Train Travel

Given Spain’s recent history, I am pleased to see security measures in place and police, and security guards with dogs often visible at train and metro stations.

On our first long distance train trip last week there were security checks to go through just like at the airport and bag screening too. No one is allowed on the platform until the train has pulled in. I am happy for them to take as many precautions as they want to make sure the train I am on gets to its destination.

The trains were quite nice too – just a bit fancier than in Australia. We had a TV and personal headphones handed out. The 2 movies offered were not bad but dubbed in Spanish of course (and with Spanish sub-titles as well!) All the announcements were in 3 languages – the last one apparently English but we couldn’t understand anything. The seats partially reclined and our seats had a fixed table and desk lamp which made it seem very swish.

The dining car was modern and I must say I am very happy with the coffee in Spain– even train coffee is above average. The worst coffee so far has been at fast food outlets – not a surprise, but even just little, ordinary cafes serve very nice, strong, real coffee and cheap too – about 1.20 euro is standard.