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dolorosa_12) wrote2023-09-08 02:53 pm
dolorosa_12) wrote2023-09-08 02:53 pm
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Friday open thread: memorable journeys
These Friday posts are making a tentative return. We'll see how long I can maintain the momentum.
I've got journeys and transport on the brain at the moment due to my summer of train travel, and that's what's sparked today's prompt:
What are some of the most memorable journeys you've undertaken? I'm not asking about the destination, I mean the journey itself, by any mode of transport.
Trains are far and away my favourite form of transport (other than my own feet ... or my own arms and legs, I guess, since swimming is technically a form of transport that I enjoy), so I guess it's unsurprising that train journeys are my most memorable. The one which always sticks in my mind is that from Bergen to Oslo in Norway — six hours through the most incredible, snow-covered mountains, little houses with roofs covered in grass, and just this endless sweep of magnificent land and sky.
I don't particularly enjoy travelling by car, so weirdly my most memorable car journeys are the ones that happened so frequently in my childhood that they became habitual, and memorable because they caused me to remember every contour in the land, every twist and turn in the road: the three-hour trip between Sydney and Canberra, the winding route down the mountains from Canberra to the NSW south coast, my endless trips back and forth from my high school to my house, to my gymnastics club, to my piano teacher's house, and so on.
I don't think I travel enough by boat to have much to choose from here, but nothing beats a journey across Sydney Harbour in a ferry.
In contrast I travel too much on foot (both just walking around in my daily life, and on hiking trips) to ever be able to narrow things down to the most memorable journey.
My memorable plane trips are all memorable for the wrong reasons...
I've got journeys and transport on the brain at the moment due to my summer of train travel, and that's what's sparked today's prompt:
What are some of the most memorable journeys you've undertaken? I'm not asking about the destination, I mean the journey itself, by any mode of transport.
Trains are far and away my favourite form of transport (other than my own feet ... or my own arms and legs, I guess, since swimming is technically a form of transport that I enjoy), so I guess it's unsurprising that train journeys are my most memorable. The one which always sticks in my mind is that from Bergen to Oslo in Norway — six hours through the most incredible, snow-covered mountains, little houses with roofs covered in grass, and just this endless sweep of magnificent land and sky.
I don't particularly enjoy travelling by car, so weirdly my most memorable car journeys are the ones that happened so frequently in my childhood that they became habitual, and memorable because they caused me to remember every contour in the land, every twist and turn in the road: the three-hour trip between Sydney and Canberra, the winding route down the mountains from Canberra to the NSW south coast, my endless trips back and forth from my high school to my house, to my gymnastics club, to my piano teacher's house, and so on.
I don't think I travel enough by boat to have much to choose from here, but nothing beats a journey across Sydney Harbour in a ferry.
In contrast I travel too much on foot (both just walking around in my daily life, and on hiking trips) to ever be able to narrow things down to the most memorable journey.
My memorable plane trips are all memorable for the wrong reasons...
no subject
My most memorable train trip, or one of them, was in 2015 when I went on Interrail in central Europe. I had planned my itinerary around music; I am a fan of Bob Dylan and wanted to catch a few of his gigs in Germany and Slovakia, plus I went to a festival in the Netherlands (mainly to see Dan Deacon, Bob wasn't playing). I never did Interrail as a teenager, but it was a wonderful experience as an adult as well, and I've since done it a couple of times, most recently in June this year. My first Bob trip included other things as well, touristy wandering around cities, renting a rowboat, just enjoying the sights. I actually started the journey with a bus ride through the Baltic countries and Poland, and think fondly of that part of trip too. It was interesting to see the "backyards of Europe." (It's now possible to take a bus all the way from central Finland to Warsaw, and I'm curious to try it.) All in all, I prefer to travel at a pace that leaves time for observation. I read somewhere that trains travel at the speed of your heart.
no subject
I read somewhere that trains travel at the speed of your heart.
I love this sentiment!