Read the text and decide if the statements are TRUE of False.
GETTING AWAY FROM IT ALL BY… TRAIN
There are many famous long distance train journeys. The Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul was the mostelegant and perhaps the saddest as it slowly got shorter – Paris to Vienna from 1977, Strasbourg to Viennafrom 2007 and, from 2009, nothing at all. However, my personal favourite is the Coast Starlight.
I took this train in 2013 when I was on holiday in the USA for two months, my first ever visit to the country. Ittravels a total of over 2,200 km in almost 35 hours from Los Angeles in southern California to Seattle in thefar north-west of the USA, almost on the Canadian border. There are several reasons why I loved it.
Firstly, there is the usual high standard of American service. I’m sure all their night trains are as good, although Ihaven’t travelled on any others. The ticket includes meals and they are excellent too. Between meals, you canleave the dining car and go to the viewing car. This is higher than the rest of the train with bigger windows, soyou get a great view of the beautiful landscapes of the western USA.
The train left Los Angeles at 10 a.m. and, for the first twelve hours, it followed the coast. I looked at the PacificOcean until night fell. I missed the fruit farms of northern California but, when I woke up, we were coming toTacoma with the 4,392 metre high volcano, Mount Rainier towering over the city. I jumped out onto the platformto take some photos but jumped back on quickly. I didn’t want to be left behind by mistake.
Now, we were next to the Puget Sound, a 161 km long, 16 km wide area of water where several rivers meetthe Pacific Ocean. There were forests, islands, boats, birds and, for a few minutes, a group of whalesswimming in the icy water.
The train arrived exactly on time at 8.37 p.m. and, as I got off, I turned round to look at the train. I wanted to jumpback on for the return journey to Los Angeles. One day I will.