Locked abroad?!

In Dec/1996 I took vacations from my job in Brazil and once my English was very very poor (it doesn't mean it is better now) decided to go to England to improve it... It was only a 30 days vacation time which would be expended 15 days at school and the 15 days remaining travelling around Italy.

All the happenings on the school itself is something for another blog post, so let's concentrate on the second part of the journey: Italy, Monaco, Nice (France) and Switzerland.

First of all that was my first travel abroad, so I was virgin. After finishing the time in England I headed to Italy where the idea was to expend two weeks travelling budget by train. I had bought a train ticket back in Brazil that was valid for 8 days once you started and at first what I knew was that it was valid only for Italy.

Despite of having very little money due to some unexpected change of flight charge which costed me $150. Well, this represented almost 50% of the budget available for this part of the journey... so when I arrived in Italy I decided that instead of staying in hotels I would rather travel by train at night and save money... it was a question of sleeping properly or eating.
I had two huge luggages which were left at Fiumicino airport in Rome, so I was carrying only a backpack.

Italy is not a big country and you can easily cross it in a night travel, so that was what I did. One day in a city in the north then a night spent at the train, another day in a city in the south and back to the train again... Guess I crossed over Rome at least 10 times without stop and visit the Vatican... as the popular saying: "Go to Rome and not see the Pope is a sin".

Anyway, that was what I did. 

Venice


Even short of money, my dream was to get to Venice and I didn't think twice before taking the first train in that direction...
It was January, cold and kinda of raining but Venice is a place I will never forget... All its magic, atmosphere, canals, gondolas, pigeons... Venice is a must see when in Italy!

I remember that when I reached Piazza San Marco (bigger pic above) I was so thrilled, so emotional that I seated in the middle of the square and cried like a baby. Those were tears of happiness, achievement and joy. A dream came true!


Sicily




Once when in Bologna (north of Italy) I saw the next train heading south was bound to Parlermo in Sicily... At first I wondered how the train would get there once Sicily is an island and there was no bridge as I could remember, but never mind just took it.
That was my regular plan or lack of it. Wherever I was in the afternoon I headed to the train station and took the first train heading to the other side of the country: no agenda, no schedules, no nothing... just fun.

Due to my age (26 at that time) I had to travel only first class, so usually I was alone at my cabin once most people travel second class...
See how fabulous I am even in a budget trip?!
Well once I was woken up in the middle of the night with someone touching my "parts"... To make a long history short I only will tell that train shook more than usual at that night! hehehe!

Italian trains crossing the country usually fit people into specific vagons according to their destination once in every step of the journey they either leave a vagon behind or attach a new one...
At that night I guess I slept a little longer than usual cause when I woke up looking through the window I could see that the vagon was inside of some sort of deposit... First thought: shit! I took the wrong vagon and was left behind!
So I alighted the train and worked my way out. First thing I saw was a coil stair heading upwards so I took it. To my surprise when I opened up the door I was at the deck of a huge ship heading to Sicily. Actually that was the way trains cross to the island. They are put inside of a ship for the final leg of the trip.

Funny feeling but everywhere I was in Sicily I had that sensation of some mafia was watching over me... my favorite past time was to look at the people and guess who was mafia and who wasn't...
Remember that during the night (at the train) some 3 or 4 guys got into my cabin and asked me whether I wanted to smoke weed... I said no, but they started to smoke it there... it didn't take long till the guard came and made them coming back to the second class... they were not fabulous like me, sorry! :)


Food

Hell I was in Italy, a country where the breads, salamis, cheeses, hams etc are the best in the world so I bought tons of them and also cheap and good Italian wines. Usually while visiting some church I had my sandwiches/wine inside of them... I was dying to go for a restaurant and have all the delicious Italian pizzas and pastas, but...

I discovered America
One day in one of those journeys I was reading the back of the ticket and saw the following: "...Questo biglietto è valido per tutte le destinazioni in cui la Ferrovia dello Stato raggiunge..." 
What? The ticket was valid for all destinations whose Ferrovia dello Stato could reach... 
First thing I did when arrived at the station was to check on the next train leaving Italy... There was a train bound to Monaco...


I went to the ticket office and showing them my "biglietto" asked whether it was valid... 
Answer: YES... 
I had discovered America... Monaco there I go...


Stayed in Monaco for the whole day, went to the palace where the Royal family lives, walked the whole F1 circuit and went to the casino... Well I was refused at the casino...
Imagine the scene: myself approaching the casino wearing huge snow boots, the backpack, the oily hair after 8 days without a shower... they kicked me out! Period.

Fine! Let's check on Nice in France... I am sure there are more friendly...
Very nice place, sunny even though it was winter, nice food, nice people... btw a curiosity: France people have a bad reputation as guests but this is a mislead...
Paris is the fucking arrogant place which deserves this reputation. As soon as you are out of Paris you will realize that the remaining of France are very friendly and you know what? They hate people from Paris!


Switzerland
Back to Milano in Italy the next train was bound to Zurich in Switzerland...
The thing was: I had at that time maybe $30 left and the fee to exchange money (no Euro at that time) was more than that, so I stocked some Italian prociutto (ham), bread and wine and headed to Zurich...

It was a fucking cold trip once we had to cross the Alps... there was a heating at the cabin but at certain point in time I had to seat on it otherwise would freeze to death!

During the whole day I was walking around Zurich, a very beautiful city but fucking expensive... I didn't have a single Swiss franc to buy a chocolate and I tell you to be in Switzerland the land of chocolate without money to buy it is ashamed...
Anyway, I checked that the next train was heading to Geneve in the French part of Switzerland. Again went to the ticket office showed my ticket and the guy just nodded... so there I went...

There was something strange cause the train was different, more luxurious... When the ticket collector came and I showed him my ticket he looked down at me like I was an ET.
Remember: I was in Zurich, at the German spoken area of the country and I didn't speak a word of German, but I understood every single word of what he said: "...the ticket was not valid, I couldn't be at that train and I had to buy a new ticket..."

Well, when I told him I had no money he asked for my passport. It is not possible to describe his expression when he saw I was from Brazil: It looked like he was in front of a cockroach which he could smash with his boots at any time. I will never forget that feeling!

He disappeared. After some time I noticed the train was stopping at Berna (the capital) and I could see five police guards: they were so colourful, wearing helmets with feathers that reminded me the Swiss guard at the Vatican (pic below).


One of them approached and asked me to follow him. It was a kinda of movie scene: myself at the middle of four colourful guards and one of them leading ahead to the train station jail office.

It was Sunday and it was snowing. Already evening and dark and the police officer clearly was preparing himself already to leave once there were "no guests" there before I arrived. Again I received "that" look.

Lots of talking, showing passport and questions on what a heck I was doing in Switzerland without money. He simply was not able to get it. How comes someone goes to the "money country" without money...
When I saw the situation was getting more complicated I told him that I was just killing my last backpack days in Europe before coming back to Brazil and I was there only because of that lazy bastard at the train station in Zurich who looked at my ticket and nooded "OK" otherwise would have gone back to Italy.
It didn't help too much...

I asked him to call the Brazilian Embassy to what he said: "... what for? It's Sunday and do you really think they will pay for your ticket?..."
I said that I didn't know and didn't care. I was from Brazil and they had to do something.
At this point I was worried to be deported directly from Switzerland and had to leave my two luggages in Italy with all my poor shoppings...all the gifts for friends and family.

I was put behind bars and was given a hot chocolate cup. Finally I tasted the famous Swiss choc in-loco!
I couldn't refrain myself of the classic scene of sliding the cup though the bars and make some noise to call attention... I was in the jail but I still had my sense of humor... Ok, I was inconsequent!

The guy was really annoyed. It seemed to me that he couldn't leave his post leaving me behind... He came to me and said: "... Look I was once in Rio de Janeiro. I was robbed: they took everything including my passport. When I went to your police they told me it was my problem and I had to find my own way out of that. Didn't get any support from your Government...!"
I thought to myself: "...now I am dead... he hates Brazil!..." and I asked him: "Why are you telling me this? I had nothing to do with that. It was a completely different situation and again I'm here because of that idiot colleague of yours!"

I continued talking: "... look, it's so easy, you just put me back in a train bound to Italy and once there everything is fine. You could go home and I would follow my way..."
I could notice a glimpse of an idea crossing him mind, but he left...

After a few minutes he took me out and brought me to his desk. He said that I was free to go... and that there was a train bound to Milano which would leave in 20 mins... I should be inside of that train!
I was expecting he would give me the ticket but once he didn't move I asked him what about the ticket to what he said: "...you reached Berna without a ticket. Am sure you can do the same back to Italy..."
I said: "This train will again stop in Zurich in its way back and they will catch me again and I will be brought to the jail there"...
"Take it or leave it!"
I said: "Thanks!" and left...


The trains I was used to travel were regular ones even with the splitting between 1st ad 2nd classes, but the train which approached the platform was the "bullet train". Fancy, luxurious and its interior design was completely different with only one toilet at the entrance in each vagon, other than the two toilets (one in each entrance on its Italian counterparts) which would put in risk my strategy which was: as soon as the ticket collector get inside I head to the toilet and lock myself... The trip in a regular train would take more than 12 hrs, but that train would reach Italy in 2hrs (which I would expend at the toilet).

The strategy worked well for a few seconds cause when a woman with her baby got inside of the toilet, as soon as she locked it there was a neon blinking "Occupied",  "Occupied", "Occupied" which for me translated like "he's here", "he's here", "he's here". Anyway it was the only and best plan I had.
The question now was crossing my fingers that the ticket collector would come from the door behind me cause if he comes from the one ahead I would be the first one asked for the ticket...

The train started moving, I was tense but suddenly I listened the "airy" sound of the door at the back at the vagon opening and could see by the mirror that the ticket collector got in... In a few seconds I jumped to the toilet but what I saw inside scared me to death.
The toilet worked maybe similar to the ones on airplanes with a high pressure air sucking the thing in a strong way.
I guess that the woman thrown the baby daipers on it and the thing got stuck and the high compressed air caused and explosion... there was baby shit everywhere...and I would rather go back to the jail and have hot chocolate than stay two hours inside of that place.

I left the toilet and in a matter of seconds, without thinking just headed to the other toilet in the next vagon but as soon  as I got into the vagon I just banged the other ticket collector who looked at me and asked why I was there... I said that the toilet behind was destroyed and that I needed urgently to go toilet. He just looked back, felt the smell and gave me way.

I locked myself inside of that toilet for some time and through the window could see that the train stopped at Zurich station which made me thought that I had maybe 1h30min more to stay there... As soon as the train started again I was somehow released cause if they caught me at that time they would have to bring me to the jail at the next station what in that case would be already in Italy and there my ticket was valid.

After what for me looked like an eternity I felt the train was stopping and got out of the toilet. I was frozen: in front of me there were two army guys gunned to their teeth who first thing they said to me was: passport!
For a few second I thought it was over... you know, when you are guilty it seems everything runs against you.
It took me a few seconds to realize that those were Italian frontier patrol who got inside of the train only to make the clearance faster.

There was a young lady serving some drinks to whom I asked where we were. She's was clearly Italian with that huge nose. She answered: "Italia, ma che?!"
In an uncontrolled move I kissed her cheeks and said: "...Io amo questo paese..."


Domodossola

Domodossola is situated at the confluence of the Bogna and Toce Rivers, and is home to 18,500 people, mostly Italian speaking and Roman Catholicin religion.

The city is located at the foot of the Italian Alps, and acts as a minor passenger-rail hub. Its strategic location accommodates Swiss rail passengers, acting as an international stopping-point between Locarno (a Swiss city of Italian language) and Brig (a Swiss city of German language) through theSimplon Pass (Italian: Sempione).

 

It was in this city, late at a snowing night which I was delivered running like a bandit from Switzerland. Like the Pope I just knelled and kissed its soil... Never liked a place like that before...

At the end I took another train in the following day towards Rome and there another crazy history started, but that if for another blog post.

It may sound a bit absurd or nonsense for those reading it, but just think about that. I was younger, poor and eager for knowledge and adventures. I would stop to nothing for that. Those were frightening moments but I don't change them for nothing...