You can take trains a very long way on the mainland of Europe, you know... and that's just what I did on Monday, in an 18-hour marathon taking me from Brussels to Cologne, then onto Berlin, then Angermünde, Szczecin and finally Gdynia. My passport was checked (and stamped) only once, by the way, at the German/Polish border.
I've always loved long train journeys, which is just as well really. The sense of freedom is unparalleled, as well a sort of protected contact with the environment. You're not quite so much in a bubble as when you travel by car, as there are people around you getting on and off who are generally more connected to the landscape that's being travelled through than you are.
It's also fabulously non-committal as well, somehow. You're in the country, passing through it at ground-level, but you're not *really* there until you step off the train at the station and really start to interact with the place. And that's so much more work, isn't it? Sometimes it's nice to sit back in your seat and let the country just come to you...
And as for Poland, well what a country! Even for an enthusiastic Eurotraveller like myself, arriving at Szczecin station after dark in January was a bit of a challenge, but then not really all that different than arriving in somewhere like Bradford. But then, once the following day dawned I was dazzled, not just by the snow lying on the ground, but by the natural beauty of the Baltic coast, and the architectural beauty of places like Gdansk's Ulica Długa.
Poland is really a very good example of the dilemmas faced Europe right now. How do you turn a poor country into a wealthy one? Do you allow McDonalds to renovate the railway station, accepting their condition that they can be the only restaurant on the station? How do you protect institutions like the excellent 'milk bars' set up under communist times, and serving hot, tasty nutritious food at a fraction of the price of McDonalds and their ilk? How can you ensure that EU structural funds are spent wisely? How do you convince the young and talented to stay, when all you can offer them are rather nebulous optimistic visions?
Anyway, I had a great time, and my hosts were just lovely.
Posted by Eurodan at January 10, 2004 3:43 PMDespite my fascination for the world of aviation, and my appreciation of the convenience and low cost of air travel, it is somewhat homogenous and soulless.
Railways are hard to beat as a travel experience, and I always feel that a country's rail system is infused with something of the essence of that nation. Little details of the rolling stock and stations, the scenery and the passengers all help to provide a glimpse of the identity of the country.
As for cars, they are obviously the work of the devil. They increasingly fail to provide the freedom so unsubtly promised, are inefficient, dangerous and damaging to the environment. Any other substance or contraption that produced a similar frightening transformation of ordinary caring, co-operative individuals into selfish, reckless downright evil monsters as often occurs when a people get behind the wheel of a car would be banned. (Yes, I do drive a car ;-)
As for Poland's dilemmas, the answer is staring you in the face. Allow McDonalds to renovate everything in exchange for exclusive rights to sell food. Then youngsters will be only too happy to stay. The milk bars will be forced out of business, the population will become obese and sedentary and will ultimately die of heart disease freeing up EU structural funds to be spent on more worthy places (where I live, perhaps ;-)
Posted by: Shyboy at January 10, 2004 8:41 PM