Chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga. . . the Orient Express, the Trans Siberian, Harry Potter! Aren’t trains just so romantic? Maybe it’s just being a car-centric American, but train travel seems so marvelous. It’s the stuff off cinematic fog-filled farewells, rolling green countryside, and ladies with fur stoles drinking tea in the dining car. (Can you tell most of my knowledge comes from BBC period dramas and old black and whites).
I’ve been on a few trains in my day (mostly around Spain, Scotland and Eastern Europe), and no one runs alongside them waving hankies any more and everything is sort of gray plastic and fabric on the inside (no more polished wood and white linen table cloths). Still, there is something marvelous about them. Sitting snugly while the countryside and cities sweep by.
We took the train down from Edinburgh to London last weekend. Here’s a bit what that journey looked like:
Edinburgh’s Waverly Station:
That’s the Scottish National Gallery looking all neo-classical in the background:
Southern Scotland whizzing by:
Train necessities: freshly baked bread, Scottish butter, and dominos:
Newcastle through my smudgy window:
The sun came out around York (just look at them clouds! Ahh to be in England!):
Still on the fence about all my fashion dribble, so in the meantime here is a tilted photo of what I wore to train travel:
Really old pleather Express jacket • Madewell Skinnies • Hunter Boots (on sale now at Shopbop!) • Zucca canvas tote via a Japanese fashion mag
Have you guys been on any train trips? Any romantic hanky waving moments? Cath and I had one our senior year in high school when studying abroad in Spain. Our Spanish families came to say good bye to us and there was much crying and cheek kissing. I think everyone should have a misty-eyed goodbye at a train station at least once in their lives.
—-
Dear Cath,
Remember when we left A Coruña years and years ago? I loved that sleeper train! I even loved the non-fancy trains we took around Scotland — just watching the landscape change.
I have more posties coming up about my London trip so I can show you a bit of what we did — so not the same as you being there!
xoxoxox,
Lar
Lar, I’ll never forget leaving A Coruna. I remember my Spain sister, Mercedes (remember her?!) even ran on the train to give me one last good bye. So sweet. And I remember traveling all over Scotland with you and Maris by train in 2004 and loving every minute of it. Could be that it’s the one mode of transportation that I don’t usually feel sick using. I know Newcastle isn’t known to be beautiful, but I always liked traveling through there – a kind of classic northern industrial English town – that has decent brown ale. I can’t wait to see more photos of your trip!
xoxoxo, cath
how awesomely fun!!!!
I love traveling by train! It’s hard to take a train out of Atlanta, because there’s only one Amtrak route that comes through here. When I lived in the northeast, it was very easy to catch a train to other cities in the northeast or the midwest. My dream is to travel the whole west coast by train someday, from Seattle to Los Angeles (or vice versa!).
One of my dreams is to take the train in Japan, Europe, and the Canadian Rockie. You see such a different landscape by train.
~F
My husband and I used to ride the train up to Chicago a lot a few years ago, but now we prefer to drive since it’s more time convenient and cheaper, too. But I miss train-riding! Maybe I’ll be able to convince him to go on a short trip this summer 🙂
Did you bring that WHOLE chunk of butter to the trip?
♥ laura
the blog of worldly delights