Ever since first coming to Montreal when the kids were in high school, I loved the city. When Becky was in college there in the 90’s it gave us opportunities to come back but it’s been a long time since then. With Mary going to Ireland this month to visit family, I decided it would be a good time to see parts of Canada I have never been to, and Montreal would be a fun place to start.
With a little poking around on travel web sites I found out that seeing Canada by train wasn’t expensive. I’ve been to most of coastal Canada (east and west) but I’ve never seen the provinces in the middle. Northern Ontario and the praries of Manitoba and Saskatchewan would be tough to drive because of the long distances, but the train would make it easier. Nothing bad would happen if I dozed off on a train, except maybe more cookie crumbs on my shirt. There was even a cheap ticket from Wilmington, Delaware to Montreal if I started out at 5:00 am on Sunday; one way $78 all the way to Montreal (senior fare).
I got a ride to the Wilmington Station but it was so early (4:00 am) that the doors were locked, so I sat on the steps with bag at my feet until it opened and the train arrived (on time). I had quick but unhealthy breakfast at Penn Station in NYC and waited for the 8:30 am train to Montreal. The route was pretty, going up the Hudson River passing Albany and the west shore of Lake Champlain.
In Montreal, I had a good rate at a decent hotel in town close to the train station and I scheduled a day and a half to poke around the city to see how much it’s changed in 15 years. I walked around the McGill area and saw new construction on campus, otherwise it looked as good as always. The Old City down by the port has kept it’s charm while a few new hotels and a convention center were built between the old city and the downtown section; it all looks so well done it’s even prettier than before. I visited the Notre Dame Basilica and still think it’s the one of the most beautful churches I’ve ever seen, even after being in Rome and Florence earlier this year. The cross atop Mount Royal was lit at night as usual, but it wasn’t clearly visible because of rain and fog, so I had to settle for a daytime picture only. On Tuesday I was back at the Montreal train station for my next hop to Toronto.
Montreal's station was very nice and busy. It's located right downtown and connected underground to a business and shopping area. The station has about 30 shops and restaurants next door so it was a comfortable place to sit with a coffee and free wi-fi to wait for the 3:30 train to Toronto, a high speed five hour run to the southwest. The seats were great with big clean windows; there was even a computer plug and internet wi-fi on the train.
I had to go through Toronto to connect with The Canadian, the popular cross country ride to Vancouver. Toronto's station wasn't nearly as nice as Montreal, but it was easy to make my connections and get settled into my seat for the 10:00 pm departure with two overnights to my next stop in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
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