May 9, 2009

May 8 and 9


Himself: Dashing, urbane, and heading for a haircut shortly.

Herself: The bracelets are still working. It’s a real stretch to upload images on the ship, and it costs lots too.

What’s Happenin’: We are eating too much. Simplicity itself.
Travelogs are not us. We have been sitting in the library…and yes there is really a library aboard the Ryndam, (Rhine-dam), with a friendly librarian and internet connections. There are large windows to watch the passing seas, and tables to do jigsaw puzzles on. Friends we have met at dinner join us and we compare note.

We reveled in the lushness of Victoria. Every home seemed a carefully tended park. Flowers filled my eyes and G’s camera. The seas lapped at doorsteps. The sun came out and kissed the mountains. The city tour guide kept quoting house prices and tax amounts that made us feel right at home, but the glorious green wildness seemed of a different world.

We wandered for a while in downtown Victoria. The marvelous Victorian pile that is the Empress Hotel lured us into its basement bathrooms and then into its archives. Time spent with the old menus, sign in books, and lovely ladies in their crisp white dresses and tea hats put the city’s past in perspective. Glimpses of quilts in an old bank turned bookstore made me feel right at home. Books in hand make me feel ready to face the world. Brick buildings with dentals and huge cornices were quite familiar. We never made it back to the big thrift store tho. We even took a few minutes to wander through the new Bay…Hudson’s Bay…building, and found just another mall.

Sometimes dinner works. On the seventh, my pork was dried out, but the desert was delicious tho beyond tiny. We learned. The following night when faced with apple pie, we ordered two slices plus a third deserts of a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Progress….three deserts equaled one in our eyes. Last night two deserts equaled one. Portions are tiny and suited to tiny eaters. We have the hang of it tho.

The cabin crew labors mightily. They’ve increased the rooms they work from 15 to 30, but you would never know….everything is always spotless and in it’s place. Dinner service continues slow. Even when upgraded to seats by the windows, service is beyond slow.

Yesterday Vancouver. Our tablemates managed a city tour after we were told there were no tours to be had this debarkation/embarkation day. G did laundry. I forgot what I did besides read. No internet access. We checked in with Canadian Customs…everyone a little confused. There’s been days of no coffee, I just discovered, just decaf. Perhaps that’s been contributing to my fogs.

“Need to know,” he told me this morning. “What?” This morning, I’m awake with several jolts of real coffee in me. Real…does that mean I have been Memorex?

Today a last sea day before Juneau. With paper maps in hand and electronic maps on the bulkhead, we trace our passage northward island by island.

At Victoria, we were theh only cruise ship. In Anchorage there was a veritable fleet of cruise ships to keep us company. The Norwegian Pearl, the beautiful but archaic Symphony of the Seas, a ship with the big blue X, and us in all at the same time. This morning, we are being followed by a much larger, unidentified cruise ship that’s rapidly overtaking us. On our port, islands; to our starboard the ocean.

Tonight my first formal night. The acupressure bracelets are still working. His patch is still working. I’m looking forward to the bling.

3 comments:

  1. I didn't think you'd be able to post. I'm delighted to read about your trip as you progress. I went to Alaska on the ferry; reading about a real cruise is lovely.

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  2. "being followed by a much larger, unidentified cruise ship that’s rapidly overtaking us" ... as long as it's not a pirate ship! : )

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  3. May 12: Hey where are you guys? Having too much fun on land I hope!

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