Mastodawn

Self OH: “I think I’ll go straight to Italy. Trains are more reliable there.”

The person in the row before me is studying an Interrail paper map.

Welcome to the family, mate!

Arriva is doing shenanigans. First train is for Kerkrade, second for Aachen which just arrived. There aren’t any signals in between and the platform displays can’t deal with it either.

But hey: the train to Aachen is indeed going.

Welcome to Germany: The train from Aachen to Köln is kaputt and cancelled. There’s another one half an hour later, but this route is quite busy on a good day.

Luckily I noticed it early enough and could switch to the train to Düsseldorf in Herzogenrath. So I’ll be back on the Venlo route once we arrive at Mönchengladbach.

Of course the man in a suit with the big tablet in front of him started an angry zoom call the just won’t end.

Buy that effing company already. It’s just money.

Decision time for the next leg to Frankfurt Airport. I need the 12:27 ICE from there. However, the 12:21 also goes there but will be a lot less busy. In theory that should be fine. It doesn’t do the dip into Köln Hbf so should be quicker. However, because of issues on the high speed line, it has three extra stops where, if things go wrong, it could be overtaken.

I think I’ll risk it anyways. Should be more pleasant. And if I loose another hour, so be it.

Right. Not sure how “every single seat reserved” qualifies as “low demand” but let’s try the other one, then.

That’s better. Got an unreserved proper window seat. Backwards for now, but we will turn around in Köln, so that’s on purpose.

I’m not keen on four hours “nonstop” to Basel, but one has to suffer for one’s … art?

Köln Hbf (the station chapel is sort of visible in the background). Let’s hope we get out of here without issue.

Woah! Into Köln Hbf without any stop, turned around, departed on time, and got out without any stop.

That never happens!

We just passed the earlier ICE at Limburg Süd. Even more luck. What is going on?

Made good time to Mannheim but then had to wait for the cross-platform exchange with the train from Berlin which was behind us. And then they let it go first! Which I suppose makes sense given that it goes straight at full speed to Stuttgart while we have to turn off the high speed line to get to Karlsruhe.

But still.

Boo!

ICE trunk line Frankfurt – Basel. Admittedly, they are working on it.

You don’t pay attention for one second and Freiburg is painted with ETCS stop markers.

Are they doing both ETCS and LZB here? Surely not?

Basel SBB one minute early. Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on either.

I hope those guys are just out and about to enjoy the sun.

Be ironic if SBB now fell apart completely.

Good to know that the quiet area is a joke in Switzerland as well.

Is the IC21 supposed to go via Küssnacht? The app says via Rotsee which makes me think it should go via Rotkreuz?

I see my connecting train is on time.

Reached my destination for today. I show you why in a minute, but first I have to check into the hotel, the receptionist wants to go home.

Lake Lucerne. Over there, I think on the meadow low on the second mountain on the left, this whole Switzerland thing started.

I’ve passed through Brunnen by train hundreds of times and it always looked rather inviting in its little nook of the lake. Finally, I’m stopping.

I saved this one for the trip. And yes, the bookmark is a Stena cabin key. Seems apt.

I might have had a stange too many, but I am very happy with my choice. What a lovely little town Brunnen is.

Also, I think this is Rigi up there.

At checkout, the lady asked if I am continuing to Italy on foot. we agreed that I really should but that the train is also nice.

Off to the bahnhof!

Decided to take the time and travel the scenic route across San Gottardo. It is one of the great mountain railways of this world and taking the base tunnel feels heretic.

Obligatory picture of the church of Wassen.

Coming out of the tunnel and definitely being in Ticino is … a bit emotional to be honest.

These new copper trains* are nice. But doing this run in a first class EW II with its lounge chairs as the first carriage behind an Re 4/4 II and a driver who feels offended by running a couple minutes late is where it’s at.

* Officially they are called Traverso, in case you want to look them up.

In Bellinzona, there’s a connection to a Eurocity directly to Venice.

Ha!

Instead, I am changing in Giubiasco to this TILO train because, to do this properly, I also have to go over Monte Ceneri which got its own, lesser known base tunnel.

This detour over Monte Ceneri is worth doing. As the train climbs up to the pass, you have great views over the wide Ticino valley all the way to Locarno and Lago Maggiore.

The jingle of Swiss railway is a simple tritone. But: it is different for each of the three main languages (SBB doesn’t operate where Rumantsch is spoken). The abbreviation for each language is taken as notes, with E flat standing in for S because its German name is Es which is also how you pronounce the letter s.

So, the tritone is E♭ B B for German SBB, C F F for French CFF, and F F E♭for Italian FFS.

There is a version replacing the last note with its cord, which is used for announcing major stops.

In my day,* if you wanted to go to Milano and avoid the Cisalpino (what is now again the Eurocity) with its extortionist prices and risk of being “completto,” you had to walk through customs in Chiasso to get to a rake of cramped piano ribassato carriages pulled by a Caimano, stopping at a million places all starting with a C and getting later and later in the process.

Now there is this shiny new Flirt running as an hourly regional express from Locarno via Lugano, Como, and Monza to Milan.

Some things are getting better.

* „Opa erzählt vom Krieg.“

The train is still jingling F-F-Es in Italy. Shouldn’t it be either F-Es or F-F-Es-Es?

Oh drat, I forgot about these things (repressed is probably the better term). I’m not going to do this for two hours straight. Most of my ideas for branch line adventures have fallen apart due to bus substitution, so my current plan is very silly. First, I endure this thing for half an hour to Treviglio.

In Treviglio I am turning right with the help of the big sister of the ICNG. I wanted to try one again, anyway, because I thought its suspension is better. And I want to see indeed it is. It feels softer and the rattling is less pronounced. Or maybe I am just biased?

We really are in the flat bits of Italy now.

At Casalbuttano we are waiting for an oncoming train. Weirdly, we are scheduled a stop from 13:55 to 13:56 and them from 13:59 to 14:00. Single track only on either side.

Not sure how this is supposed to work?

I am changing trains in Olmeneta, to go back north to Brescia (told you this is silly). There’s nothing here, just a forgotten railway station baking in the July sun.

The trains are timetabled so that I could have changed in Cremona in stop further down the line and an actual town. But where’s the fun in that?

Martin Hoffmann

“Traffic is still severely slowed at the Naples hub due to technical checks following a seismic event.” Okay?

Back on the main line in Brescia. Minor problem: this train is a single Rock and packed to the gills. Now it would be handy if people actually respected first class.

Five minute transfer in Verona, so I decided to head towards the doors early. and triggered everyone else getting up.

The capotreno announced the platform for the train to Venice in both Italian and English. That can’t be good.

Did you know that Italian high speed lines apparently are just motorways with tracks put on top?

Vicenza doesn’t have east platforms like many Italian stations, it has garden platforms instead.

https://map.railwayhistory.org/#overview@9/45.649/11.9062

This epsiode of Using Branch Lines to Avoid Busy Main Line Trains (I am now in an empty Pop instead of a very busy Rock) is brought to you by the Railway History Map, your indispensable guide when planning a trip the roundabout way (and being disappointed by bus replacement).

Castelfranco Veneto.

About as Italian junction station as it gets.

Are we nearly there yet?

First impression: Away from the main thoroughfare, Venice is still fine.

Buongiorno!

The hotel I booked doesn’t do their own breakfast but give you a voucher for a bar around the corner. Which is a great solution – you get proper coffee rather than something from a machine.

This is going to be a very church-heavy day.

Rule number one: put away the phone with its map apps and try to get wherever you want to go without a map. Yes, you will get lost. No, that is the point.

But first: A man on a horse.

My new hobby: Watch people schlepp modern luggage across medieval bridges and be unduly smug about my Cross the Alps on Foot-style equipment.

Top tip: If your kids still need strollers, postpone your visit to Venice for a bit.

Why am I here now? Well, gather around, children!

In 1575, Venice was ravaged by the plague. Despite all the measures taken, there were no signs of it letting up and so the people resorted to bribery and promised they would build a great church if the lord would lift the torment. And indeed, in 1576, a quarter of the population dead, the plague finally subsided.

Keeping word, the city commissioned a church to be built on the island of Giudecca overlooking the lagoon. The cornerstone was laid in 1577 and a temporary bridge was erected so the doge could lead a procession to the new church.

The procession was repeated every year since on the third Sunday of July as the Festa del Redentore, the Feast of the Redeemer. The bridge is erected again every year.

The evening before, Venetians gather for a big party with their boats in the lagoon. The people of Giudecca put tables outside along the canals. Half an hour before midnight fireworks are let off that last for almost an hour. Being in charge of them is apparently one of the grandest achievement for a pyrotechnician.

I was visiting Venice in 2005 or so without knowing about any of this and it was quite amazing. Twenty years later, I am finally back. Now you need a (free) reservation to be let to the shores of the lagoon in the evening. That is fine by me – it was a big mess back then.

So, relaxed afternoon now and then we’ll see what happens.

There are public parks in Venice, but they are few and you have to actively go find them (which I guess I will now do).

This one is on Fondamenta dei Riformati, all the way to the north of Cannaregio.

Sign at a bar: “No Wifi. Sì garden inside.”

It’s not cities that are loud, it’s boats that are loud.

The reservation demanded I be here at nine and punctual. I was wondering what I’ll for the two-and-a-half hours until the show starts.

Queuing, looks like.

Entertainment is being provided: The Italians in front of me are trying to pronounce Saoirse.

@partim There is a lovely forest in Venice, on an island, with also a lovely beach you can have to yourself (at least in May), but you have to go almost all the way to Chioggia, using vaporetto–bus–vaporetto.

@tml I have a plan to go down to Chioggia to take the train from there, but not this time. I thought there was a boat all the way down from Venice, but this is even better.

Anders Norén Jul 19

@partim
There's a small park near St Mark's Square too and we sat there wondering what the trees grew in. There must be small patches of dry land here and there, mustn't it?

@violanders Either that or the made artificial islands. I also wonder if the squares are made like building foundations or differently?

JTW, Cornell '91 Jul 20

@partim having travelled to Venice with a playground -crazed child, I've sought out the parks. The area out in the eastern reaches of Castello has a very different vibe, like a small town (but without the cars). We even found some Pakistani students playing cricket adjacent to one of the playgrounds.

@partim wow! I never knew that! I've been to Venice several times, and had to get to Salute the long way!

(Btw The view from the top is excellent.)

@patrickhadfield Now you have a reason to come again!

(It is quite hot, but there often is a breeze through the alleys which makes it quite bearable.)

@partim I tend not to travel in July - there's always a lot to do in Edinburgh (I'm a jazz fan so the Edinburgh Jazz Festival - on now - is one of my highlights of the year).

But maybe... ;)

@patrickhadfield So there is Jazz in July and then comedy in August? Quite the summer you have up there!

@partim ah, the comedy... You mean the Fringe, which started off as the alternative to the International Festival, but has long outgrown its big brother.

The Fringe is many things - experimental theatre, music, dance. And comedy. But comedy has become the by far biggest component, and crowded out much of the rest.

In the Fringe, I got to sometimes go to music and dance, but definitely not comedy!

Mostly I stick to the International Festival - wonderful orchestras, magical dance!

@patrickhadfield We’ve been to the fringe once by accident – had completely forgotten about it and just wondered why hotels were so expensive.

We ended up seeing quite a few things, most of them rather more alternative, more theatre than comedy, and really quite good.

German has the word Kleinkunst for this, which sounds rather demeaning (and, knowing the art establishment, probably is ment to).

@partim Take that, Actv, we don't need your stinking boats, we have a bridge at home!

@partim Parenting top tip: very few(*) kids NEED strollers once they can walk. Most parents just don’t seem to be patient enough for children’s walking pace or practicing a little to get them used to walking longer distances.

(*) disabilities etc

helle @ WHY2025 (📞4355)Jul 19

@partim venice is uh, well, I think I was glad that I visited when I did as a 10 year old and probably will never again

@helle I’m having a blast. This is such a wonderful place if you love walking through cities. No cars, no scooters, lots of random side alleys to pick from and then having to turn around because they dead end into a canal.

@partim Where are all the Glaswegian tourists when you need them?

@partim getting lost is the best part of visiting a new city

@webhat It certainly is extremely easy in Venice.

@partim absolutely, when I wandered around Venice, I was so lucky I got lost and arrived at an industrial area which was at the edge of the main train yard, which was full of older material. Not on the tourist path at all, very cool to visit

@webhat Oh! Great idea to rummage around that part a bit. Only ever passed through on a vaporetto.

@partim On our visit to Florence some years ago, I could only barely suppress my giggles when, on entering an exhibition of religious art attached to a church or monastery, I overheard an American tourist walking up to the first exhibit, a triptych, announcing, “This is the same shit they had in the other place.”

@pmdj Ah, a true connoisseur.

Tor Lillqvist Jul 18

@partim Good for you if you can move around between the places you visit without using the major routes full of people.

I realised in May that even if the first impression of Venice might be that it is a dense irregular maze of narrow passages, when you actually need to move longer distances, there are a few major paths that you won’t be able to avoid. The bridges over Canal Grande being the most obvious, of course, and the paths radiating out from those.

@tml A lot of people (and news articles) bemoan that Venice is now unbearably crowded. My first impression – which admittedly is from the evening – is that it isn’t worse than fifteen years ago.

It’s super busy for sure, but as long as I can find a quiet corner for a breather, I’m fine.

Delain K Jul 18

@partim omg I miss Venice so much. Now that I've moved, I can't visit it as much as I would

@delain I haven’t been in ages. My last attempt was in February 2020. I had a room booked and everything, but then decided on the day that it was too risky.

@partim 🤩

@partim you have bettet weather and light than we did in April

@partim Enjoy!

@partim where are you headed?

@delain Castelfranco and then straight down to Venice.

Delain K Jul 18

@partim Unusual choice, I would stay on the busy Rock just because I'm lazy😆

@delain Luckily, most people do ;)

Jelle Jul 18

@partim hmmmn this is interesting. In a weird hypothetical would this be possible for existing highways? (Outside of routing/cornering issues). No clue myself and probably a dumb question but still #curious

@jelle I have no idea how similar the foundations really are. I imagine the asphalt layer is mostly for water management.

stefan Jul 18

@partim @jelle I wanted to ask, isn't that counterproductive for water management?

@stefan @jelle I think you don’t want water to get into the foundations. I believe in Germany they use some sort of plastic sheeting instead.

But admittedly, I know nothing about any of this other than things I once read and mostly forgot.

miniBill (Leonardo)Jul 18

@partim I mean, the frequency of trains from Verona to Venezia is "yes", so you're going to be fiiiine

@miniBill Sorta. I want to take it only to Vicenza and then go via Castelfranco. That only works with the short connection.

Gianlu ⁂ 🇮🇹 🇪🇺Jul 18

@partim
This one
https://terremoti.ingv.it/en/event/43451602

Castelfranco Veneto.

About as Italian junction station as it gets.

Are we nearly there yet?

First impression: Away from the main thoroughfare, Venice is still fine.

Buongiorno!

The hotel I booked doesn’t do their own breakfast but give you a voucher for a bar around the corner. Which is a great solution – you get proper coffee rather than something from a machine.

This is going to be a very church-heavy day.

Rule number one: put away the phone with its map apps and try to get wherever you want to go without a map. Yes, you will get lost. No, that is the point.

But first: A man on a horse.

My new hobby: Watch people schlepp modern luggage across medieval bridges and be unduly smug about my Cross the Alps on Foot-style equipment.

Top tip: If your kids still need strollers, postpone your visit to Venice for a bit.

Why am I here now? Well, gather around, children!

The procession was repeated every year since on the third Sunday of July as the Festa del Redentore, the Feast of the Redeemer. The bridge is erected again every year.

So, relaxed afternoon now and then we’ll see what happens.

There are public parks in Venice, but they are few and you have to actively go find them (which I guess I will now do).

This one is on Fondamenta dei Riformati, all the way to the north of Cannaregio.

Sign at a bar: “No Wifi. Sì garden inside.”

It’s not cities that are loud, it’s boats that are loud.

The reservation demanded I be here at nine and punctual. I was wondering what I’ll for the two-and-a-half hours until the show starts.

Queuing, looks like.

Entertainment is being provided: The Italians in front of me are trying to pronounce Saoirse.

The people on the boat moored, for whatever reason, right next to the queue are now playing Jingle Bell Rock.

I have secured a negroni and now we wait. The fireworks should appear eventually somewhere that way.

(I won’t post any pictures – I want to enjoy them and not photograph them.)

This is the view from Rio de Ca’ di Dio across the lagoon to San Giorgio (that’s the campanile on the right) just now.

And now we all go home … I mean, keep partying somewhere else.

Martin Hoffmann Jul 20

Did you know that gondolas aren’t symmetric and list to starboard when parked? This is because the gondoliere stands on the port side and the boat will become level once they step on.

Martin Hoffmann Jul 20

Someone should make a triple A video game set in Venice c1550 and try and be as realistic as possible.

@tml I have a plan to go down to Chioggia to take the train from there, but not this time. I thought there was a boat all the way down from Venice, but this is even better.

Anders Norén Jul 19

@partim
There's a small park near St Mark's Square too and we sat there wondering what the trees grew in. There must be small patches of dry land here and there, mustn't it?

@violanders Either that or the made artificial islands. I also wonder if the squares are made like building foundations or differently?

JTW, Cornell '91 Jul 20

@partim wow! I never knew that! I've been to Venice several times, and had to get to Salute the long way!

(Btw The view from the top is excellent.)

@patrickhadfield Now you have a reason to come again!

(It is quite hot, but there often is a breeze through the alleys which makes it quite bearable.)

@partim I tend not to travel in July - there's always a lot to do in Edinburgh (I'm a jazz fan so the Edinburgh Jazz Festival - on now - is one of my highlights of the year).

But maybe... ;)

@patrickhadfield So there is Jazz in July and then comedy in August? Quite the summer you have up there!

@partim ah, the comedy... You mean the Fringe, which started off as the alternative to the International Festival, but has long outgrown its big brother.

The Fringe is many things - experimental theatre, music, dance. And comedy. But comedy has become the by far biggest component, and crowded out much of the rest.

In the Fringe, I got to sometimes go to music and dance, but definitely not comedy!

Mostly I stick to the International Festival - wonderful orchestras, magical dance!

@patrickhadfield We’ve been to the fringe once by accident – had completely forgotten about it and just wondered why hotels were so expensive.

We ended up seeing quite a few things, most of them rather more alternative, more theatre than comedy, and really quite good.

German has the word Kleinkunst for this, which sounds rather demeaning (and, knowing the art establishment, probably is ment to).

@partim Edinburgh is a completely different city during the Festival/Fringe.

In 2017, the 70th anniversary of the Festival and a year after the Brexit referendum, the Festival opened with a light show in one of the main squares one the theme "The World Comes To Edinburgh!"

I remember it made me quite emotional. Still does!

@partim Take that, Actv, we don't need your stinking boats, we have a bridge at home!

(*) disabilities etc

helle @ WHY2025 (📞4355)Jul 19

@partim venice is uh, well, I think I was glad that I visited when I did as a 10 year old and probably will never again

@partim Where are all the Glaswegian tourists when you need them?

@partim getting lost is the best part of visiting a new city

@webhat It certainly is extremely easy in Venice.

@webhat Oh! Great idea to rummage around that part a bit. Only ever passed through on a vaporetto.

@pmdj Ah, a true connoisseur.

Tor Lillqvist Jul 18

@partim Good for you if you can move around between the places you visit without using the major routes full of people.

@tml A lot of people (and news articles) bemoan that Venice is now unbearably crowded. My first impression – which admittedly is from the evening – is that it isn’t worse than fifteen years ago.

It’s super busy for sure, but as long as I can find a quiet corner for a breather, I’m fine.

Delain K Jul 18

@partim omg I miss Venice so much. Now that I've moved, I can't visit it as much as I would

@delain I haven’t been in ages. My last attempt was in February 2020. I had a room booked and everything, but then decided on the day that it was too risky.

@partim 🤩

@partim you have bettet weather and light than we did in April