Trains are WAY Better than Planes

I believe that European train travel may now be my favorite. Even though the speed is amazingly fast, it is slower and more relaxed than flying. There is something about watching the countryside and cities pass by the window that gives you time to pause and actually feel the journey.

And, there is never to be a doubt that even the busiest train station is not nearly as overwhelming and frustrating as going through hours of security and waiting at an airport! They will bring you lovely food and drink if you ask, yet, they don't wake you up yelling 'trash' or hit you with a cart to offer you drinks. You roll/rock along pretty peacefully, until the jarring track changes that feel a bit like turbulence.

Most often the riders are quiet, busy with their books or computers but others like to chat, sharing story after story with their seatmates (you know me, I always pick a single seat by the window to avoid the small talk). However, on one of my journeys, I enjoyed a lovely and a bit cheeky elderly couple who had many stories while their seatmates were patient and good listeners.

If you are interested in train travel, I recommend the website, https://www.seat61.com/. It is a brilliant site that shares many tips, including picturesque routes, the best seats for that route and what to expect from each class of each train.

Here are two of my most memorable rides from the last seven weeks.

• Roma, Italy to Siracusa, Sicily Most people thought I was crazy to take a nine-hour train ride instead of a 1.5-hour flight to Siracusa from Rome. But I had two reasons, first I knew I would be tired after a whirlwind ten-day trip with friends in Italy and second, I read that the train traveled the seashore with amazing views before reaching San Giovanni - Messina where my train car boarded the ferry. Yes, you read that correctly, I was on a train that went on a ferry across to Sicily.
  

• Vienna, Austria to Berlin, Germany It was exactly as promised, idyllic, like a fairy tale. Bluffs with castles perched atop. Rolling green hills dotted with the white fleece of sheep. We passed miles and miles of farmland that looked just like home. Then we followed the winding rivers filled with long boats and flanked by colorful homes. We traveled north through the Czechia, through Prague and Dresden, with gentle rocking as I enjoyed my snacks from LIDL (called Hofer in Austria) and a lovely beer enjoying the scenery that I forgot all about reading and preparing for my next country.

However, as you all know every fairy tale has to have a scary part, in this story, it was when the train slams on the brakes so you very quickly go from 160km to 20km. Clearly, a fairy godmother was with us because we started right back up to the happy views again.