Austria is a small landlocked country that is bordered by Germany (northwest), Czechia (north), Slovakia (northeast), Hungary (east), Slovenia and Italy (south), and Switzerland and Liechtenstein (west).
With a population of around 9 million the country has a history that dates back to pre-roman times.
Vienna
Before I get into the post proper there are two points that have jumped to the surface virtually straight away. Number One. We have massively underdone our timing for this place and will absolutely need to come back at some point. Number Two. One post is not enough for this city. As soon as we got to town and took a look at St. Stephens Cathedral we quickly realised that to do it justice this church warranted a post all on its own. Same goes for the palaces.
The first thing that struck us was the price. We can live again. Having left Switzerland where everything was obscenely priced, Vienna was quite reasonable, cheap even. Our beer price was cut in 3 and the food prices were similarly reasonable. Don’t get me wrong, we still probably paid back home prices for our meals, but we weren’t being anally probed every time we left our room.
Vienna has been called the “City of Music” as many famous classical musicians such as Schubert, Beethoven and Mozart called Vienna home. It was also home to Sigmund Freud (the world’s first psychoanalyst).
Vienna’s history dates back to the Roman era but most of what is there today came about under the rule of Empress Maria Theresia (1740 – 1780) and later Franz Joseph (1848 – 1916), who was largely responsible for the monumental architecture in the city’s centre.
St. Stephens Cathedral
This was the first sight that we visited and quickly realised that we were going to undercook this post. Originally built in the 1100’s and then further added to in the 1300’s this cathedral is phenomenal. Every wall, every aspect, every angle has a different story to tell. Built right in the heart of town, to say this place is popular would be an understatement.
The Hofburg Palace was the one time principal palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Smack Bang in the middle of town it was built in the 13th century and has been expanded several times since. Since 1946, it has been the official residence and workplace of the president of Austria.
Within the Hofburg Palace you can see the Imperial Apartments, the Sisi Museum, Imperial Treasury (with the crown of the Holy Roman Empire), State Hall of the National Library, the Spanish Riding School and the World Museum.
In front of the palace is the Heldenplatz or heroes square.
Also in the middle of everything is the Museum Quarter. This is a huge area with massively impressive buildings on all sides.
The Schönbrunn Palace (meaning “beautiful spring”) was the summer residence of the Hapsburg dynasty. The palace has 1441 rooms and vast gardens and is the most visited tourist destination in Vienna, and once again we undercooked out time and this could have been an entire post on its own.
The Ringstraße is a 5.3 km ring road that was designed by Emperor Franz Joseph to replace the old city walls. It was built in between the 1860s and 1890s. Some of the main buildings that occupy space on the Ringstrasse include: The Vienna State Opera, Academy of Fine Arts, Palace of Justice, Austrian Parliament Building, Rathaus (Town Hall), Burgtheater, University of Vienna, and Wiener Börse (Stock Exchange).
The Rathaus (City Hall) of Vienna was built between 1872 and 1883 in the gothic style, with a tower similar to cathedrals.
The Votive Church is a neo-Gothic church that was built and consecrated in 1879, on the day of the Silver Wedding of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth.
It was apparently built as a token of gratitude after a failed attempt to assassinate Emperor Franz Joseph.
The Liebenberg Monument was made in 1887 to honour a civil servant dating back to the 1600’s.
It is a nine-meter tall red granite obelisk with the goddess of victory on the top and a portrait of Liebenberg with two angels and a life-sized bronze lion on the base.
Austrian Parliament Building was completed in 1883. It has over one hundred rooms including the Chambers of the National Council and the Federal Council.
Belvedere Palace
This one we were unable to get to as time saw us way too pushed. But the Belvedere Palace was built as a summer residence for the prince Eugene of Savoy. The complex actually contains two Baroque palaces (the Upper and Lower Belvedere), the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. It is now home to an art museum
Long story short, Vienna was amazing, but we did not heave enough time to see all of the things that were on offer. I guess the worst part of that scenario is that we will have to come back and spend some more time exploring, more fully.
And on a final note, Vienna really knows how to put on a horse statue.
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a small country of 41,000 square km and a population of under 9 million.
It is bordered by Italy (south), France (west), Germany (north) and Austria and Liechtenstein (east). Once again I was here in 1996 but had a single stop in the Swiss Alps (with no real recollection of which mountain).
A Google search of similar trips to the one I took suggests that the mountain was most likely Jungfrau.
Sargens
This was a quick stop off as we transited towards Liechtenstein. Sargens is a small village of a bit over 6,000 people that serves as a fairly major transportation hub.
Sargans is known for its castle, which dates from before 1291. Since 1899, it has been run by the local church and now houses the Sarganserland museum.
Zurich
Zurich is at the northern tip of Lake Zurich on the Limmat River and is a global centre for banking and finance. And oh my god isn’t that obvious!
This place expensive.
Seriously expensive.
Our first exposure to the city was an economic one. The prices charged here in Geneva are obscene at best and when you couple this with a rubbish exchange rate it makes Zurich almost out of reach for us poor Australians. One Swiss Franc will cost you $1.70 Australian and the prices that you pay back home are generally a lot lower than the ones charged here.
We checked into our hotel and did the usual search for nearby restaurants for dinner. This is where the wheels fell off. An entree soup was 15 francs ($25) and the cheapest steak was 56 francs ($95). Ok time to recalibrate our expectations here. How about a pizza – starts at 19.50 ($33), ok how about a burger – starts at 16.50 ($28), umm maybe a salad – starts at 26 ($44).
Oh, this is going to hurt. We found a kebab shop nearby, they’re cheap right. So we went and bought a (very ordinary) kebab and a soft drink each. The final bill came to 36 francs ($61.30). Anyway, we were fed and would be out in 2 days.
The next thing that we got to experience properly was the public transport system. As we were staying a few km from the centre we chose to tram it in and out of town to the train station and walk from there. This was both easy and efficient. The train station is truly something to behold. It is split over 3 levels with 15 train lines coming in and out of each level, 44 lines in total.
Zurich certainly has a stunning location on the shores of Lake Zurich and the historic old town with amazing buildings is right in its center.
There are about 50 museums and 100 art galleries within the city to keep you amused if your interests run that way. And if you’re after rest and relaxation, you can be in the Swiss mountains in less than an hour.
The twin towers of the Grossmünster are one of the most recognisable images of the city.
According to legend, Charlemagne discovered the graves of the city’s patron saints Felix and Regula and had a church built on the spot.
Construction started in around 1100 and it finished around 1220.
The Fraumünster church in Zürich which was built on the remains of a former abbey for aristocratic women which was founded in 853.
After the Reformation, the Fraumünster came into the possession of the city.
The Bahnhofstrasse is the main shopping street that connects Lake Zurich with the train station, Zurich Hardbrücke. It runs a distance of 1.4 kilometres with all of the usual high end boutiques, department stores and watch shops.
St. Peter’s church is the oldest parish church in Zurich.
The original foundation walls from the 9th century are still visible under the choir.
It also has the largest church clock face in Europe (measures 8.7meters in diameter). There are five bells in the tower, dating from 1880.
Beyond the big ticket items, there are lovely old buildings with amazing architecture and styling almost everywhere you look. The people tend to keep to themselves but are mostly friendly, if a little stand offish.
Our time in Zurich was really nice. Getting around was a breeze thanks to a super-efficient (if a little confusing at times) tram system. The old town was a great wander as was the newer section (although we had no interest in the high end shops). The only real detraction was the price. It quite literally costs about 3 times more for anything that you would get back home.
Our meal situation was overcome by going to Lidl and Co-op and buying groceries. The hotel gave us a well priced ($26 a head) continental breakfast which saw us set up for the day and the shopping run got us through the rest of the day reasonably painlessly. It is amazing how far cheese, tomato, avocado and some decent bread rolls will get you. On our last evening we did treat ourselves to some local beers, but I still ate a ($12) salad in my room.
Liechtenstein is the sixth smallest nation in the world. With a population of under 40,000 it is wedged between Austria and Switzerland with an area of just over 160 square kilometres and is only 25 km long.
In reality it is a narrow strip of land in the valley between mountains. It is little more than a suburb in an Australian context.
While tiny, Liechtenstein is one of the world’s richest country per capita. It got to this point historically by acting as a tax haven. International pressure has forced compliance to international standards and in recent years it has taken steps to shake off its image as a tax haven and to reposition itself as a legitimate financial centre.
Getting to Liechtenstein – as mentioned, Liechtenstein does not have an airport, nor does it have a railway station. So to get here we had to catch a train from Zurich to the small swiss town of Sargans where we hopped on a bus for the remaining 20 minute ride into the capital.
Balzers
The bus ride to Vaduz took us through the small village of Balzers (under 5000 people). The main claim to fame of Balzers is that it is the home of the Gutenberg Castle. The castle was built in the 12th century on a rocky hill right in the centre of the village.
Gutenberg Castle one of the five castles of Liechtenstein and one of two that have survived intact.
Unlike Vaduz Castle it does not serve as a residence of the princely family and is open to the public as a museum.
Weird Facts
In doing my research before coming here I came up with a bunch of things that I was not expecting. For example, there is only one listed billionaire in Liechtenstein, and his wealth is worth 50% of the country’s GDP. He became a billionaire by making dental products, because of this, Liechtenstein is the world’s largest manufacture of false teeth, making 20 per cent of sales worldwide.
Everyone gets to party in the big castle once a year.
Every year on Staatsfeiertag (Liechtenstein’s national holiday), the palace throws open its doors and invite all 39,000 residents (and anyone else willing to make the journey) to the Castle in Vaduz Castle.
Other weird things included:
According to stats by July 2022 there were 38,300 internet users , equal to 100% of the principality’s population.
It doesn’t have its own airport
It has an official 90-minute lunch break from noon until 1.30 pm.
The national anthem (Oben am jungen Rhein) is set to the same melody as the British anthem “God Save the Queen”.
Women only recently (1984) got the vote
Vaduz
Vaduz is the capital and is located along the Rhine River and has less than 6,000 residents. In reality the place is a main street with two others running parallel. For those in Australia the size of this Capital City is the equivalent of places like Cootamundra, Biloela or Nuriootpa and is a bit smaller than Beaudesert. The most prominent landmark is Vaduz Castle which is perched atop the hill overlooking the city. It is home to the reigning prince of Liechtenstein and at the time we visited, was covered in scaffolding.
Navigating the heart of Vaduz is akin to walking down the mall of a small town, but with better quality artwork.
Apart from the castle up the hill, the main show in town is the Cathedral of St. Florin. It is a neo-Gothic church that was built in 1874 and was upgraded to a cathedral in 1997.
Other than that there are some nice buildings (town hall, government house etc), some interesting gardens and some cool cafes and restaurants.
All things considered, Liechtenstein was quite nice. There was no massive drawcard to pull you here, but given its proximity and that it doesn’t take too long to see it was worth popping in to. It was a quick and simple way to add another country to our ever-growing list on our way to reach the magic 100.
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a tiny country of 30,528 square km and a population of around 11.5 million.
It is bordered by the Netherlands (north), Germany (east), Luxembourg (southeast), France (southwest), and the North Sea (northwest). It is most known for itsbeers, waffles, and chocolates.
Brussels
I came here on my first trip to Europe back in 1996. But as it was one of those whirlwind tours of Europe, my recollections of this and other places is quite low. While those tours show you a lot, they blur together quickly and short of a camera roll tick box there is very little that really sticks in your mind, other than you had been there.
The most recognisable thing to see in all of Belgium is a two foot tall, bronze statue of a boy taking a leak.
It is called the Manneken Pis and is about my only real recollection of coming here the first time around.
The tourist blurb even tells me that it has his own dresser and thousands of different costumes for any occasion imaginable. The chances of seeing him dressed in something eye-catching are quite high.
It is near the Grand Place (which I am sure I saw but don’t really recall) in Brussels. As we buzzed past this time, the Grand Palace was covered in scaffolding.
Antwerp
Antwerp is the largest city in Belgium by area and historical records show occupation since the 2nd century. For us though it was a series of flying visits (several visits all with little or no time) as many of our trains transited through the place. The station is amazing with multiple tiers of platforms all running on top of each other. Space is a premium and they have have responded accordingly.
Antwerp has been known as the diamond capital of the world for several centuries. The diamond trade in the port started nearly 500 years ago when the first rough stones were brought over from India. today 85% of the world’s rough diamonds, 50% of the polished diamonds, and 40% of industrial diamonds are passing through the diamond district — highlighting its status as the diamond capital of the world.
Ghent
Ghent is the third largest city in Belgium and primarily functions as a port and university city. It dates back to the middle ages and was originally built at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Leie. Ghent is a compact city with all attractions within walking distance from one another.
there are Two tourist quarters – the Historical Centre which has the historical buildings and monuments and the Arts Quarter which has the main museums.
This place is amazing. We came on a day when there was two separate music festivals on and the next day was the Belgian National day. To say the place was hopping was an understatement. The town is full of stunning old buildings and castles, which (without a ton of temporary stages and bars set up around them) would have made for some fantastic photos.
We dodged the human traffic of the festivals and did our best to hit the big tourist spots. We managed to get near the old Fish Market, Kunsthal (13th century Monastery), Lievekaai St Antoniuskaai (a really funky bridge and canal) St Bavo’s Cathedral, Belfry, museum, Saint Nicholas Church, St James Church, and Town Hall.
Without a doubt the highlight for me was the temporary (or at least I hope that they were) urinals that were set up in the middle of the street.
No walls, no privacy just a 4 way trough plugged directly into the sewer system. How else do you deal with large numbers of people drinking and partying in the heart of town.
Not sure what the ladies were supposed to do. I didn’t see any alternative options.
Ok so the real top pick was probably the Castle of Counts. This is a medieval fortress, right in the heart of town, with its defence system virtually intact. Its history dates back to the Roman occupation. The coolest bit was that in 1949 it was occupied by students in a siege situation. They were protesting a rise in beer prices.
Graffiti Street is an area designated to street art, some of which is fantastic. Others however are just senseless defacement. And in a city where an area has been set aside for such pursuits, the senseless stuff still spills over into the surrounding streets, defacing an otherwise charming little town.
Bruges(Brugge)
As Ghent was not very big, and Bruges was a short 30 minute train ride away, the next day we hopped the rattler and headed into Bruges. We got up early (on the Belgium National Day) and headed off to check the place out. The Belgian National day marks the anniversary of the investiture of Leopold I as the first King of the Belgians in 1831. It is a public holiday and saw masses of people flooding into Bruges.
Bruges is Belgium’s most preserved medieval town, and its beautiful architecture attracts more than two million visitors every year. From our perspective, this is the pick of all the places that we have seen so far. In every part of the old city and the path towards it, this is by far the prettiest city that we have seen since beginning our travels.
As we were there on the National Day and the day after the finishing of a major festival, we did not see Bruges at its best. There were temporary structures and scaffolding up around the main square (Jan van Eyck Square) and all of the catering elements were still in place or being pulled down. Despite all of this, we still thought it was the prettiest town that we had visited. We were able to see past the mess to the town underneath, and it was stunning.
Getting around Bruges is pretty easy.
The walking is calm, easy and flat and the Canal boats are simple to find and easy to ride.
But if you really want to get around the horse and cart options are a charming way clip clop along the cobblestoned streets.
The biggest issue you will face when visiting is that there are a number of towers and not a lot of room to photograph them. So you spend a lot of time taking upward photos that really do not do the target structures justice.
The Belfry of Bruges stands right in the heart of town and is 83 meters tall. Built in the 15th century there is a 366-step climb to the top that is usually available (but not on the day we were here. On the hour the tower rings out a peal from the bells.
As you can see from our photo trucks and scaffolding were ruining our photos, but not detracting from the charm and architecture.
Bruges Markt has been holding a weekly market since 1985. The guild houses have all been converted into restaurants around the outside.
The view of the main canal from the St Boniface Bridge.
While the bridge is fairly modest, its position along the canal makes it a favourite as it provides canal views as well as views of the Church of Our Lady.
It was built in the early-20th-century.
Basilica of the Holy Blood is home to a phial which is said to carry a cloth soaked in Jesus Christ’s blood.
The 112-meter-high spire of the Church of Our Lady (Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk) is the tallest in Belgium.
Work began on the nave and aisles around 1230, the outermost aisles and chapels were added in the 14th and 15th centuries.
The Madonna of Bruges is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo of the Virgin and Child.
It now sits in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Belgium.
Sadly this was not open due to the Denmark day festivities.
Bruges is lovely
The one thing that Bruges has a ton of is the high end chocolatiers, they are almost everywhere. The next most common stores are the tourist trinket shops and then the waffle houses.
And of course, who could leave Belgium without sampling one of their infamous Belgian Waffles.
Belgian Beer
When it comes to beer, Belgium is the king. The country counts more than 200 active breweries, including the world’s largest brewer (AB InBev) and dozens of small local breweries, some centuries old. This number then further increased since the recent specialty beer fad came to town.
The most known abbey beers are Trappist beers (which can only be brewed within the abbey walls). Trappists are one of the many religious orders in Belgium. Many beers can also be sold with different alcohol content, starting at 5-6% and going as high as 11-12%.
Like the Dutch, the Belgians have embraced the special glass for each beer (not sure which one actually came first). Whichever one of them started it, it is a fantastic way of taking the beer-drinking experience to another level.
There are over 1600 registered beers in Belgium. While we were able to dip our toe into this pool, that is about as good as we could get. A few days does not allow for two people to make a dent in a list of 1600+.
The right glass
The Belgian experience suggests that the glasses help bring out the best in your beer.
Different types of beer glasses help compliment different styles.
With the right combination of beer and glass, the aroma, taste and steady carbonation of the beer will be greatly complimented. The blurb suggest that you “Think of the glass as a suit or dress that fits you SO WELL and calls attention to all the right parts, showing no flaws”.
We arrived in Amsterdam (the first time) having left the Czech Republic, but were going to come back another few times more, so I held off doing this post to capture all of the bits that we ended up seeing. So when reading along the timeline will be a bit off in sections.
Depending upon your interests there is so much to see and do in Amsterdam, but we warned it is a very expensive city for virtually everything. The tourist sight map below has over 40 museums available to be seen within this small area of the central district. Add to that a further 25 places of interest and another dozen or so tour and canal boat launching sites.
The reality of Amsterdam is that virtually everything is old (400+ years old). And because of this, everything that you look at is old and impressive looking. The first time around we ended up staying at a little (400 yr old) hotel in Rembrandtplein (Rembrandt Square). It was in the centre of everything, surrounded by historical sights and restaurants, and was (almost) ideal.
I say almost because on Friday and Saturday evenings it gets taken over by “English Lager Louts” on football and bucks party weekends. All looking to get drunk and stoned and hit one or more of the live sex shows that are on offer in Amsterdam.
A quick wander up the road from our hotel and we were in the flower market area, along one of the famous Amsterdam canals. Needless to say there were tulips aplenty and bulbs galore.
We were met by Sonja and Michel (from Alkmaar) and were able to have a lovely late afternoon wander around the city, past the canals, looking at various sights. Not being from Amsterdam, I kept pointing at things and asking what they were, to which Michel replied, no idea. This is where we learnt about the festival in Alkmaar and totally messed up this timeline.
The Amsterdam buildings were the most amazing thing for us. Nothing is straight or square. The houses were built (hundreds of years ago on wooden piles that were driven into the ground. Over time these have either rotted or sunk causing the entire foundation of the city to move. Add to this that many of the houses have been given additional floors, which put extra pressure on their foundations. This added weight may have pushed formerly upright buildings slightly forward, creating a slanted facade. As you walk down the street the houses are, almost without exception, at weird angles.
With the timeline messed up, I will go through things alphabetically now. We did the obligatory trip past the Anne Frank House, but this is super popular, and super small so only a trickle of people can go through at a time. When you arrive you are met with about 300 people milling about in front of the building waiting to be called in for their turn. The Anne Frank House itself serves as a museum and awareness centre for those persecuted during the Second World War.
The Begijnhof lies within the Singel — the innermost canal of Amsterdam’s circular canal system. It is an inner court which was founded during the middle ages and lies a meter below the rest of the old city center.
Central Station is a seriously impressive building to look at in the heart of Amsterdam. Sadly it does not function anywhere near as impressively as it looks. We made many trips in and out of here over the period and, for the most part, it was highly complex and inefficient. But, it does look very pretty.
Dam Square lies in the heart of Amsterdam at the original location of the dam in the river Amstel to prevent the Zuiderzee sea from flooding the city. It was created in the 13th century and has been the centre of activity since those times. It is dominated by the jewel in the crown the Royal Palace (Koninklijk Palace). Opposite the palace is an obelisk that was built in memory of Dutch soldiers and members of the resistance who died in World War 2.
The De Gooyer windmill, is one of the most famous windmills in the Netherlands. It is octagonal in shape and dates back to the 16th century.
The Heineken Experience is a tour of Heineken’s oldest brewery, in the heart of Amsterdam. You can learn all about the brewing process, innovations, and even learn about the best way to taste and enjoy beer.
Interestingly, most Dutch people don’t drink the stuff, preferring some of the more interesting beers on offer. I must say that I agree with them.
Hortus Botanicus is a 375 year old tribute to all things botanical. More than just a pretty series of gardens the Hortus library has botanical descriptions from explorations going back to the 16th century.
Museum Our Lord in the Attic was built in 1663, when Catholics lost their right to worship.
So a Catholic church, known as Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder (Our Dear Lord in the Attic) came into being in the attic of a large building. This has subsequently become a museum.
The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of the Netherlands. It tells the story of 800+ years of Dutch history, from 1200 to now.
Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum has 200 paintings, 500 sketches and 750 documents and letters from Vincent Van Gogh. Within the museum are some of Van Gogh’s most famous paintings, including Sunflowers and The Bedroom.
Vondelpark is Amsterdam’s largest urban park and includes a famous open-air theatre, numerous children’s playgrounds and several cafés and restaurants.
And of course it is Amsterdam, so there are canals everywhere you look there is something very special and soothing about a city that is built around waterways. The canals were almost calming enough to make you forget that at any moment you could be run down by a cyclist with scant disregard for anyone else.
As a totally random coincidence, our brother-in-law (Jason) happened to be in town on business.
So we headed to his hotel and caught up for a coffee and a good chat before we headed off to Alkmaar.
Our second Foray into Amsterdam was after the Germany trip and at least on this occasion the train system and central railway station did not fail us. We had flight out the next day (to Canada for Claudia’s birthday cruise of Alaska – see what I mean about the timeline) so we decided to stay at one of the commuter hotels out near the airport.
What a delight this was, the train from central to the airport was simple, from here a free shuttle bus direct to the door, a nice tidy clean room with good internet and a warm shower and a bunch of reasonably priced dinner options.
A free breakfast the next day (starting at 4am for those on red-eye flights) and the same free shuttle back to the terminal. A very efficient and welcome transit.
A couple of weeks later, we were back from Canada and Alaska and in Amsterdam for a quick transit. This time we were taking the train out of town so we arrived at the airport and attempted to get the train to central. But alas for the second time in three trips central station was all messed up. We bought our ticket ($20 worth) and headed down to the train station. Once down there, we saw the sign on the board saying that due to a switching problem, all trains to central were cancelled.
So we headed back up the escalator, having kissed our fares away, and then (once again) made our way towards a bus (which we also had to pay for) and began the slow trudge to town. Once over the train debacle, the rest went pretty much according to plan.
We checked into our hotel which was on the third floor (and upwards) of an old building. Given that it was an old building, they were not allowed (by law) to change anything. This meant that there was no lift and that the staircase to reception was two flights high. The individual steps were half the width of a normal person’s foot, and they then turned a corner (making them about the width of my foot). And of course, once checked in, we were up another level again. And there was us, trying to lug two, 23kg bags plus day bags up these impossible stairs (after our 25ish-hour transit from Vancouver).
Anyway, we made it up, and back down the next day without too much incident (but with a healthy amount of huffing and puffing). We got a nap in had a nice meal and the world was all good again. The up side of all of this was that the continental breakfast the next morning was magnificent. After a couple of weeks of North American breakfasts, the continental offerings were a welcome sight and the coffee actually tasted nice.
Dutch Beers
On the whole, dutch beers are magnificent. They have not gone silly with the whole microbrewery and IPA thing and have stayed true to their roots. The lager, draught and Pilsner offerings are almost universally fantastic. The coolest thing that they do however, is match their glass shape to the particular beer. This means that each beer comes in a unique glass. Lets not be silly here, it is highly impractical for storage and washing, but a fantastic touch nonetheless.
Dutch food on the other hand is not as awesome. It is rich and hearty and filling enough, but does lack some of the variety and interest that other countries’ cuisines offer. There is a huge focus on sausages and stews accompanied with stodgy (but nice) mashed potatoes. Having said that, a regular beer snack (bitterballen) is one of the best things that we have ever eaten.
Overview
The Netherlands is a tough one to rate, bits of it are magnificent while other bits are a broken mess or are brutally expensive. There is certainly a lot of history and the architecture is interesting to say the least. There are museums and art galleries everywhere you look, just as there are knock shops and weed joints. The beer is (for the most part) pretty good, but a beer will sting you a lot of money to buy.
The people are friendly and welcoming, but the cyclists are terrorists wreaking havoc everywhere they go. I would certainly want to come back here but once again the logistics and ease of travel through the Netherlands means that it can be done simply and later on in life without needing much energy .
On our second foray into Vancouver, we stayed closer to Vancouver’s downtown. This gave us a shorter walk from the cruise terminal and we could have easy access to the city’s main attractions. Not to mention being able to get around on foot and have plenty of restaurants, cafes, and bars at our doorstep.
Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a 405-hectare (1,001-acre) public park near downtown. It was to be done on our first trip in but the sheer size of it was overwhelming, so we put it off.
We hooked up with Brad and Nora and walked the bayside until we got near the park and then hired some e-bikes to get around the mammoth area that is Stanley Park. According to the blurb there are 27 separate attractions within the park. Some of these we saw while others we entirely missed due to the sheer size of the place.
Some of these include:
Lumbermens’ Arch, three different boardwalks, Georgia Viaduct Lamp, Cob House, Vancouver Parks Board Office, Rose Cottage, Wishing Well, Salmon Display Pool, the old Polar Bear Compound, a couple of lighthouses (Prospect Point and Brockton Point).
Stanley Park Pavilion, the Nine O’Clock Gun, Susan Point Welcome Gateways, Nature house, Malkin Bowl, SS Empress of Japan Figurehead, Jubilee Fountain, Entrance bridge.
We visited Beaver lake that was was, ironically, totally beaver free for more than 60 years until 2008. Now, up to five beavers have been seen at once, working to plug up the flow of water.
Siwash Rock while not really a destination still makes for a great photo.
It is just off the seawall a bit north of Third Beach. You can’t actually get to the rock as it’s surrounded by water.
But without a doubt, the number one thing to do in Stanley Park is to visit the Vancouver Aquarium. It has 65,000 animals and 30 exhibits and galleries to explore. The aquarium has the usual suspects: sea lions, otters penguins, turtles, stingrays, fish, sea urchins, etc.
But it also has an Amazon gallery that has exotic birds, snakes, monkeys, and my favourites, the sloths.
I did not realise it at the time but it seems as though Jill was obsessed with the Jellyfish. She took no photo of any animal other than Jellyfish. I guess she just tuned into her own personal lava lamp.
The number two is to visit the first nations totem poles. These are a collection of totem poles representing a number of indigenous nations. All but 3 of the totem poles, along with 3 Welcome Gateways, are located in a meadow at Brockton Point. There is one totem pole, Children of the World at Stanley Park Junction where the Miniature Train operates. And there are 2 other totem poles that are on the Miniature Train route that can only be seen by taking the train ride during the day.
Once again we caught up with Paul and Francesca, who once again offered to take us out in the boat to enjoy Vancouver from the water. This time it was a long ride out to see Granite Falls. The ride out was a bit rough and hairy but the world calmed down considerably for the ride home. We boated past the hydro-electric power plants, amazing mountains and huge trees.
The weather did the right thing by us on the way home and the skies cleared to reveal even more stunning shots of the city from the waterside.
Weed is legal in Canada, like most places, it can be freely bought (on virtually every block) and importantly it can be smoked anywhere, and I mean anywhere. This means that it is impossible to walk for more than a few minutes without walking through a waft of second-hand weed smoke. I swear that in the first week that we came to Canada, I had inhaled more passive weed in a week than I had in the preceding 54 years.
Gastown is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Vancouver and was the original centre of town. Water Street is Gastown’s most famous street, but the neighborhood covers a broad area and holds beautiful old houses, clothing boutiques, shops, art galleries, souvenir shops and plenty of places to grab a bite.
The big show in town is however the Gastown Steam clock.
Underneath Vancouver there are a series of steam pipes connected to a generating plant. The system provides heat to most of the downtown core.
Despite seeming like a remnant of the Victorian era the Steam Clock was actually only built in 1977.
On the hour there will be hordes of people gathered around waiting for the clock to do its thing.
Vancouver architecture is so much more interesting than anything that we see back home. Sure the CBD is full of high-rises, but here they are not all boring square boxes. There is some panache to them, curves and cantilevers break up the monotony of the usual cityscape.
Canadian Beer
Our early forays into Canadian beer were terrible. The offerings on the plane and in Montreal airport were atrocious attempts at producing a beverage. On our early arrival in Vancouver the first two there were almost as bad. But from here things turned a corner and improved dramatically.
The Granville Island Brewing Company does some nice drops, but the IPA options remain too hoppy and a struggle to drink. For the most part the Canadian beers are mild and unobtrusive. They are not offensive but wouldn’t really have you hunting to search them out either.
Canadian Food
this was a strange thing to try and quantify, I guess much like Australia, Canada has become so multi-cultural that virtually everything is available. There are certainly some adverse influences from their nearest neighbour (burgers, hot dogs and fried chicken) but beyond that almost everything else is here too.
The seafood gumbos are pretty good and worth exploring and the wide variety of Asian on offer is astounding. Canadian breakfasts were the trick. The mixture of pancakes with bacon, eggs and maple syrup does take some getting used to but it is OK.
Poutine is a dish of french fries and cheese curds topped with a brown gravy. It emerged in Quebec, in the late 1950s and has become a staple.
I had the breakfast version that replaced the gravy with a hollandaise sauce. Based on this example, I am not a fan.
On a personal note, my last haircut was back in Greece and things are getting pretty wild and woolly on my end. Jill has managed to do her own hair in the bathroom but I am getting more and more furry with every passing day. In lieu of finding a reasonably priced barber my wife grabbed the clippers and had a crack. Needless to say that I will not be featuring in too many photos for a while. As a hairdresser, Jill makes a great nurse.
Canada has been amazing and we would definitely come back again. The scenery of both here and Alaska were incredible and will be pretty tough to beat. But as long as you don’t plan to physically hike the mountains, it is a destination that can wait as it is not that physically demanding. There are other options to get to the top of the big hills and mountains. Gondolas and roads allow you to get to the top of many places and given that there are stunning views virtually everywhere, you really wont miss too much if you don’t hike.
A large group of people were all heading into the US. We were all converging from around the world with the main intent of meeting up to join the Claudia birthday cruise (previous post). Claudia and Jeremy (Jimmy) have featured often throughout the posts most notably on our Miami sojourn for our (mine and Jimmy’s) 50th birthday Caribbean cruise vacation.
For us it was a simple journey from Vancouver in Canada up to Anchorage in Alaska, where we hung out for a bit before catching a train down to where the boat left.
Anchorage
Flying into Anchorage is an impressive sight, no matter what time of the year. Jill had the window seat and was constantly clicking away as the views were that good. High peaks and snow capped mountains everywhere you look. This place is stunningly pretty.
Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska (a bit under 300,000 people) it was first settled as a tent city near the mouth of Ship Creek. It was built to house workers being used for the construction of the Alaska railroad. Archaeological evidence suggests that the first inhabitants arrived about 5000 years ago.
Wiki tells me that, in 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward brokered a deal to purchase Alaska from Imperial Russia for $7.2 million, or about two cents an acre. In 1888, gold was discovered just south of Anchorage which led to an influx of prospectors, and small towns.
The city is on a flat coastal strip of land beneath the Chugach Mountains. This means that it is ringed by snow covered peaks for most of the year. There is a short window in summer when all of the snow will (sometimes) melt. When we arrived we got some green on the hills but still plenty of snow on the peaks.
Getting off the plane one of the first things that you are met with at the airport is a giant stuffed moose buck.
As I have never seen a live moose, this was a big ticket item for me to see. Anchorages’ proximity to the wilderness means that it has its fair share of wildlife that are in and around the town centre.
According to the blurb, Moose are a common sight in the Anchorage area. There is a summer population of around 250 moose, increasing to as many as 1,500 during the winter.
The tourist blurb also estimates that there are around 250 black bears and 60 grizzly bears that live in the area and are regularly sighted within the city.
The visitor’s center is a small log cabin in the heart of town. As you would expect, it is surrounded by a ton of tourist and trinket shops, along with street food vendors offering reindeer hotdogs. Of course I had to stop and try a reindeer hotdog.
As it wasn’t winter, and we didn’t have a car the opportunity to see bears and moose around town were not leaping out at us. So we decided to hop on the free shuttle bus that did the loop between the visitors centre, aviation museum, the wildlife centre and the botanic gardens. Stopping at the wildlife centre I got to see my moose. Add to this a polar bear, bald eagle, grizzly and brown bears and some other things to boot.
As timing would have it we would be in America on Independence day (4th of July). We met up with Brad and Nora (from the earlier Philippines posts) and decided to head to town for the parade and festivities. It was exactly as you would expect, loud, obnoxious and wildly (perhaps even blindly) patriotic.
The local park turned into a theme park style celebration with food trucks and obscenely sized and overpriced food offerings along with the odd kids ride. All things considered it was an ok day with a happy community and a nice wander around town to finish it all off.
The Alaskan Railway
The next day we (Jill and I) hopped on the Alaskan Railroad for the four and a half hour ride from Anchorage to Seward. The trip took us past lakes, glaciers, mountains and wildlife.
This was truly one of the world’s greatest train journeys. At virtually every turn there were magnificent sights to be seen. Towering snow covered peaks, multiple glaciers and we even got to see wild bears, eagles and moose as we rolled down towards Seward.
About 15 minutes outside Seward we passed through a valley called eagle point. This was an area where an avalanche had diverted the river, making it shallower than the main river, thereby providing perfect fishing grounds for the eagles. At this point of our journey, eagles were everywhere. We counted 5 bald eagles in a single tree at one part.
Seward
Hopping off the train, we set to walking the 1 mile distance to the heart of the town of Seward. There was a free shuttle but that ran every 20 mins, but there was also a full train load of people and luggage all trying to head to the same place. So we chose to walk, dragging our big bags with us. Once landing in town we could not check into our hotel for another 3 hours so we had to amuse ourselves.
There is not really too much to do in Seward. There are a few bars, some tourist trinket shops and the odd restaurant. The exception to this is the Alaska Sea Life Centre. Brad and Nora joined us again (they had an extra day in Anchorage) and we did the tourist schlepp. Apart from a seal, a sealion and a few seabirds (puffin being the pick) the place was pretty lame and certainly was not worth the $50 admission fee.
Alas while watching the sealion, which was huge, an American woman was standing next to me asking what it was. My response was (typically) that it was a rock sausage. A couple of minutes later I heard her earnestly telling others that it was a rock sausage. This amused me far more than it should have.
Hubbard Glacier
The Hubbard Glacier is the largest tidewater glacier in North America and it spans both the USA and Canada. From its source in the Yukon, the glacier stretches 122 km to the sea at Disenchantment Bay. At the bay, the face of the glacier is around 9 km wide and rises about 100 meters above sea level, (equivalent to the height of a 30-story building). Unlike the vast majority of glaciers, Hubbard Glacier has been both thickening and advancing since the International Boundary Commission first mapped it in 1895.
The glacier is magnificent but unfortunately our phone camera’s were not good enough to pick up the colour contrasts between the sea, the ice and the sky (overcast and cloudy day).
Juneau
Juneau is the capital city of the state of Alaska and has a population of a bit over 30,000. Virtually the whole place runs on tourism. The day we arrived, we were one of 4 cruise ships that had lobbed in for the day. This translated to around 10-15,000 people descending on the tiny little town.
Like most places in Alaska, the scenery was stunning. Virtually everywhere you look there are high mountains, snow covered peaks and dense forests.
Juneau had a cable car (the Goldbelt Tram) that is just south of downtown Juneau and right on the cruise ship dock. Jill bought the tickets and we took the tram to do the six-minute (1800 feet) ascent up Mount Roberts. When on top there was more touristy rubbish including a restaurant, theater, and retail shop.
Sadly once up there, there were also a bunch of nature trails to walk that go to varying points on the mountain overlooking the town. And of course, Jill wanted to walk them. So we spent the next couple of hours sweating our rings out as we schlepped along dirt paths on the side of a mountain.
Every now and then you would pop out onto a clearing and have a pretty spectacular view.
While we were hanging out and climbing mountains, Brad and Nora paid the big bucks and took a helicopter flight up the real mountains and put on the super warm gear. This included ice cleats so that they could hike on the glaciers. This ran a little rich for our budget, but I was happy to steal his photos and share them.
Skagway
Skagway is a tiny town of around 1200, it was an important port during the Klondike Gold Rush. The White Pass and Yukon Route narrow gauge railroad was originally built in 1898 for mining but now operates purely for the tourist trade during the summer months.
While purely a tourist trap, it does provide a great ride through the town and forests providing amazing views of waterfalls, gorges, glaciers, trestles and historic sites, all from vintage rail cars.
Skagway is a popular stop for cruise ships, and the tourist trade is a big part of the business. So too is the alcohol trade, with numerous bars and microbreweries all through the place. While the old sex trade may have gone, much of the naming of establishments has kept the more risque elements alive.
We found a micro-brewery that actually delivered a semi-drinkable beverage (as well as the stupid fruit-infused abominations) but they soon cut us off after a sample (the law…no misbehaviour). So we migrated on to the Happy Endings Saloon, which sat next door to the Morning Wood hotel (subtle lot these Alaskans).
Haines
Haines is another tiny town of under 2000 people that is only 45 miles from the US-Canadian border. It is yet another coastal town with mountains rising out of the ocean. Many ships have sailed these waters, giving rise to the name of the “Inside Passage”. At the northern end is the longest and deepest fjord in North America.
The crazy thing was that as we pulled in, there was a bunch of locals entering the water for a swim. There was snow on the mountains, we were in long pants and jackets, I may have even had my beanie on, and these idiots were going for a dip.
The scenery around Haines is amazing and according to the blurb there is also an abundance of wildlife here, from bald eagles and bears, to whales and orcas.
Icy Strait Point is a 100% tourist stop designed and built to service cruise ships, with nothing else to it. It is wholly owned and operated by the local Alaska Native tribe with all profits directly supporting the nearby community of Hoonah (Alaska’s largest Native Tlingit village).
While it was built solely for the tourist trade, it is still pretty good. There is a an old cannery that can be visited and a couple of cable cars that will take you up the mountain. The first is free and drops you at the top of the (downhill) nature walk, the other you have to pay for and takes you to the peak and more walking trails.
We did both cable cars but alas once we got to the top tier we found ourselves enveloped by cloud and our view down was non-existent. Once up there, however, we took a guided walk with a native Alaskan, who wandered around with a rifle on his shoulder the whole time in case we had an unplanned bear encounter (we did not). All the while, eagles soared overhead, and we even spotted the nest.
Icy Strait Point also has the world’s largest ZipRider, with six ziplines travelling over 1.6 km and dropping around 400 meters. So if you do both cable cars to the top, you have the opportunity to skip them both and fly down the hill on a zipline. After launching, you will accelerate to speeds nearing 100 km/h.
Ketchikan
Ketchikan is the beginning of the last frontier. It is the southernmost entrance to Alaska’s famed Inside Passage and is best known as “The Salmon Capital of the World.” It is a photographer’s dream with amazing views and sights in almost any direction. It is set in the midst of the Tongass National Forest, a 17 million acre rainforest.
The catch-cry of Ketchikan is “the place where both men and salmon have been coming upstream to spawn for hundreds of years”. The crystal clear waters and salmon swimming upstream meant that, right in the heart of town, sat a bald eagle, just waiting for its opportunity to swoop and scoop one of the huge fish. This made for some pretty good photos.
Alaskan Beers
As is my way, I made a point of trying the local amber offerings as I traversed around the state. The mass produced commercial versions were ok without being startling and were a bit insipid if truth be told. But this time around we came across the odd microbrewery that did a very passable version of a pilsner.
We were even able to find a high-strength beer (8.1%) that tasted nice. Typically these taste like old shoes and should be avoided at all costs, but the Hurricane lager was the exception. The Alaskan Pilsner and Kolsch also rate very highly, brewed in German traditions they do not try and bash you with hops or malt, just a nice smooth blend.
And finally…
Not even the frozen wilds of Alaska is free from the ever present and ubiquitous…
Somewhere around 15 years ago, Claudia mentioned to a large group of people that for her 50th birthday she wanted to do an Alaskan Cruise.
Having been given so much time and notice to plan and save, there really were no excuses for missing out on this one.
Having met up with Brad and Nora in Anchorage a few days earlier, both Jill and I were handed our cruise pack. Claudia had been busy. Our pack included a range of Aussie staples (most importantly for me the vegemite). But it also had Caramelo bears, milo, sparkly swizzle sticks, coffee bags, lanyards and a specially branded shirt…you know…the essentials.
The group included ten people this time around. Mostly Australians but a couple of Canadian ringers who were quickly indoctrinated.
Claudia and Jeremy, her sister and brother-in-law, Chrissy and Wayne, Brad and Nora, a couple they had met on another (trans-Atlantic) cruise, Juliette and James and of course us.
An eclectic group got together and all got on famously. We enjoyed each other’s company, shared experiences, stories and good times. A better birthday option I could not imagine.
For those that remember, our last cruise was described as the worst one that we had ever done, as everything was just a little bit off. This one reset the balance again and was excellent. All of those things that were off, were on point this time around. And I could even get my beloved MacCallan whiskey in certain bars.
The cruise departed from Seward, Alaska, a small pretty little town with not too much to do. Some of us visited while others just arrived and got on the boat.
The scenery of Seward was lovely and it made for a fantastic departure point.
Unsurprisingly, the pools on our icy adventure remained almost empty the whole time.
Hubbard Glacier was our next viewing spot, although we had to watch from the decks. This is amazing but sadly the cameras on our telephones could not really do this place justice.
Juneau was the next little town (30,000) that we stopped at (along with 3 other cruise ships). Like most places in Alaska, the scenery was stunning. Virtually everywhere you look there are high mountains, snow covered peaks and dense forests. The locals tell us that Juneau rains around 300 days a year. But we had some of the most amazing weather that you could hope for.
The only real detraction for Juneau was the cable car that took you up the cliff. The cable car itself was fantastic, but once up the mountain, Jill decided it was time to go hiking. So we trudged through the Alaskan bush, up and down hills, for hours. As it happens, we did get some pretty amazing photographs from right up top.
The next day was a two port day taking in both Skagway and Haines.
Skagway is the home of the White Pass and Yukon Route narrow gauge railroad that was built during the Klondike Gold Rush. It is a pretty little town that ran on gold, sex and alcohol.
Based on what we saw while here the gold has been replaced with tourism and the sex (for money) is historical, but the alcohol is alive and well. There were almost more pubs than other buildings. And the names of the pubs and hotels remained true to the historical past. We had a beer in the Happy Endings Saloon, where they offer cornholing and are conveniently located next door to the Morning Wood Hotel.
Haines is even smaller again but is blessed with stunning scenery. Once again, not too much to do, but wandering around surrounded by icy mountains is still a pretty good way to spend a day. We did manage to find a quiet bar to sample a local beverage.
Icy Strait Point is a 100% tourist stop designed and built to service cruise ships, with nothing else to it. It is owned and operated by the local Alaska Native tribe with all profits directly supporting the nearby community of Hoonah (Alaska’s largest Native Tlingit village).
While it was built solely for the tourist trade, it is still pretty good. There is a an old cannery that can be visited and a couple of cable cars that will take you up the mountain.
Ketchikan was our last port of call before landing and disembarking in Vancouver. It is the southernmost entrance to Alaska’s Inside Passage and is best known as “The Salmon Capital of the World.” A fact that Jimmy, Clauds, Jill and I can all attest to as we stood on the bridge and watched salmon swimming upstream directly beneath us.
The catch cry of Ketchikan is “the place where both men and salmon have been coming upstream to spawn”. The crystal clear waters and salmon swimming upstream meant that, right in the heart of town, sat a bald eagle, just waiting for its opportunity to swoop and scoop one of the huge fish. This made for some pretty good photos.
Overview
Claudia’s birthday cruise was a smashing success, with everyone getting on famously and the Alaskan scenery (and weather) turning it on like no other place could. The scenery was stunning, virtually everywhere you look there are high mountains, snow covered peaks, deep oceans and dense forests.
And of course there were the people. Great people, good friends and a wonderful time had by all.
Most importantly for me…
We finally got to see some orcas in the wild.
There was a pod of about 5 of them that appeared to be hunting.
They were moving way too fast for any of us to capture on film, but they were amazing to watch and we all got a fairly decent view of them.
Well getting here from Germany was no mean feat. We hopped a train from Hamburg to Dusseldorf where we switched to head to Amsterdam and switched again to head to Schiphol (the main airport). We then crashed briefly before getting up to board a flight to Montreal, a 5 hr layover and another flight to Vancouver. A cab ride later and at 2am we were here.
We set up camp in our accommodation in the West End in a place called English Bay. After crashing out (a couple of times) we were finally awake enough to go exploring. This place was fantastic, once again in the heart of the entertainment area with tons to see and do within a very short walk.
The first thing that we did was reach out to my mate Jeremy’s friend (Paul) who lived here and ran the local marina. We had been chatting in the leadup and he mentioned that there were options for whale watching (humpbacks and orcas). And that was quite frankly too good an option to pass up.
So after a little wander around, we met with Paul who offered us a ride in his own boat (in the coming days) and advised that he was able to offer a (50%) mates rates deal on the whale watching trip. All too good to be true from our perspective. After this he also added a drive around on the next night to get some perspective to the Vancouver area.
So the next morning Jill and I were up and doing our meander and we figured that hugging the water was pretty good way to start. Turning right from our hotel we walked to the end until we found ourselves in Waterfront Park near the launching point for harbour cruises. We turned right again and followed the water passing all of the 5 star hotel usual suspects, sculptures, trendy restaurants and bars that you would expect along a big city harbour.
We walked along the seawall taking in the amazing views and admiring the parks that bordered the waterfront. More cafes and restaurants until we found ourselves at Canada Place cruise ship terminal and the Vancouver Convention Centre. Possibly the coolest part of the journey was watching the seaplanes takeoff and land in the middle of the city. Maybe not so cool was the smell of AVGas.
The next morning we got up and decided to walk on the opposite side of the water, so got out of our accommodation and turned left.
Within 20 meters we found ourselves at the A-Maze-ing Laughter sculpture. A series of 14 patinated cast-bronze figures, each 2.5m tall.
Inukshuk (a human-like figure made of piled stones or boulders). Inuit have been creating these stone markers all over the Arctic landscape.
Inukshuks are meant to serve several functions, including guiding travellers, warning of danger, assisting hunters and marking places of reverence.
So after our day of wandering about we were collected at around 5:30pm by Paul and his partner Francesca who gave us the guided road tour of Vancouver. This started with a drive across the Lions Gate suspension bridge, to the north shore and up the hill to the Cypress Lookout for some amazing views over the entire city.
A bit further up the hill and we found ourselves at the Cypress Mountain ski resort. There is no actual peak by this name but it refers to a trio of skiable mountains (Black Mountain, Mt. Strachan, and Hollyburn Mountain) that all hosted events at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Being summer there was no snow but we got to see the Olympic rings, a downhill luge and yet another Inuksuk. A look at the map reveals some seriously challenging skiing (well beyond my pitiful level) including double black diamond runs.
From here we headed west to the seaside village of Horseshoe Bay which is the departure point for ferries to Vancouver Island. It is also the starting point for the Sea to Sky Highway, which connects Vancouver to the Whistler ski fields (120 km). It is a really pretty little township (about 1000 people) where we stopped and had all you can eat fish and chips (with unlimited soda refills) for $20. Paul used to work in this area and he recommended it highly. And he was right, the food was amazingly fresh, had only a light batter and was delicious.
Having come back after dinner we did the CBD drive around taking in the key areas of Downtown, Yaletown, Gastown the Waterfront. From here we did the confronting drive along Hasting Street East. This is a major road that, for about 5 blocks, has been taken over by homeless people. It is in essence a shanty town slum full of markets selling or trading the good that had been stolen that day.
The area is the hub of Vancouver’s homeless and itinerant issue. The Eastside neighbourhood is described as being “the site of a complex set of social issues including disproportionately high levels of drug use, homelessness, poverty, crime, mental illness and sex work”. In the five-block drive, we saw almost every one of the “social issues” described in the list above.
The next day we met up with Francesca and headed towards Paul’s work on Granville Island for the promised boat ride. On the way we stopped and picked up cheese, crackers, charcuterie, olives etc. Granville Island is a 37-acre area in the middle of Vancouver, BC and is easily accessible by car, boat, or bus. The island has just about anything you can imagine and includes: the Kids Market (housed in a century-old paint factory and train caboose) a giant indoor Adventure Zone, Canada’s largest free waterpark. Added to this is the Public Market, tons of shops, a couple of breweries and more pubs.
Having checked out the docks area, Paul finished work and the four of us hopped on for our tour of Vancouver from the water. It was magnificent. We spent the better part of three hours just putting along in the boat, taking in the scenery.
Whale watching (attempt one)
Well, we jumped onto the boat that Paul had arranged for us (at the mate’s rates discount) with the hope of seeing some Orcas. I had spoken to the guys from the company (Prince of Whales) who said that 94% of the time they get to see the Orcas. So off we went on our 5-hour adventure to see the Orca. The first hour was uneventful, so much so that a big fuss was made over an eagle sitting on a pole. In a desperate attempt to show us something they took us over to see a bunch of rock sausages sunning themselves.
But then it happened, at about the 2 hr mark a spout was seen and off we went. We found ourselves in the presence of a juvenile Humpback whale who decided that we were fun. So for the next hour or so this whale hung out by the boat, popping in and out (between dives), blowing whale snot all over us poor boat goers. It wasn’t quite the breeding season romping that we see off the Queensland coast, but it was still bloody impressive and worth every penny. Part of the price included a professional photographer who sent out the photos that he had taken, just in case your ones were rubbish. As it happened, our ones were pretty good, I took my GoPro and Jill with her phone.
This has been a really tough one for me to summarise. Life during and after Covid has been very tough for the cruise ship industry. The experience today is very unlike the cruises that we had done before the pandemic. And in many respects, the changes are not for the better.
Jill and I both agreed that this was the worst cruise that we had ever been on. It wasn’t terrible, but it was nowhere near the standard of the other cruises that we had done. So we tried to break down what it was that made it so.
Was it the ship?
No.
While the ship was older and smaller it was more charming and intimate than the bigger ships and had more style and character to it.
It was a bit of a visual throwback to the halcyon days of cruising. Certain elements were tired, but a small revamp will fix that once the revenues return.
Was it the staff?
No.
The staff were super friendly (as usual) and more than willing to assist at every turn.
Was it the ports?
No.
The ports were fantastic and could not be faulted.
Was it the food?
A bit.
The food was a bit down on its usual standard and the choices were lacking at times, but there was still something on every menu for everyone.
So what was it then?
The entertainers were obviously the B team, with the real headliners and acts on the newer ships. There was a massive focus on karaoke on this cruise which was very uncomfortable and disturbing for the rest of the guests. A bunch of people (guests) with American Idol aspirations but no talent warping away (at volume) with nowhere for us mere mortals to hide or escape them.
The pianist in the main bar was a thumper, who could not sing, didn’t know the words and fluffed his way through most of the songs. Another of the entertainers played so loud that there was nowhere to escape.
We had one night at one of the specialty restaurants (Izumi) where we paid an extra $US40 a head to eat there and the experience was terrible. While the food was OK, it was not worth the additional expenditure. The service was slow and poor, the ambiance was loud and akin to a cafeteria and at the end of the meal we found that there was an enforced 18% gratuity tacked on top of the bill.
The theme nights were terrible (in a food sense) with only a single option (in the main dining room) that represented that theme. The rest of the menu items were an eclectic spray across the board. On a European cruise, there was no focus on European things or foods. Although there was a fish and chip night when we were in England.
Instead there were Indian and Mexican nights. In fact, Indian was a constant staple for every single meal (despite the fact that there would have been less that 20 Indian guests on the whole boat – admittedly the chef was Indian). But the desserts were excellent, every day and for every meal. Those options were perfect.
On a similar theme, many of the announcements were delivered in both English and Spanish (less than 20 Spanish speakers on the boat). The German and Dutch tourists (it did leave from Amsterdam) were constantly asking what was going on. This may be fine for the Caribbean cruises but in Europe it didn’t work here.
It is clear that in a post Covid world significant cost cutting measures have been put in to strip away some of the outgoings while the industry rebuilds. But this has happened to the detriment of the cruise experience and threatens to derail the industry if this is not realised and adjusted, before it is too late.
The cost-cutting started with the dropping off of the higher-end spirits. As an example, I used to be able to order a Macallan single malt whiskey on the drinks package but it was pulled, so I switched down to the Glenlivet, which has also been pulled leaving only a Glenfiddich. As the cruise progressed, Jill started on the Kim Crawford’s Sauvignon Blanc which was also being phased out to lesser wines.
On arrival our names were wrong on the door of our room and we were told by our room attendants that the room cleaning would be reduced from twice to once daily. In reality nobody really needs their room serviced twice daily. He mentioned that before they looked after 17 rooms each, but that this number had gone up to almost 30.
At our status level (when we got on) we should have received a range of perks (robes, welcome basket, free water etc), none of which were present and when we raised it they were still not supplied. During the cruise we hit the next level of the loyalty program (so next time there are supposed to be even more perks). Nothing major was wrong, things were just a little bit off across the board.
We still enjoyed our cruise and it was certainly the best and most cost effective way to see Iceland (given that it is so expensive). The stops in Ireland and the UK were all nice and the experience was OK.
We are quite pragmatic as travellers and understand that some cost cutting had to occur. But by the same token, minimum standards and levels of service still need to be delivered for it to be a fun holiday and for people to want to come back and go on another cruise. If the cruise lines continue to strip back the inclusions on these ships, the market will respond unfavourably.
Travelling the world in a pre and post COVID state
