Saturday, September 7, 2013

The Long Way Home - Don't You Love a Train?


We chose the "wrong" train back from Devon to Paddington Station in London.


It took four hours, via Bristol and Bath, instead of the two plus hours of our trip down.  I loved every minute of those four hours.  I loved the journey and I love Paddington.


At Paddington you still have that excitement of departure and arrival - especially in summer, when people have that holiday halo around them.


On a train and in stations, it's an intense juxtaposition of public and very private worlds.


That is missing from airports these days.


I love being on a train as night falls.  The big windows let you see the changes in the sky and the light.


On trains, more so than in many public places these days, people still respect silence and the teeny bits of private space that a train accommodates.


We each surrender a little control, and hand over our trust to the conductor.  And our souls....


to reverie, and to the world whizzing by.  To what changes, and what remains the same.

(How's the weekend?  Hope it's been a peaceful one.)








3 comments:

  1. Where was the last photo taken? It reminds me of my memory of Bath .. but perhaps it could be any one of a number of West Country towns on a canal ..

    ReplyDelete
  2. It probably was Bath, Elizabeth. Lovely place, isn't it? I wish I could have gotten off there, haven't been to Bath in years.

    Nice to have you here!

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh, i SO love this here, your post on traveling and sight seeing. from the train. my favourite means of transportation. lots of downsights to it, delays e.g., and i mean daily, but once boarded it is pure luxury. i find. many do not agree with me, so i'm all too glad i find a kindred soul here... ;)))
    n♥

    ReplyDelete