Train ride

I went with my language tutor today on a train trip. We are trying to take advantage of every type of public transportation here in Rio. There are several types of trains, from the old ones with wooden benches down the sides and lots of handles hanging from the ceiling to the new "chique" (fancy) ones with cushions on the seats and an outer appearance like that of the Disney World monorail. It's really not that different from the metro (subway), because the train here is used as more of a commuter train than an actual "trip" train.
There are people who walk up and down the train selling drinks and candy, and people who sell newspapers ("to pass the time on your journey").
We went all the way out to Santa Cruz, the last stop on the train. We started at Central do Brasil, one of the most famous train stations in Brasil and the subject of a 1998 movie (Central Station, in English -- watch it to get a little touch of Brazilian culture. See info about the movie at IMDb.com). The train station is just like any train station in Europe, filled with newsstands and little food stands to buy pasteis (pastries). People are everywhere, hustling and bustling through the station on their way to bigger and better things.