Day 34 - September 21 

Lyon to Merano: The Great Transfer Day

Today was almost entirely a travel day—and quite an adventure.

I left Lyon and flew EasyJet from Lyon Saint-Exupéry to Venice. From there the plan looked perfectly manageable on paper: get to Venezia Mestre, take the train to Verona, change for Bolzano, and finally take the bus to Merano.

Of course, travel days rarely care about plans.

After landing in Venice, I somehow ended up boarding a bus toward Venice Piazzale Roma instead of Venezia Mestre. Once I realized what had happened, there was a brief moment of panic because I had a specific train to catch. Fortunately, I figured out the recovery, took ACTV bus #2 back toward Mestre, and made it in time.

Then came another small lesson in Italian train travel.

At Venezia Mestre I spent several minutes trying to understand where my carriage would stop. Only about five minutes before the train arrived did the electronic platform displays finally show the coach positions. The message “Carrozza 1 in coda al treno”—coach 1 at the rear of the train—suddenly made perfect sense.

From Mestre I boarded the Frecciarossa to Verona, changed trains for Bolzano, and finally entered the Alps.

From Bolzano station I took bus 201 to Merano, getting off directly by Hotel Therme Meran.

By then it had been a very long day: airplane, wrong bus, correct bus, train, another train, another bus, and hauling luggage through every transfer.

But the reward at the end made everything worthwhile.

My room at Hotel Therme Meran immediately felt comfortable, modern and welcoming. Looking out toward the mountains, I realized I had arrived somewhere completely different from anywhere else on this trip.

Unfortunately, I also noticed the first signs of what felt like the beginning of a cold—a sore throat that had actually started the previous evening in Lyon. After weeks of airports, trains, hotels and crowds, perhaps it wasn’t entirely surprising.

Rather than trying to squeeze in sightseeing, I simply settled into my room.

France was behind me.

Ahead was South Tyrol—a fascinating place where Austrian and Italian cultures blend together—and four nights in Merano.