Bear Down Wildcats

Anybody ever take the train across the English Channel before? I've always just flown back and forth, but tomorrow I'm taking the train.



It seems harder than going to the moon. The tunnel actually goes under the earth that's deep beneath the sea:



How is it possible that deep down there, with the weight of the entire sea above? If I think too much about it, I notice I have trouble breathing.

No, but I traveled by train a lot while I was in Germany.

azgreg wrote:No, but I traveled by train a lot while I was in Germany.

That's like me saying I'm going to jump naked into a deep barrel of knives, and you saying you once had a hangnail.

Handrails are no joke man.

I once took one from Tucson to Albany. My parents decided we would eat nothing but dried fruit and beef jerky. It wasn't much fun. I also rode on one going from Ferrara to Venice. I almost shit my pants every time we passed another train traveling in the opposite direction.

Chaperoned a bunch of kindergartners on the Amtrak train from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara, about 100 miles.
About the most brutal trip you can image.

The rest of the parents and I ended up in the club car.

Looks like you picked a terrible day to cross the channel LH...

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/new ... 13792.html

Chicat wrote:Looks like you picked a terrible day to cross the channel LH...

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/new ... 13792.html

I'm good. I was momentarily confused, it's actually tomorrow I cross. I have a reservation. Plus I'm starting at S. Pancras in London, so no worries about getting to the station late even if I did leave today.

Cross-Channel travellers faced a further round of disruption after Eurotunnel reported "intensive migrant activity" at its French terminal.

The Channel Tunnel operator told passengers to expect delays of around two hours following the intrusion and due to a "very high level of traffic" leaving the UK.

Hope you're ready for the cavity search...

I've led about a dozen tours to Barranca del Cobre. One of my favorite train experiences.

It took like 10 minutes. Nothing happens. What a subversion of history.

Boehner?

Is Farage going to cry too?

Passenger rail in the US compared to places that aren't so stoopid:

My wife and I were in Japan in April to visit our daughter, her Navy husband, and kids.

We took the trains everywhere, even to Tokyo which took about an hour. There is a train station about 1/2 a block or less from her apartment. If she needs to run to the grocery store, or 7-11, she hops on the train. She says she can go and come back in 20 minutes sometimes if she times it right. Being parking is so bad in Japan, along with roads being narrow and no shoulders.

She also has a 3 and 5 year old, and as all parents know, getting kids into and out of car seats is a real pain the ass.

Odd thing for us Americans though, on the train you have to be very quiet. You have to silence your cell phone, and no talking on it. Even talking quietly to my wife, my daughter kept going "shhhhhh".

Love traveling by train.

I've done a few cross country train trips:

Tucson to L.A.
Melbourne to Adelaide
Adelaide to Alice Springs ("The Ghan")
San Fransico to Chicago
Chicago to Wash D.C.
Sydney to Perth ("The Indian Pacific")
Sydney to Newcastle
San Diego to L.A
Sydney to Katoomba (in the Blue Mountains) (almost counts as a commuter trip)

and of course, lots of Melbourne local commuter trains.

I’ve been fortunate enough to make many train trips in Europe. I’ve never done it in the U.S.

IMO the best thing about trains in Europe is that they get you out of the majors cities into smaller more manageable cites/regions where you can rent a car and drive around. Driving in London, Edinburgh, Rome, Capetown, is a nightmare. Book a major city hotel near the central train station and use the rail system to GTFO of town, say, up to Inverness and then rent a car to drive the Highlands and tour whisky distilleries. Good plan for old farts anyway.

Took the commuter rail in Boston last week. Was great

We're doing the Coastal Starlight by Amtrak this summer. LA to Seattle in a private room w/ toilet and shower and ALL meals included. 35 hour transit with one night on the train. Round trip was like $1400 for 2.

We did Chicago to Denver some years back. Lots of fun until bedtime then the horn going off every time we ran through a city made sleeping a bit tough. Still it was fun

I'll believe it after I see it.

Still waiting to take my first train trip. We were supposed to go from NYC to Niagara Falls on Amtrak in October but there was a mudslide on the track the day before we were supposed to leave and wasn't cleared until the day after we got to Niagara Falls. Great timing! Had to rent a car instead.

We'll be in Italy in April and planning on using trains to get around. We've been to Rome, Florence, and Venice so we're going to some other places. We'll have to rent a private vehicle to get us to and from Naples to Positano. But once we get back to Naples, it's all trains. Anyone have suggestions on websites so we can book our train trips? Is Eurorail the place to go to? And how far in advance should we book it? Going from Naples to Siena, in the middle of wine country because we're winos, and then eventually to Varenna at Lake Como since there's actually a train station there. And then finally down to Milan.

I used Trenitalia, and I would recommend upgrading to the premium carts. It was the difference in $30 vs $20 for us last year and much worth it. Bring a bottle of their amazing wine for under $5 and some cheese and you will have a blast.

gronk4heisman wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 9:12 am I used Trenitalia, and I would recommend upgrading to the premium carts. It was the difference in $30 vs $20 for us last year and much worth it. Bring a bottle of their amazing wine for under $5 and some cheese and you will have a blast.

Thanks for the recommendation of Trenitalia! We used them all over. Loved the high speed trains. We did upgrade our seats, definitely worth it. Missed out on the wine and cheese but we did have bottles of limoncello and caramel limoncello. Never had the caramel before but it was amazing. The only place we found it was on a day trip to Ravello.