Bond and Vesper are traveling to Montenegro for the poker game at Casino Royale. Vesper is contacting Bond in the restaurant car with the brilliant recognition code "I'm the money". The background story to the film states that Bond is suppose to trade place with Mr Arlington Beech on a station in Switzerland and travel down to Montenegro in his stead. This scene was however not relevant for the film.
As Bond and Vesper are enjoying their dinner in the restaurant car, the train passes a station with the name ''Chur Ost''. Chur is a city in the western part of Switzerland and although Chur West is a real station, Chur Ost does not exist. Apparently Chur is known as the oldest town in Switzerland. It is a contradiction that it says 'Montenegro' in the first scene, but you probably have to read into it that the train is on route for Montenegro, since (given the size of Montenegro) it is very unlikely that they would have time for dinner and a good nights sleep, before arriving at their destination the next morning if they were already in the country by time for dinner.
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| The Pendolino at Prague central station. Picture from Wikipedia. |
"The treasury has agreed to stake you in the game."
The Czech Railways ordered the Pendolino train in 2000 and the first set of trains were delivered in late 2004. However a number of problems delayed it from entering into regular service for another year. The train entered regular service between Prague and Ostrava in December 2005. Today the Czech Railways' Pendolino trains operate routes between Prague and Ostrava, Bratislava and Vienna respectively.
Bond is having lamb for dinner and together with Vesper he shares a bottle of Château Angelus 1981. Also on the table are two bottles of Evian mineral water. They are in seat 47 and 44 respectively. I have not yet had the opportunity to try the Pendolino in the Czech Republic, but I doubt that they will stock 30 year old wines and serve well skewered lamb onboard.
"-How was your lamb?
-Skewered. One sympathizes..."
The train scene is definitely one of the many highlights in Casino Royale.
The trains in Montenegro are nothing like the Pendolino, but they ARE spectacular: https://andreasmoser.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/montenegro-by-train/
ReplyDeleteWhoa! That was a lot of info. Always wondered whether it was actually shot in Montenegro. Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteMy friend mentioned to me your blog, so I thought I’d read it for myself. Very interesting insights, will be back for more! รอยัล1688
ReplyDeleteI am writing this from this Pendolino train, which I am using weekly on my commute between Ostrava and Prague. Although these trains are going sometimes up to the spa area in the western part of Czech Republic (close to Karlovy Vary / Karlsbad) I suspect that the train curve on the first picture is probably between Pardubice and Olomouc.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the restaurant coach, the movie scene overstates a bit the reality, at least regarding the wine selection. But generally, the cuisine is not bad, of course the meals are only warmed up in the train, not cooked.
Feel free to ask me for any pendolino train details - after last 4 years of regular commuting I think I am experienced traveller :-)
jirivrobel@gmail.com
Hi!
DeleteMany thanks for this, very interesting! You are absolutely right about your observation. I found the exact curve, just outside the village of Ústí nad Orlicí, when I followed the railroad on a map, between the two cities you said.
I will update the blog with this information.
Thanks a lot!
Regards,
R