Expect the unexpected and you will never be caught off guard. We've only put 15km on our bikes but enough action went down yesterday to fill an entire trip!
Our first mistake was to trust the French. Traveling by train is normally a pleasant experience but for those of you (most I would presume) who have never traveled through 4 countries in 24 hours with 2 bikes, you may be less familiar with the challenges that can ensue. We did our utmost to reserve the relevant bike spaces on all legs of our journey and expected a challenge in Milano but were surprised when it became apparent we may not make it past Geneva.
We left Paris on Saturday morning under the assumption that our tickets to Milano via Geneva included our bikes on both sets of reservations. Needless to say we arrived in Geneva only to discover the error on the part of the issuer and a claim all the bike spaces were full hence we would be traveling no further. This resulted in what I would rate an Academy Award winning performance by yours truly complete with tears and desperation. When even this looked like it may fail, the Senior Sutra, stepped in, pulling the Canadian card and brazenly challenging the conductor to leave us on the platform.
At this stage I was fairly sure we were going to be ejected from the station and the country. Derek however was less concerned, perhaps because he was not unfamiliar with these types of run-ins with local authorities. In 1983 he faced a similar ticket issue on a bus in Como, whereby only 2 tickets were purchased for 3 passengers. The ticket agent took no mercy and called in the italian police who seized my father's and his father's passports. The 3rd passenger managed a quick escape whilst the other two were escorted to the local police station and then transferred to la questura (for lack of a better word holding cell) for further questioning. They were eventually released only to find their 3rd companion plastered in the hotel bar believing they would never be seen again. Long and short of it - Derek was prepared for a repeat!
Surprisingly we did get on the train, quickly had a glass of Cahors to calm our nerves and managed to get to Milano. It ended up being 4 French teenagers not us who faced a run in with the law - la guardia di finanzia boarded the train at the Italian border and ejected them instead of us (pictures below). Safe from the authorities at least, but less than confident that a train to Bari would be on the cards. 5 trains, 15 hours, and 100km short of our destination was what was on offer when we arrived at the ticket gate so we have opted instead to drive 900km with our bikes in the back of a van - hopefully less drama but we are prepared for chaos!
At the end of every struggle however there is more often than not a fabulous reward and this was found unsurprisingly in a fabulous meal at an unsuspecting osteria on via degli scipioni. La Terza Carbonaia was as good as my father remembered it was 20 years ago and the photos below do not do the place justice. The owner was a star and I'd move to Milano if only to make this my local.
We always get there in the end.
