Charlie and Mary

Yikes! It's been more than a month since we've been home and I have yet to finish my blog, even though it's been mostly written for a long time. Needed to add photos! So here goes, old news. Manitoba and Alberta 6/23-7/6 Winnipeg We had an early morning leaving for our 9:30 train from Toronto to Winnipeg, Manitoba since our Airbnb was so far from the station. Luckily we had checked the metro schedule the day before and discovered that it did not start running until 8 and were able to catch a “night bus” that went straight to the station with time to spare. For the last time we got to experience the Business Lounge and priority boarding – quite a nice setup in Toronto. On the train there are just 3 sleeper/berth seat arrangements ... read more

Quebec City & Montreal – 6/8-6/13 We left Miramichi for the Quebec/Ontario "corridor" - the main population areas of Eastern Canada which includes 4 major cities - Québec City and Montreal in the province of Québec, Ottawa and Toronto in Ontario. The train from Miramichi to Québec City took almost 11 hours overnight. This was our first experience of sleeping on the train in economy class, and it was not pretty. Although Charlie slept like a baby, I did not sleep at all. We even had empty seats next to us, but there was no way to get comfortable. In Economy Class you also don’t get to use the dining car. It’s the snack bar only – snacks, sandwiches and a few frozen foods they heat up. First stop Québec City. Québec City is a beautiful ... read more

Newfoundland From North Sydney, Nova Scotia we caught the ferry to Newfoundland, a 6 to 8 hour trip, depending on the weather. Fortunately the seas were calm. We had stopped at a McDonald’s for breakfast before boarding. McDonalds in other countries are always interesting – they had a counter with pastries, really good expresso type coffee and poutine on the menu. For the uninitiated, poutine is a mixture of French fries, covered with cheese curds and gravy. There are lots of variations (including with lobster). We have yet to try it. The most interesting part of our ferry trip was our conversations with others on the boat. Canadians are a friendly lot, and there was lots of teasing of the Americans and some advice on what to see in Banff National Park. We learned a new ... read more

Well I'm finally getting around to finishing up our Portuguese Camino blog. We arrived home on the 7th of December only to jump right into Christmas preparations. Here you go. Hope you've enjoyed it. Tuesday, November 28th, 2017, to Madrid, Apartamentos Tirso de Molina. We went to our favorite place for breakfast in Santiago, Butafumeiro, for coffee and croissants slathered with chocolate. Yum. We said goodbye to Santiago and caught a 12:00 train to Madrid. I really wish we’d spent more time in Santiago. We actually got on the right train (don’t ask me about the Torino/Tirano fiasco in Italy a few years ago). It was a pretty comfortable, uneventful 5-hour ride to Madrid. We negotiated Metro ticket buying, managed to fight the rush hour crowds, got off at the right station, only to find it ... read more

Wednesday, November 22nd still in Redondela. Another vacation day lost. I had a bad night with lots of pain where my leg joins my foot, plus the new blisters. I’m exhausted and so we decided to stay in the apartment for another day. We slept until 10:30. I stayed off my feet for most of the day. Charlie made breakfast – scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, yogurt and orange juice – the best breakfast we’ve had in a long time. We planned to ship my backpack ahead to our next place to give my feet a break, but they wanted 25 euro (vs. the 5 euro regular charge) because it’s off-season. Yikes. I’ll pass. There’s a 70% chance of rain tomorrow. I’m not optimistic about our walk tomorrow. Thursday, November 23rd, to Pontevedra, Hotel Madrid, ... read more