European journey part 3

On Friday my Canadian companions left to return home, and I started out on the next leg of my journey, my language journey. The first thing I did was visit Milan's largest book store, to buy a few Italian books and audio books.

It was raining. I took the subway to the Piazza del Duomo, where two major book stores are located. I took time out from my shopping to admire, from the outside and from the inside, the magnificent Duomo, a startling and recently cleaned expression of the religious devotion, artistic genius and craftmanship of Medieval Lombardy. It was awe inspiring, and kind of slowed me down a bit. But then I went off to buy some books.

The next morning, on November 1, I started using my Eurail pass, which was to prove a wonderful way to travel around Europe. Once the train fare is paid for, you just hop aboard any train, and move. Although some train require a reservation and in Italy, some trains are not included, so you have to be a little careful.

My first destination was Zovencedo, a small hill town just outside of Vicenza. Zovencedo is the home of Maurizio Falghera, his wife Cristiana and their two young children. The high speed Italian train took me to Vicenza where I was met by Cristiana who drove me to their home.

Maurizio has a vibrant voice and has devoted himself to recording the major works of  Italian literature.  Hence Il Narratore audiolibri, a great source of audio books in Italian. Maurizio believes in the art of the story teller, and the power of story telling to improve literacy. I heartily support him.

After a pleasant mean and wine, and congenial discussion, I went to bed. Early the next morning I went for a run in the hills overlooking Vicenza, amid the sound of gunfire. The local hunting season was in full swing. The roads were deserted, and I just hoped that none of the hunters would mistake me for a bird or a wild boar, or whatever they were shooting at.

Later in the morning I was driven to the Vicenza train station, where I discovered that the train schedule on the Internet may not correspond to the schedule that the trains actually run by. But I did not care. I had the luxury of having time. I took a slow train to Verona, and then waited for the train that would take me through the mountain passes, through the Dolomites and the Alps, past Tyrol, and into Germany.

I climbed aboard and entered my compartment, where for the next 6 hours I would have the company of a talkative American and equally talkative, and beer drinking, Dane.