Up early this morning, to get bags out, have breakfast (a less than impressive buffet) and be on the bus by 8am. Tour started with a drive around Calgary, including a stop at the grounds where they have the Calgary Stampede (looked like an empty showground). Also drove under some of the 11 miles of covered walkways in Calgary, one level up from the street, joining the office buildings so you don't have to go outside in the winter. Then a coffee stop at Canada Olympic Park, just outside Calgary where the ski jumping for the Olympics was held (Eddie the Eagle jumped here!) A huge complex with at least 4 ice skating rinks, luge track, offices, cafe and gym. Driving first through the prairies, then the foothills of the Rockies, with beautiful scenery on the ... read more

First on our agenda today (after another lovely breakfast downstairs), was the laundry! Walked to the coin laundry recommended by the hotel, and realised that just one block from where we are staying on Robson St, one of the main shopping streets in Vancouver, was a quiet, residential neighbourhood, with trees, apartment buildings, and even some houses. Managed to fumble our way through the washing machine and dryer nightmare, and were back at the hotel (with clean clothes) by early afternoon. Our plan then was to go to Flyover Canada, and then (hoping the clouds lifted a little bit) up the Vancouver Lookout Tower. Walked down to Canada Place (the tourist zone on the waterfront), saw 2 cruise ships in port, and bought our tickets for Flyover Canada. I thought this was a movie about Canada ... read more

The weather forecast was right unfortunately, rain in Vancouver today! Had a late start, slept in, still trying to deal with jet lag. Had a nice breakfast downstairs in the cafe, the rain wasn't too bad, so decided we would go to Granville Island, (which is a peninsula though, not an island), an area of Vancouver with a public market and lots of art and craft shops, cafes etc, and somewhat undercover. Everybody else obviously had the same idea. We checked out the public transport options, then jumped in a cab! Went first to the public market, lots of fresh produce stalls, lots of yummy looking food stalls, and also many craft stalls, and lots of people! Also looked at many art galleries, craft shops, and lots of souvenir shops that have been renamed galleries! Rain ... read more

We are lucky to live in Australia, but why does it have to be so far from the rest of the world??? Our direct flight from Sydney to Vancouver (14 1/2 hrs) was 1 1/2 hrs late taking off because of the rain in Sydney, long queue of planes in front of us, so late into Vancouver. Not too cold, and a little bit sunny when we arrived, could see a little snow still on the mountains surrounding the city. Vancouver, the harbour city, has lots and lots of trees (on the streets and on the roofs of buildings, yep, lots of roof top gardens). Most of the high rise buildings that we have seen, seem to be apartments or hotels, rather than office blocks, quite different to other cities - maybe the office buildings are ... read more

The ship arrived in Rotterdam this morning (not a mediaeval city - it was bombed in the second world war so mostly quite modern!) and we headed in different directions. Maurice went to Gouda, for a city tour, to make a stroopwafel, and to taste cheese (including marijuana cheese!!). After a bus tour around Rotterdam, I went to Delft, yep, you guessed it, a walking tour!! After the guide showed us around, managed to find a cheese shop that was offering tastings, (coconut one was not so good) and an ice cream shop that was pretty good. We then went to the Royal Delft Blue pottery factory for a tour - interesting to see how it is made. The most expensive items are hand made and hand painted, then there are items that are painted using ... read more