Happy, that is, until I got to Italy. I remember it well. I hopped off the Bernina Express thrilled to be in Italy (the train terminates in Tirano, a stone’s throw across the border). A bounce to my step, I exited the Bernina station and walked across the square to the Trenord station, where I would catch my next train to Milan, and then on to Florence, before the end of the day. It was around noon, if memory serves correctly.

I walked into the tiny convenience store in the station to buy my ticket, as I’d read I should do on the seat61 website. That’s where I got my bad news.

The girl behind the counter told me there was a strike. In Italy for barely 10 minutes, I already had my first experience with Italian rail strikes. I learned a lot about strikes that day.

Italian trains strike often. They publish their strikes ahead of time, so you can plan. They tell you when the strike will end, so you can plan. I didn’t know any of this before my trip, so I hadn’t planned. I was stuck in Tirano until the strike ended.

December 12th, 2017

August 23rd, 2016

In 15 pictures or less

December 12^th, 2017

August 23^rd, 2016