Our third day of the trip started with a two hour train
journey from Washington DC to Richmond, Virginia. Union Station in Washington
is akin to an airport terminal with departure gates, shops and restaurants so
it was somewhat of a surprise to step off the train in Richmond onto the ground
and have to walk across the second track to get to a station building which
offered only a waiting area, a ticket office and a small food counter.
Given we were leaving Richmond on the overnight train we
needed to store our bags for the day but could see no sign of a left-luggage
facility, potentially a huge problem – we only had weekend cases but who wants
to cart any case around all day?
Fortunately, a friendly ticket clerk came to our rescue, taking our bags
into a locked office space and reassuring us that he would still be around that
evening when we needed to get them back.
According to Google maps a bus from a terminus close to the
station would take us downtown. It
turned out that the terminus was a park and ride lot and given it was Sunday
looked suspiciously deserted! We had no alternative but to return to the
station and take a taxi which given the distance (Amtrak stations are rarely
near downtown in smaller cities) was an unexpected expense. Ironically Richmond does have a downtown
Amtrak Station but the trains from New York don’t stop there and there doesn’t
seem to be any connecting trains between the two!
The Main station is an impressive building:
but unfortunately someone decided it was a
good idea to build a freeway right in front of it:
Just along from the station stands the ReconciliationStatue. Identical statues are located in Liverpool, England and Benin, West
Africa to memorialize the triangular trade route used in the slave trade.
It turned out that Sunday was not the best day to visit
Richmond. The city was extremely quiet, the streets all but deserted and many
shops and cafes closed. We eventually found an Irish pub Siné (doesn’t matter
what day it is, you can guarantee an Irish pub will be open!) with a terrace,
offering wonderful relief from the blistering heat.
A stroll along the canal proved to be a lot shorter than
suggested in the guide books as a mesh fence blocked off the route so we worked
our way up to the street where we found this rather attractive statue.
At this point we were beginning to wonder what we were going
to do to fill in the time until our 9.40 pm train when we happened to glimpse
what looked like a park. On investigation it turned out to be the grounds of
the State Capitol Building. If the building which was designed by Thomas Jefferson looks familiar it’s because it was
the model for the White House in DC, hence its nickname “The Original White
House”.
The park-like grounds contain a beautiful fountain:
and, of course, numerous statues and monuments. The most impressive was a four-sided monument, dedicated to a young girl who started the campaign against
school segregation.
We managed to while away some time sitting and strolling in the grounds before heading towards the more built up side of town in search of somewhere to have dinner.
Graffiato on Broad Street is an Italian restaurant offering
a small plate menu. As I have a small appetite one pasta dish turned out to be
just right for me, despite the waitress’ suggestion that we order two or more
each. The Tortellini with bolognaise, carrots and hazelnuts was absolutely
delicious and left just enough room for chocolate cake!
As darkness fell we headed back to the station to wait for
our train. True to his word, the ticket clerk was there to help us retrieve our
bags. Unfortunately the train was running late, not exactly welcome news at
that time of night and it was with relief that we eventually heard the now
familiar whistle of the arriving train.
Overall my impression of Richmond was not that great, but
perhaps that is unfair given it was Sunday. I’m not sorry that we included it
in our itinerary, but was certainly glad that we had only allotted a half day for our visit.
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