Freezez?

But I get to go to Madrid in two weeks - anyone have any good restaurant recommendations there?

That said, the Adirondack is a tourist train; indeed, north of Albany, its operating deficit is subsidized by the state of New York, as a way of encouraging tourism to a picturesque-but-underpopulated part of the state. Efficiency isn't the point.

It's just a pity they're still in service. Of course, for serious business, you have to talk to the French.

As far as long, slow train trips go, there's always the Deerstalker, the overnight sleeper service from London to Fort William. I took it last year - well, the London-Glasgow section overnight and then the connection to the Fort, as berths straight through are like hen's teeth. (The West Highland line is load-restricted west of whereever and they can only get two sleeper cars, a seated car and the dining car onto it) Great fun.

I really want Amtrak to get the funding that it needs to do things right. While I'm at it, I want the US public to see the appeal of train travel. Oh yeah, and I also want a pony.

I've ridden Acela twice. Both times, it ran into mechanical problems which caused delayed the trip by hours, more than negating its speed advantage. I hope that either I was spectacularly unlucky or that Amtrak has fixed Acela's reliability problems.

Have a good trip.

I don't mind trains as inefficient touristy vehicles, but if they're going to be that, they should do well in that area, and stock some food that isn't bags of chips, or overpriced cold slimy ham between two slices of cold slimy bread; thirteen hours is that much longer when they run out of food.

That said, Montreal is So. So. Worth. It. Even at this time of year, and even when you couldn't possibly scrounge up the money for Au Pied De Cochon.

Wow.

Wow, indeed. That just screams French-Canadian to me. I'd love to try that. Looking at the web site, I see that Julia is not joking. So, someday, I may.
(I've never been to Montreal, but friends who have love the city.)

The restaurant looks terrific. I hope Patrick and Teresa have a great time on their trip.

I thought this would be faster than the Tor queries e-mail.

When you get in there, you'll look around and wonder why I've told you this, or indeed why civilized-looking people are lined up down the road at all hours of the day just for ten dollars worth of take-out from what has all the outward appearance of a crappy dive of a diner; I tell you now, they are doing this because it is bar-none the best smoked meat in the world, and is not to be missed.

Fortunately for me, before I left, I made a raid on a bunch of used bookstores, and packed my own food. After almost a week of beer, mead and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I was ready for a change for a change of pace.

Check out their music video: "Wraith Pinned to the Mist (and other games)" [MTV music video link] or Kangaroo Alliance [Guys who did the video link].

I saw them live at Lollapalooza last year. I danced like a fool and didn't care who was watching.

(How sad it is that this song has become a jingle for Outback Steakhouse.)

The rail companies wanted to terminate their passenger service. By the time Amtrak started picking up pieces, much of what was left involved having to run passenger trains over rails owned by freight companies which gave the priority to their freight trains, sidelining passenger trains for sometimes hours to let the freight trains have priority...

The Accela trains are not the same things as the trains of those speeds in Europe--the ones here had to be specially built to deal with narrower turning radius turns, on track going on windy paths though high population density areas and no room for dekinking the paths except by extremely expensive land-taking and demolition which of course there wasn't any funding available for... they were stuck using the existing rights of way with all the kinks. The trains tilt... The Accela trains are also electrified--converting the Northeast Corridor from Connecticut up to Boston took a lot of time and money.

And in Boston, contrary to Charlie's book, Amtrak trains from New York, terminate their trips at South Station in Boston. The trains that go north from Boston (or several of the westbound commuter rail lines owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, for that matter-which are clearly not the same as Amtrak trains because they continue using diesel locomotive on non-electrified, privately owned by freight company rails) go out of North Station, and there is not rail link between the two... going between those two stations involved one of more of:

a. Walk

b. Take the Red line subway from South station, change at Park Street (of "A Subway Named Moebius" infamy) to the Green Line waiting for a trolley going to North Station or Lechmere was opposed to Government Center (the North Station and Lechmere trolleys stop at Government Center, the Government Center trolleys turn around and head back to Park Street...) and get off at North Station, and descend down to the commuter rail station in the basement of the whatever-the-hell-the-name-is-this-week Center/Garden/whatever

c. Take a bus

The rail link doesn't exist, and won't until/unless e.g. some billionaire donates a few hundred million toward tunneling through...

(If at South Station, there's a somewhat more awkward arrangement which involves a subway transfer. The closest thing there's ever been to a direct link is the Atlantic Avenue elevated line that used to have stops at both North and South stations --- but that ceased service, IIRC, before World War II, when it was torn down for scrap metal).

If you dare take the MBTA, remember their motto: "We apologize for the inconvenience". I suppose the North-South link wasn't built because it wasn't topologically possible, or maybe because it would let the shoggoths loose.

But, as everyone in Boston knows, the portions of the tunnel that were purportedly finished have since suffered leaks, fatal ceiling collapses, and other such infelicities. One hopes the unfinished portions are in somewhat better shape...

Do stop by Boston sometime. Comparing Durgin Park to Au Pied de Cochon, I can assure you that the former makes up in poor service whatever it lacks in quality of food. (Or, for something that might merit slightly less joking comparisons with au pied... there's Bob the Chef's in the South End, or the East Coast Grill in Inman Square...).

Writing of which, my first visit to Montreal was during a cold February: the temperature felt like minus 40 with the wind chill. I worried that the cold was going to take the sparkle off the visit, chilling the joys of walking about. Instead, one could choose- underground or surface. And not a smelly wet tunnel (like subway entrances), or a sterile dry tunnel (like Edmontons'), but very comfortable tunnels, with smoked meats, and many little restaurants, and shops on both sides...

Here in Texas, it's going to be nearly 80 F, and we're cooking out. And no, no armadillo remoulade today. Brisket, cooked 24 hours.

Bill, you'd book a precautionary dentist appointment for immediately after your return, right?

If you are going to Montreal I hear there is some kind of Arboretum which is wonderful; apparently a giant tent filled with tropical flowers, birds, and butterflies.

I grew up in upstate NY and have gone there back and forth from Boston several times. I greatly enjoy the scenery from the train, the ability to sit and write uncramped, the fact that I probably won't catch a hideous flu from the recycled air.

However, the fact that it's now about on a par with airfare in terms of expense negates all these qualities...why would I pay $200 for a five-hour ride in comfort when I can pay the same price for a two-hour, slightly less comfortable ride and get home when it's still light outside?

It's a beautiful area, though. Enjoy the Adirondacks in the early winter; look for deer in the early evening while the sun is orange and low. The gradiations in subtle shades of grey and brown still astonish me.