7/30/2023: Bound to Happen / Trenitalia Frecciarossa

Rome started with a bing, bang, boom, and a bust. It was our first real travel adversity. For starters, our train was delayed 90 minutes just outside of the train station in Florence because a few folks were walking on the train tracks. It wasn’t just our train that was affected either. All trains arriving or passing through Florence S.M.N station were delayed while the authorities investigated the situation.

Fortunately, this gave us time to eat a nice sandwich and eventually opt to split an aperol spritz. The train station was jam-packed but wasn’t necessarily a mad house. We came to learn that Europeans, or individuals traveling in Europe, tend to have a bit more patience than we’re used to.

We got on the train and we had decent seats. There was plenty of legroom and overhead bin storage, AC, WiFi, and there were outlets. This was key because we didn’t make it far. We traveled about 40 minutes (out of 1.5 hr speed-train journey) before we stopped. We were almost halfway there. For hours there was no news as to why we stopped.

We read our books, watched Ted Lasso, snacked, chatted, and tried not to get too caught up in the delay. We were stoked to go to Rome but we weren’t in a rush. The train car slightly smelled like cigarettes and kids were running up and down the car and occasionally crying, but we had each other and that was enough.

Without news of what was going on, we got a bit antsy. Savvy had the bright idea of “hey, let’s pop open that bottle of champagne in our bag and have a couple drinks!” Why not?

The champagne would taste better over ice so I set off towards the bar-car on my mission. This is where my eyes were opened.

The train car sort of smelled like cigarettes because every entry/exit door in-between train cars was open and full of people. They were sitting down with their feet dangling over the edge or standing on one leg hanging out of the car like Tom Hanks in Polar express smoking cigarettes since they weren’t allowed to completely exit the train!

Not to mention, many of the train cars didn’t have AC! As I traveled from coach 11 to coach 4, each new train car brought in a big waft of new smells and rancid heat. Outside of business/1st class (which we were not) only two cars had working AC!

I got to the bar car which was surprisingly mellow. Again, we were at a 2 plus hour delay in this one spot and the folks who had taken the train starting in Milan had experienced an 1.5 hr delay before we had gotten on the train. A couple tables were stacked high with empty cups. Not like 10 cups, but 50… no one had their voices raised though.

I waited in line to get ice and no one was working the bar. There were a handful of patrons ready to order. The man on my right took matters into his own hands.

He walked behind the bar, nonchalant, yet very confident. He opened a bottle of wine with the bottle opener in his back pocket and looked around for cups. Before 10 seconds had passed, one of the guys at the table with 50+ used cups hopped over and brought a handful of new ones. The man behind the counter started pouring wine and handed out a few glasses until just then the bar attendants returned! They looked at him puzzled. They didn’t shout or get upset. I’m assuming they asked what he was doing (but language barrier) and he just pointed to, what was an empty bar, and all of the patrons waiting to get served.

Aside from finding a patron behind the bar, the bar attendants were absolutely frazzled. They didn’t know how to take orders. They didn’t know how to get their card machine to work. They were out of merely everything and still didn’t know how to properly charge patrons?? One of them was on the phone with “help” basically the entire time. The wildest thing.

After pouring our champagne, we found out that the train had to be retired for ‘technical reasons.’ We had time to finish the bottle before another train pulled up on the adjacent tracks. We onboarded the new train and we’re provided with courtesy gifts for our patience (crackers, a cookie, and water). At this point we were more than 6hrs delayed.

We had to backtrack for the train to turn around. Then, we could continue on to Rome.

We arrived at 9 pm in decent spirits. We were thankful that our train car had AC, working WiFi, and that we had time to grab real food before leaving. And we couldn’t imagine the alternative, especially traveling with little kids or attempting to make a wedding or an important occasion.

The 1.5hr journey took 9. The other train passengers didn’t seem to fuss or complain, ask for the manager, or brut in their seats. Sure it sucked but it wasn’t the end of the world - they seemed to get that.

~ J