Aboard M.V. Statendam

We flew into Vancouver early, cleared immigration and customs, walked across the street and took the Canada line, one of the local subway lines... It delivered us two blocks away, cost $7.50 each ( a taxi would have been about $30.00 for two)

We checked our bag at the pier, saw guest still disembarking, so walked around for a bit, saw the steam clock, and had a bite to eat at the Rogue Kitchen & Wet Bar...  

 We returned to the pier about 12:15 or so, got in line... Security was a bit backed up, but once passed, it took about 10 minutes to collect our documents and walk on the ship.  Our room was ready... But the suitcase not yet in evidence...

We explored, changed our dinner seating (to late seating) found a couple of books in the library, and returned to the room where our luggage was waiting.  We unpacked, then napped while waiting for the lifeboat drill...

Immediately after the boat drill we headed up to the crows nest, got the center table, ordered drinks, read and watched the sail away...

Monday morning... When we (I) awake, the ship is docked in Victoria.   I get up, shower, and go up to the Lido for coffee and croissant.  Tina will sleep in a bit.

It is 7:00 as I reach the Lido.... 132 stairs separate deck 4 where our room is, and deck xx where the Lido is... Below, the dock is bustling with activity... Tour buses, mini vans (for smaller tours) taxis, all awaiting us, the ships passengers... After a busy summer tourist season, ship calls are starting to end, as the ships flee south for the winter.  Our port call will be brief... 7:00 to 12:30, sailing away at 1:00.  Tina and I have been here before, and have small plans... Walk off, take the shuttle to the inner harbor, visit the BC Museum, bu some chocolate, gifts for those left behind, then return, probably by noon...

Back aboard... We have spent time over a leisurely lunch...  Ashore we visited the British Columbia Museum... We bought chocolate...

The museum was one of the best I have ever visited.  One floor dedicated to dinosaurs... A temporary exhibit... About how dino's worked... how bones fit together, how they walked… New ideas about how they lived... Fossils mixed in with computer models, touchable artifacts...

Upstairs, it was all about man, both the First Nation peoples, and the Europeans... Transitions, new industries, daily life... Artifact rich, with exhibits to tour, hidden exhibits, within larger exhibits... All done well...  

Within one exhibit, a sign…

“Selected Collections

Museum Collections bring together objects for study,

comparison and exhibition.  They allow us to reflect

changes in our lives.

We collect objects to learn about place, use, attitudes

and relationships with the world around us.   How we

interpret an object can change over time – we can look

at even the simplest of objects from many perspectives.”

The sign was spectacular… not for the idea, the idea of why we collect, and how we interpret is basic museum science; instead, it is a sign that the staff has respect for the visitor… even to the point that the visitor might have their own interpretation…  an interpretation different than that presented, equally valid…  I love great museums…

Outside we found a military band posing for photos on the steps of the legislative building... with a garden gnome... Such are the surprises one discovers when traveling...

Now, back aboard... Sailing the Strait of Juan de Fuca, headed for the north Pacific... A pod of Orcas playing off the port side... Fog slowly closing in... We are beginning to feel the swells of the open ocean, but are still a couple of hours away from clearing the strait...

We are sitting in the Crows Nest, a bar, forward, up high with a great view ahead... Music is playing... Edelweiss, Dorris Day singing Que Sera Sera... Now Santana, yes Carlos Santana...  Visibility now down below a quarter mile... The fog horn is sounding...  Fog closes in, obscuring all... The sea strangely calm, when it can be seen... For a moment there is a bright spot off to port... Sun... Peaking under the fog... Then, it is gone... Fog horns again...  But who cares, it's happy hour...