Thursday, March 10, 2011

The Art of Travel


Well,  I now have to admit that we are back in New York, and although I love being in different places, I loathe the actual traveling bit. The waiting in endless lines, the actual plane ride itself..... for me terror and tedium in equal measure..... not to mention the being all crushed up into a little tiny space.

So......


....virtual travel may well be the way to go. On Sunday we went to the model train show in Pearl River. Young, cool, hip people were remarkably absent. It was mostly attended by ancient folks and families with little children.


This imagined miniature world was quite splendid and trains rushed about merrily. Is this Transylvannia?


Henry was madly impressed.


I think this part is America. No one else has diners like ours.


The little boy in green was transfixed.

*

10 comments:

  1. Trains are indeed magical, especially to boys, big and small. I'm with you when it comes to travel. I'm a white-knuckled flyer who would much rather feel the earth beneath my feet.

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  2. A wonderful way to travel, for certain. Trains like those are a way people can create their own little worlds and make their own rules...a nice relief from all the regulations and confines of real life.

    Henry is really growing up!

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  3. Elizabeth, I would have been just as transfixed as that young lad in green.

    I always loved my brothers' model train set ups.

    Do you remember the annual Christmas model train set up on the top floor of the original FAO Schwartz store (now the site of Bergdorf Goodman Men's Store?) It was a marvelous display.

    xo

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  4. Sounds like a wonderful day to me !
    Looks like all the boys thought so too.

    cheers, parsnip

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  5. I like model trains! When I was a child, I had some engines and locomotives with wagons.
    Nice photos!
    Have a good weekend!

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  6. Elizabeth, glad to hear you are back and totally identify with your remarks about actual travel! I was wondering where this exhibit is (where is Pearl River)
    because I know my son and his sons would enjoy this very much.

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  7. A recent article in a Seattle newspaper was about the closing of a 50 year old store which sold model kits ... that is, cars, planes, boats, etc. The owner said fewer and fewer young people were interested in building models because their interest was video games. The article said model train stores were also fading away and closing.

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  8. Great model railway and Henry looks enthralled.

    I agree about the travelling. Not that it is something I do now but I always used to think how nice it would be to just go to sleep at the airport and wake up at the destination.

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  9. oh this is my dream Elizabeth. i used to go to the only deparmental store in the city called 'Spencers' in my childhood during Christmas season only to watch the toy trains run on the tracks. They were far too expensive. i could never express my desire to my mom as i know she would cut corners or borrow money to buy me the toy train set.

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  10. Fantastic miniatures!
    My son when a child loved to see it.
    Sounds that Henry was amazed too!

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I look forward to hearing from you!