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Finally, a well deserved love letter to trains! I share this love of yours deeply, and I am writing this as I prepare to board the well-climatized ICE to Munich, to then change into a regional train that will slowly snake through the Austrian mountains.

I recently discussed the topic about why S-Bahns are not trains. It seems that the consensus is: the only thing that makes them un-train-like is that they simply stop too often! How cool would a Ringbahnfahrt be if you would get on at Neukölln and get off at Schönhauser Allee without a intermediate stop (of course going the long way)! Make this a Bürgerinitiative NOW! ;)

Hope you'll have a wonderful time in Flensburg and on the Lorenbahn. See you soon!

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I'll be the first signature!! Happy travels my sweet and enjoy those beautiful mountains, I'm looking forward to us being able to compare travel stories (imagine - travel stories!) when we're both back in the big smoke

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Wow, indeed there are a lot of good things in the world! And one of them has got to be this wonderful newsletter that just keeps coming at the exact right time :)

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Also phenomenal cakes baked by wonderful friends, and the prospect of housewarmings...! ;)

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Dear Caitlin, I am filled with joy likewise, to find you rejoicing! Your birthday party sounds wonderful, although sitting here, listening to the gale and the rain, the idea of floating in a lake is not terribly appealing.... And I so relate to your love of trains! I've always enjoyed train travel - when I was a child air travel was of course beyond the scope of ordinary people, but trains took us to wonderful places. And when Chris and I were first married, we went on a really grueling economy campaign and saved up enough to go and spend 5 months travelling in the UK and (western) Europe - my first time outside Australia, aside from our honeymoon in NZ. We had Eurail passes and it was like owning your very own flying carpet. We could just open the map and decide where to go next - it felt like that old Imperial Leather ad, with the big jet and the wife in the spa saying "Tahiti sounds nice". For 5 months we criss-crossed Europe by train, marvelling at the glory of other countries' trains and revelling in the freedom to go anywhere we could think of. I've been back a few times since, and I'm desperately hoping that there is more to come, but nothing will ever compare to the sheer joy of that first adventure. 40 years have not dimmed it.... Enjoy being 32. I'm exactly double that! xxxx

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Oh my god I love Eurail passes - I think they’re somewhat more restrictive these days, but Mum and I just loved using ours to travel around back in 2011, it was glorious. We splurged and got first class tickets because we got a pretty good deal, and so we’d sprawl out over whole compartments and set up camp to read and talk and nap. Just the best.

Thank you! I actually had another birthday party the next day, with some ten pals picnicking in the sunny gardens out on the old airfield… maybe that’s a more appealing vision 😄

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