Bah Hah-bah, Bah Humbug

October 9

During dinner last night, the Dreaded Dinnertime Announcement of Doom happened. Experience has proven that announcements broadcast into the dining rooms during dinner are 1) important and 2) not good news. The gist of the announcement was: "Safety is paramount; blah blah blah; we will miss Bar Harbor, which is a tender port, due to weather; we will have a day at sea instead; the schedule for tomorrow wil be published as soon as possible." After everyone at the table expressed their disappointment, we continued eating.

This morning we awoke to sunny skies and calm waters. Was  this because we had sailed away from the rough weather during the night? Or because we had sailed further away from the coast? Or because the weather forecast was wrong? (The correct answer turned out to be #1.)

We also awoke to find the "new" schedule in our little mailbox. I have to say that I was very disappointed with the new schedule they came up with. There were a lot of so-called activities which were really just blatant attempts to sell you stuff. If you took the schedule and added up the Effy events and the "spa" events and the "art" events, they would outnumber the entertainments listed on the schedule - by a large margin. Much of the entertainment was recycled: the same musicians in the lounges, a movie we already saw, a few trivia games. Zumba was at 9:15 am, but unless you woke up early and read the schedule, you wouldn't know about it in time to wake up early for it. 

There were a few "unhosted" events, which required no effort on the part of the cruise staff. Basically, there was NOTHING TO DO as we rounded Cape Finisterre. Look it up if you don't know where it is. The schedule said we would be rounding Cape Finisterre today.

I did see a whale in the morning, and Libby saw a pod of dolphins. Or maybe they were porpoises. Ken saw a different whale. How do I know it was different? I don't.

I went to the Knitters and Natters group. This is like a flash mob for knitters and other crafty types. Basically they have a listing in the schedule that says everyone who brought a craft project, show up at such and such a place at such and such a time and talk to each other while you work on your projectt. Thaat is hat I an "unhosted" event is. I worked on my cross-stich project and listened to knitters talk about making socks. I am usually interested in technical discussions of minutiae, but it was boring, even for me. But what else is there to do? Slot machine lessons? Shopping in the "Holiday Store,"

hich is more like a garage sale than a store. It's where grandmothers go to get cheezy gifts for their grandchildren, such as $10 pen and pencil sets with a matching tie.

A beautiful sunset tonight, but we didn't see the "Green Flash."

After dinner (formal night = lobster!) we watched a juggler in the Piazza. He bounced balls onto a large keyboard on the floor, playing different songs while doing so and wearing tights (Eeeewwww). The performance was mercifully short.

Then came the Main Event - the "premiere" (for this ship, but not for the fleet) of a new production show called Bravo. Lasst year Princess hired a new producer with a Broadway background to come up with some new shows and this was the first one.

This new show was a departure from Princess' standard formula for a production show. It was classy and sophisticated and it allowed the performers to showcase some of their talent.

There were solo performances by guest soprano Jennifer Fair and the four featured singers in the ship's group of singers and dancers. We have seen Jennifer Fair on other cruises, and she is very good, with a background in opera. The songs included selections from well-known operas, Broadway show tunes, popular songs such as You Lift Me Up, and, inexplicably, theme songs from James Bond movies.

Theere were some outstanding dance routines performed by pairs, including a tango and an emotinal modern dance piece. The ship's dancers are capable of so much more than chorus-line numbers and quick coostume changes.

The ship's band was supplemented with a couple of violins, a flute, and a few more musicians, and that really mellowed out their sound. The singers used real microphones instead of those little things that wrap around the ear and extend in front of the mouth. As  a result, the volume was perfect and you could understand every word.

The show got TWO standing ovations, well-deserved. Bravo!

To the Lighthouse

October 8

Saint John, New Brunswick

When your directions say "Take NB 1 to NB 111," we learned that NB does not mean "Northbound."  It means "New Brunswick." This confusion could cause you to miss an exit.

After a couple of false starts we were able to reach St. Martins in about 45 minutes. It was a pleasant drive - first on a highway, and then on a winding country road with numerous steep hills. There were a few farms, a few pleasant cottages, and a few ramshackle trailer homes.

Arriving in St. Martins we encountered a very small village with charming Victorian houses, white-washed churches, and stacks of lobster pots in backyards. Past the houses was a little harbor with cute little fishing boats and more lobster pots. There was a former lighthouse with a shop in it (closed), and a picture-perfect covered bridge.

The tide is on its way out.

Around another bend we found a rocky beach from which one could view the Sea Caves. They were formed by waves eroding the sedimentary rock found here. At low tide you can walk out to the caves. The Sea Caves are part of Stonehammer GeoPark.  The GeoPark consists of 7 or 8 sites in and around St. John that have geological significance. Interpretive signage, supplemented by a website, explains each feature.  If I lived here (or if I had several days here) I would explore all of the GeoPark sites.)

We stopped at the Cave View Restaurant to try out some of their World Famous Chowder. It was early and we weren't that hungry, but we couldn't go there without trying it. It was sunny and warm - around 60 F. (The ship's weather report for the day said the high would be 45!) so we sat out on the deck and enjoyed the spectacular view. The chowder was thick, creamy, and delicious, and it came with a wonderful biscuit. It was made with lobster (big chunks), haddock, and scallops. The absence of clams precluded that fishy taste and smell that clam chowder tends to have.

A very short drive brought us to the entrance to the Fundy Trail Parkway. This is another GeoPark site. The Fundy Trail is a linear park following the coastline. There is a low-speed parkway for cars and a network of multi-use trails for hikers, bikers, and wheelchairs. There are numerous picnic spots and lookouts. (In Canada they are called "lookoffs.") The day was outstaanding, and so was the Fundy Trail. It was what I expected but didn't get from the Cabot Trail. The Fundy Trail is about 12 miles long. We stopped at almost every one of the 23 lookouts. Gorgeous views at all of them. The parkway dead-ends, so we turned around and drove ack, gaining a different perspective. The traffic was very light. The leaves were the most colorful we have seen so far, but still not yet at their peak. I can't recommend this highly enough for any visitor to St. John.

Flower-pot Rock

Heading back toward St. Martins, we noticed how much the tide had gone out. This shouldn't be a surprise. Doesn't the Bay of Fundy have the most extreme tides in the world?

Now comes the lighthouse part, with apologies to Virginia Woolf. As we drove back toward St. Martins we began to see occasional blue signs with a graphic of a lighthouse and an arrow. They were official signs, not commercial-type signs.  We eventually returned to NB-111, the longish country road we had come in on. At one point we came to an intersection and there was a lighthouse sign pointing to the left. There was a tour bus turning out of the road to the left and I assumed the lighthouse would be a short distance down that road since we weren't too far from the coast.  I love lighthouses, so I said, "Let's go see it!" We kept going and we were almost to the coast the road veered to the right. We thought we might have missed the turnoff to the lighthouse but then we saw another lighthouse sign pointing in the direction we were now headed. "I guess we should keep going."

Now we were driving parallel to the coast through an open low area. We had good sight lines and we couldn't see any lighthouses. The road was not exactly a back road, but it wasn't NB-111 either. It reminded me of Farmer's Loop in Palmer. By now we had been driving on this road about 15 or 20 minutes. We were tempted to turn back, but every once in a while a tour bus would pass us going the other way or we would see a blue sign, and it made us think we were close to the lighthouse, so we continued.  

We began to turn inland. We came to a settlement (it was even called "Garnett Settlement") and a few forks in the road. We always took the road that seemed more like the main road, but there was always a niggling doubt that we were lost and we would have a 30-minute drive back to where we started our lighthouse quest. Every time we were ready to turn back there would be another tour bus or another blue sign. There wasn't much on this road so we reasoned that the buses had to be here to visit the lighthouse. I kept hoping the road we were on would loop back to NB-111. It "felt" like a loop road, but maybe things are different in Canada.  So we drove some more, and all of a sudden we were back at NB-111. Yes! It was a loop.

And guess what we saw when we reached the intersection . . . A blue lighthouse sign pointing down NB-111 towards St. John. So what was the point of the loop road??? Were we being pranked?

Anyway, we continued onward until we reached the highway and we saw a few more blue signs on the highway. When we came to the turnoff for St. John there was a blue sign pointing toward St. John. O-kaaaayyy . . .

As we approached St. John, which is on a peninsula, mostly, we didn't see any more blue signs, and we didn't see any obvious lighthouses.

We did see two decorative (?) lighthouses on a pier near the downtown tourist area. (If they were real lighthouses, why would there be two together, and why would they be so small and at the bottom of the hill?)

We did see a lighthouse on an island connected to the land by a causeway. It was not open to the public as far as I could tell.

What am I missing?

So, here's a travel tip for renters of cars. Before you leave in the car, find out where there is a gas station. This will save you a lot of time.

Carleton Martello Tower in Saint John

Bought magnet in cruise terminal, got back on ship, drank cocktails. Saw comedian Tony Daro. Didn't like him, left early. Ate dinner. Saw International Crew Show. Liked it a lot. Looked outside and saw Northern Lights. Good Night!

The World's Shortest Ferry Ride

October 6

We have arrived in Nova Scotia, "Canada's Ocean Playground." Specifically, we are on Cape Breton Island, at the port of Sydney. (Note: in Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton, at the port. Why the difference? I will save the question of the quotation marks for another day.)

Nova Scotia - New Scotland - is proud of its Scottish heritage, but the Scots were relatively recent immigrants.  The area was originally settled by the Mi'kmaq (who gave us the word wigwam), perhaps as far back as 10,000 years ago. The Vikings may have visited somewhat later. The French began arriving in the early 1600's and called it Acadia. Starting in 1755 the British began the Expulsion of the Acadians, as in Evangeline:

This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks . . .

After the American Revolutionary War, British Loyalists and former black slaves began arriving. Cruise passengers began arriving in in the 20th Century.

Our ship is greeted Scottishly

The Scots started arriving in the 1770's, and they left their mark. Gaelic is still spoken in parts of Cape Breton. Road signs are in English and Gaelic. Fiddling and step-dancing and ceilidhs are very popular here.

The cruise terminal in Sydney

Sydney is a city of about 100,000. It was founded in 1785. We have been to Sydney before, so we rented a car to see the countryside this time.

Our destination today is the Cabot Trail. The Cabot Trail is a scenic highway that follows the coastline of Cape Breton Island. It consistently makes all the "Top 10" lists of the most beautiful drives in Canada or in North America. The Cabot Trail makes a 185-mile loop and we were certainly not going to have time for that, so our goal was to drive to Ingonish and back. We had enough time to come and go, with a few stops, plus a little cushion so we didn't miss the ship.

There are two ways to get to Ingonish. You can drive around the foot of St. Anns Bay, or you can take the Englishtown Ferry. We thought the ferry might be more fun, though we were worried that it might involve some delays. We decided to take the ferry on the drive out to Ingonish and take the other route coming back.

If we turn to the left, the overland route will bring us around the foot of the bay to the opposite shore

If we turn to the right we will eventually come to the ferry

We turned right, and eventually came to a lookout point ("lookoff" in Canadian). What's that? Did they build a bridge?

Nope, there is still a ferry there and we just made it. Who knows how long we would have to wait for the next crossing. It must have to go all the way around that island there. (Actually, this photo and the next two were taken on the way back, but you get the idea.)

Wait. . . .It just goes over to where that other car is?

Under way? No, the ferry is still at the dock.

Two minutes. 

That's how long the ferry takes to make the crossing. Two minutes. It takes longer than that to drive down the causeway on the other side. Crazy!

There weren't many places to eat that were open this late in the season. We stopped at bakery/cafe called The Clucking Hen for coffee and a snack. Nice baked goods. Then we continued on along the Cabot Trail towards Ingonish. Ingonish wasn't much. We continued a little further and reached a toll booth at the entrance to a national park. This was as good a place as any, so we turned around and stopped at The Clucking Hen for lunch on the way back. Sandwiches with home-made bread.

I really wasn't that impressed with the Cabot Trail. Maybe the good part was the part we didn't get to see. I was expecting sweeping views of cliffs and ocean. We only saw a tiny bit of that. Much of the road stayed away from the coast and we saw a lot of boring trees and schlocky side-of-the-road tourist-oriented development. I hate to say it, but think this drive is over-rated. 

That being said, it wasn't all disappointing:

On the way back we missed the turnoff to the overland route and found ourselves at the ferry again. Oh, well. Ferries are always fun!

Here it comes!

Cheesy factoid:

Canadians eat more mac and cheese than any other country. (I tried to look up the spelling of mac and cheese and I found mac 'n cheese, mac n' cheese, and mac 'n' cheese. I would like to know the rule for this in case I ever have to write about rock and roll.)

Back on the ship we had a nice dinner and then saw a comedian named Tom Briscoe. He was very funny. Some comedians make fun of other people, and it is sometimes mean-spirited. Tom Briscoe is the kind who makes us laugh as he joins us in making fun of ourselves.

Tourist of Green Gables

October 5, 2015

Charlottetown, PEI, Canada

I have to confess that I've never read any of the Anne of Green Gables books, but if I had, I would have known that Anne lived on Prince Edward Island. No AGG marketing opportunity has been overlooked by the residents of PEI.

It's a really charming place. It's got history, Victorian architecture scenery, and a nice small-town feel. People are so courteous here. When they are driving they wait for pedestrians to cross the street. I think it's the law here, but the law doesn't require them to smile at you when they stop to wait for you.

 
PEI is the "Birthplace of Confederation." In 1864 the Charlottetown Conference gave rise to the creation of Canada three years later.

The city of Charlottetown offers several short walking routes, neatly packaged on a map you can get at the dock. The walks include historic walk, shopping walk, boardwalk walk, and Victorian Row.

We opted for a longer walk - a Volkswalk. Part of the walk  follows the Confederation Trail. It is a 470 km "linear park' or "rails-to-trails" route. It is also part of the Trans Canada Trail system. This is indeed a worthy walk.

We passed an agricultural research station/experimental farm. Eventually the trail leads to Victoria Park and the beginning of the boardwalk. You can see a lighthouse, the harbour (Canada doesn't have harbors), and a number of historic buildings, including Province House where the founding fathers met.

St. Dunstan's Basilica, 1913 (High Victorian Gothic Revival)

Inside St. Dunstan's

St. Paul's Anglican Church, 1896 (Gothic Revival)

Inside St. Paul's

Province House

Near the end of the walk we detoured into the central business district and we stumbled upon Cows Ice Cream - the best in the world according to Tauck. They had some tantalizing flavors and a long line.
 

Cows used to be a pharmacy

Victoria Park

 

The County Jail, 1911, has morphed into Pizza Delight

Tim Horton's and poutine. How Canadian can you get?

Excuse me, I don't think bagels are Canadian.

They still have diagonal on-street parking in the CBD

Blockhouse Point Light

 And we sailed off into the sunset . . .