Thursday, February 10, 2011

Feeling Compartmentalized

Lots of giggling going on here:


It’s one of my fondest memories of our trip to Europe last summer.  I know I’ve quoted this before, but it’s really true:  Happiness is a journey, not a destination.  In the above photo we’re on a train, on a journey from Karlsruhe to Heidelberg, Germany.  The kids are giggling because we pulled out the seats in our train compartment, which we had completely to ourselves, and were rolling around like we were on a giant bed.

I miss those old train compartments.  It’s rare to board a train car these days and find it’s one with cabins.  Most European countries have modernized their rail system with high-speed trains, resulting in shorter travel times and therefore less need for comfortable compartments, sleeper cars, and couchettes.  

This is what their ultra-efficient seating looks like now:

 








Like on a bus.  No more privacy.



The old train cars are divided up into a number of compartments accessible from a side corridor.  Each compartment has a sliding glass door, which you can lock from the inside.  There's a curtain you can pull across the inside of the door, too, and voilà - complete privacy!  There are six seats inside, two rows of three, that face one another like this:



The seats recline and slide out like this:


When all six seats are pulled out and the armrests are lifted, the whole compartment becomes the equivalent of a king size bed.  And a whole lot of family fun.



Related post: Training (We love train travel!)

10 comments:

  1. Happy Thursday!! Dropping off some comment love :-)
    Have a stupendous day,
    Ellie

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  2. The convenience of trains in Europe is so wonderful. Looks like a fun trip.

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  3. Love that entire idea of slowing down to take a train trip.

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  4. Wow.. that first picture... I can't believe that is a train!

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  5. Looks like fun! Althogh the US Amtrak trains do have compartments, they are VERY expensive :(

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  6. The train looks so fun! What a wonderful time with your children! Thanks for stopping by my blog!

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  7. Fantastic Yar, Wat a comfortable n lovely journey you had! The train looks so fascinating & it is forcing me to travel on that at least for once!!!

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  8. I love the old trains. When I studied abroad in Germany, I'd travel every weekend with fellow students, and it was always so fun to have the compartment to ourselves and to just be able to goof off without bothering anyone else.

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