Hey good to see you here again! Glad to be back! You probably almost passed by where I am then, as I'm not too far from the Italian border (although you have to zigzag around some alps, which complicates things). Sounds you had quite some awesome trip through Europe, sad to hear it was cut short. I decided to just ride it out here, as for the first time in many years I actually had some kind of 'semi-permanent' position, which I guess is better than being stuck on the road hitchhiking somewhere. Honestly, I can't wait to hit the road again, but let's see how long we'll have to wait on this being socially and health-wise acceptable again. Crazy, crazy world!
How's Canada right now?
The train route we took was almost a straight line from Milan to Zurich. The once city that I was surprised by (while wizzing by on the train) was Lugano. They had Palm trees everywhere. I may end up going back just because it was very surprising.
Where I am in Ottawa, Canada is slowly starting to get back to normal... but there's at least four months of transition to go. Public Schools closed for the year, Universities are giving their courses online. Restaurants have been forced to be take away only. No organized sports or anything that involves groups of more than 5.
Most companies that can are letting their employees work from home. In many ways, it's kind of nice ... the kids are playing in the streets just like back in the 70's and 80's. There is very little traffic and the evenings are quiet.
Hopefully when this all settles, we'll end up somewhere in between where we were and where we are now.
Ah, I actually took that exact same train years ago. I did an Erasmus exchange when I was in uni, and I studied half a year in Milan. Visited Switzerland by train back then as well, scenic ride!
Looks like Canada is taking a thought-through approach. I hope when it all settles down again, I can add this destination to my go-to list. It's been a dream for quite a while, but somehow life has always randomly directed me into other paths. It's time!