Wednesday, January 07, 2009

VIA Rail Onboard Hi-Speed WiFi...

somewhere in eastern Ontario

...isn’t. Which is why you're getting this post four hours later, from the hotel, rather than from the train.

Anyway, here I am, on a train from Toronto to Montreal. Last time I went to Montreal, which was also the first time I’ve been there for more than an overnight trip, was last November. During which I took a bunch of photographs with the work Nikon Coolpix L16. Photogenic city, indeed.

But – remember this post? I was awaiting my shiny, new, Sony DSC-W55 camera, and despairing of it arriving prior to my trip to Washington. And with this in mind, I give you:

Reagan National Airport
Ronald Reagan National Airport

Yes, the new Sony arrived, and is a much-more-spiffy-than-anticipated DSC-W130, megapixelier (no, that’s not a real word) and shinier than the W55 that I was expecting, and still featuring that all-important Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar, pre-KonicaMinolta, lens. Whatever that means.

Here are a few sample shots, since I’m still proud of the thing:

Fancy ceiling, Reagan airport
Reagan National, again.

ammeter
It can take macros, too.

A tree, a tower, a holiday.
Takes nice downtown night shots, it seems.

And now, here I sit, an hour and a half into a four-plus-hour train ride, gloating over the camera, anticipating the delicious VIA rail meal, awaiting that moment when I decamp into the government-sponsored hotel room, plunking myself down on the multi-hundred-dollar-per-night bed, missing the kids and Mrs. Ricardipus, feeling satisfied with myself for using the passenger rail system to cross the boundary between English and French Canada, and awaiting the morning. I may never have been west of Paris, nor east of Victoria, but I feel like a proper traveler, again.

More shots to follow, I suspect.


--
An update - the train was on time, the hotel room is very, very small, and the WiFi on the train, um, er, sucked. Which is why I'm posting this later at night, from the hotel room. Ah well. This post - it is what it is.

5 comments:

WrathofDawn said...

I shall be searching out good WiFi sources. SantaSteph brought me an iPod Touch!

w00t!

Anonymous said...

You know, that's one of the cool things about living back east: trains (WiFi or no WiFi). Out west, we can't really go much of anywhere on trains - well, Seattle, I guess, or maybe Edmonton on the way across Canada. DD and I took the train from T.O. to Ottawa a couple of summers ago, and she was quite pleased. Poor kid. She'd only ever been on trains in Europe!

#Debi said...

Very lovely photos! Once again, I have lens envy...

Richard Wintle said...

Debi - it's a teeny tiny camera. I also have lens envy, since Mrs. Ricardipus' big Sony is fixed-lens.

Sigh.

Dawn - your Shuffle will be sad...

Joy said...

Enjoy! Good photos! I'd like to travel by train sometime. That's not really much of an option here, but I get to read about it from you.