Our trip from Gaeta to Formia was by car, C's grandfather drove us (and we made it in one piece with very little heart failure on the passenger's part) to the station to save us time and money, which was much appreciated. We got from Formia to Rome in time for T's train to Fiumoncino, but getting there at 8:30 meant that our train to Milan, leaving at 12:30, was oh so far off. We bought a brioche and sat at the table of a station cafe, for the entire four hours. We got on the train and oh boy was it full up. Our compartment (they seat six) had an older couple and a younger woman, and then the three of us, packs full to bursting. We sat on that train, vaguely dozing at times, reading or watching videos at others, for 7 hours. Not as bad as some trains I've had, it was certainly not the worst though.
We got into Milan about 7:15, and found our hostel after some interesting subway adventures. Having to go up and down a lot of stairs with the back pack and the baby-front pack while it was practically 80 underground was nauseating. After we settled in we made dinner and started more research on our trains and hostels for Switzerland, Austria, and Prague. After much annoyance and debate, we finally had a plan and went to a late sleep. We got to sleep in to ten am, an important fact to note here.
We left Milan around 5 and got to Brig, Switzerland at 7ish. C was looking worse, his stomach was really nasty and he was green, and so Air and I went in search of a grocery that might be open to get some stuff for him, bland food, and some drinks and food for the next two days. We found nothing, but our first experience of the Alps was absolutely breathtaking. We wandered for an hour, and then we came back to C, who was watching the bags. There was a little shop in the station where we got our stuff, and we hunkered down, ready to sleep in shifts.
I should describe our setup: The were benches, all the metal type with holes and as uncomfortable as all get out, and we took the two farthest to the left. The ticket office was across from us, and what is apparently the only vending machine in Brig was diagonal and only like 10 feet away. Now, C took one bench, and Air and I took the other. Our bags were placed behind the bench in a little hollow of the window, like a bay window only with one pane and high up, so it was the perfect spot to keep our stuff contained and safe. Air and I played games and watched tv shows on the Acer (named Gimli) and let C sleep. Neither of us was too tired, but we knew that 14 hours was a long time to be awake, so we decided to make "tea." I use the term lightly here... What we had was three tea bags, frizzante water (accidentally purchased instead of normale) and three packets of honey. The bottle was 2 liters, we poured half of that into another water bottle, and we stuck the three tea bags into the big bottle, tied together to keep them from getting lost. The carbonation kept the teabags from sinking, but they did steep, and we left them for about and hour, hour and a half, before we tested the waters, so to speak. We ended up having to cut a hole into the side to pour out of, and we used a nutella cup to split it. Added one honey packet (there was about three cups worth of tea, so we rationed) and took the ultimate test: I had the first sip and it was horrid. But, in the spirit of caffeine, hydration, and not wasting anything, we drank the vile stuff, every drop.
The night was otherwise uneventful; we mostly played Peggle and watched stuff, no one bothered us except one to ask for cigarettes, but she left us alone when we said we didn't have any. The last train left at 12:30, the next train came at 4:30. Yet the station never closes, so there were travelers, like us, stuck waiting, or teens with nothing better to do on a Friday than to hang out at the only open place in town. It seemed like everyone who came to the station came for two reasons, not only to get somewhere but to use the vending machine!
About 5 C woke up long enough for Air and I to force him to take watch while we snatched some downtime. Air couldn't sleep, but I passed out until 6, when the cleaner came around loudly. So, from then until our train at ten, we just kind of passed the time between us by walking; we watched the sunrise come up over the alps, and the city come to life. It was well worth the long wait.

Next installment: The Glacier Express and the rest of the journey to Salzburg.