The Talgo train Madrid-Paris
I love trains
everyday the Talgo train leaves Madrid at 7 pm and arrives in Paris the next morning around 9. I took it a few times to go and visit and my parents when they're in France. It is always full and the staff never changes.
I get bored on bus or plane but never on a train. There is always something to do like listening to your neighbor's conversation, trying to start a conversation with your neighbors, reading, thinking, getting up to watch the landscape, making endless trips to the bar compartment
trying to engage conversation with the waiters whose dexterity I admire when they serve drinks
but the best part is when the controller comes and helps setting up the beds. On the Talgo, men and women sleep separately. I find it difficult to enter into a deep sleep and feel always groggy in the morning but I like the idea of crossing miles in the horizontal position, in my snug little bed.
I had a bit of insomnia these last two nights and I enjoyed counting my favorite train trips like the one from Kosice to Prag. It was the best ever, my travel companions and I could never sit still and eventually we met Tzigan musicians who transformed the trip into a mad feast. I also have a sweet souvenir of a trip in an old train going from Sligo to Dublin, with practically no passengers. I took trains in Madagascar too but the most enjoyable time was spent on the quay waiting for the train sometimes a whole morning. The first time I discovered Venice was by train coming from Austria and it was purely magical. I was on my own but still, it was very romantic...
I dream of travelling through Scotland by train, getting on board of the Transiberian or taking the Venice Simplon Express (does it still exist?)
I would love to hear of your favorite train trips and if you sometimes don't prefer trains to planes
Have a great week end !!
everyday the Talgo train leaves Madrid at 7 pm and arrives in Paris the next morning around 9. I took it a few times to go and visit and my parents when they're in France. It is always full and the staff never changes.
I get bored on bus or plane but never on a train. There is always something to do like listening to your neighbor's conversation, trying to start a conversation with your neighbors, reading, thinking, getting up to watch the landscape, making endless trips to the bar compartment
trying to engage conversation with the waiters whose dexterity I admire when they serve drinks
but the best part is when the controller comes and helps setting up the beds. On the Talgo, men and women sleep separately. I find it difficult to enter into a deep sleep and feel always groggy in the morning but I like the idea of crossing miles in the horizontal position, in my snug little bed.
I had a bit of insomnia these last two nights and I enjoyed counting my favorite train trips like the one from Kosice to Prag. It was the best ever, my travel companions and I could never sit still and eventually we met Tzigan musicians who transformed the trip into a mad feast. I also have a sweet souvenir of a trip in an old train going from Sligo to Dublin, with practically no passengers. I took trains in Madagascar too but the most enjoyable time was spent on the quay waiting for the train sometimes a whole morning. The first time I discovered Venice was by train coming from Austria and it was purely magical. I was on my own but still, it was very romantic...I dream of travelling through Scotland by train, getting on board of the Transiberian or taking the Venice Simplon Express (does it still exist?)
I would love to hear of your favorite train trips and if you sometimes don't prefer trains to planes
Have a great week end !!
Comments
Lynette and I were given a 1st class compartment when we went to Salzburg from Vienna during a 2005 film shoot. Something about drinking beer and eating tomato, mozzarella, basil and butter sandwiches made the 5.5 hour journey seem really special.
I wish the U.S. still had the train travel it used to have before jet travel took over. It's a big, beautiful country that should be seen from a train window. There is the California Zephyr, a luxury train that goes from Chicago to San Francisco, a whopping 1,900 miles!
i love trains and planes and buses too. i love the feeling of going somewhere.
i very often used to take the bus from madrid to barcelona. i liked packing my goody bag for the long haul. books, yogurt, bocadillo, writing notebooks and my cell phone course... to send text messages to my friends. 'just arrived in zaragosa... there in 3 hours.' knowing they were waiting for me with a nice bottle of wine on standby.
have a wonderful weekend dear Lala. i'll be in touch soon. my goody package that you sent has found its way to me. i thank you soooo much! they are so lovely! and of course i've a little story to tell you in connection.
until soon dear Lala,
besos
Another train journey that I love (more high speed!) is the Eurostar from Waterloo to Paris. How good is it to leave London in the early morning, arrive in Paris in time for breakfast of chocolat chaud and pain au raisin overlooking the Seine, spend the day shopping and gallery hopping and then head back in time for a late dinner at home?! Love it!
I've always fancied the Transiberian too - still on my wishlist... :o)
Have a nice weekend, you too!
Greetings from London.
There is an old steam engine here in the Santa Cruz mountains that is a fun recreational ride but I'm afraid that the US has ditched the historic and wonderful way of trains for cars and planes. The only other trains I want to take are those that don't exist anymore: the Orient Express from Istanbul to Turkey, and the famous 20th Century Limited. With the appropriate fabulous luggage filled with gorgeous period clothing. *sigh*
Thanks for the inspiration. Perhaps I'll be lucky enough to take the Talgo someday too.
Train travel is so much slower and deliberate allowing time to see the world go by. Similarly like driving, infinitely preferable to flying in most circumstances.
#3,298- take a train from Madrid, to Paris! I love it!
You've made me day dream again, Lala. : )
One of the things I enjoy most about sleeping on a train is the rhythm of the train passing over the tracks.
My best train trip was from Port Said to Cairo. It was no frills, no fancy, crushed, crammed, and loud. I loved every minute of it! What an adventure! Well, dear Lala, you've done it again. I think I will have to post about this soon. I'll see if I can dig out some pictures, too.
I had a chance to take the TGV from Lyon to Paris is early June while I was in Europe. That's was an exhilirating experience. Would love to do it again. Wish we had that type of transportation here in the USA.