Monument to Italian Sailors
The adventure continues, with the journey from Milan to Brindisi bringing a special zing that I won’t soon forget. I had an early train, so started for the station for a quick ten or so block walk. It was Sunday, and mostly everything between me and the station was closed, and then I added a complication by taking a wrong turn. Just as I did, the skies crashed open overhead, and I was hit by torrential rain. In minutes, there was lightning smashing all around, and I was being pelted with ping-pong-ball sized hail. The only nearby shelter was a tall tree, and I was NOT about to stand under there in the lightning! In the end, I had to run down a street, knee-deep in racing water, trying to avoid being concussed or otherwise wounded by the killer hail.
After the storm…
When I finally made it into the station, I was soaked to the skin. Every item I carried with me in both bags was drenched [including the books bought the night before]. I unpacked in a public train washroom, and wrung everything I could out into the toilet. The 7 hour train ride that followed was spent in my wet clothes, hair dripping like a drowned rat, since I had not a single dry item to change into.
ADVENTURE!
The only saving grace? My computer and camera were not destroyed, because I coincidentally had a towel and a handful of pantyliners stuffed into one of the mesh pockets in my backpack. The pantyliners swelled to bursting, and the towel wouldn’t absorb another drop. Feminine hygene products FTW! Who knew?
End of the Appian Way
By the time I reached Brindisi, the storm was history, and the heat was back. It’s a lovely old town, half-way down the heel of Italy’s boot. Right down near the harbour, you can find the old Roman pillars that mark it as the end of Rome’s Appian Way.
The harbour-front is beautiful, and as this town is a jumping-off point for my story, I hung out among the ships and steamers as I planned my character’s journey across the Mediterranean. I need to make sure she has a tougher time than I did, so you can bet she’ll meet a decent storm or two along the way!
Calm streets before the Corpus Christi parade
I happened to be in Brindisi on the feast of Corpus Christi, and, while hanging out my clothes to dry, got to watch a parade of priests, nuns, choirboys, followed by most of the rest of the town celebrating long into the night. Festive!
One more stop in Italy. Can you guess where?
More soon…
~kc