10 Hours Later - A Late Arrival in Milan

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It took us over 10 hours to get from Chaminox in the French Alps and Milan. We had to back track a bit because there is no train over the Alps directly from the Chaminox train. We were on 5 different trains until we finally caught the high speed line in Modane and were cruising along at up to 190 mph. Lulu booked a Malin hotel online at an Internet cafe in Modane. We arrived at about 9 am in Milan and used the GPS to find our hotel - about 1/2 mile from the station. The hotel was old but nice - but we could not get the Internet working there. We slept well - had a nice breakfast - and set out to tour the city on a hop on/hop off bus. at about 4 pm - we hopped on a southbound train to Pontedera - the home of Vespa scooters. The train had a one hour stop in Firenze - a really neat town. We walked around a bit but had to rush back to catch our connection. When we got on the train - Lulu said we really likes Florence. I asked her when was she there. She said just now - I was not aware that Firenze and Florence are the same city. She then reminded me that Roma was Rome - and Torino is Turin - and Milano is Milan. And to think I was a geography major in college.

Finally we arrived in Pontedera at 7 pm without a hotel. Pulling our rolling bags down the cobblestone streets brought plenty of looks from the people quietly strolling on the streets. Downtown Pontedera reminds one of a downtown in America in the 50s People still sit out in the wonderful weather - the old folks are not afraid to claim the benches on the streets - and their are no loud radios blasting. Lots of people are having supper and drinking at the street side cafes - and many folks are dressed up for the night out.

After tiring a bit - we stopped into a quaint little restaurant - and the owner in broken English directed us to a fantastic old hotel. the hotel was so nice - and we were so tired - we paid the rack rate - and went to our room. The room was fantastic. We got cleaned up - and went back to that same little restaurant and had a fantastic dinner.

The town felt so neat - and we planned to visit the Piaggio Museum and the home of the Vespa Scooter - that we booked the hotel for 3 nights. Since the museum was closed Sunday - our next day would be spent in Pisa of tower fame.