Trains

We rode lots of trains.  I mean we rode LOTS of trains.  We like to ride the public transportation in the new places we visit, as opposed to a tour because that way we are surrounded by the local people instead of other tourists.  The down side of that is always being a little unsure if we are in the right place, does the the train stop where we need to go?  Are we going in the right direction?  Do we have the right tickets? And, we are often dragging suitcases up and down stairs and across streets.  In Europe, train stations function as more than a place to catch a train.  They are city centers, often a mini city in themselves.  With shopping malls, restaurants, post office and banks, and 30+ tracks.  So when you buy your ticket in the Munich station and have 10 minutes to catch your train, you find yourself running full speed with your wheelie suitcase dragging behind to find the right track and board before the train takes off.  We made it every time.  Thanks to Scott, we never missed a train.Our first experience of Chicago was the El...the elevated train.  This picture was right downtown where we got off the blue line from the airport.  We still needed to find our way to the hotel, so with the help of so many friendly Chicagoans, we found the bus that took us straight to our hotel at McCormick Place, the convention center south of the city.We had to take a picture of this cute little Thomas train at Navy Pier.Oslo's train station with the Tiger.Leaving Bergen for the first leg of the Norway in a Nutshell tour.Cute little girl looking out the train window in Norway.The narrow gauge train we took from the fjord village of Flam to Myrdal, high in the mountains, took us through beautiful country.Through the window of the cog wheel train we took up to Zugspitze.I'll be happy to get from place to place in my own car for a while...but I am glad we travel the way we do.