The fable of flight

It has been said that it is faster to travel across Europe by Porsche than by passenger jet. That is, if one covers less than 4h worth of travel. Depending upon the route, 4h may get you from exit 2 to exit 5 on a jam-packed autobahn at the start of Easter, or from Munich to Milan on a good day.

In New England, 4h worth of road travel will get you in a stupor of frustration plus a bonus ulcer if you call in the next two minutes. So, one rather takes the aeroplane, right? Wrong. One picks another page from the European book of travel and takes the train.

A trip to New York is due on 3 November to attend a dinner to be hosted by the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Stellenbosch, my Alma mater. Choosing to attend was simple. Finding a hotel was, well, painful. Traditional uptown hotels that dare to show some stars seem to be in pillage and ransack mode that weekend. Rates are quite frankly over the top. I settled for the more daring "arty" alternative in Chelsea. The hotel happens to be neighbours of Penn Station. Expect inspiring sound affects of the industrial era at 6 in the morning after a hard night out. We expect the new Rector to know how to throw a party and if he doesn't live up to expectation then there is the city that never sleeps to fill in the gaps.

What with Penn station practically on my doorstep for 24h I thought a trip by train would beat risking my new Audi in brutal New York and also beat the aeroplane between Boston Logan and my hotel. Yep, I have not quite gone insane although some may contest that claim. I did the sums as best I could. It takes about 1h30 of pre-boarding time just to be on the safe side. Plus, if all goes well, 1h15 in the air, which gets us to 2h45. Then there is disembarking and finding one's way from JFK to Penn Station more or less - another 45 minutes. So, 3h30 so far. All for about $200, if you were lucky.

Take the train, the Acela Express no less, and from South Station to Penn Station will take 3h35. That's not beating it, you say. But here's the clincher, the trip from my flat to Logan Airport takes 1h on top of the 3h30. And from my flat to South Station takes no more than 45 minutes. No security queues; flight delays; cramped seats; safety belts or threats of terror come as a bonus at Amtrak, at your leisure. And all for $184. Now beat that, I say.