Places To Go
See the world by train...
I'd like to do more travelling by train - you get to see so much more than when you fly! The Man in Seat 61 has a great
guide to USA by Rail %EXT% concentrating on the long distance services. He flags up the
California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco as particularly scenic, as well as the routes from New York to Niagara Falls and Canada. Some of the trains have special sightseeing cars, with big windows and seats angled to give the best view. Another thing to add to my list of
things I'd like to do.
Paul Willis writes about his
trip to Japan by train %EXT%. It's a 13 day journey, but I'd be tempted to stop off on the way a little more than he did. The question is: what is the CO2 output compared to flying? It's got to be less surely.
Switzerland has a good train system and some stunning scenery. The train across Lake Zurich and up towards looks good and there's plenty of other
scenic routes %EXT%. The
Switzerland Travel Centre %EXT% has pricing for tickets and passes in pounds.Many of these passes also take you on Post-Buses and railway company owned boats, so you can, for example, get a stunning view of the mountains on the boat between Interlaken and Thun.
There is a wide variety of rail passes available, some for the whole of Europe, and some which
cover adjacent countries %EXT% e.g. Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Croatia and Italy.
In December 2006 I did the journeys
from Birmingham to Munich to Berlin and back by train. The food and views on the train from Munchen to Berlin were fantastic! And the trip from Berlin to Birmingham was super fast - I took the night train at about 9pm, and was in my own kitchen in Birmingham by noon!
Places to Eat
I'd like to visit the
many Sushi places I've had recommended.
Films To See
John F recommends (his words below):
- Stariewicsz (Polish pioneer who animated dead insects and lots more too)
- Jan Svankmejer (Czech surrealist from 60s onwards...clay and real objects come to life and even the music is wonderful...shame he only seems to do live action now)
- Yuri Norstein (Russian and with oils/ink to create slowly evolving fairy tales - creator of once voted Best Animation ever...The Tale of Tales...I think it was called but I love The Hedgehog and The Fog the best)
- early animated films by David Lynch and Walerian Borowczyk
Other Recommendations:
Things I've never got round to seeing:
- Three Colours (Blue, White, Red)
- 2001 - never seen it in the cinema