I am grateful that Ellen had come with me as this is where my misunderstanding came to be. Yesterday I'd asked if my train left from here (Fribourg), and I was told yes. But, that was actually the 7:04 train to Bern, not the 7:34 train from Bern. Which was confusing because I didn't realize that I had 2 transfers and there was a 7:34 train to Bern so ... it was confusing. But Ellen, speaking french, was able to help me quickly change my tickets for a very small fee. She then walked me to my platform. I bid her farewell with hopes to see her again soon, and she wished me the best and said hi to the family. I then began heading to Rome.
The first train was to Lausanne. The ride was short, but there were still some nice views. It was still as the sun was low, so there were a lot of clouds and the ground was still blanketed in fog in the lower areas. So, I could look out over the Swiss countryside in the morning shadows. There I could see many more small, old towns, each one just coming into view as the fog began lifting out of the hills. A bit later, as we approached Lausanne we passed a lake, with a similar effect. This time though, rather than small towns scattered about the countryside, the view was of dark mountains, rising into the fog and clouds all along the other side of the coast. They had a pretty cool glow about them as they were the only things blocking the sun from spreading across the water.
The transfer at Lausanne went very smoothly. And the following train ride was exactly what I'd been hoping for out of these rides. This first bit was nice, seeing fun views of the countryside through fog. But, this second trip gave me the views of the Alps I'd been waiting for.
The mountains... oh the mountains. The first view I noticed was when the sun had to first crest the peaks to the left of the train. Despite still being hidden behind the whisks of cloud the emanated from the peaks, the rays of light broke the sun seemed to pierce through and illuminate the landscape. The light came from just over the Jagger shoulder of the first snow-crested cone rising above these clouds. With the sun rising higher, the clouds and fog further along the ridge had also thinned, revealing a ridged that spanned the entire horizon. Along the ridge was much the same... bits of cloud providing cover for the mountains, but the towering peaks rising above them to reveal the white snow that lay upon them.
These views continued, as the sun rose higher, and I trains closer. Sometimes, I gazed at these mountains through small towns, or over rolling hills. Once I looked over a hill crowned by a small castle. That was a pleasant sight. Eventually we were just running along the ridge, and the rock faces at the base of the mountains became clear. Meanwhile I could still look up into the clouds, continuing to thin to reveal yet more peaks with more snow. At some point we started cutting through tunnels through the mountains. We'd emerge into the light for brief interludes, sometimes cutting through gorges over rivers, sometimes on level ground where mountains surrounded us, and sometimes with no view... just an opening cut in the mountains over our heads.
On the other side I was in Italy, the final country of my travels (clearly not counting any airports I'll be passing through). We resumed our travels parallel to the mountains, as we headed towards my next station in Milan. Sadly, we soon turned away from the peaks and left them behind. Arriving at Milan, I exited the train, and a short wait later was on another headed to Rome, the final destination. This train ride was less exciting, though there were some cool views of clouds. I found that they were very layered, in a since, and I would gauss their setup was caused by the Mediterranean Sea... though it could also have simply been random. Anyway, as late afternoon approached I pulled into Rome's station.
From there it was only a few minute walk to my hostel. Checking in went smoothly, and for a while I thought I had a room all to myself. Through the evening more people have joined me though. Anyway, I walked around the area directly outside a bit, just to get a feel for the surroundings. The sky seemed ominously like a storm was coming also. So, I headed back to the hostel. Before long, the sky went from clear to downpour, to mild drizzle. But, I was glad to be inside.
Along with the room, the hostel package here includes dinner, which I wont do every night, but tonight it was nice to be easy. So, I headed across the street where I got some pasta, which was fine, and a small amount of wine to go with it. It was petter than I expected, so I was really quite pleased. From there I headed back to my room with a map, and planned out my next and last 3 days of site seeing. Their order will depend on weather, but I'm looking forward to it.
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