The Orient Express

"All Aboard. We are now leaving London. Our final destination is Venice."  - our cabin stewart

Thursday, November 1, 2018. We check in for our train trip, first on the 1920’s Belmond British Pullman which has hosted members of the royal family, aristocrats and statesman. It has art deco decor and mosaics. We have a morning train ride to the tunnel to France during which time we are served a wonderful breakfast. We transfer to a comfortable coach (bus) for the tunnel crossing which is very strange since you can’t see any movement even though you feel the movement.  In Calais France we see the Orient Express for the first time and board to find our hand luggage placed in our compartment.

We depart and settle in for our journey. We have our dinner reservation and change into our formal attire for the evening. We have an enjoyable dinner with a couple from the midlands area of England who are traveling to celebrate the husband’s birthday. After a leisurely wonderful dinner we retire to the bar car for after dinner drinks.

Although we planned our outfits well in advance, Susan’s dress and accessories were the hit of the train. She got compliments for men and women alike.  We had a wonderful evening talking with people and even did a brief dance as the piano played played a ragtime song, consistent with the period of the train.

We returned to our cabin to find it made up for sleeping, an upper and lower berth, complete with robes and slippers. We were tired from our adventure and fall asleep to the movement of the train, sleeping through the night. It is a very special experience.