The next day we rode the public transport bus to Old Montreal. We walked along the waterfront and on Rue Paul and Rue Notre Dame to see the buildings of the old town. It was interesting, but not quite as unique as we had been told it would be. The waterfront was very interesting. It was our first look at the St. Lawrence River. There was a percussion festival happening at the waterfront and it was fun listening to the music.
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| On the bus to Old Montreal |
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| Mike on the waterfront by the St. Lawrence River |
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| Mary on a bridge over a small lake by the waterfront |
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| View of Montreal from the waterfront. |
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| Garden behind a historical museum |
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| Rue Paul in Old Montreal |
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| Sitting in the garden. |
After lunch we walked up to Mont Royal Park. It is only 4 blocks to the park from our hotel, but once there to walk in the park you have to walk up many, many stairs. We walked to the top of the stairs and called it good. There were pretty views of the city from there. After the walk, we went back to Brutopia for supper, then went back to the hotel to get ready for the first day of our cruise.
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| Top Section of stairs we climbed |
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| View of Montreal from top of stairs. |
Cruising from Montreal
July 11, 2015
We got up and went for breakfast, then got a taxi to take us to the Port of Montreal to get on the Maasdam. We were able to get on the ship by about 12:30. We went to our room and then had lunch in the Lido Restaurant. We walked around the ship so that we knew where everything was in relation to our room which was on the main deck.
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| View of Montreal from the back of the ship. |
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| Mike on Sea View Deck before ship sails |
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| Mary with Montreal in background |
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| Montreal from ship |
After our bags were delivered to our room and we unpacked, we went to the Rotterdam Restaurant for supper. We were seated next to a couple from the Toronto area named Coco and Wally. They looked like a Coco and Wally. They were in their mid 80's and were a very interesting couple to visit with. I want Mike and I to be like them when we are in our mid 80's - still traveling and enjoying ourselves. While we were having dinner, the ship left the Port of Montreal headed to Quebec City where we would spend the next day.
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| View of shoreline shortly after leaving Montreal. |
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
July 12, 2015
Happy 40th Anniversary to us! We got to Quebec City about 8:00 am and Mike and I disembarked about 10:00 am. We walked along the waterfront briefly before taking the tram to the upper part of the city. We visited the Frontenac Hotel which an extremely large, old, and grand hotel in Quebec City. Then we walked up to the Plains of Abraham at the top of the city. There is a Citadel fort at the beginning of the Plains of Abraham which was interesting to see from the outside.
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| Street by the waterfront in Quebec City |
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| Frontenac Hotel |
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| A street in Quebec City |
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| The track of the tram we rode up to the upper level of the city |
After walking a trail around the outside of the Citadel, we walked down through old town Quebec back to the waterfront level. We stopped at a pub for a beer then went back on board the ship for lunch.
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| View of the Maasdam from the Citadel wall |
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| Guards outside the Citadl |
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| View of a street from the Citadel wal |
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| At the top of the city. Great views of the river. |
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| View of the Citadel from street level. |
We ate supper again in the Rotterdam and were seated with a 93 year old man named Bill who was traveling with his daughter, Lynn, as well as with a woman from London named Ann. Once again we enjoyed the conversation with these people. Bill seemed to make the rounds of the ship as the cruise progressed and by the end of the cruise everyone seemed to know him. A very friendly and interesting person.
After supper we sat in the Crow's Nest, a bar at the front of the ship on the top deck. We listened to the band and watched the views. This is our favorite place to sit, because it has such good views.
Cruising the St. Lawrence River
July 13, 2015
I didn't take any pictures today. The ship didn't dock anywhere today. We cruised the St. Lawrence River between Quebec City and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. This was a great day, because the weather was nice and clear. In the evening, as we were sitting in the Crow's Nest watching the views, we saw about 50 whales. We saw lots of spouts and then started seeing the whales fins and backs as they came to the surface feeding. We saw a couple that breached and one tail come out of the water. The best was the right whale that came to the surface next to the ship just below where we were sitting. A thoroughly enjoyable day. The whales we saw were mainly right whales with some pilot whales and a few belugas.
I didn't take this picture, but it shows what we were seeing as we cruised.
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
July 14, 2015
After breakfast, we debarked from the ship at about 10:00 am. We walked along the historic wharf then walked on Victoria Row to Victoria Park. We walked back to the main part of town where we had a drink on the patio of a pub. This was what we usually did while in a town. We wouldn't eat lunch in town, but enjoyed sitting in the outdoor patio and having a beer or a glass of wine and watching the people in town.
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| View of river from Confederation Park on the waterfront |
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| Basilica in Charlottetown |
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| Flower garden on our walk to Victoria Park |
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| Houses on Victoria Row |
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| Waterfront boardwalk |
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| Mike is having a good time. |
Charlottetown was interesting, but there wasn't really much to it. We went back on board to have lunch and spend the rest of the day.
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| Sunset from the top of the ship |
Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
July 15, 2015
Once again we debarked the ship about 10:00 am after having breakfast. Sydney didn't have much to offer in the way of tourist interest and views, but it did offer us an opportunity to get off the ship and do some walking. We walked around for about 1 1/2 hours then went back on board for the rest of the day.
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One of the most interesting things in Sydney -
the huge violin. |
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| Mike enjoying the flowers by the boardwalk |
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| One of the churches in town. |
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| Another old church. |
We spent our evening in the Mix bar listening to the guitarist, Kevin singing songs from the 70's . Very enjoyable.
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| Sculpture in the Atrium of the Maasdam |
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
July 16, 2015
The last town in Canada that we will visit on this cruise. Halifax had more to offer than Charlottetown or Sydney. There was a lot of construction going on in this town. It apparently is having a growth period. We got off the ship at our normal time, about 10:00 am. We liked sleeping in and not rushing our mornings. I had an issue with something irritating my eyes the night before and it continued during the day. We stopped at a pharmacy while in town and got some eyedrops for me to use. It helped some, but I continued to have eye issues the rest of the cruise.
We started the day by walking to the Halifax Public Gardens. They are very pretty and an enjoyable walk. Then we walked to the waterfront and walked on the boardwalk there.
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| Buildings by the waterfront |
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| An old cemetery |
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| Every town seemed to have several old churches |
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| Entrance to old cemetary |
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| Entrance to public gardens |
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| Mike looking at plants in the garden |
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| Mary in the garden |
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| A pond with pretty dogwoods in the background |
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| Fort at top of the hill |
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Since Nova Scotia was settled by Scots, there were many bagpipes.
Notice the woman on the left. Love it. |
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| Island with a fort and lighthouse. |
Later in the morning we went to the Garrison Brewing Company and got a sampler of 5 beers. After supper we went to spend time in the Crow's Nest and again saw about 10 whales and a beautiful sunset.
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| Sunset from ship |
Bar Harbor, Maine
July 17, 2015
This was one of our favorite places to visit. We got into town about 9:30 and caught the shuttle bus into Acadia National Park. We stopped at the Thunder Hole and walked around then went to Jordan's Pond and did a hike part way around the pond.
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| View of Atlantic Ocean from Acadia |
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| Another view of the Atlantic |
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| Close to Thunder Hole |
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| Thunder Hole |
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| Posing with the Atlantic in the background |
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| Another view of Thunder Hole |
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| Mike enjoying the beautiful day |
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| Jordan Pond - what they call ponds, we would call lakes. |
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| Mike by Jordan Pond |
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| Part of the trail around Jordan Pond |
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| Another view in Acadia National Park. |
After getting back into town, we went to a restaurant and shared a lobster roll just for the experience. It was good, but not sure it was worth the cost. Then we walked around the old part of town by the waterfront.
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| Street in Bar Harbor |
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| Another street in town |
After supper we spent the evening in the Mix bar listening to Kevin the guitarist. A very enjoyable cruise.
Boston, Massachusetts
July 18, 2015
Debarked the ship at about 9:30 am and rode the shuttle to the airport. Our flight was delayed for 2 hours, so we had a very long day in the airport. Luckily, the flight from Dallas to Little Rock was delayed also. We made it back to Sherwood about 12:30 am.
