Train Up a Child

Yesterday we left beautiful Budapest behind and travelled to the northern Czech Republic to spend the weekend with friends. I was reminded of two things:

First, getting to the train station is difficult. Journeying with three little children and all of our gear is a logistical challenge, to say the least. But we were able to navigate our way, heavy laden, and boarded the 9:25 from Budapest to begin our journey to Česká Třebová, where our friend Marketa and her family would pick us up for the journey to Jamné nad Orlicí. Thank goodness that Erika could carry all this stuff! Maybe I should’ve done more than just take pictures…

Erika doing her best sherpa impersonation.

I was reminded, however, of a second truth. Once aboard the train, you can’t beat the rails as a means of transportation. We settled into our journey for the next five hours. To our American children, trains are things mostly of myth, fantastical machines from the world of Thomas. To actually ride on a train? Magical!

From a more practical angle, traveling by train is just plain easy. You can move around. You don’t have to pull over to use the restroom. You can wander down to the dining car for a meal, which is exactly what Greta, Anders, and I did while Erika and Torsten rested (even if our lunch aboard the train did cost about as much as  semester at university).

Every time we’re in Europe I find myself wishing that Americans would find a way to embrace train travel, but I doubt that’s going to happen any time soon. We all like our big cars too much, myself included. Still, it’s hard to beat. And it’s biblical, too…

Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray. Proverbs 22:6.