10/27 – we were scheduled on the morning train out of Nice for an hour’s ride over the border to Ventimiglia, Italy. The train was late, so I took some pix of the station.

The train was packed, and we had to stand the whole way. When I looked at our next ticket, I realized that our 20 minute cushion between trains was now only 5 minutes. We would have to run an OJ through the station, find the right track and throw ourselves on the train to Genova. By the time we pulled into the station, our 5 minutes was down to 3. We positioned ourselves at the door, and jumped out as soon as the train rolled to a stop. As we ran for the steps, we saw others running too. There’s the display board! We yelled out the train number. Track 4! Track 4! We all ran for Track 4. An Asian couple in front of us was struggling with two huge rolling suitcases. As the man tried to lift one, Jim grabbed the other – go! Go! Go!

Do you think we made it? Yes, we did. Wasn’t that an exciting story?

We got to Genova by lunchtime, and had an hour to spare, so we walked out in the sunshine. Here is a statue of Christopher Columbus, beloved in his home town.

And now we are in Rome! A huge, gritty city. The Roma Termini train station must be a mile long, and has clothing stores, restaurants, and supermarket inside. Our debit card doesn’t work in the ATM here, and our European adapter plug doesn’t fit in the wall socket here. What have we done? But this city is a big part of our next pilgrimage, and we’ve got work to do. Stay tuned!