And so I have returned from brief visits to Seattle, Minneapolis, Boston, Baltimore, New Orleans and Los Angeles . . . from which I bring the following reports and impressions. Seattle is a wonderful city. I can’t point to anything specific, but there’s a good feeling about the place. Of course, there’s the rain ….
As I write this , I am sitting on train 19 to New Orleans from Culpepper VA. It’s 12:40 A.M. and we’re sitting behind a freight train 9 miles from New Orleans. We’re already 3 hours and 38 minutes late with no end in sight. Don’t EVER use Amtrak, they are dishonest when they know you’ll…
Probably the best advice I can give anyone who is about to take their first long-distance trains ride is to say “Lighten Up! Don’t expect everything to be perfect. You’re having an experience.” For instance, maybe something will go wrong. It will probably be something relatively minor—maybe the lavatory on the upper level of your…
Even on paper, weeks before our group gathered in Moscow the night before departure, the itinerary was something to put the imagination into overdrive: a private train from Moscow across Siberia to Mongolia, then to the Chinese border, where a Chinese train would take us south to Beijing. I woke up on the 7th morning…