Travel Log

Taking an overnight train was something that I was looking forward to since it's something pretty much unheard of in the United States. I must admit that I had visions of "Orient Express" and its opulence even though I new I was ridding in a shared 4-person room that would be far from elegant. Sitting in the train station (Santa Apolónia) with my bags piled at my feet I felt pretty good that I was starting to get the hang of train travel. I was at the station an hour before my 20:00 departure having already taken the train from Oreias to Lisbon that afternoon. Unfortunately the Oreias train arrives at Cais do Sodré and the international trains leave from Santa Apolónia. Its about a 3 mile hike between the two stations since the metro between them is still under construction. I'd left myself about 6 hours between arrival and departure so it wasn't really an issue. I'd spent most of the afternoon wandering around the Rossio shopping area and stopping in a nice café for a few beers and a late lunch/early dinner.

So the time comes to board the Lisbon to Madrid train and everyone piles aboard. The attendant in the car helped make sure that everyone found the correct berths. It turned out that I was sharing a room with guys from Japan, Australia, and Great Britain. Everyone spoke English much to my relief. Since it was already late, everyone was off to bed in short order. The room, although small, was comfortable with bunks on both sides of the door. The window, which had the curtains closed, was at the opposite end of the compartment from the door. A washbasin and hanging closet where next to the window. For someone used to living on a boat the space didn't seem too confined even with for people and all of their bags. I was surprised that I quickly feel asleep and didn't wake until we were about an hour outside of Madrid. In total it was a 10-hour trip and turned out to be fairly relaxing. I'll definitely plan on using an overnight train for any long trips that I need to take in the future.