Two train trips stand out from my post-graduation grand tour of Europe, now many years ago:

A ride across the Scotish Highlands from Glasgow to the fishing village of Mallaig just across from the Isle of Skye.

A ride across the Appenines of central Italy from Rome to visit a friend and her family in Chieti, a old town in Abruzzo near the Adriatic.

For both trips, I had not planned on spectacle. They were just the most practical way to get where I wanted to go. But I could not believe the beauty of the passing scene. I still count them among the high points of the entire tour.

Geoff Minneapolis