On the train into Pisa...

Date Written:11-24-07 I have been in Italy for almost 3 months now and have finally decided that it is time to start my research, as in not just googling “Dionysian Sarcophagi in Italy.” (However elementary this mode of research may seem it can go farther than one would think.) So I bought a round trip ticket to Pisa today, taking the regular there at 7 in the morning, arriving at about 11:47 am (we are in Italy…) and taking the 5:30pm express train back the same day. Here are a couple of things I have already learnt 1-If you are going on a train ride for more than 2 hours and someone is supposedly funding this for you, take the nicer train. 2-Give yourself plenty of time at the station to freak out, find your train, and then get a cappuccino. 3- Ask the ticket-man, first for a window seat, and then what your final destination is. (The train numbers are not listed on the overheard train schedule in Italy and the only way of knowing what train you should get on is by knowing where its final stop is.) 4-Make sure that the T.V. screen in front of the train says the same things as the overhead, in terms of what binario you are supposed to go to, it is Italy, after all. 5-Supposedly on a Eurostar if the light above a seat is on it either means it is reserved…or free. This I am still unsure of because my light was off, but somebody had taken my seat. I, in return, took a window seat that did not have a light on, the woman beside me looked at me funny…I think I took hers. So needless to say this is my trial run, it will be a long day but I am determined to believe that if I go in with the attitude that I am here to make mistakes and learn from them, the day wont seem so bad. (Note: Two men are passionately fighting over what cooridorio means in terms of seating…I take it as the aisle. Also-I missed my 7:00am train for the reasons stated above…but look I am learning already! All this information and I haven’t even left Milan.