Trainin’

And today was a Train day. Up at 4:30 because of the sheer anticipation? No, because the electric gate attached to the apartment groaned and screeched open and closed several times…why at this hour of the am? At 9 am, we stuffed our 8 bags into the taxi that would transport us to the train station. Yes, 8 bags: 2 bike cases, 2 travel backpacks, 2 panniers disguised as carry-on bags and 2 personal bags that doubled as handlebar bag/bike pack. A taxi with lots of room was needed. The 11:07 Frecciarossa high speed direct express train got us into Roma Termini station in just 2 hours! The blip photo was taken while I was sitting with our mountain of luggage while Mike researched the best way to get ourselves to the hotel at Fiumicino airport. To avoid taking two regional trains, we decided to take the Leonardo Express to the airport (no stops) and then back track on a regional train to the first stop (essentially no stops) to our hotel. Moving the mountain of luggage is slow and cumbersome. How do we do it? The luggage back pack is, well, strapped onto our backs. The personal bag is slung across one shoulder and the pannier is set on top of the wheeled bike case, which is pushed or pulled along. The train stations are several stories deep, which means moving from one level to the next. Elevators are a godsend. Escalators are treachorous. I had to go down TWO escalators and I swear I was going to take out the people on the lower steps. Each time I misjudged the wheels on the step, so the bike case and luggage mountain was teetered hanging half off the stair. Fortunately I managed to not let it fall and avoided a Chaplinesque scene of a snowball of people tumbling down the escalator. Oh and we got to the hotel (which is literally at the train stop) we were on the wrong side of the tracks. Aaack! Both elevators were out of order (permanently it seems) and there were no escalators (fine with me)…which meant we had to climb 4 staircases up on to the pedestrian overpass and 4 staircases down to the hotel. Step by step, inch by inch, slowly I move…