jet lag
 

Hi! My mother is traveling from the East coast to italy (across 6 time zones). I was wondering how practical it would be for her to get off the plane (14 hrs flight) and get on a train for 5 hours. Thanks for your opinions.

Denise, you might want to state what Italian city she will be arriving at, because the advice might depend on how complicated the connection to the train station is...

She is flying into Venice. We would take the train either from mestre or santa lucia. Actually was thinking of taking it from santa lucia so she could get a glimpse of the grand canal before we left. What do you think?

If your mother can mangage to sleep a few hours on the plane and is in pretty good health she probably would be fine. Yes she will be tired after all is said and done but like any trip, we always are. After you get to your final destination have a good dinner and turn in early.

Hi Denise,<BR><BR>Your mother is flying for 14 hrs and then you are going to put her on a train and whisk her away from Venice?<BR><BR>I expect that when she gets over her jet lag she will write you out of her will.<BR><BR>Can't you arrange for her to have a day and night in Venice?

What's she doing - flying in on a Piper Cub? I live on the west coast and can make it to Europe in around 9½ hours flight time.<BR><BR>To answer the question 'is it practical?' In a word - no, of course not.

This past summer I had a rather grueling schlep from Charlotte, NC to Umbria:<BR><BR>CLT --&gt; CVG (Cincinnati) 1 hr<BR>CVG --&gt; CDG 8 hrs<BR>CDG --&gt; FLR 2 hrs<BR>FLR --&gt; Umbria by car 1.5 hrs<BR><BR>So actual travel time was 12.5 hours plus about 3.5 hours' layover in CVG and CDG. Maybe it was because I flew business class (gotta love those frequent flyer miles) and I had an overfull stomach, but I strangely was NOT jet-lagged, just weary and fatigued from traveling. I don't sleep on planes at all other than for a 10-minute doze-off, so I felt surprisingly coherent for having been awake for about 36 hours straight.<BR><BR>I had a light supper (just some vegetables, water, bread, and an espresso) and went to bed. I awoke the next morning at 4:45 AM Italy time fully refreshed and alert.<BR><BR>As far as your mother goes, she definitely will be fatigued and weary for traveling for 19 hours plus layovers. The 5 hours on a train -- why??? can't she fly into an airport closer to where she's going than one 5 hours away? -- certainly won't help.<BR><BR>I think that just about anyone except maybe a marathon runner would be out to lunch after having traveled for 19 hours plus layovers.