Trains

We’ve been traveling around western Europe on trains. The ease of such travel and the comfort of the conditions on a train still impresses me, even after five such journeys in less than three weeks. There are no security checkpoints to go through, as with airplane flights. Also unlike flying is the fact that you can arrive at the station five minutes before departure and still get your seat. Unlike driving, there’s no need to worry about directions or getting lost; plus you don’t have to stop the train for restroom breaks.

I think somehow we missed out on something in the United States. Somewhere, somehow, trains just didn’t catch on as a reliable, fast, and extensive network of transportation. Having traveled Europe in this fashion, I now sense the lack of trains in the United States and I mourn it. I know there are planes and automobiles that will get you from point A to point B just as safely, but give me the slight rock and roll of a TGV speeding through beautiful countryside anytime.

~ emrys