“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” Proverbs 17:22a
International train travel is not the easiest thing I’ve ever done, but it certainly has shown me that a pound of patience mixed with a cup of humor and a pinch of sensibility can yield a wonderful adventure! I found that it doesn’t matter how much you’ve prepared before embarking on this type of journey, it’s best to expect the unexpected. In this case, it was finding out that English is NOT the international language I’ve heard it to be. Just about everywhere else we’ve traveled, things have been written in both the native language and English. Not so in the Italian and Swiss train stations!
At first, when we entered the main terminal in Rome, it was overwhelming, but we realized it was important to put our heads together and figure out how to get a ticket. We took our paper receipt to the automatic ticket machine. Good news! It had an English translation! Bad news… we still couldn’t figure it out. Better news! A train station employee came over and started punching buttons on the machine for us. He was explaining everything he was doing while pointing at our receipt. Not so good news… he was doing all this in Italian. When he gestured for us to follow him, a lady intervened. She said, “I was eavesdropping. Just thought I would tell you that what you have is your ticket. You just need to get on the train with it.” Laugh #1.
We managed to find our platform and boarded our train. The next thing we knew, we were leaving the station! Whew! We’d made it through phase one of this “after cruise” adventure. Next stop was Milan, Italy, so time to settle back and watch the world go by. It went by fast! As we watched the informational screen on the train, we saw we could track the train’s speed. It was steadily rising! We were traveling at 283 km per hour. Good thing I knew that it took more than one kilometer to make a mile, but just how fast is that? What was the conversion factor? It doesn’t really seem like we’re going that fast… Middle school science kicked in and I did the calculation of metric to customary. Yikes! We were moving at 183 mph! What?? Yes, very true. I never saw telephone poles zip by so fast! Laugh #2.
When we arrived in Milan, we figured we had it made. We had successfully maneuvered through the Rome train station, so how hard could Milan be? Well, it wasn’t the station that was challenging, it was the train itself! It was a bit smaller than our speed rocket. Before we squeezed into our seats, we had to stow our luggage. Hmm… where do you put your luggage when there’s no room for it? Anywhere you can find a spot!! There are places designated, but when a gazillion people get on with you, you better be fast! We did manage to find a spot for our one suitcase, so that was good. I found out that John is good at smashing backpacks into very small places. Other people chose to sit on their full size bags in the aisles. That didn’t go well with the conductor. By the way, did you know you can travel with your dog on a leash on the trains? We didn’t either. Laugh #3.
Well, after enjoying some of the best scenery on the planet, we finally made it to Zurich, Switzerland! Phase two was successfully completed! Now we had to find a way out of the station. Since these train stations are so big, if you exit from the wrong side, it’s a long walk to where you really need to be. The solution? A map! We checked our map and found the “You are here” spot. Did you know there really aren’t any huge arrows in the train station that actually show you where you are? You have to figure that out all by yourself! We knew the name of the street we needed, so we started reading the signs in the station to determine the direction we should go. Oh yes, everything was written in German. Hmm… We took a chance and headed in a “cross your fingers and hope it’s right” direction. We made it outside the station. By the way, did you know that many of the streets don’t actually have their names listed anywhere? We found that out in Rome, so as we exited the train station, we looked everywhere for any hint of a street name. Guess what? Right in front of us was a pole with the street names clearly on it. Laugh #4.
After a relatively easy walk, we spotted our hotel. I reviewed foreign phrases in my mind. “Buon giorno” “Danke schoen” “Bonjour” Not really applicable, but the best I could conjure up in my brain. We walked up to the desk, and I introduced myself, hoping I would be able to conduct a decent conversation with the desk clerk. The man behind the desk looked up with a smile and said to us, “Ah, we’ve been expecting you. Welcome to Zurich, Mr. and Mrs. Lawson.” His English was perfect. Laugh #5.
“Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.” Psalm 126:2
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How has God added joy to your travels in life? I’d love to know!