Every time I set foot inside a train station, be it here in the United States or in the grand stations of Europe, I can’t help but feel that these stations are a lot more than mere transportation hubs. Of course, they are that, but there is a certain romantic air that permeates these places that you generally do not find in airports, or bus stations for that matter. Not sure what gives rise to this feeling, but I tend to think that the sheer magnitude of these places, combined with their slower tempo and meandering crowds, have something to do with it. Walk the hallways of Union Station in Washington, DC, and you’ll know what I’m talking about. This is a grand, 102-year old station that is the hub of ground transportation for the city of Washington and a great place from which to start a visit to this great city. Filled with restaurants, bars, and tourist connections, you can pretty much start and end your day at this building. Walk downstairs and you can either catch various metro lines or pig out at its huge food court. And of course, there are the more upscale restaurants on the main floor, which are quite good.
But it is the overall atmosphere at Union Station that makes it so special. You can’t walk through it without feeling that some great change in your life is about to take place. You are going somewhere, or returning from a journey, or meeting a loved one, or watching people on their way to-and-from imaginary places. It is all a rhythmic movement of people whose lives we like to imagine as being a lot more sophisticated than our own, but which perhaps are just as ordinary. Movement, however, gives these lives a sense of purpose and we as observers tend to busy ourselves filling in the blanks as to the purpose of their journeys. Surely that couple must be on its way to participate in a New York fashion show. That girl with the guitar, I’m sure that she is a folk singer on her way to some gig in Philadelphia. And the the couple kissing at the departure gate must be be saying goodbye because one of them is headed to military service and possibly to war in faraway lands. In these sumptuous stations we can’t help but imagine these great stories. I’m sure too that for many of these people the guy with the cameras walking around talking the pictures above also conjured some romantic notion of the carefree travel photographer who never has to go to an office to earn a living. If only we could make each other’s fantasies come true!
