Onto Stresa

I had two excited kids who were looking forward to travelling from Florence to Milan on the new Frecciarossa 1000. Check out the Trenitalia Frecciarossa 1000 HERE  According to claims it is capable at travelling at 400kph but is still waiting for signalisation upgrades across the Italian lines to do this.

We arrived at Florence Santa Maria Novella station and nowadays they don't seem to tell you what platform it the train is leaving from until it is just about to leave. That way they can group you together and check your tickets before you get on the platform instead of on the train. 

We lashed out a bit and got seats in Business Class. If you book early enough you can actually get business class seats at the same price as standard seats. The train was nice and new and the carriage was roomy and quiet, but all this didn't help it get off on time. Grrr

Once we were underway the Tuscan countryside whizzed by at 300 kph. Every time Sebastian tried to get a photo of the speed over 300kph it would disappear off the screen like they wanted to keep it a secret how fast we were going. It was a remarkably smooth ride.

It would be fantastic if we had trains that travelled this fast in Australia. Imagine the growth of regional centres like Bendigo or even Shepparton if it was possible to get to Melbourne in under an hour. Anyway!!!!

We changed trains at Milan and headed to Stresa which is around 80kms north of Milan. It was great to travel along a train route I know reasonably well and as the train gets to Arona it runs along the shores of Lago Maggiore. Kylie and the kids enjoyed this part of this slow train. 

We arrived in Stresa and headed for the house we had rented for the week. We had rented an apartment on the lake which has sensational views from both bedrooms and the the lounge room. I'm looking forward to Stresa, I love coming to this area.