Nearly home

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We had a 4-hour layover in Winnipeg, so we took advantage of a city tour that Via arranged with a local bus company. Invariably I find these tours are a great source of historical information about a city and this one was no exception. We visited the legislature, a beauiful sculpture garden, the grave of Louis Riel, and a church, driving through many interesting neighborhoods along the way. Many photos of this tour can be found at https://picasaweb.google.com/109471170472848057534/WinnipegAndPrairies

Then, back on the train for the last leg of our journey. We both agreed that if the train were to be delayed a day, we would be happy to remain on board as long as they continued to feed and care for us as they have so far!

In the afternoon our car attendant gave a very interesting presentation in the dome car about the history of Via. This was not completely unfamiliar to me, but I learned some details I'd never heard before, including the fact that Via is in the process of upgrading their sleeper coaches to eliminate bunks and include showers in every cabin! This is supposed to be complete by 2014. I wonder if we could manage to save up for another trip in a couple of years?

From our seats in the dome care, we enjoyed a sunny afternoon crossing the prairies, and a beautiful sunset, one of the first we've seen on this trip – not just due to bad weather I must add, but also to simply not being in a good place to observe one when it occurred.

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