On the Train

I'm not actually on the train as I type this. I'm in the station at Winnipeg where we have a four hour break. You can't get on the internet on the train.

Travelling by sleeper train is brilliant. The roomette is tiny - about four feet by six - but has everything you need apart from a shower, which is along the corridor. When the bed folds down that pretty well fills the space, but when it's up there's a seat, a washbasin and even a loo, hidden under a cover so it doesn't look too much like a loo, and lots of cubby holes and switches for lights, fans, etc.

But you spend most of the time in the seating and viewing cars or the dining car. It's like being on a cruise. Three lovely meals a day, and continuous tea, coffee, cakes and fruit. Everyone makes friends and chats. Even at the station waiting to board you are in a private lounge with free hot drinks - like flying first class.

Yesterday we spent the whole day going past trees and lakes. I'm told that today we will start to see farmland, and then mountains the final day. It's hard to get your head round how much empty space there is in Canada!

By the way - my final day in Toronto I went up the CN tower and exlpored some different corners of the city, but ended up once again on the same artficial beach as on the first day.

I've not been keeping track of news and current events much, but like everyone else in the world I've kept up with the story of the Chilean mine rescue. How great to have a happy ending to a news story!