{"id":117,"date":"2005-12-16T20:45:00","date_gmt":"2005-12-16T20:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sararosso.com\/wordpress\/2005\/12\/16\/striving-for-excellence\/"},"modified":"2011-04-25T12:22:53","modified_gmt":"2011-04-25T10:22:53","slug":"striving-for-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2005\/12\/16\/striving-for-excellence\/","title":{"rendered":"Striving for Excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, I’m not sure if that’s the motto of Trenitalia<\/a>, Italy’s national (and only) railway service, but I’m sure that’s what their aim is. But I got to thinking about it, and I came up with some other mottos that I thought were just as good. Like..”Making your life difficult…one train at a time” or “If there’s a way, can you help us find it?” or “We’ll get you there…sooner or later” or better, “if we have to” or “Your only choice in rail travel.” (Of course, the last one is more of a threat than anything). Maybe the best is, “Turning vacations into retirement,” because it can refer both to your contribution to the employees’ pensions as well as the length of your journey.<\/p>\n

So, a note to travelers in Italy…the train schedule is set for an entire year and only really varies on the weekend. Trenitalia enacted the 2006 schedule on Monday. Good intentions, before the holiday season to allow commuters and everyone else to adjust to the changes. <\/p>\n

Why do they make changes to schedules? My mind says…To meet demand, to better service customers. Maybe, in some countries, to turn a profit. Unfortunately, I don’t think the proverb “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it” exists in Italy.<\/p>\n

This week has been terrible. Luckily Pavia has about 50 trains a day to-from Milan so many times I was able to take a train that was already 20-30 minutes late but was leaving at about the time I needed. <\/p>\n

I think my favorite episode was at 18:25, right before my 18.27 train was scheduled to depart. It was listed on the board and was flashing as they do right before the trains leave, yet it had no platform nor delay listed. It was a phantom train. I luckily caught a different train that was only 30 minutes late. <\/p>\n

One reader of a local free paper listed a set of numbers that he will play in the lotto, numbers that corresponded to the delays of his daily train for that week. This morning when I arrived, there were delays of 1hr45 and 1hr15 for some trains, one of the delays being twice as long as the train ride itself.<\/p>\n

The numbers give me a random segue (if you know the show, you remember the numbers) into my latest obsession, the TV show Lost<\/a>. I didn’t really know much about it until recently, then I was sent the first season<\/a> on DVD for Christmas, and I have been watching it whenever I can…most times on the train I don’t notice until we are on top of the station. I sneak in episodes when Sante’s in a lesson, or while cooking…I know it has to end soon, but then I’ll just start getting the new episodes from friends or buying them. A sickness!<\/p>\n

Also, I have to say, not since Harrison Ford<\/a> played Han Solo<\/a> in Star Wars have we had such a good (looking!) charismatic bad boy as Josh Holloway<\/a> playing “Sawyer.” And he was born in the same town as me!<\/p>\n

I like the fact that there is always two stories happening simultaneously – the current situation on the island, and the background of the characters and what makes up their motivations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, I’m not sure if that’s the motto of Trenitalia, Italy’s national (and only) railway service, but I’m sure that’s what their aim is. But I got to thinking about it, and I came up with some other mottos that I thought were just as good. Like..”Making your life difficult…one train at a time” or…<\/p>\n

Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,2,21],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-italian-culture","7":"category-italy","8":"category-random","9":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4uB1-1T","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":153,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/25\/trenitalia-owns-my-first-born-child\/","url_meta":{"origin":117,"position":0},"title":"Trenitalia owns my first-born child","author":"Sara, Ms Adventures in Italy","date":"April 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't believe it's been that long since I posted. That was, of course, the last night before a wave of visitors arrived! Bringing with them, of course, lots of treats and gifts, but visitors nonetheless. You don't realize how much work it is traveling until you start doing it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Holiday"","block_context":{"text":"Holiday","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/italy\/holiday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":154,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/27\/italian-health-care-system-part-87\/","url_meta":{"origin":117,"position":1},"title":"Italian Health Care System, part 87","author":"Sara, Ms Adventures in Italy","date":"April 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Listening: www.soulfulclassics.com - Classic R&B internet radio Reading: The Time Traveler's Wife So, I had to schedule an appointment with a doctor, who in October told me that I should schedule it in March-April. He gave me a sheet of paper with my test results and at the top, a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bureaucracy"","block_context":{"text":"Bureaucracy","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/italy\/bureaucracy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":108,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2005\/11\/22\/mixtures-nature-probably-never-intended\/","url_meta":{"origin":117,"position":2},"title":"Mixtures Nature Probably Never Intended…","author":"Sara, Ms Adventures in Italy","date":"November 22, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"One of my recent finds, that I have to share for those you of in Milan. Just in case you have some extra time at the train station near platform 21, you can stop in at the Milano Centrale Holy Chapel (listed under Public Utility) for some private time. We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Holiday"","block_context":{"text":"Holiday","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/italy\/holiday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":130,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2006\/01\/27\/revelations-in-white\/","url_meta":{"origin":117,"position":3},"title":"Revelations in White","author":"Sara, Ms Adventures in Italy","date":"January 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Reading - Book: Saturday | Article: Women-owned businesses increase What I wish I had invented: Dunk Mug After only 2.5 hours in my attempt to arrive at work, during which I discovered I had left my cell phone at home so I couldn't do either of the favorite Italian pastimes:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Italy"","block_context":{"text":"Italy","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/italy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3931,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/09\/the-dirtiest-ugliest-toilet-seat-on-a-train-ever\/","url_meta":{"origin":117,"position":4},"title":"The Dirtiest Ugliest Toilet Seat on a Train…Ever","author":"Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy","date":"December 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"After living here for 7.5 years, I didn't think that Italy could continue to surprise me like this. But it can. And not all lovely surprises. Behold, the absolute dirtiest ugliest toilet seat on a train....ever. And the answer to your question is yes. I really really had to go.","rel":"","context":"In "Italy"","block_context":{"text":"Italy","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/italy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The ugliest, dirtiest toilet seat on a train","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/whatisee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_3393_s-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":341,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2007\/05\/14\/spoleto-in-early-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":117,"position":5},"title":"Spoleto in Early Morning","author":"Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy","date":"May 14, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Don't tell her what time we arrive.\" This was how a meeting between close friends was to begin, with a lie, with an evasion. But it was necessary. We decided to do our normal night train down south so that we could \"earn\" another day during our little vacation, one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Behind the Scenes"","block_context":{"text":"Behind the Scenes","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/behind-the-scenes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Il Duomo di Spoleto","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/205\/497573771_bca93f111d.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3240,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117\/revisions\/3240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}