The announcements on trains in Italy are made first in Italian and then in English. The English version has been pre-recorded in the same way as the announcement of tube stops are on London Underground.
Later this year the third series of Toast of London will be on TV. It is a bonkers sitcom about a struggling actor called Toast, played by Matt Berry. One of the running gags in the two earlier series is his job recording voice-overs. The actorly voice on Italian trains sounds suspiciously Toast.
The inter-city train takes thirty-seven minutes to travel from Bologna to Florence. The last time I made this journey it was on foot and took about a week. It is a lovely walk high in the Apennines through meadows and beech woods. The train is in tunnels for much of the journey.
From Florence we took a local train to Perugia. There was one unscheduled stop when a passenger was taken ill. It provided an opportunity for passengers to disembark for a cigarete.
The invalid was taken off the train on a stretcher, the conductor shouted ” a bordo” and we resumed our journey. Perugia is essentially a large and hilly city. Using moving staircases and lifts to get up the hills is not the act of a wimp.
As you can see, the weather was overcast with the threat of thunder storms that did not materialise. I will tell you where we are going next tomorrow.