The next train was something out of an old western movie. The seating area was dirty and cramped. There were no seats where we could all sit together. A kind man did offer to move in order to give the girls a chance to sit together as I sat a couple of rows away. I was weary and watched everyone closely. Our passports and money I kept secure on my body. Directly across from me was a young man approximately eighteen to twenty years old. He had a backpack that he put down on the floor between his feet when he sat down.
It tipped over and about six passports spilled out much to my amazement! He hurriedly scrambled to get them contained back in the backpack. After I saw
that I got up and moved to stand in the isle next to the girls. No telling what could happen next. I managed to report him to the conductor when he made his way through the car but the guy had moved by then to an area I did not see him go to.
I sure was glad to get off the train in Naples. That city was even more of
a chaotic scene than Rome. Jimmy managed to find us in the crowd and we hailed
a cab straight to the waterfront to catch the hydrofoil boat for the ride to Capri which sits off the coast.
Capri was beautiful. From the port we took a vintage taxi up the steep winding road. The hotel sat at the edge of the cliff. There was a large veranda off the main lobby that overlooked the Bay of Naples. There were large carved statues that lined the edge of the
tiled terrace. It was breathtaking! From that vantage point Naples looked like a beautiful metropolis. The isle of Capri was like a postcard. Bright pink bougainvillea grew and cascaded over walls and archways. Wine was served with lunch and dinner.
The water in the Blue Grotto glowed almost fluorescent as we ducked down in the small rowboat to enter the cavern. Sunlight reflected into the cave and through the water and magically the area transformed into a pool of water like in a fairy tale.
Four days of fun together made all of it worthwhile.
The trip back mimicked the arrival. The cab driver went on a mad dash through the morning rush hour traffic to get us to the train station. I held my breath and closed my eyes to keep from screaming that we might have a wreck! Quickly I had to read the lit up board for our designated train and track. By the time I figured it out and we got onboard we literally had to smash ourselves into the vestibule with a lot of people. It was hot and stuffy and
claustrophobic. It took forty five minutes to make our way out and into a first class compartment that was seven cars from where we had entered the train. That was an exhausting ordeal! The conductor took his time checking boarding tickets.
There was a student from Sweden already seated but it was clean and the only one available that had room for all of us.
That guy was very nice and spoke excellent English. He helped pass the time by playing cards with us.
By the time we got to Bologna the temperature had risen dramatically.
The train pulled into the station at the furthest track from the station and we must have walked a half a mile or more. I took off my belt and wrapped it around the handle of the old suitcase in order to allow it to slide along the tiled walkway behind me.
By the time we got to the station to get something to eat we only had a few minutes before having to get aboard the next train back to Munich. Once we
got onboard, I hoisted the suitcase up to the rack with Lauren helping. All of a sudden she let go and the suitcase came down. She had put her hands in dog doo that had smeared on
the suitcase from it bring dragged! I had baby wipes and Lysol spray that helped clean it up. Lauren went to the small bathroom to go wash and someone had been sick in there. It was horrible but we managed to get her cleaned. Then we had to move because of the
smell and the air conditioning was not working.
By the time it was nightfall we were traveling through the mountains. It was getting pretty cold. I tried to get the sweatshirts out of the suitcase and the zipper broke! We were also
going through several tunnels and the lights would go out. The suitcase was stuffed and I eventually got it closed enough to keep things contained.
We arrived back in Munich at two am tired and weary. Much to my relief, there was a hotel directly across the street and we got a room. We slept as though we were comatose!
The next morning I locked the girls in the room and went across the square to the bank and then to the department store and bought the largest suitcase with wheels I could find!
It was bright pink but I did not care! Good riddance to that old stinky broken one!
Arriving back in the USA was a huge relief even though we landed during an awful thunderstorm and had missed our flight. I could have kissed the ground!
We spent the night in NY and realized we had left our toothbrushes behind. Baking
soda on a wet finger works pretty good in a pinch!
I'm not saying I'll never take another train trip in Europe but I'll certainly be wiser for the experience I had on that one!
Cathy Windham
3/22/13
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