Saturday, June 14, 2008

I thought we already talked about trains…?


Yes, here’s more about the trains. (snore)

To summarize, the trains are much different than buses and airplanes. On commuter trains, you typically need to sit facing someone or stand facing a bunch of people. It’s great for people watching. There are traveling gypsy-like folks who bring their accordions or other musical instruments on the train, play their instrument, and then bring a cup around for you to drop Euro coins into. Also, there are children on the trains who drop off photocopies of a story of their family’s plight on an empty seat next to you. 2-3 minutes later, they come back to collect the photocopy and ask you for coins. Steve read that the unemployment rate in the suburbs of France is on the order of 40%, and we definitely saw a good deal of poverty while we traveled.


40% unemployment, in case you’re unaware, is completely insane.


On the trains, you will also see what appears to be every race possible, and you’ll probably hear five different languages at once; likely more. On one train, I counted: French, English, Italian, German, Spanish, something Asian (because I’m ignorant of the differences between Eastern languages), and Arabic. You’ll also see all classes of citizens, top to bottom. If you’re getting the idea that my experience in Europe consisted mostly of people watching, you’d be correct.

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