On our way... again

Shinkansen to Tokyo, a photo by girl from finito on Flickr.

Gah! I've had a bit of an absence.. but I promise to get most of these last posts (Osaka, Hiroshima and Tokyo) done before I leave for my next adventure (August).

The Train

Quebec City - Train route, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

From Quebec we went east to the Maritimes. Can you believe none of us had been there? The train ride was really relaxing and awesome actually.
We opted for the excellent "Easterly class" which included meals, sleeper cars, a park car and tour guides and naturalists.. well worth it.

VIA Rail through the maritimes, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

VIA Rail through the maritimes - salt marshes, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

OK, I'm going to geek out a little. I just found this really interesting.
These are some of the salt marshes of the Bay of Fundy. The Acadians settled here and constructed dykes with system of one way valves called aboiteaux, that allowed fresh water from the marsh to drain out but preventing salt water from entering. But here is the really cool part.. on the opposite side of the track (the area I didn't take a picture of) there was all these tall thin poles.. Radio towers! the salt in the ground made for excellent conduction and amplification .. This is the site of the Radio Canada International broadcasting! cool.