Fabulous Train Views
I do love to ride the train. I’m sure that’s because I very rarely do, so when the opportunity comes around I’m like a kid. However, I like my train rides to be long distance non-stop affairs that give me time to sink into the start, to go to sleep during the middle part, and to really feel the experience of going somewhere with never before- seen passing scenery. The magic begins when at precisely the announced hour and minute the train very quietly leaves the station. No blaring horn or “All Aboard” to jolt my senses, just a nice and quiet leaving. If you other people are late, tough shit. We’re on our way. For the first little while I am wide awake and fully conscious of everything that is sliding past, but little by little my eyes start to cloud over to the sound of the click-clack, and the gentle swaying of the coaches. I don’t even see it coming, my eyes just close and my head goes down to my chest, and I pray that I’m not snoring too loud, or God forbid, I’m not drooling. I can report that some of the most enjoyable sleeps I have ever had were on trains. My most notable train ride was from Montreal, Canada straight through to Banff Springs, Alberta, Canada. The railways don’t do this anymore, you have to take several different connecting trains, but back then we simply got on one end, and got off in Banff. If you understand that I come from a country that is exactly 35 kilometres long, and Canada is more than 3,500 miles across, then you get the idea of how exciting this was for me. Through cities and towns and farmland, and beautiful mountains we went, but it was the plains, endless vistas of land with just wheat or other crops, and completely flat land that totally hypnotized me. I have never seen such open spaces, even though I have visited the U.S. Obviously the land mass is equal, but I have always found myself within built-up areas in the U.S. Only in Canada have I ventured that far outside civilization. I was taking pictures of the plains when a Canadian asked me, “What the hell are you taking pictures of?” We had sleeping accommodation that was very small that encouraged intimacy. On the first night I went to sleep naked with my head against the interior wall. I awoke in the early morning when I realized that we were not moving. In fact, we were stopped alongside another train, and passengers from that train were cueing up to see my flaccid penis. I never made that mistake again. You can never know where the train will stop. I have such a fascination with trains that I will write future blogs on the subject, but I just wanted to say that I have recently completed a fairly straightforward journey between Valencia City and Alicante terminal. I did this using the Euromed, a very comfortable train, even travelling in tourist class. What was particularly fascinating about this journey is that I have also driven the distance, and trying to figure exactly where I was on the train in relation to the road system was difficult to track at all times. Trying to get my bearings from station names when we were zipping past at 200 kph was impossible. I think I have finally figured out the approximate route, but trying to do so added a bit of intrigue. A new experience has just been added between Valencia and Madrid with the AVE service, a super-fast train that covers the distance in one and a half hours, whereas with other services it takes between three to four hours. Many people have been taking a day outing, just for the hell of it. I must join in the fun of Valencia-Madrid-Valencia in one day. More train stuff to come in the near future. Copyright © 2011 Eugene Carmichael
