Norwegian Bliss

Today the largest ship to enter Vancouver Harbour came under the Lions Gate Bridge at low tide,.  She's 168,028 gross tons and holds 4,990 passengers.  I heard a lot of people at Canada Place say she's the largest cruise ship in the world but Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas gets that award  weighing 228,021 gross tons and 6,680 maximum passengers.  Bliss is the 6th largest cruise ship and she didn't disappoint.  Tonight she sails under the Lions Gate Bridge at low tide to Los Angeles.  She continues on through the new Panama Canal and sails the Caribbean in the winter.  In April she heads back to Seattle where she sails weekly to Alaska.  She will come into Vancouver Harbour on May 4th and spends the night at Canada Place. 

A rainy day at Canada Place

Full view of the ship!

The Haven, an area for the suite guests.  I loved the chairs in the pool.

The Haven lounge.  It's two stories high and the view is amazing.

Living Room of the 18th floor Penthouse Suite

Nice bedroom in the Penthouse Suite, but the bedroom on the Harmony Aqua Theatre Suites is much larger.

 

Haven Suites dining room

 Now to the buffet.  It was one of the best designed and lots of seating.  We stayed for lunch and it was delicious.  Lots of staff to help get drinks and clean tables. 

 

Not only a stand with hand sanitizer, there is a hand washing station at the entrance!

Many of these stations, all with different offerings.  Spacious and exceptionally clean.

I loved the wine bar!  It wasn't open at lunch!

Lots of nice tables by the window.  Huge windows with gorgeous views!

Theatre where Jersey Boys and other live entertainment is shown.
What I like is you make reservations with seat selection long before the performance.
Every seat has a wonderful view.

Bowling Alley!

One of the bars on board.  Lots of tables and the ceiling is high.  It has a view to Deck 6 below.

Casino for those who like to gamble.

Nice open area midship.

 

One of three main dining rooms.  The ceilings are higher than in the Princess Dining Rooms.

Many different dining venues.  I took the ice cream parlour for Lexie. 

Lots of chocolate and many flavours of ice cream!

We were on Deck 16 at the Buffet.  There are 20 decks!
As you can see it's much larger than the other ship visible.

This ship has many amenities including a two story race track, laser tag and mini golf.  There is an awesome water park complete with slides and lots of water activities.

What a great day on board!  It's too bad it was raining so hard.  We didn't go outside to get pictures.  Calgary and Edmonton have had snow, so I'll be happy with the rain.

Fall Colours

I've been following my friend Donna on the Royal Princess.  They are sailing the Canada New England fall colours!  Today they are in Saint John and while the Royal Princess doesn't capture the fall colours, I'm sure she has some wonderful photos. It looks like a nice port day.

Cottbus, Germany

Sutton, Canada

 

Zhangye, China

Cambria, England

Olympia National Park, Greece

Kyoto, Japan

My backyard view, Surrey, Canada

Knit 1, Pearl 2, Fireman, You who!

This is dedicated to my cousin Stephen, who was in the Vancouver Fire Fighters calendar a few years ago! 

Heritage BC Watch List

The Heritage B.C. watch list is meant to draw attention to sites of significance around the province

The aging Victoria High School building, constructed in 1914, needs seismic upgrades and has been approved for expansion. The school board has proposed to keep the exterior while upgrading the interior. 

This week, Heritage B.C. released its first ever "watch list" of six culturally significant sites in need of protection.

Two of those sites are on Vancouver Island, including Victoria High School, opened in 1914, which is also on the National Trust for Canada's Endangered Places list.

"Vic High is an example of one of these schools which was slightly too small for its purpose today and it also really urgently needed to be seismically upgraded," said Heritage B.C. President Gordon MacDonald.  The school board has proposed  maintaining its heritage by keeping the exterior intact, while upgrading the interior, a move MacDonald applauds.

The City of Vancouver said it is exploring its options toward retaining the Fairmont building, which was formerly the RCMP's headquarters. It is now on Heritage B.C.'s watch list because the land it sits on is being redeveloped. 

The other site is Morden Colliery Historia Provincial Park, the site of a former coal mine located near Nanaimo, which Macdonald said displays examples of industrial heritage and the large engineering works that are a legacy of the province's early days.

"What you can see there are the remains of the above ground ... structures that supported the old mine workings. It was a very important coal mine in its day. Now, that's all become a bit precarious," he said.

The two sites flagged in Vancouver are the Fairmont Academy and the Vancouver Public Library Collingwood Branch.  (This was my library growing up).

First Presbyterian church in Prince Rupert and the Turner House or Cruikshank Residence in Abbotsford complete the watch list.

The goal of the watch list is to engage communities surrounding the heritage sites in advocating for improved protection, awareness and conversation, MacDonald said.

The organization is aware of the need to move on, the need to make schools seismically safe and to provide new and affordable housing. He argues that preservation and progress "are not contradictory but rather complementary agendas."

"We promote the adaptive reuse and rehabilitation of historic spaces for contemporary new uses."
"Our heritage is only really effective when we use it and value it, so it's how we inhabit those spaces that is what we're really championing in the watch list."

Red Hat Lunch

Yesterday our Red Hat group went to The Diner for lunch.  Tom and Stella amused us and the lunch was good.  The prices are very reasonable.  If you want your sandwich toasted, it's an additional 5 cents.

Tom serenaded us

Tom sang "Danny Boy", "I Belong to Glasgow", and "On Ilkley Moor Baht 'at".

It's that time of year....

 Fall Girl Guide cookies are for sale. 

$5.00 a box and they are delicious

Last night Cheryl and Dave invited us for dinner.  Cheryl made delicious butter chicken!  After dinner we were watching Dancing With The Stars and a sweet little "Sparkie" came to the door with cookies. 

When my sister Louise was 8 years old we were in a bad car accident.  Louise broke her collar bone and her arm was in a sling.  She went to a Girl Guide function somewhere in Vancouver where Lady Baden-Powell was visiting.  As she walked past all the Brownies and Guides, she stopped and talked to Louise asking her about her sling.  Louise told that story to every girl she saw selling cookies.  I am continuing passing on this great story!

Louise went as high as Sea Rangers, Cheryl, Lexie and I just went to Guides.  It's a wonderful experience for girls!

9 things you should never forget do in a hotel room

I'm not going into detail as some of these things are disturbing.  You can always message me if you want to know more details.  Most of these are common sense:

1.  Don't use the remote control without putting it in a zip lock bag.  Enough said
2.  Don't leave valuables lying around.
3.  Don't forget to put the "do not disturb" sign on your door.
4.  Don't reveal your room number.
5.  Don't open your door to anyone.  Even if you called room service, check first.
6.  Don't leave your door ajar to get ice or visit someone close by.
7.  Don't go anywhere near the mini bar.
8.  Don't drink the tap water.  It's not only the water, but the glass you need to worry about.
9.  Don't forget to check for bed bugs.  They are in six star hotels too!

Happy travels!

Carnation Milk

Canned Milk Early Canned Milk Ad [65 years ago]

A little old lady from Wisconsin had worked in and around her family dairy farms since she was old enough to walk, with hours of hard work and little compensation.
When canned Carnation Milk became available in grocery stores in the 1940s, she read an advertisement offering $5,000 for the best slogan.
The producers wanted a rhyme beginning With 'Carnation Milk is best of all.'
She thought to herself, I know everything there is to know about milk and dairy farms. I can do this! She sent in her entry, and several weeks later, a black car pulled up in front of her house.
A large man got out, knocked on her door and said, "Ma'am,.....The president of Carnation milk absolutely LOVED your entry.....
So much, in fact, that we are here to award you $1,000 even though we will not be able to use it for our advertisements!"
He did, however, have one printed up to hang on his office wall.
True story!
                             

This day in history

September 20, 1967 the QE 2 was launched into service.

RMS Queen Elizabeth II, launched September 20, 1967
RMS stands for Royal Mail Ship

RMS Queen Elizabeth served as the flagship of Cunard Cruise Lines from 1969 until succeeded by RMS Queen Mary 2 in 2004. Designed in Cunard's then headquarters and regional offices in Liverpool and Southampton respectively, and built in Clydebank, Scotland, QE2 was considered the last of the great transatlantic ocean liners until Queen Mary 2 entered service.

The QE2 was retired from active service on November 27, 2008 and is now a floating hotel in Dubai. Queen Elizabeth II christened both the QE2 and the successor.

Her successor:

Cost: UK£350 million  (US$560 million)
Maiden voyage: 12 October 2010
Tonnage: 90,901 gross tons
Length: 294 m (965 ft)
Beam: 32.3 m (106 ft)
Capacity: 2,092 passengers 

MS Queen Elizabeth 
  MS stands for motor ship

MS Queen Elizabeth on it's 2019 world voyage will berth at Canada Place in Vancouver for the first time on May 21, 2019.  She will complete three ten day round trip voyages to Alaska and then sail through the Panama Canal to her home port of Southampton.  We are booked on the June 20th sailing to Alaska for the summer solstice.

Versatile artwork

Art has become incredibly versatile these days. Canvases are no longer what they used to be. Now, artists look beyond the ordinary and find a way to turn it into something extraordinary. One such artist is Akie Nakata who creatively turns stones into cute little animals. But this is no easy task. For Akie, it is more than just painting on a stone. She strives to bring out the living being that she feels in the stone and proceeds carefully. First, she considers where she is positioning the backbone. She also states that it is the stone that determines what she paints on it. Her goal? To paint the life, the living spirit of the being she feels inside the stone. Take a look:

1. Red Fox






2. Hamster



3. Mom and baby sea otter






4. Bluebird (I love this one!)






5. Owl






6. Baby seal






7. Pug dog






8. Raccoon






9. Golden retriever






10. Koala






11. Snow Owl






12. Mom and baby elephant






13. Lone Wolf






14. Hippo