CVRT Chronicles 2025-01-12

 

After two snows and cold, windy conditions, two felines from the cat colony cuddled together on a bare spot next to a tree. I often come home after walking this part of the trail and remind my cats how lucky they are.

Cats of San Juan

I was walking around the Paseo del Morro, the shoreline walking path around the National Park that contains San Juan’s famous castle, when I stopped to take a photo of one of the resident cats. A man who was carrying a grass trimmer jokingly commented as he walked by, “All they do is lay around like they own the place!” Perhaps they do, I replied.

The cats have long been a fixture in Old San Juan, but last summer the National Park Service announced that the cats would be removed from the park, arguing that it did not meet visitors’ expectations or the purpose of the park. Yet, most people view the cats as part of the landscape and charm of the city. Many residents believe that the cats are being forced out just as locals have been from the old city to make way for wealthy investors from elsewhere. 

This guy was really tired and did not mind me sitting next to him. 

Calle de Hospital

This chicken and cat appeared to walk away as tourists started flooding the square. 

For the most part, the cats interact well with tourists. 

Poughkeepsie (Again)

 

The doors of the Holy Comforter Orthodox Cathedral in Poughkeepsie, just a few steps away from the train station

Waiting for the return train again early on New Year’s Eve morning, I had another short investigatory stroll through the center of Poughkeepsie. It was sunny and much warmer than than ten days prior. The walk across the Hudson is enticing and I make a mental note to think about a future trip.

The sun does not significantly brighten the prospects of this Hudson town. The security cameras that are prominently identified brings the words of the Uber driver as he dropped us off at the train station, “I hope Poughkeepsie didn’t scare you too much.”

The signs about town evoke times past, which were likely more prosperous. I stopped by The Poughkeepsie Grind for a takeaway coffee and hot chocolate, inwardly smiling at the easy and friendly interaction between the staff and the regulars. The woman taking orders offered New years greetings in English and Spanish, depending on the clientele.

Quebec City: Notes and Itinerary

 

Quebec City from our hotel room Christmas morning

A seven-day family Christmas trip to Quebec City. We stayed in the Delta Hotel in Quebec City (690 Boulevard René-Lévesque Est) and took Ubers and walked around the city, particularly Old Quebec.

December 22 – bitterly cold and windy, Angie and I had lunch at INOX Brewery – Shared Platter European Hot Dogs. Everyone else arrived after 10pm, it was a full day of travel for them.

December 23 – Exploration of German Christmas Markets across the city. Made our way to the Petite Champlain, ride the funicular, lunch at 1608 Bistro good charcuterie and french onion soup. Breakfast and Evening meals in the hotel.

Angie and I shared the Charcuteries & Formages fins du Terroir – Pour 2 at the 1608 Bistro

Christmas Eve: the high temperature was only in the mid-teens, but without wind it was very bearable, one can almost say that it was pleasant. The old aphorism, “There is no such thing as bad weather, lonely bad clothes,” applies. Brief stop at Second Cup Café in Place D’Youville. Shopping for food and snacks at Metro Plus. I felt like we were cheating a little because I already felt at home at the Richelieu, a smaller, more intimate grocery store near our hotel.  We walked through interesting neighborhoods, while Miranda and Liam played in the snow. We bought bread at Boulangerie artisanale Epi-Fanny (Rue Saint-Jean). In the afternoon, walk to the Plains of Abraham, where famous battle between the French and British colonial forces took place in 1759, to see the Saint Lawrence River. Dinner at Sapristi…bistro bar, a popular Italian place near St. Jean Gate.

Christmas Day: Breakfast buffet at the hotel, continuing conversation about ground cherries. Walk on the Plains of Abraham, overlooking the Saint Lawrence River. Dinner at the Cochon Dingue (1614 Rue Saint-Jean) with French Canadian Cream Pie.

Boxing Day: Aquarium de Québec with arctic foxes and polar bear (ours blanc). I walked along the citadel and found the memorial to the Irish famine. Café Félin Chat-Nous (cat café) for hot chocolate and coffee.

The view of the Saint Lawrence River, over Petit Champlain

Irish Famine Memorial in Quebec City

Shy Iris

Having hot chocolate and tea

Beautiful Bianco 

December 27 – Miranda and I went to a record store (CD Melomane Inc – 248 rue Saint-Jean), I bought Steve Terre’s Rhythm Within, and Bowie’s ChangesOne for her. Lunch: L’Atelier (in the bubbles). Musée de la Civilisation. We had dinner at hotel with Mom and Beau. While Christian, Heather and the kids had dinner with friends who were also visiting the city.

Eating in the bubbles at L'Atelier

December 28 – Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral. Lunch: fondue at Restaurant Le Petit Château. Maple Taffy at the Château Frontenac. Sledding at the Plains of Abraham. Angie and I went to the Dufferin Terrace Tobogan Slide. Late dinner (appetizers) at Bistro Hortus.

Lunch at Restaurant Le Petit Château 

Hot taffy poured over ice, then it can be rolled up on a stick for a warm treat

Sledding on the Plains of Abraham

The toboggan run

Post-toboggan meal at Bistro Hortus

December 29 – Leave Québec; got everyone else on the way and then Angie and I took a walk. The temperature was above freezing for the first time this week. Quick snack at Sapristi…bistro bar. Train ride to Montreal, dinner at Les Soeurs Grises Bistro-Brasserie (32 McGill Street).

December 30 – Breakfast at Pigeon Café (inspired by Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!). Depart from Montreal, all day ride to Poughkeepsie.

 

A Brief Stop in Poughkeepsie

 

Poughkeepsie Train Station

Another cloudy and cold day, and because I did not check the emails from Amtrak, we arrived at the train station two hours early. While walking in town, I heard the fragment of a conversation where one man said to another that afterhours he could spend a night somewhere, that he should not be sleeping outside in this weather. At least he would be warm and get some sleep. Several people I saw in town looked like they struggled with the basics.

There are hints that life in Poughkeepsie was once better. For instance, the Bardavon Theater, built in 1869, continues to screen movies – albeit classic films, rather than first-run features.

I stopped in at The Poughkeepsie Grind to get us a coffee and hot chocolate. Despite the bleak weather, and the state of the town, the people in the coffee shop were festive and happy. The holidays were approaching and there was a sense of relief and celebration among the patrons.

The Poughkeepsie Grind

The train station in Poughkeepsie was once a small-town treasure, it is still a nice a pleasant place to start an adventure although many are commuting from it for a day’s work. We sat across from a man who had missed an earlier train and was passing the time talking to a friend about movies and music. He noted that he had worked at a record store while in college and, therefore, had listened to a lot of bad music in the 1970s. My attention drifted as I was more attuned to my Poughkeepsie Grind coffee and the latest stories that purported to be news. His severe critique of the band America, their only hit in his estimation was “A Horse with No Name,” was emblematic of their entire catalog, suggesting that all their songs were with no name. It made me smile, and I returned to the news on my phone. The conversation continued with him thinking that “Dust in the Wind,” might have been one of their songs. Not meaning to interrupt, I instinctively shook my head no and he saw me. The tilt of his head and raised eyebrows inquired me. “Kansas,” I noted was the band instead I said apologetically, it was a popular song in my circle when I was a kid. Had he not been on the phone I would have added that the tendency to name bands after geographic locations, Kansas, American, Boston, meant that they were easily confused. After he ended the phone call and got ready to board his train, he looked at me and shook his head, “I listened to a lot of bad music in the seventies.”

Moynihan Train Hall (NYC)

Moynihan was lively on a Thursday evening, less than a week before Christmas. Nearing its fourth anniversary, the hall is a significant upgrade of Penn Station as a terminus for Amtrak in New York City. Since the pandemic, New York as a destination has decreased significantly, and we were only transferring to another train. There was enough time to be stunned into indecision about where to procure a snack. With its sleek design and amenities, Moynihan is an invitation to return to New York City.

Prior to getting food, I had to make a stop in Walgreens to buy band-aids after helping a woman retrieve her suitcase from the overhead luggage rack. Somehow, I cut my thumb right along nail and could not get it to stop bleeding. The inevitable hazards of taking low-dose aspirin. 

Middletown and the Brownstone

 

The Brownstone Café, which sits in the center of Middletown, Pennsylvania, always does a brisk business and serves as a gathering place for locals. The restaurant is always busy, it is a question of will we have to wait for a table. It is good for serving uncomplicated, but good food with friendly service. Located in a former bank, the building retains many of the accoutrements of its former tenant, including the safe and tellers’ windows. The music is appropriate for the clientele, for example, a week prior to Christmas, Merle Haggard’s “Santa Claus and Popcorn” was barely heard above the din of conversation.

The locals who frequent the Brownstone can be interesting. An elderly man sitting behind me was engaging our server in a prolonged conversation about her background. She remarked that she had moved to Middletown about eight years prior with her boyfriend. It was difficult to hear the entire conversation, but the man eventually asked if her parents knew she was living with her boyfriend. She noted that she had been with her boyfriend for eight years, so yes, they were well aware of her living situation, in a assertive yet not quite caustic tone. A couple seated behind Angie were engaged in odd conversations as well, with the woman complaining that her male companion had gotten her drunk the night before. She had previously worked at the restaurant and had, at some point, left her purse, prompting the manager to comment, “some things never change.” At yet another table, a young couple were feeding each other, perhaps in the spirit of the season like a budget conscious holiday movie.

Walking through town on a cold and cloudy afternoon, the lights at Hoffer Park did not seem to dispel the gloom of winter. Likewise, the sign inviting people to take the Santa Train from the M&H Railroad was not tempting either. The overcast skies and the damp cold, mixed with a persistent wind made being outside less than appealing.