Wrapping up a few loose ends

When nice Via Rail lady cancelled our Via tickets, she provided a full refund.  But she mentioned we should call Customer Relations to see if we might get back some other expenses incurred due to the train cancellation.  Thus began a flurry of talking to call centres.  At least I don't have to call from a toilet stall this time.

June 9:  First I called Via but they keep bankers hours so then I tried Visa Trip Insurance.  My Visa card includes cancellation insurance.  I got an efficient gentleman on the phone.  I told him my long, complicated and woeful story.  He put me on hold to check 'the policy'.  When he came back on the phone, he informed me that derailment is not listed as a refundable happenstance.  Mechanical failure, yes, falling off tracks, no.  He helpfully offered an analogy:  "it's like if your plane skidded off the runway, that wouldn't be refundable either".  He made this seem like 'd'uh, how could you not already know that a plane careening off the runway was 1. not refundable and 2. not exactly the same as a train derailment and therefore 3. why are you even asking me about a refund'.  Dead end #1.

June 10:  Got hold of Customer Relations at Via Rail.  I spoke to a nice lady named Angie.  Again with the complicated and pitiful story. She was very sympathetic.  But she said that due to the nature of our claim (not just a ticket refund) she will have to bump our file to the Escalations Department.  They will get back to me in a week or two. 

Starting to think about how to use up my 4 weeks of unused vacation by end of 2014.  I don't think that parka will be involved. 

June 11:  Remembered that I have trip insurance through my extended benefits at work.  I don't think it covers cancellation but I called them just to make sure.  Nope, just medical emergencies, no derailment coverage. 

A few notes about some nice customer service during this business.  When we left Marlborough hotel, I left my camera battery charger in the hotel room.  When I called the manager (don't call housekeeping, it is a deadend), he said he would send it to me at home and didn't even ask for postage.  Nice. 

As noted both Via Ladies (Winnipeg desk and call centre) and WestJet lady have been very helpful.  WestJet lady was very understanding of the secret coded visa numbers over the phone and between flushes.   Plus,  when we got on the WestJet flight they made an announcement that there were seats  in Business Class available to whomever could produce the oldest penny on the plane and their travelling companions.  Mom had a penny but it was 1995.  Some lady had one from the 50s.  She got the seats. This didn't help us but it was fun. Take note, carry old pennies on WestJet.  At the very least it will make the metal detectors ding.

 

June 23:  VIA Rail Escalations department called me back.  To quote Escalations dude; "we have not refunded any extraneous expenses for any other customers".  Passive, third person speak drives me crazy.  I forced him to say 'no, no money for you' or something similarly definitive.  Then he told me that VIA was inconvenienced and out of pocket too.  Wanker.  Then I politely (actually) told him that I assume Via will be suing the Cargo company that derailed and the least they can do is pretend to care about their customers' costs and inconvenience and try to add that to their claim.  VIA Escalations idjit stammered, 'I don't know what to say' and said he would pass along my comments.  Hmmph. 

I got my camera battery charger from the hotel a couple of days ago.  Thanks Malborough manager.

I also spoke to Mike at CNSC to see how bird camp went for those who flew in.  As it turned out, there was a snow storm on the day it started so the instructor and half of the guests got their Calm Air flight diverted to Rankin Inlet in Nunuvet.  But it all worked, at least for those people, since they got a day of birding in Nunuvet. They got to Churchill by dinner on the first day.  But Mike said it was very cold and not too fun for the first couple of days.  Some of the less enthusiastic partners of birders wouldn't even get out of the van.  Lightweights!  It was lovely and warm for the last few days.   I told him how we had packed everything from parkas and light clothes and he said we would have used them all for this trip.  Oh well.  Good to know for next year.  He is sending me the dates for next year so we can start planning now (because planning ahead leads to smooth, issue-free travel - HA! It is all lies.)

Last comment.  The track between Thompson and Churchill is STILL not open for passenger rail.  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/churchill-residents-frustrated-omnitrax-shuts-down-lifeline-1.2683550

I don't have any pictures so here is Rankin Inlet for your viewing pleasure

 

 

Victoria

I am usually so happy to get back to Victoria after a trip but not this time.  Not after our 57 hour vacation.  I just had some dinner and watched Game of Thrones so now I will tell you about my day and then go to bed (I'm on Winnipeg time, don't you know...)

When last we left off, Mom and I were blissfully leaving the hotel to head to the Via Rail train station for our noon departure to Churchill.  When we arrived, the station is all torn apart with construction.  You can see it is beautiful and full of history but you have to look behind scaffolding and plastic walls to make sure. 

Train Station

Anyway, we couldn't find the check in desk.  I planted mom on a bench with our luggage and wandered around until I saw a guy being directed to behind a tarp.  I followed him and got to overhear that the train was cancelled due to a huge freight train derailment just outside of Churchill.  Our choices, reschedule or cancel for a full refund.  I went and gave mom the bad news.  We did not cry but it was close. 

Back to Via desk for some more info. We wondered if we could change our ticket to return from Churchill.  But the days really didn't work.  Either return on the 7th, less than halfway into bird camp.  Or on the 12th which would have meant staying in Churchill for a couple of extra days (with high hotel costs) and changing our Calm Air tickets and our WestJet tickets and extending my vacation (I assumed the only easy part of the many issues) and cancelling our Seattle weekend on June 13. 

Despite all of the probable problems with the switch-flight-for-rail and rail-for-flight plan, we tried.  First we called Mike at CNSC on a payphone.  He said it is too late for a refund but we can defer for one year. There was so much construction going on, I could barely hear him.  We would call him back once we knew if we could get there.  Next call, Calm Air.  This time, we switched to mom's cell phone and  moved outside  because it had to be quieter than the work zone inside.  We called Calm Air but the street noise was so loud, I had to hang up and call back from another location.  We were running out of places to hide from the noise. 

We pulled a Fonzie and made the bathroom our office.  We had so many bags that we just rolled our cart in there and blocked two stalls and used two sinks as our desk.  When we went in, it was empty.  But as our wheelings and dealings progressed, more and more women came in.  At one point, the cleaning lady came in and said that the workmen would be entering to change the lights but I think the look mom gave her scared her so she said she would tell them to come in later. 

Our office

Hard at work doing bathroom office stuff

Now parked in the Ladies, I managed to reach the reservations desk at Calm Air.  Sure we can fly up on the 4th, that will be an extra $1000 please and thank you for 'day before booking' or we could cancel for $52 with the rest on credit for up to one year.  That pretty much sealed the deal.  We couldn't afford the new tickets plus several hundred more in additional hotel/food costs.  So we called WestJet.  There were so many people in the bathroom at this point, I had blocked one very polite lady in a stall.  They were all lining up for the two stalls we had left free and the one sink we weren't completely hogging.  As I was talking to WestJet reservation woman, I had to keep apologizing for the flushing toilets.  We all had a good chuckle as it had become so ridiculous, we could only laugh.  Upshot of WestJet, we could change our tickets home for a mere $247 each.  That would drop if we waited until Sunday but that would have meant that much in hotel costs.  And as WestJet woman and all urinating ladies heard, I did not want to stay in Winnipeg for another 5 days.  It just isn't that nice.  (Sorry Winnipeg, it's not your fault, I was having a bad day)

WestJet woman said we could book for 3:30 tomorrow.  I said, how about today.  Done and doner.  Then both mom and I got to read our Visa numbers, expiry dates and secret codes to all the women of the bus station.  What with the open Wifi and the public bathroom Visa reading, I may want to alert Visa of the upcoming identity theft. 

Decision made, new tickets booked.  We had to call and update the other legs of the trip.  This is when we moved into the handicap stall.  Much cozier and with a change table that worked way better as a desk than the sinks. We were quite taken with our spiffy bathroom stall.  I can only imagine what we must have sounded like laughing our heads off in there.  Oh, well.  We called Mike and he will let us know when Bird Camp is next year.  We went back to Via and cancelled our tickets.  Then we jumped in a cab and headed to the airport.  Except that just as we were pulling away from the curb, I realized I couldn't find my wallet.  This day was not going my way.  Back to Via where Via lady did not have it.  Then we emptied out the taxi trunk and found it under our bags.  It must have fallen out of my bag.  Back to on the road to the airport. 

Via Lady whose name I have forgotten but whose name tag declared her 'in charge' in English and 'Responsable' in French.  We suspected she wasn't too keen to be either in charge or responsible on derailment day.

CN Hotel outside the Train Station

WestJet for boarding passes and bag check.  Then to the Calm Air desk to explain, once again, our predicament.  We cancelled our June 10 tickets.  We have credit for one year.  Let's hope next bird camp happens by June 10, 2015.  We did get the name of the one person in the world apparently, who could extend us for a few days if we plead our case.

So, there you have it, we are home, our trip is over and that is that for now.  To be continued next year... 

Train (and trip) derailed

We are heading home, I will update when we get back. 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/via-rail-cancels-trains-to-churchill-after-derailment-1.2663265

Winnipeg

 Winnipeg

My start to this trip was not ideal.  I had set my alarm for 4:30am so I would have time to finish up my tidying for the Scottish relatives and to make sure my initial pack was sufficient.  But at 5:47am, Mom arrived for our 6:30 departure time.  She found me sound asleep.  My alarm hadn’t gone off (I think I the volume dial with my pillow).  Which meant I only had time for a shower.  The house was as clean as it was getting and whatever was in my bag was what was going on the trip, whether it was needed or not.  And I didn’t even want to think about what I might have forgotten without a last check through. 

We got to the airport in plenty of time to check in again.  We had pre-checked in the night so we got seats together but my printer wouldn't print our boarding passes.  We also had to check our bags.  Mom had borrowed some walking sticks from her friend.  She says they help her knee.  But they were slightly too long to fit into any of our bags.  The Westjet lady sent us to Security to make sure we could carry them on.  Security said fine.  All that was left was our breakfast at White Spot with Chris, a quick goodbye and thank you, and we were off (well, into a slow moving security line followed by waiting at the gate but that is less dramatic).

The flight was uneventful so I will do a quick compare and contrast for Westjet vs Air Canada.  Westjet was helpful when Mom couldn’t find her ticket.  They actually gave her access code to her over the phone.  When I tried that with AC, they wouldn’t give me my access code because I couldn't prove I was me because I didn’t have their access code.  Point to Westjet.  Westjet had screens in the back of the seats but they were just showing regular TV, and not very good regular TV at that.  There is really nothing on regular TV on Sunday mid-day except cooking and home shows with lots of commercials.  AC has always provided me with on demand TV and movies.  Point to Air Canada.  No food, good staff interactions, tie and tie.  So, so far, the contest is even. 

Edmonton Airport (from my window seat)

Ah, we were so happy on Sunday, whole trip ahead of us.

We arrived in Winnipeg, got our bags and hopped in a cab.  Our cabbie was nice, warned us about some neighbourhoods and suggested a good place to eat downtown is the food court at the mall.  We thought this was funny but he may have had a point.  There aren’t many interesting restaurants in downtown Winnipeg, mostly chains that we have in Victoria.  We got to our hotel which looks less elegant when the rest of the street is included in the view.  But the staff are very nice and the room is clean.   The common areas are lovely but the room is showing its age.  (Do not look too closely at the carpet, which I learned while searching for the missing remote control – keep your face at least five feet away from the floor, don't touch with hands). 

The Malbourough Hotel

My picture doesn't look as fancy as the one they have on their website

I liked the so-out-of-date-they-are-stylish-again touches

Our room, as we were packing to leave.

The Dining room.  It used to be a men's club.

The elevator was trying to kill us.  Without fail, the doors would close on us as we were entering or exiting.

The lobby was beautiful but I couldn't take a picture because it was full of people staring at me so this is the staircase from the mezzanine to the lobby. 

Winnipeg is not the most beautiful city I have ever visited.  But if I was a more interesting person, I imagine it would be fun.  There are entertainment venues everywhere downtown, ballpark, hockey arena, theatres, concert halls etc.  MTS Centre has a scrolling marque of upcoming concerts.  It seems every touring artist stops in Winnipeg. 

As soon as we dumped our stuff in our room, we went out for a walk.  It was so hot, it must have been close to 30 degrees.  We went in the wrong direction, of course, so our walk to the river was longer than it needed to be but we found the mall and the shopping area so that was ok.  Winnipeg reminds me of Toronto with its wildly mixed demographics.  I forget what regular Canada looks like living in pasty Victoria.  Downtown Winnipeg - Canada’s melting pot, Downtown Victoria - Canada’s ranch dressing. 

 Around Winnipeg

Old Buildings

New Buildings

Pretty typical street scene

There were huge marbles just lying all around the city.  Maybe a defense against Godzilla, if you can't beat him, trip him.

This is a working Nutty Club factory.  No gift shop that we could see though.

We were heading for the Forks which is a touristy area at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers.  Once we got ourselves turned in the right direction, we found the main intersection of Portage and Main.  I have heard about Portage and Main, reportedly the windiest corner in Canada but it is just a regular, busy intersection.  There weren’t even any interesting historical buildings to make it interesting. 

kind of boring

We left Portage and followed Main until we found a street that seemed to head to the river.  We had three maps by this time, one the desk clerk printed for us with arrows and written directions, one we had ripped out of the tourist brochure in our room and one we found on the street called ‘where’s my parking spot’.  How we got lost with all of these is a mystery, although probably not much of a mystery to anyone who knows me and mom well. 

Before we got to the river, we could see the new Museum of Human Rights.  It doesn’t have any signs but I had read about it and guessed (correctly) that that was what it was.  It is a nice looking building.  More interesting was the festival going on next to the building.  We had stumbled into a Pride jamboree.  Lots of fantastic costumes and huge crowds of people having a great time, live music, tent market.  We wandered around for a bit but when we finally found the entrance to the river walk, we moved on. 

Museum of Human Rights, on the way to the Forks.  Terrible picture, nice building.

Pride event

Crowd listening to the concert. 

The river is not anything to write home about (despite my composing a blog about it).  Brown, fast moving.  Only birds I saw were Canada Geese and some mallards.  I think I saw a grebe but it was a boring grebe (Pied). We just stayed on the path and skirted the Forks business area, restaurants and shops. 

Historic Rail Crossing converted to a pedestrian bridge across the river

View from the Historic Rail Crossing, you can see the modern rail crossing not far away.

Buffalo statue with the far bank in the background.

This was on the other side of the river.

Geese!

Eventually, we stopped at a place called the Crab Shack that claimed it was having a grand opening.  This may explain why they were completely unprepared for the masses of costumers arriving from the Pride event.  They were out of seafood except mussels and all beer except boring big brands.  We stayed anyway and it was fine.  I had nachos and mom had mussels.  Our seats were right on the river so we had a nice view of Winnipeggers enjoying the beautiful day.  

The Crab Shack

The view from our table

Dinner



Feeding the geese

Catching the water breeze on a hot day.

I was excited to see someone 'portaging' although mom had to keep reminding me the accent is in a different place for the street than for the verb.  Portij vs Portaaj

We were so tired by the end of the day, we walked back to the hotel and just went to bed.  No jet lag issues here.

The next day, we got up early and partook of our free breakfast.  This place doesn’t fool around with stale muffins and bruised apples.  Full service, made to order breakfast included with room.  We both ended up getting the continental anyway but with oatmeal, bagel & cream cheese, fresh fruit, yogurt and coffee.  Great deal. 

We needed to do a bit of shopping.  When Mom went to use her borrowed walking sticks, one of them would not lock and had an ominous rattle.  During our wrong direction event the previous day, we had found an MEC store.  We popped in and they said they would look at it.  We went in the next morning but they couldn’t fix it.  So, Mom bought new fancy teal blue ones.  Next stop, Portage Place, the biggest mall I have ever seen excluding the West Edmonton Mall.  Mom had forgotten to pack any t-shirts.  The weather report for Churchill was 18 degrees and we still had sunny Winnipeg to deal with.  How hard can it be to find a t-shirt.  Well, the mall gave a real picture of the socio-economic situation of downtown Winnipeg.  Not rich.  All of the clothing stores were super-discount.  It is hard to believe that the t-shirts were too awful to even be considered for just a few days but they were.  I tried to convince mom to take the one with the Chihuahua dressed as Michael Jackson but she said no. 

We did find some cheep-o slippers (remember the carpets in our room?) so we bought those and then it was time to head back to the hotel to wait for Uncle Paul and the Martins.  Gail was sick so she couldn’t join us but we lucked out.  Uncle Paul’s son Peter and his very lovely wife Audrey joined us. 

By the time we were to meet, it had started to pour rain even though it had been nice in the morning.  Peter picked us up at the hotel and we all headed to the Forks for lunch at the Spagetti Factory.  We got to see a bit of the middle part of the Forks but it was raining so bad we didn’t get to explore.  But lunch with the Martins was so nice.  Mom had not seen Peter and Audrey since her brother’s wedding and hadn’t seen Uncle Paul since Grandma’s funeral.  No joke about weddings and funerals bringing family together.  But this time, no special event, just a wonderful visit.  It was casual and we got to sit around, drink a beer and talk.  We got caught up on Paul’s family and what everyone is up to.  Peter and Audrey were so welcoming.  Peter reminds me so much of my uncle Murray, in looks and personality.  I had always thought Murray looked like his father but seeing how similar to his maternal cousin makes me rethink this. 

The Martins

From left - Uncle Paul, Muriel, Peter, Joanne, Audrey. 

Mom and Uncle Paul

Mom and Peter

As much as I enjoyed Peter and Audrey, Uncle Paul was the star of the show.  He is 94 now.  He talked about the old days when he and Grandma were growing up and when my mom and dad moved to Winnipeg just before my brother was born.  Mom stayed with Uncle Paul and his first wife Enid.  Apparently, Enid was the one who taught my mom the mothering basics of feeding, bathing and not dropping baby.  It has been so long since I saw my Grandmother, it was nice to feel a connection to her again through her brother. 

We spend a couple of hours with the Martins before it was time to call it a day.  They brought us back to the hotel.  Then we re-started our hunt for appropriate summer weight t-shirts. Winnipeg has an elaborate under/over-ground pathway system so we wandered through that for what seemed like forever.  We found a store that had a few acceptable tops and mom bought them so we would never have to think about T-shirts again.  A quick stop at the dollar store for batteries for me and a brush for mom and back to the hotel for dinner. 


Historic Bay Building, attached to the walkway.

Rain, from Sky Walkway.

My class started yesterday so that is how I spent my evening.  Another excellent Malbourough amenity, free printing.  Via doesn’t have wifi on the train on our route so I need hard copies of everything so I can be up to date for when I can post again.  However, I did discover that this computer does not have office suite and I need to create a power point by June 14.  So, I had to buy one month access to Office.  Nothing like typing my Visa number into an open Wifi system. 

We are about to leave for the train station so I will post this without pictures for now.  Internet has been down all morning until just now. I will have wifi again in Churchill on June 5 at which point, I will upload photos and edit for any spelling or boring bits (haha, if I took out the boring bits, what would be left)