“It’s very beautiful over there.” -Thomas Edison, American Inventor
Trains are so lovely. I always listen to music while on them because I enjoy being able to block out the chatting of people around me so I can focus on the scenery flying by. Germany does not have the fastest trains in Europe but I kind of like that. I am happy that I can read a short sign or some graffiti as we roll through the country or past cities. The countryside of Germany is absolutely gorgeous in the late fall. Everything is bright orange and yellow with hints of green still persisting and fighting the cold. You get an extended period of fog in the valleys through the majority of the mornings and that fog even creeps into the cities.
Planes are always my favorite way to travel but only when I fly before sunrise or after sunset. This allows me to cover my head and the window in the plane and just enjoy the stars. Especially when flying over a body of water or sparsely populated land, you can see so much. However, I must admit, it is not comfortable trying to hold up a jacket to block out all light from the cabin to avoid reflections on the window but it is worth it to me.
When I fly, I always, if I have an option, pay for the seat choice or whatever I need to assure a window seat, at the back of the main wing. I do this because I am just fascinated by everything that is going on with the plane. Before I decided to study and focus on Computer Science, I was into Physics and planes(and rockets) were always one of those things that interested me. My favorite moment is when the plane makes a hard banking turn and it faces me back at the Earth and I can just stare at wing and watch how the elevons operate and to control the plane. It’s something so simple and most people probably don’t care because it isn’t really that exciting, but it makes me excited and that’s enough right? It’s the simple things in life.
Anyway, I love flying but trains were something I never rode prior to Europe. Well I mean, I’ve been in subways but not proper cross-country trains. Right now I am traveling at 238 km/h/148mph and it’s a foggy day. So foggy that you can’t even see the top of the Wind turbines as you pass them. My view that I am treated to is rolling hills with occasional trees and a few buildings on the horizon, as well as the aforementioned wind turbines. It’s a different experience than what you get from a plane. You can see and feel the place you are traveling by. From a plane, you are tens of thousands of feet away from anything and you glide past it in a way where you miss the physical world around you because your frame of reference is completely thrown off. This is the only real negative of air travel, you miss out on the scenery and one of the loveliest things about travel, seeing how things are different elsewhere but not just elsewhere because you are going someone elsewhere and so you will experience something different. However, you will miss out on what things look like between where you were and where you’re going. Unfortunately, trains are not as exciting mechanically and physically as planes are. At least not externally, but I guess not at all. Trains have the benefit of being able to be completely electric but that doesn’t really make them cooler to look at.
In the next month, I will go to Berlin, Dusseldorf, and Kiel in Germany as well as Helsinki, Finland for Christmas. I exclusively travel via train inside Germany, partly because it is cost-effective but also because of everything above. I think I might even choose trains over plans even if it was about the same price simply because there is so much more freedom to move and do whatever you want while on a train.
The weather is getting less pleasant. The mornings have been below 0C for the last days but sadly no snow. I am keeping my fingers crossed for a white Christmas because I should be enjoying the holiday in a place where the Heat Meiser can’t get his toasty hands on. Speaking of which, I’ve been listening to tons of Christmas music and small parts of Christmas movies as we get closer. Luckily, there is no Thanksgiving here to stop Christmas celebration from starting early.