This is it. This is the end. Today I went train spotting. Not intentionally at first. I was out and about in the city centre and as always I took my camera with me in case something caught my eye. Something did. Then it was a tram here. Then a tram there. I can see my future now. Holiday plans dictated by train schedules and model railway exhibits. I always considered myself a geek, but am I considered a spotter now? What next? An anorak and a flask...
Setting aside the stigma of being a spotter, I must admit I really liked the look of the Czech passenger train. Now I've got this urge to see if I can get a model of this locomotive in N-scale. However, i've been to all the model train stores in town and I don't recall ever seeing one of these.
It was 1994 and I was working in Doha helping CGIS implement a nation wide GIS. My vacation was coming up and I had decided to head over to Europe instead of going back home for a visit. It was my first time traveling alone and my first visit to Europe. I was young and naive, which were two great characteristics to possess when experiencing new cultures. It certainly helped me to adjust to middle eastern ways for two and a half years. I arrived in Amsterdam with no itinerary and just an Eurorail pass in my hands. I journeyed from Amsterdam to Bruxelles to Paris to Lyon to Milano to Firenze to Verona to Venice to Vienna to Salzburg to München to Frankfurt to Köln and full circle back to Amsterdam. It was wonderful traveling across Europe by train. Sometimes I was unable to find accommodations so I slept in train stations, but enjoyed it nonetheless. That was back in the days when it was still safe to do so. That particular trip had a profound impact on me and was the catalyst for my interest in this hobby. My model trains help me to relive those wonderful memories of my first trip across Europe.
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