Day 265 - Venice to Milan to Turin

Arrivederci Venezia. Ciao Turin!

Our water bus arriving to take us away from Isla Mazzorbo

We left today from our unique hotel on Isola Mazzorbo by water bus 12 and connected at Murano for the Ferrovia water bus 3 that took us to the Venice train station. Our departure time from Venice wasn't until 3 p.m., so we spent the morning having a long breakfast and catching up on emails. One thing that we have learned on this trip is that you must strategically select which water bus routes you take or else you are dealing with "molti turisti." The routes that go to Murano and Burano are usually quite full and can be extremely hot in the summer unless you are fortunate enough to get standing room by the loading gates (and on longer trips the standing can get quite tiring). Our choice of routes today worked out quite well. There always seems to be a problem at the Murano Ferro stop because it is there that tourists congregate having come to Murano from Venice via various routes. There is only one terminal and two areas to queue, one for tourists and one for residents, who have a priority entrance that only they can use. For the tourist entrance, most are going on to Burano and they fill the little terminal so that you cannot get in to catch the other routes until they have departed. It made sense to wait them out before we moved in to catch the number 3 boat. It first runs through the central canal on Murano (4 stops) before heading across the lagoon to Venice. This makes for a delightful 30-minute trip and quite the tour of this island, known for its glass making.

Entry hall of Milan Centrale

We had booked a train to Milan where we had hoped to spend a few hours having dinner somewhere near the station before making a connection to Turin. The Milan Centrale station is enormous!!!!  Turns out it is the largest train station in Europe by volume. It was opened in 1931 and has the most amazing entrance hall (see picture) which towers up above you when you walk in. Mussolini, who at that time was the Dictator of Italy, wanted it to represent the strength of Italian fascism. There is a lot of gothic in the station's architecture  and I was left wondering if many of the winged symbols carved into the walls and columns had been altered after the second world war to remove the fascist symbolism that may have been built into its design. I didn't find out until later when researching the station that there are rooms in it that are not open to the public, but that still have swastikas in the flooring, put there when Hitler visited Milan.

View of the interior of Milan Centrale from our restaurant

Aside from the immensity of it all, the station can be confusing when looking for something to eat or purchase. There are multiple mezzanines with sloping escalators connecting them all and elevators that don't open where you think they should. It was also very hot and busy -- the station reportedly moves over 330,000 people a day.  Outside the station there really isn't much. I had been expecting to see a park or two adjacent to the station's location with cafes and restaurants, but there was not. In fact the station is not really located near any of the historic areas of the city. Furthermore, the number of shady characters prowling the streets around the station convinced us to return back in and find a restaurant inside to have supper and relax until our train to Turin.

Turin Porta Nuovo Rail Station 

The train to Milan had been very comfortable as we were in the "Prima" class, but for the shorter run to Turin (45 minutes) we were in the "Comfort" class which is less expensive. It was also very pleasant and the line to Turin is electrified which means our train was reaching speeds of 300 km/hr.

The main Turin train station is Porta Nuovo and was the terminus of our day's journey. I have to say right away that this was more like it. The station is located adjacent to the historic centre of Turin which I have to admit is one heck of a city. Angela will expand upon the city tomorrow when we take the day to explore it. The railway station was completed in 1868, two years after the creation of the Kingdom of Italy. One piece of trivia associated with it is that Enzo Ferrari first worked at a bar in the station where he met a number of early automobile designers and racers who encouraged him to work in the industry -- the rest is history!

Our hotel at night

I can't say enough about our hotel, the Turin Palace. It is across the street from the westerly exit of the station (we had been joking on the train ride here that the hotel's proximity to a rail station may mean we would be regretting our choice) and is beautiful inside. Our room is modern, but with classic touches of marble flooring in the bathroom and art deco furnishings. The staff are amazing and after a long day of travel, we both looked forward to a shower and bed. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day!

Ale of the Day: Unfortunately I have suspended this segment until my return to the UK as there are no real ales available here - just lagers, which I will suffer with until then.