These are the true tales of the rail and the wing, seen from the vantage point of train stations, dressing rooms, airports and the not-so-glamorous back of a cab. Buckle up in the jump seat for this caffeine-fueled 15-day tour of Italy, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, France, England and Ireland. Don’t forget your passport.
April 25: Copenhagen To Berlin
This train is bound for Berlin. The skies are the clearest blue, but there’s still a few patches of snow along the tracks. The Danish countryside reminds me of Tennessee in places. There’s a grove of slender white trees outside the window on one side and a Christmas-tree farm on the other, each little fir with a colored ribbon. White wind turbines spin at the far end of a mustard field, cottages with clay tile roofs—it cries out to be painted. I’ve picked up a set of Faber Castell pens and some Canson paper in Vienna to keep me occupied. I’ve burned through the books I’ve brought along, Kim Gordon’s Girl In A Band and Robert Reich’s Supercapitalism.
Wi-Fi has become a rare commodity over the last nine days. It’s probably a good thing, overcoming my Wi-Fi dependency. But Skype is a lifeline that I can’t do without on the road. After the show, I call home. It’s about dinnertime there. They’re having spaghetti tonight. Last night, my eight-year-old daughter, frustrated by the slow download of a program my wife is helping her with, says “I’m bored!” She’s so accustomed to the uninterrupted flow of digital stimulus that it’s jarring to wait for anything. I lean into the phone and offer her these words of wisdom. “Violet, remember this: Boredom is the mother of creativity.” She repeats it back and then stops to ask, “Who is the father of creativity?” Good question, I’m thinking. “Discipline is the father of creativity,” I suggest. Our train is about to connect with a ferry to shuttle us across sea.
