“In the Camera’s Eye” presents fast and furious snippets of things that have grabbed my attention… for whatever reason. I will be attempting to capture the essence of what I am sharing in no more than two paragraphs and in 10 or less photos with captions.
When the Love-goddess and I decided to spend a couple of months wandering around Europe for the very first time, she was keen on renting a car and driving where we wanted to go. I on the other hand, understood that meant I would be driving her around Europe and probably would not have a stress-free, relaxing experience.
I talked her into getting a Eurail pass, and the rest is history. We both love getting around by train when we are on the road travelling. So, if we do it in Europe, why aren’t we doing it here at home in Canada? During our last winter getaway, we flew out of Montréal, which meant getting to, and from there from Toronto. We decided that travelling by train would be the best way to do that. This little gallery of photos is from the trip from Montréal back home.
After landing and checking into our hotel, we headed out to the Montréal downtown train station to figure out where we needed to get to for our departure the next morning. You go down an escalator beneath the Arrivals and Departures sign to board.As an aside, we stayed at the Place Bonaventure Hotel directly across the street from where the train station is located. It was a great choice. It is on the upper floors of an office building and has this lovely outdoorsy feel to it. Many of the rooms face this open courtyard. Apparently, the outdoor pool operates year-round. Swimming in January anyone?On route to Toronto in Via Rail’s business class. As you can see, this is one of the older trains, and there is nothing really special about it. The seats were comfortable, so that was probably the most important thing.In business class, you get most of the expected perks, free Wi-Fi and a lunch… Not a gourmet lunch, of course, but it was fine.The service was excellent and as you can see, all the staff were wearing masks, as were the travelers when not eating. The customer service attendant was frequently checking in to see if we needed anything, including…Complementary drinks and snacks!!! It was great to be able to order a Caesar after being out of the country for a few months. To quote Joni Mitchell,” You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”. 🙂Via Rail is in the process of rolling out a new fleet. This is what the new trains look like. This is good, because it demonstrates that they are committed to updating and providing modern, high quality service. I really think we should do our part and travel by rail whenever we can.And yes, there are discounts for the 60 and overs.The big trip that we really want to do is the Toronto to Vancouver itinerary. We are planning on doing it up right by booking one of their high-end sleeping suites for the trip. Via Rail offers a number of other routes that offer sleeping cabins as well – e.g. Montreal to Halifax. You can download their promotional brochure here.I have subscribed to their mailing list so that I get their “Discount Tuesday” email every week with information about routes that are on sale. We are planning on doing more of our national travel by rail. You might want to consider it as well.
