Just before Easter 2014 we were booked on the Orient Express, probably one of the most iconic rail trips you can make in Europe. Unfortunately for us it all went very wrong as we stepped off the British Pullman at Folkestone Central and boarded the luxury coaches waiting to take us under the English Channel via Eurotunnel to join the continental Orient Express at Calais bound for Venice, via Paris. A series of separate events led to an almost shutdown and delays of in excess of six hours on Eurotunnel and after a failed attempt to get us on a ferry across the water we returned to the Grosvenor Hotel next to London Victoria station about 200 yards from where we started our journey ten hours previous. To say we were disappointed with not making the journey was a bit of an understatement.

We still made it to our Venice hotel however after our night at the Grosvenor Hotel pretty much on time thanks to a trip to Stansted Airport, a hastily chartered Boeing 737 (for about 50 people) and a water taxi all provided by the Orient Express team. We can not thank them enough for making the alternative travel arrangements but what we had not experienced was the Orient Express itself.

So here we are, six months later, about to embark on this 'journey of a lifetime' for the second time - hopefully with no problems - as we have arrived at our hotel close to Victoria station ahead of our departure tomorrow morning. We will get to do the British Pullman element of the trip again (which is worth a few quid on its own), they are paying for our room tonight (we should have gone more upmarket than the £155 per night Premier Inn), our hotel in Venice (definitely should have gone more upmarket!) and our onward flight from Italy to Spain on Tuesday (I failed to mention that it was a Ryanair flight just in case they do not let us board the train at all) and this was just because I asked whether they would look to compensate for our additional costs. I probably would have settled for a free bottle of Champagne upon boarding the continental Orient Express (at Bruges on this particular trip as the train will travel via Brussels and Germany) or maybe a bottle of wine with dinner, although I live in hope that this might also happen anyway . . . . . . . we will see what tomorrow and the day after brings!