My first european train

And so it is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to my Finns. They have gone to Prague. I...

to Budapest!

I have made it pretty clear that people are the primary focus of my trip, whilst tourist ˝sights˝ are secondary. This is doubly so now that ruins have lost their shattered grandeur, towering spires their awe, monumentous monuments their... uh, monumenity...ness. I have discovered that I'm not alone in my sentiment. In fact, very few people are here to see sights. Old folks are. Some young people express hearty interest. Truthfully, I have a hearty interest as well. But, from what I've experienced so far, it seems as if MOST people are in it for the people. Which is good. We are all extremely ready to bond. We are all paying gobs of money, in fact, to do so.

There is something a little weird about paying a teenager's fortune to have brief flash friends, whose sole virtue seems to be that they are from different places. Were we all so upset with our friends from home?

Yet, as weird as it seems, its extremely satisfying. I figured by now my motor might be running out of steam. I might be missing familiar places, faces, sounds. I do miss them. But such is the weight of the good feeling pushing me UP that the missing is a pleasant buzz. Recollecting my friends conjures a feeling not unlike dreaming a familiar dream. I hope I'm not offending anyone by saying this. I do miss you. I just want to establish: I feel like my sails are filling with a strong, cool wind and have room to fill. I feel like a pod of dolphins has begun to swim alongside me. They make little squeaky dolphin noises and jump and play. My crew loves them. Sometimes, when the rest aren't looking, I stab one in the back with a spear and we all eat it. Its delicious! Life is good.

I'd like to talk about the travel part of my travel today. Specifically trains.

I took my first train recently, since my Finns have the interrail pass and travel that way exclusively. Mostly I have been taking busses. Since I have been offered free rooming in, of all places, Helsinki, I have also been considering planes.

Trains in Europe, at least eastern europe, are different from what I am familiar with in the states. Inside a US train, the seats are set up much in the same way that a plane's are, but for the occasional quadruple seat, two doubles facing each other with a table in the middle. There is an aisle down the center seperating two rows with two chairs each. In european trains, however, there is a long corridor down one side. Along this corridor are rooms, and each room contains six seats, arranged as three seats facing three. The room locks, and my be visually concealed from the hallway. If only three people occupy a room, the seats may be pulled together (ingenious) to make three beds. This is especially useful for night trains, as sleeping in a sitting position for longer than fifty minutes in class, er, anywhere, is not so fun.

That said, my first night train was an exhausting exprience. We shared a cabin with two... interesting Croatian men. After an initial good meeting, shaking hands, complimenting me on my meager croatian (take that tower of babel!), they preceded to smoke the dickens out of our no smoking room, drink up about four huge cans of beer each, and invite their friend from a different room, who had a tribal armband tattoo, a wife beater with the slogan Girls are Sexing on the front, and the meanest rat tail/mullet I have ever seen, to hang out. Sometimes, one of them would go to the next door ˝club car˝ a train car with a strobe light, disco ball, and haggard DJ who lethargically blasted the neighboring trains with bad Croatin techno remixes of American pop. But mostly, they stayed around our room to yell at each other jubilantly (why did you need to be so loud? You were right next to each other!), smoke, drink, and hurl their empties out the open window.

Sleep was... not easy. It was not an easy trip. But, the promise was there, I could feel it. This COULD be an excellent way to travel.

I am reluctant to travel during the day, as I must then both travel and pay for accomodation, which is a lot of money to drop in one day. Night trains have the advantage of netting sleep, travel, and the night's accomodation in one cast. But, then you miss that delicious experience of looking out the window and watching a new place flow across your senses.

I have decided, since my trip is to be focused on people, to spend the majority of my time in the east. It is cheaper, and attracts a more adventurous type. We will see what Spencer says about this. I believe he wants to see France and Germany. We have been talking. More news later.

Oh, the top picture is me with my favorite new breakfast food.

Musli!

Oh, also. Anyone who posts there address here WILL get a postcard from me. I am burning to write them. I see them in stands and wish I had more than four addresses to send to. Keep in mind I may have misplaces yours, and write it down. I'll send to you ASAP.