Destinations - broadening horizons

The Orient Express Has Just ArrivedThe train from Paris arrives at Sirkeci Station in a cloud of steam. Porters move quickly along the platform, lifting trunks and hat boxes down from the train carriages.

Nothing really prepares you for the colors. Turquoise, crystal clear, shifting through endless shades of blue. Every step along the shore feels slightly unreal — as if the colors had been turned up just a little too much.

Much has been said about the Tren Maya, Mexico’s newest railway through the Yucatán Peninsula — delays, costs, politics. Yet once you step on board, it feels less like a project and more like a possibility.

Las Vegas always overwhelms me. No matter how often I’ve been, it keeps surprising me — bold, loud, and full of life. But this time, something felt different.

Suddenly, I’m in the middle of a cowboy movie. Boots clicking on the sidewalks, hats tilted against the sun. Women in denim shorts, the guys looking like they walked off a ranch — all jeans and laid-back cool.

In the U.S., most people fly or drive. The train is almost an afterthought. So I thought — why not try it? I boarded the Amtrak Texas Eagle in Dallas–Fort Worth, heading south to Austin.

At low tide, something appears that feels almost impossible to find a few hours later. That was the moment I arrived at Playa de las Catedrales in northern Spain.