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Fire in the Sky
Tonight was our last night in Viareggio, and what a night it was.
We ate like kings and said our goodbyes.
The meal was prepared by our new friend Ivan, a ship captain, and his "first mate" Muriel. We ate an octopus casserole made with potatoes and greens, seared tuna, and tiramisu con frutti di bosco (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries). It was a wonderful dinner needless to say. As usual, we finished it with a cup of espresso and a walk to the pier. All was well.
And then the sky lit up with flames...
Everyone on the pier began to panic - calling family members and rushing towards their homes. The four of us were running to what looked like an explosion in the center of our city. It seemed to be spreading like a wildfire...
The closer we got to our home, the more clear it became that the fire was not in the center, but at the train station. When we arrived at the hotel, this was confirmed.
People were gathered in the streets covering their mouths and trying to make sense of what happened. Apparently a train carrying 14 carriages including two gas tanks had derailed and collided with another train... hence the explosion. The collision happened just past the passenger platforms - the same platforms we stepped off of just 5 hours earlier upon returning from Lucca.
After a short while, someone had the idea to take our photos to the giornale "newspaper". So we did just that and hurried over to the giornale where we uploaded our pictures to their server.
Now we are all watching the news and listening to reports of people who have been killed (16 so far) and badly burned. It's too soon to tell, but the damage appears to be great.
Alan and Erica, if you're reading this... we might run into a few snags tomorrow on our train ride. I'm not sure how we'll get out of Viareggio yet, but we'll more than likely take a bus to a surrounding city and leave from there. We will keep you posted.
Keep these people in your thoughts and prayers. They will need it.
Much Love,
Brian & Jess
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We ate like kings and said our goodbyes.
The meal was prepared by our new friend Ivan, a ship captain, and his "first mate" Muriel. We ate an octopus casserole made with potatoes and greens, seared tuna, and tiramisu con frutti di bosco (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries). It was a wonderful dinner needless to say. As usual, we finished it with a cup of espresso and a walk to the pier. All was well.
And then the sky lit up with flames...
Everyone on the pier began to panic - calling family members and rushing towards their homes. The four of us were running to what looked like an explosion in the center of our city. It seemed to be spreading like a wildfire...
The closer we got to our home, the more clear it became that the fire was not in the center, but at the train station. When we arrived at the hotel, this was confirmed.
People were gathered in the streets covering their mouths and trying to make sense of what happened. Apparently a train carrying 14 carriages including two gas tanks had derailed and collided with another train... hence the explosion. The collision happened just past the passenger platforms - the same platforms we stepped off of just 5 hours earlier upon returning from Lucca.
After a short while, someone had the idea to take our photos to the giornale "newspaper". So we did just that and hurried over to the giornale where we uploaded our pictures to their server.
Now we are all watching the news and listening to reports of people who have been killed (16 so far) and badly burned. It's too soon to tell, but the damage appears to be great.
Alan and Erica, if you're reading this... we might run into a few snags tomorrow on our train ride. I'm not sure how we'll get out of Viareggio yet, but we'll more than likely take a bus to a surrounding city and leave from there. We will keep you posted.
Keep these people in your thoughts and prayers. They will need it.
Much Love,
Brian & Jess
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