New memory: the train trip

This is another memory. It came to me when I was planning a trip to British Columbia and one of my options was to ride a train between Jasper and Vancouver. I started thinking about all the train trips I have taken. Some of them were fond memories.

My first experience with trains was in Beirut with what we used to call the tramway. It was an intercity electric tram that moved around the downtown area. I remember riding it couple of times between Bab Edriss and AUB. I remember I had to run and jump in because it would not stop and that the tariff was less than 5 plasters.

My second ride on a train was with my family. I think I was less than 10 years. I am not sure if my sister was born. The trip was from Beirut to the old city of Aleppo in northern Syria. It was a 13 hour trip. It was a tidy trip. The benches were wooden and hard to sit on them for a long time. Ihad fun with it because it was a new adventure with my father which I really liked. The trip within Lebanon was relatively short. I remember passing through Lebanese towns that had Syrian driven car. It was the first time I knew the towns of both countries inter winded together. Aleppo was a magnificent city. We stayed at the Baron Hotel which is supposed to be the. Set hotel I those days. The Aleppo castle was magnificent.

Other encounters of train in my childhood was in our summer house in the village of Balechaih. The rail road used to pass less than a mild from our house. We used to run towards it to flatten our coins. The engineer would throw hot water on us to keep us away. I remember once we took it to another town few Kilometers away called Zahle. And we did not find a ride back. We had to take a taxi... and it was a massive eventful night that deserves a separate post.

Outside Lebanon, I rode a train in Thailand around 1992. Sana was pregnant. We had an overnight train from Bankog to Mai Che in the north. The bed were very small and the toilet extreme. It had cockroaches. It was an experience that Sana did not like.

Then were the train adventures in Europe. We loved this experience. Most of our transportation during our European trips were on trains. We used the Europass to travel between France, Italy, Germany, Austria and all the towns between them. the most famous one is the over night one we took from Paris to Nice. The next memorable one was another overnight one from Paris to Frankfurt. The most adventurous one happened in Germany were we tried to take a short trip and save on the ticket and we were caught. This cost us a day ticket for a 2 hour trip.

The last train trip was a return trip between Gran Baum in Austria and Venice in Italy that extended to Munich.

Should I take a train trip to Vancouver?

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Location:Westwood Crescent,Fort McMurray,Canada