Milano…Tirano…oh no

We're ready to go to Tirano!

But before we left our apartment, Cindy took a photo of the street from our window on a glorious morning:

Breakfast at that same cafe, then off to Milano Centrale to catch a train to Tirano. Beautiful day, easy trip to Tirano. The only thing that might be problematic was that the train ride would end in Sondrio, and we would be bused the rest of the way, as the railway was doing long term work on the tracks.

Got to the station (see good spirits personified, above) and looked for information on the next train. First agent we asked about which track to go to said something to the effect "It doesn't matter; there might not be a train; wait to see." (That is not a direct quote, and he was actually more brusque than that, but it's the gist of it.)

Moving on, we saw on the departure board that a train to Tirano would be leaving from such-and-such track. Went there, found two official agents explaining that the train probably wouldn't be going to Tirano because there was a strike and besides, there was a dead body on that particular track this morning. Oh boy...

Back to the main platform to wait and watch with hundreds of other people, all apparently wanting to get on that same train. Nothing. No word. On the departure board, more and more "CANCELLED" lines. Yep, it was a strike day, and train travel would be...ummm...problematic all day. What to do?

A train came in, bound for (I think) Lugano. When Cindy asked a beleaguered agent nearby what we might do, she suggested perhaps we could get on this train and find a way over to Tirano from somewhere along that line. This seemed really chancy to me, but Cindy wanted to try that.

Let me interrupt this absolutely fascinating narrative to tell you why we were particularly anxious to get to Tirano that day: we had non-refundable, non-transferable tickets for the Bernina Express the next morning, leaving Tirano at around 8:00am. This was one of the most anticipated legs of our entire trip, and missing that would throw our journey into a bit of chaos as well as be a huge disappointment. So getting to Tirano felt quite urgent.

So off we went on this mad dash to a train that was going to take us in a different direction in the hope that we could somehow get back on track (totally understand that phrase now).

Once we're on this train, I'm madly looking at possible train routes to Tirano. Everything I found suggested that we would have to backtrack (how many phrases and words have their origin in railway references?) to at least a station that would be on the route to Tirano. So I suggested we get off at one of those stations and wait to see if a Tirano-bound train would come along. By law, transportation strikes must allow some minimal travel to essential places (we didn't yet know this but it wouldn't have made a difference anyway, as Tirano apparently was not an essential destination). So while some trains were still running, most were being cancelled, cancelled, cancelled.

So we got off at a station sort of in the middle of nowhere. Talked to some young women who actually didn't have many great suggestions. We foolishly decided to get on the next train heading north, which ultimately was taking us to the other side of Lake Como (toward Lugano again). That train stopped at some small town near the lake and would go no further. Period. Everyone poured off the train and into the station to try to figure out what to do. Yes, there was a rental car place, but no, there were no rental cars available. And no, there don't seem to be buses either.

What to do? Time is ticking on, and we're no closer to Tirano than when we arrived at the Milan station. Bright idea (maybe): see if there are any drivers for hire in the region. And yes, supposedly something like that is available: we can hire a private tour of the region that will end at our desired destination. I book it; it costs something like $300, but at this point, no expense will be spared in order to get to Tirano. But they have to find an available driver, so they're looking and will inform me.

More discussion. I message ourAirbnb host to see if she has any other suggestions. She doesn't, really, except to return to Milan and try to start over. We're not sure we're ready to do that yet, and besides, so far no trains are coming through going either direction. And time marches on.

I keep perusing train schedules. Every schedule tells me that we need to go back the way we came if we want to get to Sondrio/Tirano by train.

I call the car for hire place. The person I speak with is definitely sitting somewhere in England. We agree on a deadline for when I need to make a decision about continuing with this zany idea.

Finally our Airbnb host sends me a message saying that she has read that the strike will end at 17:00 (5pm). She again suggests returning to Milan. We should be able to get a train to Tirano after that time, and we'll still get there by early evening.

So. Shortly after that, a train arrived headed for Milan! Yay!!! We, along with a train station of other stranded people, get on that train and head back to our starting point.

We get to Milan, and the first thing we do is check the departure schedule. Yes, there are trains to Tirano listed, but we don't know if they will actually take off.

We decide to have something to eat; we'd been a long time without food, and it was midafternoon by then--and we were now feeling sort of hopeful, so took a break from worrying. We went to a pizza cafe in the station, sat down to be served--and who should come over to serve us but the server who had waited on us our first day in Milan! Different cafe, not even right next door, and there he was. Another one of those weird restaurant situations we'd noticed before (interchangeable/movable staff). Somehow that felt like a good sign.

After eating, we went back to the battle front. It was nearing 16:00, and there was a train to Tirano listed for 16:20 that was not cancelled! Hooray!!!

We scurried off to that platform, found some seats, even found a place to stow our luggage, held our breath, and the train pulled out. I emailed the driver-for-hire place and cancelled that order, and we sat back and relaxed for one of the more beautiful rides we'd had. Made more beautiful, I'm sure, by the fact that we would get to Tirano that night. Whew!

We rode along the edge of Lake Como most of the way. The late afternoon sun was glorious, and life was suddenly really good.

The train turned away from the lake, toward Sondrio

And then we were on the bus from Sondrio to Tirano

Our Airbnb apartment was one of the best ever; our host had decorated it with whimsy and care, and the building even had an elevator to get us to the second floor. We went out to dinner at a place she recommended, and returned for a good night's sleep in preparation for the next day's spectacular ride through the Alps.

The worst travel day to date was now in our past. And the best travel day is on the immediate horizon!