Day #39 - Granada, Spain & Train Travel

Food/Drink car

Food/Drink car

Walking between train cars

Standard seating

Cobblestone streets of Granada, Spain

Thursday, April 22nd

This morning I got up and did some walking around Granada before boarding a train to Barcelona. This train departed at 8:45am and will arrive in Barcelona at 8:50pm. This sets the mark for my longest train ride ever.

I didn't walk around much - as I'm using Wednesday night and the train travel on Thursday as a rest period. Granada is famous for a place called The Alhambra - quoted as being the greatest expression of Spanish Muslim art and architecture. A really neat building with 9th century ties. There is a famous hotel called the Parador de San Francisco within the walls of the Alhambra - offering unbelievable views.

I've talked quite a bit about hotels/hostals on the trip, but I never talked much detail on train travel. Besides my small netbook computer, my eurail pass is the single most important possession I have with me. I paid $1,674 for a 2 month eurail pass. This allows me to use the train network between 21 different countries. It's a paper ticket. I currently have this with my passport, ATM card, and credit card - on me at all times. I wish it was a laminated card or some material other than paper. I'm a spilled bottle of water from a big problem. It's got a workout - but doing good at the present moment.

This pass is worth every penny I paid for it. In my first 37 days, I would have paid double for individual trip puchases - and - I still have a month to go. I was hesitant at first, trying to figure out the trains requiring reservations and ticket lines, but I'd do the eurail pass again in a heartbeat.

Every train station has a ticket/information booth. They are usually staffed by 2 people in the smaller stations and maybe up to 10+ in larger stations like Paris. I've come to realize, I just need to give myself more time for the lines and have a plan when I get to the agent. I generally write down the places I want to go and show this to the agent. This way, there's no issue with the language barrier. The agent will type in the trip and show me the computer screen for options on time of day. I'll selecct one. Now, if a reservation is required, I'll have to pay a couple euro (generally 1.50 to 6.50 euro) even with my pass. I then get a paper ticket that I must show before boarding, in addition to my eurail pass. Sometimes, I don't tell them about the eurail at first and they show me the price I'd need to pay with no pass. This can be in the hundreds at times. So, I'm not complaining about the small reservation fees. I'd say 75% of the trains actually require an additional reservation fee. I always go up to the ticket agent and make sure before boarding.

The trains can have between 3 to 12+ cars. If you have a reservation ticket, you are provided a car # and a seat #. Right now, travel is pretty light and cars are not full - I suspect that the summer months will prove differently. The way to tell the car #? On the outside of the train before boarding, each car is marked. If you wait until you get on the train - it can be confusing. There is not always identifiable markers on the interior cars. This is why I had trouble on my first trip from Paris to Bordeaux. The inner cars all said car #2. I should have entered the correct car from the outside.

Now, train travel is awesome compared to flights. You can easily walk between cars. There are usually 2 bathrooms between each car - so there is never really a line. Also, most trains have a food/drink car. It looks kind of like a bar when you walk in. They have a few tables where people can sit/stand. They have sandwiches, drinks, snacks, etc. You just pay for what you want. That's really nice - you make the call unlike air travel. Also, on longer train trips, they will often stop for 10 minutes at a port. You can get out and walk around and stretch the legs. The cigarette smokers love this - as no smoking is allowed on the trains.

Due to the language barrier, I usually never know what port is coming up. It's announced, but I can't understand 80% of the time. The train's are almost always on time. Therefore, I use the time of my destination as the mark. I get my bag on and when the train stops, I confirm the location by the signs at the port, and then deboard. You gotta be careful here. The other day I was travelling from northern Spain into Portugal. I got my bag and jumped off the train at my destination time before looking at the signs. I quickly noticed that this was not my port. I barely made it back on the train before it left the station. The problem was the time had changed. Portugal is 1 hour earlier - I still had an hour to go. Lesson learned. I'm looking at the time zone map right now. There's 4 zones I'll be travelling just like the US. Ireland, UK, and Portugal are like the western time zone. 80% of interior Europe is like the mountain time zone. Finland, Romania, Greece, and Turkey are like the central time zone. Russia is like the eastern time zone. Good to know.

The seats on the train are generally very nice. Much more room than in a plane. They do have first class cars with a little more room - but standard class works just fine. In addition to the many advantages discussed already, maybe the biggest, you get to see the countryside while travelling. It stays light to nearly 10pm here in Spain. Unless I'm taking an overnight train, I'd usually be at my destination by then. I will be taking my first overnight trip when I return from Turkey. Madrid to Paris. I'll board at 7:30pm and arrive at 7am. That should be interesting - more later.

Just a quick note on metro trains within a city. The eurail pass does not work here - but it's usually only 1 euro or so to travel. The metro stations are great - similar to what you would find in New York City, etc. They are very well marked and easy to get around. Just make sure of the direction Find the last port and that's what's usually listed on the board. I've only gone the wrong direction 1 time. I guess it takes a mistake sometimes until you figure it out.

Bottom line - train travel - nice option.

I'm looking out at a field of orange trees. Oranges everywhere. I'm about 3 hours south of Barcelona - not sure where. Not much else to report today. I have a hostal booked in downtown Barcelona for 2 nights. Hoping to meet some friends. There's also a chance I'll be meeting up with the son of one of my aunt's friends. He's from US and now lives here. We've exchanged emails and hope to meet up over the weekend.

I also got a ticket to the FC Barcelona soccer game on Saturday night. I know I discussed the crazy people outside the Real Madrid stadium, but I really want to see a 'big-time' soccer game while in Europe. Manchester United and some of the major UK teams will not be playing while I'm there because of the World Cup this summer in South Africa. FC Barcleona is ranked as one of the top 5 best club teams in Europe (maybe the best right now) - I'll be aware of riot potential - but it's an atmosphere I need to experience.

More from Barcleona tomorrow. The home of the 1992 Olympics and the 4th most visited city in Europe. I bet it bumps Madrid because of the ocean. I expect similar impressive architecture, etc - but the water is the trump card. We'll see if this is correct.