[lit-ideas] Re: Quote from Allan Bullock's book
- From: david ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 24 Dec 2005 18:07:31 -0800
On Dec 24, 2005, at 4:26 PM, Teemu Pyyluoma wrote:
There is something about the great railway lines. In a
better world, I'd love a train ride from Berlin to
Bombay or from Cairo to Johannesburg.
Having spent much of my childhood standing on dreary British Rail
stations, doing visual archeology on the litter and wondering how big
a delay , "Points failure at Waterloo" will cause this time, and
having done the Eurail Pass thing--let's see if we can get from
Bolzano to Stockholm without getting off (no, you have to change in
Munich)--I can think of few things less romantic than a long train
ride. I will, however, make a prediction about how the train from
Berlin to Bombay would run. Inside Germany's borders, never more
than thirty seconds behind schedule; outside, no more than a day
off. Why do I say this? We left Bolzano in an Italian train that
was three hours late. We arrived in Munich thirty seconds early. Or
maybe late. I forget. All through Germany, with timetables in our
hand and watches at the ready, we tried to record a slip. My
traveling companion was Italian and he wanted to catch the Germans
napping. Ha! He took his revenge in Sweden, crossing at a crosswalk
when the little man was red. The gathered Swedes hissed, but he held
his head high, having stuck a blow for jaywalking and the Italian
version of freedom.
And how is Christmas in Finland?
David Ritchie
Portland, Oregon
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