Trouble on the Train

Minal says ...

I must admit that I was somewhat apprehensive about taking the overnight train between Paris and Barcelona. The last overnight train that I had taken was in India. That was about 5 years ago - and I had a good friend traveling with me at that point who was more familiar with train etiquette than I was. This time around, not only had Manish travelled less on trains than I had, we were not even in the same compartment! Men and women are segregated into different compartments on Spanish trains (although this is apparently not the case on other European trains). So, as I always do - I planned ahead. I even brought the twisty bicycle locks with me as I knew that in India, one chains their luggage to the seats in the train to prevent theft.

Anyway, the train experience was extremely different from what I had imagined. First, the train compartment was divided into cabins, each housing 4 people. It felt quite safe. Space for the luggage was above all the beds, too high for a thief to grab without a lot of effort. Satisfied that I didn't need to chain my luggage, I focused on other things. I noticed that there was a boy in my cabin! The boy was another traveler's son - he was around 17 or 18 years old. As French trains allow mixed compartments, mother and son had been able to book beds in the same cabin. When the fourth person entered the cabin, she literally threw a fit (it was great hearing her angry French - very passionate!). She said that women need their space and that she was going to request another cabin from the attending train manager. I wondered why she was so upset, and found out the answer to that later. Next, the manager came in and requested the boy to go to a different room - another passionate argument ensued where the mother essentially said that she would not travel separately from her son. Anyway, at Lyon, another lady boarded the train and she was okay with the boy staying as long as she got one of the top beds (I ended up getting the other one).

We needed to step out of the cabin when the train manager came around to prepare the beds. Each of the beds was a stowaway bed, and when he brought them out, they were already pre-made. Linens, blankets - it was all ready! As we got ready for bed, I noticed that the lady from Lyon started stripping in the bed across from mine (if this is how French women prepare to sleep on a train, I could understand why the other woman had been so upset!). Down to her underwear, she put on a nightshirt and went to sleep.

10 hours later, we were in Barcelona. It's really hot here - especially after Amsterdam and Paris. I have a bit of a cold and Manish is a little tired too. So we are essentially going to rest a bunch in Barcelona, Nice and Cinque Terre, before hitting the crazy sightseeing in Rome next Friday.