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In Italy there are different kind of trains, though all of them give you a chance to experience a new adventure. Going to Lecce from Rome we used an Eurostar train, a very comfortable one that cost us 54 Euro. We had 6 hours of the trip and I could easily fit myself in two soft chairs to sleep. |
My sleep was only a dream, one guy talking in some strange language (a mix of French with English words or English with some French) was always on the phone. May be he thought that no body can understand him so he was talking very loud. He spent around 5 hours on the phone talking so loud that I could not sleep.
We arrived to Casarano on the minibus but when Marco came the second day he told me his incredible experience with FSE (Ferrovie Sud Est). After the exchange finished I could experience this by my own when we took the train from Casarano to Lecce. I was bursting out of laughing when I saw the train coming. It was a small, like a toy, one carrozza train. We entered the train and this was the beginning of the rail adventure in South of Italy. I felt like in the bus in this small train, we had to stop on the middle of the way to change the train because of some works on the line. The second train was the same just it had two carrozza and some graffiti painting on it. The man said that if the engine does not break we will arrive in time to Lccce, but if no we will have to change the train again. For lucky we arrived safely and in time. The train I took back from Lecce to Rome was not an Eurostar one, it was a simple regional train, though it was also very comfortable. The difference I think is that the trip took us a little more than with Eurostar train and it was cheaper, only 36 Euro (though it is said to be more dangerous).
From the very beginning of our trip Marco told me to be very attentive and careful with strangers because trains in South of Italy are famous for crime stories. We found an empty box to stay (I did not make a reservation of the seat when buying the ticket) and prepared for the trip. If you are traveling alone it is better to make reservation of the seat and book one that is near the window (doors in the South Italian trains are not locking so the person near the door is the first victim for the maniac). We put out the chairs and they formed a big bed. If you are alone (or two like us) you can make yourself the bed and put your foot on the door (if you want to sleep, the travel is whole night from Lecce to Rome) so if someone tries to enter you will feel it. The way through Napoli is considered to be the most dangerous (have no idea why, may be because of the mafia) but for lucky we passed it safely staying only two of us on a big bed (when someone was opening the door they hesitated to enter and went to find another place). So we even managed to sleep (though me more, because Marco was with his legs up on the door as a safety sign of the possible danger).
