Trains, Planes & Ubers
I’m looking out the window of my cabin on the Amtrak Crescent train, watching the bright green fields of Virginia streak by. Trees are covered in green leaves, soon to turn to beautiful autumn colours, small “neat as a pin” farm-houses are set way back from the railway tracks, and horses are grazing on the lush grass. Of course there are also the mounds of disintegrating cars, farm equipment and tractors that have been dumped along the way, next to the tracks.
I’m on my way to New York after a wonderful week of exploring 3 cities and catching up with family and friends.
Wednesday last week, having left the Island Roamer at Bella Bella (airport code ZEL), we all flew back to Vancouver and parted ways, heading to various parts of the globe. I stayed in Vancouver, had a wonderful long shower, and caught up with the whereabouts of Ant, Sarah & the boys (away on the Australian adventure), current events and emails. It was then time to repack and be ready to fly east to Montreal early Thursday.
MONTREAL: what a wonderful place this is! My hotel in Vieux (Old) Montreal was perfectly placed right near the square opposite Notre Dame. Having spoken with my fantastic Toronto-based cousin, I had great information about where to go and what to see – and the starting point was shops along St Catherine Street, to replace my sunglasses lost while watching the humpbacks last week.
Wandering around old Montreal in the afternoon was delightful – with its small cobblestone streets, lots of shops and cafes, and very interesting architecture, it has strong echoes of Paris. If only I could photograph buildings. Fabio and Victor – I definitely need lessons from you both!
Early in the evening, I was walking through the square opposite Notre Dame intending to find a place for dinner, when I heard the most beautiful voice from a young opera singer, busking in the square. Like many people, I stopped to listen, sitting on some well-placed stone seats, on this very pleasant autumn evening. Just glorious – but why was she busking, and not singing professionally? The answer came the following afternoon. She was back, and packing up when I was walking by – a great opportunity to stop and find out. She is from Venezuela and waiting for her Canadian work permit – once she has this, she’ll be applying for jobs with the local opera company. Her name is Geraldina Mendez – a name to watch. We are now following each other on Twitter.
I only saw a tiny part of Montreal – and will definitely come back. During my short stay, my search for yummy food was finally answered after I asked a local shop owner where I should eat. Maison Christian Faure is an absolute must. Aside from yummy-looking pastries, the Buddha Bowl that I had was scrumptious!
CHICAGO: early Saturday morning I was back to the airport to fly to Chicago, clearing immigration in Montreal before leaving. It’s always a little odd to be physically sitting in Canada, and officially being in the US.
I won’t go into the gory details of taxis in Chicago, other than to say, it is illegal for the driver to demand cash payment unless they advise you before you get into their taxi. Sadly I didn’t know this – fortunately I had sufficient cash! And since then, whenever possible, I’ve made good use of Ubers.
Chicago was all about catching up with Julie and Dean, as well as their daughter Emily and son-in-law Rob. It was fantastic seeing them again, and spending time with Julie on both Saturday and Sunday – we just picked up on our last conversation, despite this being some time ago, and could have talked for many more hours. Yes, Charlotte NC is on my “to visit” list!
Although I couldn’t join them on the Architectural Boat Tour along the Chicago River, I did take this later on Sunday – very interesting to learn about the varied old and new buildings, and amazing to listen to the docent describe who built each, when and why – a fascinating history of Chicago.
And a word about my hotel – I stayed at the EMC2 (think Albert Einstein) – comfortable, clean and fun, with great modern pieces in the rooms and corridors. The layout is well thought-out and very functional, even down to the elevators labelled R, G & B, and an Alexa (unused by me) in each room. Unfortunately I didn’t have a need for one of the robots to deliver something to my room, so other than seeing them in the lobby, I didn’t actually meet them – maybe next time!
CHARLOTTESVILLE: I caught up and stayed with Marilyn, who’s husband Brian, was a dear friend who died almost 6 years ago. We visited the plaque and bust that the University of Virginia (UVa) has created to honour him – a beautiful memorial.
What amazed me was how much UVa has expanded! I was first there in 1978-1981, completed a course at Darden in 1997, and visited again about 12 years ago – it had grown substantially then. Now it’s almost unrecognisable with new buildings across the grounds, each named by benefactors, and retaining the Virginian style and the legacy of Thomas Jefferson, the Founder and original architect of UVa. It was great fun visiting once more, but time to leave early this morning.
And so, back to today’s journey. We were very late leaving Charlottesville – just over 2 hours. Having found my way to my cabin, I was told that breakfast was still available – great! I was definitely ready for something – the cookie I’d bought yesterday to eat mid-morning, had been devoured while waiting in the Amtrak station. Now, at 9:30am, even chicken sausages and a croissant with a cup of tea tasted reasonably good.
From the Amtrak station to the train, it feels like a little step back in time. The station is small, and if you have seen the Big Bang Theory episode in which Sheldon runs away to Bozeman, Montana, you’ll get the idea. The interior of the train is from old Hollywood movies: the dining car with art-deco ceiling lights, and my little cabin (“roomette”) has seats for 2 that meet to form a bed, and an upper level bunk as well. I’m not sure how 2 people would fit in here with even one piece of luggage each. And yes, it has its own wash basin & WC.
We’ve stopped in various towns in Virginia: Culpeper, Manassas and Alexandria, and as I write, we’re in Washington DC, changing from a diesel to an electric engine. Then it’s on to Philadelphia, Newark and soon after that, New York. As we leave DC, it’s time to pull the seats together to make this into a bed – a nap is in order!
POST-SCRIPT FROM NEW YORK: it’s so good to be back here. After a good night’s sleep, it’s now time to find breakfast at nearby Le Pain Quotidien, and then do some shopping – yes, including B&H Photo!