Rant on Rail

Today I travelled from Rome to Florence on a new high speed train, the Frecciarossa 1000 .  It was so smooth I didn't think it WAS going so fast, until I noticed that traffic on the autostrada was going backwards even though it was going in our direction    .  The speedometer in the carriage was reading 250 km/h.  I had a glass of blood orange juice, a bottle of water, biscuits, a lolly all in a sealed bag, and included in the fare.  The service was impeccable and sort of multilingual.  As I munched and drank, Tuscany beckoned.  In the distance you could see the walled hill city of San Giminiano with its mediaeval towers.  We arrived in Firenze almost to the second.

What are our politicians doing?  I know that Italy has a bigger population than Oz, but it has less planes in the sky. People move around because they CAN move around very easily.

They've been careful with  their expenditure.  The fast tracks are given smoother curves.  The new track can climb quite steep hills.  The old track is still used by freight trains as it weaves its way over and under the fast tracks.  The real expenditure is in the High Speed Rail technology.  Our Treasurer is keen on "good debt".  I wonder if our money is where his mouth is?

Having arrived at Firenze Santa Maria Novella, I went by taxi to the Via Laura to the Hotel Morandi al Crocetta.  The hotel business has been going continuously since 1905.  The building which I imagine was a secondary palazzo was built in 1511, That's 506 years ago - over half a millennium. I'll try and put some photos in.

That's it for now!

John!