Sitka, Alaska

In Septermber, 1988 I went on an Inside Passage cruise, which was my introduction to Alaska. On that cruise I spent most of my time on deck, photographing the scenery. Prior to this trip I had never seen anything on a scale this big. It was obvious to me from the start that Alaska was the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. The ports of call for that cruise were Haines, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, Tracy Arms Fjord; we also cruised through the Misty Fjords, where we spent some time following whales. It was a unique experience to look at the ship's wake & discover that we were going in circles following the whales. Much of the beauty of Alaska lies in its pristine nature. I also like it better than the beauty tropical places because Alaska is so much cleaner and more orderly.

The course between Hubbard Glacier and Sitka was full of whale-watching opportunities. The whales were seemingly everywhere. It was fun to see the team trivia game and an exercise class interrupted for whale watching. We saw so many whales that it seemed as if they came out to play and perform specially for the benefit of the cruise ship passengers.

Given the progression I had seen in the ports previously visited, going from desolate to pretty, I expected that Sitka would be nice. However, I was not prepared for the amazing beauty and perfection of that area. Spruce and snow-covered mountains were everywhere, but the dominant sight was Mt. Edgecumbe, an ancient, long dormant, snow-capped volcano on nearby Kruzof Island. From what I understand, the very next peak is also a volcano.

Here, as at every other Alaskan port we saw this time, the bald eagles were everywhere. While we were there the tide was out, and the tidal flats were littered with eagles, both adult and immature. There were also many flying about, soaring with the mountains as backdrop. The dandelions were also everywhere and very healthy; I took that photo for my friend, Buddy.

This time we actually went on a shore excursion. Our tour guide, Jolene, is from the Tlingit tribe. She took us first to the Sitka National Historical Park Visitor Center, which featured Tlingit totem poles outside and a video presentation along with wonderful exhibits inside. The Tlingits do gorgeous beadwork and wood carving. We got to talk to a wood carver and see several of his works in process. Outside, we went for a walk in the woods, where we saw a beautiful salmon stream and learned about native plants and their medicinal uses. Following that we stopped at the Sheldon Jackson museum, which had an amazing amount and variety of items displayed, especially given the small space it occupies. We had a chance to talk to a woman who does incredibly beautiful beadwork, who was from the Athabascan tribe. After that we went to a spot where we could take photos of Mt. Edgecumbe without obstructio. That is where we saw the eagles on the tidal flats and also a family picnicking on the beach. The air temperature was in the 50's and quite pleasant; it just seemed out of place to have a picnic on the beach in Alaska. Kind of like the Tropic Lanes & Lounge in Kodiak.

Our final stop on the tour was to see the New Archangel Russian Dancers. The show was almost half over by the time we arrived, and we only stayed for three dances because they did not do anything to pique our interest. We were interested in finding a few remaining souvenirs we needed so we went shopping instead of touring St. Michael's Cathedral. Unfortunately, due to the tides, our stay in Sitka was very short; I think the last tender back to the ship was at 11:30 AM.

The place I would go see were I to return to Sitka, is the Raptor Center. A wildlife tour would also be great, for the opportunity to see creatures we don't encounter in our normal life.

Long after we left Sitka, as we were on deck walking a mile for "dam dollars" we could see the peak of Mt. Edgecumbe above the horizon. We also had more wonderful times of whale watching. I don't know if the time of year is the reason why we saw so many eagles and whales, and possibly a sea otter, but I would certainly go to Alaska in May again. I'm looking forward to a return trip to our most beautiful state.

Hubbard Glacier, Alaska

One of the great pleasures of an Alaska cruise is seeing the glaciers. They are magnificent due to their vast size and the beautiful blue color of the ice. At the Hubbard Glacier there is the added attraction of the Turner Glacier just across the bay. The day we visited the ice floes were so thick we could not get to the location the captain had planned for. Then we had to change position so the Volendam could make a brief visit on its way to Seward. The position change was a real blessing, because we got a much better view of both glaciers than we would have from our original position.

Having been to the Tracy Arms fjord and seen the calving glacier there, I was a little disappointed in the ice color visible on both the Hubbard and Turner Glaciers. What I saw now was maybe a medium aqua color, whereas at Tracy Arms the color, including some of the icebergs, the color was a deep, intense sapphire blue. The range of ice color was reminiscent of an indigo bunting, but on an off-the-map scale. At Tracy Arms I had also seen hundreds of harbor seals littering the icebergs. No seals were visible at Hubbard Glacier. However, despite the disappointment in the color of the ice, both the Hubbard and Turner Glaciers were still spectacular. Their vast size is mind-boggling. I appreciated that we were able to sit there and just absorb the beauty of the glaciers for several hours, because it takes time to truly register their vastness in your mind and absorb the wonder of the sight. Both Hubbard and Turner Glaciers are more impressive than the non-calving compound glacier in the other arm of the Tracy Arms Fjord. For me the greatest attraction of that one was the waterfall cascading into the ocean just a few yards from the immobile glacier.

Since returning home I've been looking at Holland America's Alaska & Yukon cruise book and am ready to head out to see other glaciers, especially Glacier Bay.

Kodiak Island, Alaska

Kodiak was a nice port. The town is very small and there is not much to do there, but the harbors are beautiful, and the backdrop of island mountains is spectacular. When we were there in mid-May, spring had yet to arrive, but it was close. We could see that the deciduous trees had leaf buds that were ready to burst. Of course the ever-present Sitka spruces were covering the mountains, which added to the ambiance of the place. As usual, we took a shuttle into town and just walked around, seeing what was there. Shuttles are very helpful when you don't know how far it is in to town. In this case we discovered it wasn't far and decided to walk back to the ship when we were ready. We found a couple of nice gift shops, but the main attraction for us was the harbor.

While there we saw a Steller sea lion swimming, saw a starfish in the water, which was pointed out to us by a young boy, and we had fun watching bald eagles and seagulls. There was one eagle who would sit on one lamppost for a while, watching the people and then fly to another one to do the same. Those two lampposts are apparently his habitual hangouts. It was also interesting watching the gulls pull fish from the net on a fishing boat. The last of the wildlife we saw was a pair of magpies, another new bird for me. We saw quite a few bald eagles in addition to the one mentioned before, both mature and immature.

I was interested to see the packing/processing plant for the salmon cakes I buy at Costco, and also enjoyed seeing the Tropic Lanes and Lounge with Alaska license plates on the cars parked in the lot. On the way home we saw a sea-life mural painted on a wall, which added a colorful note to the town. Even though Kodiak is at a similar latitude to Petropavlovsk (can you say it yet?) and Dutch Harbor, the atmosphere is very, very different. Although rather plain, there is none of the depressing atmosphere of the other two places.

On our way home we ended up talking to a pair of young men in a pickup truck who stopped to talk to us. That was a lot of fun. We also appreciated the security guard who had been handing out maps outside the ship. He was the one who identified the magpies for us & told us what the deciduous trees were - aspens, if I recall correctly.

For those who want to do shore excursions, Kodiak is an excellent place to do so. They have museums, and best of all, tours of the large wildlife preserve. If I were to return to Kodiak I would make sure to see the wildlife preserve.

Dutch Harbor, Unalaska

Dutch Harbor is actually on Amarak Island, sister city and island respectively to Unalaska and Unalaska Island. It is located in the Aleutian Islands and is the only natural deep-water port in the Aleutians. The ship traversed the Bering Sea to reach this port. I've always thought that it would be interesting to go to the Aleutian Islands, and I can say that I've been there & sailed on the Bering Sea, but the harbor area, which is all I saw, did not impress me. The morning we arrived, the temperatures were at the freezing level, and there were multiple types of precipitation occurring. People waited in long lines for taxis into town. I was not inspired to take any photographs here.

I took a short walk outside and then opted to return to the ship, as the burning of my freezing ears was too much to take. However, during my short time outside I spotted two new birds to add to my list: golden eagle and harlequin ducks, both male and female. Apparently the harlequin ducks breed in the area. There were also many bald eagles flying around. I don't know if the time of year has anything to do with how many eagles are visible, but this was a complete contrast to my Inside Passage cruise in September, 1988, where the only real eagle I saw was very late in the trip and very far away. The only reason I was certain it was an eagle is that the white tail was very clear.

Friends who went into town said it was nicer that Petropavlovsk, but not much. Apparently the point of visiting this port was reprovisioning of the ship. It is disappointing to go to a place that seems as exotic and unusual as the Aleutian Islands and find virtually nothing there except to be able to say "been there, done that".

Apart from being on a "sick" ship (thank you, Noro virus), where all the sports activities, the pool and hot tubs, and even the spa were shut down until the end of the cruise, at least in terms of ports the cruise did get better. I personally had no problem with most of the activity restrictions, but many people were complaining about them. The one I had trouble with is that the dance hosts were not allowed to dance with other passengers except if no touching was involved. Given that they do mostly or only ballroom dancing, this was problematic. Having had the virus on a previous cruise, I was grateful that I was able to maintain my health throughout the cruise.

Next port of call is Kodiak Island, Alaska.

Petropavlovsk, Russia

Petropavlovsk evokes many feelings. It brings back memories of when I first heard its name in a song by Tom Lehrer, where there was a long list of names of Russian Cities. The city lies near the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula, and the name "Kamchatka" has fascinated me since childhood. I did not venture very far into the city because my foot was making walking difficult, but the whole experience of Russia was quite memorable.

For starters, although Russian customs officials boarded the ship early, they took most of the day to review all the passports. All shore excursions had their departure times altered. As I recall, nobody got off the ship until after lunch. Those who wanted to go ashore independently were finally able to board the tender around 3:30 PM. In my opinion, our experience here demonstrated that everything we've ever heard about Russian beaurocracy is true.

Petropavlovsk is the most desolate place I have ever seen. Spring had not yet arrived when we were there, so the trees were bare and there were no flowers blooming, but even brightly colored houses could not cut the feeling of desolation. I have posted a photo showing the condition of the sidewalks in the area I saw. They are disintegrating, and the roads are not much better. Everywhere we saw people sitting around drinking. I'm certain that if I had to live there, I, too, would pass the time by drinking. Some friends who walked further into town reported that what they saw was not much better. I also heard reports from people who had taken shore excursions. The one featuring museums was apparently okay, but the farmer picnic was a huge disappointment because it was not what it was advertised to be.

When I looked at the parked cars I was surprised to see that their license plates use the western alphabet and words. The 90-gallon trash cans were also surprisingly familiar.

Petropavlovsk boasts the only remaining statue of Stalin in all of Russia, which is a prominent sight from the time you step on shore. The other prominent sight, across the bay, is the peak of a snow-covered volcano. The day we were there it was mostly obscured by low clouds, but it was still a beautiful and awe-inspiring sight.

In the end all of us wondered why Petropavlovsk was a port of call for a cruise ship. The Russians would apparently like to have tourist traffic, but unless they change their approach to letting passengers off a cruise ship, it won't happen. And by the way, it is possible to pronounce the name of this city using all the letters. It takes practice, but it can be done.

Tokyo and Hakodate

After departing Osaka, Tokyo and Hakodate were our next stops. We went ashore only briefly in Tokyo, because our priority was unpacking our luggage, which had finally been delivered to the ship. We had originally thought we would need to take a 1.5 hour very expensive train ride to Narita Airport, to the customs warehouse to retrieve our luggage, but thanks to the hard work of our travel agent and the people of the Statendam's front desk, the luggage was delivered. In our relief, we went ashore to find an Internet cafe, and to be able to add Tokyo to the list of places we've been.

Tokyo, like Osaka and Kyoto, is a very clean city. Everything seems very orderly, at least in the small area we saw. Several of the shops had potted plants out in front, which reminded us of Bangkok. We had noticed before that restaurants "post" their menus in the front window, so their patrons can see what their meal will look like. I think that is a nice custom, as it brings the menu to life and makes it far more attractive than a simple printed menu.

Another outstanding feature for me was the fact that the harbor area is as nice as every other place we saw. So many port cities have their docks in run-down areas that this was a very pleasant change. The same was true for Osaka.

The Kabuki theater, with its very traditional architecture, was an interesting sight in among all the very modern structures. The design on the twin skyscrapers was fascinating to me, as I am used to seeing very plain buildings that are rather devoid of any kind of artistry. Also of interest was the lone tower that almost completely blended into the haze.

One of the nicest memories from Tokyo was that we left the port while dining in the Pinnacle Grill. We had a window table and throughout dinner had a beautiful view of the lights of Tokyo.

In Hakodate the only thing we did was go to the morning market. We saw all sorts of seafood, including squid, lobsters, and many large crabs as well as shellfish. The most interesting to me was something called a sea pineapple, which was about the size and shape of a small Thai pineapple. It looked to be related to sea cucumbers. While it may be edible from a technical standpoint, I can't imagine eating it. I was not able to find out how it is prepared.

We also found an ice cream shop that served wonderful ice cream. The flavors we chose were sesame (which was gray in color), green tea, and mango. The sesame was the only unusual one, and while one bite tasted good, I was very happy to go back to my mango. I don't think I would ever choose to order sesame ice cream.

Unfortunately I have no pictures of Hakodate. I did not think to upload them to my computer immediately and they were lost when my camera malfunctioned in Petropavlovsk. The most memorable photo I lost was of the sea pineapple. I am hoping to get some photos of Hakodate from a friend when she has time to send them to me.

Once we left Tokyo, headed for Russia, we sailed along the Kuril Islands, which were very picturesque. We did not see any signs of human habitation, but they were an imposing sight.

Osaka, Japan

Osaka is an interesting city. It was a major undertaking to get there from the airport, but when we arrived we found it to be very clean and picturesque. The rail system is excellent and easy to use once you know what to do, although the large stations can be quite confusing. We also discovered that rush hour is not the time to be lost in a station,because of the tsunami of people you encounter that is flowing through the station. We have never seen such masses ofpeople anywhere before.
Another interesting feature in Osaka is that the traffic lights at many intersections broadcast bird calls to let you know that it is permissable to cross the street. At each intersection there is a different bird sound. The same thing is true in Kyoto.
Osaka is not a tourist city, but it does have at least one major attraction, the Osaka Castle, which was home to a warlord's family. It is currently a museum which has wonderful displays of ancient coats of mail & weapons, along with a huge silk-screen painting depicting a major battle, & a model of the same battle. There is an observation platform around the top of the castle that affords a gorgeous panoramic view of the city. The approach to the castle is beautiful, with the moat and the walls built of huge ballast rocks. Osaka Castle is definitely worth a visit & is a place I would return to.