Leaving Livorno

Sabato 27 aprile

Julie and I took the train to Siena with a five minute layover in Empoli. While switching trains, it can be a bit of a challenge to quickly get from one platform to the other. Similar to the subway, one needs to go down a flight or two of stairs, cross under the tracks, go up another flight of stairs and find one’s train. Aside from  the challenges juggling one's luggage up and down the stairs, this is easily done when there are signs telling you where to go. Even when written in a foreign language one can typically figure this out. However at Empoli, there were no signs… We had asked on the train, but even the ticket inspector didn't know which binario we needed – although when we got off the train he told us to go to Binario 3. 

Speaking of ticket inspectors, an important thing to know in Italy before getting on a train or bus is that one must validate their ticket (by inserting the ticket into a machine that stamps the date and time on the ticket) prior to getting on the train. If you get on a train without validating your ticket, the ticket inspector will not be cheerful and you may be fined 40 Euro. 

We quickly found our way to Binaro 3 but the sign didn’t say Siena – hmmm.... it read Firenze. But it was in actuality the correct train, so on we went. The view out the window soon changed from city to lush green countryside scattered with quaint stone buildings and large rolls of hay bales. Off in the distance villages could be seen with steeples rising above the rooftops. There was no confusion; we were in Italia!