We are travelling first class, high speed, between Barcelona and Madrid. The service is run by IRYO, on sleek Italian Freciarossa trains, and offers what is termed Infinite Bistro to first class passengers. As the additional cost compared to standard class was fairly small, I thought it worth trying the upgrade
The seats are wider and plusher than normal, and there is an air of quiet efficiency. The train pulls out on time, quickly picking up speed as it travels beneath the streets of Barcelona to burst forth into the sunshine of the more industrial areas
Service starts with a glass of cava and a bag of nuts, and then pauses. We follow the coast at first, then head inland. The screen tells us we are going at 300kpm, but it’s a very smooth ride. What is noticeable are the pressure changes, and having to frequently pop your ears
Eventually the food trolley arrives. I am having the Iberian menu: pork cheeks with green beans and mash, washed down with a rather nice glass of Rioja.
Vera has opted for the Norwegian platter: salmon, quails eggs, salad, a guacamole dip, etc. What she doesn’t have is any butter to go with her bread roll. The trays are all pre-assembled and there is no loose butter, but a couple across the aisle take pity and donate their supply. They are Canadian, and lived for a while in Vera’s home town of Stoney Creek. It’s a small world.
They are spending two weeks backpacking around Europe and going to a Taylor Swift concert before heading home. The whole holiday is cheaper than getting tickets to see Taylor Swift in the US. Behind us are a couple from Ohio with the same story: it is cheaper to fly to Europe and back than to see the event in their local town. And not because the flights are so cheap, it’s because the concert tickets are ludicrously expensive – it’s easy to pay over $3,500 per ticket. A crazy world
We are pulling into Madrid station before I have finished my second glass of red. The Canadian woman is being discretely sick into a plastic bag. We offer them More bags and tissues, and hope that the baton of gastrointestinal illness has been passed from us to them
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