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Obituary: The Orient Express
I screwed up big time.I've always wanted to ride the Orient Express, the famous Paris-to-Istanbul sleeper train made famous by countless movies and novels. It's an elegant train steeped in glamor and history. Ever since it opened in 1883 it was the way to go to the East. It's been one of my travel goals for as long as I can remember, but I figured I could always put it off until next year because it would always be there.
Today was it's last day.
Because the trip is more about the journey than the destination. Because you can't see the details of the land from an airplane window. Because people talk to each other on trains.
Yes, commentators are pointing out that the route has changed many times over the years, and the train that shut down today didn't even run the whole way anymore, but that's like saying that the Parthenon isn't the real thing because half of the stones are gone. Something old and wonderful has still died.
So next time you think you can leave a dream until "next year", don't. You might wake up and find the dream's over.
CLARIFICATION: There have been a couple of comments saying the Orient Express is still operating. The train that shut down is, indeed, the direct heir of the original Oriental Express, although it had stopped its full service decades ago. Modern companies, such as the Venice-Simplon Orient Express, have used variants of the name but are not the original service. The original Simplon Orient Express opened in 1919, although it too has gone through permutations over the years. For a time there were three "Orient Expresses" running simultaneously, with the Simplon being the second oldest. The original, true "Orient Express" started in 1883. The Venice-Simplon Orient Express is now the closest to the original we have, with vintage carriages from the 1920s and 30s. I'll have to ride it some day, assuming it doesn't go out of business too!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Grant Martin Dec 28th 2009 4:58PM
Damn, that was on my hit list too. Sad day :(
At least we still have the trans siberian!
Freddie Dec 28th 2009 5:17PM
I love what you're saying and I completely agree. Unfortunately, EVERYTHING has become more about the quicker and cheaper route. People are not thinking about the experiences they are giving up for modern day conveniences. Word.
Kevpod Dec 29th 2009 3:43AM
Today was it is last day?
akolough Dec 30th 2009 8:29AM
I caught that too. How I wish people would learn the difference between "its" and "it's." It's so simple a concept!
GoJoe Dec 30th 2009 9:17AM
Mr. McLachlan: As a writer who is bemoaning the passing of something elegant, you may want to pay heed to those who include language as a treasure whose integrity requires a degree of vigilance.
GoJoe Dec 30th 2009 9:34AM
Prickly, aren't we? Why don't you just go in and correct the typo?
tboyone Dec 30th 2009 9:52AM
Sean... A bit of advice from an older person. Never get into a battle of the wits against an unarmed person. It's ( or its, or maybe it is it's) no fun because you always win.
Sean McLachlan Dec 30th 2009 10:23AM
GOJOE: If I corrected the typo their comments would make even less sense.
TBOYONE: It would be "it's" in this case, and you're right. :-)
Kevpod Dec 30th 2009 11:10AM
Sean,
I've been reading Gadling for years, in part because my life is indeed relatively gray compared to yours, and I have enjoyed your dispatches.
When I pointed out a typo, gently, I was helping you alleviate a minor embarrassment. I'm both surprised and disappointed that you reacted with insults. I may look into other travel blogs for my daily hit of grayness-antidote.
Sean McLachlan Dec 30th 2009 11:15AM
KEVPOD: That was more for AKOLOUGH than you. In fact, I couldn't figure out what your comment meant until he/she jumped on the bandwagon.
Kevpod Dec 30th 2009 11:48AM
OK. Well, I just don't think it's best practices to insult your readers over trivial typo discussion. I'd expect a Gadling contributor to t maintain a semblance of civility, even if commenters offer criticism.
Kevpod Dec 30th 2009 11:52AM
OK. Well, I just don't think it's best practices to insult your readers over trivial typo discussion. Akolough didn't deserve a flame over that quip either.
I'd expect a Gadling contributor to t maintain a semblance of civility, even if commenters offer minor criticism. Writers have to have a thicker skin than that.
BD Dec 30th 2009 1:50PM
Folks, stop this! Let us protect this language in its (note no apostrophe) proper form.
The word, "it's" is a CONTRACTION of "it is", a pronoun and an intransitive verb in the third person, nominative case. Use of a contraction of that verb for the possessive neuter pronoun, is INCORRECT, PERIOD. It seems here that those who try to protect PROPER ENGLISH can be trampled upon by those we can assume to be "native speakers and writers" of English, who defend their error rather than fixing it. So we must then assume that the English language will disappear in a flurry of "SMS-speak". No editor of the New York Times, the LA Times, the Kansas City Star, Christian Science Monitor would have allowed this, not at least in the "golden age" of print media. Now all we read and hear are dumb words like "webinar", and BAD GRAMMAR , such as,"Me and Joe went to the movies.", or, "I had went and changed this order."
Open Word or WordPerfect, and put in the following sentence: "The train left it’s station at five." A green line should appear under "it's" if the grammar checker is on, or you have run it (not "have ran" it). It means you goofed. Un-defend! Stay focused on writing it correctly. And let us stop telling people, who try to teach something, that they have a "gray little life". They are more than likely more enlightened in letters than the rest of us (including me), and trying to get others to that enlightenment. Let's end the apostrophe catastrophe.
Mark Dec 30th 2009 12:47PM
I, too, enjoy reading Gadling to enrich my grey life. As for the punctuation, I have always had problems with that one. So it's the contractions that get the apostrophe, not the possessive. Glad to see the writer reading the comments. I have always felt that Gadling was a bit more intimate than other blogs. Love Galley Gossip.
Mark Campidonica Dec 30th 2009 12:53PM
I, too, enjoy reading Gadling to enrich my grey life. As for the punctuation, I have always had problems with that one. So it's the contractions that get the apostrophe, not the possessive. Glad to see the writer reading the comments. I have always felt that Gadling was a bit more intimate than other blogs. Love Galley Gossip.
Sean McLachlan Dec 30th 2009 12:53PM
BD: Your points about grammar are all completely correct, but it is obvious that you haven't been following the conversation.
David Dec 30th 2009 7:32AM
I don't know what's wrong with people. I would have loved to have ridden the Orient Express, just as I wish there were still those Victorian-era transatlantic voyages. All the good restaurants with character are closing because of the chain restaurants, writing beautiful love letters has given way to Twitter, Facebook and eHarmony, and I've even heard that schools are giving up teaching cursive writing because they want children to be so computer-literate!
New is not always better. People need to slow down and enjoy life.
bippo58 Dec 31st 2009 5:56AM
my teen ager,s writting looks like chicken stick people
see i cant spell but i did like to doodle
its hard to doodle on a p.c. too.
MIKE Dec 30th 2009 7:50AM
ANOTHER EXAMPLE HOW TECHNOLOGY IS "CONTROLLING" ALL OF US....NATURALLY MANY WILL SAY THAT THEY ARE IN CONTROL OF THE TECHNOLOGY, BUT THE PROOF....PUT YOU CELL PHONE IN A BUREAU DRAWER AND SEE HOW LONG YOU CAN LEAVE IT THERE.....WHAT DID WE DO BEFORE WE HAD CELL PHONES ?????
Joe Dec 30th 2009 8:31AM
Well Mike, we all are not like that. I for one always have and always will REFUSE to have a cell phone! I have several reasons why but the main reason is because of something you touched on, I was doing just fine before they even came out with those things. I personally believe that life was much better before all this tech. garbage, such as this compluter I'm typing on right now. If you think about it, we aren't doing ANYTHING that we weren't doing 30 years ago. We go to work, pay the bils and do our best to enjoy some vacation from time to time. It's not like our WHOLE lives changed and we all do everything different now. What's changed is now we have more bills to pay for all the new tech. we use. Take al that garbage out of your life, we'd still just go to work the smae, pay the bills and try to get away with family or friends when we can. What we've all done is make others VERY rich by believing them when they say how much we NEED this garbage!