Chris & Kelly's Travel Adventures

Kiwi and Andy this page is for you! 

This is the Frecciarossa.  This is a very fast train.  The Freccia series has 3 trains...Frecciargento (silver) Frecciarossa (red) and Frecciabianca (white).  These are considered the bullet trains and we speak from experience that they can travel upwards of 260 kilometers per hour and also have pretty comfy accommodations.  Free drinks and snacks, a choice between forward facing seats or seats around a table.  So far the Frecciargento is our favorite (I'm sorry to say I don't have a picture of this one yet).

The picture above is of a intercity train.  This is the one we rode today.  This makes a few more stops than the Freccia trains, so routes take a little longer.  Below is an international train (I think that's right)...such as if you are taking a train from Milan to Zurich.  There is another type of train called the Trenord or Regionale train...we affectionately call it the "milk run" train.  It makes stops everywhere so you can be on there awhile.  We have learned that if you miss your train (your fault or theirs) you can catch any similar routed train within the next 6 hours without getting a new ticket.  Also if you have a ticket for any Freccia train you do not have to get them stamped before boarding as you do other trains.

Oh look a trolley cart, just like on Harry Potter!!  Below is a typical station platform in some of the smaller cities.  Major cities can have 24 or more tracks lined up side by side.  One thing I forgot to mention is seating...On Freccia trains the seats are plush and the size of first class seating on an airplane...the other trains the seats are more like economy coach!

After arriving at Genoa and stowing our gear in our hotel room, we headed to Genoa's aquarium and passed this ship on the boardwalk.  We were very fond of watching the manatees and dolphins.  They had an extensive section dedicated to tropical fish in both oceans and rivers!  While very sweaty it was not something you find in a typical aquarium.

This gold colored lobster is so bright it attracts predators, so the aquarium has provided it a safe home.

These next 3 pictures are for our GrandGirls...Can you guess who each one is for?  Grammy and Grampy love you!