The train is the
most efficient way to move people and goods across land. The wonderful trains of Europe do all that
with such grace. Most of the trains are
electric and are practically silent. If
you have not ridden on a train, you may not understand some of what I have to
say about the pleasure of riding a train.
Think of relaxing on a balcony while watching a beautiful sunset and imagine that you are not alone, but watching
with someone special. Now you have the image. Drug companies would lose a
lot of money if we took more train rides at night. The train, in most cases, is
slower than other forms of travel, but that just adds to its charm.
Juliana and I
travel to Innsbruck, Austria with no great purpose except to catch a Europass
train. With a Europass, the traveler
selects any number of major cities in Western Europe in which to travel. The traveler is then free of travel details. For instance, we are planning to go to Venice
and Rome in Italy; Barcelona in Spain; Marcella and Paris in France; and then
back to Munich, Germany. We will do all
this traveling with one ticket and a map. The map ensures that we stay on a Europass
line. We can stop at any city on the
route for any length of time and catch another Europass train when we wish to leave. Juliana purchases the ticket and books us on a
first class sleeper. This is simply a
small hotel room on rails. We have a
private bathroom with a shower and all the other conveniences. The first class accommodations include a
couch that makes into a double bed. We
have large picture window in order to watch the scenery. We will also have a television and radio to
entertain us during the long hours of travel.
The first class cars are located at the end of the train and are the
quietest cars on the train. On the Europass, there is a first class dining
car. That means we do not have to walk
all the way through the train to get to the dining car. We also have an enclose observation car and
an open-air observation car. In the
closed observation car, we can socialize with other people and enjoy a high
panoramic view of the countryside. There
is always some kind of entertainment. In
the open-air car, there is no cover. We
can relax in lounge chairs and drink wine, beer, tea, or coffee, while enjoying
other refreshments. That set up is nice but limits socializing.
Juliana and I
are nearing the end of the trip, as well as the end of our journey in one another's company. We need this time together. This will be hard to understand but I will try
to clear it up before the trip ends. We
have complete privacy; we place our Europass medallion on the door, and remove
it when we leave. As long as the
medallion is on the door, the only person that will come to your room is the
housekeeper. When you leave the train,
you must take the medallion with you so the conductor knows that the room is
vacant. While on Europass, there are
several eight to twelve hours spent in the same room. If you forget your
medallion when you get off the train, you must contact the train station
immediately because you will pay for the room until the conductor removes
it.
Our first stop
after getting on the train is in Venice.
We remove our medallion, leave the train, put our packs in lockers at
the train station, and hire a gondola for the day. I must mention this—we were
there during the 1970s. During that time, there was an effort to clean up many
of the major tourist attractions. For
years, the canals were simply open sewers.
The Grand canals and most of the major canals seem to be clean. In some of the back places, the water is
green and has a putrid odor. While we dined
at the outdoor café, recommended by the gondolier, a dead cat floated by us.
The gondolier was also our tour guide.
We did not spend time in the museums, any of which would require several
days to explore. We even visited a few
places in which the gondolier advised us not to put our hands into the
water. I thought that our gondolier was
amusing; he would tell us stories about the building, and after every story, he
tried to get us to let him marry us. He
said that a gondolier had the power to perform a marriage. He finally told us the marriage license he
issued us was only good while we were in Venice. We are only in Venice for the day. I know
most people would rather spend many more days in the city, but the one day on
the canals was enough for us. We had several more stops on the list; the next
is Rome. One day is not time enough in
which to judge a place, but I will say Venice may appeal to many people,
probably more than the mountains of Germany.
©Michael L. Wright
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