Brilliant blue skies and blazing sunshine greeted me and my friends Margo, Katy, Kathy, and Kate as we boarded the train in Domodossola, Italy bound for Switzerland.
I confess I felt quite giddy about our adventure. As a little girl I read about train travel in Europe and my youthful imagination flourished with dreams of wearing tweeds and jaunty hats, sipping tea in the dining car and carrying a carpet bag as I made my way from one fairytale town to the next.
Our journey was nothing like my British-book-inspired dreams, but every bit as wonderful.
We chugged along past flower-trimmed houses, through lush valleys bordered by soaring peaks, and emerged at our first stop: the village of Santa Maria Maggiore.
It is such a pretty little town with the most delightful alleyways leading off to hidden gardens, quiet courtyards, and vegetable patches picked clean of their summer bounty.
There are so many vividly colored buildings in S. Maria Maggiore, covered with richly detailed frescoes and paintwork. In the morning sun they positively glow.
Behind high walls and wrought-iron gates sit elegant manors with perfectly tended gardens, windows shuttered against the glare of early morning light.
I moseyed down a side street and found a walled courtyard filled with crunchy brown leaves and a window that peeked into the back of a lovely old church.
Before long we succumbed to the lure of mid-morning coffee and found a table at a cheery cafe filled with village men gossiping and watching the passersby. Those men had a good thing going! It was the perfect spot for people-watching and the coffee was strong and delicious.
Fortified and rested we continued our wanderings through town, finding more alleys, homes and quirky townsfolk to delight us.
What is your favorite mode of transportation when traveling?
Krista, your photos are gorgeous. I don’t have a favourite mode of travel, but I would like to do some more train journeys. I usually have a long flight ‘home’ to Australia from Italy, but it is awfully long.
Thank you so much, Cathy! 🙂 I will be taking that “awfully long” flight to Australia next week. I can’t wait to get to Oz but boy oh boy I’m NOT looking forward to 26 hours of flying. 🙂
Absolutely lovely Krista!!!!
Is there anything better than a train ride through Europe with girlfriends!?!
Beautiful, Krista! Lovely memories – your photos really capture the beauty of the town. Looking forward to seeing part 2!
Lovely Krista! You gals all look great & what a fun experience – love Italy & love train travel as well. Nothing like “taking it slow” on the rails – thanks for sharing with us your adventures in Italia & beyond.. !
Thanks for an inspiring post on the joys of train travel! 🙂
I love your photographs with the vivid colours.
I prefer train (only since magic carpet is not actually available) =) Look at all those grand houses…don’t you just want to park it in one of them forever?
Awesome photos! Looks like you ladies had a blast! 🙂 xo
Ahhh, the photos and your recounting of our journey brings back such fond memories. This day was one of the highlights of our trip. Train travel is my prefered way of getting around Europe; it’s so relaxing and there’s always so much to see right outside the window.