A Long Train Ride

Transcript

1. The journey takes eleven hours, which sounds worse than it is.
2. The first hour disappears into settling in and finding the socket.
3. Everyone opens their food far too early.
4. By the third hour the flat land begins and the towns thin out.
5. The window does most of the entertainment on this line.
6. There is a long stretch where the phone signal gives up.
7. People read actual books during that part, which is rare now.
8. Lunch in the dining car costs too much and tastes fine.
9. The coffee is bad in a way that feels traditional.
10. Around the middle the train stops somewhere for twenty minutes.
11. Passengers step onto the platform to stretch and check the sky.
12. The afternoon is the slow part, and most people sleep through it.
13. Evening brings hills, and the mood in the train lifts.
14. Everyone packs an hour before arrival, then waits standing up.
15. The station smells of rain, and the long day ends quickly.