A few final pics from dinner at Rodney’s Oyster House in Toronto. Sorry for the blurred oysters – too many gimlets?
Click on the galleries to bring up a scroll-able window with complete pictures with captions – (the gallery previews below show just thumbnails of the pictures)
Since then we have been on the train and only had wi fi in Winnipeg, and we were busy there. So it’s catch up time. Lots of pictures; just a few words
The train was grand – four nights and three days. Life aboard was good. There were 14 prestige cabins and we got along well with everyone, especially an older Lady and her cousin from Windsor, ON, a retired oyster farmer and his mate from Sydney, Australia, and a couple from Manchester, UK. The four prestige cars are all at the back of a 36-car train. There is a dining car, two cars of prestige rooms, and a combination lounge car/observation car. We never left those four cars. Our room was tiny but functional: a comfortable L-shaped couch with a small table during the day which converted to a comfortable full double bed at night. There was a large picture window. The bathroom was small – a toilet, a sink, and a shower. The shower was just barely big enough to fit in but the water pressure and temperature were both good. Drinks were included and were served wherever you wanted them. The food for three meals a day was very good – highlights included a bison burger, lobster ravioli, and a veal chop. Deserts were excellent. In Prestige Class we also had hors d’ouevres at cocktail hour.
There are numerous stops along the way. but usually just for long enough to stretch your legs. We got out in Hornepayne, ON (there is nothing there) and in Jasper (a tourist town with restaurants and gift shops where we have been before on a road trip). The exception was Winnipeg where we stopped for five hours. A bus tour of the city was included, but we skipped it for a walkabout on our own. Winnipeg is a nice town. It’s Museum of Human Rights is spectacular. The architecture inside and out is stunning, and the exhibits, mostly interactive, are truly interesting. Come see this if you can. We also watched Dragon Boat races on the Red River, part of the event for kid’s cancer that was going on.
The scenery along the way is spectacular. It’s way better than the pictures below because the pictures lose something when taken from behind the train windows. You can see reflections from the windows in some of the pictures. Along the way (in order) you see forests, prairies, mountains, and rivers.
SCENES FROM THE TRAIN GALLERY – NO CAPTIONS
We arrived in Vancouver several hours late on Monday, and we immediately checked in to the Marriott Residence Inn downtown. Thursday night we ate at Le Keg in the ritzy Robson area. Le Keg is a Canadian steakhouse a cut below Ruth’s Chris and the like, but it is very good. We shared delicious calamari. Elaine had salmon; I had an excellent NY strip steak. There were numerous gimlets and a nice bottle of Pinot Noir.
On Tuesday we walked about this bustling city that has lots of high rise construction going on. We bought a day pass on the Aqua Bus and spent most of the morning at Granville Island, home of one of the best public markets in the world. We had raspberry scones and hot chocolate before wandering the food halls and craft shops. We Aqua-bussed on to the Yaletown area where we had an excellent lunch on the patio at Earl’s Kitchen – a pitcher of Moscow Mules to accompany Elaine’s sushi and my bacon cheddar burger. Then we walked and water taxied some more before returning to the Marriott for wine on the balcony.
Dinner tonight is open. Tomorrow morning we have an 8:40 AM flight to Portland, OR, and I’ll pick up the blog Wednesday night or Thursday morning from Depoe Bay. Pictures from Vancouver will be included in the update.
Vancouver is such a lovely city. Trip sounds great and you are having fab weather from the looks of your pix.
One last week of HOT here and then cooling down. They started demo yesterday here. Just noisy!!,
Keep the pix coming. Hope the forest fires have been taken care of. Oregon coast here you come!,
Just spectacular.