Zurich and Venezia!!

I enjoyed a couple of days in Zurich together with Thomas. Zurich is extremelly organized, rich, clean, full of trees, expensive and with a very high quality of life (the highest in the world). You see business people walking the streets, super cars everywhere. Friday I left the city - I needed some fresh air and nature - and together with Claudia we went trekking at the Mt. Rigi. A beautiful day trip through lakes and small towns, and the view of the Alps (altough a bit foggy). In the evening myself and Thomas had dinner at his place, drinking wine at the balcony with front view of the Lake Zurich, while talking about life and everything that's good about it. And I have an invitation to come back for EuroCup in June 2008... ;-)

Yesterday, Saturday, was a loooong and adventurous day. Before leaving home I got an e-mail from Fanny, the French girl I met days before, saying that she made to Venezia and she would stay one day longer there before catching the ferry to Greece, so we could meet up! Nice. I started by catching a train at 7 to Luzern, where Bas would be waiting for me. He is a teacher in Amsterdam and he was on his way to Toscana, for a 1-week biking tour. He drove me all the way down the E35 until near Bologna. We crossed the Alps though the Gothard Passage (we didn't take the tunnel due to heavy traffic and took the scenic road). We really feel as in the top of the world, and mountains all around you.

At 4pm I decided to get off near Modena, and try to get the road to Venezia through Verona. I was in a gas station and I had to cross to the other side of the road, but there were no passages. I saw a bridge a bit further so I walked there. Not made for people unfortunately, and as I tried to cross the bushes and climb the hill to the road, I realized that was a bad idea. It was 37C, no wind, me and my backpack, a lot of dust, sweat and scratches. I had to "look good" if I wanted to get a ride! So I came back to the gas station and stick to my original plan, to get A13 near Bologna and head north through Padova, about 150km left. My aunt was already waiting for me in San Donà di Piave.

Although the location was bad, I waited less than an hour and got a car with an Italian (chance to practice my Spanish-mixed-Italian). He was going home to see his child, driving a very nice Honda with air-conditioning (bonus for the hitchhiker!). He dropped me off before Ferrara, on the good road to Padova and Venezia. I though "great, I'll be there very soon!", but as a hitchhiker you never know what is going to happen, and it took me 2 hours there waiting there before someone stopped for me, and over 3,5 hours before someone took me! During this time I became slowly less shy, and as the sun was going down (9pm) I was approaching cars in the entrance!

Ricardo was going to Padova, and by that time all I wanted was to get somewhere and take the train. It wouldn't be nice to my aunt to wait for me like that. He was very suspicious at the beginnning and later in the car he told me it was the first time he took someone (nice!). As one hour in the car passed, we talked a lot (in Spanish), shared stories of traveling and meeting people, and at the end he even invited me to come back to Padova for party there, on Tuesday night! That's something I love about hitchhiking... challenging the fear and breaking down the walls we create, and show that trust in strangers is possible!

With a huge huge smile in my face I got to Padova train station and there was a train to San Donà (via Venezia Mestre) in 20 minutes, at 9.30pm. I would arrive at 10.30pm. I bought something cold to drink and relaxed reading my book. In the meantime I tried to contact Fanny, and she was unable to meet me due to strikes. Strikes? Hummm... I realized that when I got to Venezia Mestre, the main train station. Hundreds of people (maybe thousands) stuck there, trains being cancelled, delayed, a little Italian Chaos! The note in the wall says: "Strike on the trains from 9pm Saturday night until 9pm Sunday night".

All trains to San Donà were bring cancelled and I managed to catch one (only and last one) at 1 in the morning!! I met Rejanie at 1,30, I had a great shower and we had dinner. What a long day, in the end I can't believe that everything worked out. Well, it always does...

And I hope Fanny is doing good, she was going to sleep at Venezia Santa Lucia station (in the island).

Now I deserve some rest, so today no traveling, time to go to the beach :) It's almost 40C now in San Dona and we go to Caorle, where my aunt rented a house for the holidays, and I'll meet my cousin Bruno after 4 years apart!

I should stay here some days and then head north to Austria and Czaech Republic. But I was wondering about cancelling the trip from Prague and going up until Berlin and spending my next weekend there. Hummm... options...

Arrivederci!