Midnight Train – going first class
At 10 pm, everything closes down at the train station in Venice. We had our tickets, parked ourselves by the hugh schedule tote board watching for our destination and platform to flip up. With each flutter of the changing destinations I was all eyes, Jene sat with his closed, opening them when I would query as to when our platform would be revealed. Jene has a philosophy (I envy…) everything will be fine, it will all work out in the end. With this in mind, I still can’t relax. All other destinations are flipping over on the board and it’s growing closer to our departure time. The informazioni stations are devoid of human life and sightings of men in green A’Italia uniforms are rare. The nervous nellie in me is surfacing and at 11:30 I am dashing here and there looking for someone of authority. Jene sits in amusement, watching as I zip near and far. (Now if I stopped walking as I clicked the shutter, the images would be in focus but this shows my motion and conveys what I saw – a blur)
At 11:45 as I rush back to our bench – the clicking of the board, brings a knowing smirk to Jene’s face. Track 3 -we head to the far end of the station to board.
Bumping our luggage down the narrow hall we found our berth.
We had 1st class accommodations. How cool is that. I rarely traveled by train anywhere let alone in a sleeper car. I took the lower bunk and Jene climbed above. Stimulated by the excitement of a first time experience, I watched out the window as the dark scenery sped by. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the the soft purr of Jene’s breathing. Up before dawn (not that I slept), I heard the conductor draw closer to our car, announcing the ETA and knocking on our door with tray of cafe, pane e formaggio. (LOVE the coffee in Italy)
Gathered our belongings, freshened up and had the conductor write down what bus to take to the seaport. It was mid morning in October but the temp was close to 80 degrees already. Next was a ferry to Ischia, (an island not far from Capri but less expensive), hopped a crowded bus to Hotel Residence Sant’Angelo. Pepe , our host, showed us to our room, Jene decided upgraded to overlook the Mediterranean. The weather was perfect, 80 to 85, with cool evening sea breezes. Pepe told us the hot tub with natural mineral water was an aphrodisiac, as was the pool fed by the springs, the pastries he served were also very special in that way… (Ummmm, in that case, we’ll have 2 more). It was magical, we were like young lovers. Jene professed his feelings for me in almost a poetic fashion. How utterly wonderful, the days were unhurried. No museums or famous cathedrals to visit. Walks into the center of the town, spent an afternoon on a beach. Sipped on cappuccino, cooled off with gelato. Held hands and snuggled up to watch the sunset. We took a bus to the Mortella botanical gardens and to the seaport afterward to shop.
Amazon waterlily pads
I could live here! (Why did I choose Ischia? – my friend, Denise’s family was from Ischia and when we were having dinner in NYC, the waiter overheard our conversation and piped in about Ischia and that we should stay in Sant’Angelo section – (that & the fact that Capri was so much more expensive).
Our days spent in Ischia were short but sweet, Pepe carried our bags to the bus stop and gave us a parting gift of a bottle of wine from his vineyard. Kiss, kiss ciao!
Next stop Roma…
