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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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a tourist the Eiffel Tower seemed like an obvious candidate for my attentions. Having only ever seen it on TV before it was a somewhat surreal experience standing under the huge floodlit structure. The romantic atmosphere was only tarnished slightly by some bloke trying to sell me a wind-up plastic pigeon. Once at the top, the view was staggering, that is, when I wasn't too busy hanging on to the railings for dear life as a Force-10 gale attempted to take me on a tour of Paris by night-flight.
By this time I was beginning to fade; it had been a long day filled with enough excitement to last me at least a month. Heading home I came across a Parisian institution that in my view should be a part of every metro system - the roving busker. A guitarist, poet, singer or sometimes a complete Jazz quartet would step onto the train, play a few songs and then get off after a couple of stops. There were also a few times when someone would simply get up and give a speech; although no-one appeared to be listening to what sounded like passionate words from the heart, when the beret was passed around commuters were only too happy to donate a coin or three. What were these magic words that were spoken?
Following two days admiring the architecture of the French capital I headed on to England. In addition to seeing my friends and family I had a little business to sort out and time was limited. Once on board the ferry I began to feel quite sick, nothing to do with the roll of the ocean waves, but instead a fear of stepping foot in the UK once again. As we can see from my diary that afternoon, having got quite used to mainland-European transport systems, I wasn't overly impressed with what I found in my home country.
'Back in the UK alright-
Courtesy bus didn't show up for half-an-hour, no timetables posted either. The oldest train on earth is taking me to London. Well, supposedly. I mean we're stopped in the middle of a field
...
See photographs from:
Bulgaria Gallery
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France Gallery
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Germany Gallery
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Hungary Gallery
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Italy Gallery
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Romania Gallery
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Turkey Gallery
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United Kingdom Gallery
