Orient Express: end of the line

Summary

The news that the Orient Express will be withdrawn from mid-December 2009 brings to an end the 126 year history of Europe's most celebrated scheduled train service.

hidden europe 29 / Snippet / By hidden europe

Sospel, the small town in southeast France featured in this issue of hidden europe, yields all manner of surprises. Not least among them are four antique Wagons-Lits railway carriages stabled near the town’s train station. They are said to have done sterling service for many years on the Orient Express. Quite how and why these four carriages ended their days in Sospel is a mystery.

But they deserve a mention as the Orient Express is in the news this autumn.

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Editorial hidden europe 29
Editorial

By hidden europe

Welcome to hidden europe 29! In this issue of hidden europe magazine we take the boat to Iceland, spend a day in the Czech town of Domazlice, travel from Berlin to Budapest by train, visit Crete's Lasithi Plateau and spare a thought for the old Penguin cerise series.

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Northern waters: Iceland by boat
Feature

By Nicky Gardner

It is surprising how quickly Denmark recedes into nothingness, and then the Norröna is alone among the waves. We travel on Smyril Line's flagship as she sails from Denmark via the Faroe Islands to the eastern fjords of Iceland.

Read on
A day in Domažlice
Feature

By Nicky Gardner

The small towns of southwest Bohemia, many of them just a stone's throw from the border with Bavaria, are well off most tourist trails. We visit Domazlice, a town in the hills that boasts a beautiful elongate plaza at its heart.

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Hungarian rhapsody
Feature

By Nicky Gardner

Sometimes we travel to really get somewhere. But occasionally a journey is worthwhile merely for its own sake. Sit back, relax, and from the comfort of a corner seat watch all the world go by on the train from Berlin to Budapest.

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Crete: the landscapes of Lasíthi
Feature

By Laurence Mitchell

Catching the Crete of yesteryear is just a matter of typography. The coast may have changed beyond recognition, but head inland to find another Crete. Guest contributor Laurence Mitchell introduces us to the Lasithi Plateau.

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Timetable interludes
Timing

By Nicky Gardner

Imagine an airport that every single week closes down for a long weekend. Or an airline that observes the sabbath, and leaves its planes grounded. Such curiosities really do exist.

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Cerise diversions
Books

By Nicky Gardner

Before being quietly consigned to literary history in 1959, the Penguin Cerise series brought some of the very best of the world's English language travel writing to a huge readership at affordable paperback prices. We remember an icon of publishing history.

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Shortlisted for UNESCO
Heritage

By Nicky Gardner

There are the sights which already feature on UNESCO's World Heritage List. And then there are the wannabes. We take a look at sights around Europe that are angling for one of the coveted places on the UNESCO list.

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Salla - in the middle of nowhere
Borderpost

By Nicky Gardner

There is a roar in the night as snowmobiles approach from the east. New arrivals from Russia. We look at life at a remote borderpost on Finland's eastern frontier - a place which is literally in the middle of nowhere.

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The Cretan question
Hidden histories

By Nicky Gardner

We look at examples of how territories and countries have been internationalised through joint administration by foreign powers. From Crete to Kosovo, Europe has had many examples of shared suzerainty.

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East Germany: after the fall
Focus

By Nicky Gardner

Brandenburg's business corridor, an east-west strip south of Berlin, incorporates many preserves that featured in Cold War history. We take a look at some of the places outside Berlin that played the role in the political events of 1989 and thereafter.

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A mountain community in France: Sospel
Outpost

By Nicky Gardner

Sospel is a small community in the mountains of southeast France and a place that has always punched above its weight. hidden europe reports from a peaceful small town in the Maritime Alps.

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Cyprus links
Snippet

By hidden europe

A range of new shipping links now gives Cyprus new status as a stepping stone to ports in the eastern Mediterranean. We report on new services from Cyprus to Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Israel.

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All a matter of time
Snippet

By hidden europe

How many time zones in mainland Europe? The answer is six. All a matter of astronomy, you might think. And to some extent that is true. But the way we set our clocks is often as much a matter of politics as a respect for astronomy.

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Arctic concord
Snippet

By hidden europe

Cross-border confidence is the Barents Sea region has this year prompted a raft of new initiatives fascillitating contact between Norway and Russia. hidden europe reports from the town of Kirkenes in northeast Norway.

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Orient Express: end of the line
Snippet

By hidden europe

The news that the Orient Express will be withdrawn from mid-December 2009 brings to an end the 126 year history of Europe's most celebrated scheduled train service.

Read on

hidden europe 29

Orient Express: end of the line

Summary

Editorial

Feature

Feature

Feature

Feature

Timing

Books

Heritage

Borderpost

Hidden histories

Focus

Outpost

Snippet

Snippet

Snippet

Snippet

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