Day 44 Wednesday 1st October, Washington to New York by Amtrak

Today we set off for our last stop before coming home.  We are taking the Amtrak (train) to New York Although it is a relatively short walk to Union Station from our hotel, it would not be much fun with the luggage which has increased somewhat since we started, so we paid the Hotel limousine to take us. First surprise, we had misread the ticket and our train didn’t leave till  1.02 pm but we couldn’t have stayed in bed with the "woodpecker" hard at it again this morning in the basement.

Dale guarded the luggage whilst Maritta went in search of two cups of hot black tea and then went exploring the shops. She didn’t buy much just wheels for Dales backpack and two D.C. mugs from Starbucks (they could make them lighter but then they probably wouldn't travel so well.  Dale is concerned that a new trip to London is "brewing" just to get matching mugs!!

Dale guards the luggage in Union Station whilst Maritta shops {not really...she took this photo}, Hank and Harley peak out before being stuffed back into the dark for the rest of the day.  We may need to be reported for cruelty to stuffed animals.

Then it was time to board the train, fortunately we had bought Business Class tickets on the commuter train which gave us plenty of time to board. What we hadn’t known was that for some reason the platform was about 3 feet below the floor level of the train.  This makes boarding with heavy luggage a pretty interesting proposition. Even the porter initially offered to help until he tried to lift Maritta's suitcase and walked away mumbling to himself.  The other stations are at floor level. 

Not sure what this meant but it made a good photo

Anyway, even though the trains have WIFI we chose to enjoy the scenery and the 3 hour trip passed quite quickly.

Another interesting building along the way.

Electricians nightmare, photo of part  of the rail power system.  We missed the really complicated section.

Next problem, we didn’t realise that there was a Penn Station in Newark, and a Penn Station in New York, guess what, we got off on the wrong one.  Anyway, as it happens it probably didn’t matter that much either way.  We could have taken a local train to near our apartment in New Jersey which is on the edge of the Hudson River but took the easier option and got a Cab to the door.

View from our home in New Jersey for the next four days - hard to beat!

Hank and Harley finally escaped from the backpack and soak up the view - (sorry for bad picture)

New York Skyline from our apartment - breathtaking!

Braved the New Jersey evening and went in search of a bottle shop and some diner.  The area is a newly developed area with a lot of young business people who commute over the river to NYC.  We came across an enchanting "diner" with great simple meals.  The bottle shop took a little longer to find but we did find one eventually.