Milan - Strasbourg

I left Milan early tuesday morning with 12 hours of train ahead of me. I had my book, Life of Pi, in my hand and Lost In Translation queued up on my iPod: I was ready for the journey.

I began reading after a short nap early on. By the time we reached the Italian/French border, I was deeply absorbed in Pi's fight for survival and didn't even notice that we hadn't moved in over an hour. We were delayed for almost 2 hours at the border due to what I can only assume was a backup in the long tunnel through the Alps. I resigned myself to missing my next two trains and pushed on in my book. 

The Alps are extraordinarily beautiful. Every twist and turn of the train revealed a different village hidden away on the mountainsides of these enormous mountains. Snow fell outside the train as I watched the smoke curling out from the tops of chimneys and the clouds floating low through the mountains--it was just too picturesque.

I made it to Lyon around 16:00. The next train left for Strasbourg at 17:08, getting in at 22:23--three hours later that I had originally planned. In the end, it didn't matter much. Julie was waiting on the platform for me and my journey was finally over. I had two days to relax in Strasbourg with Julie before continuing on to Prague early tomorrow(Friday) morning.

A quick update about my last post: I never got to go up on the Duomo. As I finished typing that entry and gathered my things to leave, I looked out the window and noticed that it was pouring rain. I guess it was a sign.

There are a few new photos in the Milan set on Flickr. 

Also, I just wanted to wish my brother a happy birthday. He turned 19 yesterday, March 12, and I wish I could have been there to celebrate...actually, I wish he could have been here to celebrate! Either way, happy birthday pete!