TRAVELOGUES – DAY ONE
HOLLAND AMERICA MS VOLENDAM
13 DAY CRUISE/TOUR
“NORTH TO ALASKA”
Just between you and me – 3:30 in the morning is VERY early! But, that is when we had to set our alarm for to be ready for the shuttle to pick us up and whisk us off to the airport in San Diego to begin our cruise tour “North to Alaska”. We couldn’t get coffee soon enough once we got to the airport. But once we did, all was well and we gave a big sigh of relief that we had arrived on time, made it through the security check point and had our Starbucks coffee in hand - all with 30 minutes to spare before boarding our plane at 6:30 a.m.
Our flight was uneventful from San Diego to Portland and again from Portland ultimately to Vancouver. The skies were clear with only a few clouds here and there adding a little color and dimension to the view out my airplane window. From San Diego, we flew directly up the middle of California flying right over Yosemite National Park, Kings Canyon and Lake Tahoe. The views were stunning – we could even see Bridal Veil Falls in Yosemite. As we continued north, we flew past Mt. Shasta, which was completely covered in snow and definitely stood out in the landscape below. When we arrived in Portland, Mt. Hood could be seen in the distance and when we flew past Seattle, Mt. Rainier greeted us as well.
I never tire of seeing the beautiful landscape below me when I fly up north. The mountain ranges are all dotted with alpine lakes that look like mirrors from my window; and being able to see the islands in the Puget Sound is always a treat. I love seeing the Washington State Ferries on the waters as they are transporting their passengers from here to there and fondly remember when we have been passengers on those ferries and how much fun it is to ride on them.
Once we arrived in Vancouver, we were directed to a motor coach that took us directly to Canada Place¸ the cruise ship terminal in Vancouver. It is about a 45 minute ride. Our check-in for the ship was extremely smooth and I think the easiest of all the cruises we’ve been on.
MS Volendam is a beautiful Holland America ship well-known for its artwork and décor. She carries 1,450 passengers. The Atrium has a beautiful spiral glass staircase with a multi-colored and lighted spire that goes from the bottom of the Atrium on Deck 3 and up to Deck 6. Around the Atrium are several alcoves on the different decks where you can sit in comfy, padded armchairs and watch the world go by through the large picture windows that seem to be everywhere on both sides of the ship on several decks.
After we found our stateroom, a very nice ocean view cabin mid-ship on Deck 1, we took off to explore the ship. The Lido Buffet is on Deck 8 and encompasses both sides of the ship. There are different stations for pastries and breads, salads, Italian, Asian, and main dishes as well as an entire space between the two sides where they have a beautiful offering of desserts.
There is only one main pool with a retractable roof which is the main activity area on the ship; and there is also a small children’s pool at the back of the ship. The library is actually three rooms all open and continuous where they have one wall full of books for you to enjoy, one room where there are jigsaw puzzles set up and then another room with computers and tables for games. Along the huge picture windows are several massage chairs and reclining chairs where we’ve seen several people doing what they love to do on vacation – “nap”.
All of the Holland America ships have now been retrofitted with beautiful, state-of-the-art million dollar culinary centers where they offer cooking classes and demonstrations. This area also serves as a small theater when the culinary department is not having an event.
We listened to a lecture on the first explorers to Alaska in the early afternoon and heard many of the stories that we all learned in history class many years ago. But, even though we had heard the stories long ago, it was nice to get a little refresher as we began our journey up north. The native tribes of the Tlingit and Haida were the very first inhabitants and the trailblazers who introduced us to Alaska some 10,000 years before the first “white” man came here. Vitus Bering was commissioned by Peter the Great of Russian to find out if Siberia was connected to North America back in 1725. Even though he died, his journals and charts were saved, but not published until many years later when one of his fellow shipmates, George Stellar published them. The Bering Sea was named after Vitus Bering. George Stellar was the first naturalist in the area. The Stellar Blue Jay and the Stellar Sea Lion were named after him. After that, there were many more explorers to visit this great land including James Cook, George Vancouver and William Seward. John Muir, the Scottish immigrant who was the crusader for Yosemite National Park, came to Alaska in 1879 and founded the Sierra Club in 1892.
So much for our history lesson today! At 5:00 p.m. on the dot, MS Volendam was underway from Canada Place and quickly began her journey past Stanley Park and under the Lions Gate Bridge out into the calm waters of the Strait of Georgia where we headed north. The ship glided smoothly through the waters that had barely a ripple on them it was so calm. The skies above us seemed to be dotted with cotton balls of clouds against the clear blue skies above. We stayed out on deck for several hours because it was so pleasant and so serene. Inside around the Lido deck pool, the crew began barbequing at 5:00 p.m. and offered the passengers a fabulous array of Alaska salmon, cooked over the smokey coals of the barbeques, along with chicken, ribs, and steak. There were several different salads from mixed green salad to a corn and kidney bean salad to coleslaw. They offered rice pilaf or baked potatoes and baked beans as well. In another corner of the pool area, there were tables set up with white table cloths covered with delectable delights for dessert – among which were small custard fruit tarts, a huge bowl of fresh fruit, a banana cream pie in a Phyllo dough crust and several other things. The table was decorated with carvings made out of white chocolate – one of a bald eagle and one of a prospector.
We ventured up to the “Crow’s Nest” which is a large cocktail lounge/viewing area up on Deck 9 in the very front of the ship that is surrounded by floor to ceiling picture windows, nice comfy chairs and sitting areas where you can watch as the world passes by. I went out on deck several times to take pictures – how odd – and during the time we were in the Crow’s Nest I went out once only to be greeted by a phenomenal view of Mt. Baker as the sun hit its snow white covered peaks giving it a bright pink glow through the hazy foreground. Because it was “behind” the ship, I doubt that many of the passengers even realized that this gorgeous sight was there if they had only gone out onto deck.
It had been a long day for us, and we finally went back to our room about 10:00 last night. It was still twilight outside. But, we were both tired and had no problems falling asleep quickly.
Tomorrow we’ll be sailing through the Inside Passage. I’ll talk to you then!
Showing posts with label Vancouver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vancouver. Show all posts
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Travelogue No. 9 - Vancouver, whale watching
TRAVELOGUE NO. 9
PACIFIC COASTAL CRUISE LOS ANGELES TO VANCOUVER
SUNDAY, May 16, 2010
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
Because our whale watching excursion was not until 12:00 noon, we were able to enjoy a leisurely morning and a nice cup of Starbucks and a blueberry muffin for breakfast before we caught a cab over to Granville Island where we would go to Wild Whales and depart on our adventure in search of those “black and whites”.
Granville Island has a fabulous Public Market, very similar in concept to Pikes Place Market in Seattle. There are fruit stands piled high with fresh vegetables. The red, orange, yellow and green bell peppers alongside the thin, fresh asparagus and huge (5”) artichokes and gigantic red and green grapes filled the counters of the vegetable and fruit stands. The fish counters were filled of king crab legs and fresh salmon along with other local varieties of fish that had been brought to the market in the morning. We found our favorite deli stand and purchased our sandwiches to take out on our excursion. We found our favorite deli counter where we bought our sandwiches for our afternoon excursion and then we set out to go explore the market a bit before we boarded the Quick Change II, whale watching vessel.
Our tour guide, Caley, along with our driver greeted us as we boarded the covered whale-watching boat. Caley was about 25 years old and though it appeared that she had a full head of hair in dread-locks, she had them tied up in a scarf around her head. She had a small nose, hazel eyes and a beautiful smile. She is had a small frame and seemed genuinely happy that we had all chosen to be with her on this exploration for go find the whales.
We took off out of the harbor at Granville Island and passed under the Granville Island Bridge and out into the Strait of Georgia, which is the main route of the Alaska Marine Highway. We passed many tankers and tug boats on our way heading south west to the Gulf Islands. As we reached Porlier Pass and Galiano Island, we passed the small white and red Grace Point Lighthouse. The base of the lighthouse is wider than the top. It had four sides that were trimmed in bright red paint and then the lighthouse lens was on top. On top of the lens proudly were two bald eagles proudly perched as if they were greeting us as we entered the Trincomali Pass heading south.
The skies above became more gray with thicker clouds, that eventually gave us a fine, misty rain as we passed through the narrow passageway of the Pender Islands. We had been in the boat about three hours at this point and still had no sightings of any whales. The scenery was breathtaking; and as is true after most rains, the smell of the freshened forest and trees was noticeable and refreshing.
Unfortunately, those black and white orcas remained silent and elusive; and we never found them. We did see a few dolphins as we headed back out into the Strait of Georgia heading back to Vancouver. As we reached the breakwater, we saw some California sea lions and stellar sea lions basking on the rocks of the breakwater. A couple of them were lifting their bodies and stretching high and barking loudly as we passed by. The staff at Wild Whales graciously issued all of us a “free” pass to come back another time (no expiration date) to see the whales – so we will tuck that away in a safe place and look forward to doing that sometime in the future.
Realization eventually set in that in only 12 hours we would be heading to the airport for our trek home – so we decided to have a nice, quiet dinner at the Sea Wall Restaurant in the lobby of the Westin Bayshore. We had a window table and were among only half a dozen or so, groups of people in the restaurant – so it was quiet and peaceful as the sun set on another beautiful Vancouver day.
And, so it ends my friends – our trip is over – I hope you’ve enjoyed coming along with us on our journey and hope you have enjoyed the trip with us. We’ll be heading out again on June 30th this year as we will go visit Alaska on a three day cruise from Vancouver to Skagway visiting Tracy Arm Fjord and the Twin Sawyer Glaciers and Juneau before we reach Skagway. From Skagway, we will leave the ship and go on a 10 day land tour up to the Yukon, Dawson, Tok, Fairbanks, Denali and Anchorage. Till then…safe travels to you all!
PACIFIC COASTAL CRUISE LOS ANGELES TO VANCOUVER
SUNDAY, May 16, 2010
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
Because our whale watching excursion was not until 12:00 noon, we were able to enjoy a leisurely morning and a nice cup of Starbucks and a blueberry muffin for breakfast before we caught a cab over to Granville Island where we would go to Wild Whales and depart on our adventure in search of those “black and whites”.
Granville Island has a fabulous Public Market, very similar in concept to Pikes Place Market in Seattle. There are fruit stands piled high with fresh vegetables. The red, orange, yellow and green bell peppers alongside the thin, fresh asparagus and huge (5”) artichokes and gigantic red and green grapes filled the counters of the vegetable and fruit stands. The fish counters were filled of king crab legs and fresh salmon along with other local varieties of fish that had been brought to the market in the morning. We found our favorite deli stand and purchased our sandwiches to take out on our excursion. We found our favorite deli counter where we bought our sandwiches for our afternoon excursion and then we set out to go explore the market a bit before we boarded the Quick Change II, whale watching vessel.
Our tour guide, Caley, along with our driver greeted us as we boarded the covered whale-watching boat. Caley was about 25 years old and though it appeared that she had a full head of hair in dread-locks, she had them tied up in a scarf around her head. She had a small nose, hazel eyes and a beautiful smile. She is had a small frame and seemed genuinely happy that we had all chosen to be with her on this exploration for go find the whales.
We took off out of the harbor at Granville Island and passed under the Granville Island Bridge and out into the Strait of Georgia, which is the main route of the Alaska Marine Highway. We passed many tankers and tug boats on our way heading south west to the Gulf Islands. As we reached Porlier Pass and Galiano Island, we passed the small white and red Grace Point Lighthouse. The base of the lighthouse is wider than the top. It had four sides that were trimmed in bright red paint and then the lighthouse lens was on top. On top of the lens proudly were two bald eagles proudly perched as if they were greeting us as we entered the Trincomali Pass heading south.
The skies above became more gray with thicker clouds, that eventually gave us a fine, misty rain as we passed through the narrow passageway of the Pender Islands. We had been in the boat about three hours at this point and still had no sightings of any whales. The scenery was breathtaking; and as is true after most rains, the smell of the freshened forest and trees was noticeable and refreshing.
Unfortunately, those black and white orcas remained silent and elusive; and we never found them. We did see a few dolphins as we headed back out into the Strait of Georgia heading back to Vancouver. As we reached the breakwater, we saw some California sea lions and stellar sea lions basking on the rocks of the breakwater. A couple of them were lifting their bodies and stretching high and barking loudly as we passed by. The staff at Wild Whales graciously issued all of us a “free” pass to come back another time (no expiration date) to see the whales – so we will tuck that away in a safe place and look forward to doing that sometime in the future.
Realization eventually set in that in only 12 hours we would be heading to the airport for our trek home – so we decided to have a nice, quiet dinner at the Sea Wall Restaurant in the lobby of the Westin Bayshore. We had a window table and were among only half a dozen or so, groups of people in the restaurant – so it was quiet and peaceful as the sun set on another beautiful Vancouver day.
And, so it ends my friends – our trip is over – I hope you’ve enjoyed coming along with us on our journey and hope you have enjoyed the trip with us. We’ll be heading out again on June 30th this year as we will go visit Alaska on a three day cruise from Vancouver to Skagway visiting Tracy Arm Fjord and the Twin Sawyer Glaciers and Juneau before we reach Skagway. From Skagway, we will leave the ship and go on a 10 day land tour up to the Yukon, Dawson, Tok, Fairbanks, Denali and Anchorage. Till then…safe travels to you all!
Travelogue No. 8 - Vancouver, BC - Stanley Park
TRAVELOGUE NO. 8
PACIFIC COASTAL CRUISE LOS ANGELES TO VANCOUVER
SATURDAY , May 15, 2010
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
Sapphire Princess arrived in Vancouver around 7:00 a.m. and sailed down past Stanley Park and the Lions Gate Bridge on to Canada Place, the beautiful cruise terminal in Vancouver. Once again, we were blessed with nice weather and a very high cloud cover. The jagged peaks of the Coastal Mountains to the north were still covered with snow, which added to the beautiful landscape that we saw. The Vancouver skyline is dramatic with numerous glass sided skyscrapers . The reflections of the city could be seen from every place you looked which gave you a different perspective each time you turned around.
Due to the fact that there were three ships in port simultaneously (The Sapphire Princess, The Coral Princess and the Holland America Zuirdam) our disembarkation process was a bit slow – but it gave us added time on board and to say our good byes to new friends - and prolonged the realization that the cruise was over.
Our motor coach came and whisked us off to our hotel. We stayed at the Westin Bayshore on the waterfront. We had a beautiful room with a bay view. The large marble shower was perhaps the most welcome features of the room as it was four times bigger than the one on the ship.
After we freshened up, we went down and grabbed a bite to eat and then walked over towards Stanley Park. There is a walkway all along the sea wall not only includes the 5 ½ miles inside Stanley Park, but it continues to the west side and past Granville Island and also continues to the east all down towards Gas Town. The path was very busy with roller bladders, bicyclists and walkers all out enjoyed the beautiful weather.
As we walked along the boat harbor, we passed by the Vancouver Rowing Club where we saw several dozen rowing sculls and hundreds of boats moored in the marina and empty tall masts. As we stood at the water’s edge and looked north, before us was a spectacular panorama. The water in the lagoon where the small boat harbor was seemed to be as calm as glass, with the reflections of the sailboat masts reflecting in the waters. The Tudor Style Rowing Club was freshly painted with a dark, burnt red base color on the main part of the building with striking white contrasts on the decorative facia. Beyond the Rowing Club, were the tree tops of Stanley Park – each seemed to be a different color of green, yellow or red. Beyond that were the green rolling hills of the Coastal Mountains. Then, in the background, far in the distance were the snow capped peaks of the mountains.
We continued on around the lagoon and up into the park where we found the Horse Drawn Trolley. We boarded our trolley and got to sit in the very first row next to our drive and tour narrator, Emma. Emma was a woman in her 50’s. Her hair was blonde and she wore her hair up underneath a beige,visor hat. She wore a small pair of wire-rimmed glasses. She had a few gentle wrinkles starting at the corner of her eyes. She wore a multi-color beige woolen pullover sweater and jeans. Her voice was articulate and clear as she began to talk about the two horses that would be pulling us around the park. “Reno” was a red, draft horse, very similar looking to a Clydesdale; and “Pepper” was a Berjeron with a salt and pepper colored coat. When she was read to take off, Emma merely said “Come on boys” and gentle tugged on the reins and off we went.
Stanley Park covers over 1,000 acres of land – which makes it larger than Central Park in Manhattan. There are two lighthouses in the park and the sea wall walkways is 5 ½ miles long and goes all around the perimeter of the park. On top of that, there are countless hiking trails and pathways through the park There is a cricket field. A game of cricket can last up to five days; but they do stop to have tea and sandwiches. We traveled slowly along the Burrard Inlet out to where we had a view of the Lions Gate Bridge and up the Capillano Valley. The park is thick and plush with numerous different types of bushes and ferns; and interspersed among the variety of green were colorful rhododendrons, rose bushes, forsythia (a bright yellow bush), and every color of azalea as well as Japanese red maple trees. Trees in the park range from the Western Red Cedar (which is the best wood to carve totem poles and canoes) to huge Douglas Firs and an occasional redwood. The colors of green cover the spectrum from a yellowish cast to the deep, dark forest green; and this adds to the dimension of the landscape.
There is an aquarium inside Stanley Park, as well as a miniature railroad that children and adults may all enjoy riding on, as well as a petting zoo and a gorgeous rose garden. Our horse-drawn trolley tour lasted an hour – which seemed to fly by and all of a sudden we found ourselves back where we started. We weren’t ready to leave the park yet; so we took off up the hill, going through the park from the seawall near the Rowing Club up through the park to the rose garden. Along the way, our paths crossed with two “black” squirrels, which were busy gathering something to munch on and then scurried away. I saw one small red-headed woodpecker and a few black birds, but not much more animal life than that. Once we arrived at the rose garden, we saw a bronze memorial to President Warren G. Harding which marked the spot of a speech he made there in Stanley Park during his presidency. Though the roses were not blooming yet, the rhododendrons, azaleas, pansies, iris, birds of paradise, hydrangeas and several other different species of flowers were all in bloom and added a variegated color display that was similar to that at Butchart Gardens in Victoria.
The grounds of Stanley Park are meticulously groomed and kept in pristine condition. Even after the big storm in 2006 which came through Victoria with a vengeance and downed over 10,000 trees, the gardeners worked fast and cleared the debris; and now there are only slight reminisces of the violent storm. What is interesting is that though the trees themselves uprooted and fell, the gardeners chose to leave the roots in place and exactly where they fell to show the visitors to the park the extent of the damage of that storm.
After our walk, we went back to our room and freshened up and then caught a cab to Gas Town. On our way there, we asked the cab driver to stop by the Olympic Flame which is outside the Pan Pacific Hotel. The structure appears to be ice-like crystals of massive proportions. The flame was not lit as it is put out after the end of the Olympics, but it is still a magnificent sight to see.
We enjoyed dinner at our favorite sidewalk café in Gas Town, the Water Street Café which is directly across the street from the Vancouver Steam Clock. As luck would have it, we sat directly across from another couple who had been on our cruise on the Sapphire; so we enjoyed a little chit-chat during our meal.
The sun does not set until 8:45 p.m. here in Vancouver; so we were able to stay outside at the café and enjoy a very pleasant evening. The people watching from this vantage point was quite interesting. Mini-skirts have made a return to the fashion industry after being dormant since the late 1960’s. Platform heals are also very popular. After our delightful dinner, we sat and just talked about our trip and commented on how it is always good to go home, but sad that it is ending.
Tomorrow we are going to go whale watching in hopes of finding some of those “BLACK & WHITES” (orcas) off of Vancouver in the Gulf Islands. That will be the final Travelogue for this trip – so one more to go!
PACIFIC COASTAL CRUISE LOS ANGELES TO VANCOUVER
SATURDAY , May 15, 2010
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
Sapphire Princess arrived in Vancouver around 7:00 a.m. and sailed down past Stanley Park and the Lions Gate Bridge on to Canada Place, the beautiful cruise terminal in Vancouver. Once again, we were blessed with nice weather and a very high cloud cover. The jagged peaks of the Coastal Mountains to the north were still covered with snow, which added to the beautiful landscape that we saw. The Vancouver skyline is dramatic with numerous glass sided skyscrapers . The reflections of the city could be seen from every place you looked which gave you a different perspective each time you turned around.
Due to the fact that there were three ships in port simultaneously (The Sapphire Princess, The Coral Princess and the Holland America Zuirdam) our disembarkation process was a bit slow – but it gave us added time on board and to say our good byes to new friends - and prolonged the realization that the cruise was over.
Our motor coach came and whisked us off to our hotel. We stayed at the Westin Bayshore on the waterfront. We had a beautiful room with a bay view. The large marble shower was perhaps the most welcome features of the room as it was four times bigger than the one on the ship.
After we freshened up, we went down and grabbed a bite to eat and then walked over towards Stanley Park. There is a walkway all along the sea wall not only includes the 5 ½ miles inside Stanley Park, but it continues to the west side and past Granville Island and also continues to the east all down towards Gas Town. The path was very busy with roller bladders, bicyclists and walkers all out enjoyed the beautiful weather.
As we walked along the boat harbor, we passed by the Vancouver Rowing Club where we saw several dozen rowing sculls and hundreds of boats moored in the marina and empty tall masts. As we stood at the water’s edge and looked north, before us was a spectacular panorama. The water in the lagoon where the small boat harbor was seemed to be as calm as glass, with the reflections of the sailboat masts reflecting in the waters. The Tudor Style Rowing Club was freshly painted with a dark, burnt red base color on the main part of the building with striking white contrasts on the decorative facia. Beyond the Rowing Club, were the tree tops of Stanley Park – each seemed to be a different color of green, yellow or red. Beyond that were the green rolling hills of the Coastal Mountains. Then, in the background, far in the distance were the snow capped peaks of the mountains.
We continued on around the lagoon and up into the park where we found the Horse Drawn Trolley. We boarded our trolley and got to sit in the very first row next to our drive and tour narrator, Emma. Emma was a woman in her 50’s. Her hair was blonde and she wore her hair up underneath a beige,visor hat. She wore a small pair of wire-rimmed glasses. She had a few gentle wrinkles starting at the corner of her eyes. She wore a multi-color beige woolen pullover sweater and jeans. Her voice was articulate and clear as she began to talk about the two horses that would be pulling us around the park. “Reno” was a red, draft horse, very similar looking to a Clydesdale; and “Pepper” was a Berjeron with a salt and pepper colored coat. When she was read to take off, Emma merely said “Come on boys” and gentle tugged on the reins and off we went.
Stanley Park covers over 1,000 acres of land – which makes it larger than Central Park in Manhattan. There are two lighthouses in the park and the sea wall walkways is 5 ½ miles long and goes all around the perimeter of the park. On top of that, there are countless hiking trails and pathways through the park There is a cricket field. A game of cricket can last up to five days; but they do stop to have tea and sandwiches. We traveled slowly along the Burrard Inlet out to where we had a view of the Lions Gate Bridge and up the Capillano Valley. The park is thick and plush with numerous different types of bushes and ferns; and interspersed among the variety of green were colorful rhododendrons, rose bushes, forsythia (a bright yellow bush), and every color of azalea as well as Japanese red maple trees. Trees in the park range from the Western Red Cedar (which is the best wood to carve totem poles and canoes) to huge Douglas Firs and an occasional redwood. The colors of green cover the spectrum from a yellowish cast to the deep, dark forest green; and this adds to the dimension of the landscape.
There is an aquarium inside Stanley Park, as well as a miniature railroad that children and adults may all enjoy riding on, as well as a petting zoo and a gorgeous rose garden. Our horse-drawn trolley tour lasted an hour – which seemed to fly by and all of a sudden we found ourselves back where we started. We weren’t ready to leave the park yet; so we took off up the hill, going through the park from the seawall near the Rowing Club up through the park to the rose garden. Along the way, our paths crossed with two “black” squirrels, which were busy gathering something to munch on and then scurried away. I saw one small red-headed woodpecker and a few black birds, but not much more animal life than that. Once we arrived at the rose garden, we saw a bronze memorial to President Warren G. Harding which marked the spot of a speech he made there in Stanley Park during his presidency. Though the roses were not blooming yet, the rhododendrons, azaleas, pansies, iris, birds of paradise, hydrangeas and several other different species of flowers were all in bloom and added a variegated color display that was similar to that at Butchart Gardens in Victoria.
The grounds of Stanley Park are meticulously groomed and kept in pristine condition. Even after the big storm in 2006 which came through Victoria with a vengeance and downed over 10,000 trees, the gardeners worked fast and cleared the debris; and now there are only slight reminisces of the violent storm. What is interesting is that though the trees themselves uprooted and fell, the gardeners chose to leave the roots in place and exactly where they fell to show the visitors to the park the extent of the damage of that storm.
After our walk, we went back to our room and freshened up and then caught a cab to Gas Town. On our way there, we asked the cab driver to stop by the Olympic Flame which is outside the Pan Pacific Hotel. The structure appears to be ice-like crystals of massive proportions. The flame was not lit as it is put out after the end of the Olympics, but it is still a magnificent sight to see.
We enjoyed dinner at our favorite sidewalk café in Gas Town, the Water Street Café which is directly across the street from the Vancouver Steam Clock. As luck would have it, we sat directly across from another couple who had been on our cruise on the Sapphire; so we enjoyed a little chit-chat during our meal.
The sun does not set until 8:45 p.m. here in Vancouver; so we were able to stay outside at the café and enjoy a very pleasant evening. The people watching from this vantage point was quite interesting. Mini-skirts have made a return to the fashion industry after being dormant since the late 1960’s. Platform heals are also very popular. After our delightful dinner, we sat and just talked about our trip and commented on how it is always good to go home, but sad that it is ending.
Tomorrow we are going to go whale watching in hopes of finding some of those “BLACK & WHITES” (orcas) off of Vancouver in the Gulf Islands. That will be the final Travelogue for this trip – so one more to go!
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