Raised On Amtrak

Raised on Amtrak

Raised on  Amtrak and the CTA, I don't think I have ever ridden  the rails faster than fifty or sixty [miles per hour, not kilometers].   But no more.  The electric sign at each end of each car provides a stream of information about next stops, special offers, the time, the speed at which we were traveling, and this  statement "this train is on time."   

Little wonder they can stay on schedule, our speed ranged from two to three hundred kilometers per hour.  in terms of miles per, that's 124 to 186.  Easy to make up time when you can dial up an extra fifty or sixty miles an hour.  

Although we rode those rails apace, we spent all day making the trip,  A cab ride to the station was followed by a quick lunch, standing, of course.  All the seats were occupied by people who were not eating. There are really no seats at the station for those who have to wait, so people take whatever seats are available.  This might  explain the pay toilets, but it does not, however, the missing toilet seats inside,  Unless people are thinking, "hey, I paid one Euro..."  They may have something there.  Way back in the 1960's, there were pay toilets at O'Hare Airport in Chicago.  The devices that collected the payment were manufactured by a company named "Nik~O~Lok, and the price was...yes, a nickel.  To raise the price to one Euro. is 2600 percent increase.   

Where was I?  Oh, yeah, it took all day and we were still looking  for a good pasta meal.  Our hotel's desk personnel recommended a place nearby, but we are still looking.