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I came careering down the piste at speed and skied slap-bang into some chap who stopped right in front of me. At the time I wasn't aware that I'd broken my left collarbone... following two weeks of immense boredom I was on the verge of insanity, and so when on a trip to my local village I found myself returning to my hotel not only with the bag of apples I'd set out to buy, but also with an Interail ticket, entitling me to free carriage on virtually any train in Europe for a month...
European Tales: Interrail trip around Europe, a lengthy tale
Joseph Tame2006-06-30 17:39:54
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from the hole that its former dictators dug it into so well? It's extraordinary how human beings, all "created equal" can end up with such different opportunities being offered to them.'
Late that day, and following a total of 4 hours at the border checkpoints we rattled into Bulgaria. As the evening wore on so the cold crept further into my room; the carriage doors were not shut and hadn't been since we'd left Bucharest. I never really figured out why but guessed that it was because over the decades the locking mechanisms had become so rusty that they would no longer function. A coal burner situated at one end of each carriage provided what heating there was - I must admit I really had to look twice when I first noticed these as I've never known anything like them before on a train. The ticket inspector doubled as a coalman, pacing the corridor throughout the night to ensure that the fires continued to burn. My little cabin, complete with a big comfortable seat, a short soft bed, a sink with warm running water and a toothbrush holder made me think of an Eastern European style Orient Express. At one point this train must have been the ultimate form of luxury transport, now it was a fantastic relic of the communist era held together by will alone.
The changes in the landscape as we entered Turkey were quite dramatic. Bulgaria had passed unseen by night, and I now found myself in a relatively familiar environment. Green fields, modern housing developments and shining steel fences appeared in the morning sun. In a way I was sad to see this having enjoyed the challenge of a foreign environment. However, as soon as we reached Istanbul I put aside all ideas of familiarity - I was lost in this mad place! It took me a good thirty minutes to summon up the mental courage to set foot out of the station in my attempt to find the youth hostel listed in my guide book. It wasn't long before a young man offering me a room in his mother's
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See photographs from:
Bulgaria Gallery
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France Gallery
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Germany Gallery
,
Hungary Gallery
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Italy Gallery
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Romania Gallery
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Turkey Gallery
,
United Kingdom Gallery
