Category Archives: train travel

August 10, 2011

To be, or not to be, on schedule

By simply three cents

I wanted to go from Madrid to Seville by train. There were a couple of options for travel, but my big decision was if I would be going on the slow train ($) or the fast train ($$$). I don’t remember what the exact travel time was for each train but the speedy train would take me only a few hours versus the slow train which would take me the better part of a day.

I was told that there was a refund policy. Imagine that! If the train was more than five minutes, five!, late, the train company would refund my money. As a very budget traveler, I had been hoping it would arrive six minutes late, as I had splurged on the speedy train. Of course it wasn’t late, it was perfectly on time, just like I was promised.

Yet, just outside of NYC, there are still train delays today, more than 24, yes that is TWENTY FOUR, hours after a train derailment yesterday morning. Thankfully, no one was hurt. I understand the process of re-railing (un-railing? un-derailing?) a train is probably difficult and time-consuming, but this seems a little crazy.

Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor route services travelers from Boston to DC and beyond. New Jersey Transit’s trains heading into NY Penn Station are shuttling passengers on some of the same tracks on various routes from all over the state of New Jersey.

I should mention for readers unfamiliar with this area, that these tracks (the Northeast Corridor tracks) are likely the busiest in the nation as they connect major cities (Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC) all along the US Eastern Seaboard.

As a former New Jersey Transit Northeast Corridor commuter (Hamilton, NJ to New York Penn Station), I assure you, there are a lot of people being shuttled to and fro on these trains. Picture double-decker trains, with only standing room available. Every single day.

I no longer do this daily commute but I know many people who do. The tracks belong to Amtrak but New Jersey Transit uses them to shuttle commuters, travelers and tourists daily. Amtrak trains always have priority as they are Amtrak’s tracks. And because I use Amtrak sparingly, I can’t speak for Amtrak, but I know NJT trains are consistently delayed, thanks to Amtrak’s (much-needed) ongoing construction, track failure and other oddities that happen on a fairly frequent basis.

I don’t know how to solve this transit problem and I certainly will not pretend to know the answer, but there has got to be a better way. Even if the tracks in Spain shuttle fewer passengers, they obviously are doing something right if there is a refund policy for delays longer than five minutes. Shouldn’t the US get Spain’s best practices and follow suit?

Why Wednesday.

Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in train travel, travelogues, WHY Wednesday

August 9, 2011

Where did we go, you ask?

By simply three cents

Following up on yesterday’s post…we wound up going to Brescia, a small medieval town in between Venice and Milan.

The only hiccup…okay, okay there were two, and they were so minor, but the boyfriend never lets me tell this story without these two key parts because he likes to know where he is sleeping each night, and I happened to prevent that.

1 – I figured we would go to the tourist center to find out what we could see and do for the day, and of course get a recommendation on where to stay. So we got off the train, and because there was only one or two pages about this particular town in the guidebook, there was not a sufficient map. Since we had our luggage (just one wheelie suitcase each — no rucksacks on this trip) this was not the time for aimless wandering. Suitcases on cobblestone…not ideal. We cabbed it from the train station to the tourist center. Which we quickly found out was closed. Until April. It was January. Oops.

Trying to prove that picking a town and finding accommodation on the fly were still great ideas, I wanted to relax the situation a bit and I figured a glass of wine and some lunch would be good right about now. So we crossed the square to a lovely restaurant where we could sit outside. Yes, we could sit outside. In January. (See, there are positives to all of this).

Another positive was our waiter. He was friendly and helpful, especially with accommodation recommendations. The guidebook had said something positive about places near the train station. Yet he told us, and this was a few years ago so I may not remember exactly…but it was more or less ‘The places by the train station are a piece of shit. You should stay here or here.” So we went to each of the places he named, they were across the cobblestone from each other, and walking distance from the square we were in, ensured there was availability at both, were invited to take a look at each of the rooms at both, and settled in for the nicest, and costliest, accommodation of our trip.

The boyfriend does not let me forget this because…

2 – If you plan ahead you do not have to sleep in a ‘piece of shit’ place near the train station, or spend an hour sorting accommodation with luggage in tow.

Hey, it was still fun, and I proved that sorting accommodation on the fly is totally possible.

Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in things that make me smile, train travel, travelogues

August 8, 2011

You say it’s a split-flap

By simply three cents

I thought more and more about yesterday’s blog post. I do have the same awe about trains as that little boy I saw yesterday.

Setting: Venice, Italy train station, January 2008

Had convinced the boyfriend that we could ‘wing it’ for two nights, while the rest of our accommodation and destinations had been planned in advance, and there were many. We had been in Siena, San Gimignano, Chianti and Greve in Tuscany, Florence and Fiesole, a small town on the top of a hill outside Florence.

We had added one day/night to Venice, so we had one freebie day/night towards the end of our trip, with no plans. We had to ultimately get back to Milan the day after the day it was for our return trip so anywhere between Venice and Milan was fair game.

I was in my glory watching the train boards flip and change the destinations with that deliberate noise to make sure travelers are paying attention.

The sound that those boards make just get me excited over the opportunity of where you can go next, what’s near the destination and how easily you can get there.

Thank you Wikipedia for telling me that it is called a split-flap display. And this video showcases the noise I am talking about. Thank you random YouTube user. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA6zn3nP7tY)

I was looking at the destinations on the board and looking down in the guide book to decide which line we should take, and which stop we should buy tickets to.

Since the boyfriend was totally, utterly and completely breaking a sweat not knowing where we were headed next I had to work quickly. I had to figure out a destination while ensuring it would get us headed in the general direction of Milan.

Isn’t this compromise? We planned most of our accommodations in advance…are two nights, with no planned destination or accommodation, that much to ask? If you ask most of my friends, and my boyfriend, the answer is yes. Unfortunately, for any of my travel companions who do think that way, I don’t.

And yes, if I could install a mini split-flap display of some sort in my home, I think I would seriously consider it. I just love that noise and the day dreaming it promotes.

Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in in and around the world, things that make me smile, train travel, travelogues, wanderlust

August 7, 2011

“But I don’t want to get off my train”

By simply three cents

‘This morning I was on a New Jersey Transit train heading home from a weekend with friends. I have been riding these trains for so long that I could sort my destination with my eyes closed.

But there was a young family sitting near us on the train and it was the first train ride for the little boy. He must have been three or four.

His excitement was contagious. He loved seeing us fly past the trees, and see other trains pass by. He had his face up against the window and couldn’t take his eyes off the outside.

If you take a step back, and not see it as a means to an end, but through a kid’s eyes, it really is a fun way to travel.

I figured he would love getting off the train because the station we disembarked has the trains on street level, so you actually have to climb up to get in the train, you aren’t just walking on a platform. So I figured for such a small kid, he would love that.

I was wrong.

He was so enthused by the moving trains, that when we all had to get off, as it was the last stop, you would have thought his parents were beating him. He screamed bloody murder…”BUT I DON’T WANT TO GET OFF MY TRAIN.”

I suppose eventually they were able to drag him off.

Leave a comment | posted in just silly, observations, train travel

July 25, 2011

Go with your gut, and with some good advice

By simply three cents

I feel like all travel advice is good advice. It’s up to you if you want to take it.

While living in London I had found out I would be off for the week between Christmas and New Years. I had a few days to play with so I went to one of the local travel agencies and told them the dates I could be away and that I was up for going anywhere, being that I had only been to Paris and London since I was about eight weeks into my living abroad stint.

The woman at the travel agency suggested Belgium as it was a quick train ride, and I easily agreed. I left London for Brussels the next day. I knew I was going to spend two nights in Brussels and then the next two nights I was debating going to the country of Luxembourg (I didn’t really have much of a plan where I would go once I was there but I had my Let’s Go Europe in my backpack!) or the Belgian city of Bruges. I was traveling solo so the plan was mine to make.

On the train, I wound up sitting next to an American ex-pat. She was on her way to visit her boyfriend’s family in the countryside of Belgium and we got to talking. I told her my “dilemma” and she told me in no uncertain terms, go to Bruges. She had been to both – Luxembourg She had told me it was a lovely city and would be beautiful this time of year…December.

I went. And it turned out it was one of my favorite cities ever. Brussels was beautiful, and Bruges was even more so.

I was there for the first snowfall of the season. All the locals were out on bikes from morning to sunset. Parents climbed up windmill hills with their kids and their sleds and it was quite the sledding spot! Fries and mayo. Amazing beer.

I don’t know if it was the best advice ever. But it was great advice for that trip. I fell in love with Bruges. They call it the Venice of the North, and it was stunning.

But now I still need to get myself to Luxembourg so I can decide for myself!

This happened again years later. I was in London for work and I had a few extra days to myself. I didn’t have a plan but I knew I wanted to go somewhere on the Continent for a long weekend. I was at a Christmas party with the London office and my British colleagues suggested Switzerland. I went to the travel agent (yes, this was years ago, and I still had a valid student ID) the next morning, and again, left the following day. Was heading to Zurich…but missed my flight, so basically spent the day at Heathrow, a night in Zurich, Lucerne in the countryside for two nights, and another day/night in Zurich at the end of the short trip…made shorter by oversleeping for a very early morning flight. Again, I was traveling alone so the plan to make was mine. With some guidance by people who had been there, I took their word. And again, had a wonderful trip.

With all the advice on the internet, and trust me, I use it, sometimes it’s nice to reflect on how we picked places before it was made so easy. Or maybe that’s just before I compiled my master, monster wanderlust wish list.

Leave a comment | posted in train travel, travelogues

July 9, 2011

If I knew then what I know now

By simply three cents

A friend and I were new to the travel scene. We had only arrived in London a few weeks prior. She would live there for three months, and me for six. A few weekends in, we had decided that we wanted to go to Paris! Cue Bonjour Paris from Funny Face.

Oh Paris. We couldn’t wait to get there. Everything romantic about Paris that one would think of, we had in our heads. Romance! Fashion! Shopping! Sophistication! Food!

Yes, that Paris probably exists. But since we were recent college grads and not really rolling in the dough, that Paris would have to wait. Our fine French cuisine was perfectly fine. Fine dining it was not. We had perfectly fine crepes from street carts, and assorted cheeses and omelets and wine. Oh the wine. We drank it like water that weekend. Hey, it was cheaper than a soda, and we were trying to stay on some semblance of a budget for our weekend getaway!

We had arrived by train late at night and we had booked a small hotel. We didn’t want to stay at <gasp> hostels (soon after this trip I realized hotels would be my new best friend during my travels). This was a small, cheap place.

If TripAdvisor was around back then, we didn’t know. And if it was, from my memory of the place, it would not be highly rated.

I remember was that the blankets were like potato sacks, the lock to our door was broken and the climb to our room was at least 6 flights of rounded staircase.

Did I mention we packed high heel boots? We had no business doing that because fancy dinners and fashion nights out were not in our future. We also packed skirts and cute tank tops. Did I mention this was the middle of November and Paris weather is not warm that time of year.  We didn’t realize this of course, thinking, it was Paris! Ooh la la!

The plus I remember about the place we stayed, was that we had one of those romantic balconies you think of when thinking of Parisian architecture. Granted it was not very deep so we basically stood with our back to the building clutching the wrought iron balcony directly in front of us.

What my friend did not tell me was that our terrace, connected to every other terrace, oh, and that terrace door, did not lock.

This place was so far out of the center of Paris, we couldn’t even see the Eiffel Tower. This would not be a big deal since we didn’t know if you could see the Eiffel Tower from everywhere in the city, except we found out later that night that we were nearly thirty minutes outside of Paris. Maybe even further.

So what are you to do when arriving late into a strange city displeased with your chosen accommodation? Get drunk at the local bistro of course!

And get drunk we did. I believe we ate cheese omelets (only thing we could read on the menu) and drank more than enough red wine. Somehow the two of us started speaking French via my Spanish skills and met a few locals. I remember that we decided to get drunk in order to tolerate the accommodations. I do not recommend this.

Needless to say we got back to our place, laid down our heads and woke up very hungover. This is why I don’t recommend this. We were hungover in gross digs, that we were already repulsed by. It was slow-moving but we were ready and willing to find new digs for our remaining two nights in Paris!

The place we found overlooked the Notre Dame, in a great neighborhood, and to this day I have no idea how much we spent. I can tell you that when I started backpacking like a proper backpacker, never again did I stay in a place that had an elevator AND en suite televisions! Not only did this place have an elevator, it was one of those old school cargo elevators where you could see out as you went up. And the televisions, had English-speaking stations with French subtitles.*

While this place wasn’t the Four Seasons, for two clueless backpackers…we were sitting pretty for two nights. I laugh now because we had so much to learn.

* Having televisions with English channels in a country whose native language is not English actually annoys me now. I love not really knowing what’s on the news but trying to figure it out. You are totally taken out of your comfort zone and it turns into very basic language learning. I find it fun.

2 Comments   |  tags: | posted in packing, things that make me smile, train travel, travel, travelogues

February 25, 2011

Vendors venden en el subte

By simply three cents

People sell stuff on the subway everywhere. Here in New York, I’ve been asked to buy movies, batteries and chocolate. On the subte (subway) in Buenos Aires, we were asked to buy children’s books, flashlights, coffee, pens and pencils. I think they are more trusting there.

The children’s book seller actually handed out the childrens books to everyone in the subway car, and then came back to collect money, or take back the book. Everyone on the train that was handed a book actually thumbed through it and it looked like they had some sort of interest. The stops between stations were not long distances but people who did not make a purchase were very honest about returning the goods before disembarking the train. The seller did well in the train car we were on.

In all the time I have been in New York, I have never seen a seller hand anything out, unless money had already exchanged hands.

The pen and pencil guy did not hand anything out in advance of a sale. And yes he was selling them individually.

The coffee guy was hilarious. Literally he was walking around with a shoulder bag with cups – taped together with duct tape and he had this ‘tool belt’ contraption that held a few canisters. Some canisters were full of coffee, others held milk and sugar. It was hot, the guy next to us ordered one and you could see the steam. The coffee guy moved fast and people were buying.

In case you were wondering, the coffee guy sold a whole lot more than the pen and pencil guy.

Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in train travel, travel, travelogues

February 19, 2011

Tigre: No Lions, Tigers and Bears – Just a Pup

By simply three cents

Tigre was an hour train ride from the Retiro Terminal in Buenos Aires. Once we arrived at the train station in Tigre, we had to take a taxi boat to the couple’s home that we had planned to hang out with for the day. This area is a summer getaway for the people of BsAs, but for the people we were going to spend the day with, this is their permanent home.

Tigre is a town situated on a lot of water. There are many streams and rivers connecting to the Delta. And everyone has a boat…in fact, if you didn’t have one, you’d be kayaking, canoeing or taking water taxis to get around.

It reminded me a bit of the bayous in New Orleans.

The Delta’s water looks brown, and dirty, but it is not. It’s the constant mixing of the sediment. In fact, people who live out there do their best to keep the water clean with systems in their homes, and how they dispose of garbage.

We took a tour of their home, and had a nice breakfast on land. Then, we boarded their boat and set sail for the day!

The boat trip around the Delta was the highlight, along with our hosts, Ana and Ralph. Ralph was a former chef on various sailing vessels, and he brings his skills to this one! Once we docked, he made a makeshift kitchen complete with a grill. The center of the boat turned into a beautiful countertop to display all the food we ate — and this isn’t even the hot stuff!

Along the streams and rivers leading into the Delta we saw supermarket boats (see one below), house boats and taxi boats. In the main part of the Delta where the water leads to Paraguay, we saw many shipping boats.

During our travels on the Delta, Ana and Ralph pointed out their friends homes and we did loads of waving from the boat to all the people enjoying the summer sun!

At one point, Ana heard some whimpering in the plants behind some trees along the Delta. Ralph pulled the boat up close because Ana was pretty certain it was a dog who was stuck.

Ana and Ralph had such good hearts, and a love of animals — there were already two dogs and several cats back at their home — that she was determined to rescue the dog.

Ana,coaxed the dog on board and here he is. This was taken by one of the other people on our trip as I was the farthest away from where the pup would board the boat.

The boat capacity is eight people, and we were already seven, so while we were comfortable, bringing a puppy on board greatly limited where I could move about because…yes, I was terrified. I have an aversion to some dogs, but especially to one found in the wild – in another country, with no record of shots and one that no one knew. And, once aboard it was definitely excited to be saved, and especially to eat, once Ana took some of the leftover steak and chicken that was part of our lunch, for the pup to eat.

Ana and Ralph created a makeshift leash and collar to keep the pup at one end of the boat (the end that I wasn’t going to be on!). The collar was made from Ralph’s belt and the leash was made from a loose rope from the boat because I was the only one not pleased with our addition.

Once back at the house, where the pup met his fellow canines, we were able to sample mate, the local tea prevalent in Argentina. It is meant to be drunk and shared with friends, and before this trip, I had been warned that it’s not something you can easily find in a restaurant, and the warning was right! So here it was, our last full day in Argentina, and finally, get to taste true mate!

Headed back to BsAs with our new friends from Provence, France. Trust me, my head is already spinning to go visit!! Once we returned to BsAs, showered and changed, we headed out for our last night! We were still stuffed from Ralph’s food, so we managed to get down an entire cheese plate for dinner (there was enough cheese to feed a small army).

After ‘dinner’ we walked around Plaza Serrano and then found an outdoor cafe to have some beers and people watch. We received an invite to a party that wasn’t scheduled to start until 3am. Since we had a full day and were pretty exhausted we headed back to the B&B around 1.30am which sounds late, but it was around the time that everything was just getting started!

Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in food, train travel, travel, travelogues