February 27, 2014. Toupo, NZ. Maori/Rotorua

I am so pleased we decided to spend a week on the north island of New Zealand. This place is fascinating. The farms are lush and prosperous, the Maori culture is thriving and the geysers are spectacular. Our day was lovely, wandering from place to place, all through the country roads. This morning we visited a display of Maori prowess, which included dancing and singing. The center also includes a school for carving and weaving. Thirty years ago, the culture was in retreat, but not anymore. The language has once again coming alive and their multiple tribes are a vibrant part of the New Zealand economy. They are hard working, neat and tidy people and solid citizens of the country. I learned all that at the Maori center. I wonder if it is true? Rotorua was just like Yellowstone with pools of mud bubbling up and steam coming out of the ground. It was surreal. We took a 2K walk to see the geysers spout off. In fact, the largest goes off several times an hour and shoots 10K in the air but while we were watching it shot in the air at least 30K. We walked past amazing sights. The volcanic activity can be seen throughout the whole valley. Puffs of steam were coming out of the ground just ten feet from where we ate our outdoor lunch. One day, the volcano will blow up, but not today!! We are staying in Taupo, in the Hilton. Lake Taupo was formed by a volcano and is the largest of it's type. So far, we have kept up with the walking although Ken is using a cane. Soon tonight, we will have a wonderful dinner in the hotel. Evidently, it is the best restaurant in town.

February 26, 2014. Kamahi Cottage, NZ. Waitoma Caves.

Waitoma Caves are magical. The glowworms light up and you can see them on the ceilings and walls of the cave. They are not insects like fireflies but rather are trying to attract tiny insects to eat. We had never before seen these glowworms in caves. It was like magic. The whole experience was remarkable. First we walked down hundreds of steps to get to the entrance of the cave. Next we stooped down into a four foot door to get into the cave proper. Now I am claustrophobic and we walked through the cave in the dark, holding onto the rail, with me hoping that soon we would see the end of the tunnel, but no such luck. We three sat on a bench in the pitch black and talked about Mouri culture and admired the glowworms. We were in the cave about an hour. I survived by keeping on talking. We returned along our same path and finally saw the light of day. Then, I was required to walk up those same hundreds of stairs to our van. Tonight we are staying in a charming cottage on the top of a hill in the midst of a farm. Our driver Jurgen is an excellent driver so we are set for our tour of New Zealand.

February 25, 2014. Auckland, New Zealand. Weiheke Island.

Something has happened to my blog of February 24. I wrote it and published it but it is not there. Keeps you humble indeed. We spent a delightful afternoon on Weiheke Island. A short ferry ride takes you to the island, where we were met by our driver for the rest of the day. We visited three wineries, two to taste the wine and a third where we ate a delicious late lunch. We were back to our hotel by 7:00. This place called New Zealand is beautiful. It seems ridiculous to say because we are dealing with islands, but there are lots and lots of coast line. The ferry ride took 35 minutes and the whole way was beautiful as we passed island after island. Our driver works in Auckland and commutes on the ferry, as do many others. We took the 6:00 ferry back to Auckland and the ferry was packed with passengers getting off on the island. Mark was a young man who was serving us the wine in our third winery. He was personable and knowledgable. In May, he and his girl friend are moving to Nova Scotia. He has a three year work permit so hopes to travel and work in Canada. His girlfriend is from Hammonds Plain so they hope to stay in the east until Christmas, then travel west, perhaps spending time in the wine areas around Kelowna. It is indeed a small world. Our first finn day in New Zealand was delightful.

February 23, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. Tauranga, New Zealand.

We have arrived in New Zealand. It took us quite a while, but now we are here. The day is beautiful, sunny and breezy with a clear blue sky overhead. Our ship is docked at the city of Tauranga, on the north island. Everyone else on the ship is exploring, but Ken and I stayed on board. We will be in New Zealand for a month and will return to this place twice during our visit. Today at lunch, Ken and I were the only people in our dining room. I am prone to be sick at sea. There is something about the rolling of the ship that makes me queasy. We have just completed three journeys on ships and I have not been ill. The mind is a wonderful thing. Ken bought medication and bracelets to prevent nausea. For the first two days out of Miami, the ship rocked and rolled and I felt sure I would get sick, but I took out a pressure bracelet and put it on. Ken read the directions carefully and within thirty minutes all my symptoms disappeared. From then on, I wore my trusty bracelet every time we were at sea. I have no clue whether the bracelet actually worked or whether my mind just thought it worked, but no matter, I wore my bracelet and all was well. I will never leave shore without it. I must note that the Pacific Ocean was calm too!! Tomorrow we arrive in Auckland, our destination. We will leave our comfortable cabin to tour New Zealand, travelling with our own guide who will drive the car and tell us about New Zealand. Then we see Gill in Christchurch, which was the purpose for the journey. It has taken us many years to get to New Zealand, but we have arrived. We are delighted to be here.

February 22, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. The World Cruise.

This ship is on a World Trip 2014. Many people boarded the Queen Elizabeth in London, England and will get off in London, England, having cruised all around the world. Sue and Art, who sit next to us at meals, took a round the world cruise on the Queen Mary on it’s maiden voyage.. They said it was wonderful and loved it. The full circumnavigation takes between 110 and 150 days, depending which way you travel. This time, they are going half way, getting off in India, then flying home to Baltimore. They live in Ellicott City. One advantage is that you only unpack your bags once. Our journey has been interesting but we have already packed and unpacked several times. Another advantage is that you are well looked after while on the ship. In fact, we have been spoiled rotten. In many ways, cruising is a lazy way of travelling. The excursions in the ports are all planned so the passengers just sign up, or stay on board and read. This ship has lots of folks who could not fend for themselves at all in foreign places but they are comfortable on the cruise ships, so are able to travel, which is a good thing. Gill intends to cruise the whole way around the world, but she will do it in sections. She will leave New Zealand and pick up The Queen Elizabeth and eventually end up in London. Ken and I are happy to leave the ship in Auckland on Tuesday, where we will unpack our bags many more times before finally ending up in Jackson, at the end of May. Our travel will be more difficult than our fellow passengers on The Queen Elizabeth, but perhaps more interesting , al least to us!!.

February 21, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. The Olympics.

I love to watch the Olympics. Every two years, I could be found sitting watching on the television. My favorite place would be in Canada, and on the west coast, so I could watch both the American and Canadian coverage and at a time earlier in the day. But of course, this has never happened to me, at least not yet. I was hopeful that being on a Cunard line, the ship would provide the passengers ample Olympic coverage. Unfortunately that is not the case. The sports channels, of which we have two, shows primarily soccer/football. They show the Premier league and the Bunderstag league and multiple discussions about players and managers, while I know full well that the Olympics are being broadcast somewhere in the world where others are watching. But not me!! There is no use being upset, because I can do nothing about it. I watch the two or three hours being shown each day, which often are repeats, and I remind myself that next Olympics I will be sure to be living in a place when I definitely will be showing the Olympics on the television. Perhaps in 2018, when the winter Olympics will be in Korea, we will visit Vancouver, where I would get my perfect Olympic world. Now the trick will be to remember to plan ahead.

February 21, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. Tonga.

Tonga is an interesting place. It is flat and after the steep hills of Samoa it is unusual. And it is surrounded by coral reefs. Captain Cook came to Tonga in 1777. In fact, today we visited the same spot where he landed. In many ways, it was like every other developing place. Ken suggested that it looked very similar to Nicaragua, but the clothes are different. The men wear skirts. Even the school boy uniforms use the cotton long skirts. I feel sure I am using the wrong name for the men’s clothing.. And they like the women to be large!! Ken and I took an excursion on the island, to see their historic spots. The thing that was most obvious was the pride of the people in their history and their country. Actually, the drive was interesting but the places we visited were not dramatic and not really very interesting. But we enjoyed the trip. When we arrived back to the ship, the local police brass band was playing at the end of the pier. Much to our surprise, they were good. It was great fun listening to them. As folks came back from their excursions, they stayed to listen to the band. And the people on the ship came out to the deck to listen too. Evidently, this band is famous. Normally, it is a band of 60 but almost half of the players could not get off work. The band has travelled to Australia, New Zealand, Germany, England, Hawaii and other places too. Mel would be pleased to know that the three bass players were excellent, as were the two euphoniums. The cornet section was weak as was the trombones. But all in all, it was great fun listening to them. Four times during their hour and a half concert, the men sang. They were a good men’s chorus. They ended by playing and singing Waltzing Matilda, much to the delight of the Australian passengers. And finally, they played as we left the pier “For All We Know, We May Never Meet Again”. And half the town were waving us goodbye. This was the first time that The Queen Elizabeth had visited Tonga.

February 20, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. The Cunard Line.

The Queen Elizabeth is a lovely ship. It is being run the same way as the Cunard Line ships have in the best. The décor is elegant and the service is impeccable. In the cruise business, the Cunard Line is a niche market, which is perhaps why the line was sold to Carnival in 2010. It will be interesting to see what will happen to this cruise line in the future and whether the ship will change it’s routines. The passengers on this ship are from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and Great Britain. There are a few Germans and a few from the US. This is very different on the past two cruise lines. Unfortunately, the populations of the countries of the passengers on this ship are small, so I suspect that the number of people that want the top, rigid service will not be large enough to fund the ships at the same level. The people who paid to cruise with the Cunard Line knew exactly what they were getting. I suspect they wanted a bit of Old England, where people were polite and were treated as kings and queens and drank high tea every day at 4:00. The passengers are almost all retired. I wonder if the younger generation will want that bit of Old England in the future? We will find out…over time.

February 18, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. Pago Pago.

Tonight we turn the clock ahead one whole day. Today is Tuesday, February 18. Tomorrow will be Thursday, February 20. Until now, every so often we have been turning our watches back one hour, but tonight we leap forward one whole day. This is another first for us. Of course, on the ship going back, we will repeat the same day twice. Such fun. This morning, we docked at Pago Pago, in America Samoa. The foliage is lush and tropical with steep hills rising straight up from the sea. It is also hot and humid. Later today Ken and I will go on land and walk around the shops and inspect the fishing boats. Pago Pago is called Pango Pango. I do not know if this is true but this is what is being told. When the missionaries first came to the island and began to write down the local language, the letter N was missing from their printing type. They did not wish to admit it so told the locals how Pago was pronounces in English. When the locals finally discovered the error, they refused to add the N to the spelling of Pago but they always call it Pango Pango and wish everyone else to call it Pango too. I wonder if this is really true? It sound about right to me. You never know what those missionaries might tell the natives!!

February 17, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. The Food.

The food on the Queen Elizabeth is excellent. Every day we eat like kings and queens. The only problem is that we probably eat too much but as we have no scales to weigh ourselves we can only judge by the band of Ken’s new suit pants. Our dining room is on the 11th floor, which you access by putting your key onto a slot on the elevator. In other words, not every one can go there. This ship is definitely not a classless society. Ken and I paid to dine in the Brittania, which is on deck 2, but we were upgraded into the Princess Suites, so now we dine in the Princess Grill, where we are told that the food and the service are better than the Brittania. Every meal we are shown a menu with multiple options for each course, all more tempting than the last. Fortunately, the portions are small, but perhaps not small enough. The ship has other dining options too. The pub serves lunch and snacks and the Lido restaurant serves all meals at a buffet and is lovely. Ken does not like to eat at a buffet restaurants so we eat most meals in our own dining room. In addition to the good food, we have our own young man who waits on us each meal and attends to our every need. And we can order room service at any time. In fact, most mornings we order breakfast in our room because it is quick and easy. We experience fine dining at every meal in the Princess Grill. Today at lunch, an older lady at an adjacent table was over heard to say. “I love the food on this ship, but the first thing I will do when we get home in Montreal is to go to McDonalds for lunch”. I guess she thinks she is getting too much of a good thing, but Ken and I are enjoying every minute of the good food and the superb service.

February 16, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. The Equator.

We have passed the Equator and are now in the southern hemisphere. This happened in the middle of the night, so I was not able to see the line across the Pacific Ocean, the one that can be clearly seen on every map!! This afternoon, a ceremony was held, where King Neptune and his entourage initiated all Pollywogs into the circle of those who have already crossed the equator. Those of the officers and crew were the only ones to be actually thrown into the swimming pool, uniforms and all. The rest were merely given certificates!! Ken and I continued our pattern of staying away from crowds so we sat quietly at lunch while the band played and the speeches continued. I will watch to see if the water really does go down the drain counter clockwise, now we are south of the equator. We attended two lectures today. Both were excellent. The first was about the american airmen who joined the RAF and were named The Eagle Squadron. The second lecture was the history of Space. Both were interesting and informative. The lectures are perfect for us, lasting 50 minutes. This is the first cruise line where lectures are given throughout the cruise. We will be interested to see what is provided on our long ride home on the Holland American Line, as we are enjoying these lectures on the Cunard Line.

February 15, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. The Tudors.

The Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I by Peter Ackroyd is a very interesting book, especially when travelling on The Queen Elizabeth ship. I have studied English history both in Canada and the US, but never in specific detail. I thought I knew quite a bit about the 16th and 17th Centuries but I now know a whole lot more detail, for good or ill. It was a terrible time. During this time period, England changed the religion, away from Roman Catholic to Protestant. It was bloody and it took a long time. My past history seemed to tell the story quickly, but this was not the case. The writing style is readable and breezy, which is a good thing because it certainly was bloody. I have never really favored the system of royalty. I have always hated the idea that you could be born into your position in life. We are enjoying riding in this ship, The Queen Elizabeth, but we would prefer the ship had another name. Reading this book reminds me all the reasons why I disapprove of the whole royal system. But I am delighted to be reading this book. It is a perfect book to be travelling on a royal ship but knowing that the Queen has no authority!!

February 14, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. Whales.

Whales are interesting creatures but we almost never see them. In Mexico, from our balcony, we can see spouts out a sea and we can see the big creatures rolling over at the top of the water. We see more whales when Robbie is in his own place because he watches for the whales with his binocular, then calls us to take a look. We have seen whales from our deck in Nova Scotia, sometimes right in front of us at the end of the Gull Bay. But mostly we see them further out at sea, when we see their spouts. Our ship spent a day anchored off the coast of Maui, just outside Lahaina. All day, the whales surrounded the ship. We spotted them from our balcony and we spotted them from the restaurants. When we walked on Deck 3 we could spot them all along the way. Sometimes they were as close as thirty feet. We saw more whales on that one day than we have in our whole life. It was great fun. The Tenders took people into town from the anchored ship, but Ken was fearful of slipping so we decided to stay on the ship. Passengers paid to take whale watching expeditions but we saw more whales from the ship than those folks did from their boats. We were pleased we had stayed on board the ship to get to see all the whales. It was a real treat.

February 13, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. Life at Sea.

Life at sea is busy. It is surprising to see how active people are on this ship. This afternoon, Ken and I attended a wine tasting which was very interesting. There were 60 people at the event. We tasted four wines, then had a blind tasting. Three different experts discussed the wines, giving us lots of information, which was good because all the wines were new to us. Dance classes are held every morning and afternoon and are well attended. There must have been a few hundred people learning these dances. In the morning class, an English lady teaches line dancing and group dances. The afternoon class is given by a couple who teach ball room dancing. Every evening, the dance floor is packed with couples practicing their dance steps. In addition, there are older men with a name tag on their jacket who dance with the ladies. I don’t know the financial arrangement of these older men but I do know that they dance every dance and always with a different lady. The couple sitting beside us at dinner have taken up bridge on the ship. Beginner classes are given in the morning and intermediate classes are held in the afternoon. They attend both classes. In addition, the group plays bridge, while the teacher observes the play and gives recommendations. Three laps around on the outside gives you almost a mile so most people walk the loop during the day. Every day at sea, three lectures are given in the theater. We attend two each time. Life is not dull or boring at sea, which is a good thing, because we will be at sea for the next five days!!

February 12, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. Lahaina, Hawaii.

Serving afternoon tea is a lovely tradition. Yesterday, Ken and I enjoyed drinking our afternoon tea on the 11th deck of the lounge, right beside our dining room, The Princess Grills. The event was delightful. The tea is served every day but until yesterday, we did not feel the need for more food in the middle of the afternoon. Yesterday, after our several hours of prowling the ship, we finally succumbed. The tea was perfect. White gloved waiters served, bringing us scones, tiny sandwiches and cakes, along with clotted cream. And we drank ginger tea. It was elegant, to the highest degree. The Cunard Cruise Line used to be British. Mr. Cunard was a Canadian from Nova Scotia but he took his business to London, where it stayed and grew. The company ran very proper British ships. In 1956, I travelled home on the original Queen Elizabeth, along with the other Canadian delegates from the International Salvation Army Corps Cadet Congress . I was 18, and had a wonderful time, but I do not recall the elegance of the ship. Several years ago, Cunard was purchased by Carnival, an American company, but they have kept the Cunard Line running exactly the same, right down to the afternoon tea. It was lovely, taking afternoon tea yesterday, but I think I will skip it today. I ate a big lunch!!

February 11, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. Honolulu, Hawaii.

Today, while everyone else was out on excursions, Ken and I explored the ship. At 9:00 am, The Queen Elizabeth arrived at Dock 11 in Honolulu. The weather was perfect so passengers flocked ashore, getting on buses or walking along the shore to shop. We leave at 11:30 pm so folks will be able to tour the whole island. The tours seemed interesting but we had been to everywhere before, so we decided to explore the ship. The ship was empty. Even the swimming pools had no people, so we were able to enter every restaurant and every bar in the whole ship. And we talked to the working people too. As there were no passengers to be served, they were more than welcome to chat with us. We even ate lunch at the wrong restaurant. On this ship, when you book your cabin, you are assigned to a restaurant, where you can eat every meal. There are two casual buffet restaurants where you can eat at any time, but the regular, formal restaurants are assigned. But today, after touring the restaurant on the second floor, The Brittania Restaurant, the man in charge welcomed us to stay for lunch, so we did. The couple next to us were from New Zealand so we enjoyed our conversation with them. This ship has lots of beautiful bars, which we saw for the first time today. The décor and the art work on this ship are beautiful. Today, it took us two hours, but we took the time to enjoy it all. It is about time!!

February 10, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. The Differences.

We have now travelled on three cruise ships. My brother Dave thought we would find differences from one ship to another, and he was correct. Each ship is unique. The size of the three ships is the first difference. The Allure of the Sea was the biggest, both in size and with the number of passengers. The Norwegian Star had about a third the number of passengers and The Queen Elizabeth even smaller, at 1800. So obviously, each ship was different. All ships were elegant, in their own way. All ships were either new in 2010 or refurbished, as was The Norwegian Star. There has been nothing slipshod. The Queen Elizabeth has been decorated in the English style, with lots and lots of wood and light colored carpets. A main difference between the ships is the passengers. The Allure of the Sea had multiple activities for every age group so we saw many children and teenagers. And we heard and chatted with many passengers from Russian and eastern Europe and South America. The Norwegian Star was full of Western Europeans and Americans with mostly people retired. The Queen Elizabeth has passengers from Great Britain, Canada and the US with everyone retired. I have not spoken to anyone who actually still works for a living. The Norwegian Star was full of very fat people while The Queen Elizabeth has very few obese passengers. I have not counted but merely observed when walking around the ship. The biggest difference is the staff. The clothes were different as were their style. Here on the Queen Elizabeth you have impeccable dress and service. And the staff is formal and deferential. The staff on the other ships were excellent and we were well looked after, but there is a difference in style that was observable. On The Norwegian Star, of the 1200 staff members, 600 came from the Phillipines. Not so The Queen Elizabeth. The staff is from England, or India or Germany. One small difference was the method of carrying trays. The waiters on The Queen Elizabeth carry trays in front of them, never hoisting the tray up on the shoulder. On The Norwegian Star, we had a discussion with a waitress about carrying heavy trays on her shoulder. She told us that it took her 6 months to be able to handle the load. On The Queen Elizabeth, they never even try. It is not considered couth!!

February 9, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. Con Coughlin.

Once again, I was unsuccessful. Late last night, I completed by little blog. But it disappeared, never to be seen again. I know better than working very late, but I had forgotten to do it earlier in the day. Ken is sure that I hit a wrong button on the computer, thus erasing the whole thing. Grrr. After dinner, we attended the evening entertainment in the theater. I had always loved Nat King Cole and last evening, the man was singing the old favorites, all in the style of NKC. The songs were the same and the style was the same but this singer could not sing in tune. On the way back to our cabin, we stopped to hear the ship’s dance band, which was excellent, so we listened while we watched the dancing from the balcony above. Now if only they could find a good trombone player, the band will be really good. Yesterday, we attended a lecture given by Con Coughlin . He has just published a book about Winston Churchill’s first war, the British war of 1897, in Afghanistan. It is always a pleasure to hear more about Churchill and his formative years. We also attended another talk by John Pett, the geologist, discussing the Ring of Fire. The pictures of volcanoes were spectacular. These first two full days at sea have been pleasant. We have been travelling southwest, heading for Hawaii. This morning, it is warmer, with less wind. From now on, we should get warmer every day.

February 7, 2014. The Queen Elizabeth. Clothes.

We are seriously underdressed on this ship. But we will keep our chins up high and pay no attention. Last evening , we ate our first dinner in our dining room. It was an informal night so I wore a loose fitting silk dress with a matching jacket. It was certainly informal. The other ladies came with cocktail dresses or fancy suits. I just laughed. Not as many choices on this ship. Our table has been established and we sit there at every meal. Tonight is a formal night so I will wear the same type of clothes that the other ladies wore last evening. I am expecting strapless gowns from everyone else. Our cabin is wonderful and the dining room magnificent. The wait staff wear white at lunch and dark for dinner and everything is fancy. We are enjoying the food and the service. And this morning we attended two interesting lectures, one given by an oceanographer and another by a geologist. Gill had warned us about the lectures and she was right. We will look out for them every day. Tonight, we have been invited by the Captain to a cocktail party but we will not attend. We really have no wish to meet the captain. Instead we will dine at 7:00, sitting at the correct table in our dining room, wearing our finest clothes, and hope they won’t kick us out by being in clothes that are not formal enough!!

February 6, 2014. San Francisco, Ca. The Queen Elizabeth.

Today we board The Queen Elizabeth, the Cunard Line ship that will take us to New Zealand. My brother Dave tells me that the ship will be different than the last two ships, but we will see. We were perfectly happy with the past cruises. It will certainly be different in some respects. The first four days we will be at sea, heading to Hawaii. Then we spend five more days at sea getting to Samoa. We are told that it is more formal in tone. Ken has brought a dark suit while I have three silk outfits suitable for formal wear. No matter what, we will have a good time. We are packed and ready to leave San Francisco. The city seem energetic and lively. Also dirty and old. There are not as many homeless people sleeping on the streets now, but I do not want any people living on the streets. We have enjoyed the restaurants even though we did not venture many blocks from our hotel. Our task here was to finish up some business affairs and e mails while here and we have accomplished our jobs. We leave at peace, leaving Christina to the mail. This will be the first time for us to sail across the Pacific Ocean and the first time to cross the Equator and the International Date Line. Fortunately we have a balcony so we will be able to watch the sea. We are keen with anticipation.

February 5, 2014. San Francisco, Ca. Laundry.

The place seems a caricature of a laundry from the past. We both laughed when we walked in the door. Our hotel has no guest laundry facilities. They are helpful by sending laundry out to be serviced, which is nice, but expensive. During our walks, we noticed a sign for laundry and dry cleaning, so we went in…and we laughed. I bet that only in San Francisco could you find such a laundry today. The room was small and packed full with stuff. It had all the normal revolving racks you find in a dry cleaning service except it was small. The room was deep but only 10 feet wide. The only working person in sight was Chinese, and was tiny. When we walked in the door she was ironing. Immediately, I spotted three different types of sewing machines, tucked into the corner behind the counter. She came over to talk to us and was smiling cheerfully. And she was delighted to attend to our dirty laundry, all for $1.50 a pound. We told her that we would return tomorrow. It all seemed to be a throwback, but here we were yesterday, giving over our dirty clothes to the still beaming old lady, to return in the morning to collect our folded clean clothes. Of course, Ken correctly points out that we have no clue what we will be paying as we never did ask whether the cost was for the clothes wet or dry. But I don't care. It reminds me of all the books about Chinese laundry facilities. I am happy to be a part of a new real Chinese laundry in San Francisco. And we will pick up our clean and folded clothes in the morning, we hope.

February 4, 2014. San Francisco, CA. Zingari Restaurant.

You never know when you will come upon a good restaurant. The other day we found the delightful Japanese restaurant just wandering down the street. This afternoon, Ken spent a couple of hours looking up restaurants in downtown San Francisco, searching the books and the Internet. He read reviews as well. Together, we decided on Italian food. He discovered that one of the top Italian restaurants in town is at 501 Post Road, which is the address of our hotel, The Donatello. When we arrived on Sunday evening, we were weary, so went down to the second floor restaurant in the hotel for a light snack. Our food was excellent but we did not pay attention to the name of the restaurant. We just ate and left. Both of us were surprised and pleased to discover that this fine restaurant was right in our building, so we made a reservation at the Zingari restaurant. The food was wonderful and we could drink our wine and just go upstairs to our San Francisco home. You just never know when you will find an excellent restaurant. Sometimes, that fine restaurant is right at your doorstep.

February 3, 2014. San Francisco, CA. Dinner Etc.

I know better, but I forgot. In 1961, Ken and I worked for the summer in Arizona and headed home to Ontario via California and the west coast. We drove in our 1953 Volkswagon bug, with no air conditioning, and we camped as we went. We were used to heat from our Arizona summer and the day we spent in San Francisco was the coldest day I have ever spent in my life, and I am a Canadian. Today, the sun was shining and it seemed warm, so Ken and I wore long sleeved shirts and sweaters. By the time we had walked to Union Square we were chilled to the bone so we went into Macy's and rode the escalator to the top floor, trying to get warm. On each floor, we looked at the merchandise and actually got a good gift idea for David and Suzanne. We laughed that we were just like the homeless, who go into the stores in order to get warm. It was fun looking at all the odd clothes. Neither of us ever shop. Our dinner tonight was the perfect San Francisco experience. The Japanese restaurant was tiny, with four tables and three chairs at the sushi bar, so could seat 15. The father was the chef, the daughter waited on tables and the mother did the dishes, of course, all Japanese. The room was about ten feet wide and fifteen feet deep but was elegantly decorated. Fortunately, we were early so could get a table. The food was excellent and the saki good. Only in San Francisco. We are enjoying life in the city.

February 2, 2014. San Francisco, CA. The Donatello.

We are staying right downtown San Francisco. Ken exchanged a time share. Our home here is lovely. Modern and spacious, so we are pleased. Our plan is to just poke around, walking here and there. The maps show that we are within walking distance of lots of interesting places. We were weary when we arrived but after a bite to eat at the elegant restaurant in the hotel, we have recovered. Ken has even unpacked his whole suitcase. I will deal with it tomorrow. On the plane from Los Angeles, JetBlue showed the super bowl on the TV. It was surreal, watching the Broncos being demolished. And there were loud howls and cheers from the passengers. No one anticipated a blowout but that is what we got. Congratulations to Seattle. They played a great game. Last week in Jackson, Mississippi, Kate and Mary Frances won the Bach piano competition. Gold medal to Kate and Silver for Mary Frances. The person who was most excited was their piano teacher. Congratulations to the girls and to the teacher too.

February 1, 2014. Norwegian Star. The End.

This cruise is coming to an end. We are right now rocking and rolling up the Pacific coast. Tomorrow morning we will depart the ship in Los Angeles. Getting off a big cruise ship is not an easy task but we are hoping for the best. This morning at breakfast, a couple at an adjacent table were pouring over the list of the day’s activities, marking out what the were attending. It was difficult because several items on the list overlapped the time so they were trying to decide what they really wanted to attend. We had seen the same couple at lunch last week, doing the same thing, which I am sure they did every day. The cruise line provides many different activities, none of which Ken and I attend. We have often said that we should travel by freighters as we never use the casino or bingo or classes or entertainment. One of the best parts of being on a cruise is the cabin steward. Every morning, while we are at breakfast, he comes and makes the bed and cleans the bathroom and every evening while we are at dinner, he comes and turns down the bed and leaves the newsletter for tomorrow’s activities. It is a wonderful luxury. Tomorrow will be a long day. Ken and I fly to San Francisco and check into a hotel where we will stay until we leave for New Zealand. Travel days are always long days but here we go.