Tuesday, Wednesday - Seattle to Vancouver

Tuesday continued

I forgot to mention that the rhodies (rhodendruns) around here are absolutely magnificent: so many colours, varieties and sizes. I’ve taken a lot of pics on my phone so far, but unfortunately I discovered I don’t seem to have iTunes on my laptop and I may not get an opportunity to download it till I get back to Sydney. This morning, after about 1½  hours at the Library, doing lots of email, Bob and JoAnne King came for an early light lunch. It was so lovely to catch up with them. I’d seen JoAnne at church on Sunday but Bob had been sick. After they left, Jan and Fred Alkire picked us up and we went to the Museum of Flight at Boeing; it was just fascinating hearing about the history of the planes, especially the early flight machines, the latest high-tech stealth planes and the WWII fighters. They have an amazing collection of aircraft; we’ve been there in the past but they’re constantly changing their display and adding to their collection.

One of the nicest things about Edmonds, and also about NE Seattle, where Rick and Barb used to live, is that there’s no high-rise. The tallest condos are no more than 4 levels, although most are 3 or less.

Tonight we had a leisurely dinner and talked about the future for each of our families and had a truly special prayer time (which is always the case when the Kings and Gilmores get together!); cost and distance make future visits unlikely but you never know! So, ready to be up early in the morning and head to the Amtrak station down the road for the 3.5 hour trip to Vancouver. I’m really looking forward to that.

Wednesday

Up early this morning to do the last of the packing and have breakfast. It’s never easy to say goodbye, but we got through it! Check-in was easy and the train was right on time. I realised when I settled in the waiting room that I’d left my travelling provisions back at the condo. We stopped at Everet, crossed the Squohomish river, and passed through very pretty towns for the next half hour. The train was very comfortable: plenty of leg room, large, comfy seats and an empty seat beside me. The car was no more than half full; I walked down to the food service car and got a hot water (for my coffee bag) and an apple – that should do me until I get aboard and have lunch on Lido deck!

We passed through pretty farmland for quite a stretch and at 9.15 we stopped on a siding to wait for the Canada train to get through! One track! We were stuck here for about 20 mins because the other train was running late. Still on schedule for arriving in Vancouver close to time at 11.45.

We stopped at Stanford, Alberta, passed through Skagit, with the San Juan Islands to our left; here there were oyster farms and shucking plants, the produce bound for Japan. Passed through Dead Man’s Gulf, Laribee State Park and Teddy Bear Rock. Last stop in the US was Bellingham WA; South Bellingham is predominantly a defunct industrial site, with hundreds of plants closed down because of action by environmental activists. Many people lost their jobs and were retrained at government cost.

It’s so nice doing this trip on the train. We briefly had vision of the freeway to our left but then were back to trees on all sides.

Some time later we crossed the Frazier River and were in Canada. By now the schedule was shot and we were aiming for 12.00pm Vancouver but didn’t arrive till 12.15. It took quite a while to get through immigration with a long queue from the train and only a couple of officers on duty.

No pictures up to this point, because they’re on the phone – the camera was packed in the suitcase.  Pictures will follow in the next days, provided it doesn’t take too long to upload.

I had to wait a little while in line for a cab but was soon at Canada Place Pier and lining up for boarding, after going through emigration – after less than an hour, out of Canada and back into the US! So by 2.00pm I was on Lido deck having a salad for lunch. The bags arrived by about 3.00, lifeboat drill at 3.30 and it was almost time for sailaway. We haven’t sailed out of Vancouver before: Canada Place is very impressive from the sea.

I went to Mass at 5.00 and then dinner at 5.30. Unfortunately, none of my dinner party turned up, so I ended up eating alone. If they don’t turn up tomorrow night, the steward will move me to another table. I haven’t connected with Bob and Rita yet, but there’s plenty of time for that. The welcome show is on tonight at 9.30 and then we set our clocks back 1.00 hour before we go to bed. We’re expecting some rockin’ and rollin’ in the early hours of the morning – yay!

Homeward Bound Saturday 30 August

Squashing the last of my stuff into the suitcases was interesting. I was praying that the bags wouldn't be overweight! The shuttle I booked to the airport was early and cost only 1/4 the taxi fare on the way in. I said thank you prayers as the bags sailed in with almost 3kg to spare! I've had some wifi and a coffee here at Charles de Gaulle airport and there's a big bird sitting outside, so now I get my first ride on an A380! I'm hoping I've got an aisle seat but not sure about that, as it's different from where I had booked the seat. Oh well, a seat is a seat!

At Changi airport, 8.45am, waiting for my last flight home. The A380 is amazing: such a graceful bird. It doesn't seem to get up much speed at all before it's off the ground and it climbs slowly; it's much less noisy than other big aircraft. I was delighted to see that the LEGO Movie was just starting, so I watched that and got a lot more of the little hidden lines the second time around: what a fun movie! I had a window seat, which I didn't want because I hate having to disturb people to climb over them; next to me was a very tall young man, so there was no way of getting past those long legs without asking him and the aisle guy to move. However, I only did that once, after my dinner and glass of wine; then back in my seat, I popped a couple of Tamaze, settled down under my blanket and eye shades and woke up to the rustling and noise of breakfast, 7 hours later!

Boarding - see you in Sydney1!

Paris Friday 29 August

Last day in Paris and again a full day out.

After a sleep-in I walked around this locality a little, just to see if there was anything I'd missed. I caught the Metros around to Maubert Mutualite: that's where Graham and I stayed on our first trip, in the Latin Quarter; I found the familiar spots where we'd walked often during that week.

That's where I got on the Batobus for a day trip; it's such a lovely leisurely ride along the river and you get views of the sights from a different angle, although it's difficult to get pictures because of the warped plastic windows on the boat. What a beautiful bridge, Pont de la Concord:

I got off at the Musée d'Orsay;

There was an exhibition of sculptures and Impressionists, so instead of one small room of Monets, there were at least a couple of dozen of them, if not more, mixed in with the other Impressionists. Again, a wonderful experience to linger over the works of the masters, and I've discovered a liking for Tissot this trip. I also discovered the rooftop clock and outside access which we hadn't seen before. Great shots from inside the clock!

From the rooftop, you can see Sacré Coeur:

I walked across another bridge and then across to the Place de la Concord to hop on a Metro to the same Costa coffee shop as yesterday for a huge iced coffee. By the time I got back to the square near home, it was after 4.00pm and I'd only been munching on fruit since a small breakfast, so I thought I'd go into Maccas, buy a burger and check out the wifi. That took a little longer on the tablet, but I caught up on everything, picked up a few little things for a light dinner and tomorrow's snacks for the airport and now I'm back in the hotel. Today's weather has been warmer than recent days and reached a high of 22! That's a hot summer day! Of course, they're heading into Autumn now.

A word of warning to any prospective users of the Paris Metro: firstly, you will need to take at least four different lines to get to where you want to go - go a few stops, get off, go up stairs, down stairs, around tunnels, up stairs, down stairs and get on the next one; repeat until you get to the stop you want. Having said that, once you understand the map and the station lists, it's dead easy for a touriste like me! Secondly, never stand back for anyone else! It's everyone for him/herself which I discovered to my detriment: standing back to wait for others, the horn sounded, the doors slammed and I was still waiting to get on! You definitely don't try to get on when the horn sounds because if you get caught between those slamming doors, there won't be much left of you! There's no guard, just the driver, so he can't see the platform. The trains move very fast and you can see right through to the front, snaking through tunnels, twisting and turning, all at breakneck speed.

Additional summary: all drivers in Europe are crazy! Taxi drivers, tour van drivers - absolutely crazy!

Paris Thursday 28 August

After I got some wifi done last night, catching up on everything, the hotel wifi has failed today. I’ll just have to find a cafe tomorrow on my travels around town. I took my time getting organised this morning, after a great night’s sleep. My room is right above the street and the traffic (mind you, only one lane) was bumper to bumper; however, it’s very quiet, so the windows must have double glazing or something.

I found the nearest Metro station at Voltaire and began to re-acquaint myself with the network. Everything went well, changing to several different lines and I found myself at the nearest stop to Sacre Coeur. Many of the trains had a busker, playing accordion or guitar: nice to have the music! Walking up the street with hundreds of other people, the magnificent church dominates the skyline. The narrow street up the hill is chockers with souvenir shops, all selling the same things.

Walking up the steps to the church I stopped counting at 300! That takes care of “stairs withdrawal” after the ship! The SILENCE instruction at the door is obeyed by the majority, so it’s fairly quiet, contrasting to the crowds outside. Inside there’s some beautiful artwork but not ornate like the Orthodox churches in Scandinavia. I sat for a while and prayed, enjoying the rest and the peace. Then the nuns in the sanctuary started singing – heavenly! No pictures are allowed inside, but I turned on the video just to capture the sound. It turned out that they were starting Mass (in French, of course). I would have liked to stay but I hadn’t had a drink in a couple of hours, so I didn’t think I should stay that long.

Outside again, the view over the city was spectacular. It took quite a while to get back down the bottom, where I found a lovely iced latte, then back to the Metro; everything went well until it turned out there was track work on the final three stops before the Eiffel Tower, so the train began heading back to where we came from. I hadn’t seen the sign and announcements were in French: buses replacing trains! Sound familiar? So I thought I’d back-track and go round in a circle the other way. This time I was alert and got off to take the bus for the final stops.

There are still summer crowds around the Tower but nowhere near as many as when Graham and I were here the first time. The top level was temporarily closed, so I didn’t go up, as we went to the first level last time. As lovely as ever!

I bought a huge “ham sandwich” (a large baguette) and water and started my bridges walk:

Pont d’lena

Pont de l’Alma

Pont Alexandre III

Kids rock climbing just along the bank of the Seine! an activity that's set up for the summer, I think. There was also a skateboarding ramp: very popular!

Pont de la Concode, crossing to the Place de la Concorde (where Marie Antoinette lost her head), and then finding the Metro station for the trains back to the hotel. So I figure I walked quite a few miles today over a period of about 7 hours. I grabbed some more fruit and another yummy cake and the food I have will do for dinner. Maybe tomorrow I’ll go to a restaurant.

Copenhagen to Paris Wednesday 27 August

Some more interesting facts I discovered about Danes and their bikes:

On the suburban trains, each carriage has a compartment for bikes; so they ride to the station, bike goes in, get off the train and ride to work. However, many Danes have three bikes: they ride usually an older second-hand bike to the station and leave it there; pick up a similar bike at the other end where they parked it last night and ride to work. Then they have a nice, expensive bike at home for leisure biking.

It’s been a long day; they called our debarkation group early from the ship at 7.30am. I’d booked a bus transfer to the airport and, as usual, Holland America organised superbly, with our bags already at the airport when we got there. This left me quite a while before my flight but by the time I got through security, found the only LEGO store in Copenhagen and found a very big Starbucks coffee, quite a bit of time was used up. Arriving at Charles de Gaul, there was the usual wait for baggage and then I decided to bite the bullet and take a cab to the hotel, rather than trying to negotiate public transport. Expensive but necessary!

I got to the hotel at 4.30pm, a cute little typical European hotel room: tea and coffee-making but nothing else for food.

I organised my stuff a bit and then went out for a little explore; being the 11^th Arrondissement, it’s a little different from the Latin Quarter where we’ve stayed previously. There’s a supermarket quite close, so (having missed lunch) I picked up some simple things but most importantly a nice Bordeaux wine and some cheese. So ... this is dinner (I've already been a good girl and had a cup of hot water and a banana) and some cherry tomatoes:

I figure the cheese will be okay for two more days without a fridge; having one glass a day won't finish the wine before I go, but I didn't buy any alcohol on the cruise, so I'm enjoying this. Believe it or not, this bottle of very nice wine cost a little over half what it cost to buy one glass of wine on the ship! Breakfast will be the baguette and more cheese with orange juice – what more could I want??? Chocolate – from the ship’s turndown service each night!! Did I mention I also bought my first yummy Paris cake from the same boulangerie as I bought the baguette?

Tomorrow I plan to head down to the Metro, get of close to the river and then start walking. I love Paris!

Copenhagen Tuesday 26 August

I had breakfast delivered this morning: easier than the busyness of the Lido and I had an excursion to get to. We waited 30 minutes past the scheduled time for the ship to be cleared – very unusual and then we hopped on a bus to look at “Wonderful Copenhagen”. We had three interesting little stops – first stop the Little Mermaid for a picture opportunity. 

Next the Royal Palace where the flag was flying, so that means Mary and Frederick and the kids are home.

In the square where the Amalienborg Royal Palaces are, the one disappearing on the left is where Queen Margarethe lives; the next is for visiting dignatories; next is where their younger son and the Queen Mother both live and off picture on the right is Crown Prince Frederick and Crown Princess Mary’s home.

I found out from Bob and Audrey this evening at dinner that while they were there, Princess Mary came out with her bike, the twins in baskets on the front, and went for a bike ride! Our guide had told us that Mary and Frederick are out and about in the streets all the time, just like all the locals enjoying their neighbourhood. 

Next stop was the Tivoli Gardens, very tiny. We also spent ages in city traffic while the guide talked about the history of every building.

Bad news about the bikes I thought were so casually left unattended in Copenhagen streets: they have an immobiliser installed which is lowered to the rear wheel spokes when the bike is parked. Truth is, apparently there is a bike stolen in Denmark every ten minutes!

Back on board, I had lunch and spent some time in the terminal, using the free wifi. Last dinner on board this evening (and Baked Alaska was on the dessert menu, but no parade) and then tomorrow I have my transfer booked straight from the ship to the airport for my flight to Paris. I'm on the deck at the moment, doing a little more wifi which turns out to be strong enough from the hotspot because we're parked right outside the terminal buiding.

Kiel Monday 25 August

I went ashore about 9.00 and sat in the very modern cruise terminal updating the blog and checking my mail. The wifi was good for a while, then just died, so I headed down to the streets. This is the sister ship to the Costa Concordia which sank:

Not more than a block from the pier is the beginning of the pedestrian shopping area; there are lots of people about because there are three cruise ships in port. Yes, it's cold but I'm prepared today. I had a pleasant time wandering around, bought a couple of little items and now I'm in Maccas, completing my emails. (There's a Starbucks here too.) I bought some German cinnamon; I figure that even though it's not the pinnacle of cinnamon - Dutch (I couldn't find a supermarket) - it's probably better than what we can get at home. I'm hoping that the sealed package will be okay through customs. If not, I've thrown away 1 euro!

Quite a few people are off the ship most of the day on excursions to Hamburg and other places, so it's relatively quiet. Time to go back aboard and have lunch - yes, eating again!!

I had a quiet lunch, with so many people ashore, caught up on some photo editing and went to the tech session on OneDrive.

At dinner they had the farewell parade of crew members, but no Baked Alaska ... many of the nice little touches (albeit expensive) of cruising are disappearing forever. I know they’re non-essentials but they do make the experience that much more special. I guess people just can’t be bothered with all the dressing up – a shame. They’re obviously also trying to cut costs.

I said goodbye to Betty from my dining group because she’s on an all-day excursion tomorrow.

The Captain told us we would be going under one of the three longest suspension bridges on the course to Copenhagen – at about 11.00pm tonight! So I spent quite some time up in the Crows Nest, then out on Observation Deck the last 15 minutes: hiding around the corner out of the biting wind. It was virtually impossible to get a good shot heading towards the bridge in the dark, but I took shots as we scraped underneath: there wasn’t much clearance for the funnels!

These pictures aren't that good because I was shaking so much in the wind, and it's necessarily a time exposure. You can get an idea of how close the bridge was above us though, quite eerie going over. Approaching the bridge:

Going under: