T minus 10 days and counting -- trains and automobiles

Good morning, America, how are you
Don't you know me, I'm your native son
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done

City of New Orleans by Steve Goodman (1970)

(Admit it, you sang along didn’t  you?)

America has a nostalgic association with railroads but that is about all. From personal experience,  America could take lessons from Europe where public rail transportation is plentiful, regular, and reasonable. 

Universal advice from those who have traveled to Italy and France is “do not drive, take the train!” This OKAY with me since I really like to see where I travel and would rather pay attention to the passing scenery than the oncoming traffic.  I have taken train rides for vacation. Once traveled from Los Angeles to Portland on the Coast Starlight, a great trip along the California and Oregon coasts.  Delayed twice for freight trains that had priority and once for a broken switch or gate or something.   A scheduled 30 hour trip took about 40 as I recall.

Directed to the two main rail systems in Italy by a daughter who lives in Milan, Italy, I was able to arrange our travels not only through Italy but into Switzerland, France and England as well.  The websites for both have English versions that make the process easy.  Interesting that both Amtrak and Italian rain sites have the ability to display in four languages, English, French, German, and Spanish; both Italian sites also display in Italian, no surprise.  The booking process is just three online screens; identify the dates and where you want to leave and end, select the time you want to leave each, pay for the trip. The two major trains in Italy sometimes depart and arrive at different stations.  A city the size of Milan, Italy, about 1.4 million people,  has two main train stations; for comparison, Phoenix, Arizona, a city of about 1.4 million, does not even have a train station.  We have a way to go for parity in this area it seems.

One final note about the train web sites; if you decide to change your mind before completing the booking, the sites are not very forgiving.  Changing your mind or attempting to make any change is like drawing the “Advance to GO” card in Monopoly, you do get to start over again but without the $200, and any prior information, like names, etc., erased.   Calling to change a trip, required for out of country payments, put me in touch with a very courteous, but officious, customer service agent who quickly changed the information and sent me a confirming email. Impressive! Beginning this transaction I did get to practice my limited Italian; mi scusi Parli inglese? Io non parlo italiano.  To which the first agent responded in perfect english, “let me connect  you with our English speaking department.”  I am looking forward to meeting a proprietario panettiere to order rotolo dolce e caffè per favore.  I Wonder what I’ll get?

Our Italian train adventures include trips from Milan to Rome, Florence, and Venice.  Our travels will include trains into the Swiss Alps to Zurich and then a high-speed train from there to Paris.  One highlight will be our trip from Paris to London through the “Chunnel”  the tube tunnel running between France and England.  There was a brief discussion about the option of taking a ferry  across the English Channel, but the allure of the Eurostar won out.  I think we said it would take too much time—now that really sounds crazy after deciding to extend our original one week trip into an eight week “great adventure”!  I guess you can take the ’Type A’ person out but your can never get the ‘Type A’ out of them.   The white rabbit in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland strangely comes to mind, never mind I need to finish this.

One caution about booking, or buying, anything in a foreign country.  Check your credit card to see if a “foreign transaction” fee is charged.  This charge has nothing to do with the vagaries of currency exchange but is just a charge for doing business in a foreign country.  For one of my cards, the charge is 3%.  This applies regardless of whether the card is paid in full each month, or not.  I guess the extra computing effort to change from $US to Euros is expensive, reminds me of the “taxes and carrier imposed fees” at the airlines.  Not all credit cards charge this fee so check ahead and save some money for that extra glass of wine or scoop of gelato.

One other note on credit card use.  Immediately converting the  charge showing in Euros on your receipt may not be the exact amount you will get charged.  Charge card companies do not necessarily make the conversion exactly at the transaction and so the fluctuations in the “official” currency exchange rate can affect the amount paid.  Over the past five years the Dollar to Euro conversion has varied from a low around one dollar equaling about 0.68 Euros to a high where one dollar equaled about 0.83 Euros.  While the conversion rate has not been wildly changing a delay of one or two days can amount to +\- amount of 1 or 2%, there goes the gelato.  Oh yeah, credit card conversion is the least expensive.  Money exchanges are in the business of buying and selling currencies and so they charge a bit over the official rate to  make their profit.  

A moment of blogging truth.  Recall I mentioned that  we were warned not to drive?  Well, in our planning we have decided to take the time (Be still my anxious ‘type a’ friend)  to explore the south of France after visiting with our friend near Bordeaux and so we will  fly in the face of experienced advice. We have reserved a car for a week’s touring around the vineyards and small towns in France.  I called our insurance broker and learned that American insurance is not valid in Europe.  The insurance and coverage purchased through the rental company exceeds the cost of the rental.  I have convinced myself it will be worth the peace of mind and simplicity; I will not let it affect the amount, or quality, of food, gelato, and wine consumed.  Details will be provided.

Our plans are complete.  The great adventure awaits its birth on April 23 with our train trip to Dulles Airport.   Check back for updates as this unfolds.  Until then arrivederci and Ciao!