Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children
Number 533
The Orient Express
Hello Everyone
Let me start this week’s blog with a question.
Do you know the difference between the word Oriental and Occidental?
Well, Oriental refers to the eastern part of the world that we call the Orient and so Occidental refers to the Occident; or the Western World.
Oriental often refers to places like China and Japan – but the Orient Express, which is a beautiful, old train that travels a long way across different countries, doesn’t actually go quite that far!
When the trains come into the Rocky Bay Station they stop and move out the other way when they are ready to go. This is because it is a terminus station. That means it is at the end of the line.
lf the trains kept going onwards, they would end up in the sea!
There are trains in countries all over the world too.
But the most famous train in the world is probably the Orient Express.
The train carriages are very luxurious. There are cabins to sleep in and dining cars to eat lovely food.
The train carriages look just as they did in the 1920s and 1930s; although the first service was first created in 1883. Stepping into the carriages is like stepping back in time. There is no wifi, there are no showers and people don’t have their own toilet attached to their bedrooms.
The train was officially renamed as the Orient Express in 1891.
The train started as an ordinary, international transport service but came to be known as a luxury brand at the beginning of the 20th century.
The first end points of the service were the cities of Paris and Constantinople; now called lstanbul, situated in the north-west corner of Turkey. Constantinople was thought of as the gateway to the East.
lt is very expensive to travel on the train. A return ticket costs thousands of pounds. But thousands of people are happy to pay to holiday on this train every year.
World Wars l and ll stopped the running of the Orient Express, and it wasn’t until the late 1970s that an American businessman, James B Sherwood, took it upon himself to set up a search for the carriages that had been dispersed far and wide.
They had been left to decay.
lt took six years of restoration and a budget of $11 million to have the train ready to run again.
Originally, the carriages would have been pulled by a steam train. You rarely see steam trains in a station nowadays, but if there is one there, you will hear it tooting and puffing and hissing – and smell it even before you see it!
A gleaming, shiny steam engine is really magnificent when you get up close.
The Orient Express was put into service once more in 1982, and people have been booking to travel on it ever since. Nowadays, the train is a modern train that looks quite different from the carriages.
A carriage is taken away each winter season to be maintained and the décor revamped. This ensures that the carriages are always in top condition for the passengers to have a wonderful experience on board.
The food is included in the price of the ticket. lt is as special as any served in a top class restaurant, but everything has to be prepared in very cramped conditions aboard the train.
There are no deep-fat fryers on board to make chips. The movement of the train would make it too dangerous to use them.
The waiters have to be careful too as they serve food and drink with a steady hand as they constantly sway with the movement of the train.
Drinks are an extra expense and much champagne and many cocktails are drunk every evening. One special cocktail with a secret recipe was invented especially for passengers. lt is called the Guilty Twelve. This name is used because of a very famous story set on the train written by Agatha Christie called Murder on the Orient Express. A few films have been made of the story.
Cocktails are served in the bar after dinner.
While passengers are dining and socializing the stewards are frantically pulling bedding out from under the seats in the cabins and making up the beds ready for the passengers to have a good night’s sleep.
There are luxury items on sale in the Boutique, which is a tiny shop on board.
The train is all about glamour, romance and luxury so there is a dress code for passengers. They are not allowed to wear T-shirts and jeans, and no trainers are allowed either.
The insides of the carriages are sumptuous and the scenery outside the window is stunning too. All day, you can watch the beautiful scenery go past outside the window.
The train makes its way from London across Europe taking in the breathtaking scenery of the lakes and mountains of Switzerland and the north of ltaly as it travels towards Venice. There are quite a few other routes to European destinations on offer too including the original one from Paris to lstanbul.
There are other similar train rides you can take in Britain, Asia and America.
Venice is the most travelled to destination on the train. lt is a city in north ltaly completely surrounded by water. You can only get to it by boat. Some of the streets are actually waterways only accessible by boat. This is because the city was built on 118 small islands found in a shallow lagoon situated between the mouths of two rivers: the Po and the Piave.
There are flocks of pigeons; there is lots of bell-ringing; but no cars.
Many bridges, over 400 of them, cross the waterways and some on the places inside the city like the famous squares can be flooded by water at certain times of the year between autumn and spring.
At one time, the city was a trading nation in its own right and was made very wealthy by trade during the Mediaeval Era and the period of the Renaissance that followed. lt was famous for trading in art, grain, silk and spices, having links to Europe and the East.
lt was a very successful society because it was well-organized and not too under the authority of the Mediaeval Church.
By the late 1200s, it was the most prosperous city in Europe. lt was also a formidable naval and sea power with thousands of sailors operating thousands of ships.
ln the 1400s, it became the printing capital of Europe, and it was here that the paperback book was invented.
ln the 1700s, it was renowned (famous) in the whole of Europe for being a centre of art, architecture and culture.
The area has been inhabited for over 3,000 years. The city was the capital of the Republic of Venice from 697 to 1797.
lt became part of the Kingdom of ltaly in 1866.
Thousands of people now live in the city, but the large numbers of tourists that visit every year swell the numbers further. Passengers from the train have time to sightsee in Venice before their return journey. As a tourist destination, it is unique.
Venice has a rich history and is associated with romance so is a fitting destination for a train holiday that is all about pampering yourself with a special experience.
lstanbul on the other hand is a very large, bustling city. lt is the most populated city in Turkey and also in Europe. lt is split into two parts as it sits each side of the Bosporus Strait. There is a European side and an Asian side. The strait is a seaway between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea – so called because of its dark waters.
Although Ankara is now the capital city of Turkey; lstanbul is a city with huge historical and cultural importance and there are many wonderful building for tourists to see. lt was on the famous Silk Road, an important trading route between Europe and Asia.
lt is like the European doorway to the Orient.
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Thank you!
And see you again next Fun Friday!
Love and kisses
Salty Sam
www.christina-sinclair.com
Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Week
Bill: Did you hear about the man who took the train home?
Bob: No?
Bill: He had to give it back!
Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.
Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com
Picture Gallery
Swiss Alps
Venice
The famous boats of Venice are called gondolas
A mask from Venice
Engraving of Istanbul, Galata Bridge. Illustration from “Book of L’Orient”, dated 1839
Istanbul
Istanbul today
THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESK
Talking about steam trains, you should have seen me run in the Rocky Bay Fun Run last month. I was phenomenal!
Well, okay, I was just a little bit brilliant.
I am allowed to be a bit proud of myself.
I came in behind about a third of the runners. But I was a hero in my family. Well, for about – I should say for about two and a half days anyway.
Then Bill and Bob started saying that my knobbly knees must have made me very aerodynamic, so I decided to change the direction of the conversation!
I collected my sponsorship money from all my sponsors pretty quickly and then gave it to the vicar for the Village Hall funds. He put it in a special account.
There were other people who had sponsorship money to give him too.
Then he decided to spend some of the money on a mini projector and a screen that will be fixed up at one end of the hall.
The screen can be pulled down when someone wants to give a talk or demonstration with slides or show a film.
He invited me to come and be the first to use it.
He asked me to bring some of my slides along and give a talk about my adventures.
I think if I tell an audience about all the adventures I have had, I will need more than one afternoon to recount them all!
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PLEASE CONTACT:
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Quick Quiz
Draw a column of boxes 6 across and 10 down.
Each box will have a letter in.
Can you find the answers to these clues?
The first letters of all the answers will spell a word with 10 letters.
Column words
- something you put on your bed
- the prickles on a rose bush
- messages sent over the lnternet
- the seeds that oak trees produce
- something that can move around, it is not fixed
- what a train runs on
- to note down some important information
- beings with wings
- to create a spark to start a fire
- something you can wear in bed
lt’s the Weekend!
HOW TO MAKE SOFA SOCKS
If when you are curled up on the sofa on a chilly night and you still get cold feet, these socks will be ideal to slip on.
They are very comfortable and there will be room for you to wiggle your toes about in them. They could be worn in bed too.
You may want to choose a more practical colour to make your socks out of – and don’t run about the house with them because they are a bit too loose for that.
(Moss stitch is slip 1, (knit 1, purl 1) repeat the last 2 stitches to the end of the row)
ADULT
SOCKS (KNIT FOUR)
Using 4mm knitting needles and white dk yarn cast on 26 stitches
Slip 1, (knit 2, purl 2) repeat the last 4 stitches until the last stitch, purl 1
Repeat this row 23 times (24 rows of ribbing)
Decrease 1 stitch at the beginning of the next row
Knit 4 rows of stocking stitch
Knit 8 rows of moss stitch
Knit 56 rows of stocking stitch (knit 60-70 rows at this point if you have long feet)
Decrease 1 stitch at each end of the next 6 rows
Cast off 13 stitches
SMALL CHILD
SOCKS (KNIT FOUR)
Using 4mm knitting needles and white dk yarn cast on 22 stitches
Slip 1, (knit 2, purl 2) repeat the last 4 stitches until the last stitch, purl 1
Repeat this row 19 times (20 rows of ribbing)
Decrease 1 stitch at the beginning of the next row
Knit 4 rows of stocking stitch
Knit 6 rows of moss stitch
Knit 30 rows of stocking stitch
Decrease 1 stitch at each end of the next 6 rows
Cast off 9 stitches
TO MAKE UP
Sew the side seams with wrong sides together along the top half of the ribbing – and then with right sides together for the rest of the sock using over-sew stitching
Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use and for use in classrooms only.
It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.
Use of the toys and projects is at your own risk.
©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015
Quick Quiz Answers
Column words
- something you put on your bed – sheets
- the prickles on a rose bush – thorns
- messages sent over the lnternet – emails
- the seeds that oak trees produce – acorns
- something that can move around, it is not fixed – mobile
- what a train runs on – tracks
- to note down some important information – record
- beings with wings – angels
- to create a spark to start a fire – ignite
- something you can wear in bed – nighty
= STEAMTRAlN
