Hitting the Rails
It has been a time-honoured tradition for the North American university grad to leave his sheltered nest and seek the unknown in a distant land.Copenhagen
I landed in | |||
I saw an incredible exhibit of Danish design at the National Art (Kunst) Gallery, and I took a bike ride through an area called Christiania, an area started by a group of Danes in the 1960s looking for free love, free drugs, and free rent, and it hasn’t changed much since. I was here when I was thirteen years old, staying with a cousin. Since, the government has made an attempt to clean up Christiania by taking out most of the drugs but the general atmosphere remains. Old military buildings painted in bright colours are home to all sorts of the local free thinkers from vagrants to artists to very accomplished architects. The tour ended at the National Library, also called the “Diamond” because of it’s seemingly transparently beautiful aesthetics. It is a remarkable example of the old world class of an European city (half of the building is the original building of the National Library) and the clean lines and simple concepts of modern Danish design that act to seemingly tell a story with nothing but light.
Munich
As wonderful of a city as Copenhagen Germany Europe flew by.
As can be expected, this type of life can take it’s toll on a person’s ability to remain conscious. By chance, when my body and mind were screaming for sleep, I happened upon a rather quiet train car. In fact, at one point a person was asked to keep the noise down behind me. I thought there was going to be some sort of movie starting that necessitated such silent attention until I realized that some of the train cars are specifically designated for the lazy kind of traveler that I felt like being. They are quiet cars and I will snore my praises of them for years to come.
Budapest
A city full of history, incredible architecture, and beautiful women. As you walk around the city you get a definite stench of the former socialist society coupled with an obvious existence of capitalist growth. The city sits on the banks of the Danube. The
The other side of the river is the Buda part of the city (are you picking up on the basis of the name yet?). A little quieter and lush, Buda contains some beautiful homes and sites. The Gelhert Hill, marked by a statue that can be reached by hiking paths, offers an incredible view of the city. I was lucky enough to meet a lovely local named Janka and I was invited to a dinner party. Hungarians are often seen as slightly less personable than some western European counterparts. This can be chalked up to a very dry sense of humour. I can attest, however, that this is not the case at all. After a great, home-cooked meal and a few cocktails in a quaint apartment in the hills filled with great people, including Zigga (who I knew for a few days and offered me a lift to the train station), and of course the beautiful Janka; I would say that kindness and generosity are staples in the social diet of Hungarians. They also have an uncanny ability to have a good time.
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Again, some relaxation is in order after seeing so many sites.
Paris
A city where the standard tourist fare is still pretty good. With only two days to spend here, the decision was made to plan on seeing nothing but the
Amsterdam
We were scheduled for three days. Looking back, we seemed to have spent a week just on that first night. An early morning train from Paris France Brussels to show tickets is the only memory before rolling into the central Amsterdam
After checking into our hostel I went out to find food. I ended up with dinner on an outdoor patio with both a younger local man and a rather elderly, ex-pat Englishman, and we speak about places to go in town. Apparently, the consensus is clear: young and old alike suggest trying my hand at the local bars.
In a city with foreign signs and more canals that Venice, landmarks are few and far between. I am suddenly in the middle of the red light district. I recall thinking: “That’s a lot of red lights . . . hey, that one’s got her own theme music . . . ", and, “What kind of weirdo would bring his kids here?” I passed by a very entertaining barker trying to drum up business for a sex show.
On my last legs and full of baked goods I found the hostel and retired to a basement room to relax and play guitar. I am suddenly joined by two lovely American girls who, it turns out have two of the most soulful voices I have ever had the pleasure of hearing live. Their names are Heather and Nina and between the three of us we begin to attract a crowd. consisting of other tourists and some locals, one of whom had been a professional busker and is convinced to jam a little and explain some of the local laws. In general, laws in Amsterdam
I’m not about to suggest that what I’ve shown here is a first. It has probably been done before. Nor would I suggest that that it is an extreme case of European travel experience, but a multi-country adventure which can be accomplished quite nicely with Rail Europe. In fact, due to the large amount of real estate covered I’ve only touched the surface of the experiential possibilities with the use of a Rail Europe Pass. In a time where information transfer and faster, cheaper travel is at our fingertips, it is good to be reminded of how far away we can still get just by hopping on a train.
The Flying Pig Hostel is found at www.europefamoushostels.com and the soul singers of the
Hotel Trains
- Artesia de Nuit (France, Italy)
- Berlin Night Express (Sweden, Germany)
- CityNightLine (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
- DB Nachtzug (Germany, Denmark)
- Hotel Train Lusitania (Spain, Portugal)
- Elipsos (Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland)
