I'm glad that moving (always painful) hasn't discouraged you from writing trip reports. All your wonderful pictures remind me of how little I know about geology and gastronomy, for that matter.

Many, many years ago, if it's any comfort, I spent more time than I care to remember on long-distance trains (among others, the Nord Express, the Sud Express and three times on the Orient Express back when it still ran), and they're really not so great. They can gussy it up all they want these days with better food and pretty decoration, but it's still a night train and still miserable. Pace the "Man in Seat 61," but that's why people fly. And, yeah, I actually did make it from London to Istanbul.