June 22, 2022
We had a great travel day! Our flights were actually early, we had a really good lunch and dinner, and our driver met us at the airport in Vancouver and had us to The Loden by 10 PM. He was very interesting. From Ukraine, he lived in Minneapolis with his wife and 2 daughters, and had a successful medical transportation business. The US government told him we don't need "entrepreneurs" and gave him 60 days to leave. I asked why he didn't just stay and he said he didn't want to be "illegal". His parents and siblings ate still in Odessa, Ukraine and he said every day he wakes up to see if they are alive. The Loden is a lovely little boutique hotel and our TA has told them it was our anniversary so they upgraded our room and left us a bottle of champagne and some macarons. Because of the time change, we were wide awake at 3 AM!
Thursday, June 23, 2022
Happy Anniversary to us! We were down it the restaurant at 7, when they opened! We had a wonderful breakfast and then set out for the waterfront. There was a LOT going on! People commute via float planes so there were many of them taking off and landing, as well as private boats, ferries and excursion boats. Several marinas with some huge boats! At 10, we went to Canada Place, the convention center and cruise ship port, and went to Fly Over Canada. This is a cool 4D experience and we had a great time. After that we stopped by the hotel for a few minutes before we went back down to the harbor for lunch at the Waterfront Taphouse. It was so sunny and lovely that we sat there for 2 1/2 hours! Back to the hotel for a rest before back to the waterfront for our excellent dinner at Carderos. We had a very nice table on the deck and enjoyed our anniversary dinner very much. We meandered back to the hotel, stopping to sit on a few benches.
Totem poles at the convention center
The Vancouver waterfront is very busy!!
the floating gas station
at the cruise port
Friday, June 24, 2022
Back to the excellent Tableau restaurant for another yummy breakfast. Then we set out for Gastown, a cool neighborhood with shops and restaurants and the Gastown Steam Clock. After shopping for the obligatory t-shirt purchase and at an ATM, we went back to the hotel to to pack and check out. Our driver came to take us to the train station, where we checked in and after a short wait, boarded our train, The Canadian. Our Prestige room is small but really functional. We had a bon voyage champagne and appetizer in the dome bar before going to our room to figure out where to put everything! Our "walk in" closet is 4 inches wide. It holds 3 shirts and one pair of shoes..stacked on top of each other!
We went to the dining car and had wine and a delicious appetizer. After we had our app, the non-Prestige passengers (doesn't that sound snooty?) came in. We ate with a very nice couple from Minneapolis. The food was wonderful- lamb for Oliver and salmon for me, with a yummy cheesecake for dessert. After dinner we went to the bar for a drink and then up to the dome car. While we were doing that, the concierge Clair made up our bed. The bed takes up the whole cabin and when we are in bed, we are facing the window. We left the shades up so we wouldn't miss anything! It was light til after 10PM! Oliver woke up at 3 AM and that was pretty much it for the night! He got dressed at 5 and got us coffee and went up to the dome car. I showered in our tiny little 2 foot square shower and we went to breakfast at 6:30. After breakfast we sat in the dome care and took in the beautiful scenery while Clair made up our room.
The Gastown Steam Clock..it goes off on the hour and draws big crowds.
Our sweet little room!
Walk-in closet!!
Tiny little bathroom!!
Our room made up for the night
No walking around once the bed is made up!
Our welcome appetizer and dessert
Saturday, June 25, 2022
We had lunch with a nice couple from Nova Scotia. Lunch was great-delicious apple cole slaw, chicken pot pie and mixed berry crumble. They always have 3 different selections for lunch and dinner-a meta, a fish and a vegetarian. How they make that delicious food in the tiny kitchen is amazing! We reached the border between British Columbia and Alberta and moved our clocks ahead 1 hour. At 1:30 we arrived in Jasper and got off the train for a walkabout. Jasper is a cute little tourist town, reminds me of a small Jackson Hole. Bought a few little things and then back on the train, where we headed out into even more beautiful scenery. So far we have seen a black bear and some elk.
The rest of the day was spent watching the beautiful mountains of the Canadian Rockies. Another wonderful dinner followed by drinks in the dome car and a good night's sleep.
Pyramid Falls
Jasper
Getting our windows washed!!
This is the dome car. We spent quite a bit of time up here. The concierge would bring us drinks and snacks.
This is the bar in our car. Until 4PM, this entire car is reserved only for Prestige passengers so it was never crowded.
This is right beneath the dome car. As it is the last car on the train, you can see where you have been!!
This is Mount Robson, the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies at 12, 072 feet
Sunday, June 26, 2022
After a late night stop in Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, we awoke in big sky country. Flat land with fields of gold and green. We had another delicious breakfast and lunch in the dining car and spent the rest of the time moving from one spot to another..from our room to the dome to the bar to the bullet (the car at the very end of the train. We saw lots of little towns nand lots of cows and deer!
We passed lots of trains. Often we would have to sit on a siding and wait for a freight train to go by. You can see how long our train is! There were 23 cars, including 2 engines!
This is a potash mine
Monday, June 27, 2022
Once again, after dinner and nightcaps, we traveled all night and woke up in the area called the Canadian Shield. This scenery consists of ancient, exposed rock, boreal forest and endless lakes. We saw a bear along the tracks. We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dining car and moved around to sit in different locations.
This is the dining car
And this is how we got there!
We spent some time sitting in our room watching the scenery. The concierge would bring us drink and appetizers if we didn't come to the bar.
Lots of lakes in this part of the country. We were going around Lake Superior.
Dessert on our last night
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
This morning we had an early breakfast and then a brunch, instead of lunch. We spent the morning packing and then watched more of the 'cottage country' of Ontario before it started getting more urban as we approached Toronto. We arrived at Union Station about 2 hours late..not bad considering we were 2 1/2 hours late within 3 hours of leaving Vancouver. Our hotel, the Fairmont Royal York, was literally just across the street from the station. It is a beautiful hotel..unfortunately we had a 3:15 AM pickup for our 6:30 AM flight home. The airport was an absolute zoo!! If we had not just had carryon luggage and Global Entry, we never would have made our flight. We were late into Charlotte but our outbound fight was 2 hours late so we had no problem getting into Savannah and then home. We had such a wonderful time! It was a VERY different trip than our adventures in Antarctica and Egypt and Israel, but we really enjoyed a more restful time. Canada is such a big, beautiful country! Thanks for traveling with us!
Toronto suburbs
The CN Tower from our room
Union Station from our room
Lake Ontario from our room
