Looking back

On both of our transcontinental train trips this year, we have been sitting backwards.  Instead of seeing where we're going, we've been seeing where we've been.  Instead of rushing towards the scenic points and passing them in a flash, we've been enjoying a longer view, the chance to see more detail.

Hmmmm ...

Friends, family, food and festivals

Who knew they raised water buffalo in Stirling, Ontario?  Well, they do, and Mimi took us to the Stirling Water Buffalo Festival on Saturday to check it out.  There were all manner of water buffalo products to try - milkshakes,  ribs, cheese, yarn.  (Well, the yarn was actually alpaca, but I bought some anyway.)  

We also went to a ciderie in Wapoos where we had a great lunch and got caught in a torrential downpour.  

The rain followed us back to Joyce's house where we sat on her porch and shared a little vino.

Rain cleared up the next day, though, and we were able to eat outside at the Waterfront Pub with our friends the Tomlinsons.   Jean and Jim drove down from Uxbridge just to see us, even though Jean had only returned the night before from a walking tour in England.   

Sunday night we had dinner at Rick and Fran's - their famous lasagna and salad.  We had a great visit with them, as well as Thomas and Richard.  What nice young men those Rowley boys turned out to be!

Monday we visited the Napanee District Community Foundation,  and wandered around town.  Dinner was at Joyce's, another home cooked meal, at which we shared a bottle of Tom's birthday wine. 

Tuesday morning our Hostess with the Mostest, Eunice, invited Joyce and Rick to have breakfast with us at her B&B.   Yummy.  Then we went to lunch at Chez Piggy with Mimi before she dropped us off at the train station in Kingston.  

And here we are again ...  WiFi in Winnipeg!

Quebec City

Here we are sitting in the D'Orsay Restaurant in Quebec City  by an open window, enjoying the balmy September breeze, and looking across the street to the Hotel de Ville.  We could be in Europe,  except that the streets here are wider, cleaner, and less populated.

Quebec City is one of our favourite places to visit, and the Clarendon Hotel <http://www.hotelclarendon.com/about-en.html> one of our favourite places to stay.  It is famous, not for being Quebec City's oldest operating hotel, but for being the favourite drinking hole of a young wireless navigator when he was stationed in Ancienne-Lorette during the war.  Later, during the 50's, Tom met with then-Minister of Social Services, Rene Levesque, at breakfast in this same hotel.  

My only complaint about QC is that shopping for the Baby Grands is quite difficult here.  Not what to buy, but when to stop ...

En route

As we travel on the train from Montreal to Quebec City,  we are struck by the realization that we enjoy the journey as much as the destination.  It reminds Tom of my friend's comments about the labyrinth.

Montreal

Rain:  I can't remember a time that we have visited Montreal when it has rained this hard.  We managed to find a long enough break in the weather to make our way up the hill to the McGill bookstore to pick up some memorabilia for the "Baby Grands".

Mum:  Tom finally got a chance to see Mum's new place, and agrees that it's pretty fabulous.  Mum treated us to Tom's favourite gourmet Quebec meal - St Hubert BBQ!

Poutine:  Finally tried poutine.  To quote Brian from Manchester,  "It was interesting, but probably not something we'd order again."  Beer was good, though.

Chris and Maude:  What a lovely man Tom's grandson has become!  Had great visit with Chris and Maude this evening, challenging Maude with the various relationships in the Thompson/Rowley families.

Finally:  Does anybody have any idea what this sign means? 

The Eagle has landed

My ears are full of noise.  My legs feel like I'm still on the train.  The bed in our room in the Hotel Bonaventure is bigger than our entire room on The Canadian.  

Watching the world go by

We had breakfast this morning with a man from Kent, England, who loves travelling by train as much as we do.  He says that when you fly,  you spend all your time in the cities.  When you travel by train, though, he says, you get to see the whole of a place.  You sit in your seat and watch the world go by.

Train travel is very sociable, and remarkably egalitarian.  It pretty well has to be.  The accommodation, even the two person bedroom we have, is very small - VERY small.  So the suitcase we bring on board is equally small.  Which means that we pretty much wear the same clothes every day.  Not much opportunity to show off your designer duds.  And even if you just happened to bring those fancy clothes, there's no place to hang them.  Tom and I fold up our clothes each night and place them in a pile on the floor just inside our room door, the only place we don't step between the beds and the bathroom.  By day three, everyone looks a little rumpled.

And then there's the shower.  There's one in each car that we all share, and we time our rising, not by the breakfast schedule, but by how many people are likely to be ahead of us for the shower.  I'm thinking 5:00 am tomorrow, before our 9:30 am scheduled arrival in Toronto, to beat the crowd.

Mealtimes are a chance to meet new people, as every table in the dining car seats four people, and every table is filled. We have a warm and interesting group of passengers on board.  There's Jan and Bob from Eugene, Oregon - a warm, witty woman and fellow knitter, and an engaging and amusing fellow who trades wisecracks and puns with Tom.  There's Brian and Lynn from Manchester, in Canada for the first time.  We felt it to be an hospitable touch to introduce Brian to that quintessential Canadian drink, the Bloody Caesar (that spelling just doesn't look right).  He confessed the it was not something he would likely order on his own,  but admitted it was "interesting".  David, from Vancouver, has a featherweight CPAP machine half the size of Tom's.   Krystal and Kristoff are mother and son troubadours from Petawawa, Ontario,  paying their passage by playing for the guests, she on the violin and he on the bassoon. Oh, yes, and Kristoff is studying nano technology at the University of Waterloo.  Then there's Celene from Portland,  Oregon, also a knitter - of socks - who never heard of the Sock Summit!  That was held in Portland!  Twice!

And the fellow from Kent - he stopped by this afternoon to tell us that he's decided to take that Winnipeg to Churchill train trip we told him about!