I Can See the Red Tail Lights

This is travel day...from start to finish. If there is a mode of transportation, we'll use it. We walk down the street to the train station in Florence and wait to board the train to Rome where we will catch a flight to Spain.

Once again, the train is on time...full...and silent.

The other day I mentioned that in a huge cathedral in Florence, someone came on the loud speaker and said, "Silencio, this is a cathedral, please be respectful of the worshippers." There were no worshippers in the church, just a few hundred tourists and history buffs and college students on "Semesters in Italy." But they were all lively and respectful if not a bit noisy, but maybe that old cathedral could use a rousing laugh or cheer or folksong or two. In any case, the "silencio" was broken as soon as the announcement ended and tourists went back to talking in normal voices.

Not so on the trains of Italy. I think there should be an announcement in the middle of the trip...

"Attencione! Passengers are asked to interact with one another for a period of five minutes...kindly talk, laugh and demonstrate that you have a pulse and are not catatonic. We will soon be sending paramedics down the aisles to administer CPR to those who do not appear to be responding to this announcement or fail to register a pulse. Thank you."

I am not kidding, both Makaila and I think the woman beside me may have been on the train for a couple days and may be dead. I appreciate the courtesy of these European travelers...everyone on the train is so civilized....it is all quite nice, but I really think the officials should have checked the core body temperature of the woman next to me. (Actually I would not have minded it so much, but her arm and elbow totally took over the center arm rest.)

The trains in India are a bit different. I traveled mainly second class. I suppose first class had a the silent types and third class had folks packed in like sardines, but second class had a bit of a family atmospher. You had a compartment, without doors where six would sit. You interacted, found out about one another's lives, where they were from and why they wanted to move to the United States. But the trips had a certain flair to them. If you took an overnighter, it was fascinating. You would board at say, 4 pm. For the first two hours you would be all talkative and friendly to your cabin mates showing photos of the grandkids and exhanging emails and telling about your favorite cricket or soccer stars (I just picked some random cricket stars from Mumbai and held forth and for soccer, I would tell of the glories of Manchester United. Everyone in India is familiar with Manchester United and hates them, so the conversations would be great.) About 6 pm the stewards delivered dinner of curry and rice...always quite nice. Lots of chai. Then......bam.....that was it. The Indians set up their beds for the night and they were out. 6:30 pm and they were snoring. There wasn't much to do with lights out and everyone snoring so I would lay on my bunk and listen to Sinatra on the earphones. The next morning the others would be gone because they had left at their cities stop in the middle of the night. But you felt like you were on a trip of significance and got to meet the locals.

European trains are wonderful. Clean. Punctual, they get you from point A to point B with amazing skill. But if someone says, "I think I'll take a trip to Europe and ride the trains and meet the people"...forget it, no one talks. The European Parliments have decreed it....if you want rowdy, noisy, boistrous Europeans and tourists to meet....go to a cathedral. I have been to football games that are quieter.

We arrive at Rome and disembark as the local paramedics administer oxygen to most of the train travelers. We go and buy a ticket for the airport and might I add that Rome got it right....their train to the airport goes RIGHT to the airport. Many big city airport trains deposit you about two miles from the ticket counters. Rome puts you right at the ticket counters. Good job Rome.

We fly to Barcelona. On the flight is a group of say 20 kids who are about 15 years old and they treat the plane flight like an extended pep rally. It is not often that I have flown and had the passengers offer a cheer when the plane takes flight. In a plane, that can be a little disconcerting but I must say, these kids were into the spirit of traveling. I suggest to their chaperones that they could hire them out to enliven the passenger trains of the continent.

Arrival at Barcelona is stunning. The airport is like something out of a Star Wars movie. I think I am going to like this city.

Peace,  Bob