135 years ago the first “Orient Express” train left Vienna for Istanbul – Europeantimes.news
In 1887, the first Orient Express train for Istanbul left Vienna. In fact, his first real journey on the legendary train was on October 4, 1883. A test train called the “Luxury Lightning Train” traveled the distance Paris – Vienna – Paris in early October 1882. The first menu on board included oysters, soup with Italian pasta, turbot with green sauce, chicken alla cacciatora, fillet of beef with potatoes, green salad, chocolate pudding and other desserts.
The carriages are painted in blue and gold, the train travels twice a week between Paris and Istanbul, passing through Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, Budapest and Bucharest. The train is not direct. It stops in Giurgievo (in Romania), crosses the Danube River with the Ruse ferry, and then another train travels the distance between Ruse and Varna, a port on the Bulgarian Black Sea. From there an Austrian steamer takes passengers to Istanbul. In 1885, the service became daily from Paris to Vienna and back.
In the summer of 1889 the line to the Turkish capital was completed and the railway train continued directly from Bucharest to Istanbul. It is curious that in 1894 the company that created the train opened several luxury hotels for its passengers in Istanbul. One such hotel is the Pera Palace Hotel in the Beyoglu district. The hotel has welcomed many famous guests since 1892, including statesmen and high-ranking artists, since 1892. Agatha Christie, Ernest Hemingway, Greta Garbo, Kemal Atatürk, Alfred Hitchcock, Honore de Balzac, Mata Hari, Nikita Khrushchev, Queen Elizabeth II, are among the famous guests of the hotel.
After several route changes, two wars and a decline in its prestige during the Cold Era, the regular train service to Istanbul and Athens was stopped in 1977. The train ceased to serve a regular service, but still survives come seasonal tourist attraction.
Photo by Julia Abramova: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-a-summer-dress-standing-on-the-side-of-a-train-and-waving-13338033/