Rockin’ & rollin’ night – and stopping and going and chugga, chugga, followed by nothing followed by more chugga, chugga. Turns out most people find it hard to sleep the first night on the train, the second night they’re all exhausted and sleep really well, no matter how much noise or motion. Mom asks questions that I don’t know the answer to, which (I think) she does so that I’ll find out and tell her, instead of her having to ask the question directly. I noticed this pattern over in Italy many years ago; after traveling with her for two weeks back then I asked “Why do I have to ask ALL the questions?” To which she replied “Because you speak Spanish”. Pointing out that we were in Italy at the time made no difference. Sometimes you need to know when to give up.
Now I keep hearing things like “Why does it make all that noise on the straight parts and it’s quieter on the turns? Why is that light red and the others are green but they don’t have yellow? What does it mean when there are two green lights and one red light? What do they call those yellow trees? I now have all the answers to the above questions. I also know that freight trains have priority over passenger trains, that there appear to be more cows than people in Saskatchewan, that the porters sleep wherever there is available room on the train, and that there is only one cabin on the train that accommodates three people. I know why it’s called a drawing room, I know the names of all of our waiters and porters. I know that Saskatchewan had the rainiest summer ever and the ground is so soggy in low lying areas of farms that the big heavy harvesters were sinking into the mud. As a result there is a lot of unharvested wheat which may result in higher bread prices. I know there’s a couple on board who are traveling around North America by train in 30 days.
Let’s get back to this cabin. Out of curiosity on Sunday I did a rough measurement of it. Don’t worry, this didn’t take long. The cabin is about 8’ long by 5 1/2’ wide. About 44 sq. ft. I think prison cells are larger, but I don’t know that from personal experience (yet). The top bunk cranks up into the ceiling during the day and has a net of woven straps that’s hooked up at night so that the person in it won’t fall out. There are also about five hooks that you can pop out from the wall, and would work well if you hang up a bunch of your stuff with wire hangers, but we don’t have any wire hangers. I’ve found out that those who just buy a sleeper seat get a curtain that shuts them off from the companionway, but not a door. Cabin F on each car has about one and half more feet than the others, which may not sound like much to you, but it will after three nights … I promise.
Winnipeg, Manitoba – it was Canadian Thanksgiving so not much was open, but just to stretch our legs and get off the train, we took a three hour tour of the city. Winnipeg is nicknamed Windypeg, I’ll let you figure out why. Largest French-speaking population outside of Quebec. Gorgeous legislative building. These pictures prove I was there.
Have not even set foot in a souvenir shop, so no weird souvenirs (yet). I keep hoping.
No comments:
Post a Comment