Froda Travels to Europe and Canada 2010 Part Eight: The Ocean Train to Halifax (Canada)

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Sunday June 27th

Ocean Train. [Montreal – Halifax].

Larry woke at 5a.m. But I didn't get up till 7. Dressed and washed – no showers. Then breakfast: continental – meusli and yoghurt. Fresh fruit: grapes, melon, grapefruit and orange and toast (already buttered) with marmalade, blueberry jam. And coffee. Really nice. (Upgraded to premier class seat!) When we returned to our room the beds had not been reverted to couches and we had to go hunting for the attendant – again! Then quite a long time in the room – doing puzzles, taking photos, diary, reading. About 11a.m. to the snack car for coffee and muffin/danish to share ½ each. Spent some time in the lounge reading and looking at scenery to allow for our room to be made up. Reserved lunch for the 1.30 sitting and returned to our room. Very nice lunch: minestrone soup and a turkey sandwich plus a glass of wine. Ate the accompanying chippies with the wine. Such reasonable prices! The scenery continued to be much the same – fir trees (and a mix of others) on each side. Whenever it cleared it was mostly flat and you could see for miles. Finally we pulled into Halifax. Pulled into the platform in full sun and were told that our bags would arrive inside the station shortly – "on the belt". Then we went off to find the Halifax Hostel. We overshot by about one block but eventually bumped our bags up the front steps (6 or so) and into the office. A rather off hand, rushed young man (European?) attended to us in a rather rude manner – read us the rules of the house which were very much designed for irresponsible youths – and all that I could see in the adjacent kitchen were very young people. We were on the 3rd floor and there was no elevator and very narrow stairs. Larry gallantly lumped both bags up to our room. Stark. Very basic and NO ENSUITE! Then we discovered that across the passage was a bathroom marked – private for guests of Room 305 (us!) This was quite nice but rather small and of course we had to go out into the corridor and unlock the door to use it! Not good in the middle of the night. Then discovered that there were no towels. Down to reception with heart in mouth but at least it was a mistake and he apologised and gave us a couple of rather indifferent looking items. The beds were a double with a ¾ bunk above it. The duvet didn't quite fit the duvet cover. The window only opened about 6 inches and there were bare boards, sloping, on the floor. And it was VERY HOT. We decided not even to try using the kitchen even for coffee and set out in search of a nice place to eat. Walked as far as the Western Nova Scotia, next to the railway station where we found a restaurant called "Elements – for casual dining". Greeted most civilly by the Maitre D and taken to a nice table and served by waitress Jessalin. We had a glass of local wine, Muscat, (very unusual) and ordered the penne pasta (rather too much) for both of us. Even here prices were most reasonable – the main was $14 and the wine $8. With taxes and what not the bill came to $49 and I think we gave a $5 tip. $55 in all. Walked to the supermarket but it was closed. Looking for ATM and argued about the need to get money out. Then back to our awful bedroom. So hot. Didn't use the duvet at all anyway. But although very tired I didn't get to sleep till after 11p.m. Quite a lot of noise but it could have been worse.

Monday June 28th

Halifax – PEI.

It's raining. Checked out. Pleasant, friendly receptionist and laundry girl. Recovered the $5 deposit. And once we escaped from the building it was quite cold. We were in good time to connect with the 9.05 departure from outside the Westin Nova Scotia Hotel, of the Airporter Shuttle bus. (We'd picked up a timetable from the hostel last night). By 9.20 we were still waiting. After several enquiries (Larry asked the kilted porter/doorman) plus a phone call, we learnt that our time table was out of date and the next bus was 9.55. We stood and shivered in the relative shelter of the Westin Nova Scotia Hotel – but it was still quite cold and the rain was heavy. Apparently the whole city was in chaos as the Queen was due to arrive at 2p.m. Our bus finally arrived and we were delivered to the airport at about 11a.m. Made several stops at various hotels on the way. Tried to get money from ATMs but as they were going to charge a commission, we refrained. Finally a very late breakfast at a cafe (next to Burger King) of eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast and jam. And coffee and juice. Very reasonable prices . Then down to the rental cars. The insurance more than doubled the original quoted price: the original $313 became $700! Bloody Hell! Makes this a very expensive part of the trip. First they offered us a larger car – we took one look and said no. So they found us a compact one - brand new – that had just become available. Ford Focus. Silver. We spent some time sorting out the controls: which switch turned on what device etc.

Next: PEI (Prince Edward Island)

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