As much as I am embedded with beloved friends, their deep and rewarding friendships, and my own location in a well-established home, neighbourhood, and creative work community, there's always a mixed and sinking feeling returning to over-hyped Berlin/the dark chill of Germany's north at this time of the year
No more south of the Alps glorious sunsets ending dry warm days that have lasted over one comparative hour later; less brightness in the sky; the utter lack of sea...
...not to mention confrontation with a sadly conservative dress-sense
And I admit the (only) bad thing about trains is too much time to contemplate these absences, though all three of my connecting trains back from the south to the north are packed full in a twelve-hour commute, a crowdedness which at the very least is an extremely good thing as it equals a lot of people on trains
Strangely, every carriage I've been allocated to is adjacent the restaurant car: When the queue at your favourite hole-in-the-wall cafe at Marseille St Charles lasts 5 minutes for 3 people so you sensibly have to race away to board your vehicle, forfeiting espresso, pain o chocolat and Jambon supplies, this proves slightly more expensive but indeed fortuitous
So, almost entirely unrelated... two trains of thought via high-speed long-distance rail, separated by seven weeks:
1. 30 September
Outside the window of the ICE 643 between Hanover and Berlin
there is only darkness
(for my most untidily-filled out InterRail paper work)
and the female conductor gives me chocolate
2. 21 November:
Railroad
Notes Around Midday
In
the black hole of onboard Wi-Fi coverage
between
somewhere after Lyon and before Strasbourg
catching
up 300 seconds of lost time
our
TGV races at 314 km/h
through
sunny-foggy-sunny
cow
and great white egret-studded
French
countryside
it
seems incredible that we are able
to
reduce speed to zero
in
time for our scheduled arrival
at
Besançon Franche-Comté
in
two minutes – according to the digital notice board –
but
we arrive one minute later
and
manage it in three
unpacked
and repacked with a united nations
of
train time travellers at the lunch hour
our
carriage is odorized
with
a similarly textured mix
of
BO, eggs, croque-monsieur, and basmati rice salad dressing
while
continuity announcements smatter
in
trilingual French, German and English
we
inhale
hold
our
noses
and
exhale
to
un-pop
our
popping
ears
marvelling
at technology
which can
which can
hurtle
us together
in a capsule
upon electrified steel
across earthly space
in a capsule
upon electrified steel
across earthly space
using
low-carbon-emitting energy sources
or play automated greetings to we patrons, with “Good morning” in the afternoon,
while info-screen wording us up
on how to access our free onboard online external world
(simultaneous
with these circa two-point-five
high noon-circling hours)
high noon-circling hours)
when
actually infra-structurally unable to provide that very connected
service in this disconnect zone, our windows scrolling rural scenes at velocity
service in this disconnect zone, our windows scrolling rural scenes at velocity
