Baltimore arrival

After a nice breakfast at the hotel, I checked out and travelled up to Union Station for my short train journey to Baltimore. I decided to save money ($2!) by only going as far as the airport instead of the central station, because the light rail goes out as far as the airport and costs the same wherever you go. I had an electronic Amtrak ticket, which had a barcode on it which I had to show to the ticket inspector, who scanned it - no need for paper at all - plus, the train offered free wi-fi. Lots of places seem to offer free wi-fi, but without requiring you to register or limiting you to 30 minutes or other such problems like you get in the UK. After getting the Light Rail into the centre of Baltimore, I thought there was a lot of building work going on, as there were tall metal fences along the roads, but there was no sign of any work. As I walked along the three blocks to my hotel, I came across a temporary grandstand that has been constructed for ... this weekend's Baltimore Grand Prix! I'm actually heading back to Washington on Thursday, so won't see the event as that starts on Friday. However, it's quite a shame, because my room is directly across the street from Camden Yards (the Baltimore Orioles' stadium) and the cars will be racing around the road between and there's an excellent view of it from my room.

Statue of Brooks Robinson in the foreground, Oriole Park at Camden Yards in the background, and some grandstands erected for the Baltimore Grand Prix along the road.