Train adventures

I loved taking the train when I lived in Switzerland. I really can't speak ill of the SBB. I mean really, what's not to like? I'm not entirely sure if I had the opportunity to take 1er class though. If it did, I think it was just once. And I think it was because we were traveling as a group and they ran out of spaces in 2nd class or something so a couple of us teachers got bumped up for a portion of the trip. Actually, yes, I'm sure that's what happened.

So here I am, back in Canada and I only rode the train here for the first time a couple years ago. Since then, I've taken it a couple times and I think based on my current location, I'll probably ride it more often.

In fact, I write this post on the train. Sitting in my swanky Business class seat. And this is a first for me. It's pretty nice. I hung out in the Business lounge at the train station beforehand. Waited in a special line to board the train. Have my swanky seat and side table. And then quite soon after we started moving forwards (we actually backed out of the train station and then changed direction to head towards our destination), the drink cart came. I wasn't expecting that. It's almost a shame that I don't drink because their selection look pretty decent. Anyway, my l'eau pétillante (I guess they don't say gazeuse here) avec citron was lovely. So mere moments after I finished my grignote (I'll always think of my colleague from CH when I hear that word, because I remember learning it when we went out for dinner one night), the cart came by again with warm towels. Swanky. And then a voice come over the speaker telling us of our three meal options.

So...I had a relatively large snack before going to the train station because I thought that I would miss a meal tonight. Oops.

In classic 'me' style, I ate the entire meal. Darn it, I definitely was going to take advantage of my new experience! Maybe a train meal isn't anything special, but remember, I like airplane meals too, so I was pretty stoked for this. I even ate the stinky cheese (progress!) that came with the cheese course. It was a nice touch to have cheesecake for dessert. I love cheesecake. And they kept offering wine like it was going out of style. I guess my only issue was that the tray table seemed very far away from the seat. I guess they want to ensure that we have enough leg room and errr, that people of all sizes are comfortable.

So this train ride's been fun. They even asked if I needed a taxi once I arrived to my stop ("We want to make sure that there are enough taxis waiting."). Gosh.