A closer look at the week’s biggest developments

I actually adore long train travel.

I really like it.

I mean, I know that I'm probably not the first person to observe this, especially perhaps not as a writer, but it is such a lovely way to travel.

And I do like that kind of slower travel rather than flying when it is possible.

I do think something about the sort of, you know, experiencing the change in the, in the architecture, the atmosphere, the climate, everything as you're moving.

D-- It's, it's just a better way to travel.

The glorious thing about Europe is it can change in a, in a, in a, in a matter of minutes.

Absolutely.

Like, you can go from-- The, the train up from Verona up to, to Austria is incredible.

You can be in full, full, full Italy, and then within about half an hour, and you're going up into Alto Adige.

You find yourself thinking, "Hang on.

Have I ever been to Italy before?"

[laughs]

I suddenly am in an entirely alpine thing.

And it plays with the head, doesn't it, Steve?

I love it completely for the same reasons.

Again, it, it, it's, it's absolutely not the first person to say this, but the f- discovering in really quite recent years how so much of Europe can be covered by train, and it's all the pleasures.

And you get in at St. Pancras, and you get to continental Europe.

And then quite quickly, you can able to-- you're able to get to other places.

As you say, it changes.

You have nice food, which is, if you're lucky, in many of those trains, nice food and fantastic views going past.

So Geneva, for example, which I'd always thought, well, obviously you'd clearly fly to Geneva because it's quite a long way away, and actually it's so much nicer, um, I think, going by train.

Se- scenes all the time.

There's so many pleasures.

Uh, it-- There's an interesting thing as well as the booking of the tickets, which is always the great thrill.