by Jim Bellomo | Sep 1, 2022 | Air travel, Food Experiences, Photography
As I write this we are packing to leave Amsterdam, brave the craziness of Schipol Aiport and fly south to Athens. We have loved staying two nights at our favorite hotel in the world, the Banks Mansion.
Us in our seats. A shot to send the grandkids
We had a fairly uneventful flight to AMS. We were flying in Business Class on Delta—this is what the airline calls Delta One and we were not incredibly impressed. Everything was just “fine” and if you read this blog on a regular basis, you know that “fine” means that everything was OK but nothing that really stands out. We did have decent, lie-flat seats but they were tight with not enough leg room for me. The padding was a little better than we had on British Air on our last foray to Europe in 2019. And they did feed us pretty well as you can see. Not the best airline meal we have ever had (that was on Cathay Pacific) but good and filling.
My appetizers. Small salad, chicken soup and a roll.
My entrée.Pasta with bolognese made with Impossible Meat that was so good you could not tell.
Breakfast: Spinach omelete.
We touched down in Amsterdam a little early and thought how great that was as we taxied towards the terminal but then our pilot came on and said that because we were early, they had no place left for us to park the plane s we would just have to sit there and wait until the plane that was at our gate left. Then we were told that the plane at our gate had a mechanical problem and would not be moving so we had to wait to be assigned to another gate which might be an hour. How fun. In the meantime, I was getting texts from my brother that their experience at the airport (they had arrived about three hours before we came from LAX) had not been a good one. Lots of lines and lots of waiting for luggage. So we expected the worst.
It was not to be. In minutes after getting his text, the plane found a gate, we were off, got to passport control and where we were the ONLY ones in line, got to baggage claim and (after walking by rows and rows of unclaimed bags that did not meet their connections) our bags appeared on the belt within minutes. We grabbed them and were off to the hotel. Where this had taken my brother and sister-in-law (from this point on referred to as Steve and Jamie ?) almost 2 hours to do, we landed, exited the airport and were at the hotel in less time than that. I certainly hope our trip today is as uneventful. But we have been warned to be at the airport EARLY. So we are about to go eat breakfast and head to the airport at 8:00 am for a 12:20 flight. I will pause now and be back to you soon.
And now we are sitting in the Aspire Airport Lounge at Schiphol airport. Getting into the airport and through security was nowhere near as bad as we expected. Our cab came for us at 8:15 and we had an almost uneventful ride to the airport (our driver got pulled over for not wearing his seat belt—which he was—the police just didn’t see it). It was easy to get in and check our bags and then about a 35-minute security line and now we have found a lounge that accepts the Priority Pass that we get free with our Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa cards and are relaxing for a couple of hours before we head to Athens.
A couple of quick notes about our travels so far. Kathleen had recently found us some new, LIGHTER luggage. Our two big, checkable bags had gotten really old and were falling apart. It was time and she found us some wonderful and very LIGHT bags from TravelPro. They come with wheels front and back and are really, really light. But they are plain and boring looking and don’t come in a lot of colors. Basically blue (hers) and black (mine). The problem is, that they blend in with every other bag on a luggage carousel. We used to rely on some orange handle wraps but now everyone has those. And then Kathleen found us some really cool luggage covers and I love them. When we got to Schiphol I can guarantee you there was nothing like them on the carousel. They are made of a lycra-like material with a zipper at the bottom and on the sides and you just pull them over your suitcase and zip them up. For less than $20 they were an awesome find.
Our stop in Amsterdam
Now that you have heard about the trip, here’s what we did in Amsterdam.
Checked into The Banks Mansion located almost in the center of Amsterdam. Steps away from every place. Museums in one direction, the port and downtown in the other. We stayed there before in 2016 and loved it. We literally think it is the best hotel we have ever stayed in. The beds, bedding and pillows are the most comfortable hotel beds ever, the included breakfast is fantastic and very filling and the view of the canal from our (upgraded room) windows was amazing. You can see one of Amsterdam’s largest canals and the street the hotel is on. You can see Kathleen, Steve and Jamie in the window of Kathleen and my suite here. Forgot to mention that the Banks is all-inclusive. No extra charges for everything including the bar in the “Living Room.” And the service is amazing. Ask for anything and it just appears. Like a taxi or a boarding pass printout.- Went to dinner at Moeder’s, a traditional Dutch restaurant. Moeders in Dutch translate to Mother’s and the restaurant is completely COVERED in photos of people’s mothers. They are still accepting them so we could have left one of our Mom’s pics if we had a print with us. The food was good, and the service was excellent.
- The next morning after sleeping off our jet lag Steve and I went off on a pre-dawn Photowalk. Got some great pics of downtown and near the port as a glorious sunrise made our early morning walk worth getting up for. Photos from that walk are below. Don’t forget, if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Early morning on the main street to the port.
I love neon…I really love neon.
Looking towards the main train terminal.
The Oden Kirk, one of the oldest churches in Amsterdam, sits in the middle of the Red Light District.
A beautiful old building.
Same building, different light.
Sunrise over the port
Sunrise 2
Sunrise 3
Sunrise 4
The main train terminal (not very busy as there was a rail strike)
A ferry crossing the harbor.
Note the lean in thse buildings.
Sunlight on a canal-side residence.
And a beautiful view of a canal.
- Then it was back to the Banks where after having a wonderful breakfast, we were picked up by Hans from Tours By Locals who took us on a tour outside (mostly north) of Amsterdam. Since we had seen most of the city during the 2016 visit, we wanted to see the outlying areas. Hans did a great job of showing us the countryside including a visit to a still-working windmill (one of the few). See the photos for more info about that tour.
It’s time to head to the gate for our flight so I will have to show you our windmill pics in the next post. See you in Athens.
Air travel dehydrates people.  —Michael J. Knowles
by Jim Bellomo | Jul 4, 2022 | Photography
But I bet you didn’t think it would be this fast.
The day after we were in Astoria we stopped in a very exotic city as far we were concerned—Seattle ?. This day was going to the most boring one for us. We had booked a food tour of Pike Place Market with Show Me Seattle with my brother and sister-in-law. Kathleen and I had done this tour with Savor Seattle before they were bought by this company so we knew what to expect.
Our big task for this day was to leave the ship, get in an Uber, cross Lake Washington to Bellevue and sign our escrow papers to buy our new home. Kathleen was also tired out with her arm in a heavy splint, so I guided Steve, Jamie, and a few other folks from our Cruise Critic Roll Call up to the Pike Place Market and introduced them to our tour guide. I even went along to the first stop on the tour, Ellenos Yogurt (the world’s most excellent yogurt).
Then I hot-footed it back to the pier where Kathleen met me; we grabbed an Uber and raced through the city, crossed the lake and signed the papers (BTW: we LOVE this house. One of the best decisions we have ever made) that made our new house our home. Then back to the ship and by that time, it was almost time for dinner. I don’t have pics from Seattle because I didn’t take my camera off the ship. I have taken thousands of Seattle photos, so I am sure you will excuse me if I didn’t. Here are some of my Seattle pics, so you won’t think I have left you wanting. Don’t forget; these pics look much better if you click on one and watch them as a slide show on a computer or a tablet.
Back with Victoria soon.
Seattle from a distance as we left on a ferry.
Mount Rainier from the stern of Celebrity Solstice.
Celebrity Solstice moored at Pier 91 in Seattle.
Downtown Seattle in the winter. This photo was featured in the Seattle Times.
Elliott Bay.
The Space Needle as seen from Chihuly Gardens and Glass
Mount Rainier from the 520 Floating Bridge.
Took this in mid-June after visiting the grandkids. We were on the ferry coming in from Bremerton.
The bluest skies you’ve ever seen are in Seattle.  —from the theme song to the 1960’s television show, “Here Comes the Brides.”
by Jim Bellomo | Jul 4, 2022 | Photography
I have been putting this post off for a while. I have known since we got home from our Pacific Coastal cruise in mid-May that I needed to finish my Pacific Coastal story. Here’s a quick synopsis for those who have forgotten where we are. We took Celebrity Millenium from San Diego to Santa Barbara, Catalina, and San Francisco (where Kathleen broke her elbow), and that’s where we left off.
Our next stop was Astoria, Oregon. This was the only stop we had booked a ship’s tour—Shot in Astoria. We (Kathleen and I) had just been in Astoria last summer with the kids and grandkids, so this tour sounded interesting. It was a tour of all the spots in Astoria where they had shot popular films.
You may not know this, but in the mid-eighties, Astoria was a primary filming site for Hollywood movies. The biggest to be filmed there were Kindergarten Cop, The Goonies, parts of Twilight, Point Break and one of the Free Willy movies. So we drove around in a big old bus and saw the sights of the films (the only one I could remember anything from was the hotel in Kindergarten Cop. I will take a lot of abuse for this, but I have never seen The Goonies. Not my kind of movie.
Suffice it to say that the tour was pretty good, the bus was comfortable, and we got to stop at the Astoria Column, where you have great views. Afterward, we hit the Fort George Brewery for lunch, which was outstanding. Then back to the ship, and I was off on a photo walk. My best stuff from Astoria is below. Don’t forget, these pics look much better if you click on one and watch them as a slide show, either on a computer or a tablet.
Early in the morning on our way into Astoria.
Had a great sunrise
In every direction
Framed by the supports for the deck above our verandah.
More sunrise
This is the Columbia Bar…
…where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.
It is very difficult to cross and the site of many shipwrecks.
The view from the base of the Astoria Tower.
The school from Kindergaren Cop.
Outside the ship. I liked the pattern
The Astoria–Megler Bridge…
…it connects Oregon and Washington.
An interesting, off-shore sculpture.
The Fort George Brewery
I promise (really, I mean it because we are finally settled in) to finish this trip soon. Really.
It’s not a tumor!” —Arnold Schwarzenegger as Kimble in Kindergarten Cop
by Jim Bellomo | Jun 9, 2022 | Photography
When last we spoke, I was writing my last post while Kathleen was having surgery on her elbow that she hurt on our first day in San Francisco. Today (four days later), I am starting this while she is in for her post-op check. She is doing better. The first day was fine, the block wore off, the pain kicked in on day two, and now things seem better. I hope whatever they do to her today doesn’t make her regress.
But back to our second day in the Bay area. Not much happened for us because Kathleen (with her arm in an ugly splint) slept most of the day. But I got up before dawn to take pics from the ship (all of them are in the gallery below), and then after getting her up, bathed and off to breakfast and then back to the stateroom for another nap, I went out to walk the Embarcadero in the opposite way we went yesterday. I wanted to walk from the ship at Pier 27 to whatever they call the ballpark where the San Francisco Giants play.
It was a beautiful, windy day, and I think I enjoyed my walk as much as Kathleen enjoyed her nap ?. I shot a bunch of pics (again, see the gallery) and then headed back to the ship as we sailed at 4:30 in the afternoon to head out for another sea day and then a visit to Astoria, Oregon.
One of the best things about sailing into or out of San Francisco is sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge, and this time (on a clear afternoon), I was on the top deck as we sailed out to sea. There are lots of photos from that in the gallery as well.
That about does it for San Francisco. We had a decent time, but if I had to do it all over again, I would have preferred that Kathleen not fall and that we do not have to spend more than six hours in an ER. But that’s what happened.
Below is my photo gallery from day two in San Francisco. The first few are from an early sunrise shoot from around the ship’s upper decks.
Early morning in the City by the Bay
Standing in one spot on the aft deck of Millennium I took these shots.
We were directly in front of Coit Tower.
Looking to the left down the Embarcadero
Looking towards the business district.
The Ferry Building
The sun coming up over Treausure Island.
Alcatraz at first light.
The second group is from my mid-day Photowalk.
Looking across to Treasure Island under the Bay Bridge.
A speed boat crosses under the Bay Bridge.
My view back towards the Ferry Building and Millennium.
An intersting art placement in the bay side park.
I posted this as a travel shot of the day. Looks to me like a guy who lost his boat.
This busker on the Embarcadero was thrilled to have his picture taken.
The last few are from our sail out, which took us under the amazing Golden Gate Bridge.
A tour boat heading right towards the ship as we left the dock.
Thousands of seagulls came to feed.
A wide shot of San Francisco looking back.
Looking forward to Alcatraz.
The Golden Gate on the San Francisco side
Sailing out under blue skies/
From one side (north)
To the other south
See how close the ship gets to the bridge
Looking at the bridge in one direction…
And then another.
And looking back at the city.
San Francisco is really fun and liberal, and it’s my kind of politics. It’s like being Jewish in front of Jewish people.  —Elaine Boosler
by Jim Bellomo | Jun 3, 2022 | Food Experiences, Photography
As I write this, I am sitting in the waiting area for Proliance Surgeons as Kathleen is getting her elbow repaired. We are now fully moved into our new home (except for about 20 boxes we still need to empty), have sold our old one (escrow closes on the 16th), and things are indeed…”interesting.”
When Kathleen asked me what I was going to do while she was getting cut (surgery takes 90 minutes, but she is in pre-op for 2 hours and then post-op for two hours), I said it was about time I finished up the Pacific Coastal cruise report, so here we go.
San Francisco—I used to like this town.
Ok, I still do like this town, but I am also kind of ticked at the city. This is the city where Kathleen found a nice lip on a sidewalk and took the fall that led to the surgery she is having now. But you already knew that, so here’s what we did that day.
Our ship was in port for two days. I had hoped to get up early and be on deck when we sailed under the Golden Gate, but we were already docked when I woke up and looked outside at 4:30 am. I guess I could have taken pics of us coming in but they all would have been black scenics.
The ship was docked at Pier 27, about halfway between the Ferry Building and Fisherman’s Wharf, right on the Embarcadero. After breakfast, the four of us set off on a walk towards Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39 and Boudin’s Sourdough Bakery. Lots of photos on the way you can see in the gallery below. We stopped for coffee at Boudin’s, and then Kathleen and I headed back to the ship via Uber while Jamie and Steve went exploring.
That afternoon we had scheduled another food tour with Local Tastes of the City Tours. We had chosen to do their North Beach/Little Italy tour. They also do a Chinatown tour, but we went that way since I love Italian food more than Asian. We took an Uber up from the ship to meet our guide smack dab in the middle of Little Italy. We four were part of a group of 14 who would take the tour, which started with us eating a cannoli on the street corner where we met up. They were delicious, but I sure would have liked to see the places where they came from. Our guide just brought them along with her from Stella Pastry about half a block away.
Then it was off to cross the street to Cavalli Cafe, where we tried Italian sodas (definitely the weakest link on this tour), but they did have a nice restroom. This was also one of the few stops where we got to go into someplace and sit down. The rest of the tour involved our guide (who was very good) going into the store/restaurant and bringing the food out to us to eat on the street. While all the food we had was excellent, this got a little annoying after a while—eating on a sidewalk with people walking by. But as I said before, life is certainly interesting.
After Italian sodas, we went on to a fun little Sicilian delicatessen about a block away to try arancini (rice balls full of meat and cheese). The food was fine, but the real attraction here was the owner, who came out on the street and pretty much put on a comedy show. As you can see from the photo, he is a pretty animated Sicilian who truly loves his store. A few days later, I have to say that we had arancini in Victoria, BC, which was a lot better.
I should also note that none of these places were more than about two blocks from another, so this was not a long tour by any stretch. As we walked, our guide Isabella told us all about the history of the neighborhoods we were walking through. She was genuinely well-versed in her San Francisco lore.
Our next stop was our favorite on the tour, San Francisco’s oldest Italian market, Molinari’s. Inside this place was AMAZING! If we had a place like this near home, I might ask for a job or spend a lot of money there regularly. I have some great photos of the inside of these places in the gallery below. BTW: This place had the best sandwiches I may ever have eaten. Don’t ask me why, but I think it’s because everything was just perfect, from the bread to the cold cuts and veggies inside. It was so good it would almost be worth a trip back to the city to eat there.
After we left Molinari’s, we walked a bit, and I climbed a high set of stairs to take pics with a few others from the tour (see the gallery), and we were headed to Z Cioccolato to get some of their amazing fudge. But sadly, we never got there. About 25 feet to the right of this photo is where Kathleen fell and broke her elbow. From there, we hailed an Uber and drove quickly back to the ship. We had hoped that she wasn’t hurt too badly, but by the time we got down to the ship, it was evident that we needed to get to a doctor or an ER.
At this point, I need to point out that we did have a little bit of good luck because the ship was in San Francisco overnight. If that had not been the case, and seeing that it was already after 3:00 pm, we would have been in real trouble as the ship would have sailed at 4:30 pm, leaving us behind to fly home on our own. That’s what happens with ships. That would have given us some real problems for so many reasons.
After we got back to the ship and dropped Steve and Jamie off, we grabbed another Uber and had them take us to the nearest Kaiser hospital (our HMO). It wasn’t too far away, but when you are driving bumpy streets with a broken elbow, it seems like 100 miles. We had high hopes that we would be out of there within a couple of hours and make it back for dinner. Unfortunately, that was not to be. We were in the ER for more than six hours from start to finish. And they were so crowded they wouldn’t let me in the building (not even a waiting room) due to COVID restrictions for the first three hours. I got so stand outside in the cold wind. This was not one of my most fun experiences.
Kathleen left with a fully wrapped arm in a splint (that had to be kept DRY), and we got back to the ship about 9:30. My brother had arranged for a wheelchair to get her back on board, and by that time, she needed it. So we got a very late room service dinner and went to bed.
One other thing I want to mention before I drop in the photos. The folks at Local Tastes Tours were awesome when this all happened. Our guide (after making sure we were doing OK) ran to the chocolate store and grabbed fudge for all of us to enjoy later. Then that evening, I got an e-mail from the tour company owner asking how Kathleen was and sending us a certificate for a free tour for four the next time we are in San Francisco. Of course, he did not need to do that, but this is the sign of a great company, and then our guide Isabella sent me a separate e-mail asking how she was doing. They were just wonderful. I can’t recommend them highly enough. Don’t forget, these pics look much better if you click on one and watch them as a slide show, either on a computer or a tablet.
The view off our verandah early in the morning.
The California sea lions at Pier 39.
Fun to watch…
But a lot less of them than on previous visits.
Just a fun shot.
Just off Pier 39. Really liked this shot.
Inside Molnari’s
The smells were amazing.
St. Francis Cathedral
Across the street a band was playing in front of a just-opening Italian restaurant.
You know I love shooting pics of performers.
Inside the Cavelli Cafe
Our intrepid guide Isabella
The stairs I was the only one to climb.
To get this view.
And this one combining the new with the old.
Laundry on the edge of Chinatown.
Looking into Chinatown from Little Italy.
That was about it for day one in the city by the bay. As if that wasn’t enough. As I am finishing this, we are back home after Kathleen’s surgery, and she is OK and doing well. Her elbow just needed some repairs but not a complete replacement. Thank heaven (or whoever) for that.
Nothing important has ever come out of San Francisco, Rice-a-Roni aside.
—Michael O’Donoghue