The Off Topic Topic

[Maladict]

Skynet is pretty buggy on release.

[Maladict]

I remember taking overnight trains in Ukraine.  It must've been even more fun for an adult, because it's a special social situation.  You're stuck in a car with a bunch of strangers for a day or more, so you get to meet a lot of people and hear a lot of stories over frequent smoke breaks as you pass the time, or invite them to your cabin for vodka and cold cuts.  Of course, as a child, you just enjoy the choo-choo part.

I did the overnight to Poland in 2014, sharing the space with two Russians and two Ukrainians. It was.... tense.

[Sheilbh]

[celedhring]

I had a similar experience in 1999 when I did Prague - Budapest alongside two serbs and two croats 

[Sheilbh]

I hope you both tried to break the silence - "so, anyone got any weekend plans?"

Although that actually reminds me of staying in a hostel in Italy when I was about 17. In the dorm was a guy from Ireland, a guy from Northern Ireland, me (from England) and an American. In the very first round of ice-breaker questions the American was like "so, Northern Ireland - what's the situation there then?"

[Duque de Bragança]

Good memories of the night trains in Russia from Moscow to Sochi. Icebreaker during the World Cup was hardly difficult to find.

Even the train staff had its own vodka to share when Russia beat Spain on penalties. 

[Razgovory]

I've only ridden a train once, not including metros or subways.  I would have liked to take a train back and forth while I was in college but the line didn't go from the city my college was in and my home town.

[celedhring]

I hope you both tried to break the silence - "so, anyone got any weekend plans?"

Although that actually reminds me of staying in a hostel in Italy when I was about 17. In the dorm was a guy from Ireland, a guy from Northern Ireland, me (from England) and an American. In the very first round of ice-breaker questions the American was like "so, Northern Ireland - what's the situation there then?"

I honestly remember precious little of the conversation, except that it was indeed uncomfortable, and that at some point I mixed up Zagreb and Belgrad and got the iciest stares in the history of civilization 

[The Larch]

I once did Warsaw - Prague on a night train and it was a blast, it was only me and my two buddies in the carriage (we were backpacking around central Europe), and the guy checking the tickets was relatively young and we ended up spending most of the night chatting with him while drinking excellent and really cheap Czech beer that was on offer at the train itself

[HVC]

I hope you both tried to break the silence - "so, anyone got any weekend plans?"

Although that actually reminds me of staying in a hostel in Italy when I was about 17. In the dorm was a guy from Ireland, a guy from Northern Ireland, me (from England) and an American. In the very first round of ice-breaker questions the American was like "so, Northern Ireland - what's the situation there then?"

so... who bled first?

[HVC]

i used to ride the GO train when i was young (intercity train in ontario). Depending on the time it was either awkwardly cramped for work commuters, or dead. it was a triple decker and for whatever reason if you sat in the second story there were rattling noises that made it sound like the train was falling apart.

Also too a train to Quebec once. that was nice. good views.

[Sheilbh]

As a Brit I always find double decker trains unreasonably exciting

[Maladict]

I hope you both tried to break the silence - "so, anyone got any weekend plans?"

I didn't know their nationalities, but I felt something was going on and nobody was talking.
At one point one pulled out a Ukrainian passport, and I tried to use it to make small talk.
"Ah Ukraine, I've been to Kyiv, what a beautiful city".
"I'm from Donetsk"
"Oh"

[Sheilbh]

so... who bled first?

I think there was stunned silence and lots of eyes-emojing, before we laughed and someone just said "it's complicated"

[Tamas]

I hope you both tried to break the silence - "so, anyone got any weekend plans?"

I didn't know their nationalities, but I felt something was going on and nobody was talking.
At one point one pulled out a Ukrainian passport, and I tried to use it to make small talk.
"Ah Ukraine, I've been to Kyiv, what a beautiful city".
"I'm from Donetsk"
"Oh"