Train journey

It is Independence Day back in the U.S. We'll take the train to Florence today.

There are early morning flutters - we are not quite sure if the ride our travel agent has arranged from the hotel to the train station, will show up. There's been no contact nor a confirmation; efforts to reach the contact number listed on our travel brochure turn out to be futile. To add to it, cabbies are on strike in Rome, which the guy at the front desk informs me is a regular occurrence. The only way to get to the train station is to walk it.

Right at the stroke of 10:30, our ride arrives and drops us off at the train station.

It's our first time traveling by train, and we don't know where to look. Rome Termini train station looks exactly like one of the many train stations in India. The problem is that the signs are in Italian and making sense of it ain't easy. Wife spots a line where all the tourists seem to be lining up. It is the information desk, so I get in line. The attendant tells me that our train will arrive on platform number four. Wife doesn't believe him. Another attendant tells us to watch the electronic boards in front of us. When our train arrives, the correct platform number will be posted, she says. Who do we believe?

Finally, we decide to watch the boards. As we wait, wife and I keep a watchful eye on our bags. Rome Termini, we have read, is notorious for pickpockets. There is even a vantage point from atop the bus station, where you can watch the pros steal wallets.

After what seems an eternity, our train is updated with the platform number and it is not four. We are glad we didn't listen to the guy at the information desk.

We locate our coach and wife clambers in. There seems to be some commotion, with a couple of girls rubbing up against one of the passengers climbing down. Later on, wife tells me that the two girls picked the wallet of the woman disembarking. But the woman found out, and yelled after them, and the girls quickly returned the wallet before fleeing. Great escape!

I stow away our bags and settle into one of the plush seats. This is going to be a short hour long train journey to Florence. Pretty soon, we are on our way.