So this is how it works!? You buy a ticket for a specified time. When that time rolls around the thing you payed for happens? Wow. Of course, you realize I am talking about our bus trip today, and not the trains.
We were up and out the door at 7:10 am, headed for the bus stop, a 10 minute walk away. Arriving half an hour early for our bus, we ducked into a pastry shop for a quick breakfast, then headed to a big white bus parked at the curb. I asked the driver, "Autobus a Milano?" He responded "Si" and checked our tickets. Sally spoke to him in English, but he responded "no Englese". We took seats 5 & 6 as instructed. We pulled away from the curb at 7:45 am with 4 of us on board. Just before the driver closed the door I heard "undici" as he talked on the phone. I assumed this meant there would be a total of 11 riders. Sure enough, we made two more stops in town and picked up 7 more riders and we were off. We had picked the 8:45 am because it was non-stop to Milan, and it was. We drove for four hours, then pulled up to a railway, metro stop on the outskirts of Milan. On time. The ride was quiet, comfortable and beautiful. Nice.
We took a metro train to Milano Centrale where we caught a regional train to Verrana on the east side of Lago di Como. From here we caught a boat across the lake to the town of Menaggio. 200 yards from the ferry dock we found our Hostel. The reception office is closed from 2-5, but the cook stopped in to start dinner and told us we could stash our packs inside until they opened. We did, then spent the next hour and a half wandering this small, totally Italian lake side town. Quaint, picturesque and beautiful.
The weather today was quite warm in Milan, about 85°, but a little cooler at the lake, like the low 80s. The forecast was for thunderstorms tonight, and as the day progressed, the clouds started building. In fact, the weather forecast for the next two days is for rain and thunderstorms with highs in the upper 60's.
As it is Sunday, all the shops are closed, so we opted to eat dinner at the Hostel at 10 euro each for all we can eat, their Sunday night special. It was amazing. About 10 different Italian dishes served buffet style. But these platters are not sitting under heat lamps. The cook and helpers brought them out from the kitchen fresh. When they emptied, they cooked more. There were about 25 of us eating. They don't serve dinner until 8:00pm, so we were good and hungry by the time the platters started appearing on the tables.
The hostel is just across the street from the lakeshore. It sleeps about 50. The main floor is an open dining area with 8 or so tables and a games area. The second and third floors are the sleeping rooms. Sally and I got a private room with a private bath instead of a shared room and bath. Our room looks right over the lake. Tremendous view.
We lingered over dinner, then took a walk down the highway to walk off the too much food we ate. The sky was threatening, so we carried our umbrellas. The road started out with sidewalks, but they disappeared after 15 minutes and it was getting too dark to walk on the road. We turned around and were back in our room a little after dark. That is when the light show started.
The sky was a nearly continuous rumble as the lightning illuminated the sky. I watched until 11:00 pm, then fell asleep. Sally woke me at 2:00 am, still at the window oooing and aaahing with each flash and crash. The rain fell in torrents and the whitecaps on the lake were visible with each flash. As much as I love thunderstorms, I could not keep my eyes open and fell asleep with Sally still sitting at the window.
We found today that the bus was more comfortable than the train, and on time. Of course, a sample of one is not conclusive proof, but it was a good introduction to travel in Italy by bus. When we leave Lago di Como we will do so by bus, down to the town of Como at the lake's end. Here we will rent a car and drive to Bolzano at the foot of the Dolomites. One mood of Italian transportation to test.
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