The Orient Express

The Orient Express conjures up images of stylish relaxation, a luxurious ambiance and wealthy rail travel among exotic European destinations. It is on a lot of people's bucket list, but I never thought much about the cities that the train went through. I was more focused on the luxury of the mode of transportation. Now that I have spent time in both Belgrade and Istanbul, I have been thinking about the other countries that the train went through. I focused more on the opulence in the setting of fairly mundane travel--the train. But I think I was missing the point.

Travel in the Balkans was incredibly scenic, and you really miss that if you fly over the places that you visit. I largely do that--I have less time to travel than I would like, and so often, the journey is more about getting there than how that travel is accomplished. This year I managed to be on a train for relaxing travel. I took a train from London to Glasgow, and it was delightful. For us, the English penchant for driving on the left makes driving high stress and if avoidable, that would be the preference. We had first class seats, which provided not just relaxing views, but also food, drink, electricity at your seat and wireless internet. And an assigned set, so you didn't have to scramble to sit down in a choice seat.

While the English countryside is quite lovely, the Balkans were spectacular, and the trip there made me quite eager to see more of Eastern Europe--the Orient Express whisks you through Romania and Bulgaria--which should perhaps be next on my list of places to visit sooner rather than later. The world is changing quickly. It was astounding how many people in the Balkans spoke English--almost everyone in the under 30 year old crowd, and overall, it was quite impressive. Not that sharing a common language is essential--we have managed with a dictionary, a smile, and a good map in the past. It requires flexibility on the part of the traveler, and being comfortable with not getting everything that you want. But communication is not over rated--it really helps, and maybe it is time to retrace the steps of this famous train in a modern way.