My freshman year of college took me overseas to England. I had never been away from home before alone, to another city or state, much less to another country. Here I was, 18 years old, leaving home for the first time, going on a plane for the first time, excited to be legal to drink alcohol en route "across the pond." I talked to my first New Zealander whom I couldn't understand although he spoke English. I expected the clouds and the grass to somehow be different, but they weren't. But it didn't stop me from taking pictures with my first camera.
I rode the London underground tube for the first time. Nearly lost my luggage en route to King's Cross in London for the first time. Rode my first train. Of course, I sat by some cute businessmen, and a beautiful lady; and for the first time since my trip began, I fell asleep. When I woke up, the men were gone. The beautiful lady and those sitting next to her were smiling.
I knew it instantly. Here I was on my first passenger train, snoring away like a freight train with my mouth hanging open (which I knew because... read more >>
Train Travel Stories
OURENSE to BILBAO by TRAIN
At Ourense, we joined the queue in the rail station, well I say there was a queue, actually there was an old man being served in front of us. He was in his early seventies I would say and he was dresses in his best falling down gear. Maybe he was a farmer, or just a bit slow, as this ticket-buying exercise he was currently attempting was clearly a bridge too far for him. The time was ebbing away for us as it usually does in times like these and the train was now at the platform. We were served quickly, as I managed to purchase two singles to Bilbao and were quickly ushered onto the train by a lovely little station platform guard, whose job was (as he saw it) to ensure all travellers and tourists were on the train that they bought tickets for.
Some platforms had two trains abutted together but heading in different directions and spotting them was not easy – queue the little man who was an expert in such matters.
After a couple of hours sleep on the train, I was up and... read more >>