Thursday, September 30, 2010

Convalida (Validation) Yellow Boxes


When I wrote about Italy Train Travel yesterday, it occurred to me that I should probably make a distinction about the convalida (validation) yellow boxes: the yellow validation boxes for trains are located in different places than the ones for trams and buses.

In a train station, the yellow convalida boxes are typically located where the station pedestrian through-way meets the individual train platform (binario). At Milano Centrale (the Milan Central Train Station), I seem to remember that each platform had its own yellow box, but some other train stations have one box for every two platforms or occasionally even fewer. I also remember that a significant percentage of these boxes have a tendency to be out of order. My advice? Find an operational convalida box (and validate your ticket) well in advance of your train’s departure so you’re not rushing to find one while you run to your train. It’s also useful to note that, if you forget to validate your ticket prior to getting on the train (or didn’t leave yourself enough time to find a working box), you can be fined by the train conductor when he checks the tickets.

On Italian trams and buses (in the north of Italy, anyway), the yellow box is inside the car. On trams, you can typically find one box in front by the driver and at least one near the back door of the tram (again – expect one of the machines to be out of order and expect to have to maneuver through a moving tram to find and use the yellow box). On city buses, the yellow box placement is usually the same as on the trams.

Safe travels!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Jonesing for Train Travel through Italy

As evident in the name of this blog, I’m often thinking of Italy. It has been a little over a year and half since I’ve been back to Italy – far too long for an Italy addict like me. I have been known to take lovely, calming mental vacations in a moment’s time, wandering through memories of my trips there. No bandwidth, DVD player, or plane ticket required.

What I keep coming back to, and what I conjure up when I research budget airfare to surrounding countries to get back to my beloved Italy, is train travel. I remember the idyllic scenery passing by and wanting to get off the train at every stop to look around.

I also remember how much trouble my husband and I had buying our own train tickets and becoming savvy the hard way about Italy train travel. The electronic ticket machines are easier to use these days than they were ten years ago, but they can still confuse a novice non-Italian-speaking traveler. Not knowing how things work on Trenitalia (the Italian train line) can be expensive and uncomfortable. You should definitely learn what the Convalida yellow box is for (validating your ticket before you get on the train), and understand that buying a ticket on a Eurostar train only means that you can get on the train – not that you get a seat (you need a seat reservation for that, at extra cost).

I wish that we had had a web page like this one to read before we went: Tips to Riding Trenitalia


Credits to Italy Inside for posting the article. Now you can gain instant train travel savvy and just enjoy the ride.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

My Breakthrough Italian Learning Tool: iPad

So, I’m back at it again. It is time to rededicate myself to achieving fluency in the Italian language. I have been “studying” Italian for the last eleven years; mostly cramming prior to trips overseas. I also have the unfortunate tendency to back off on the studying when life gets hectic, which has been most of the time for the last couple of years.

I’m determined for this year to be different, though. I invested in a little technology a few months ago in the hopes of surging forward in all of the things I am trying to learn on my own: I bought an iPad.

Of course, the Italophile that I am, I immediately loaded the iPad with Italian language instructional apps – English/Italian Dictionary, Italian Verbs, English to Italian common phrase book, Italiano Spelling Games, l’Unita News, Corriere della Sera News, etc. But I have a clear favorite app: Radio Italia. 255 Italian radio stations all available on my iPad, whenever and wherever I want!

The Radio Italia app is bringing me one of the most critical pieces missing from my study of Italian: immersion (albeit one-sided immersion). Just by having it playing in the background for hours a day on my iPad (and not streaming on my work computer, which would make the Systems Support team at work cranky at me), I am already better able to recognize common phrases and differentiate words in fast-paced conversation. I can jot down words to look up later (on another app on the iPad), and increase my understanding immediately.

I have become a huge fan of station 105 Best 4U (“Cento Cinque Friends!”). They play popular music between friendly comic banter that reminds me of morning zoo-style radio shows from the 80’s and 90’s. I get to hear slang and relaxed casual conversation, like sitting around a dinner table in Milano with friends.

Up until the time of the iPad, I only had Sunday morning RAI USA broadcasts on my local Comcast cable and the occasional ability to watch ten minutes of Italian TV stations on www.BeelineTV.com while I inhaled some lunch at work. I would stare intently at the screen, willing the Italian anchorwoman on the TG2 news program to impart clear understanding of the pictures that flashed across the screen. I just wasn’t up to the task – my listening skills are still underdeveloped, but I think I may have the breakthrough answer now. After all of this time trying to learn from CDs and workbooks, extended access to these real live conversations on Italian radio are the tool I have been waiting for to put it all together.

Now, if I could just find an app that makes me talk back to it in Italian, I’d be all set.
Sounds like an entrepreneurial opportunity to me.