6 September 2011- La Spezia/Florence

Today was our last day in La Spezia and the plan was to check out of our hotel at 10:30 am, catch the train to Pisa, potter around Piza before catching a mid afternoon train to Firenze (or Florence). Instead, our schedule was thrown out the window by the unreliable Italian rail system.

Italians often stage scheduled strikes about contentious issues which brings train systems to a halt. Eg today’s was about the senior’s pension I think-- I only know this because the rally marched outside the exit of our hotel. As a result, we were forced to wheel our luggage back into the town centre and slowly pass the eight hours away. It wasn’t half bad actually. We enjoyed gelato and a coffee at a RSL-esque pub, complete with mean looking men at the bar and watched the world go by on the quiet streets of La Spezia. The weather was gorgeous and there was a tiny breeze, so all in all it was nice.

[Rally runs outside our hotel:]

[Strikes are on- luggage keepers and trains are cancelled:]

We made our way back to the train station at about 5 pm for the 5:40 pm train to Florence. The train rolled in ten minutes before its departure time and we were excited. We sat on the train waiting for it to depart, but then it never did. We watched the train driver walk off and we and some locals pondered if we’d ever get to Florence. An hour and ten minutes later, our driver came back (perhaps he went on another break?) and the train started up.

[Waiting and waiting for the train to leave:]

[Man from Mars is loopy (rude!) after a day of waiting for trains:]

We chugged to Florence in record time (just over two hours) and took in the stunning Italian countryside. We got in at about 8:40 pm before heading out for some dinner down the road.

[Stunning country scenery when the train finally leaves for Firenze:]

Tomorrow, we explore Florence!!