The Night Train

A highlight of the London, Paris, Florence, and Rome Tour is taking a night train from Paris to Rome. The night train is always an experience! This one failed to disappoint! We already knew that we were not going directly to Florence. Instead, we would stop in Milano and 5:00 AM and switch trains and be in Florence by 8:00. On the way to the Gare de Bercy, Chris told us that a tunnel in Switzerland had closed and that the journey would take longer than planned. Trains leave from Milano to Florence every half-hour, though, so we would be fine. We were told to make sure we had plenty of water and plenty to eat, though-we could be on the train awhile. As soon as we got to the station, I bought the biggest Evian possible, a big muffin, and a bad of M&M's. My muffin was the last muffin available, and fairly soon after I bought it, the bakery closed because of such high demand due to the tunnel closing. The station, too, was unusually crowded due to the tunnel. Time came to load the train. In my car were Armon, Aaron, Stephen, Josh, Claudia, and me. That too, added to the experience. For supper, we were given sandwiches. As we pulled out of Paris, everything was going smoothly. Everyone was in their couchettes chatting, eating, or playing cards. We were near the bar car and it was nice to go get Cokes, Sprites, and candy. Around nine, the train stopped. We paid no attention to it, we just thought it was a stop for people to either get on or off. A few hours later, we felt that something must be up!       Later, we found out that there had been a death on the train!
     But, then we started moving, and everything was fine. We just kept hanging out. There isn't much else to do on a train. About 1, we all started going to bed. I was on the top bunk, above Armon, who was above Aaron. On the other side, (top to bottom) were Stephen, Josh, Claudia. 
     "WHO DID THAT?" Shouted, the Hawaiian group leader for the entire train to wake to. The train had come to a rather sudden stop, I looked out the window, and we were not in Milan, but somewhere in the alps. We had stopped at a train station and even though we had been told NOT to get off the train, the Hawaiian group leader and some of hers did. I decided that this was OK because, she was so smart, and appeared to know everything about traveling. Returning to the stop, there was a rumor that one of the Hawaiian children had pulled the emergency alarm as a prank. Later in the day, though, after thorough questioning from Armon, the Hawaiian group leader told all that a piece of their luggage had fallen upon it. I would love to see a suitcase do that. There is a shelf in the top of the couchette, above the door for luggage. Sticking out from that are a few knobs and handles. One of these handles is the Emergency alarm. However, it read "PULL IN CASE OF EMERGENCY!" Again I say, I would love to see a suitcase pull it. However, I would never doubt the word of the Hawaiian group leader. This was roughly 7 AM. Around noon, we finally pulled into Milano Cintrale! We were overjoyed. Our 18 hour train ride was over!