We’re headed to Calabria. Having driven to Southwestern France to visit friends in April, I knew I was not up for another 12ish hour road trip. Although Bergamo has a Ryanair hub with inexpensive flights to a long list of destinations our dog Paolo, at 10 kg, is too large to fly in cabin. So the train it is!
Our journey began at the train station in Bergamo — a very easy train station to navigate. It’s about a 10” walk from our apartment in city center. It’s along the Train Nord rails and travels a regular route between Bergamo and Milan. At a cost of €6,60 (about $7.50 at the current exchange rate), it’s about a 45” ride. Paolo makes himself comfortable! Summer travel is free for domesticated animals. While the rule is to muzzle dogs, I have seldom seen dogs muzzled. I am sure, however, to always have a muzzle handy in case I need it.
Our night train departs Milano Centrale at 20:10 so we have about 2 hours to wait. This was intentional to ensure we arrived on time (trains are notoriously in ritardo — late — in Italy) and unstressed. Shortly after arrival we found ourselves at Bistrot Milano Centrale with drinks aperitivo. Another thing to love about Italy is that dogs are welcome nearly everywhere!
We have a track assignment!! On the train!!
The porter is very friendly, showed us to our cabin. We have a double with a bathroom. Air conditioned — but it is HOT!! They brought us water — naturale as well as frizzante, prosecco, toiletries. We pulled out of the station about 20” late, but moving fast now.
After a semi-restful night, I woke to discover an email informing me that our train is in ritardo — at this point 110 minutes. The same email told me that I was entitled to a 25% refund for trains arriving more than 59 minutes late and a 50% refund for trains at least 120 minutes late!! Included were instructions on how to secure my refund. Would be nice if air travel was this transparent!!
Challenge #1 — navigating the night train with Paolo — complete. It was a long journey, a bit cramped, but we had our own quarters. And best of all — we weren’t driving!!
Challenge #2 — locating the car rental agency which was supposed to be within meters of the station. Fifteen minutes of wandering up and down the street, not a single one of the ten people I asked for directions knew where it was. We ended up catching a taxi — 10€ — to the airport 10” away. Where we found the car rental agency and they were able to pull up my reservation (even though my reservation indicated pickup at the train station!). Note to self — do not reserve a car near the train station in Lamezia Terme! It’s too frustrating after 14+ hours on the train.
AMERICAN IMMIGRANT IN BERGAMO 