The Train Trip Home

Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Train Trip Home
09/28/2008 I got up at 5:30 AM got dressed and ran up the steps to the upper decks. A crowd was gathering, I could see the lights off in a distance, it was a foggy morning. Out of nowhere the Verrazono Narrows Bridge appeared overhead it was my first realization of big city life, it just appeared overhead full of traffic and streaking lights, it was a rush. We moved up the Hudson River New Jersey on our left New York on our right. Ellis Island was barley vi sable through the fog; we passing the Statue of Liberty at 6:02 AM. The photo opportunities were not good but I got my statue shots back in June at Jennifer and Arie’s wedding.



Getting off ship was easy and we caught a cab to Jennifer and Arie’s infamous New York City apartment. Although it’s only 473 square feet it is very comfortable in a beautiful west side building and neighborhood that makes living in New York City understandable. We walked to brunch at Isabella’s, a popular weekend eatery for a delightful brunch. The vegetable and flower vendors on the streets brought back memories of the Rambles in Barcelona, Spain, the side walk cafes brought back memories of Helsinki, Finland, but I didn’t see any sardines being served. Spending time with Arie and Jennifer brought thoughts of living a movie script life to a Midwesterner/ Southerner who until recently was very uncomfortable in such big city surroundings.

We then caught a cab to Penn Station to catch our train back to Birmingham. Being a 22 hour trip we opted for a room-et, which is a small sleeper. The operative word here is small, we thought our cabin on the ship was small but this was two beds and a toilet/sink in 32 square feet. (see pictures) We stopped for thirty minutes in Washington DC and Nita, Ron and I got off to go in and see Union Station. It was spectacular as we had remembered but we were all disappointed in the amount of trash in the fountain and grounds outside, we saw nothing like this in Europe. Dinner was served after our stop in Washington DC in the dinning car. (6:45 PM). Nita and I had the steak and Ron and Avie had the chicken; we all agreed that the food was better then any airline food that we had ever had but not as good as ship food. Sleeping on the train in our 32sq. ft. room-et went surprisingly well. All of us got about eight hours of sleep and cleaned up and went to breakfast at 6:30 AM.


We’re now on the final leg of our trip pulling out of Atlanta on our way to Birmingham. We’ve been advised from several e-mailers that we might be better off staying our of the USA because of it’s growing financial woes; but that is not an option. We’re back in the “real world.”