Dreams do come true……part 2

Making our way back to our compartment on the Orient Express after a night cap in the Bar Car…a frisson of mystery and intrigue as we pass closed doors along the way…

Since leaving for dinner dressed in formal attire, our compartment has been transformed from sitting room to bedroom –

the shade lowered over the window,

the beds made up in sumptuous linens.

All is prepared for a restful night’s sleep.

But…I do not intend to sleep!!!  I switch on the reading lamp near my pillow and settle in between the linen sheets.  The tiny space, the motion and murmur of the train, the muted sounds of movement in the corridor,  the half dark in the compartment… all conspire to create a surreal atmosphere.  I would love to freeze this moment in time…  I read on, imagining that I am part of the tale, at this very moment hearing M. Poirot pass by…. 

Alas, time cannot be stopped – no snow drifts across the tracks to halt the train mid-journey.  The shade at the window is edged now with the faint glow of dawn.  I raise the shade, determined not to miss a moment as we pass through Switzerland into northern Italy.

Time is short.  We savor the last hours on board the train.

Soon we will transfer by water taxi to the Hotel Danieli on the Riva degli Shiavoni in Venice, just steps from the Piazza San Marco…

….and the dream continues!