Two summers ago, my friend Jake and I decided to travel across the country by train instead of flying. We had three weeks off work and wanted to see as much as possible without rushing. We would stop in a different town every two or three days and explore whatever caught our attention.
Our first stop was a coastal town famous for its fish restaurants. We arrived late in the afternoon and walked along the harbour looking for somewhere to eat. The owner recommended the grilled sea bass, and it turned out to be one of the best meals either of us had ever had.
From there, we headed inland to the mountains. The train climbed slowly through green valleys and over old stone bridges. Jake, who had grown up in the city, kept pressing his face against the window like a child seeing the countryside for the first time.
Halfway through the trip, we arrived in a small town that wasn't in any of our guidebooks. We had only stopped there because the next train wasn't for several hours. We found a lively market, a beautiful old church, and a café run by a woman who told us fascinating stories about the town's history.
By the time we got home, we had visited nine towns and travelled over two thousand kilometres. We both agreed that travelling slowly by train had shown us a side of the country we would never have seen from an aeroplane window.
Options (8 for 5 gaps — some are not used)
1The train service was unreliable and several of our connections were cancelled
2We had dozens of photographs and enough stories to fill a book
3A small restaurant near the water caught our eye because it was full of locals
4The scenery was so beautiful that neither of us could stop taking photographs
5We planned a rough route but decided not to book anything in advance
6However, it turned out to be the most interesting place on the entire trip
7Jake was disappointed because the town had nothing to offer
8We almost missed our train because we overslept at the hotel