The extravagant dinner was over, and the passengers got out of the dining car and rushed to the bar car. "Hey! What an artistic treat!" The ten Japanese passengers walked together unknowingly, a middle-aged Yuko named Yonekawa, who was nearly fifty years old, sighed. Due to the full meal just now, he looked fatter even though he was already pot-bellied.Although he is nearly fifty years old, his hair is still black and shiny, and his skin is smooth and shiny. The fact that he is nearly fifty is inferred from his own words. He said that there is a twenty difference between him and his wife, and his wife looks about thirty or so.He has thick eyebrows, slightly closed lips, a tall and burly figure, and a greedy and sly look in his eyes.The wife standing next to him is dressed in a well-fitting kimono, showing the unique attire of Japanese women. Among the women's evening dresses competing for beauty, his unique Koma Ayako is paired with a Japanese-style evening dress with hand-painted colorful flower and bird patterns. Even more radiant.

Kimono not only makes up for the physical defects of Japanese women compared with foreign women, but also sets off a unique and unique charm when wearing it. Seeing his wife being chased by the eyes of the men around him, Yonekawa showed a great sense of satisfaction. "We are not eating, we are simply admiring the wonderful art!" A sharp-jawed passenger named Ba Shu, aged thirty-five or sixteen, echoed. A string of shiny pure gold necklaces hung around the neck of the fleshy lady next to her. This necklace, like Mrs. Yonechuan's kimono, attracted the envious eyes of women.

Bashu looked at Mrs. Michuan from time to time when his wife was not paying attention, with the kind of concern that men have for women in their eyes. "A work of art? It's really Mr. Yashu who has such a rich imagination!" Mrs. Yonechuan was fully aware of Yashu's concern, but on the surface she pretended to be nonchalant. "Everyone knows it's a beautiful piece of art, but it's a little too much for an elderly person like me!" An old man with thinning hair named Anyangsi clutched his stomach as if he couldn't bear it. "I really didn't expect that my husband has such a good appetite, even I loosened my belt!"

Kanai, who claimed to be a student of Anyang Temple, showed a look of surprise. "You just want to stuff it all in your stomach as if you haven't eaten it! Why don't you just eat a little of the main thing..." Mrs. Anyangsi said reproachfully from the side.From the outside, it can be seen that this is a woman with strong physical requirements, which is in stark contrast to her old and haggard husband. Perhaps Anyang Temple has been accelerated by this woman's absorption of nutrients in her body.However, as the saying goes, the older you are, the brighter your eyes, and Anyang Temple's eyes radiate two piercing gazes.

"It's unreasonable! I've spent all the money, so I don't lose anything left?" said the old man of Anyang Temple. "Quickly stop talking! You have disturbed everyone's interest!" Mrs. Anyangsi became a little excited. "Mr. is really the same as before! The young lady is willing to bow down this time." Yone Chuan's ironic ridicule immediately elicited bursts of laughter from the crowd.Yone Chuan's words painted in people's minds an image of how the old man of Anyang Temple dealt with his young wife.Of course, Yone Chuan was also aware of this, and his words implied a provocation that stimulated people's vulgar imagination.

"Sir, why didn't you subtract one dish at the beginning? The money can be deducted accordingly." The wife of an industrialist named Mei Gu interjected. This is a woman with stretched veins, a pair of metal-rimmed glasses on a face with prominent cheekbones, and a silver chain hanging from her eyes and legs.The husband standing next to him had a serious dark face and a strong athlete-like physique. Contrary to his taciturnity, Mrs. Meigu liked to intervene in everything. "But I looked at the menu, and there is nothing I don't like." The old man of Anyang Temple who was called "Sir" replied.

"It can only be said that you are 'self-inflicted'! Hehehe!" Mrs. Meigu laughed playfully first. According to the menu of the dinner car tonight, the consommé is served first, followed by an appetizer, with shrimp dipped in caviar, foie gras ham, sea bass pie, the main course is roast beef tenderloin, and finally a creamy dessert jelly.The ingredients of each dish are from the first-class restaurants in Paris, cooked by senior chefs in the car.If paired with a glass of Bordeaux wine, the taste is naturally beautiful.It would not be an exaggeration to say that this is a luxury restaurant running fast.

Everyone talked about the topic of food and wine with great interest. It was already pitch black outside the window. Judging from the time, it was not far from Paris. Ladies and gentlemen in evening gowns from all over the world gathered around a grand piano to sing, English, German, French, Spanish and other languages ​​mixed together, and the whole carriage was like a big stage for a world singing competition. "Sir, come one!" Mizushima, who served as an escort, encouraged.Mizushima is the tour guide of the travel agency and is responsible for accompanying the entire trip. "No, no, no! I'm going to embarrass our tour group too much, Yone Chuan-kun, it's up to you!"

Anyangsi said and backed away. "I'm good at Japanese folk songs. Maybe he won't be able to accompany me?" Yonekawa, who seemed to be very good at karaoke, looked at the pianist with some doubts.A group of fashion designers who came from London were singing French popular songs. After the designer finished singing, the pianist turned his head and glanced this way, and then began to tap the keyboard lightly. With the rise and fall of the pianist's arm, a melody of "Moon in the Deserted City" flowed out clearly reverberates throughout the car.Cheers erupted among the Japanese female passengers.

"Great! This time it's our turn! Come on! Sing about our Japanese women!" Mrs. Umegu volunteered to call the other three Japanese female passengers together. They stood by the piano, and there was applause among the foreign male passengers. The men and women in the foreign tour group danced to the beat of the chorus of Japanese female passengers.Seeing that there was no chance for the Japanese male passenger to appear, he went to the bar counter in the corner of the carriage, ordered his favorite whiskey and drank it.The shelves are full of famous wines from all over the world, making people feel that they are in the train.

"I don't know anything about this dance!" Anyang Temple looked at the writhing foreign men and women over there, and shook his head. "Me too. I was 13 years old when the war ended. Then came the chaotic period after the war. People were busy making a living, so they didn't have time to dance with women. Yasuke-kun, Umegu-kun, and Mizushima-kun, they probably didn't That kind of experience?" As he spoke, Yone Chuan turned his gaze to the three young men who were a round younger than him. "At that time, we danced swing dance, and ballroom dancing was outdated long ago." Ba Shu said. "Is swing dance just that kind of monkey dance where men and women are separated and can play to their heart's content?" Anyangsi asked. "In fact, this kind of dance is also called monkey dance. Although everyone dances together, everyone is huddled in their own kingdom. This symbolizes the character of our generation." As Bashu was talking, grand applause and cheers rang out in the carriage. The girls over there had finished drinking together, and the cheers of "one more" were heard endlessly. It was a tourist group from Japan, four couples out of ten.The line they participated in was called "Revisiting the Orient Express Best Moments European Tour". In 1977, due to the overcrowding of the airlines, the Orient Express was forced to stop running, and it was resumed in 1982 by the efforts of people who love it. Now there are three operating routes of the Orient Express: one is the Venice Simplon-Orient Express between London and Venice twice a week on a regular basis; the other is the nostalgic Orient between Switzerland and Istanbul irregularly every year Express train; the other is a regular train running daily between Paris and Bucharest.The first two are tourist trains, and the Japanese tour group took the Venice Simplon-Orient Express. This is an ultra-luxury train that combines the Simplon-Orient Express connecting Paris-Venice and the "Golden Arrow" express train between Paris-London. Speaking of the Orient Express, no matter from its history, its legendary color, or its style, luxury and scale, it can be called a "legendary train". Nostalgia and nostalgia for the past.As a train connecting Europe and the East, there is no one who likes to travel, and no one wants to take it as fast as possible.This is a train that evokes people's infinite reverie. The history of the Orient Express goes back a long way.Its maiden trip began on October 4, 1883, when 40 distinguished guests were fortunate enough to take the first express train from Strasbourg to Istanbul.In the early days of train operation, ferries were used to pass through the Black Sea. In 1889, the direct line from Paris to Istanbul was officially opened.After entering the 20th century, during the two world wars, the Orient Express was suspended for five years, but then they all got rid of the trauma of the war and resumed operation. After the war, the Orient Express never stopped running under the Iron Curtain between the East and the West. However, due to the development of the aviation industry, a large number of passengers were taken away by airlines, and it had to be suspended in May 1977. This "Phoenix", which has experienced years of war between the East and the West, seems to be unable to fly again. The dining car and sleeper car of the transportation company, as well as the vehicles kept by the company in various places and the Pullman plastic passenger car used on the Golden Arrow in the UK, opened the Venice Simplon-Orient Express in March 1982 and resumed operation. Where did the immortal life of the Orient Express come from?As the main artery connecting European countries and the East, there is no doubt that it played a huge political, economic, cultural and military role.Many princes, nobles, politicians, soldiers, diplomats, industrialists, spies and job seekers have used it to travel.However, they all carry specific duties and missions.If the passengers on the Orient Express were just these people coming and going, this "phoenix" crowded by airlines may never fly again. However, the purpose of the Orient Express is no longer to transport passengers and goods. It is a "dream", and all passengers who take it are burdened with childhood dreams of it. Although it was blocked by wars, divided by the interests of various countries, and became dying because of carrying the cannons and soldiers of the invading army, it stood up tenaciously without suffocation, because it never gave up what it carried. Dream. The longing for the East from Europe may change in some form with the changes of the times, but as a fire, it has been deeply buried in people's hearts and may burst into a raging flame at any time.Whether it is an adventure to the unknown world, aggression, or economic penetration, the road to the East has long been a fantasy road for Europeans to realize their fantasies. If it was just busy seeking purpose, then the Orient Express would have lost its existence value long ago.The resumed Orient Express is bound to perform scenes of the Eastern Dream buried in people's hearts. Whether by train or plane, Venice is still Venice, and Istanbul is still Istanbul.The charm of the Orient Express is that it turns "simple travel" into "a happy journey to enjoy the journey". The Orient Express runs a total distance of 1,491 kilometers. Although it only took three years to resume operation, it has always retained the tradition since its departure in 1883. Going back further, it can be said that it runs on the footsteps of the Crusades and Marco Polo every day. The line-up of "Relive the Wonderful Moments of the Orient Express European Tour" (referred to as "NORIENTEXTOUR") is as follows: Eiichiro Anyoji, 68, archaeologist and professor at Jikokan University Wife of 28-year-old Eiichiro Anyoji Noriko Akimaro Kanai, 34, archaeologist, son-in-law and student of Eiichiro Takezo Yonekawa, 53, owner of a real estate company Mizue Yonekawa, 33 years old, wife of Yonekawa The 31-year-old gold sculptor of eight beams Bashu Taeko, 30 years old, wife of Bashu, owner of Bashu Gem Company Yushin Umegoo, 35, director of Umegoo Industrial Co., Ltd. Shigeko Umeya, 37-year-old wife of Umeya Yoshio Mizushima, 35 years old, accompanied by a travel agency The itinerary of the tour group is as follows: depart from Tokyo on May 21 to fly to the UK, stay in London for two nights, then take the Orient Express to Venice, visit Venice for two days and then return home via Rome. For the Anyangji couple, this was a commemorative trip for their husband before his retirement. Kanai, as the son-in-law and student of Anyangji Temple, also went there to take care of him on the way.Originally, Kanai's wife also planned to come along, but because she was pregnant, she had to give up. For the Yonechuan couple, they didn't go there because they were busy with business when they were newly married, so this time is considered a wedding trip after several years of marriage. The Bashu couple doubles as a business investigation related to business. The Meigu couple commemorated the 10th wedding anniversary trip. Yoshio Mizushima is the full escort sent by the travel agency. The train is about to arrive in Lausanne, the windows are slowly lit up, and the exhausted passengers from last night's "carnival" are still asleep.The train carried the sleeping passengers slowly along the north shore of Lake Geneva, in front of which was the long and narrow Rhone Valley.At 7 o'clock in the morning, the train arrived at Breck, the southernmost tip of Switzerland. From here, it passed through the 19.8-kilometer Simplon Tunnel under the pass of the Alps and entered Italy. "Borjoruno!" (Italian: Good morning!) At 7:30, the flight attendants began to deliver continental-style breakfast to each box. The windows of the car were already fully lit, and the outside became the scenery of Italy.The passengers were still the same passengers, and the flight attendants had not changed, but it seemed that Italian was the only language in the carriage overnight. After a few sharp bends ahead, the train began to gallop down in the direction of Milan.Looking back quietly, the snow-white mountains of the Alps just passed turned the stiff morning light into a cloud of smoke. The snow-covered Alps on the ridges looked particularly spectacular like a partition made of huge stones. However, before the digging of the Simplon Tunnel, it was But it is an obstacle that hinders the traffic between Switzerland and Italy and the passage of the Orient Express.What used to be an obstacle is now a pathway that can be traversed in sleep. The rows of eye-catching red roofs of the houses at the foot of the mountain are particularly eye-catching.After a while, a large lake appeared on the left side of the train, Lake Maggiore, from which the Ticino River originated.There are row upon row of high-end villas on the lakeside with the back of the Alps, and the lake is shrouded in morning mist, making it a quiet and secluded place. This is a glacial lake formed by the glaciers flowing down from the Alps and blocked by accumulated stones. The lake is unfathomable.The train slowly goes south along the west bank of Lake Maggiore, which is long and narrow from north to south. The sun shines on the lake in the morning, and the morning mist is shining with golden light and evaporating continuously.There are no shadows of boats on the lake, and the sunlight is like metal inlaid in the Alps canyons, refracting straight rays of light under the reflection of the lake water. After a while, the train finally broke free from the slender hands of Lake Maggiore, which had been reluctant to let go for a long time, and drove towards the Lombardy plain at full speed. The Alps towering behind the train receded into the morning mist.The train picked up speed as it entered the flat, open plain. Passengers entered Italy in a dream, the curtains of most of the boxes still hanging. From time to time, high-rise buildings flash past outside the window, and Milan is approaching. At a quarter past nine in the morning, the train rolled slowly under the dome of the Milan Station.The train stops here for twenty-five minutes.The noise at the station finally woke up the sleepy passengers from their slumber. At 9:40, the train started to move towards the final station, Venice. At half past ten, the train restaurant opens for business. At eleven o'clock, the Japanese tour group who skipped breakfast came to the dining car, and there was an unfamiliar face among them, who probably came up from Paris last night.This is a man about forty years old, with a gentle and humble appearance, nodding to everyone from time to time.He has been eating in silence all the time, with a pair of eyes on his featureless face looking at the distance without bounds.I saw him chatting with the flight attendants from time to time, and his fluent French made it hard to imagine that he was Japanese. The train restaurant is self-service, and there are colorful delicacies on the buffet table, including beef sauce, fresh ham, mixed salad, omelette, salmon and various fruits. The designer and his party who performed extraordinary at last night's dinner picked up the plates as usual. "Look at them, they also eat so much in the morning." Mi Chuan cast a surprised look. "Maybe the structure of their stomachs is different from ours." Eight Beams echoed. "It's so unfair that we spend the same money as them!" Professor Anyangsi said. The Mrs. Anyang Temple next to him immediately gave him a look, as if to say "Here we go again". "When we arrive in Venice, the trip will be over. I'm really reluctant!" Mrs. Yonegawa symbolically put a piece of salmon on the plate.This morning she changed into an ordinary dress, which was not as eye-catching as last night. According to the schedule, the group will go to Rome by car after visiting Venice, and then go back to China directly from Rome. "Hey, gentlemen! I have a proposal." Mrs. Meigu came out, and the silver chain on the glasses flickered.Everyone cast their gazes over. "This time we traveled together, it shows that we all have a destiny for each other, why don't we take this opportunity to form a classmate association?!" "Oh! That's great!" Mrs. Anyang Temple's eyes sparkled. "I agree!" Mrs. Yone Chuan agreed. "It's not just Juju. Five years later, we will still take this train, this time from Venice to London! How about it?" Mrs. Bashu put forward a new suggestion. "However, that requires the husband's permission!" Mrs. Anyangsi said and glanced at her husband. For such a luxurious trip to Europe, besides time, cost is the biggest problem.The reason why he is so generous this time is because it is a commemoration before retirement, and it may be difficult after retirement. "Hey! I say, sisters! Our husbands are all reasonable, no problem! How is it? No problem, right?" Mrs. Meigu couldn't help but pouted at her husband. Mei Gu looked helpless, and nodded without comment.In front of this pretentious woman, he seemed a little unable to hold his head up. Yoshio Mizushima listened quietly.It is not uncommon to have a classmate reunion in a tour group. After one or two months after returning, everyone gathers to talk about interesting things during the trip or exchange photos. Some singles even have romance, and some even get married. However, this enthusiasm will only last for half a year at best. After half a year, no matter how memorable the memory will be, no matter how exciting the topic will be, it will also cool down.Then, they started a new journey.People are accumulating new experiences every day, and it is impossible to stick to one experience forever. Based on his professional experience, Mizushima couldn't help laughing to himself: it would be impossible to reproduce the trip along the same route five years later. "Hmph, if I can live to that day, I will definitely come." Anyang Temple seemed to predict the immaturity of the naive fantasies of the women, and said with a smile.For himself, however, this is indeed a very harsh prediction. "What nonsense! Didn't you say that my life has just begun?" Mrs. Anyangsi said encouragingly. "What madam said is very true! Sir, how can you leave such a young and beautiful wife alone!" Yonekawa's lustful eyes flicked back and forth on Anyang Temple's body. The train is about to arrive at the final station, Venice, and outside the window is the open and endless plain. After passing Verona, the love hometown of "Romeo and Juliet", at noon, the train passed the Veneto Bay Bridge. At 12:45, after a day and night of travel, the train finally arrived at Santa Lucia Station.The canal in front of the station is full of cruise ships coming and going.