Day 16: the end

Miles Traveled: 4452 nautical miles

Ports Visited:  6

New Countries Visited:  1

Medical Evacuations:  4

Ship Time Changes: 5

Meals Solo:  32

Meals with “Friends”:  1

New Foods Tried:  2 (reindeer and musk ox)

Towel Critters:  7  

Movies Watched:  9

Photos Taken:  1,359

Cups of Tea:  a lot

Positive Covid Test:  1

Favorite Photos . . . you knew it would be of the icebergs . . . near and far!

An Unforgettable Experience

This cruise to Greenland was more than just a vacation; it was a visit to a place that seemed like such a mystery. I was completely captivated by the majestic icebergs, the wildlife, the people, and their culture.  I had no idea what to expect but that is exactly why I was so excited to visit Greenland.  And most of all so thankful we were able to visit all three planned ports in Greenland too.

Day 13: St. John's, Newfoundland

Today I switched it up a bit and decided to hire a taxi by the hour to hit the places I wanted to visit around St John’s.  The weather is miserable but honestly this is the first port day the weather has been sort of crappy.  I was off as soon as they opened the door with hopes of beating the excursion groups!  I had a list of places to visit that I gave the taxi driver and off we went.

Cape Spear

Cape Spear's location is near the convoy routes of World War II which made it a strategic point in the Battle of the Atlantic. It provided protection from German submarines, and there are bunkers, underground passages, and two 10-inch guns. 

The Cape Spear Lighthouse was designated a national historic site of Canada for its age and architecture. 

Cape Spear is also the easternmost point in North America and home every morning to the first sunrise on the continent.

And the best part was there were only a couple other people there and the tour busses were arriving as I was leaving.

Jellybean Row Houses

Quidi Vidi Village

By this point the weather was not great but the one place I really wanted to visit was the last stop.  I had intended for the taxi driver to end our tour here and do some hikes in the area before walking back to the ship but that wasn't going to happen in this weather. 

Signal Hill

Signal Hill is one of St. John’s most popular landmarks due both to the history and spectacular views of the city, Atlantic Ocean, and the rugged coastline. Originally known as the “Lookout” because of its strategic placement overlooking St. John’s harbor, Signal Hill was used in defense, observation, and signaling from the early 1700s to World War II.  Signal Hill was also the reception point of the first transatlantic wireless signal by Guglielmo Marconi in 1901.

Cabot Tower

The weather was miserable and not getting any better and I was starting to feel not so great so I called it a day.  I had the taxi driver return me to the ship and headed back on board.

A view of Fort Amherst as we sailed away leaving St. John’s . . . 

. . . and just like that it cruise is basically over . . . next stop will be Boston after a couple of sea days.

Day 4: Halifax, Nova Scotia

It was an early wake up and a beautiful day in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Halifax was founded as a naval base in 1749, but today is a bustling city.  According to the excursion guide, it is the 2nd deepest harbor in world and has the highest tide in the world.  Today, I am on a bus excursion around Halifax with three stops; Peggy’s Cove, Fairview Lawn Cemetery, and Halifax Citadel Hill National Historic Site.  Our guide, Margaret, is amazing with her handouts and maps . . . of course she is a retired teacher.  Her knowledge really does add to the tour!

First Stop:  Peggy’s Cove

This is a traditional fishing village and I think every cruise ship excursion is here right now!

There was not any formal tour explanation.  We were just told to be back in an hour so I just walked around the small village.  Fisherman’s monument “Bounty of the Sea”

And this is where I start to go a bit crazy with an organized tour.  We made a stop at a Maple “factory” which really means it is a store selling maple products.  I get that Canada produces 71% of the world’s pure maple syrup . . . but what irritates me is that this is time that could be spent elsewhere (which will become another issue later in the day).  Now if we were tapping trees and making maple syrup, I could be all for that, but this is a stop at a store so people can buy products; it is not showing us anything but at least I got a few samples which I could have done without.  Anyway . . . we are back on the road to Halifax to visit the Fairview Lawn Cemetery.  This is where 112 souls lost from the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912, are buried.  The layout of the tombstones at Fairview Lawn is interesting.  They are arranged in the shape of a ship's hull.  Most of the grave markers are the same size but some families have placed larger markers.

 

The number on headstone is the order that the body was recovered.  Some markers have no names because they were never identified.  It is back on the bus to where we are dropped off at the Halifax Public Gardens.  And this is where I become a bit angry.  I take cruise excursions to see things; not shop or have free time. So, when the guide says we will have free time, I almost lost it and people complained they needed more time.  And the straw that broke the camel’s back was she said our last stop at Citadel Hill will just be a photo stop.  Seriously?  I booked this tour to visit the three places (Peggy’s Cove, Fairview Lawn Cemetery, and Citadel Hill) listed in the tour description.  But I decided to roll with it. 

I grabbed a Maple Walnut ice cream cone and tea and enjoyed the Halifax Public Gardens. 

It really was beautiful but 75 minutes was way too much time to hang out in a garden and then a 30 minute walking tour across the garden could have been better spent visiting a historic site such as Citadel Hill. Okay, okay I’m stepping off my soap box. And this is all I saw of Citadel Hill . . .

 

Next time I am in Halifax I will go on my own!  I never realized how much Scottish influence with Halifax but it is a lot. The tartan plaid and bagpipes were very visible all around the city.  As I was headed back to the ship, I received news that the accounting firm I use was closing . . . without doing my 2023 taxes.  Of course, it caused me great stress but was able to figure it out for the short-term and went back to my scheduled trip activities.  At this point what could I do?  I sure wasn’t going to let it ruin my trip.   Good-bye Halifax . . . 

Tonight, we enter polar seas whatever that means . . . apparently there is special safety gear that the crew must prepare in case of an emergency.  Isn’t it a bit ironic we were at the cemetery where Titanic passengers are buried, and we are headed into icy water. 

Day 3: Sydney, Nova Scotia

We have arrived to our first port!  Hello Sydney, Nova Scotia.  This is what the cruise compass told us about our day . . .
In this enclave on Cape Breton Island, metropolitan charm meets down home hospitality.  It’s replete with golf courses, a hearty music scene and the famous Cabot Trail.  Step back into the 18^th century with the towns classically inspired buildings.  Stroll the boardwalk, indulge your love of learning at Cape Breton Centre for Heritage and Science, and end your day toe-tapping to Celtic beats.  

Uummm, I didn’t really see much of that, but I did have a great day on my excursion to the Fortress of Louisbourg.  Louisbourg was a fortified town that was a strategic base for protection of the lucrative French fishery and off-shore trade as well as guarding approaches to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the main shipping route to Quebec and the North American interior.  Louisbourg was originally settled by 116 men, 10 women, and 23 children.  The fortress was besieged and captured by British forces in 1745 and again in 1758.  The fortifications were demolished in 1760.

 

As a bonus there was a model of the grounds made of Legos.  It was impressive! 

The excursion was over but still had a lot of time so enjoyed the beautiful weather walking the boardwalk and just hanging out. 

Merchant Marine Memorial . . .

The Big Fiddle was hard to miss.  It is 17 meters tall, weights 8 tons, and took 8 months to build.  

It was back onboard!

Summer 2018 Review

Just like that Summer 2018 is over!  It is hard to believe as this year summer break seemed to go by so fast!  I enjoyed all our trips and the time we spent at home too.  Some days it was nice to be lazy and wear pajamas all day.  Here is what we enjoyed the most . . .

Heidi
1.  Iceland
2.  Canadian Rockies

It is hard for me to pick just two because I can always find something I like about everywhere I travel.
If I had to pick two specific things I loved this summer?
They both were in Iceland; Diamond Beach and Puffins!

Colin
1.  visiting cousins in College Station; twice
2.  Alaska . . . cruise

We both agreed that Canada was our favorite trip together!

And here is my funny story of the summer . . . I really was so looking forward to our trip to Sanibel Island.  We had a good time despite the awful conditions of the red tide.  Thankfully we were able to collect shells the first day we were there.  I brought back a lot of shells.  The day after we got home I opened my suitcase and the smell almost knocked me over it was awful.  Do you know how hard it is to get shells to not smell?  After a lot of trial and error this is how I finally solved the problem . . .

Yes, I boiled them on the BBQ grill!  I had read to microwave them but there was no way I was going to bring that stink inside my house.  They are so pretty and do not stink any more . . .

Alaska and Canada Trip Review

Our trip ended a week ago and it was a week of being sick and miserable.
I finally feel human again! 
So here is a short recap of what we enjoyed the most from our trip to Canada and Alaska.

Heidi's Favorites

1.  Hubbard Glacier

2.  Banff National Park specifically Peyto Lake

3.  weather . . . it was crazier than Texas and had all 4 seasons in one day!
4.  food . . . we ate a lot!  Shockingly, I gained 0 pounds!

Colin's Favorites

1.  Gold Panning
2.  Eating
3.  Snow

It was a great trip!  We all survived after spending over 375 hours together!

Day 15: Vancouver, Canada

Hello Vancouver!  Our Alaskan Cruise is officially over.  

The end of our trip sure did not end so well.  My mom was just really sick; it seems like early signs of flu so I know she must be miserable.  The silver lining is she got sick after our last stop of the cruise at the end of our trip, but still no fun to miss out on vacation time.   We planned to spend the day in Vancouver but she was so ill she could barely walk.  I quickly booked a hotel for her to rest and relax while we would continue on with our tour.  We did self disembark which was so easy!  In fact we went from the departure lounge, through immigration, in a taxi, and to our hotel in about twenty minutes!  I was in disbelief at how quick the process took.  Thankfully, we managed to get a super early check in at the hotel around 9am.  We got my mom settled and then the three of us headed out for The Granville Island Market Tour.  I have never done a food tour so was looking forward to to trying something new.  We met our tour guide, Michael, and were off on our first food tour.  Our first stop was at Edible Canada Bistro.  It is a farm to table restaurant and just really yummy.  We had fresh hummus with roasted seasonal vegetables paired with a local white wine.  We then got an overview of our tour. 

We continued on to about a dozen other food vendors around the market with samples of course.  Here are some of our favorites . . .

The freshest honey dipped donuts that were melt in your mouth yummy!

Of course local maple syrup too . .

Cherries that were picked yesterday . . . I lost count at how many Colin ate!

Everything we tasted was amazing!  The market was a food lovers paradise but by the end of our tour the market became packed!  The weather was out of world beautiful and so many people out enjoying the sunshine.  Since we took a taxi to Granville Island we decided to take one of the Aquabus Ferry back to the hotel. 

The boats were so cute and quick too!  The best part they only held maybe 8 people so wasn't crowded at all.  We stopped back by the hotel to check on my mom and have a little nap too.  We decided to go have an early dinner before going to the airport.  It was a short walk from the hotel to the Gastown area where we found an outside table at The Flying Pig Gastown.  I had Truffled Jumbo Maccaroni and Beet and Bresaola Salad.  

By this point we were all fooded out and just at that point we were ready to be home!  A quick stop to see the Gastown steam clock . . .

I knew my mom had to be hungry so grabbed her some soup before heading back to the hotel.  We packed up our stuff and it was off to the airport for the red eye flight home to Texas.