Category Archives: America

More of Florida

September 20, 2024 richardpieper Leave a comment

Florida’s Space Coast

Florida’s Space Coast is a stretch of land that runs almost 120 km (72 miles) taking in a range of beach communities. All American space launches carrying NASA astronauts have departed from here.

For us, it felt almost exactly like a carbon copy of what the Gold Coast of Queensland looked like back in the 1970’s and 80’s (before the wall of high rises took over.

We stayed at a place called Cocoa Beach, about 24 km south of the space centre. It had been a small town since the 1920’s but had its major population growth during the 1950s-60s when it spiked 1000% as a result of the US space program. Cocoa Beach was the setting for the 1960s sitcom ‘I Dream of Jeannie’, although no episodes were actually filmed there.

There is a main highway running along the middle with a couple of blocks of 1-4 storey buildings fronting the beach. The larger buildings are the start of major tourist developments, but thus far have been staved off, meaning the place has kept an old-world charm.

On one of our cruises, we met a couple of sisters (Iris and Lee) from Florida, who we stayed in touch with over Facebook. When I posted that we were headed that way, Iris reached out and the next day they came and picked us up from our hotel and amused us thoroughly over the afternoon.

The first stop was to the infamous Walmart, for a shopping experience of a lifetime. Jill bought a huge (50oz) sippy cup and I got a couple of stupid logo shirts.

From here we were off on a local’s tour of the area. This saw us having lunch on the docks, cruising the beaches, sipping beers at some local beachside bars and getting key lime pie from a famous venue. Apparently, the key lime pie place has a 5 foot 11 inch, blind alligator (Sweetie) out front on the weekends (we were there midweek). Sweetie was sworn in on August 22nd, 2020 by Brevard County Sheriff Sheriff as a Deputy Sheriff.

Port Canaveral

Port Canaveral is a deep water port in central Florida that tries to serve as the Central Florida maritime gateway for the import and export of consumer goods. Despite this, 80% of the Port’s revenue is generated from the cruise business. This ensures that it has state-of-the-art facilities to service even the largest and most sophisticated cruise ships. that now homeport or make a port call for the day.

Entry to the port is past the Exploration Tower. This is a 7 storey structure with educational setups on each floor. These are both marine life and space-related (go figure).

The top storeys are viewing decks for both the port facilities and also the space launches when they are on.

Five different cruise lines use this area as either a base or a port.

Port Canaveral also has fishing charters and one-of-a-kind, waterfront dining that serves some of the freshest seafood in Florida.

Space launches

The earth rotates west to east and is at its fastest at the equator. To launch a vessel into space takes a lot of energy, so if you launch in an easterly direction from near the equator, you can use this rotation to gain speed, thereby increasing the fuel efficiency of the rocket. Add to this that not all launches are successful, launching from an empty area and into the ocean minimises the danger to people. For all of these reasons, this area was chosen and has served as the primary launching site for NASA since 1961.

Cape Canaveral

Cape Canaveral is a beachside community on Florida’s ‘Space Coast‘. The city lies between family vacationers and cutting-edge space travel technology. It has warm weather (hot and humid) almost all year round, beautiful scenery, outdoor amenities, and one of the largest deepwater ports in the world.

The main attraction for the area is obviously the Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex. The complex is organised chronologically using mission names for the various zones – Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Space Shuttle, and beyond. The centre started in 1963 when NASA allowed self-guided tours and later funding was approved for a full-scale visitor centre.

Today the Complex sits on 42 acres and is America’s front-row view of space travel and its evolution. The centre offers historic artifacts, tours, astronaut encounters, rocket launches, models and simulations of future space travel.

Needless to say, the experience does not come cheaply ($75 USD per person admission), especially if you want to tack on any of the additional goodies. The add-ons are on top of the entry and may include:

$70 for a launch ticket viewing
$50 (plus tax) to chat with an astronaut
$30 Walk on Mars through VR
$30 weightlessness spacewalk in the Microgravity Simulator
$150 live and work on Mars (simulator)

Being so close to Cape Canaveral, the first thing we did was to google a launch schedule, only to find that the official NASA site listed no launches in the time we were there. Enter our saviours, Lee and Iris. They pulled up the Space Monkey site which lists all launches and not just the NASA ones. Lee pulled it up on her phone and found a launch taking place at 4:52am the following morning. We would have missed this all together.

Just as importantly as finding the launch, she talked us through what to expect. This proved critical as we would have left after the initial launch and would have missed the best bits.

For anyone reading along, this was a truly amazing experience, and both Jill and I want to come back to see more.

We wandered out of our hotel and walked down to the beach, before the scheduled launch time. From a totally free ($$$) spot on the shoreline, we stared at some flashing lights that we guessed would be the launch site.

All of a sudden the entire sky lit up as a ball of flames slowly rose from the earth.

It disappeared behind some clouds, reappeared and then disappeared out of the atmosphere.

At this point I would have thought that it was all over, but Lee and Iris told us to wait.

About 3 minutes after the light show ended, this low rumbling noise started to grow until your entire chest was rattling at the noise of the rocket (physics in action – light moving faster than sound etc).

After this you would think it was done, but no, keep waiting.

After about 7 minutes the booster rocket detaches from the rocket and reenters the atmosphere as a flaming, plummeting fireball.

Once again, it was time to go, but no. About a minute later the sonic boom from the booster rocket shook you to your very core.

Oh my, what an experience.

Having done all of this, the show was finally over and it was safe to go.

I cannot express just how good an experience this was.

I want to come back and do it again, and again.

From June to October, the waters of the Mosquito Lagoon, Banana River, and Indian River Lagoon come alive with bioluminescence – light produced by chemical reactions in the bodies of living things.

Glittering dinoflagellates and pulsing Comb Jellies, create mystical light shows that you can see for yourself via kayak excursion. Structures within these algae ignite with light when disturbed. This acts as both a shield against predators and a lure for prey. But as kayakers slice through the night water, their movements spur the dinoflagellates to burst into light.

Orlando

Only 45 minutes away is the major city of Orlando. Cited in the heart of central Florida it is mostly known as the home of the theme parks (there are over a dozen here). There are four theme park resorts in Orlando over a dozen different theme parks and sub variations.

Walt Disney World Resort Theme Parks is the largest theme park resort in America. It has four theme parks (Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom), includes 22 hotels, and two water parks.
Universal Studios features four theme parks (Universal Studios, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Universal Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay) along with a Water Park and eight hotels.
SeaWorld has the usual marine attractions, rollercoasters and other theme park rides.
Aquatica – another water based zoo
Fun Spot America – all rides
Icon Park (including the SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium)
Magical Midway Thrill Park – rides
Gatorland – 3 guesses
Dinosaur World – 3 guesses
Safari Wilderness – and about 4 other zoo style parks as well
Legoland
Peppa Pig Theme Park
Tank America – drive in a tank and run over cars.

We looked at attending one of the theme parks but on closer examination, it would have cost us the better part of $1000 Australian for a one day pass to one of the major theme parks. Neither of us really being that much into rides, and having seen so much of the world already, we chose to keep our cash and pass on the parks.

I am certain that they would have been entertaining, but in your 50’s the idea of seeing Mickey Mouse is not as interesting as it may have once been.

America

New York

September 12, 2024 richardpieper Leave a comment

I cannot state clearly enough how much I did not want to come to New York. This has never been something that I wanted to see or go to, but figured as part of this global exploration that I would have to go some day.

Well this was my day (two as it happened) an we only came because it was part of the ship’s itinerary.

I don’t know whether it is possible to be racist against an entire city, but if it is, then I am. I have never been here before and my only knowledge of New York has come from the television and movies. And from these depictions alone I have developed a deep hatred of the city, its people and all it stands for (at least by portrayal). The ‘we are the best’ attitude (in my opinion) is arrogant, misplaced and unwarranted and this rubs me up the wrong way and has done for decades now.

But I have friends who have been and loved the place and speak highly of it. So here we are, in New York City with me trying to take it how I see it and remove the preconceived chip off my shoulder.

Before even arriving we had a win. The original plan was to arrive and land in New Jersey cruise ship port, this would have left us 35 kilometers from NYC and would necessitate a (minimum) 45 minute commute each way. Instead we came right up the Hudson River and ported at Pier 88, a mere 15 minute walk (through Hells Kitchen) to Times Square and the heart of the city.

Arriving by water our entry saw us floating past the Statue of Liberty (at 4:30 in the morning) and Ellis Island (the original US immigration entry point and now museum).

Despite my innate hatred of the place, I must admit to having a level of excitement at the thought of coming in this way and seeing the ‘Chick with a Stick’.

On July 4, 1884 France presented the United States with the Statue of Liberty. It stands 15-storeys tall (without its pedestal). It was shipped across the Atlantic Ocean in crates, and rebuilt in the U.S. as France’s gift to the American people. A couple of days later, on our exit from New York, we would again pass the Statue of Liberty. But this time it would be 4pm and would allow for much better photographs than our grainy nighttime efforts.

Our captain had checked with the port authorities and discovered that the river (Hudson) would be relatively quiet, so he asked for and was granted permission to do some 360’s in front of the statue. On arrival we stopped, put the thrusters on and the ship slowly rotated 3-4 times allowing everyone ample opportunity to get as many photos as they wanted.

Well almost everyone. I had hoped to get a selfie with the statue in the background. As Jill’s phone camera has a better zoom function she went first while I held the table and our seats in the lounge. And for the next 45 minutes I kept holding the table until the ship straightened up and sailed out of the Hudson River, and then Jill returned. I raced out to try and get my selfie but by this stage you could not even tell there was an island there, let alone a statue.

The night time entry and afternoon departure also allowed for some pretty nice photos of the city as we came in and out.

Our ship ported at Pier 88 which was as central a location as we could have hoped for. Our tourist run started with the walk to Times Square. This is one of those things that is highly publicised as a must see, but in reality is just a tourist hellhole. The square itself is much smaller than you imagined and the official writeups have been forced to include most of the surrounding business district (including the theatre district) making it (according to wiki) a bowtie-shaped plaza five blocks long between 42nd and 47th Streets.

It is lit up 24 hours a day and according to the tourist blurb the brash advertisements add to the ambience. It is the site of the annual New Year’s Eve ball drop (which began in 1907) but from my perspective it was an incredibly overrated and underwhelming mess of lights, electronic billboards, touts and rip off merchants.

Our arrival in Times Square was done mainly as it was the launching point for the HOHO bus that we had organised. New York City is large, there is much to see, and our time was limited, so the HOHO was our choice for getting around. It was not cheap, but logistically it was the best option. There are at least 3 and up to 5 companies offering almost identical HOHO experiences, we chose the Big Bus.

It operates 2 routes, the Downtown (red loop) takes in M&M’s World, Bryant Park, Empire State Building / KoreaTown, Flatiron District, Soho, Chinatown / Little Italy, Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street / Charging Bull, Statue of Liberty / Battery Park, World Trade Center, Chelsea / Pier 57, Hudson Yards, and the Circle Line Sightseeing (the ferry to the statue of liberty).

Bryant Park is Midtown Manhattan’s town square, with seasonal gardens, eateries, bars. Apart from being insanely busy at all times it looked really nice.

The Empire State Building is the next stop and has consistently been rated as number one on the list of Top Attractions in the World.

There is an observatory deck on levels 86 ($44) and 102 ($79) both of which attract an additional $5 booking fee.

The Flatiron District is named after the famous triangular Flatiron building.

This was (of course) covered in scaffolding when we came past.

Soho was next which is the obscenely expensive shopping district (we stayed on the bus).

Chinatown and little Italy were next and this was our lunch stop (on the second loop around). Grotty streets full of African immigrants selling stolen and knock off gear from sheets on the ground (very reminiscent of Europe).

Brooklyn Bridge was next, closely followed by the financial district and the famous Wall Street Bull (great photos to be had here).

Statue of Liberty / Battery Park we skipped and hopped off at the World Trade Center and the 911 memorial. Being a Tuesday the museum was closed but the area is nice and was well worth the visit. The memorial has been done in a simple and understated manner and was very good.

The last stops were the Chelsea / Pier 57, Hudson Yards (old rail yards and residential development), and the Circle Line Sightseeing (ferry to the Statue of Liberty). We skipped these but did take note of the extensive pier redevelopment that was taking place along the Hudson River. The river was dotted with Piers (we were parked in Pier 88) many of which were long past their use by date. Being a big city with limited green space, the authorities have been redeveloping old piers to add recreational areas to the city.

The Uptown (blue loop) crosses path with the red loop at Bryant Park and takes in Hope Sculpture, Midtown East, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park Zoo, Columbus Circle and Carnegie Hall (covered in scaffolding). Our main purpose of the uptown loop was that we had booked tickets to the American Museum of Natural History.

Central Park is an 840 acre park in the middle of Manhattan that extends about 4km long (between 59th and 110th streets) and 800 meters wide (between Fifth and Eighth avenues).

It is divided for convenience into four “quadrants” (from south to north). The southern end is dominated by the zoo, the second section is named the great lawn, for pretty obvious reasons. The third section is around mid way with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Natural History Museum on each side of the park then the Reservoir (a 106 acre pond).

According to wiki the park was fully landscaped when built in the 1850s and 1860s. It has eight lakes and ponds that were created artificially by damming natural seeps and flows. There are several wooded sections, lawns, meadows, and minor grassy areas. There are 21 children’s playgrounds and almost 10 km) of drives. It is also one of the most filmed locations in the world.

Day one over, we got changed and headed back out for night one. It has been written up everywhere that you cant go to New York without seeing a show on Broadway. This to me was one of those arrogant things where they think that everything here is the best. But we were here overnight, so why not. On recommendation from my mate Jimmy we bought tickets to the Book of Mormon.

It is a musical comedy from the creators of South Park. The story follows two Mormon missionaries as they attempt to preach to the inhabitants of a remote village in Uganda.

Needless to say the locals are more interested in dealing with HIV/AIDS, famine, female genital mutilation, child molestation, and oppression by the local warlord.

The show itself was hilarious, poking fun at (almost all) organised religion in a highly inappropriate manner. There were times when I has tears running down my cheeks from laughter. The experience on Broadway itself was not as pleasant. Our night started with being inundated with passive cannabis smoke, smelling uncollected rubbish and urine, while watching two homeless men fighting (full on punches and stick style weapons) 10 meters from the theatre door. Thankfully there was no guns but all of this unfolded directly in front of us.

Right next door to our pier (88) at Pier 86 is the Intrepid Museum, this is a WWII aircraft carrier (the Intrepid) that is stacked with a bunch of military stuff, right in the heart of the city. The Intrepid was launched in 1943 and survived five kamikaze attacks, and one torpedo strike during WWII. The ship later served in the Cold War, the Vietnam War and as a NASA recovery vessel.

The flight deck of the carrier has dozens of military aircraft including fighter jets, a supersonic spy plane, the Concorde and many helicopters, while its halls host much more. Some of the things you can see are the Enterprise (first space shuttle), Growler (the only nuclear-weapons-carrying submarine open to the public). For my mate Mike who is a plane and military nut I have included the link to the full aircraft guide of what is there and the various specifications of each of the planes ( https://live-intrepid-museum.pantheonsite.io/media/aircraft-guide.pdf ). Being right next door, and a taller ship, we got a fantastic view of the aircraft on deck and many people made the trek inside.

The next morning it was up and on the road again. There were a few domestic things that we needed to sort and then it was off exploring again. Thankfully the HOHO bus saved our legs (we had done over 20,000 steps the day before even with the bus).

Given the tight timeline of the day before we hopped back on the red loop (Downtown) for another run (there was just too much to see on a single day). We were not up and out quite as early as the day before so we got hit with considerably worse traffic. But we did get to do all of the New York City iconic sights.

A bit like the pier redevelopment, New York is now home to the High Line. The High Line operated between 1934 and 1980 as a freight railway where it carried meat to the Meatpacking District, agricultural goods to the factories and warehouses and mail to the Post Office. After falling into disrepair it was salvaged by residents and in 2009 sections of the elevated freight rail line above the streets of Manhattan were taken over and turned into a public park.

It was saved from demolition by neighborhood residents and the City of New York. It now serves as a hybrid public space where visitors can experience nature, art, and design.

Our trip out of town was as described earlier, with the 360 degree turns in front of the statue of liberty. I had dreaded the trip to New York, but actually quite enjoyed it (for the most part). Decades of movie and TV watching has made the place weirdly familiar. It was not as horrible as I had dreaded, neither was it as big or as tall as I expected, the sights I had imagined as huge were actually just normal.

So do I still hate New York City? Probably not.
Did it live up to the hype? Definitely not.
Is it as big as I expected? No
Are the skyscrapers overwhelming? No
Was I disappointed? A little.
Will I come back? Probably not.

But my overwhelming memories of New York will be the smell. The entire place reeks of weed, piss and garbage.

America, USA

Florida

December 16, 2023 richardpieper Leave a comment

Miami and Fort Lauderdale

The last time we came to Miami (with Jimmy for our 50th) we had the opportunity to catch up with a long-time friend of mine (Brad) from back in the late 1980’s and beyond.

We were idiots together back in the day when there was no photographic evidence of the stupidity that we got up to.

This sort of relationship has a solid and unrelenting basis and when we have come together several times before, after long periods, and time had stood still. This is the way for many of my long-term relationships with the boys. So over time Brad had turned himself into a superyacht captain and has been running his world from Fort Lauderdale (with the odd stints in the Mediterranean) for the last 20-plus years.

Upon arrival, he picked us up and took us for a tour around his office for the last 7 or so years. The ship was in dry dock and was undergoing a full refit, but it was clear that he had truly been doing it tough.

Other than just catching up with an old mate was the pure envy of being able to hear about his recent holiday.

Brad and his wife Keri had spent the preceding month or so touring around South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

They bounced around the Okavango Delta, various Game Preserves and National Parks, even taking in the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls.

So the opportunity to hear first hand about this trip was to be amazing.

The idea of doing a South African safari has been a long-time bucket list item that keeps getting benched due to the extreme prices charged. I have friends who have done this and the prices have been in the $35,000 range for a couple of weeks holiday. Needless to say, this is way beyond a grotty backpacker’s budget. The extreme prices pay for a good and reputable operator, and having heard some of the stories, it is better to pay than go with a cheaper cowboy-style operator.

Add to this the fact that Brad had spent the last decade or two teaching himself to be an amazing photographer. We got to see his Rolls Royce shots and not just the snapshot sample that I poached from his and Keri’s Facebook posts. It truly was an amazing trip and by all accounts was worth the money, as a once in a lifetime experience.

OK so back to our bit, our first port of call (after our boat tour) was to Pompano Beach, a trendy beachside area of Fort Lauderdale. We sampled the local beers from a little microbrewery that will be burned into my taste buds. I have never been a fan of fruity microbrewery beers made by hipsters with man buns…and it seems I am still not.

Sadly, this is where the wheels fell off the plans that Brad and Kerry had for us.

We had a good catch-up on the first night where we sampled a fine Nicaraguan sugar free rum.

Waking up a little dusty Brad and I had a quiet sort of day until he took a COVID test and set the thing off like an alarm.

They had planned all of this stuff for us to see and do but it all went out the window with that one positive test result. This did not upset us at all as we were happy to just chill and catch-up, and do our domestics (the dreaded travellers laundry curse). Add to this that they both cook very well so we kicked back and ate at home rather than hitting the town. But they had concert tickets to people they really wanted to see and had been planning trips to show off Fort Lauderdale and surrounds.

That said, we still managed to get out and about and see things, just not to the level that they had hoped. We got to the beach, walked along the pier, checked out some local artworks, sampled some restaurants and bars. We just did it in a masked up and avoiding all others, COVID safe sort of way.

We headed into downtown fort Lauderdale and checked out the riverfront walk while generally just soaking up the beauty of a town built on the water. On one of our drives I asked how far Boca Raton was (mainly from hearing about it in TV shows), so we drove up there and bounced around too.

As we were on the leadup to Christmas, the town lighting displays had started. There was one home that had taken this to the extreme. So while nobody was in good shape, we made the short hop to see the most ridiculous house in the area.

While our time in Fort Lauderdale was not what Brad and Keri had planned, a good time was still had and it was fantastic to catch-up with a mate. We will be transiting Miami a few more times before we leave, so maybe we can get another catch-up when everyone is healthy.

Florida’s Space Coast

Florida’s Space Coast is a stretch of land that runs almost 120 km (72 miles) taking in a range of beach communities. All American space launches carrying NASA astronauts have departed from here.

For us, it felt almost exactly like a carbon copy of what the Gold Coast of Queensland looked like back in the 1970’s and 80’s (before the wall of high rises took over.

The first stop was to the infamous Walmart, for a shopping experience of a lifetime. Jill bought a huge (50oz) sippy cup and I got a couple of stupid logo shirts.

Port Canaveral

Entry to the port is past the Exploration Tower. This is a 7 storey structure with educational setups on each floor. These are both marine life and space-related (go figure).

The top storeys are viewing decks for both the port facilities and also the space launches when they are on.

Five different cruise lines use this area as either a base or a port.

Port Canaveral also has fishing charters and one-of-a-kind, waterfront dining that serves some of the freshest seafood in Florida.

Space launches

Cape Canaveral

$70 for a launch ticket viewing
$50 (plus tax) to chat with an astronaut
$30 Walk on Mars through VR
$30 weightlessness spacewalk in the Microgravity Simulator
$150 live and work on Mars (simulator)

Just as importantly as finding the launch, she talked us through what to expect. This proved critical as we would have left after the initial launch and would have missed the best bits.

For anyone reading along, this was a truly amazing experience, and both Jill and I want to come back to see more.

All of a sudden the entire sky lit up as a ball of flames slowly rose from the earth.

It disappeared behind some clouds, reappeared and then disappeared out of the atmosphere.

At this point I would have thought that it was all over, but Lee and Iris told us to wait.

After this you would think it was done, but no, keep waiting.

After about 7 minutes the booster rocket detaches from the rocket and reenters the atmosphere as a flaming, plummeting fireball.

Once again, it was time to go, but no. About a minute later the sonic boom from the booster rocket shook you to your very core.

Oh my, what an experience.

Having done all of this, the show was finally over and it was safe (without missing out) to go.

I cannot express just how good an experience this was.

I want to come back and do it again, and again.

Orlando

Walt Disney World Resort Theme Parks is the largest theme park resort in America. It has four theme parks (Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom), includes 22 hotels, and two water parks.
Universal Studios features four theme parks (Universal Studios, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Universal Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay) along with a Water Park and eight hotels.
SeaWorld has the usual marine attractions, rollercoasters and other theme park rides.
Aquatica – another water based zoo
Fun Spot America – all rides
Icon Park (including the SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium)
Magical Midway Thrill Park – rides
Gatorland – 3 guesses
Dinosaur World – 3 guesses
Safari Wilderness – and about 4 other zoo style parks as well
Legoland
Peppa Pig Theme Park
Tank America – drive in a tank and run over cars.

I am certain that they would have been entertaining, but in your 50’s the idea of seeing Mickey Mouse is not as interesting as it may have once been.

America, Caribbean

Puerto Rico

November 21, 2023 richardpieper Leave a comment

Puerto Rico, despite being well and truly its own entity, sadly only counts as a territory of the United States and does not add to my country tally.

Although Puerto Rico is an American territory, it competes as its own individual country in both the Miss Universe contests and in the Olympics. Yet another reason I think that it should count.

But wow. If this little dip of the toe into the water of visiting Puerto Rico is any sort of glimpse, the place is amazing. It is the smallest island of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean and sits a bit east of the Dominican Republic. The temperature permanently sits in the 20’s and 30’s all year round. There are around 3.2 million people in Puerto Rico, and close to 5 million Puerto Ricans living in the U.S.

The Island has almost 300 miles of coastline and nearly the same number of beaches. And being ostensibly American, it has the largest shopping centre in the Caribbean.

San Juan

Our entrance to Puerto Rico was on a cruise ship (along with 2 others on the same day) which saw us coming into the port of San Juan. A really lovely (not so) little town that saw us cranking up the step count for the day considerably.

A predominately walled city there is a huge level of fortification (especially to the sea) with all of the gates and things that you would expect from such a town.

Castillo San Felipe del Morro is better known locally as El Morro. It is one of the largest fortifications built by the Spaniards in the Caribbean during the 16th century. It is made up by six staggered levels that integrate barracks, dungeons, and storerooms. It was designed to protect the city and still has some of the original cannons facing the ocean. According to the blurb in its history, El Morro was never defeated by the enemy.

The fort is massive and is set far out on the point with large green areas surrounding it. It was originally designed to protect the city from attacks from the sea.

Castillo San Cristóbal is the other fort that stands and was meant to defend from enemies approaching by land. Covering over 27 acres, this fortification is the largest one made by the Spaniards in the New World. This castle holds the famous Garita del Diablo, center to many military tales and stories in the Island.

The Capilla del Cristo is a small sanctuary at the top of the walls of the city. Legend has it that two men were racing their horses down the street and one of them fell over the cliff and survived. This inspired the construction of a sanctuary dedicated to the saints of health. Its altar is made of embossed silver and the room is decorated with two José Campeche paintings.

Between the two forts, you can see the Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery. This was established in the 19th century and was built outside the city walls because of their strong fear of the afterlife. Its oceanfront location derives from a superstitious belief that the deceased started a journey over to “the great beyond” and being close to the sea symbolised the beginning of eternity.

This cemetery is the final resting place of Puerto Rico’s most prominent natives and residents. A nice touch that we found was some mosaics of each town that have been laid into the footpaths along the way.

As usual, the Cathedral de San Juan takes up a prominent place in the heart of town. This one is an example of medieval architecture during the time when the Spanish ruled the New World. The Cathedral de San Juan is the second oldest church in the Americas, after the one built in the Dominican Republic.

La Fortaleza (officially El Palacio de Santa Catalina de Alejandría) is the oldest state residence of the New World still in use.

It was originally built in the mid 1500’s and has served as a fortress, a prison, and an arsenal, and is now the official residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico. This executive palace conserves traditions (such as candlelit-only dining rooms) and has original Spanish objects from the colonial era.

Calle Fortaleza (more commonly known as Umbrella Street) extends from the Governors mansion and is Instagrammers heaven. When we arrived there were hordes of them striking all the poses under the sun (never looking at the camera).

The surrounding streets are full of the funkiest restaurants in town.

When chatting with our local barman on the boat we were told that San Juan was the original birthplace of the Piña Colada. Being the butch and manly type that I am, I am partial to a Piña Colada. To find its origin we had to hunt down the restaurant called Barrachina. Which we did, only to find that 2023 was the 60th anniversary of its invention.

Casa Blanca is the oldest residence in Old San Juan. It was once the home of the first governor and has since been converted into a museum.

In Cataño, Puerto Rico, you will find the the largest premium rum distillery (Bacardi) in the world.

Puerto Rico is also home to the only rainforest in the American National park system (El Yunque).

If friendliness counts for anything, then this place is amazing. The smiles and happiness that you are greeted with here is something to behold. I am very happy to come back here again and explore more of the isalnd.

America

Alaska

July 20, 2023 richardpieper Leave a comment

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.