Going to Europe

September 7th did finally arrive.  This was the day all our planning was aiming towards, the day our trip to Europe began.  I had retired earlier in the year so now I had time to travel.  Kathleen and I had talked about going on some sort of cruise a year or so before, then one day a flyer arrived in the mailbox.  Viking River Cruises read the title. "I wouldn't mind trying out a river cruise." I chirped.  "But I would have to add more time so I could visit my relatives." I quickly added.  With that we booked our tour with Donna Bull, Kathleen's cousin.

The easy part was done, we were going on a cruise. Now the planning started.  First I tried to order a railway map of Europe.  I just wanted a Thomas Cook Map but they stopped publishing them about two years prior.  I did find one on eBay, won it, but the seller could not locate it.  Next there was an ad for an atlas but it was £29 plus postage, pricy I thought.  I worked with my old 1986 and 1993 maps, with my new timetables and quickly realized lots had changed.  The fall of the Iron Curtain, reunification of the two Germanys, ICE and Railjet trains, just to name a few, my maps did not measure up.  I ordered the Atlas.

With my new atlas in hand the planning stages became easier.  The new lines were shown, cities like Vienna and Berlin had consolidated many lines into new central stations.  Also the new high speed lines were included and most importantly the steam tourist lines were shown.  ( :   The atlas came with a PDF file so I was able to print the pages from the atlas that I needed...the best £29 I spent!


A very happy Kathleen waiting for VIA 32 departure to Dorval. We'll see what kind of face 6 weeks of European travel will bring.

VIA 32 waiting for 643 to clear before letting us board. Engine 6410-3464-3338*-3347-3366 

Time passed quickly for me at Dorval...lots of trains! CN 327

I was packed and ready to go by July, Kathleen took a little bit longer but she was ready in time.  Jim Kot picked us up from home and dropped us off at VIA's Fallowfield station.  We had to take an earlier train than I had planned because VIA cancelled the train that I had us booked on. This resulted in us having lots of time to get to Dorval. 

The time in Dorval went quickly as there were lots of trains to observe and photograph.  I imagine the time went a lot slower for Kathleen, luckily she did bring some reading material along.  It was nice to hop on the air-conditioned shuttle however as the mid-afternoon temperature had risen to 31°C. 

New flight check-in procedures greeted us on our arrival, this was where Kathleen took over, tagging our bags and obtaining our boarding  passes.  With for-mentioned completed it was time to have our last Canadian meal.  St Hubert Express did a fine job in satisfying our hunger. Finally, it was time to board KLM flight 0672 to Amsterdam. 

Our bird has arrived and it was a 3 year old Airbus 330-303.