Sunday 19th August: Weather 19°C to 36°C warm sunny and hazy then very hot in Milan
Munich to Pont Saint Martin: 6 Trains from Munich to Verona, Milan, Novara, Chivasso, Ivrea, Pont Saint Martin.
Accommodation: BnB La Casa Antique at Altitude 334 metres
Breakfast from Aldi on the train
Alps, villages and church spires
Over the Brenner pass
Crossing the Austrian/Italian border
Dogs on trains are allowed
Small villages and pretty meadows
36°C in Milan
Taxi ride to get 2 Primus gas cans
Last of 6 trains to Pont Saint Martin
Finally Pont Saint Martin at 7pm
A long 12 hour day on 6 trains from Munich Germany with 5 changes but finally we reach Pont Saint Martin at the foothills of the Italian Alps. The train trip was quite spectacular, travelling south from Munich through the Alps to Austria then over the Brenner Pass to Italy, Milan and eventually Pont Saint Martin.
Another day starts at 3.30am. Still, after 6 hours sleep we feel refreshed and not jet lagged. There’s a slight coolness in the room after a hot night. Plenty of time to have a cup of tea (thanks Ian for bringing the jetboil) and to catch up with home, emails etc before showering and packing. By 6.30am we’re out the door and it’s only a 5 minute walk to the railway station - the Munich Haupt Bahnhof. Out train leaves at 7.34 from Platform 11, the last platform in the row, and just our luck there’s a Starbucks right there. The only seats around are inside, so time for a coffee while waiting for the train.
We don’t have reserved seats so we pick a foursome with a small table. I set my watch correctly as the train rolls out precisely at 7.34am. Time to have our breakfast bought from Aldi the night before - fruit and yoghurt with a squashed creamy pastry. Within an hour, we’re rolling through forested mountains and villages with church spires and into Austria and Innsbruch, site of the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olymics. The train slowly climbs over the Brenner pass which marks the border between Austria and Italy.
St each stop, the train rapidly fills with people - and dogs - and soon we’re turfed out of our seats by people who have made seat reservations for 20 euro extra. No problem, we move on, then on again and eventually Ian sits at one end of the carriage and me at the other end next to an Englishman who has boarded the train at Bolzano after a hiking trip in the Dolomites with his family. I’m all ears - our next hiking destination might be the Dolomites.
At Verona, we change trains for Milan, a short 30 minute stop over. The countryside then becomes flat as we approach Milan - and hot - it’s 36°C outside. Milan, meaning middle of plain, is a hot place in summer. But for this leg, we have reserved seats so time for lunch of rye bread, butter and cheese. We also discover that our “ice” has melted and the stuff in the bottom of our little fridge bag is swimming in spinach leaves. It had been quite warm on the previous train from Munich to Verona so a quick trip to the bathroom basin to clean up was necessary.
We arrive in Milan at 12.30 and it’s hot. Ian trots off to buy another block of "ice" - this time frozen peas in a pod - less messy if they melt. There’s a wait of 53 minutes for the next train - a regional train to Novara, and 2 hours later we arrive. Novara is also hot as hades and I’m looking for an alternative to my planned 3k walk up to the Decathlon store to collect the two Primus gas cans I had ordered months ago. We spy a Taxi so Ian minds the gear while I do a quick 20 euro return trip to pick up the gas cans. We had already bought the correct Primus gas can in Munich so it wasn’t totally necessary to make this special trip but I had been communicating with Edoardo from the Novara Decathlon store for months as this kind of screw top isobutane propane gas can wasn’t readily available in Italy and he had especially ordered them in for me. I thought if everyone who orders stuff from a store renegs, eventually shop owners would cease to pre order anything. These were my thoughts anyway for making a special stop in Novara then paying 20 euro for a taxi to buy 2 gas cans worth 6 euro each that we didn’t really need.
At least using a taxi instead of walking meant we could get the earlier 5pm train. There’s still 3 more trains with 2 more stops at Chivasso and Ivrea and finally we’re on this little two carriage train travelling up the valley to Pont Saint Martin. The village is old and run down, like most Italian villages, but there’s a brand new supermaket 500 metres up the road from the station where we stop to buy one tomato and 4 beers. Ten minutes later we’re at La Casa Antica, our home for the night, where we’re greeted by our over friendly host and shown to our nice clean double room with a toilet/shower hidden behind a flimsy concertina blind.
Four beers after a long hot day didn’t last long. Our “ice” came in handy. Yes the peas had thawed out but weren't messy and Ian boiled them in the jet boil - very nice smothered in soft butter to go with our rock hard German rye bread and very soft brie cheese.
A warm night in the room. At least our washing will dry.