The Blue Train still has its sparkle
It’s a misty Saturday in Cape Town and the winter sun is setting in a pink haze as the Blue Train leaves the suburbs and makes its way past the granite domes of Paarl. I’m sitting in the observation car – the rearmost carriage, with big windows on three sides – and I watch as the silhouette of the Taal Monument flashes past.
Only a handful of the roughly 30 passengers on board for the two-night, 1 660 km journey from Cape Town to Pretoria are seated here, looking out at the orchards and vineyards of the Boland. The rest are getting dressed up for tonight’s four-course meal. Earlier I overheard a woman whisper: “Do we really have to wear ball gowns?”
The ice in my glass clinks softly with the sway of the
