London to Venice by train

I took a train, instead of a plane to Venice, from London. I traveled across mountains and national boundaries, got off halfway and stretched my legs. I visited the most beautiful cities and towns in Europe.

Day One

London-Paris

​Eurostar Train stopping at Saint Pancras Station, waiting for passengers to get on the train

On a summer morning in 1994, I took part in a historical event at the age of seven, with my handheld GameBoy and innocence; I went to France via Britain-France Channel Tunnel together with my family members. The tunnel was put into use two weeks ago. During most of the journey, I hoped that the ceiling of the carriage would break, so that I could put on my inflated lifesaving armlet if the codfish and eels got in through the windows. Soon the train arrived at the terminal of this pioneering journey, Gare du Nord. We are the first people to come to France from Britain through the land since the Stone Age. About 9,000 years ago, when the tunnel hadn’t been filled with sea water, our ancestors also came here through the land. Twenty years later, I got on the Eurostar train, also on a summer morning, but obviously it was not as amazing as the trip I took that when I was a child. Under the dome of the cathedral at St. Pancras International, commuting business passengers and French tourist groups holding guard teddy bears were walking about together. Finally, Britain has been connected to the broad world railway network. The network keeps developing. We can travel along two railways to go to Vietnam, Tibet, or even North Korea from Britain. You can take a train to travel from Peterborough of England to Saint Petersburg of Russia, from Barry Island to Bari, Italy, or from London to Venice. Eurostar Train left Saint Pancras International Railway Station and went into the sun. The surrounding industrial district soon disappeared into the green fields. It only takes two hours to fly from London Gatwick Airport to Venice. If you take a train instead, you can enjoy something which is considered illegal or fatal on a plane, such as put your head or hands out of the window, change the destination temporarily and enjoy the excitement when watching the moving floor after pressing the flush button of the toilet. Additionally, you can enjoy the change of scenery when the train moves from Kentish weald to Oak Forest in France, and from Alpine-steppe in Switzerland to Olive Forest in Italy. When the train dashes into the dark tunnel, passengers can hear a distinctive boo sound. The idea of Britain-France Channel Tunnel can be traced back to 1802. You can image horse hoofs crossing the tunnel and Mollusks floating above the head. Then the more whimsical ideas emerged, including throwing steel tubes into the sea to fill in the sea, or building an artificial island. For several centuries, the British people were worried that others may invade Britain through secret tunnels, just like Napoleon’s army or the Nazis. The train embraced the daylight, and finally we came to Paris and traveled on the broad streets of the capital. After leaving Gare du Nord, I took Metro 8 to go southbound. Then I got above the land by the riverside of Seine-et-Marne and was going to marvel under the great iron Eiffel Tower.

Gius Inissan at the cafe of Le Train Bleu

Day Two

Pairs-Zurich

Lof Grenrich driving Bernina Express

The British invented the railway, but French perfected the railway; their trains are faster, more charming, and even the sandwiches are more delicious. Le Train Bleu of Garede Lyon is an example; with the location of the largest station cafe in the world, and the best place for passengers to have breakfast before heading toward Zurich. “We must be quick when serving customers,” said Gius Inissan, who moved fast between tables, “customers need to hurry up for the train and sometimes they leave without paying.” The menu of Le Train Bleu is rich in content; it includes foie gras, small beef steak and red wine costing RMB 5,880(900 USD). Compared with the decoration of the cafe, the menu seems insignificant: mini Versailles pillars, golden walls, wall paintings of visitors-men wearing beards and women holding umbrellas. The name Le Train Bleu came from the luxurious sleeper which used to take passengers from Paris Gare de Lyon to the Mediterranean coast. Celebrities who have taken this train include comedian Charles Chaplin, former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and writer Scott Fitzgerald, but the sleeper is history now. TGV in France, the fastest train in Europe, is so fast that passengers don’t have the time to take a nap, let alone sleep for eight hours. When British trains bump slowly on the railway network, TGV is traveling across the field at the speed of cutting cheese. The fastest speed of TGV is 600 km/h (faster than Boeing 747). However, there are also come shortcomings for traveling to Zurich by TGV. The scenery moves so fast that you can only occasionally and subconsciously appreciate the scenery outside the window. You can only get a glimpse of the village square where it is so quiet that you can only hear the rolling of pétanque and the harsh and regular whistles of the train. Arriving at Zurich, you know immediately that it is a city of clocks. On the spire of St. Peter’s Church, there is the largest clock in Europe and it sounds on time. There are also cuckoo clocks and ticking watches inlaid with crystals inside showcases. The most important clock of the city is the one you see when you arrive at the main train station. It barley makes a sound, showing times of different time zones from Zurich to Zanzibar Island in Eastern Africa. It is worth mentioning that (Apple) iPhone and iPad has borrowed its design. Designed in 1944, this Swiss Mondaine clock is a classic that work as a time signal equipment. The second hand doesn’t travel around in a ticking motion; instead it glides over the clock smoothly. Zurich seems to be a city which is running rhythmically like a fine clock. Blue light rail vehicles occupy streets in an elegant way, cable cars slowly climb onto surrounding hills, and rows of boats by Zurich Lake set out. The city embraces the Zurich Lake. On sunny days, you can even see the reflection of Alps on the lake. When the clock of the station points at 6:00 PM, night life activates in Zurich. People working in the city walk along the river or sit by the tables of cafes. At 9:00 PM, the whole city is swallowed by the surrounding hills. When the clock pointed to 8:00 AM the next morning, I got on the train and started a beautiful journey.

Overlooking Bernina Express traveling across Lake Palü from Alp Grüm Station

Day Three

Zurich-Tirano

Reading the list of UN World Heritages, you will find that among Peru Machu Picchu, Giza Pyramids, Taj Mahal and many other heritages, there is also the railway of Switzerland. Bernina Line is a railway which can turn common people into fans of railways. Along the railway, splendid and charming scenery of Alps can use up all the backup batteries you take for your cameras. After a blink, the train slowly travels across the spire of the church and the treetops, rapid rivers and fields full of flowers. Bernina Express seems to be contradictory in nature. Sometimes, it rushes like a jet coaster or a storm onto abrupt slopes, waddles along cliffs, then rushes into a tunnel soon after. At other times, it pretends to be a car, dashing around madly on the road and disturbing the transportation. The train keeps swerving, and passengers may feel that the train is traveling while blazing a trail. “You need to be prepared all the times during the journey”, said Lof Grenrich, who has been a driver of trains for 36 years. He likes to sing songs from AC/DC. He said, “Sometimes, I had to stop the train to drive away cows sitting on the railway. Once a driver swerved only to find that the bridge in front was washed away by flood. ” Drivers have to worry about not only bridges being washed away by flood but also other hazards. During the journey, soft grassland became a field of rare stones when we arrived at Lago Bianco. This place is the zenith of Bernina Railway. Usually only freezing wind and lost goats may come here. At the most wildest corners of Lago Bianco and Alps in winter, the train was half buried in the snow many times following an avalanche. However, when Bernina Railway was finished in 1908, it was a miracle. It connected many remote isolated mountain villages. At lunch, the train stopped at the stone-made Alp Grüm Station. During winter, one can arrive here only by train. Villagers also transport groceries and furniture by train. However, the inconvenience has brought great rewards. They have the most beautiful scenery of the Alps: great waterfalls, splendid glacier, and many forests. In the south, one can overlook the mountains in Italy which stand side by side with those of Switzerland. At the foot of the mountain is the simple town Tirano. Bernina Express arrived at the terminal beside a small square surrounding some pizza shops with Italian flags. Bernina Mountains in the front occupied a large part of the view. The peak of the eastern Alps, 4,048m high, is located here. It is equivalent to two Benm Nevises and one Snodon and one Arthur’s Seat. The red train moves slowly along the foot of the mountain with clouds floating above the sky. “One can never get bored of looking at such scenery,” said a teacher in Zurich, “Even for Swiss people, such a journey is amazing.”

Varenna and east bank of Lake Como

Day Four

Tirano-Milan

Traveling across Europe by train is an interesting experience. On the French TGV, announcers have a lively intuition, while announcers for the Swiss railway are serious. When they mention some names of stations, like Kloten, Spinas, Rabius-Surrein, they seem like doctors announcing bad news. However in Italy, every stop seems to have some fantasy and poetry. When the railway platform broadcasts “please do not cross the yellow line,” it seems to be excerpted from Dante’s poems. I took an old local train at Tirano to go to Milan. The carriage is full of scrawls, smell of oil stains and harsh sounds. Pinewood outside the window made way for lush orchards and small yellow log cabins. During one hour of the ride, the train traveled slowly along Lake Como in the afternoon sunshine. The names of stations are pleasant to listen to; Varenna, Piona, Chiavenna, like a dying person murmuring the name of the lover. All the towns are very lovely; sightseeing stands covered by green leaves, open squares and balconies covered by lavenders. At one moment, the train moves along the lake outside Varenna Town. Under the railway are some beautiful gardens with many statues. Classical statue of god stands in ivy. The eye of the statue gazes at the lake. Soon, the train came to the end of Lake Como. And then a ray of orange light shone the horizon in the south and the sound of heavy traffic in Milan came to my ears through the windows.

Gothic, marble Milan Cathedral

Day Five

Milan-Venice

During the last part of the journey, the train took me from Milan Central Station to Venice Santa Lucia Station across the northern plain of Italy. These two stations are greatly different from each other. Getting on the train in Milan is like taking a train in a Roman church. Milan Central Station was built in 1930s. The dome of the station is like a skyline. Not only is its tonnage greater than that of Milan Cathedral, the architecture is also greater than many palaces in the city. The train traveled across the fields of Lombardy, Verona, and Padua. Two hours later, I arrived at Venice Santa Lucia Station. Standing at the lobby of the station, you can feel the state of mind of the architect Virgilio Vallot at that time. Eighty years ago, he stood at the same place, holding the design drawing in his hand in front of such enchanting scenery. Palaces stand on both sides of the canal, barnacles adhere to the land, flower boxes are everywhere on the handrails, and reflections ripple in the water. Across the river, the dome of the San Simeone Piccolo stands out. At the back, roofs of red argils are all over the city. Virgilio Vallot succeeded in giving Venice a shoe box-shaped station. This cement building doesn’t compete with the surrounding bustling environment, nor does it steal the beauty of Venice. Santa Lucia Station makes people who come to Venice experience sublimated emotion, not for local people coming back to the hometown, but also for visitors or drunken passengers. They wake up and walk into this dreamy city. Even sober visitors feel like they are walking in the dream. I boarded a boat for Piazza San Marco. This was the first time for me to leave land since I left Saint Pancras Station.

(Source: December, 2015, Lonely Planet Magazine, text: Oliver Smith, photos: Justin Foulkes. Without permission, it can’t be used elsewhere. For more contents, please go to WeChat account number: lptraveller)