All Roads Lead to Rome...Right???

Well yesterday was a blast and a half. In case you believe in the above statement that all roads lead to Rome...you would be somewhat wrong. There are 2 train lines that go to Rome. One along the coast through Pisa, and one on the interior of the country that goes through Florence.

I started out the day with the lofty intentions of going to Pisa for a few hours, just to see if the tower really leans, and then head on to Rome. Got up early to catch my first leg of the trip to Genova at 9AM, where I would change for the train to Rome. Well, the set of tickets I had had me getting into Genova 15 minutes before my train to Pisa. With Italian trains, this is never a good thing. We were 30 minutes late, so I missed the train to Pisa. Got in line...got another ticket. Fine, whatever, two more hours, same route, just instead of 4 hours in Pisa, I had 2. Fine, how long does it really take to prove that it leans, right?

Waiting for the train at 12:52...12:52 comes along and they say the train is sopresso. I had no clue what that meant, and some women were trying to get across a concept, but I had no clue. I thought it meant delayed. It doesn't. It means cancelled. I get back in line...fine, get a ticket for 2:52 to Pisa, take the one later train to Rome (it's the same train line, so I would just be catching the next train coming through)...1:30 comes along...sopresso. Again?! OK, 4th attempt to get where I need to go...getting a little concerned as I would like to get to Rome. Get up to the ticket window, again, and they said...no ticket because we don't know when the train is coming, if it is coming. What. There was an accident. An accident. Yeah, in a place where there are only 2 lines. There are only 2 lines for one of the most major pathways from northern to southern Italy? Two trains collided and both lines are shut down. Oh really... People are getting angry now. Meet Chris (character: Chris, a master's grad student in International Relations, works on the Hill for a senator, is from Miami, has been on a train for 6 hours already coming from Nice) who is ripped about the situation, but we decide that with our powers combined, we could find a way to Rome...even if he had to drive.

Anyway, we are on the platform waiting for the next train, hoping it will come in 2 hours, and I'm just trying to be patient and naively think that the train will come and all will be well. Chris is getting pretty angry and eventually says, "I'm impatient...we are getting on the train to Milan and taking the other route to Rome." Back to Milan? Well, it was my only choice at the moment, and he was going to drag me onto the train, so we seek out a train conductor, ask if that is a viable option, and he says, get on this train to Milan, but get off in Voghera. Voghera...what? Where?

Apparently, they made announcements saying for people on the sopresso train to Rome should go to Voghera and there would be a train waiting for us at Voghera. Fine. But apparently no one told the train in Voghera this and it left before we got there. OK, so now we are stuck in Voghera, Italy. Again, where? Luckily, there were enough Italians screaming at a station officer that we figured this was the group we should join. We approached the angry crowd, having no clue what they were saying, and met Alessandra, who Chris dubbed "Mom" for the night. She spoke fluent English and she said, "Follow me. We will get to Rome." Great. After the train system tells us there is nothing they can do for us, they advise us to get on a train to Milan and go from there... The group, now livid (I have no clue, so I just keep on smiling) gets on the next train to Milan and we arrived at 6PM, 9 hours later than when I left, back in Milano Centrale. OK.

Next hurdle, getting on the train to Rome without reservations. Chris is freaking out because apparently in Spain, he and some other guys were left off in the middle of nowhere for not having the correct reservations with their eurail passes and had to walk over 20 miles they found out to a town. Um, ok. And if this train to Rome goes well, we get in late to Termini, not the best station in the world to walk around. Not good odds, but I thought...just get me to Rome.

The group fights with a train officer in Italian...Chris and I hover near the back and listen to the fighting. It's not looking good, when all of a sudden Mom tells us to just get on the train...they can't kick us all off. Reassuring, Mom. But we get on a train, supposedly to Rome, getting in at a somewhat decent hour...we are happy.

After some really good discussion about state versus nation, the term democracy, and the intricacies of Italian and American politics, along with some chats about children's literature and education, we make it to Rome. Now, the train hasn't stopped for long periods of time or anything, but we are 35 minutes late...now after 11PM at night. (I got to hostel just fine...there were lots of people around.)

But 9AM-11PM trying to get to a city that all roads supposedly lead to...oi vey.