On the Train!

 got up and out of the Airbnb with my usual travel worries that the train will be canceled or late or there will be other issues getting to Union station on time, but everything worked out well. I got my bag checked in and got my meal time assignments for lunch and dinner and went looking for something for breakfast. Apparently there are açai bowl and bagel places but I couldn’t find them anywhere so I ended up getting food from Tim Hortons. I did get a free latte at the train lounge, which was not bad for a machine made drink. 

There are only three berths in our car and only four people staying in them, one couple, a single guy and me. We won’t have anyone else in our section until we get to Edmonton, which will probably be Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, which means we’ve got an area with open seating all the time and I’ll have my seating area to myself. Lauren and Emmett are the couple, they are sleeping in the upper bunks and Nick is sleeping in a lower bunk like me. They’re all very friendly, so I think it’s going to be a good trip. Lauren works as a rigging grip for movies and TV shows, she worked on Snowpiercer and is now working on the Spiderwick Chronicles with Christian Slater. My kids loved those books. 

Berths seem like the best way to go-big windows on either side, people to talk to, and because it’s not full I’ve got both seats in the berth to myself. We also get a shower bag with towels, shampoo and soap. It’s a gray, windy, chilly day. I’m glad to be in a cozy spot, it’s nice and quiet, everyone else in the car is in compartments with doors and further around the corner. We have two bathrooms for the four of us which is great. 

There are different activities on board, trivia, history, winetasting, etc. so there should be enough to keep us entertained. There are several lounge cars with games, puzzles, coffee, tea, juice, snacks.  I went past and a group of older guys were playing cribbage, brought back memories of my dad, grandpa and Uncle Paul playing during vacations.

Everybody is very friendly. I’ve met all kinds of interesting people at our meals, including a woman from Nelson, New Zealand who spent the last two months biking with a friend around all different areas of Canada, a student studying materials engineering headed to Vancouver during his break (apparently this is called a reading week?), a woman who works for the Department of Transport in the US. In the afternoon I played Canadian trivia which was a lot of fun, I got a question right about Cirque de Soleil and learned about famous Canadian actors (both the Ryan’s!) and that Canadian international airport codes all start with Y because that indicated that it had a weather station.

The dome cars have beautiful views. The temperatures seem to drop significantly as we got closer to nightfall, you can feel the temperature change when you walk in between cars. At dinner we looked outside and realized there was snow everywhere. Wow! Two days ago I was sweating in T-shirt and shorts and it was 85°. 

I think this is going to be a really fun adventure, the meals I’ve had were delicious. At lunch I had soup with chicken and rice, scallops and jumbo shrimp and a chocolate brownie. For dinner we had a traditional Canadian Thanksgiving – turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, broccoli, as well as a salad, and then pumpkin pie for dessert. After dinner there was wine tasting, had a yummy Sauvignon Blanc and a so-so Pinot Noir. I learned about Ice wine made from grapes harvested by hand in the winter. Definitely want to try that!

The scenery is stunning- so many lakes, gorgeous trees, rock that is part of the Canadian Shield. 

Before dinner I went to the Park Car at the end of the train, it’s only open to non premier cabin passengers after 4 pm. The premier cabin costs $6500 per person, vs the $1900 for a lower berth (which includes meals and a bed) vs $510 for economy (no food, only a recliner seat). Got a glass of Pinot Grigio for $10 Canadian ($7.70 US) which was filled to the brim. One of the women talked about playing ukulele, a man talked about being a naval photographer during Korea and his beloved wife who had recently passed away. I hung out with a talkative young woman from London, Ontario who works for Cisco in customer service.

After we got back from wine tasting our berths had been converted into beds. Even though it was only 830 I was ready to get into my cozy little nest. After I change into my pajamas, I climbed into the very comfortable double size bed and left my window shade up so I could look outside. I could see snow flurries and snow on the trees, what an amazing sight. The train rocking was comforting, I put in my earplugs to block out the sound of the squeaks and rattles and went to sleep.