San Francisco - Day 11

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Ed slept in and I took an early morning walk up Nob Hill to the Fairmont, passing the trolleys which are not too crowded at this hour. 

The Fairmont looked the way it always has, elegant and traditional, whereas the St. Francis has tried to go modern — which has changed the ambiance. 

I then walked through Chinatown.  I have always loved watching the shops in this neighborhood wake up to the residents and tourists. Even on a Sunday, I was not disappointed.

I went by St. Mary’s Church, built in 1854, which was one of the few buildings to survive the 1908 earthquake.

Another beautiful day and I caught some great views.

Then Ed and I split a sandwich at one of the small cafes across the street in Union Square. While walking to the bus stop, we noticed this fountain outside the Grand Hyatt.

It tells the visual story of San Francisco created by world renown SF artist Ruth Asawa. Completed in 1972, it is 14 ft. in diameter and is composed of 14 bronze panels. She enlisted visitors and school children to fashion many of the pieces out of baker’s clay, then glued them to the clay panels, before sending it to the foundry. Reminds me of Louise Nevelson’s work. It was funded by the Hyatt which is why there is an “HH” on it.

We then caught a local bus to meet our group for the North Beach/Little Italy Food Tour by local Tastes of the City. It was a good thing we had a snack, because from 2:00-3:30 we were only given some bites of meat and cheese and 3 pieces of fudge.  We have taken these tours in at least 10 cities and they have all been great. This one should have been but it was not good.  Our guide acted like he was doing us a favor and spent a lot of time taking us to non-food places, like a hat shop, and walking us around Washington Square, which was torn up. He was really boring. We only went to 4 food stops — the usual has always been 6. So here’s the line-up:

Palermo II Delicatessen (Sicilian style) for one plate of cheese and meat to share with 12 people.

Z Cioccolato for 3 pieces of fudge in a bag.

Acquolina for pasta. The cheese sauce was unique because the proprietor poured hot vodka into a round of cheese and then scraped the cheese into a liquid. He then added the pasta into the round to complete the dish.

Mona Lisa Restaurant for pizza and half a cannoli.

By now it was 5 pm so we headed back to the hotel for a respite. We went up to a higher floor to catch a view. 

By dinner time, we weren’t really that hungry after all that pasta and pizza, so we had wonderful salads at a little place down the street called Honey Honey Cafe. Had to get to bed early because we have a very early morning.

Seattle - Victoria, Canada - Day 4

Sunday, July 21, 2019

We were up early to pull our bags (literally) to the pier next door to the Clipper station at 6:30 for our 7:30 departure.  Fortunately, we were first on (with our preferred seating) and snagged seats in the front row to watch the channel crossing. We could see the seaplanes landing in the harbor in Victoria.

We had a light breakfast, served to us by a young woman from Seattle who attends Xavier U. where our daughter went. Small world.

We arrived in Victoria at 10:30 to a spectacularly gorgeous day. 

We checked into the Empress Hotel, a long time favorite, which overlooks the harbor. Amazingly, our room was ready and we could rest before heading out again. We had been warned in advance about the crowds today. There was a huge car show - the Northwest Deuce Days which takes place every 3 years in Victoria’s inner harbor. Parked along the streets were around 1,400 pre-1952 collector vehicles, more than 500 of which were Deuces (1932 Ford coupes). Thousands of people were on the streets but it was fun walking around and looking at the cars. 

We were not very hungry but did end up at an outdoor bar called Milestone with a view of the harbor and a big umbrella. I had a Bellini, a cocktail made with Prosecco and peach purée. 

We walked around some more and caught a shot of the harbor with our hotel in the background (on right). The only thing that has changed since we were here 20 years ago is the addition of a number of new hotels in the inner harbor.

While Ed took his afternoon respite, I walked to the location of our food tour tomorrow.  It took me to a part of town we had always missed, so I am excited to explore it (through food).

Tonight we took Ed’s cousin Joe Salem and his significant other Alexis to dinner at Steamship, located in the old terminal. We had a lovely table outdoors and watched the sun set while we caught up on life. Walking home, Ed shot a photo of me in front of the Parliament building, which has been lit up nightly since the 1960s. Wonderful evening!

Chamonix - Day 11

Sunday, June 23, 2019

Today is Mont Blanc day - the day we finally get up close and personal with the big mountain. And what luck! This is the most beautiful day we have had and no clouds in the sky to hide our view.

A short walk from our hotel was the station for the cable cars which take us to several levels. 

We first packed 50 people into one that took us to Plan de L’Aiguille at 7,600 ft.




The views looking back on the Chamonix valley were awesome.
We debarked from that and got on another cable car that took us to a facility known as Aiguille de Midi. 

To get a sense of high up we are going, look at this photo of Plan de L’Aiguielle as we lift off and how it looks as we elevate.

Immediately, we boarded an elevator that took us to the summit of this peak at 12,604 ft. 

From here we had a clear view of Mont Blanc. In this photo, the summit is the rounded hump in the middle.

(Mont Blanc hump is to our far right.)

This really makes you feel like you are on top of the world. There is a nice fenced lookout with views of the surrounding ranges.

From another side, we could see the Matterhorn. That is the pointed triangle to the right of the closest mountain.

We could also see mountaineers and hikers on the trails below. These are not ants but people.

We spent a little time in the museum learning about the different extreme sports that occur here, like BASE jumping (Building, Antenna, Span and Earth (like cliffs).)

We also walked through an ice cave

and heard a discussion on the effect on rocks of the declining ice cap - that they are being exposed by the melting ice with no “glue” to hold them together.

We then took the cable cars down and had the afternoon free. Sydney and I had a Croque Monsieur, a ham and cheese sandwich with the cheese toasted on top, at a little cafe.

Afterwards, I followed Sydney and 4 others up on a cable car on the opposite side of the valley where they did paragliding. This was definitely not my thing but I enjoyed going with them and watching them take off. They launched from Plan Praz at 6,740 ft. and landed down below in a field near Chamonix center.

Here are some photos of Sydney soaring.

Meanwhile, I took another cable car to another summit Le Brévent, at 8,500 ft.

The views of Mont Blanc were still very clear. I feel like everywhere I look today I see Mont Blanc and previously it had been eluding us. (It is the high hump and the Bosson Glacier is to the left going down.)

I watched some more hang gliders who came close to the mountains.

Then I headed down the mountain and took a final walk around the village. 

Tonight we had our farewell dinner at the hotel. It was a lovely occasion with toasts all around.

Villars sur Ollon - Day 4

When I woke up this morning around 6:30 and looked out the window, it was a beautiful clear day. But throughout the next two hours, the view changed multiple times, with fog rolling in, then out, clouds appearing, and then sunshine again. I thought you could just sit on the deck for hours and watch the changing sky.

This morning we took a local bus to a shelter from where we began our hike to the village of Bretaye (5922 ft.).

Most of the fog cleared and we were able to get a solid hike in during the morning. We crossed more alpine meadows and followed trails through spruce and fir forests. Along the way we saw more wild flowers. Not certain of their names. Will have to look up later. Here are just some great scenes of the hike and representative flowers.

Above is an orchid.

We came to an area where there were a number of small cottages. Our guide told us that these cottages are on public land and were once used by people grazing their livestock. 

Residents are now allowed to rent them for about $300, but they are required to invest in keeping them up, even though they don’t own them. Some were quite lovely.

We also saw a display of cow bells used as decoration on one house. The bells are taken off when the cows are housed for the winter because they don’t need them and they are heavy. Our guide said sometimes tourists steal these bells off of cows, which, to me is very sad.

We stopped for awhile on a hillside while our guide gave us a talk on how cheese is made. One of the things I learned is that cheese can be made from “whey,” the liquid that remains from making cheese. Our guide had some for us to sample and it was quite good — and fat free! I will have to look for it at a cheese store.

Then we hiked a little longer and I got my first view of the peak that is often considered Mont Blanc — it is the tiny peak in the distance in the clouds. I’m sure I’ll see a lot more of it this week.

Our lunch stop was a special treat. We went to The Crazy Moose Restaurant where we had fondue. Our guide told us we should not drink water with it — only wine or other beverage. Apparently water has a bad reaction with the cheese in your stomach.

Afterwards we broke into two groups, ours doing a more strenuous route through the forest. We all ended up back on a little cog wheel train that took us back to Villars.

We bid farewell to our Swiss guide Mirielle, on right, pictured here with our RS guide Usirus.

Tonight we had another lovely dinner at the hotel. Then it was time to pack for our transfer tomorrow - to Italy!