Ketchikan: A Walk around Creek Street

Ketchikan:  A Walk around Creek Street

Mary Alice and I are in Ketchikan, Alaska’s first city.  We had breakfast and walked off the ship.  We had to be back by 12:00 Noon and the ship does not wait for late boarders.  We have been here before and decided to just walk around Creek Street, the historical district for the town.  Creek Street is not really a street.  It is a boardwalk with turn of the century buildings that are mainly tourist shops.  So we wandered over to a coffee shop that offered free Wi-Fi with a purchase.  We got a cup of coffee and the Wi-Fi code and got on line.  I was hoping to upload the video I told you about but even using a commercial Wi-Fi place, I get an error message.  If anyone knows how to upload a video onto a blog I would appreciate some help.  We finished our walking tour and walked back to the ship.  That’s all for Ketchikan.  We’ll see you in Victoria tomorrow.

Here are some photos I took around Ketchikan:

Day 5 Scenic Cruising: Endicott Arm Glacier Calving on Video

Day 5 Scenic Cruising:  Endicott Arm Glacier Calving on Video

The Star Princess left Skagway yesterday sometime after 9pm and sailed southeast along the Inside Passage.  We woke up this morning as the ship entered the waters of what is known as the Tracy Endicott Arm, a large lengthy fjord with two inlets: Tracy and Endicott.  There were four other cruise ships that had sailed up the Tracy Arm so our captain elected to sail up the uncrowded Endicott Arm to view glaciers.

Glaciers were at their peak during the last ice age and have since retreated as the earth warms up.  During their movement toward the ocean they carved huge deep channels called Fjords.  The Endicott and Tracy Arm have peaks as high as 6000 feet and channels more than a 1000 feet deep.   There are mountains on both sides that rise up from the water and are covered with ice-polished granite rock and trees, all part of the Tongass National Forest. You can “google” Endicott Glacier and read all about it.

We were treated to the most gorgeous weather I have ever experienced in Alaska.  The air temperature was about 56 degrees with cloudless blue skies.  The naturalist from the bridge said that the atmosphere here is unpolluted, so pure and so rich in oxygen that you could get an O2 high if you wanted to try it.  He then talked about the rarity of shooting glaciers that rise up suddenly from the sea, kind of like whales do.

We had reserved two chairs for “the Sanctuary”, so after breakfast we toted our stuff up to Deck 15 and checked in with the attendants.  The ship moved slowly up the Endicott Arm barely pushing a wake ahead.  We began to see Harbor seals resting on floating ice along with a bunch of Ring-Billed gulls.

As we neared the end of the Endicott Arm the icebergs already in the water grew more numerous plus we saw a colony of over a hundred Harbor seals sunning on top of some of them.  The glacier looks like a huge blue jagged wave frozen in time.   

Suddenly we heard a loud noise and saw this huge iceberg emerge upward from under the sea, one of those rare events the naturalist had described earlier. Then we heard a huge “crack” and part of the glacier broke off from above (called calving) and fell down into the frigid waters creating a huge splash.

1st Calf of the Glacier

I quickly realized that a still photo would not do so I switched to video.  I had the camera pointed at the glacier and up rose a second iceberg from under the sea followed by more pieces of the glacier breaking off down into the water.  As you look at the video you’ll probably see that these pieces of ice are as big as a 5 story building.

The blogmaster would not upload our video so we posted it on YOUTUBE.  Here's the link:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1niqRQWwXZQ&feature=youtu.be

I'll have to upload this video after we get home as the ship's computer equipment will not allow me to do it.

One of the shooter glaciers

The naturalist on the bridge was dumbfounded and excited.  He had been in Alaska for 15 years and had never seen something like this. The Captain said he has sailed here for years and never seen anything like this! I think we set some sort of record today. It was very exciting. The ship later made a complete 180 degree turn giving everyone a look at all this splendor.  We then slowly made our way out of Endicott Arm and back to the Inside Passage and continued to Thursday’s destination, Ketchikan.

Day 4: Skagway Our Way

Day 4:  Skagway Our Way

Dan Horn and Gladys....very funny

Last night we went back to see the second act of Dan Horn, the ventriloquist.  He had two new puppets, Gladys the old lady and a dog puppet named Fido.  I laughed so hard it made my eyes water.  He was very funny.

Having visited Skagway on two prior occasions we elected not to do any of the shore excursions but rather go into town on the ship’s shuttle and just be a tourist and gawk at everything.  Our first stop was the tourist information office, operated by the Klondike Gold Rush National Park rangers.  I didn’t know we had that park!  Well, they were urging everyone to go inside the theater for the presentation.  I had a feeling we were not going to see the advertised historical film on the 1897 Gold Rush because the caption on the screen read, “Flower Gardening on the Edge.”  A lady Park Ranger started her 45 minute lecture and I nudged MA, “Let’s go.”  MA said it would be impolite so she sat there. I stayed for about 3 more minutes and excused myself.  I had a ball in the book store looking at all the books on Alaska.  MA said she enjoyed the lecture and if she’s happy, I’m happy.

We walked down the main street of Skagway (population 853) which is lined with wooden sidewalks and lots of shops selling jewelry, t-shirts, caps, souvenirs, etc.  The weather could not have been more pleasant, 70 degrees with a bright blue sky.  We thought about going on a short train ride but there’s no such thing. The only train goes to the White Pass in Canada (3 hours) and we’ve done that one.  MA wanted to go again but I didn’t.  I won this one, although with us, it’s not really a “contest”.  We found the shuttle bus stop and went back to the ship.  The afternoon was filled with lunch, reading, swimming and the hot tub, this time with tourist helicopters landing and taking off, flying right over us.  We didn’t do any of those @ $219 a person for their tours but it would have been fun!

Railroad Engine used to clear snow from the track

We had a great dinner, by the window, joining another couple from Texas – San Antonio to be exact. We also took in the comedy show, as always sitting on the end of the aisle in case it’s not our kind of humor and we want to leave.  But this guy was really funny and laughing is good for all of us! We stayed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3: Juneau and Watching Bald Eagles Sail over our Hot Tub

Day 3:  Juneau and Watching Bald Eagles Sail over our Hot Tub

I had to ask someone what day of the week it is. Wasn’t sure if it was Monday or Tuesday! Then I realized it couldn’t be Tuesday because the All Star Game is tomorrow night! Anyway, we’re in Juneau, our first port of call.  Juneau is the State Capital and the interesting thing for State legislators is that to get here, they either have to fly in or come by boat.  Can’t get here by car!

The morning began early, sunrise was at 4am. The ship had entered the Inside Passage with mountains on both sides.  The water was relatively calm, almost like a lake.  It was quite cool and the sky was a deep blue. From our cabin window we saw several whales breaking the surface. Wow, who needs to spend big bucks for a shore excursion? This was free! In addition to the whales we saw several Bald Eagles.

We’ve been to Juneau before and had taken shore excursions with the exception of the Tramway to the top of Mt. Roberts.  So off we went on our own and were soon on the tram going up the 1800 feet to the top.  Our first stop there was a visit to the captured Bald eagle. She was found injured and nursed back to life.  She is unable to fly and is cared for by the personnel at the Mt. Roberts Nature Center. 

From there we started out on a nature walk.  I’ve been looking for a “Varied Thrush” ever since I started keeping a record of the birds I’ve seen.  I’m still looking because I didn’t find it.  We did see several Bald Eagles and some Ravens.  Our hike up the nature trail was shortened when we came upon some “fresh” bear droppings.  Fresh is the operative word.  I didn’t feel like walking into one of these animal so we decided to turn around and check out the café instead.  We selected a nice table on the deck and I had a hot chocolate and MA had a cup of coffee. For some reason the waitress said it was “on the house”!  We left a nice tip for her.

We rode the tram back down, stopped in a shop where I got another Alaskan cap.  I need another cap like I need a hole in the head, however, all my caps are back in Texas.  From there we made it back to the Star Princess and had lunch at the buffet on Deck 14. We practically had the place to ourselves, so I took a few pictures of the desserts just for fun.  We later enjoyed the pool, again just the two of us, also the hot tub and took it easy the rest of the day.  I’m guessing that well over half the passengers are here in Alaska for the first time, out there doing all the stuff we did on our first two trips up here.  This time we’re just “cooling it”, pretending to be “natives”. 

2nd Day at Sea

2^nd Day at Sea

Our second day at sea started with coffee at 7am in the room and breakfast later at the Amalfi Dining Room.  We’ve met some interesting people so far, one of who was a gentleman from Oregon who is a spitting image of Sam Elliott, the actor. At first we couldn’t remember the name, but then MA came up with “Sam” and later I remembered Elliott.  We ran into the couple later on the Promenade Deck and told him who it was he looked like.  Needless to say, he was flattered.

After breakfast we got dressed for the pool and went up to the “Sanctuary,” a place on the deck 15 that is off limits for kids. I have to tell you it was chilly and I did not bring enough warm clothes with me.  I had almost decided to go back to the room when I saw the hot tub.  The water was warm and that’s where I spent about an hour.  MA got all bundled up in blankets and played Candy Crush Saga and read. 

This was one of the “formal” nights where everyone dresses up and gets a portrait taken.  The “Piazza” on Deck 5 is in the middle of the ship and the place for live music.  The ship has a quartet that plays a mixture of classical and pop songs that we very much enjoy.  They even played some “Paris café” music complete with accordion. 

We chose not to bring our formal wear on this trip but we dressed nicely and found a quiet place at the bow of the ship on deck 15 and had some smoked salmon and crackers while we enjoyed the sea view.  An elderly couple came in really dressed up.  She was in a long formal gown and the gentleman was in a full tuxedo, tails, white bow tie and top hat.  I wish I had asked to take his picture, but thought it too brash.   

Dinner was from 7:30 to 8:30 and MA and I excused ourselves from the table before dessert so we could catch the ventriloquist, Ben Horn, and his trusty side kick.  This was one of the funniest (and cleanest) acts we’ve seen on a cruise. 

  

BTW – I haven’t described our cabin which was supposed to have a window but with an obstructed view, meaning our view would be an orange life boat.  Somehow we ended up between life boats and from our window we have a full view of the sea, the shore, and we know when it’s day or night!  That’s a good thing as sunrise is at 4am and sunset at 10:30pm!

Saturday in Seattle and All Aboard

Space Needle

Hey friends, here we go again.  Mary Alice and I are about to board aPrincess ship for another Alaskan cruise.  This one is a little different. It's a round trip from Seattle.

Hyatt Place: Our Hotel

Our journey started our differently this time.  Mary Alice (most of us call her “MA”) left last Monday for Los Angeles where she met her youngest sister Nola. They drove up the coast to see middle sister Maureen who is in a long-care private home in Arroyo Grande.  The three sisters had a great visit plus MA got to meet her grand-nephew and grand-niece for the first time (Maureen’s grandchildren). At the end of the week on Friday MA flew from LAX to Seattle while at the same time I flew from Houston to Seattle.  She scheduled things so our flights landed within 45 minutes of each other and we met, as prearranged, in baggage claim.

We quickly located our shuttle van downtown to the Hyatt Place, one of our favorite hotels.  We walked around checking out the Seattle restaurant scene and settled on a place called “5 Point Café”.  They had good hamburgers. MA says they also had lukewarm spaghetti!  No matter, we were both tired so we walked back to the hotel and called it a night.

Monorail and the Space Needle
 

I was up early this morning and explored some of the neighborhood around the hotel.  There is a REAL monorail that runs through and around downtown.  This is what Houston should have built instead of our choo-choo trains. 

At 11:30 we were downstairs and caught our van ride to the Star Princess.  After we checked in, got our cruise cards and went on board, we decided to go and have lunch.  So did 95% of the other 2500 passengers.  This created a very long line with an hour wait, the first time that has ever happened to us on a cruise ship.

Seattle from the ship:  A Beatiful City
 

 
 

Later we went to the obligatory Life Vest drill, MA watched me doze off but she paid attention and played Candy Crush Saga!  The ship pulled away from the dock at 4:11.  We are on our way to Alaska.  More to follow.

Add caption

 

Link to photos: http://birdshooter.smugmug.com/TransAtlanticFtLtoRome

http://birdshooter.smugmug.com/TransAtlanticFtLtoRome

Touring Rome with Francesco from MilesandMiles.Net

Coliseum

                   Touring Rome with Francesco from Miles and Miles.Net!

Francesco & M.A.

Our stay was at the four-star modern Hotel Tiber in Fiumencino (near the airport) and it was exceptional.  I even found Fox News on the TV along with ESPN and watched some baseball.  Monday morning we got up and went to the top of the hotel for a fantastic breakfast.  Most European hotels offer a “continental” breakfast but this hotel had scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hot toast, yogurt, orange juice, coffee and more.

Our private guide, Francesco, showed up right on time at 9am. He is in his mid-thirties, handsome, wavy dark hair and he has a warm smile. I think MA was slightly dazzled by him!  He also spoke excellent English, a lot of which he learned at home from his mother. But when someone speaks a second language well, it is usually a sign they spent some time in the country of that language as did Francesco who came to College Station, Texas for a while. Small world! His tour company is family owned and specializes in the history, the secrets, back roads, cappuccino cafes and ice cream parlors of Rome.  They operate with 17 Mercedes vans running every single day! And btw, they are recommended by Rick Steves.

Pantheon

 

Why did we elect to have a private guide in Rome? MA did the math. She calculated the cost of cabs to/from the train, if we could get a cab, train tickets to/from town, Hop-on Hop-off bus tours, tickets to venues, long lines and back to our hotel, plus not knowing our way around all that well. Then there’s that knee business and lots of walking is not yet in the cards.  So we coughed up some extra Euros for a personal guide, chauffer driven van and saw sights most tourists never see.

St. Peter's dome

The first stop of the day was Francesco’s neighborhood which is near the Vatican.  We got there via his secretly known back streets bypassing the infamous Rome traffic jams.  The first order of business was his favorite coffee shop where we all had a cappuccino. This was like no other cappuccino I've ever had.  Excellent describes it best!  From there we went to a nearby hill where we had a great view of the Vatican and Rome.  

We then went proceeded to the oldest part of the city where the streets were built for horse drawn carts and pedestrians.  They are barely wide enough for one car going one way.  Somehow Francesco had a way of finding a place to park or if not, he just double parked! When in Rome!! We stopped at the Ciuri Ciuri, a pastry and ice cream shop and he treated us to a really, really good canola, very Italian.  He knows all these people personally and it’s fun to watch the interactions in Italian.  At this point I knew our private tour was the right decision!

Pantheon interior

Our next stop was the Pantheon.  It was built in 126 AD as a temple for all the Roman gods but served as a Roman Catholic Church since the  7th Century You can actually attend Mass on Sunday morning there. The Pantheon consists of a large circular portico with three ranks of huge granite Corinthian columns.  The portico opens into a rotunda which is topped with a concrete dome with a central opening: the oculus.  Almost two thousand years after it was built, the  Pantheon's dome is still the largest un-reinforced concrete dome in the world.

From there we toured central Rome ending at an enormous white marble monument that dominates Piazza Venezia. It commemorates Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a united Italy. The mounument marked the 50 years of unification.  By the way, I  didn't know this, but it was the Roman Catholic Church which was the major obstacle to Italy's unification. 

Victor Emmanuel Memorial

 

Our next stop was at the column of Marcus Aurelius, in Piazza Colonna. It is a Doric column featuring a spiral relief. It was built in honor of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius depicting his victories over the Germanic tribes.



Marcus Arilus Column

Spanish Steps

Next we stopped at the Trevi Fountain, the largest Baroque fountain in Rome. We tossed in a couple Euro coins, took a couple of photos and continued on to the Spanish Steps.  You are supposed to make a wish and toss them in over your shoulder, facing away from the fountain.

From there we went on to the Spanish steps. Francesco said that he did not know why they are such a tourist attraction other than the movie, “Roman Holiday.” Today the food police will ticket anyone caught eating on those steps.

Circus Maximus

Speaking of eating, it was lunch time and Francesco took us to his favorite spot where most of the UN workers come for lunch.  It is called Gustomassimo and it’s near the ancient Circus Maximus.  The Circus Maximus was the largest stadium in ancient Rome.  Popular chariot races were held her for almost a thousand years.  At one point it could seat 250,000 people, one quarter of Rome's population.  I think that's bigger than the Rose Bowl.  Lunch was pasta, salad cheese and Italian bread.  Yum!

  

From there we drove along the Apian Way and visited an underground Crypt, then the catacombs, one of the ancient burial grounds for the Roman Empire and early Christians.  A church was erected at the entrance.  It has a carved wooden ceiling that is indescribably beautiful.  We made a drive by the Vatican (big crowds there), saw St. Peter’s Cathedral. The Coliseum was next, what a mammoth structure that is and oh boy, the things that went on in there!

Us at the Trevi Fountain

 

Once again we found ourselves in Francesco’s neighborhood.  He took us to an ice cream shop and they treated us some marvelous ice cream, gelato in Italian. All throughout the day Francesco shared the history of his beloved home town. We were sorry to see the end of our tour as he drove us back to our hotel.  All I can say is we thoroughly enjoyed everything, well worth every Euro.

Tuesday morning early we checked out of the hotel, ate breakfast and got the shuttle to the airport. We flew from Rome to Frankfurt and then nonstop on to Houston (about 10 hours).  MA spent most of the flight with her IPAD games and watched one movie.  I, however, watched five different movies! 

As soon as we got home and unloaded the car I went to get Tanner.  Susan, his adoptive mom from when he was taken into the rescue center, had taken excellent care of him.  I do think he wanted to take one of the Irish wolfhounds home with him as a playmate.  He seems a little puzzled about where his 7 buddies are.

Well then “ciao” as they say in Rome.  Soon as we get two weeks of laundry done we’ll start planning our next trip!

Good-bye from Rome