Approaching Venice from the Sea
Back when we were still planning our grand European trip, I was a bit surprised to know that we would be taking an overnight train from Paris to Venice. I was half expecting that we would have to fly since Paris to Venice might be further than Barcelona to Paris. We weren’t able to get train tickets for the Barcelona to Paris leg since they were expensive. We ended up doing the Paris to Venice train ride. Our train was operated by Thello. Although it wasn’t a luxurious train. It was still very decent. Our cabin was a cabin for six with pullout beds for the middle bunk. I think we were lucky that we weren’t six in a cabin since with the middle bunk pulled out, there isn’t much wiggle room for the person in the bottom bunk. It would probably feel like a coffin down there.
Railway to Venice
There wasn’t any air-conditioning but there was no need for that. There was cool air blowing in from the open window which we needed to close because it was getting too cold for the people on the top bunk, including me! There were electric sockets so we could charge our devices. Outside our cabin, there was a dining car but we didn’t eat there. The toilets were not the cleanest but there isn’t much you can do about them. I didn’t notice if there was a shower but I didn’t need one right away. The days were long so the sun rose earlier than we were accustomed to.
By now, it was bright enough to see the Italian countryside. I thought that French countryside was prettier, perhaps we weren’t on the nicer paths. The houses were quite ordinary, then again, I didn’t really have any idea what traditional Italian houses looked like, Roman buildings? I was looking at the train stations that we pass by and looking them up the map to know where we were. We got excited when we finally saw water. It was then we knew that we were almost there. The island of Venice is connected to the Italian mainland by a bridge. The railway also uses the same bridge. I won’t be long now!
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