Getting back to Toronto was not quite the end of my MHD, since I had one more flight coupon between YYZ-YOW to use. The director of one of my films — my other line of work — was in Montreal from Edmonton, scouting out locations with our local associate producer through the week. The plan was for me to go into Montreal to meet with her, and our Quebec-based associate Friday. I spent Wednesday doing paperwork and made a booking with AC for a Thursday afternoon flight to YOW, and with VIA Rail for a train from Ottawa to Montreal later in the day, and another to Toronto Friday at the end of the day. The train bookings were full fare economy: $40 between Ottawa and Montreal, $100 Montreal and Toronto. But I also had a coupon from Diners|enRoute which upgraded both segments to VIA1. I then booked a room at the Four Points on Sherbrooke over the internet for Thursday.

Thursday morning i wrapped up a few things and left my place at 11 am to walk over to the Royal York to catch the noon bus to YYZ. On the way, I stopped in at CitiBank’s Toronto Street offices to pay my Diners|enRoute account, the Royal Bank’s main branch to deposit some cheques, and the Amex Travel Office in the Royal York to pay my Amex bill, and let the travel agent who ticketed me on this crazy trip know everything went perfectly. He told me he checked with AC about the fare after I had left, and was told it was quite legal as long as I used all my segments in the order they were issued. I then headed up stairs and watied for the bus, which was running about 10-minutes late. Settled in, I took out my ticket folio and to my horror discovered I had booked myself on the 1 pm flight, not the 2 pm one I thought I was on! Here it was, 12:15 pm and we were just pulling up to the Westin Harbour Castle to pick up a few more people. We didn’t hit the Gardner Expressway until 12:20 pm, so I figured I would miss my CP metal 320, and have to settle for an AC 319.

We slipped into YYZ at 12:40 pm and pulled up to T2 at the Rapidair check-in, as if by providence. Flashing my ticket, I went through security and briskly walked over to the YOW check-in area where I was the third person in line. No problem, even at 15-minutes before the flight, my seat was not lost and my boarding pass quickly handed to me by the agent. Departing from gate 85, I even had time to make a few selections from the magazine rack. (Does anyone else pick up FOREIGN AFFAIRS?]

There were just five of us in the front cabin, and did not seem to be all that many riding in the back today. Afer flying on quite a few 320s in the past week, I still prefer CP’s version which offers a better seat, with leg rests and better back support. (Though I am not certain about those “snake” lights.) Once we had taken off, lunch was served: a green salad and a very tasty portabello mushroom melt sandwhich. I also enjoyed the Hillebrand Sauvignon Blanc, finding the current Chardonnay [offered on our CP metal flight from YVR the other night] lacking in oak and character. Coffee is served with the apple tart and by the time I finish my first cup, the pilot comes over the PA to inform us we are about to begin our descent into YOW. We are at the gate by 2, and with only a shoulder bag to deal with, I am outside waiting for the No.97 OCTranspo bus into the city. My plan was originally to go downtown and spend a couple of hours at the National Gallery, but I am having second thoughts. A look at my VIA Rail schedule shows there is a 3:05 pm train into Montreal, and another at 4:45 pm. I am booked on the lat one out at 6:15 pm, but being full fare, my reservation can be changed. The bus arrives at 2:10 pm and thanks to the dedicated expressway, we are at the Hurdman interchange station in 10-minutes. Within view of the VIA Station, I have a 5-minute wait for the No.95 bus, and by 2:35 pm I am in line at the ticket counter. I give the agent my res number and ask about changing to the earlier train. “No problem,” and he checks with his colleague if there will be a meal on board for me. There will be, and after running my Diners|enRoute card through to pay for my ticket, I head toward the gate where the train to Montreal is just beginning to board.

So, I have finished my MHD, officially. And am back on my VIARail Triangle journey. Once the 18 of us are settled into our seats in the VIA1 car, the attendant starts through with a complementary bar service and after a couple of sips on my Scotch, we are pulling out of the station. The cars are identical to the ones used by coach passengers, except these have eletrical outlets between the pairs of seats into which one can plug the AC adaptor for your computer. No need to find special adapters here, just an old fashion electrical outlet. VIA1 includes a full meal service no matter what time of day the trip occurs, and on this mid afternoon run I am offered the choice of chateaubriand or halibut. I initally select the beef, but not to the attendent that since I booked late, should they run out of that choice for another passenger, I would be happy to take the Halibut. As it turns out, this happens and she returns to “beg” the beef for a woman near the back. As if turns out, the fish dish is one of the best I have had on board are plane or train. It was nicely spiced, accompanied by a tender rice pilaf, and went wll with a moderately oaky Inniskillin Chardonnay. I made my way through the GLOBE and POST, had another scotch and just past 5 pm we pulled into Central Station.

I haven’t been in Central Station in Montreal for quite a while, so was rather taken aback by the rennovations that have turned the main hall of the station itself into a virtual food bazarre with all sorts of fast-food outlets where more institutional railway counters used to be. Amid this is the Panorama Lounge for VIA1 customers, the railway’s version of the MLL. I headed towards Place Ville Marie and through the various tunnels that link the city’s various retail malls and office towers. As I prepared to exit PVM, I made a similar discovery of recent rennovations, a new tunnel link directly to the Eaton Centre and McGill Metro station. Although it was a mild afternoon and most of the snow had been cleared from the sidewalks, this meant I did not have to emerge onto the surface for a few more blocks. I made my way to The Bay, where upon I took the escalator to the surface. From here, it was a block north to Sherbrooke, and two blocks over and I had arrived at The Four Points, located across from the Delta and Holiday Inn.

The Four Points is a basic hotellry, generally filled with tour groups and others on holiday, rather than business. Upon check-in, I discovered they were offering double Starpoints through to April, so my $99 room would translate into at least 450 Starpoints after conversion to US dollars.

The next day, I had my meetings, first with my director, and then with our Montreal-based associate producer. I decided it would be best to have this meeting over a long leisurely lunch in a Greek restaurant in the Park Extension district, so we grabbed a cab and headed up town. The owner of the Psaropoula seafood taverna was most agreeable to our abandoning the menu, and came back from the kitchen with a large mixed platter of appetizers for us, afterwhich we had a tasty soup and salads, all washed down with plenty of Retzina. It was something about spring being in the air that added a certain urgnecy to having this taste of the Agean yesterday afternoon. By 3:45 pm, we had concluded our business and headed back out into the afternoon, each of us heading off into a different direction. I hopped the Park MUTC bus down to the Place des Artes Metro station, then over to the McGill station from where I followed my previous walk back to Gare Centrale.

I headed to the Panorama Lounge to “check-in” for my train, and relax prior to the trip. The amiable attendent confirmed my booking and indicated the boarding call would be made in about 15-minutes. This gave me some time to make a few calls, check messages back in Toronto, and get through the FINANCIAL POST section of the POST. The call was made and a dozen of us made our way through the crowds of travellers and commuters outside, and down the escalator to preboard ahead of the coach passengers. We pulled out a 5pm, on schedule, but pulled up short outside the station for about five minutes, before continuing on to Dorval where another dozen passengers boarded the VIA1 car. I was left with an empty seat next to me, so had plenty of space for the next four hours. This time, there were two attendants serving a 2/3rds full car. One came around and distributed bags of chips or peanuts, while the other followed with drinks. Once this was done, they returned to take tickets and take our choice of main course for the dinner. This time, I opted for chicken breast over veal. I settled back with my scotch — which was refilled once more before dinner was served — and a pile of newspapers and magzines to read. I also had my radio, and continued to be frustrated by my attempts to tune in a CBC Radio One station as we cut through the Ontario countryside. CBM disappeared shortly after we left the Island, and I had to settle for NPR out of Vermont somewhere. When it began to fade, I was able to find a CBC rebroadcaster for the last half of the 6 pm news and some of AS IT HAPPENS. Outside of Kingston, I lost CBC radio completely and made do with a selection of passable music stations until Cobourg, where I lucked on Ryerson’s all-jazz station for the rest of my train ride, and my walk home.

I have always found it odd that it is difficult to tune in a CBC radio station while travelling across this country. One can always find dozens of commercial stations, but have the hardest time finding our own public broadcaster, which has often received third rate frequency allocations. But what is most ironic about having this problem on VIA Rail train today is the fact that CBC Radio actually was started as a service for the old CNR passenger rail service. The president of the railway thought it would be nice to be able to provide music and news to his passengers as they rode palour cars across the country. William Thornton set up several radio stations on the top floors of his big hotels (Chateau Laurier, Hotel Vancouver, MacDonald, etc.) and these were linked by both regular transmitters as well as a direct wire to the railway’s tracks. This latter method permitted the signal to travel along the tracks and be picked up by special receivers in any railcars with these devices. After a few years, the government decided to use these stations as the basis of their new radio service, the CBC.

This was a non-stop express into Toronto, and onward to Oakville. Inspite of this, we continued to fall behind schedule. My usual reference point for being just under an hour outside of Toronto was the town ofPort Hope, and the Eldorado Nuclear processing plant on the waterfront. Having spent my summers in this town when a boy, it was a familiar landmark. When it hadn’t appeared on schedule at about 8 pm, I knew we were running late and this was confirmed by an announcement that we were now a half-hour behind schedule. I made a call on my cell — as did just about everyone else at this point — to my friend to inform her I would be a bit late. No problem, she’d meet me at my place around 10 pm. We pulled into Union Station at 9:30 pm, and it was a pleasant 15-minute walk along Front Street back to my place.

So at 9:45 pm, Friday my MHD and VIATriangle had been completed. I opened that bottle of Tequila and poured a small shot as a concluding toast, collapsed on my sofa and awaited the arrival of my friend.