Iceland2019

We had a wonderful view of the city, Plains of Abraham, Chateau Frontenac, and the old town as we sailed into port this morning. After a leisurely breakfast, we waited in the Observation Lounge for our debarkation orders. They were running a little late but that didn't bother us as our train doesn't leave until 1:00. We picked up our luggage and were escorted to a taxi that brought us to the Via Rail Station and the business lounge. We have coffee and tea available as well as a couple of English language newspapers to help us while away the hours from 10 to 1:00. No washrooms here though, we have to mix with the hoi poloi. Thus begins the first part of our voyage home. I really enjoyed my hamburger and chips last night after so much wonderful food. Norma was pretty miserable so only ate half of hers and only managed a few bites of birthday cake. Both of us slept well and woke feeling a little better this morning. We were served lunch between Quebec City and Montre...

Last night we went back to the sushi bar for a scallop appetizer that we had enjoyed the night before. We ate dinner at Elements and it was the first poor meal we have had. We both chose the halibut and it was overcooked and really smelled fishy. We picked up some dessert in the Azure Cafe to enjoy in our room. Norma's cold seemed to have gotten much worse and we had an early night. She didn't sleep much as her coughing kept her awake. We have decided to have a room-service meal of hamburger and fries tonight. This morning finds us sailing to Tadoussac where the Saguenay River meets the St. Lawrence and where an abundance of krill mean the presence of whales. The area is designated as a Marine Park. We saw three whale blows last evening but were too far away to tell what species. We are told that we might see 13 species of whales and marine mammals but wildlife sightings are not guaranteed on our whale-watching tour this afternoon. This morning we pack! Hard to ...

Mingan Archipelago National Park, Havre-Saint-Pierre, Quebec We are docked in this small town on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River. We were late getting here as the ship had to proceed slowly as a Right Whale was spotted last night. We are going to Ile Quarry via a smaller boat to meet with a Parks Canada presenter for a 3-kilometre hike. We hope it will be more of an excursion than the last hike which was about the length of a football field. We had dinner at the sushi bar last night where we dined on a variety of dishes - all excellent. We gained an extra hour and a half last night so woke early and went for breakfast at 7:00. When we got back to our room, we discovered that we had ordered room service for breakfast and had a full meal waiting here for us. Talk about scatterbrained, senior moments, and brain farts - and both of us had them at the same time! Our jackets were in the room last night and we found them to be too big so we hope to exchange them tod...

Last night we both enjoyed another excellent meal at the Asian restaurant Koko's. We managed not to close the restaurant and actually got to bed relatively early. We had breakfast in our room as we had an early start. We landed at Woody Point where some of the locals gave us a taste of Newfoundland hospitality - handing out all kinds of goodies for those of us going ashore. Here again, the drastic effects of the moratorium on the cod fishery were explained. Most of the young people left. However, these small fishing villages have transformed themselves into tourist destinations. Woody Point and others proudly display signs proclaiming them as Ideal Towns. Newfoundland has experienced much hardship in addition to its climate. WWI took away a generation of young men that might have become future leaders of the province. Their regiments suffered devastating losses. After that, we were told that Great Britain wanted its debt replayed and when it proved impossible, revoked ...

Battle Harbour was once the salt fish capital of Labrador and today is preserved in the history of that by-gone era. It is a National Historic District of Canada where the history and buildings have been preserved. A local guide will give us an introduction and then let us explore on our own. Norma is hoping to pick up some cough drops for her cold. We took a zodiac to this preserved village that reminded us of Upper Canada Village near Morrisburg and were told that the tour wouldn't be leaving for a half hour. We set off to the general store to see if they stocked cough drops but it was more of a tourist/gift shop so it will be off to the medical centre this evening. We wandered around a bit and talked to some of the other guests - mainly Australians while we waited. We didn't bring our QuietVox and the tour grew huge in numbers so that if we were at the back, we couldn't hear or see so we struck out on our own. Only the commercial buildings and the church were o...

I am going to write up the post of the meal we enjoyed at the Chef's Table last night when I have more time to describe it. I will only say that neither of us have enjoyed such wonderful taste sensations - 12 courses - each one unique and flavourful and beautifully presented. Today we anchored off the coast of Newfoundland and had an hour ride in a school bus to Saint Anthony's at the northern tip of the island. There we boarded a small boat for exploration and whale-sighting hunt. The wind had picked up so we were told we couldn't head into the Atlantic but there was a small chance that we might see a whale. As we headed out toward the ocean, the seas got quite rough - I was wondering if I should have taken a Gravol. But, amongst the many diving Northern Gannets (they put on a tremendous show as they climbed to a great height, folded their wings so they were shaped like a missile and dove (they reach depths of 40 feet), a humpback whale was spotted very close to us...

What a wonderful 7-course dinner we enjoyed last night with 6 other guests. True to her word, Katerina provided a couple of bottles of a wonderful red wine, Siete fincas Secreto, Cabernet Franc 2013 Reserva. We had to share it with some of the other guests but there was plenty to go around. Hannah, our waitress, made sure we got our share! The meal was prepared by a young South African chef who trained in the Nobu Restaurants aboard the Crystal Serenity. I can't begin to describe all the wonderful flavours we experienced in each dish. Each was plated and looked too good to eat. First was a small salad, followed by the most delicious miso soup with chicken livers and vegetables, then a soya pudding made with salmon roe and wasabi, wonderful dumplings, wagu beef and vegetables, a rice dish and finally dessert. My description does not do the meal justice. The chef began days ago making stock, etc. Akira, you would have loved it. I would have taken pictures of all the cours...

This town is the 4th largest in Greenland consisting of 3500 people. The hillsides are covered with colourful houses painted in bright primary shades. The Danish government provides the paint - the labour is the job of the homeowner. Before we had a chance to go ashore, there was an announcement that humpback whales were spotted. We went to the observation deck and managed to catch the sightings. We could track them as they blew water out of their blowholes. We caught them breaching and tail slapping. We managed to get them in the scope provided - a real scope unlike the ones on the NW Passage cruise we took. We both got good sightings. We were told that they were most likely a mother and her calf as one was considerable smaller. At the town, we needed to walk off some calories and headed up the hill stopping a a church - not terribly old - built in 1932. At the top of one of the hills, we encountered an overgrown cemetery and then another newer one. The wild flowers were...

Last night we went to dine at Elements, the main dining room on the ship which specializes in Italian food. By chance we ran into Ilsa, the Sommelier, on the ship. We met her when we ate at the French restaurant. We were seated and the wine steward came up with the red and white selections for the meal. Ilsa came over and said that once we had ordered she would pick a wine selection for us. In the meantime, we could enjoy a glass of champagne that she recommended. Good to her word, she was back and she selected a bottle of Cote du Rhone Sainte Celeste Domaine Vincent Menard for us and left it on the table. The wine steward was very impressed when he saw the bottle - Wow, he said, so we presumed it was a good choice. It was delicious by the way as was the rest of our meal. Another triumph for the chefs in the kitchen. Tonight we have secured a seat at the small Teppanyaki dining room which only seats eight people and has its own chef. This morning, we went on the Qooroq Ic...

After a delicious breakfast which included those wonderful fresh cinnamon buns, an announcement was made that we could see Greenland and our first icebergs of the trip. We rushed to put on our long underwear and several layers of clothing as the temperature was only 6 degrees Celsius with a wind chill. We stayed on deck watching fulmars, a kittiwake and some puffins as well as taking in the magnificent scenery. We approached the Prins Ckhristian Sund, a 100 kilometre long fjord surrounded by towering mountains with an abundance of glaciers reaching into the waters and some small icebergs floating past. A dark spot on one turned out to be a seal. After lunch, we cruised to Aappilattoq, an Inuit community of 150 people. We took a zodiac to the tiny town where we were free to walk around on our own. We climbed stairs up a rock face to enjoy a great view of the Scenic Eclipse on one side and the colourful town on the other. The community had made some cakes and tea or coffee fo...

Room 606 As if the first two days weren't bad enough, the frustration really set in once we reached our room. We had a desk chair seat with no legs, no hangar rod in the closet so we couldn't unpack, the safe wouldn't open, the TV didn't work, There was no instructions as to how to operate the phone so we couldn't phone for assistance and to top it off, there was no soap, shampoo, conditioner or body lotion in the bathroom. We had to go to the mandatory safety briefing in case we run into more trouble. I took the opportunity to outline our concerns with the unreadiness of our room with reception. Apologies and a promise to set things right were made and Kim, one of the receptionists, accompanied us to the room so that she could show us how to use the phone to get help. We met our stewardess and butler. We decided to have room service for dinner. It was after 8:30 before we had dinner, and after 9:00 pm before we had our clothes rod so we could unpack. It ...

Reykjavik - Day Two We were up early for breakfast and took our luggage down to the lobby where it would be stored for the day while we ventured out on an all-day tour of the southern peninsula of Iceland. Every time the bus moved, I slept so missed a lot of the commentary. However, we did enjoy seeing much of the lava rock strewn countryside, sulphur springs, mud pots, etc for which Iceland is famous. At one stop near several shipwrecks, I spotted a whale twice breaking the water. The guide thought it must have been a fin whale - the second largest creature on earth - the blue whale being the biggest. We stopped at a restaurant in a small town for lunch. I had only a taste as I wasn't feeling too well but Norma assures me it was very good. We drove to two different areas where the Teutonic plates from America and Europe meet. Their clashing is responsible for all the volcanic activity here. You can clearly see the fissures between the two plates so we crossed from Ame...

The Waiting Game Continued After realizing that we wouldn't hear anything without a little proactive news, I finally reached the Scenic representative to ask about where we had been assigned for the night. It turns out that we were given a room in the hotel where we had been waiting all day. Then we learned that Scenic had provided an open bar in the hotel. We made our way there after receiving our room key. Norma decided that we deserved nothing more than a drink of 18-year-old Macallan Scotch. I had the sherry cask and Norma the oak. It partly made up for the schmozzel of the day. We checkout our the room - small but adequate before heading for the Owner's Cocktail Party. We arrived late but did get a sense of the ship and its lobby. We were assured that the ship would be ready by the next day (at 4:30 p.m.) when we could finally get to our rooms. We enjoyed some champagne and hors d'oeuvres including sushi at the Asian restaurant. After a Brandy Alexander a...

The Waiting Game We were treated to a glass of sparkling wine once we were on the plane and then after take-off a full course meal starting with an Icelandic fish delicacy with pickled vegetables, an excellent beef tenderloin, and cheesecake with a gingerbread crust. Too bad it was served at one in the morning! We both managed to catnap on the plane thanks to seats that only reclined 40% not the 100% we are used to. However, the most important thing is that we arrived in Iceland right on time. We were met by a Scenic representative who drove us and another couple to a hotel to wait for the ship to be ready. And wait, and wait, and wait. We were offered a tour of the city on a bus to visit a church and a museum but decided to pass on it in favour of a walk to The Pond to look at the various species of duck and gulls that were there. Saw a black-faced gull but that was the only new species and I may have already seen one. I'll have to check my lists when I get home. ...

Toronto After a 20 minute wait for a gate, we finally disembarked to be warned of the long walk ahead of us. We ventured out and finally reached the C gates. The lounge was close to our departure gate so not too far from here. We had the most pleasant surprise in the food line. Vietnamese food seems to be a specialty here. We each thoroughly enjoyed a delicious pho soup that we lavished with sambal oelek, a delicious hot chilli sauce. We both cleared our sinuses. The rest of the offerings were not up to that standard and not worth the calories. We are both close to nodding off but are afraid to miss our flight. We have another midnight dinner to look forward to on our flight plus a breakfast a few hours later. So far the flight is on time so my next post should be once we are aboard.

We set out for the Ottawa Airport on time picking up Blue, our driver, on the way. We arrived at 3:30 and, after checking in, made our way to security. There, I was randomly selected for either a body scan or pat down. I elected the body scan. For some unfathomable reason, the body scan indicated that I was concealing something on my person and also needed a pat down. I indicated that there must be something wrong with the machine - I was wearing exactly four items of clothing - a bra, panties, a top and jeans - six if you count my sandals! I even had to take the Kleenex out of my pocket. After that, I checked around for Norma. Norma was still waiting in line - for some reason, a woman was escorted in front of her. She also was randomly selected. Once she was through, it was Norma's turn. She was randomly selected as well! She also had the body scan and, once again, needed a pat down. This random selection picked three people in a row! This whole process took a half h...