Looooong train ride

We got up bright and early on Friday morning to catch the 8:30 am train to New York and joined the line up at platform 13. Courtesy of our little man, we were jumped up in the queue and got priority boarding, which was very nice indeed.

The first few hours of the train ride passed happily by, as we congratulated ourselves in bypassing the insanity of the airport and settled comfortably into our business class seats. Torsten was quite good, and we read, ate a few snacks, and watched some Little Grey Rabbit on the laptop. Torsten also enjoyed running up and down the aisle.

Later on, after Customs (which we cleared handily, but which some people did not - and, as a sidenote, are Customs and Immigrations officers taught to be brusque, aggressive, and borderline rude? It seemed so unnecessary, and they were much more stringent than in the airport - they made me fill in an additional form because I had a different last name. The only exception was the Customs officer asking about fruit and meat being brought into the US - he came along asking, "Are you bringing any food into the US?", and when he got to us, we were munching on cookies, so I said, "Cookie?" and he quirked a smile. What was I saying? Oh yes...)

Later on, after Customs, the hours began to weigh a bit more heavily. This was not aided by the realization that the snack car sold only very limited hot food (cheeseburger, pizza, hot dog and a few other microwaveable items), and quickly ran out of them. Our meals were therefore somewhat unsatisfying. It's a good thing we brought some snacks. On the bright side, we were entitled to free pop and coffee, as we sat in business class, so at least we could quench our thirst in the dry atmosphere of the train. This, on the other hand, did not help with the mild stench that wafted through our compartment when the restroom vent broke; the conductor left the doors open in the carriage while the train was moving in order to air things out a bit.

Torsten took a couple of short naps, but was otherwise awake until the train pulled into New York at 10:15 pm (and STAYED awake till we got to the hotel at 11:15) - what a trooper. He made a couple of friends on the train, but there were a couple of people who stolidly ignored him, so it all balances out. All in all, a decent way to travel - although not if you're in a hurry.

We made our way to the subway, found that the Rangers had won the game that night, took the E train to our hotel (Torsten was beginning to flag at that point), checked in, and collapsed.

And today....it's onto the ship with us!