Trains
I'd like to take a moment and review some of the fundamental differences between the US and western Europe. To start with, everything is smaller. Most things are a lot smaller. Older too - almost everything is older. In the US if it's 150 years old we make a museum out of it and charge admission. Here, 150 year old buildings are practically new, and they're just restaurants or shops or apartments. No big deal.
People here eat a lot healthier than we do. Small breakfast, reasonable lunch, small dinner. In 11 days here I've only had 1 bit of fried food - the french fries on my Ketwah sandwich. On day 10 I cracked open some Coca-cola I had bought at the grocery store; my first taste of cola since I had been here. You don't order sodas in restaurants here - it's either water or wine. You finish every meal with a cup of coffee. I'm not talking about some 6 oz cup of tasteless weak java here, I'm talking about a 1oz shot of coffee that is so good and so strong, they've got me drinking coffee occasionally (I never drink it at home). They don't call it espresso, and they don't call it tall or small or grande. You can't get a mocha-chocolatte-chino. It's just - would you like a coffee, yes or no? If you say no, they look at you like you're from Mars.
People here also live healthier. They walk more places. They drive less. Some of them shower less though, or at least they don't believe in deodorant. They push in line, they cut in line. They don't smoke as much as they used to - all the trains I have been on were entirely no-smoking. That's a change from previvous trips. Some restaurants are even no-smoking now.
They pay 2-3 times what we do for gasoline. A tank of gas for one of these tiny European cars can run you $112 these days.
This leads me to one of the most enjoyable differences about Europe, which is the train system. You can take a train pretty much anywhere you go. In the 70s and 80s they built dedicated high speed lines that are really impressive. Most of western Europe is still building more of these lines today. The roads around here are so odd, that for most regional trips a train is just as fast, and for national trips it's even faster than a car. Let's compare planes and trains for a moment.
Trains: you get a big seat, a wide aisle, plenty of head-room. Each chair has two arm-rests (what a concept!) If you show up at the station 5 minutes before the train departs, no problem. Just read the signs, find which platform you're leaving from, and hop onboard. Buy your tickets in advance or at the station - full fare is barely more than the online discounted fares. While you're on your journey, relax and stretch out. Traveling with friends? Reserve a 4 seat grouping with a table in the middle and play cards or plan your travels. Head to the bar car for a beer or a sandwich. Plug in your laptop and get some work done. Reserve a seat in the "slient car" if you don't want to be bothered with yappy people and/or cell phones. Enjoy the scenery rolling by and a smooth ride as you are carried to your destination. Travel from city center directly to city center. No need to check bags, no boarding process, no security screening. The train leaves on time, with or without you.
Planes: you get a small seat, narrow aisle, no headroom. A set of 3 seats squished together has 4 arm-rests. If your bags are big, you have to check them, which means being at the airport 60 minutes before your flight. Most airlines require you to be in the boarding area 30 minutes before departure. Most hub airports it can take over an hour now to get through security anyway. Show up without a ticket in hand, and you might as well apply for a loan for how much a last minute ticket will cost you. Relax? Stretch-out? Not so much. Traveling with friends? Hope you booked together because otherwise there is no chance you are sitting together. Planes are loud, you've got the risk of sitting next to a fat person who "rolls" into your seat because they are so small (and Americans are so big). You can't enjoy the scenery. Airports are never in the city center so you've got extra travel time on each end of your journey. The boarding process sucks. Half the time you waiting for some "super medallion platinum triple elite emerald" passenger to hufff it to the gate before they push your plane back, and even then it's rarely on-time. I was delayed leaving Lexington a few weeks ago because the Atlanta airport told us we couldn't take off yet. What the heck is that about?
So, I favor train travel.
People here eat a lot healthier than we do. Small breakfast, reasonable lunch, small dinner. In 11 days here I've only had 1 bit of fried food - the french fries on my Ketwah sandwich. On day 10 I cracked open some Coca-cola I had bought at the grocery store; my first taste of cola since I had been here. You don't order sodas in restaurants here - it's either water or wine. You finish every meal with a cup of coffee. I'm not talking about some 6 oz cup of tasteless weak java here, I'm talking about a 1oz shot of coffee that is so good and so strong, they've got me drinking coffee occasionally (I never drink it at home). They don't call it espresso, and they don't call it tall or small or grande. You can't get a mocha-chocolatte-chino. It's just - would you like a coffee, yes or no? If you say no, they look at you like you're from Mars.
People here also live healthier. They walk more places. They drive less. Some of them shower less though, or at least they don't believe in deodorant. They push in line, they cut in line. They don't smoke as much as they used to - all the trains I have been on were entirely no-smoking. That's a change from previvous trips. Some restaurants are even no-smoking now.
They pay 2-3 times what we do for gasoline. A tank of gas for one of these tiny European cars can run you $112 these days.
This leads me to one of the most enjoyable differences about Europe, which is the train system. You can take a train pretty much anywhere you go. In the 70s and 80s they built dedicated high speed lines that are really impressive. Most of western Europe is still building more of these lines today. The roads around here are so odd, that for most regional trips a train is just as fast, and for national trips it's even faster than a car. Let's compare planes and trains for a moment.
Trains: you get a big seat, a wide aisle, plenty of head-room. Each chair has two arm-rests (what a concept!) If you show up at the station 5 minutes before the train departs, no problem. Just read the signs, find which platform you're leaving from, and hop onboard. Buy your tickets in advance or at the station - full fare is barely more than the online discounted fares. While you're on your journey, relax and stretch out. Traveling with friends? Reserve a 4 seat grouping with a table in the middle and play cards or plan your travels. Head to the bar car for a beer or a sandwich. Plug in your laptop and get some work done. Reserve a seat in the "slient car" if you don't want to be bothered with yappy people and/or cell phones. Enjoy the scenery rolling by and a smooth ride as you are carried to your destination. Travel from city center directly to city center. No need to check bags, no boarding process, no security screening. The train leaves on time, with or without you.
Planes: you get a small seat, narrow aisle, no headroom. A set of 3 seats squished together has 4 arm-rests. If your bags are big, you have to check them, which means being at the airport 60 minutes before your flight. Most airlines require you to be in the boarding area 30 minutes before departure. Most hub airports it can take over an hour now to get through security anyway. Show up without a ticket in hand, and you might as well apply for a loan for how much a last minute ticket will cost you. Relax? Stretch-out? Not so much. Traveling with friends? Hope you booked together because otherwise there is no chance you are sitting together. Planes are loud, you've got the risk of sitting next to a fat person who "rolls" into your seat because they are so small (and Americans are so big). You can't enjoy the scenery. Airports are never in the city center so you've got extra travel time on each end of your journey. The boarding process sucks. Half the time you waiting for some "super medallion platinum triple elite emerald" passenger to hufff it to the gate before they push your plane back, and even then it's rarely on-time. I was delayed leaving Lexington a few weeks ago because the Atlanta airport told us we couldn't take off yet. What the heck is that about?
So, I favor train travel.
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