Aboard the Amtrak Vermonter

July 10, 2016 by edwinandlisa

Lisa and I had an 11 hour train ride from Burlington, VT down south to Philadelphia, PA aboard the Vermonter. Here are scenes from our ride…

It was an overcast and grayish day for most of our journey

Train was going pretty fast, as many of our photos were a blur of landscapes

Lots of cool little towns we passed, with one minute stops for most of them

Lisa enjoying a pastrami sandwich that lasted her a lunch and a dinner

Our train passed through Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania

New York's Penn Station

From Penn Station, it was only another hour and a half to Philadelphia. The train was never more than ten minutes behind schedule, so when we arrived at 8:25 pm, we still had plenty of daylight for our one mile walk to our Airbnb room. This was our final train ride, and it was relaxing and a great way to travel!

Burlington, Vermont Meanderings

July 9, 2016 by edwinandlisa

Lisa and I took the Amtrak from Montreal over the border, where we remained for two hours as border patrol agent questions passengers on the train. Once we got going again, our train made it to Port Kent, NY, just as our ferry was scheduled to leave. We saw the ferry just down the hill, and it seemed like it was waiting for us, so we started a quick jog towards the ticket booth. The next ferry wasn’t scheduled for another hour and twenty minutes, so we were hopeful that we would be able to board. And on this day of drastic storms and rain, fortune was on our side. We hopped on the ferry and they closed up the gate behind us, and then we were off across Lake Champlain to Burlington, Vermont for a day of rest and laundry…

From the train

Gotta have breakfast with Vermont maple syrup

View from our chair swing

Lisa enjoys a maple "Creemee" which is basically a soft serve ice cream

Lake Champlain Chocolate Factory Tour Presentation

With free samples!

Production floor

Chocolate nibs... Too bitter for my tastes

Factory seconds=cheaper prices!

Pedestrian-only Church Street

City Hall

University of Vermont campus

Montreal Meanderings, Day 2 – part 2

July 8, 2016 by edwinandlisa

After our morning walking tour of the Montreal downtown Center and an afternoon walking tour of the Jean Talon Market in Little Italy, we finished our evening with a walking tour of Old Montreal…

Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, Montreal's oldest Chapel, also known as the sailors Church.

Marché Bonsecours, once the city's main agricultural Marketplace.

City Hall.

Another view from Place Jacques-Cartier, a Public Square filled with cafes, performers, and lots of people

Beaver Tails, a popular chain selling fried dough pastries, which are basically elephant ears. But I had to have one and with all of the choices available, I went with the Canadian theme of having the maple glaze

Notre Dame Basilica of Montreal

Place d'Armes, facing the church and surrounded by other beautiful and old buildings

Notre-Dame Basílica reflected in the glass

Saint-Jacques Street, once known as Canada's Wall Street

We finished our tour with a short listening jam session at the Montreal Jazz Festival

Montreal Meanderings, Day 2

July 7, 2016 by edwinandlisa

We spent a full day wandering around the Montreal downtown core and the old port. Here are some highlights…

Sculpture in front of the Erskine and American church

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. One local did his best Van Gough Scream impression

Barbie doll exhibition with really amazing costume designs and fine detailing all around. Even I was blown away

The Daniel Craig James Bond display

Christ Church Cathedral

Interior

Dorchester square with the Sun Life building rising in the back ground. The Sun Life building used to be the largest building in the British Empire

During our walking tour we were impressed by the number of people enjoying the parks with all of the benches and performers like this roving troupe

Windsor Station, at one time the Hub of Canada's Railway system

St George's Anglican Church

Interior

Mary Queen of the World Cathedral

Interior

St. Patrick's Basilica, also known as the Irish Church

Interior

Sculpture at Quartier international de Montréal

World Trade Center with a glass covered Promenade covering the length of the road

Our next stop was the Jean Talon Market, North America's largest outdoor Market

My favorite part of the market was the abundance of free food samples, especially the fresh and delicious nectarines

Interior of the Madonna della Defesa Church

Little Italy is known for their wrought iron winding staircases

After all of that walking we were definitely hungry, and since we were in Little Italy we were able to stumble upon this Trattoria

Lisa opted for the more reasonable salad and pizza while I had the Monstrous portion of lasagna. And I finished it

And after that huge meal we naturally had to walk off all of those calories. We strolled along Rue Saint-Hubert comma one of Montreal's Maine commercial arteries with over 400 boutiques. On this afternoon it was closed to all traffic

Montreal Meanderings Day 2 to be continued!

Montreal Meanderings, Day 1

July 6, 2016 by edwinandlisa

Lisa loves botanical gardens, and Montreal has one of the world’s best, so naturally we had to make a visit…

Inside the greenhouse

In addition to the gardens, we also checked out the biodome. This was once the velodrome for the 1976 Olympic Games. They have now converted it into four ecosystems with wildlife and plants