urbaneer: The final stretch

Portland - New York: 6 December - 12 December 2014

After we dropped off the car at San Francisco airport we hopped onto our first flight in over a month to Portland. From there we caught the ‘Empire Builder’ train to Chicago the next morning. In the evening we briefly met up with one of Astrid’s friends from university days for sushi. From what we could make out of the little we saw of Portland it looked like a nice place.

On the train we had a little tiny roomette. To call it cosy would be an understatement as it was barely big enough for two and only one person could stand at a time. After the initial shock of the limited amount of space of our ‘living quarters’ we settled in fine and were pleasantly surprised by the nice shower facilities (best of any train we have been on) and the great food on the train. We had now come full circle – when we first set out for our round the world trip in 2009 we had started off on a train (the Transiberian) and now we are finishing our trip on another train. The train ride was two days and two nights. We went through the Rockies during the night, so unfortunately didn’t get to see them. The rest of the ride was mainly endless stretches of flat lands as we headed towards Chicago.

In Chicago we spent our final ‘tourist’ day exploring the town via a little walking tour. We also tried the local foodie delights of a ‘French Dip’ sandwich and a hot-dog. In the evening we went to a NBA game – Chicago bulls vs Brooklyn nets and we tried one of the famous deep-pan pizzas.

The next day we flew to New York, where we briefly met up with a couple of Astrid’s old work colleagues on our final night as part of this trip. The next day we flew ‘home’ – Ian to London and Astrid to Austria. And then that was that – the last 8 months which seemed so endless at the start had finally come to an end. It’s been amazing to have travelled around the world! THE END

Portland: