It’s my first night on a Hotel Train. It sounds so glamorous, images of Agathie Christie pop in my head.

I meet some other Americans who tell me they chose a reclining seat reservation rather than a bed in a cabin. I decided to do the same, having already experienced a sleeping cabin on my way over. I share a melatonin with the other Americans, and fall fast asleep. A little less comfortable than the bed in the sleeping cabin, but I’m so tired after Fallas, I hardly notice.

Train Tip: If not sleeping in a cabin on a Night Train, consider bringing a blanket. With bed reservations, you’re given a blanket on the train. In the reclining seat, you have only yourself and your jacket to keep you warm. One of those airline blankets would be perfect to carry around for the trains.

The greatest pyrotechnic celebration I’ve ever seen. For 5 days each year, the people of Valencia, Spain celebrate the coming of spring with a cultural festival like no other.

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Barcelona´s new Sants station is beautiful, so easy to navigate between the Metro and train.

I sit next to an older woman. She´s been carrying her Scottish Terrier from her home in San Fransisco. She´s going to house sit for a friend in Spain. I tell her how my plane in NYC in was turned back from taxiing on the runway. Apparently dry ice had shifted in the cargo bin and was dangerously close to the pets in cargo. She shivers. Her dog barks. She asks me how I´ve handled nearly 30 hours of train travel. I´ve actually enjoyed it, I explain. Zoning out, napping, listening to my I-pod, reading. Having a front row seat to study the landscape. Having time to meet and converse with fellow travelers. It´s been a good ride.

Arrival in Valencia
Each city corner is exploding with firecrackers in preparation for the Fallas. Dreariness and excitement battle inside of me. I seek out my hotel. Naptime. Dreariness, for the moment, wins out.

Lyon - Montpellier
A French woman sitting next to me offers to share her celebrity magazines. I attempt to translate some words, but instead we play a game of charades describing the escapades of Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, and Lindsey Lohan.

Montpellier - Barcelona
In a train compartment that looks like it came from the set of Boogie Nights. All 70s: Earth tones and large modular seats. I expected to see a shag rug.

Just as I think that my last 24 hours on a train is too much, a woman next to me recounts how she spent 50 hours traveling in the back of a vegetable truck in Morocco. I´m reminded that everything is relative.