The Clemens party left Bellagio at 10 AM. They met G.K. Mayer and wife [MTNJ 2: 159n6] who helped them take the lake boat down to Lecco, Italy, where they boarded the train. They suffered another ten-hour trip and arrived at Venice at 7:30 PM. [Rodney 112; MTNJ 2: 194]. The family had looked forward to Venice as a “relaxing interlude in their long journey.” Livy’s itinerary called for a three-week stay [Rodney 112].
The Clemens party left Milan and traveled north to Bellagio on Lake Como [MTNJ 2: 156]. They stayed at the Grand Bretagne Hotel. Sam’s notebook:
“Rainy, sour, cold, dreary. Removed a screen in our room & discovered a regular fire-place—for wood. Right away we had the first wood fire we had seen since we left our own house. This made the day cheery” [2: 193].
Also noted was praise for Karl Baedeker’s (1801-1859) Italy, Handbook for Travellers: “curious & useful details” about Lake Como [2: 193]
Sam’s notebook:
The Italians all seem to go to work before daylight—& all in couples, singing tenor & bass or alto duet—all got strong voices & many good ones—don’t sing simple airs but starchy opera stuff—they wake you up and keep you awake.
The Milan clocks are not useful. This morning one struck 2, another 3, another 1, another 2, two others 3—all this occupied 10 minutes—so I got up & looked at my watch—correct time 4.15. 15 minutes later, the procession of striking began again.
Sam (and probably the ladies) went to see Da Vinci’s “Last Supper” in the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. “If there is anything worse than the original, it is the 15 or 20 copies in oil & water” [MTNJ 2: 190]. They also visited the “great picture gallery” (Brera).
“There are artists in Arkansas to-day who would not have had to paint signs for a living if they had had the luck to live in the time of the old masters” [191].
The Clemens party spent the day looking around Milan. They would spend five days in the city.
The family left Turin at 9:15 AM and arrived at Milan at 1:30 PM [MTNJ 2: 188]. Sam’s notebook is full of things they saw in Milan, and observations on a host of items and situations.
Some favorites:
I think the arcade system is borrowed from Turin.
Saw a starchy suit of clothes marked $9—doorway full of dummies dressed—stepped in to order one like the $9—nothing inside! The old man hauled in the dummy, stripped him & I ordered the clothes sent to the hotel.
The family spent the day in Turin, shopping and enjoying the sights [MTLE 3: 101].
The Clemens family left Chambéry for Turin by the fast express train, which Sam noted “makes 4 miles an hour—the other trains make only 3 1/4 . By 11 we were out of sight of Chambery.” Three hours from Turin, the train barely won a race with a team of oxen, Sam wrote [MTNJ 2:185]. It took eight more hours to arrive in Turin, at about 7 PM. They took rooms in the Hotel d’Europe, which Sam noted had “wonderful rooms” [186]. They went to supper and drank Barolo wine.
September 15 Sunday Sam’s notebook:
Sam was awakened at 3 AM by a braying jackass in front of the hotel. The party left Geneva for Italy, stopping at Chambéry, France for a break. More from his notebook: