OK, Edmonton and the Canadian. What was supposed to be the "relaxing" part of the trip, turned out to be not as easy as we wanted it to be.
But first, we went to the Elk Island National Park north-east of Edmonton, which is famous for itīs nature and animals. You are acutally able to drive through the herd of Buffalos. Impressive animals, a fact, that makes the stories from the Buffalo Jump Exhibition a lot more realistic. If I had to hunt this animal with simple weapons, Iīll be a vegetarian.
Well, they look quite sad in the rain. Ahhh ... the rain. Growing up in a region in Germany with the highest amount of rainfall per year, I am used to it. But you donīt want this during your holidays ...
During a pause in the rain, we tried to walk a little bit (Simmons Trail).
But with the rain gone, the mosquitos came and even though my girlfriend tried to create a cloud of anti-mosquito-spray around us (she constantly sprayed in all directions), we made a strategic withdrawal back to the car. And drove through the herd of Buffalos again.
There were some young ones ...
... and some rowdy youths, who were so sunked in their fights, that we drove about 1 meter in front of them and they didnīt moved an inch.
After the Park, we went for a walk in Strathcona. Which is an interesting combination of chic and down-to-earth business, restaurants and people. We went for a nice dinner in a restaurant (Continental Treat Fine Bistro), which had a nice beer selection. We actually had a long chat with the owner about which beers from Germany are missing on his menu.
The bad news this evening were, that our trip with the Canadian was in danger. Before dinner, we chatted with some other guests about our trip and they told us, that the employees of VIARail were about to go on strike in two days. Which was the day of our departure. So we had no clue wheather our train was going at all of if, where we would get stuck. Great.
The next day, we went to a tourist information (the one right on Highway 2 south of Edmonton) and asked, if someone could help us. The VIARail Hotline was completly blocked and other ways of communication (Twitter, Mail) werenīt working as well. The friendly tourist agents tried everything, but the only thing they got to know was, that the train will not go at all, if the strike starts. Then we started to look for alternative ways to get to Vancouver.
But we do not wanted to sacrfice the whole day concerning if the train went of not, so, because the weather was fine, we went for the Devonian Botanical Garden south-west of Edmonton. A nice, relaxing garden. Up until the point, when my girlfriend found this japanese bell in the japanese garden area.
Well, the sound she produced must have been heared at least in Edmonton ... of course, I was standing right next to the bell, when she did it.
After that, the garden was even more relaxing, because my sense of hearing was absent for a while ... so I enjoyed the garden in deep silence.
An interesting part of the garden were the beds with edible plants.
The Botanic Garden is nice, if you are interested in plants or just want to relax and sit in the sun for a while.
After the garden we went to the airport and returned our car. And went from the airport straight to the Edmonton Mall. I was fascinated by the pool in the Mall, but sadly we forgot our bathing suits, so no water slides for me.
In the evening we tried to get some more information about the strike, but werenīt successful. So we thought, that it would be ok to hope for the best and proceed with the usual evening program. Which on that night included the NBA final, beer and burgers.
And it worked, because when we got in our hotel room, the news quoted that union and VIARail had come to their senses and avoided the strike. So we were good to go the next day and booked a car to get us to the station.
The train (which had to stop in Calgary to expect the result of the negotiations between the union and VIARail) was arriving on time in Edmonton.
Due to the possible strike, many people had cancelled their train ride, so the train was quite empty. The staff on the train told us, that they were glad, that the strike has been avoided. So were we ...
Our cabin, sadly, was occupied by some animals ...
... so we went to the observation car which became our home for the whole day.
The first leg from Edmonton to Jasper was very well known to us, because we have been driving it two weeks ago. But nevertheless it was nice to see again.
During the stop in Jasper, we actually went for a beer in the Jasper Brewing Company to see, if they remember us (they did not) and had a look at our train and our sleeping car.
After leaving Jasper, we made ourselves comfortable in the observation car with a book, some drinks ...
... and enjoyed the scenery. Even with the rain every now and then it was very nice.
We were very pleased with the style of travelling, although the older cars seemed a bit worn to us.
The food was better in my memory (I did the tour from Toronto in Vancouver in 2006 in Silver&Blue / sleeper class) but it was nice and we had some nice chats during dinner with two American sitting at our table.
In the evening, we had a wine tasting on the train and so we had a good sleep during the night. And after wake-up we saw the skyline of Vancouver in front of our train.
And quite on time we arrived in Vancouver.
Next part: Vancouver