Travel by Train

Milano Centrale

We set out from Milan yesterday morning for Cinque Terre. The hotel was just a 5-minute walk to Milano Centrale. The station is an architectural wonder and I was looking forward to seeing the interior. Its construction started in 1864 but expansions continued into the 1930s as railway connections opened up to Germany and Switzerland making Milan the railway hub in northern Italy. The station owes its grandeur to Mussolini who wanted it to reflect the enormity of his fascist ambition. 

This is the first family holiday travelling by intercity trains. For long holidays, we have always preferred the self-drive option. However, it would not be feasible to drive in Cinque Terre, Florence, Rome and certainly not in Venice. I also thought it would be a fun experience for the younger kids. For this travel arrangement to work, we had to minimise the number of luggage bags. Trying to handle 3 or more luggage bags and 2 younger children in busy train stations would just make us easy targets for pick-pockets. So on this trip, we only have 1 luggage bag, and 3 rugsacks for thick winter clothes. I also chose accommodation that are, by the kids' definition, walking distance to the stations. So far so good.

Our train ride from Milan to Monterroso al Mare took 3 hours. My eldest son occupied himself with an ebook but the younger kids got restless pretty quickly because there was no onboard entertainment. They had some snacks, slept a bit, and woke up to find out how much longer it would take. I, on the other hand, found it quite a nice change not having to drive. It was also nice to see the the changing landscape as we travelled south west to Genoa and then down the coast to Cinque Terre.

People passing by, and people speaking in different languages, intermittent opening and closing of the coach doors, the public announcements in Italian and English - all of this reminded me of interrailing in Europe when I was an undergraduate. I remember that travelling around Europe was the first thing that came to my mind when I found out that I had received a scholarship to study in the UK. Talk about getting my priorities right. I remember picking Rome and Venice for the Italian leg of the trip and completely missed out on so many other great places. I have expanded my repertoire ever so slightly on this trip.

Travelling by train in Italy with young kids seems manageable. I hope it will grow on them during the rest of the trip. They are already planning to get more snacks for the train ride to Florence. I hope that the trains calling at different towns and cities with strange and interesting names will leave them with a sense of nostalgia when they are grown up. I hope that it will be a topic of conversation that will warm their hearts in their adulthood. I hope they will describe it to their kids with fondness when they too decide to go on a train adventure.