sympathize with those who block their way.)

Train stations, the larger ones, are built like subway stations in the U.S. with trains and tracks at ever increasing depths. The track you want may be many levels below the ground level. Escalators and elevators are easing movement but still there is the occasional need to haul your bags up and down stairways the old-fashioned way, as we've too-often found when the one going the direction we are is not working.

Our travel juices flow when riding trains. . .

Train travel, for us, is a much more relaxed way of traveling. There are no security checkpoints to clear, no emptying pockets and pulling electronics out of hand baggage. You need not arrive hours in advance of departure as you can board the train right up to departure. You don't need to turn off mobile devices and you are free to get up and move around.

Countryside views from the train window can't be beat

Much like airports in Europe, you are required - during this time of Covid - to wear a mask in train stations and while aboard the train unless drinking or eating. You must also show proof of vaccination (our CDC issued cards were accepted) or proof of a negative Covid test.

We'll bring this journey to a close and be back next week with another Italian tale. Until then our wishes for safe and healthy travels. Thanks for being with us today! And welcome to our new subscribers!!

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Saturday, December 11, 2021

Armchair Travels To Far Away Places

It is winter in the slice of the Greek Peloponnese we call home. Sometimes winter here can be as harsh in its wet and windy way as springtime and fall can be gorgeous. After two blustery weeks we've concluded this might be one of those more nasty winters.

Our Village - wind, rain and waves

The rain -- admittedly, badly needed after the summer's drought -- has been making up for lost time. We've had very little of that Mediterranean sun in recent weeks. The wind gusts so strong that they can topple heave planted pots, often knocks out internet when we least expect it. In recent days we've kept the fireplace at the ready in case we lose power, which means we lose heat as well.

Waves are 'Hawaii-sized'

It is the kind of weather that calls out for a warm beverage and an armchair and a journey to somewhere exciting. Thanks to the written word, we've taken some interesting trips of late without setting foot outside the door. Here are some of our destinations and the writers who took us to them:

Greek Islands:

We journeyed back in time and to two Greek islands with books written by Australian writer, Charmaine Clift. Clift and husband, George Johnston, also a writer packed their bags in 1954, leaving post-war London to live and write on a Greek island.

Her first book, Mermaid Singing, tells of their life on the tiny island Kalymnos, known then as the home of sponge divers. Not finding quite the life they were looking for they headed to Hydra and that story is told in her second book, Peel Me a Lotus.

Hydra Island, 2020

They lived for almost a decade on Hydra and were key players in the informal bohemian community of writers and artists there, a group that later included Leonard Cohen.

You need not be an expat to enjoy these tales of life on Greek islands in the mid-20th Century.

Greece:

We headed back in time again reading in this historical novel by another Australian writer, S. C. Karakaltsas, The storyline going back and forth in time links the narrator, an old man, to his childhood and the horrors it held. A Perfect Stone is set in both in modern-day Australia and Greece during the time of its Greek Civil War, 1946 - 49.

Anyone who has dealt with aging parents will appreciate this book as well as those who have an interest in Greek history.

Italy

Yes, we've just returned from Italy and one souvenir I always bring back with me is a book about the place we are visiting, purchased from a real brick-and- mortar store there. Luckily Bologna, our first stop, is home to a university and has as many bookstores as it does coffee shops. It can be fact or fiction.

It was a murder mystery, A Quiet Death in Italy by Tom Benjamin that came home with us this time. It was such a page-turner that I've now ordered another of his books. I was glad all we saw was the beautiful side of Bologna and not the sinister one we found in his novel although when the mist moved in at night and the streets emptied we could understand how he got his inspiration.

Bologna street scene

France

It has been far too long since we've been to France. We were supposed to go there last year but Covid took care of those plans.

So I got my shot of Paris by finally getting around to reading a memoir published in 2005 by a Canadian journalist, Jeremy Mercer, who found himself living at the iconic bookstore, known as Shakespeare & Co. I found Time Was Soft There a somewhat far-fetched memoir, but then again, I wasn't there and truth is often stranger than fiction!

Located near Notre Dame, the bookstore is still popular (you can follow it on social media or order books from it on-line). The most fun would be shopping there. It is located at 37 Rue de la Bucherie.

Middle East

The Middle East serves as the basis of the narrative but this action packed spy thriller has taken us from France, to England, the United States and Spain. Another page turner by Daniel Silva with such detail that sometimes you forget it is only a novel. . .

Desert sands of the Middle East

The clouds are darkening and it could be time to light that fireplace soon. So I'll sign off for this time around. Hope you'll be back for a bit of Italian train travel. . .and thanks for your time today!

And I haven't mentioned it for awhile, but signing up to receive our posts as emails, is a snap with our new distribution service. So if you liked this and want to hear regularly from us, just head to the TravelnWrite home page and fill in your email address!

If you have some time how about telling us where you've armchair traveled to lately? We'd love to see some book recommendations from you!!

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Thursday, December 2, 2021

Italy ~Travel in a QR Code World

Our destination was Italy. It was a trip to a neighboring country, less than two hours away by plane. Yet, it didn't take long to realize that while we knew where we were going, we were definitely traveling in a whole new world: the world of the QR code.

We'd flown from Athens to Bologna, the start of a 10-day trip, on a brisk November day two weeks ago. After unpacking it was time to get to the business of what we had come here for: eating and drinking Italian food and wine.

The Scout, the wine and the QR code menu - Bologna

We were seated at a popular bar in Bologna's historic market district, on which two-inch by two-inch laminated cards with a QR codes served as the menu.

Italian wine - Mama Mia!

Now, I can't tell you how much we love Italian wine and how much we dislike QR codes. If you've followed our adventures for very long you know we call ourselves, 'techno dino's' for good reason. We are dinosaurs in a world of technology that long ago moved beyond our skills and understanding. We are people who - heaven forbid! - often leave their mobile phones at home.

It turns out that QR codes, short for 'quick response' codes, were invented back in the 1990's by a car manufacturer to track the components in car production. In the last year they have become the access point to menus, shopping, travel and are being used by any number of industries. The little black and white graphic squares hold far more information than the 'old' bar code.

No QR codes here - Yay!

Some retail stores place bar codes in windows so shoppers can make purchases without entering the store. Tickets for public transportation sport the little guys. And since the pandemic turned the world upside down, public health agencies on this side of the pond use them in contact tracing efforts -- notifying travelers of possible Covid exposure.

We concede that in this Covid-influenced world, we must credit QR codes for providing a 'contactless' means of conducting business. And as a result, we techno-dino's - out of necessity -- have been forced to learn how to point the camera of a mobile device (aka smart phone) at them to access the information we need.

So many wine bars from which to choose - Bologna

Information like the wines available at this bar we'd chosen in Bologna. So I aimed my Android device's camera at that small Italian square and read:

'No network connection.'

"But, of course!! (Fisica!) as we say in Greece. . .our Greek phone network doesn't work outside the country - so we had no way of accessing the mysteries of the menu in Italy.

Explaining our dilemma to the 30-something waiter, we asked for a menu.

Problem was, he explained, they didn't have a printed menu. With frustration causing greater thirst, The Scout, sought to solve the problem by saying, 'We will have two glasses of wine.'

Well, that was far too simple a solution. There were choices to be had. A menu would be found! Within minutes our young waiter presented us with a phone borrowed from a staff member - and on its screen was the wine menu.

Yay, for the printed menu!

I am happy to report not all trattorias and bars have moved away from the printed menus and that made the trip a whole lot easier! But our experience at the bar highlighted the impact of the QR code when traveling these days in Europe.

Don't leave home without it

One of our many QR codes for travel

'Check in now for your flight' came the email notice from Aegean Airlines, the day before our departure. Following instructions we promptly had two emails in return each with a QR code that needed to be shown at the check-in desk.

Worried that we wouldn't have internet access in the airport (which is a well-reported problem for many travelers, as is the 'dead phone battery') we took both our Greek phones, charged them overnight at the airport hotel and opened each of them before we left the hotel to display a QR ticket code - The Scout on one phone and The Scribe on the other.

As if presenting gifts we placed the two phones showing the QR codes on the check-in counter. (Opening them and having the code displayed really was a gift in our minds.) The ticket agent glanced at them as he asked for our passports and then using the passports typed our names into his computer and said, 'You are going to Bologna?'

With little attention paid to our QR codes, he printed paper boarding passes for us with the baggage claim tickets stuck on the back, just like in the 'good old days'.

Off to Italy - PLF QR code in hand

The European Union rules for travel require completed the EU PLF's (that would be, European Union Passenger Locator Forms) for entry into each country. And each country has a slightly different take on them. Italy required one per passenger, Greece requires one per family. Forms are to be completed on-line prior to travel.

The form is a lengthy document requiring, in some cases, details down to your seat number and the exact hour and minute your flight is scheduled to arrive. Others aren't as detailed. The purpose of each however is to know how to reach you should it be determined you were exposed to Covid.

Immediately after submitting that form. . . .(you guessed it). . . a QR code is sent via email to your mobile device. Our QR for Italy provided a link for downloading as a PDF document to our phone, which could be accessed without internet. We tried several times to download but got no further than the message reading, 'We are experiencing difficulties, try again later.' So, we'd also opened those PLF QR codes before leaving the hotel and left those pages open - as they also had to be shown at check-in..

Rejected for not being 'official' enough. . .

Greece allows travelers to print the PLF but it comes out as only a QR code on the paper with a small letterhead. We had our printed copy rejected by an airline agent who said it didn't have enough proof of being issued by the Greek government. Thankfully we found the PDF on the phone with printed information and QR code - it was accepted.

I should mention that you don't get beyond the check-in desk at the airport without showing that QR code, so it is a step key to travel.

Green Pass -- QR code in hand

United States version of the 'green pass'

The European Union 'green pass', as the Covid vaccination record here is called, is another QR code on a mobile app provided by each EU government. You must show it to travel, for access to tourist attractions like museums, restaurants, bars, to shop in retail stores - nearly every public place you want to go these days.

Those of us vaccinated in the United States, carry a card that has information about our vaccinations on them. While we don't like QR codes it would be so much easier to travel (and to go about daily life for that matter) if we did have them only a phone away.

On several occasions in the last couple weeks I have found myself holding out the cards to a perplexed gate keeper, pointing to the notations of our three shots and saying, 'American, Pfizer, ena, dio, tria,' in Greek and 'American, Pfizer, un, due, tre' in Italian.

Our CDC cards were checked by the airline, train and three of the four hotels in which we stayed. Museums also scrutinized the cards. The cards were accepted by all who reviewed them.

But not once in the 10-day trip were we asked by an Italian bar or restaurant to show our cards. Other customers were being asked to show green passes on their phones. We reasoned that either we looked and sounded like tourists, who wouldn't have been allowed in the country without vaccinations or they didn't want to deal with our cards and matching the names and date of births on them to that information in our passports.

Trains, ferries and buses - QR codes

QR code on train tickets

Train tickets in Italy carry the QR code which is quickly scanned by the conductor as they make their way through the train. We purchased tickets from a ticket counter and received paper tickets, had we done it on line we would have had e-tickets.

The ferries that shuttle people through the canals of Venice also have gone to an optical reading system, no longer time and date stamping the tickets but using electronic coding instead.

Paper tickets sold at the ticket office

We traveled on the airport shuttle bus between the Bologna airport and train station, where electronic readers have also replaced the time/date stamp of the on board validation machines.

While traveling in the techno-world is still a bit of a challenge for us, we can't tell you how nice it was to travel again. There were plenty of tourists and folks out and about but none of the crowds of pre-Covid travel.

We are wondering what your travel experiences in the QR code world have been like? Have any of you been contacted by an airline or government agency using the PLF information after a trip? Shoot us an email or tell us about them in the comments below.

Hope you'll be back next week when we'll have another serving of Italy for you. Thanks, as always, for the time you've spent with us today!

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