Posts by Bill

The Dream of International Rail There’s something uniquely satisfying about boarding a train in one country and stepping off in another. No airports. No plastic[…]

Vilanova i la Geltrú and a Promised Trip It all started with a bribe. “If we go to the beach town,” Sue said, “we are[…]

You’d think I’d come to Spain for the weather or the food. Everyone else does. But no. I came for the tracks. And not even[…]

Couldn’t sleep the night before. Nothing dramatic—just that mild sort of buzzing when something important’s coming. I laid out my socks. Sue said I looked[…]

After getting bounced around (in a mostly fun way) on Feve’s slow, unpredictable, and stubbornly scenic northern routes, I figured it was time for something[…]

After Sitges, we needed a shift. Something slower. Less predictable. Not just another straight-line rush from A to B.  So, obviously, we ended up on[…]

Spain’s railways? They were solid, sure, but nothing revolutionary. Then 1992 happened. The AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) rolled in, and suddenly, Spain wasn’t just in[…]

Barcelona doesn’t stand still. It moves, it pulses, it shifts. And beneath all that movement is a rail system that’s nothing short of a masterpiece—metros,[…]

The Beginnings: A Messy, Slow Start  Spain’s railways? They didn’t roll in with a grand entrance. More like they tripped over their own feet and[…]

You’d think after four decades on the railways, I’d have had enough of trains. That I’d take up, I don’t know, gardening. Fishing. Something sensible.[…]