On the road again

The Queen Victoria brought papers to our cabin, telling us the trip was over and to get our luggage properly tagged in front of our door before 11 pm the night before arrival and be in the Queens Ballroom assembled as group "gold" in order to leave the ship by 10am. They confiscated our boarding cards when we left for the gangway and so there we were, all alone again seeking a taxi. (Tulips on a rooftop garden in the financial district - makes me long for Amsterdam in April) (Storefront selling statues and curiosa) (Our room in the White Swann Inn) We spent 5 nights in the lower Nob Hill area close to Union Square. A little Inn, called the White Swann Inn on Bush Street is here unashamedly advertised to future visitors, not only because of its location, but also because it has some rooms with working fireplaces and a cosy, also fireplace lit, basement area where in the late afternoon guests congregate, drinking wine and nibbling snacks, while exchanging the sto...

In 1869 Ferdinand de Lesseps, the same man who presented the U.S. with our Statue of Liberty in 1884, celebrated the opening of "his" Suez Canal and in 1881, as president of the Panama Canal Company, he started the attempt of digging the present Panama Canal, which we traversed on Cunard's Queen Victoria on February 9. (Pilot arrives before we enter the canal) (We are ready for the adventure of observing the passage)   (First set of 3 locks called the Gatun Locks - so "up" we go) (The sign is there to avoid any confusion of where the ship should go) Let us state here for all to read, this was my first "cruise" and I think for quite a few years to come, my only cruise. I had preconceived negative feelings about cruising and after this trip most of the notions have been affirmed (with the exception of meeting some lovely people), thus making me not a fan. On the other hand, when somewhere in the hopefully far future, mobility requires this m...