I had to be in Treviso to catch a Ryanair flight to Frankfurt in the evening. Ryanair's tactic is to use regional airports that are close to major cities. So for example, Treviso is advertised as Venice, Frankfurt Hahn (a former military airport about 100km out of Frankfurt) is advertised as Frankfurt, and Girona is advertised as Barcelona. In Ryanair's defense, they do negotiate for or arrange shuttle services to the major cities.
The Chinese couple in the room last night looked odd. They had big suitcases with them and didn't look like backpackers. Maybe they were planning to set up yet another variety store. Then again they may have been tourists, I saw them consulting maps. Who knows?
I copied some details for Treviso from the guidebook and then abandoned it in the hostel. The book was actually 12 years old from a previous trip and the information about establishments was out of date. City sights had been the same for centuries of course.
I decided to take an earlier train to avoid the heat. But I only ended up killing time at Mestre and taking the exact train to Treviso that I had originally decided on. There were lots of people at Mestre, moving in or out of Venezia. At Treviso, I noted the bus stand for the airport, then parked my backpack in storage. I wondered if I was imagining it, but the Trevisiani I dealt with seemed a bit jumpy. Maybe they didn't like working on a Sunday morning.
Treviso is a prosperous city, being the headquarters of clothing giant Benetton, appliance manufacturer DeLonghi, and other names. I found the main Piazza dei Signori easily. Many people were out having a coffee and enjoying the day.
This looks like a nice lunch doesn't it? However it's actually an ice-cream desert made to look like a spaghetti dish. For lunch I went to Treviso's Brek, mostly to avoid looking too hard for a restaurant. The milanese was too salty, but the Nastro Azzurro beer was ok. Incidentally Northern Italy and Austria claim the milanese or schnitzel respectively as their cuisine. I suppose it isn't too hard to come up with the idea of pounding a filet of meat flat, coating it with bread crumbs and frying it.
At the supermarket I encountered these fascinating Saturn Peaches. They looked like they had been sat on, but they were heavenly so I went back and bought some more. At that time I didn't know what they were called, but I have since discovered that they are called pan tao in China. Other names include donut peach. They have gained popularity in recent years as people look for variety and I saw some recently in Sydney.
I took a walk on the outside of the old city walls to spend time. Treviso claims it has canals like Venezia's. In their dreams. Not a patch on Venezia. The river Sile is grotty in places. However it is a pleasant walk.
I retrieved my backpack and hopped onto the airport bus. It was warm and I figured that there would be air-conditioning in the airport. The airport is just 3km out of the city. That close; this I had to see. The bus left before the scheduled time. Or maybe it was the previous service, late. This was Italy, so who knows?
In fact Treviso airport was so undistinguished that I missed it. From the road it looked like a medium sized hotel or office building. I only realised this when the bus reached the end of the run. Never mind, I had heaps of time; I'll just stay on the bus for the return trip. The bus driver said, good-humouredly, why didn't you tell me you wanted to get off at the airport? Non importa, ho tempo, I said.
Ryanair, like other budget airlines, has tricks to squeeze more money from customers. The basic ticket is often a great bargain, but then you have to add on charges and taxes. A surcharge might be levied for non-partner credit cards. A basic 15kg luggage allowance has to be purchased in advance. Paying at the airport or wanting more allowance will cost more. You have to pay more if you want priority seating. If you want food or drink you have to buy it. There was even talk of charging for using the plane's toilet. Still, some ticket prices are incredible, starting at 1€. I have to say I am in favour of cheap no-frills services but some of the money-extraction ideas are risible and petty.
Another thing these airlines do is build a lot of leeway into their schedule so that when they arrive early, this is hailed as great service and boosts their statistics. This was what happened—we arrived early at Frankfurt Hahn. To no avail though, the shuttle to Trier did not leave until the scheduled time. I got into the hostel about 2200. I had told them in advance that I would be late so they had left my room key on a hook. Then I went out and had some fast food for dinner. I had eaten a sandwich on the plane so I hadn't starved. It was a cool 19C and drizzling mildly when I arrived at Hahn. Well, that's the end of the sunny weather, I thought. I had no idea how right I was to be in the days to come.
The Chinese couple in the room last night looked odd. They had big suitcases with them and didn't look like backpackers. Maybe they were planning to set up yet another variety store. Then again they may have been tourists, I saw them consulting maps. Who knows?
I copied some details for Treviso from the guidebook and then abandoned it in the hostel. The book was actually 12 years old from a previous trip and the information about establishments was out of date. City sights had been the same for centuries of course.
I decided to take an earlier train to avoid the heat. But I only ended up killing time at Mestre and taking the exact train to Treviso that I had originally decided on. There were lots of people at Mestre, moving in or out of Venezia. At Treviso, I noted the bus stand for the airport, then parked my backpack in storage. I wondered if I was imagining it, but the Trevisiani I dealt with seemed a bit jumpy. Maybe they didn't like working on a Sunday morning.
I retrieved my backpack and hopped onto the airport bus. It was warm and I figured that there would be air-conditioning in the airport. The airport is just 3km out of the city. That close; this I had to see. The bus left before the scheduled time. Or maybe it was the previous service, late. This was Italy, so who knows?
Ryanair, like other budget airlines, has tricks to squeeze more money from customers. The basic ticket is often a great bargain, but then you have to add on charges and taxes. A surcharge might be levied for non-partner credit cards. A basic 15kg luggage allowance has to be purchased in advance. Paying at the airport or wanting more allowance will cost more. You have to pay more if you want priority seating. If you want food or drink you have to buy it. There was even talk of charging for using the plane's toilet. Still, some ticket prices are incredible, starting at 1€. I have to say I am in favour of cheap no-frills services but some of the money-extraction ideas are risible and petty.
Another thing these airlines do is build a lot of leeway into their schedule so that when they arrive early, this is hailed as great service and boosts their statistics. This was what happened—we arrived early at Frankfurt Hahn. To no avail though, the shuttle to Trier did not leave until the scheduled time. I got into the hostel about 2200. I had told them in advance that I would be late so they had left my room key on a hook. Then I went out and had some fast food for dinner. I had eaten a sandwich on the plane so I hadn't starved. It was a cool 19C and drizzling mildly when I arrived at Hahn. Well, that's the end of the sunny weather, I thought. I had no idea how right I was to be in the days to come.
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