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Saturday in Vancouver

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We began the day with another early-morning walk around the hotel to look at the three cruise ships that had just arrived.  Two were huge, and one quite small. It's interesting to see how tiny some of the balconies are -- barely big enough for two small chairs.  The port area is full of flowers, like these hanging baskets: As we returned to the hotel, we spotted these flight attendants, perhaps heading off for an Air India flight? About 10:00, we headed out to find a nearby yarn store, Les Laines Biscotte, and it did not disappoint!  I bought two skeins of sock yarn, but could have easily filled a suitcase, as they were having a big sale.  We browsed in a few other shops as we made our way back to Riley's for lunch. We had a lovely outdoor table with a view and enjoyed our fish and chips (the fish was halibut!) and a bottle of wine.  SO good. We enjoyed a lazy afternoon with naps (see aforementioned bottle of wine).  The haze cleared off enough in the after...
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Friday in Vancouver with a Food Tour

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Friday morning we set off (uphill) in search of a few random items that Someone failed to pack. After several uphill blocks, I was ready for Charlie to leave me behind, sitting at a shady fountain, but managed to persevere "one more block."  Then we walked several more blocks to find a downtown shopping area where we enjoyed browsing in stores we don't see at home.   By then, it was time for lunch, so we headed back downhill toward our hotel. We had lunch in the Fairmont across the street from out hotel, where we'd enjoyed lunch back in October.  I had the ultimate comfort food, tomato soup and grilled cheese, but this version was truly the best one yet.  Charlie enjoyed his seafood chowder and one of my sandwiches. After lunch we rested for a while before heading out for our 3:00 p.m. food tour in the Gastown area of old Vancouver.  We met our guide, Bronson, who proved to be a delightful 30-something from five hours north of Vancouver, and we were the onl...
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And We're Off Again! Vancouver and Cruising in Alaska

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Yesterday morning we flew from Houston to Vancouver (a four-hour, 20-minute flight), where we will spend a few days before boarding Serenade of the Seas on Sunday.  The flight was smooth and uneventful, thank goodness.  We had the first row of first class, so plenty of legroom.  Our pre-ordered cheese plates were excellent!   The pilot told us that smoke from the Canadian forest fires would prevent us from seeing much, but as we approached Vancouver, I was able to take a couple of photos of the Cascades and Mount Adams. Mount Adams The Cascade Mountains Once we landed, we had a long walk to Passport Control, which was very efficient, thanks to dozens of kiosks. At baggage claim, though, we waited for over 45 minutes for our bags.  After those finally arrived, we exited to find our driver waiting for us. It was a 40-minute drive to the Pan-Pacific Hotel. Since we'd been to Vancouver last fall (before the transpacific cruise), things looked familiar as we dro...
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Day 10: Mykonos, Greece

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Mykonos was our last port on this cruise.  It’s another Greek island that is very picturesque, but as I remarked to Charlie, I felt as if we were at Epcot. Everything is geared to tourists, with pricey boutiques and restaurants.  The area we toured feels scrubbed and freshly painted.  Our Food on Foot tour guide (bless his heart) wasn’t great, but he did mention that Mykonos really hit the map when the gay community discovered it in the 1970s. Here’s a photo taken from our balcony this morning, as we arrived. We boarded another tender to get to the port.  One woman was so queasy that she returned to the ship before we even left, poor thing.  The ride was quite rough, but mercifully short.  Then we walked a bit to board a shuttle that took us to an area still far from town.  (My opinion is that Mykonos is not ready for prime time.). Our guide met us there and led us (a group of 20, including two squalling toddlers in strollers) at a painfully slow pace ...
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Day 9: Santorini, Greece

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We docked in Santorini early this morning, and Charlie took some photos. You can see the lights of Kira, the capital The zigzag path for pedestrians and donkeys We were dressed and in the Retreat lounge by 7:20 to await our tender boat.  I was nervous because there were high winds, with windchills in the 40s.  For the record, I wore a long sleeve tee, a wool sweater, and a windbreaker and was glad for all the layers! The tender rocked alarmingly as people boarded, but the 20-minute trip to the dock wasn’t rocky at all.  We boarded a large bus with 18 others and drove to Oia (pronounced E-uh) on the opposite end of the island.  The bus made many hairpin turns up the mountain, and the views were amazing.  We climbed up a lot of steps to this area with shops, then wound our way through the paths between buildings, admiring the views. These flowers were everywhere! We stopped in a restaurant for coffee and wonderful bread with butter and honey.  View from the r...
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