johnadams.org.uk

I took the train to and from London last week, rather than taking the usual plane.

A few people at work have been selling the benefits of travelling by train between Glasgow and London. It takes about 1 or 2 hours longer (door-to-door) than travelling by plane, but it’s possible to work for over four hours, and you don’t need to undress to get through security or carry your moisturiser in a resealable plastic bag!

We are allowed to travel First Class if we are working. The price is quite competitive if you book ahead. It’s quite a pleasant experience, with continuous tea/coffee/cold drinks, offers of snacks (soup, pie, sandwiches). There is plenty of space, and a power socket to keep the laptop working for the duration of the journey.

To cope with the curves on the West Coast Main Line, the Virgin Pendolino trains tilt while going round corners - it’s quite an interesting feeling, a bit like being at sea!

Although the trip felt around an hour too long, I would certainly consider taking the train again, particularly if I had a lot of work to get through and needed the peace and quiet to concentrate.

Before the security crackdown in August, travelling for an overnight trip was very straightforward - throw a clean shirt and toiletries into my normal work rucksack, check in online, walk on the plane, avoid any baggage queues.

That has all changed, certainly for the long term, probably for good, by the banning of all liquids and gels in British airports. The only alternatives for an overnight trip are a) to check in a bag, b) buy toiletries at the destination or c) post toiletries to the destination in advance.

So I have an idea for the airlines: a “Fast Toilet Bag Drop” (modelled on the popular Fast Bag Drop offerred by many airlines).

A person could check in online or at the self-service machines, then take their toilet and/or make-up bag to the FTBD point. The check-in staff would put the toilet bag in a plastic bag, seal the bag, affix a label and hand a receipt to the traveller. All the toilet bags would be placed in a dedicated tray or box, separate from the rest of the baggage. When check-in closed 30 minutes before the flight, the airline would take the box of toilet bags to the aircraft and place it in the hold or in a locked area in the cabin.

When the flight landed, the ground staff would quickly take the box of toilet/make-up bags to the baggage area, and hand the bags back to the travellers. This could be done in a similar way to the way US and Canadian airports manage duty free at the gate.

This suggestion would meet security requirements, in that liquids and gels would not be available to passengers within the secure zone. Airlines would have less hold baggage to carry, thus reducing their costs, and passengers would get through the destination airport more quickly.

I’m waiting now for the calls from the airlines, I wonder who will be first? Any idea what a good marketing label would be?

Of course, once trains get quicker, maybe we won’t need domestic airlines any more?

The third leg of our Canada trip was a few days in Toronto (aka T.O). This was a relaxing urban end to our holiday, and we stayed at the very comfortable Le Germain, a smart boutique hotel in the centre of the “Entertainment District”.

The main highlights of Toronto were:

• Visiting the Toronto Islands on the hottest day of the trip (28 degrees C), strolling all the way from Hanlan’s Point to Wards Island. A beautiful oasis a short boat ride from downtown Toronto, across the harbour.

  
  

• Exploring the Distillery District. Not far from Cabbagetown, the Distillery District is a redevelopment of the old Gooderham and Worts Distillery. It is a small area of restored Victorian buildings and cobbled streets, full of art galleries, jewellery and clothes shops, restaurants and bars, and even hosts a Sunday Farmers’ Market.

  
  

• Eating Italian hot dogs from street vendors in Bloor-Yorkville.

Niagara-on-the-Lake
In addition to the urban stuff, we made a side trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) and spent the day cycling around some of the wineries, including Inniskillin (yes, really), Reif Estates and Peller Estates.

The reds are mostly a bit rough, but the Reislings are crisp and dry and the Ice Wines are the sort of thing that would be perfect with Christmas pudding! Unfortunately I don’t think there is a big distribution in the UK, so our three mini-bottles will have to do us for a while.

I wouldn’t advise using VIA Rail for this trip (2 trains/day, 2 hours to cover 80km, 1 hour delay on the way back due to US/Canadian customs at Niagara Falls), but cycling was a great way to see the area around NOTL.

After Nova Scotia, we drove up to Prince Edward Island (PEI), crossing over via the Caribou-Woods Island ferry.

PEI is a gentle, predominantly rural, agricultural island, characterised by it’s red soil (Permo-Carboniferous red-beds) and red and white sand beaches. The island forms a nice contrast with the much more rugged Nova Scotia to the south. PEI is also connected to New Brunswick on the Canadian mainland by the Confederation Bridge.

We stayed in the main city, Charlottetown (pop approx 40 000), at the Shipwright Inn, which is owned and run by an English couple, Trevor & Judy Pye. They were extremely welcoming, the room was sumptious, and the 24/7 tea/coffee/cake was a real hit. It was nice to meet someone who knew how to make a good cuppa!

One of the main attractions of PEI is the whole Anne of Green Gables thing, but we managed to avoid most of that and made use of the extensive trails network - the Confederation Trail runs the length of the island and there are also a number of shorter trails, particularly in the PEI National Park that runs along the north coast of the island.

The best food we had was at the Water Prince Corner Shop in Charlottetown. This time we had a lobster supper - bread roll, mussels in white wine broth, boiled lobster with drawn butter and potato salad. Superb.

We spent four days in Nova Scotia, beginning in Halifax and moving on to the South Shore around Mahone Bay and Lunenburg.

The highlights were:

Peggy’s Cove
A small rocky harbour and a very photogenic lighthouse set on top of rounded organic-shaped granite outcrops. The lighthouse is the “most photographed in Canada” and is a real tourist trap, but the surroundings are truly lovely.

Mahone Bay/Lunenburg area
Beautiful coastal area. Mahone Bay has three churches on a row on the seafront.

Blue Rocks is another beautiful rocky harbour, but with blue schists rather than granite.

Lunenburg is an old fishing port, originally settled in the mid-18th century by German and Dutch Lutherans, and has a lot of old wooden houses sloping down the hill to the harbour. The harbour is home to the Bluenose II, a famous replica of an iconic Canadian racing schooner.

Food
Great lobsters, particularly in Lunenburg’s Old Fish Factory, where the highlights were the seafood chowder and biscuit (i.e. scone) and the boiled lobster with drawn butter. Mmm.

Jo-Anne’s deli in Mahone Bay serves the most wonderful sandwiches (in particular their lobster sandwiches) and cakes.