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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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at the moment having been speeding along at about 15mph since we left Dover. There was an announcement when we first got on, "those of you sitting by open windows please shut them as when we go through a tunnel you may get wet." Oh, I see what they mean, we've just gone through a kind of car wash, leaking water main apparently. My God, we're doing over 20mph! At least there's no smoking allowed, probably because the seats are highly flammable- hhhmm, back in the UK alright-I've found a candidate to be thrown off the train. Little miss chatterbox. Tell the world a million and one boring things- sounds like she's been educated by being given a copy of the Daily Mail to read every day for four years.'
My enthusiasm for train travel that day waned even further as due to 'cracks in the line' we had to be transferred to a fleet of buses. These dropped us off at another mainline station, where a fellow passenger attempted to smash the glass of the ticket counter in a wild fury as we argued with the staff to get free taxis provided. Despite having put so much effort into getting there, I didn't spend too long in England. The welcome given by family and friends was really nice, but I didn't feel at all at home and so within a week I was back at the ferry terminal. A parting gift from the UK was the news that ten minutes before I'd arrived at Dover, all Sea France workers had gone on strike and there would be no sailing. I couldn't believe my luck but fancied a brisk swim in any case.
Twenty-four hours later I arrived at Zoo Station, Berlin, following a comfortable overnight trip through northern France and Belgium. This was the first time I'd ever been to the city where East met West, and it took me a while to warm to the place. I was struck initially by the old monuments that acted as reminders of the war and post war years. I felt it was appropriate that these times were not forgotten, but rather
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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
