PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES
While I had not initially thought about this trip to Gromignan as being my last, this will likely be IT! This specific trip from the outset began to inform me that I had reached the age of no return. No return meaning never traveling again when my arrival at a specific location involves planes, trains and automobiles over more than a four hour time span. While I have endured long travel times throughout my life, this one just seemed so much more excruciating than any previous trip.
PONR & POORLY PLANNED PACKED BOOKS
The first indication that I had reached the point of no return (PONR) was when we finally arrived in Rome (after a direct 10 hour flight from DFW), my ankles were so swollen that I could actually feel my skin yelling at me! This was something I had never experienced on any previous long-haul flight, even the two trips back and forth to Japan. If this had been the only nuisance, I perhaps would have let it pass BUT read on…
As I sat at baggage claim listening to my ankles screaming at me, I wondered if the ten image maker book sets that I had so carefully wrapped would arrive unscathed. Our bags arrived quickly but for whatever reasons the two bags of books lingered somewhere in the ether. I began to have that sinking feeling that the books would never appear. Then just as the last of the bags were dispensed so were the black bags of books. Greatly relieved, Laura and I made our way to the airport exit where we needed to board a shuttle to the main train terminal. Even before we had arrived at the exit it was tragically clear that my plan to transport the two bags of books, weighing almost 50 pounds each, had been poorly conceived. I had bubble wrapped the books into a block and I thought they could be easily perched on top of our large, wheeled suitcases to transport. The books were too heavy and so cumbersome that they insisted on falling off at the most inopportune times.
POORLY PLANNED START!
On top of my miscalculation concerning the books, I had also failed to understand how difficult it would be to travel from Rome to Pisa by train. I had never traveled this route before and I believed that there was a direct train from the Rome airport to Pisa airport. This was completely wrong and I wonder where I got the idea to begin with but once in Rome, we still had hours to travel to reach our final stop of the day in Lucca. Laura was upset that I had it all wrong and, yes, yes, I should have let her rent the car at the Rome airport and driven from there to Lucca but I just hate driving that distance on those crazy Italian roads after a 10 hour flight. We could have also flown to Pisa which is another good way to go but I hate the layover after a long flight and then another plane ride. Too late to change our arrangements we began our arduous journey to Lucca by train. We were too late to take the direct train to Pisa so we had to lug our suitcases, backpacks and the books to Florence, then to the Pisa train station where we found a taxi to the Pisa airport car rental. Struggling along Laura thought it would be a good idea to snap a selfie of us so we could laugh about it later. She is always so cheerful! I am still not laughing (see photos below).
After an excruciating trip with the masses of local travelers jammed into rail cars like sardines, we finally reached Pisa then onto Lucca by car.
NOTE: The train stations and trains in Italy are very poorly planned and/or maintained, especially if you need any type of assistance. In at least two incidence the platform elevators were out-of-order and we were forced to move our luggage and the books up and down long flights of steps. I was unable to lift the suitcases and books so I would wait as poor Laura lugged the heavy loads one at a time up and/or down the steps. Also, once at the rail car there are two steps to board and once you lug all your belongings into the car there is little room to store large suitcases. While I have been to Italy many times, this is the first trip where I REALLY NOTICED that there were steep steps everywhere. I also became acutely aware that, unlike the United States, where handicap accessibility is a given, it is just a passing thought in Italy. This was my second PONR realization. If the steps issue was only at the train stations this might have been easily forgotten and avoided in future travel, but wait, there’s more to come!
Finally Arrived!
By 3:30 PM, after another approximately 6 hours of travel, we arrived in Lucca. The Pisa to Lucca drive was brief but once we entered the city, we still had a trek before us. Laura drop me off at the gates at Santa Maria. I waited with the luggage while Laura parked the car at the community lot. There is usually ample public parking but, on this occasion, there was a large fair in progress which would last the entire time we needed to use Lucca's communal parking area, ARGH! Luckily, we were able to stow the book sets in the car trunk and we only needed to drag our belonging to the AirBNB in Piazza dell'Anfiteatro. The beautifully appointed apartment would have been perfect except for the third PONR moment ... four LONG flights of beautifully worn marble steps leading to the residence that would need to be traversed every time we came and went from the residence. OMG!
Santa Maria Gate
Our fourth-floor walk UP location (boxed in blue)
View of Piazza dell'Anfiteatro at night from our window