I love this. Traveling slow has, and still is, the way I travel for all the reasons you mention. I especially appreciate your tip on sketching. Many of us journal, but the odd time I've sat to draw a view has required an unparalleled acuity. I still have the sketch I made while sitting in the living room of a mountain top home (with three walls of floor to ceiling windows) when I was house sitting in Tasmania for 9 weeks. Even just writing about it now takes me back to that incredible vista. Like you, I'm no artist but the view deserved more than the many photos I took.
Glad it hit home! More and more I feel there is no point in traveling unless you do it slowly. So true about sketching: it puts you deep in the moment, and fires up your memory banks, like nothing else. My sketch book brings back memories so vivid they give me goosebumps ...
Yes you're right that the UK to Venice isn't that easy. We went one Christmas and spent a long time waiting around at the Paris end to board the train. Worth it of course in the end. Years ago a travel company called Citalia which specialised in Italian trips offered package trips by a chartered train to various Italian locations. We did two trips, one to Venice and one to Florence. They suspended the offer after running it for a few years. Probably because it wasn't profitable enough. It was great though because you had the benefit of a private train, if thst makes sense from London so less panicking about whether you'd got the right train and that mad dash across Paris on the Metro. The downside was of course that it was a package but only B & B in the hotels. How wonderful to be treated to a trip on the Orient Express. That's definitely the way to do it. Enjoy your Venice trip this summer. I'm envious already. I hope you'll find a way to include it in one of your blogs.
Here's hoping Citalia or its descendants step up and start stitching together a vast web of comfortable long-distance routes across Europe. I'd be delighted never to set foot in another plane to travel across this continent! Yes, the Orient Express was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime thrill...Can't wait to get back to Venice, though, even if it means enduring two hours in a low-cost airline flight. Will surely find a way to mention it in future blogs!
Thanks for a pleasurable read. Would always pick a train holiday if possible. It's a shame that they still come out as an expensive option when compared to flying. Incomparable though. I've travelled by sleeper train from London to Venice a few times. Just the regular train not the famous luxury version but it's wonderful.
Glad it hit the spot! Totally agree on trains: always my favourite way to get from A to B. The good news is that long-distance travel across Europe by train is getting easier and cheaper. They're adding new services, including overnighters between major cities. I'm hopeful there will be more. We certainly need it. I'm returning to Venice later this summer and want to go by train but it's just too long with too many change. The one time I did do that route (as mentioned in the piece) was on the Orient Express. It was glorious – and would have been even without the eye-watering luxury! (I was lucky to be given the Orient Express tickets for free.)
I love this. Traveling slow has, and still is, the way I travel for all the reasons you mention. I especially appreciate your tip on sketching. Many of us journal, but the odd time I've sat to draw a view has required an unparalleled acuity. I still have the sketch I made while sitting in the living room of a mountain top home (with three walls of floor to ceiling windows) when I was house sitting in Tasmania for 9 weeks. Even just writing about it now takes me back to that incredible vista. Like you, I'm no artist but the view deserved more than the many photos I took.
Glad it hit home! More and more I feel there is no point in traveling unless you do it slowly. So true about sketching: it puts you deep in the moment, and fires up your memory banks, like nothing else. My sketch book brings back memories so vivid they give me goosebumps ...
Yes you're right that the UK to Venice isn't that easy. We went one Christmas and spent a long time waiting around at the Paris end to board the train. Worth it of course in the end. Years ago a travel company called Citalia which specialised in Italian trips offered package trips by a chartered train to various Italian locations. We did two trips, one to Venice and one to Florence. They suspended the offer after running it for a few years. Probably because it wasn't profitable enough. It was great though because you had the benefit of a private train, if thst makes sense from London so less panicking about whether you'd got the right train and that mad dash across Paris on the Metro. The downside was of course that it was a package but only B & B in the hotels. How wonderful to be treated to a trip on the Orient Express. That's definitely the way to do it. Enjoy your Venice trip this summer. I'm envious already. I hope you'll find a way to include it in one of your blogs.
Here's hoping Citalia or its descendants step up and start stitching together a vast web of comfortable long-distance routes across Europe. I'd be delighted never to set foot in another plane to travel across this continent! Yes, the Orient Express was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime thrill...Can't wait to get back to Venice, though, even if it means enduring two hours in a low-cost airline flight. Will surely find a way to mention it in future blogs!
PS: And the Biennial will still be on.
Thanks for a pleasurable read. Would always pick a train holiday if possible. It's a shame that they still come out as an expensive option when compared to flying. Incomparable though. I've travelled by sleeper train from London to Venice a few times. Just the regular train not the famous luxury version but it's wonderful.
Glad it hit the spot! Totally agree on trains: always my favourite way to get from A to B. The good news is that long-distance travel across Europe by train is getting easier and cheaper. They're adding new services, including overnighters between major cities. I'm hopeful there will be more. We certainly need it. I'm returning to Venice later this summer and want to go by train but it's just too long with too many change. The one time I did do that route (as mentioned in the piece) was on the Orient Express. It was glorious – and would have been even without the eye-watering luxury! (I was lucky to be given the Orient Express tickets for free.)