Golden gate bridge and view of Alcatraz...oh and me.Sunday, June 20, 2010
San Francisco - day 1-2
Saturday.....Well after a good sleep, shower and a bit of unpacking we hit the streets of San Francisco.
Our hotel is close to Union Square so that's where we headed.....found the open top bus right there so off we went. We've paid for a five day pass which is quite handy as it gives us 5 different routes to play with.
First day we did the downtown loop which took us past Fishermen's Wharf and Pier 39. We didn't get off but just took in the views. Nice to be a bit warmer!
We had dinner in the restaurant attached to the hotel....not impressed with the service or the attitude of the staff so we left a SMALL tip. This tip business is wearing a bit thin!
Anyway, we both slept well, waking up this morning around 9.30am!!
Sunday.... more open top bus...this time over the Golden Gate bridge. We got off near Fishermen's Wharf and had fish and chips for lunch.....horrors!! what possesses them to cook chips with masses of garlic?...ugh!
This evening, we ventured into Chinatown and had the most delicious food and bottle of Californian wine. I loved Chinatown...so much to look at, loads of tacky souvenir shops, much fun!
Tomorrow we are booked to do a 13 hour tour to Yosemite Park....hope we see lots of lovely scenery.
Our hotel is close to Union Square so that's where we headed.....found the open top bus right there so off we went. We've paid for a five day pass which is quite handy as it gives us 5 different routes to play with.
First day we did the downtown loop which took us past Fishermen's Wharf and Pier 39. We didn't get off but just took in the views. Nice to be a bit warmer!
We had dinner in the restaurant attached to the hotel....not impressed with the service or the attitude of the staff so we left a SMALL tip. This tip business is wearing a bit thin!
Anyway, we both slept well, waking up this morning around 9.30am!!
Sunday.... more open top bus...this time over the Golden Gate bridge. We got off near Fishermen's Wharf and had fish and chips for lunch.....horrors!! what possesses them to cook chips with masses of garlic?...ugh!
This evening, we ventured into Chinatown and had the most delicious food and bottle of Californian wine. I loved Chinatown...so much to look at, loads of tacky souvenir shops, much fun!
Tomorrow we are booked to do a 13 hour tour to Yosemite Park....hope we see lots of lovely scenery.
Last day in Alaska :(
This morning we were up early to finish packing...we'd already put out the two big suitcases the night before for the crew to sort and store. An early breakfast (sighted a whale from the dining room window) and last minute instructions from Kate regarding disembarkation and we watched on deck as we sailed into Whittier.
The crew lined up to wish us farewell and we were loaded back onto the coach for the ride back to Anchorage.
As our flight was scheduled for 12.05am we had the rest of the day to look around Anchorage...a trip to the museum and dinner at the Sheraton before a taxi to the airport....tired!
I didn't sleep on the four hour flight and when we landed in San Francisco around 5.30am we just grabbed a taxi to take us to our hotel.
Miraculously, we were allowed to check in and have our room so we just fell into bed for about 6 hours sleep.....
Next post....San Franciso
PS have paid a deposit on our next Cruise West adventure!
The crew lined up to wish us farewell and we were loaded back onto the coach for the ride back to Anchorage.
As our flight was scheduled for 12.05am we had the rest of the day to look around Anchorage...a trip to the museum and dinner at the Sheraton before a taxi to the airport....tired!
I didn't sleep on the four hour flight and when we landed in San Francisco around 5.30am we just grabbed a taxi to take us to our hotel.
Miraculously, we were allowed to check in and have our room so we just fell into bed for about 6 hours sleep.....
Next post....San Franciso
PS have paid a deposit on our next Cruise West adventure!
Alaska - day 4 - SW Sound...cruising
The usual day of cruising through lots of magic scenery...spending most of our time on deck gazing outwards for whales etc....we spotted the family of Orcas again and a humpback whale or two. A black bear was spotted on the shore and several of us were able to see him with the aid of binoculars but aiming the camera at such a small subject was useless...so no proof!
A bunch of harbor seals were to be seen and then we came across the fishing boats that had left Cordova the night before and we were treated to a demonstration of seine fishing (Captain ably steering our boat so as not to hinder the fishing) Won't bore anyone with the sequence of photos I took during the involved fishing technique but it sure looked like hard work.
During the afternoon we passed a colony of Steller sea lions perched on rocks and later on we reached Chenega Glacier.
Our Captain let our ship hover there for several hours as the ice gathered around us. After dinner we spent most of our time on deck, photographing and filming the glacier calve. So exciting. We didn't want to leave but alas, at midnight we started to make our way slowly out of the ice and icebergs.....so slowly, we were still taking photos of the glacier at 1.30 am...in really good light. Another magic day.
A bunch of harbor seals were to be seen and then we came across the fishing boats that had left Cordova the night before and we were treated to a demonstration of seine fishing (Captain ably steering our boat so as not to hinder the fishing) Won't bore anyone with the sequence of photos I took during the involved fishing technique but it sure looked like hard work.
During the afternoon we passed a colony of Steller sea lions perched on rocks and later on we reached Chenega Glacier.
Our Captain let our ship hover there for several hours as the ice gathered around us. After dinner we spent most of our time on deck, photographing and filming the glacier calve. So exciting. We didn't want to leave but alas, at midnight we started to make our way slowly out of the ice and icebergs.....so slowly, we were still taking photos of the glacier at 1.30 am...in really good light. Another magic day.
Alaska - Day 3 - Cordova
After our somewhat rough night, we arrived in the fishing village of Cordova. After breakfast some locals from the Cultural Centre came aboard to give us a presentation showing native costume and dance. The costumes were simply beautiful. We were told we could purchase items from the centre during our day there.
Rainy day unfortunately but we bravely rugged up and carrying a Cruise West umbrella we ventured up the very steep ramp at the end of the jetty to explore.
The lovely native costume pieces were priced well out of our reach. Just as well as Blair would not have been impressed if I came home with an otter skin hat. (They were so soft) I did buy a little angel dressed in native gear for my Christmas tree. $25...bargain.
A shop in the town had some beautiful clothing trimmed in braid designed by a local artist....I bought a hat...red to match my coat...so I can wear that in rainy weather when we walk girls!
We went back to the boat for bbq lunch...the salmon was delish.
Then a little more walking around town trying to dodge the heavier rain.
We sailed off again around 6pm for more exciting scenery.
Now what did we spot?
Oh yes, a family of 5 Orcas (includng baby) humpback whales, harbor porpoise, and lots of sea otters. And for bird lovers, we spotted several bald eagles.
We were warned we might be in for another rough night as we had to cross Prince William Sound again but it was smooth sailing and we slept very well.
Photos day 2
This setting out of photos is really bugging me, sorry if they are all over the place! Anyway....photos should show....cute sea otters floating on their backs..... Kate talking to us on deck.....humpback whales....Peter in front of glacier.....Harcvard Glacier (the one I missed calving) and ice from the glacier around us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)