13 - Barcelona - Malaga

Day 13

I left the hotel shortly before 7:00 and planned to have breakfast at the station. I soon realised just how close the hotel was to the main entrance of the station, a mere 100 meters away. Yesterday I had even stopped outside the main entrance trying to figure out where the hotel was, but unsure I chose to exit the opposite entrance. The station was already very busy and today I had to buy the first train ticket since leaving Spain almost three weeks ago (excepting Eurostar, of course). Yep, my 10 Interrail journeys were over and now it was back to reality. However with my 'Tarjeta Dorada' (my over the hill pass) I was able to buy an AVE ticket and reserve a seat to Malaga for just over 70 euros.

The Spanish outback

On the direct train from Barcelona it takes under six hours to reach Malaga, arriving around 14:30. I assumed we would still be going via Madrid, so I was a bit concerned when it was overdue. I checked my smartphone tracker and discovered we had long since passed Madrid and were well south heading for Cordoba. Last year I had traveled to Barcelona via Madrid thinking that was the only way, but I don't think there is a great difference in journey times, if any. Some people might find the often inhospitable landscape of Spain boring, but I like the stark simplicity of it and the raw contrasting earthy colours, it reminds me of abstract landscape paintings. The Spanish landscape is certainly unique in Europe and probably the closest to an American or Australian outback, one reason why so many Sergio Leone 'Spaghetti Westerns' were filmed out here. I spent a good part of the time in the restaurant taking photographs and sipping a beer. The main advantage of restaurant, apart from easily accessible refreshments, is the ease of dodging from one side to the other to take pictures should anything interesting appear. The train was punctual, as all Spanish trains usually are, when it pulled into Malaga Maria Zambrano station (named after a famous Spanish philosopher). A train on the C1 line was already waiting to whisk me away on the last leg of the journey. An hour later I was home almost exactly three weeks after leaving. I had covered around 8000 kilometres, visited numerous European cities and passed through five countries. I had paid 289 euros for my Interrail pass and just a return journey from Nottingham to London would have cost me about the same, giving some idea of the savings. Eurostar did put a big dent in the final figure, but it was still a bargain. I am sure I could have traveled to England by ferry using the Interrail pass, thus eliminating the Eurostar costs. It would have taken much longer of course, but with still two days left on my Interrail pass it was still possible.

Summary

I can safely say the Interrail experience was a great success and I would do it again without hesitation. I had absolutely no problems with the ticket itself, inspectors never asked for my identity or questioned anything, in fact a cursory glance was enough for most. All the countries I visited ran very good, efficient and frequent services. It really did feel like one Europe, with one currency and no border controls, apart from England and the Czech Republic. England really did not feel like a part of Europe at all, with strict customs and passport control (in Paris & London) and a thorough baggage security check. Money also had to be changed in England and in the Czech Republic. I also had to pay for the Eurostar, the only service not covered by my Interrail pass. Maybe England is caught between a rock and a hard place with regard to Europe but I still think more could be done. Whatever the reasons the strip of water between England and Europe will remain for the foreseeable future and so too excuses for bureaucratic barriers.

The best		The worst
SNCF in France	For their WiFi	SNCF in France	Time keeping, organisation and condition of trains.
OBB in Austria	Train's toilets and their WiFi	OBB in Austria	Seats (truly appalling for long distance trains).
RENFE in Spain	Trains, all round performance and value for money.
DB in Germany	Luggage storage facilities and trains.	DB in Germany	Officials.
CD in Czech Republic:	Best old style cabins with plush, blue fold down seats that made super beds.
NR in UK	Best station - Kings Cross, London.	NR in UK	Prices
SBB in Switzerland	Trains (Double-decker).

Is this Andalusia?

The most annoying things:

Station toilets

Paying to use them, prices varied from 50 cents to 1 euro.

Having to squeeze through barriers with a suitcase.

Finding correct loose change.

Finding no soap or towels after paying.

Luggage storage

Badly sign-posted luggage storage facilities or none at all or expensive storage with security checks. Time for proper secure storage facilities in a bunker, no need for security checks as planting a bomb would then be a waste of time.

Information

Lack of information desks, often hidden away, closed or empty and personnel who could not speak a word of English. English is the official language in 83 countries and spoken in 105 other countries (apparently). Chinese and Spanish are the top two languages in the world and many of these people speak English too, while the reverse cannot be said to be true. If you can speak Chinese or Spanish as a second language OK, if not then you should know some English working on an information desk. Travel is international these days.

Exceptions

Particularly annoying were the narrow aisles on some UK trains, so narrow in fact my small suitcase could not even be pulled down the gangway and had to be carried or dragged sideways! I did wonder how larger people managed to squeeze through as I could only just manage to get down myself. Five seats across, now that really is pushing the limits and in the country with the highest ticket prices in Europe.

Lack of free WiFi in stations. Crossing several borders these days by high speed train means changing networks constantly. Most trains and railways stations had Internet but it required registering and paying. Germany's Telekom was the worst as I could not connect despite having filled out their registration form, the SMS with a PIN number never arrived. Stealing personal data is criminal you know.

Overpriced water. What a racket that is, I have paid up to 3.60 euros (Stuttgart airport) for a small bottle of water, when a 5 liter bottle in a supermarket costs less than one euro. Now trains and train stations have joined the club.

You may wonder why there is such chaos at many of these major city railway stations. Simple bad signposting is my answer. I think all European stations should have signs in three languages: Chinese, English and the country of origin. There should be large plans of the station's layout showing all important areas and facilities with a big red arrow or dot indicating “You are here!' I am sure 30 per cent of the people, if not more, were wandering around, aimlessly searching for a platform, information desk, toilet, luggage storage, shop, bureau de change etc. Airports seem to have this problem better under control.

Still nothing is perfect. Putting all these minor negative factors aside, it really is astonishing what mankind has achieved in such a short space of time. Stephenson's Rocket is less than 200 years old, before that people traveled by horse, horse and carriage or walked. There were times when I thought, 'Wouldn't it be nice to be traveling slowly by horse and carriage, watching and smelling the countryside slowly go by. Then someone reminded me of the rough, muddy potholed roads of that period and the poorly sprung carriages shaking and rocking along. I realised then how lucky we are. I recently read somewhere that even Queen Elizabeth disliked her short annual carriage trip, because it was such a rough ride, and that was on smooth tarmac. True or not it makes you wonder.