Ejercicio - nivel B1 - viaje en tren.

I remember a very interesting train journey I took from London to Madrid. I'm talking about many years ago and travelling by train was not so comfortable then as it is these days. I can remember buying my 1,  at Victoria Station, London. The people in the long ticket 2, were impatient and angry because the man in the ticket office was so slow. The ticket vendor came out of his office and shouted at us to be quiet. I was very surprised at this.

In those days, there was no 3, under the English Channel (the sea between England and France). So when the train arrived at Dover, I had to take the 4, . It was very slow but it was lovely on deck listening to the seagulls and feeling the sea breeze. I had lunch on board too - fish and chips - a last taste of England.

I don't remember much of the train journey through France. This was not because it was boring but because the experience was enjoyable and 5, and everything went smoothly. However, when I got to the Hendaye / Irún 6,  of France and Spain, things got more complicated. I had to 7,  because the width of the rails in Spain is not the same as in France. The Spanish train was very uncomfortable; the 8, were full of people, the seats were hard and there was no air-conditioning.

After a few hours, the 9, changed quite dramatically; France had been green with rivers and trees but the centre of Spain was hot, dry, very rocky and mountainous. I loved the contrast in the scenery but I wasn't very happy. The train often stopped at 10, and waited for ages. We were all very hot and thirsty and there was no 11, to get a drink or something to eat. The strong sun shone through the windows and there were no curtains. Little boys ran along the 12, selling soft drinks in buckets of ice. The passengers leaned out of the windows and threw their pesetas down to the boys and they threw the tins of soft drink back up. Then the train would leave again and go move slowly across the rocky countryside. A fascinating journey but definitely not very ctable!