Seduction by Diesel

I have been seduced by a beautiful woman. Her movements are hypnotic and serpentine and she carries me along taking me where she wants to go. I am powerless to stop her, back away or protest. She has taken me away from home and comfort and is lulling me with her charms. And....She smells of diesel.
Leaving Istanbul

Her name? The Orient Express...well, not "The Orient Express"...that one runs from Istanbul to Paris. This one is the Dostuk Filia and she is taking our family of four on a midnight journey to Thessaloniki. For awhile we will share the same rails of the OE...and the train station in Istanbul is the final destination and home of the OE. But this journey is on her kinder and less mysterious sister.
The Star and Crescent from our Sleeper

Our journey here was fraught with adventure and discomfort and we have never before spent a more inconveniently enchanting evening in our lives. I am paying by the second to post here....more on this story in a future print column. From the Thermaic...Global Nomads