A Hop, Skip & Jump to Genoa...

Genoa, Italy

October 20, 2007
N44°24.497
E008°55.599


It was 6:30 AM, pitch black outside, and the wind still howling… like it did all night long. Neither of us slept more than three hours due to the wind storm. Bleary eyed, we looked at each other, and thought what a perfect start to one of our most complicated travel days.

The plan for the day was to get from Positano to Genoa relying on various modes of transportation. We knew everything had to line up perfectly along the way and there would be plenty of opportunities for SNAFUs, but we were confident we could make it to our destination.

It was a simple plan… all we had to do was catch the local bus from Positano to Sorrento, then the Airport Express bus from Sorrento to the Naples airport, catch a flight from Naples to Milan, a local bus from the Milan airport to the Milan train station, then a train from Milan to Genoa, and finally rely on our feet to get us from the Genoa train station to our hotel. Simple, right? We wagered on our ETA—I said 5:15PM, Marc’s guess was 6:30 PM.

We started by hiking 2 KM uphill through the alleys and stairways to the bus station. We arrived with plenty of time to spare to catch the 7:10 AM bus to Sorrento. In fact, we were the first ones at the stop. The crowd quickly grew and when the bus finally arrived it was jam packed. At first, we thought our travel day was shot from the onset, but relying on our 30-Stockton MUNI experience we crammed ourselves on the steps of the back of the bus and set out on our very long travel day.

The ride along the curvy, cliff-dropping roads leaving Positano was brutal. As we staggered on the steps we were tossed side to side as the driver whipped around the mountain side. At one point I hopelessly looked at Marc and said, “I am going over…” I held on with all my might as the driver whipped the bus the other way putting me back upright.

Although a tough ride, the local bus from Positano arrived in Sorrento on time and connected us with a bus to the Naples Airport. Perfect!

By the time we got to the airport, the first bus ride had faded from memory as we waited two hours for our flight to Milan. Our flight was on time and all systems were still a Go. Perfect!

We touched down in Milan, walked out of the airport and immediately caught a bus to the Milan train station. Still GREEN and our plan was being executed flawlessly.

Arriving at the Milan train station we made tracks to the ticket counter and asked for two tickets for the 1 ½ hour ride to Genoa. The next train left in a mere 40 minutes; just enough time to grab a beverage and use the bathroom. It was incredible; we were in a travel-day zone! Wow, I though, we might be there by my ETA after all!

Our final leg, the train ride, departed on time. I felt like I was in good shape to win our little side bet until the train stopped for fifteen minutes, for no apparent reason, putting me at risk. When we started moving again, I checked my watch, then studied the map to the hotel and felt I was still in the running.

Our train rolled into Genoa station at 5:00 PM. We grabbed our gear, walked out of the station, took a look at our map and found ourselves a mere 200 meter stroll from our hotel. It was still windy with a chill in the air as we made our way down the little streets; scoping out restaurants and gelaterias for future reference. We found our hotel, walked into our room and dropped our gear on the floor at exactly 5:15 PM. I guess we couldn’t have planned it any better!