(Part 2 in a series. Previous installments can be found earlier in this blog, or in the Archives section)
As one grows older, one sometimes laments the so-called 'good old days', when really those days are now. We live in an age of wonder, and one of those areas where one sees that is in the area of transportation.
We were off on the first part of our great adventure to ride Vespas in the birthplace of the scooter as we know it. We flew to New York on a Delta Airlines Boeing 737-800. Overall, not a bad trip, once you come to accept that while the technology is very 21st century, passenger comfort (if you're in coach and bigger than a jockey) is firmly established in the 15th -- Spanish Inquisition 15th century, that is. To stay afloat and competitive, airlines must pack more and more seats in coach, and keep amenities to a minimum. This is because, in the words of former American Airlines CEO Robert Crandall, "Only three things matter to the average airline passenger; price, price, and price.".
So that is the paradox: we complain mightly about cramped conditions and marginal service, but if an airline tries a business model based on offering roomier seats and good meals for, say, 25 - 35% more, they'd promptly go out of business (I seem to recall there was an airline in the 80s that tried this - don't recall the name - perhaps because they did end up folding). As it is, seats in coach bring to mind a 'enhanced interrogation technique' from the Middle Ages known as the 'cell of little ease'. You really can't stretch out; attempting to sleep by putting your head down on the tray table doesn't work if you're 49, over 5'-10" and have a stiff back. But you get what you pay for, and since air travel these days can be insanely cheap (round trip Seattle to Rome for $600?) we tolerate the discomfort, because truth be told, we won't pay more if we don't have to. On the bright side Delta takes your mind off the limited comfort with nifty entertainment centers set in the seat back in front of you. While movies are charged for, there was a generous selection of TV shows, games and music available for free. There was even a cool little utility that let you track your flight as you went along.
One of the games they had was a Trivia Challenge, where you joined games in progress and match your knowlege of the trivial with your fellow passengers. I enjoy trivia games, and won every game I played. Curiously, with each game there were less and less paticipants, until I was the only one. Go figure.
At JFK airport, we changed planes for Rome. While in line to check with the gate agent to see if we could get better seats, we struck up a conversation with a nice Italian couple who were returning from their first visit to New York. We mentioned we were going on Italy By Vespa's scooter tour of Tuscany, and found that in an astonishing coincidence it was 'diamond cut diamond', as the fellow I was talking to was none other that the President of Vespa Club Foligno!. Plans were made to exhange legshield banners, and thus the Westenders Scooter Club extends it's global reach!
After an uneventful flight, we arrived in Rome's Leonardo da Vinci - Fiumicino airport. Passport Control and Customs were quick, courteous, and efficient, and within minutes we had our bags and were ready to head for our hotel in Florence.
One of the many benefits of travel is the opportunity to see how others live. Americans, on average, are somewhat ignorant about world affairs. For example, a recent survey of American young adults found that only 25% could find Israel on a map! We tend to believe that we are the ne plus ultra in culture and technology, but we can learn a lot from our friends around the world.
A good area of comparison is in transportation. The distance from Rome to Florence is 143 miles. The distance between Seattle and Portland, Oregon is 144. To get to Florence, all we had to do was walk to the part of the terminal where we boarded the Leonardo Express, a non-stop train from the airport terminal to Rome's central train station, the Termini. The Leonardo express departs every 30 minutes, and takes only 30 minutes to get to the Termini station. From there, we simply walked a few platforms over to board the Eurostar Italia Frecciarossa. This train departs for Florence every hour, can hit speeds of up to 300km/hr (that's 186mph!!!), and drops you off in the middle of Florence in 90 minutes! This is actually something of a pity, because the countryside you pass through is so beautiful, you actually find yourself wishing the trip took longer!
And by the way, there are plenty of automated ticket kiosks, no security lines, and you never have to take off your shoes! For what it's worth, I don't know if Mussolini really had anything to do with this, but during our visit, all the Italian trains were on-time, to the minute! We splurged and paid a few extra Euros for the first class coaches, which feature spacious, plush seats, and complementary wine!
Now let's say we wanted to go from Seattle to Portland. Your options are:
- Drive: Only 2 1/2 hours without traffic (yeah, right!)
- Fly: Horizon Air has flights that depart every half hour or so, but when you factor in the time to get to the airport (remember they tell you to arrive at SeaTac at least one hour in advance, park, check your bags, endure the rectal probe known as TSA Security Checkpoints, retrieve your bags in PDX, then secure transport from the airport to downtown Portland, any time you gained by flying has gone completely down the toilet.
- Train: Amtrak has trains to Portland several times a day. The Amtrak Cascades can get you from downtown Seattle to downtown Portland in a lickety-split 4 hours (and that's the fast train; the more comfortable Coast Starlight takes about an hour longer)
But this was Italy, not America, and so while our hypothetical Seattle traveller would still be trying to get to the Rose City, we were settling into our comfortable hotel room in the heart of old Florence. As I said, the rest of the world can teach us a thing or two, if we're willing to listen.
