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Interrail

June 2023
Italy, Switzerland and France Read more
  • 22footprints
  • 5countries
  • 14days
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  • 3.2kkilometers
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  • 859kilometers
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  • Interrail
    Day 1

    Lockerbie train station

    June 5, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    First train changed to 9.10am as the transpennine express at 10.10 was cancelled.

    First chance to use our first class interrail pass and it went well. Smooth trip to Manchester Airport if not the most luxurious train we went on.

    Michelle had started a yesterday and after her train to Lockerbie was cancelled and the replacement bus was AWOL, she got a taxi to Lockerbie train station.

    We were full of excitement and looking forward to a coupe of weeks away together    Read more

  • Interrail
    Day 1

    Manchester airport

    June 5, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Arrived in Manchester airport train station…..after a short …well very long walk through the airport to find the check in desks. First chance for all of us to experience the weight of our bags..and of course the official weigh in to see who had packed light…..and who was taking their entire wardrobe on the check in scales.

    Official results
    Michelle 10kg
    Adia 8kg
    Andrew 7.7kg
    Jacqueline 7.3kg

    This was hardly mentioned throughout the remainder of the trip and Jacqueline never had a bag this light for the next two weeks!!!! Bear in mind Jacqueline packed both Andrews and hers!!!

    Because we had to get the earlier train the wait was longer than expected so once through, the rather rude checking in of bags person and through the security checks (which Andrew really didn’t like and felt a bit stressed at) it was a seat on some benches and some KFC and Andrews first hypo of the week. Luckily Michelle had brought Andrew a stack of sweeties for the trip.

    Michelle and Adia bought duty free, which with hindsight was a smart move.

    Buckled in to a plane for Verona it was a slightly unreal feeling as we were delayed in the ground for 40 mins.    Read more

  • Interrail
    Day 1

    Verona

    June 5, 2023 in Italy

    Arrived in Verona airport and were pretty much last through security….in Italy for the first time for most of us and we ended up in a taxi which was really easy to find. After an extremely fast taxi ride…..taxi driver was clearly on a day off from Monza!!!!! We were dropped off at the offices of our first accommodation of the two weeks.

    Unfortunately the office was closed, there was nobody about and despite ringing the bell and intercom we were ignored…….after the travel and the tiredness it was getting a bit concerning after five mins of checking we were in correct area. Michelle however saved the day by checking in the letterbox, where a letter addressed to Jacqueline had been left….panic over……all we had to do now was to find the apartment !!!!! A short five minute walk turned into a 10/15 minute walk with packs on through the streets of Verona…but Jacqueline was a star and found the apartment and as we walked into out first two bedroomed apartment, our home for the next four nights, we were very happy to have travelled for 13 hours and the apartment was clean, spacious and most importantly….air conditioned,

    We then decided to get pizza for our first meal and the little pizzeria down the road was superb and with our basic Italian we managed to get some pizzas and some starters.

    Pizzas were great and we went to bed happy that day 1 of our adventure was complete    Read more

  • Interrail
    Day 2

    Verona day 2

    June 6, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Up early and went out for our first Italian breakfast in Verona. A small coffee bar where we nervously ordered coffee, hot chocolate, teas and chocolate pastries. This was the first time we realised that Adia had learned a few words of Italian and she was immediately promoted to chief interpreter.

    It was a warm day and Michelle and Jacqueline had booked themselves onto a walking tour. Subsequently, it turned up that they didn’t find the walking tour guide and wandered about themselves, found some key points of interest and then got a bit lost too. But with hindsight it was a helpful event.

    Andrew and Adia on the other hand decided to chill and had a short wander about the nearest park, looking at lizards and just watching the world go by, they found a small supermarket and bought some supplies. They tried their first ice cream (mango) of the trip….but not their last and had a good day.

    An trip to the train station so we knew where it was happened in the afternoon and the best dad joke of the holiday when we spotted the Verona city flag looked like the Swedish flag and Adia asked why there were so many Swedish flags about…..because their not Finnish(ed) was the retort. A joke that enabled Adia smiles in every subsequent photo.

    Adia and her dad waited on Jacqueline and Michelle to come back to apartment in the cafe close by.

    Later that evening we went out to dinner at nice bistro where Michelle had her best dish of the holiday with a knuckle of slow cooked beef. Jacqueline tried some wine and got a little bit tipsy. Back home to apartment where we chatted around the kitchen table and drank vodka    Read more

  • Interrail
    Day 2

    A day in Verona - a walking tour not!!!

    June 6, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    It became clear that team disabled wouldn’t make the walking tour. So Michelle and Jacqueline went on a little stroll 🤨. We went to the Verona Arena as well with the assistance of a lovely Italian lass we found Juliette’s house.Read more

  • Interrail
    Day 3

    Verona day 3 morning

    June 7, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Got up early again, on what was the hottest day of our trip for more sightseeing around Verona. Breakfast at the cafe below our apartment provided the first laugh of the day when Jacqueline called from the ladies toilet to say that the door was stuck and she was locked inside. Michelle went to help and discovered that the door pushed open instead of pull….lesson for future trips learn the local language for things that say “push” and “pull”.

    We went to visit Verona’s coliseum after purchasing the Verona pass which allowed access to a lot of Veronas attraction. The coliseum was getting ready for the annual open air operas which took place two weeks after we had departed the city. But we climbed to the top of the building…..some found it easier than others. The two disabled folks managed fairly easy but the shorter travellers found it a little more challenging.

    As the day got hotter we went around the shopping area and into the market place. From their we went to visit “Juliet’s house” were we avoided the cheesy option of queuing up to rub Juliet’s “breast” which seemed to be what every tourist wanted to do. Instead we bought a heart shaped padlock where we wrote a message to our family members that had recently passed away and locked it to an area in the courtyard. There will be forever a part of us in Verona now. The Verona pass got us access to the house and we toured that with Andrew kissing Jacqueline on the famous balcony,…..just to prove we could be as cheesy as the tourists queuing up to grope Juliet’s statue!!!!

    We then went back to the market square for lunch at one of the many restaurants    Read more

  • Interrail
    Day 3

    Verona day 3 afternoon

    June 7, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Afternoon saw us wander around Verona city centre. We visited the church of Anastasia, which was one of the nicer chapels we visited on our trip. We then made our way back to the apartment and chilled.

    Later that night we all walked back into the centre of the city to visit Hosteria 17 for evening meal, which was a lovely evening, which we all enjoyed.

    Back at the apartment more stories and late night stories drinking wine and vodka was had. By this time Adia’s Italian had really improved and this was a focus of our evening.    Read more

  • Interrail
    Day 4

    Day 4 Verona final day

    June 8, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    The final day we walked into the city centre and towards the river where we had breakfast outside at a cafe. Adia quite confidently ordering for all of us as usual by now. We then took a visit to the Zoological museum which was much bigger than we imagined and was enjoyable.

    In the afternoon following a picnic lunch in the park, we headed to Verona museum.

    It was baking hot and Andrew and Adia (aka Team Disabled) were struggling in the heat and after another walk to Verona museum, Team Disabled split up from Team Walking Tour and Adia and Andrew went back to the apartment via a gelato shop and we chilled in cafe below the apartment and enjoyed the air conditioning.

    In the evening, following take away pizza for our meal, we packed our rucksacks and made ourselves ready for our next train journey to Bellano via Milano. We enjoyed Verona immensely and it was a great success in our adventure    Read more

  • Interrail
    Day 5

    Verona to Bellano on lake Como

    June 9, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    After loading up our rucksacks and making sure that Jacqueline didn’t have the lightest rucksack after day 1…we undertook the short 5 minute walk to Verona train station, where we had bought tickets for our trip to Bellano. But we were going to spend a few hours in Milano. We managed the trains easily and got the correct train to Milano. Andrew was moaning because he was under the impression that the Doumo was a shopping centre and a very expensive one at that. Meanwhile his travel companions were happy to let him think this!!

    On arrival at Milano Centrale (which was built in a tribute to Mussolini) we dumped our bags at the luggage centre paying a small fortune for the privilege….we hadn’t discovered nanny bags at this point…..we managed to find the underground system and bought tickets to the Doumo a few stops later with Andrew expecting a shopping centre- we came up the escalator to the wonderful sight of Milan cathedral and with an audible “wow!” From Andrew - everyone else had a wee laugh. One of those moments that will live with us forever. The cathedral itself was awesome even for the atheists among our group. With Team Disabled getting priority entry - it was a really pleasant morning.

    Lunch was at a ramen bar not too far away, and was excellent. Lots of tourists and perhaps a pickpocket paradise it was a bit intimidating at times. We got entry to the cathedral museum too, but the collection was vast and I think we had perhaps had a bit much religious symbolism at this point to fully appreciate the works of art on offer…and with a further train trip and a replacement bus to negotiate….thoughts turned to how we were going to get to Lake Como.

    We moved back to Milano Centrale and after waiting for an age on the most uncomfortable seating ever…..we boarded a very crowded train to Lecco (replacement bus would take us the rest of the way)….the train was stuffy and unbearable hot and with a Dutch lad setting with his legs wide open directly opposite Michelle it was great when left Milano some 35 mins late.    Read more

  • Interrail
    Day 5

    Day 5 arrival in Bellano

    June 9, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    When we arrived in Lecco and a scene resembling the Normandy beach landings played out in front of us, with the hundreds of passengers from the train descended on a car park full of taxis, buses and cars. With none of the buses having destinations on them, but with Trenitalia staff standing near them it was time for the big lad in the group to take control. Andrew started muscling his way through to speak with the staff….ultimately it was fairly easy to get the right bus…and having triple checked we were all on the right bus, we relaxed into the wonderfully air conditioned bus for the 60 mins trip to Bellano.

    The trip was pleasant- the hairpins down the Bellano on the shores of Lake Como were “interesting”. We arrived and made our way along the streets of Bellano to meet our host coming to meet us, this was wonderful and after he showed us the Casa Rosa we relaxed into this apartment. It was older in style to the Verona apartment…but was comfortable, but not air conditioned.

    Pizza for a late supper (which was ok but not as good as Verona pizza) and we went to bed after a busy day.    Read more

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