Canada - East Coast Cruisin'

Many know I work for Carnival Corporation - The cruise travel company.  Many don't know that they actually have 9 different cruise brands around the world (Carnival Cruise lines is only one of these brands) with over 100 cruise ships.  This month I had to do an extended two week trip to research two ships in the Holland America brand which first had me going to the east coast of Canada followed by a second week on a different ship to Alaska out of Seattle.  I traveled with my work colleague and from LA - Ryan Fiorentino.

Here are a few pic's from the trip out east.While we worked a lot, we did try to get off a little at the different ports.  Since the cruise started out of Montreal QC, I was able to get together with a couple of old friends of mine - Roger Berthelot and Elise Lacoste who are first met and worked with at my first job out of university - Deloitte Consulting in Ottawa.  (first pic l-r Daniel (Elise's fiance, Elise, Roger, me), second pic me, Roger, Ryan on Mount Royal overlooking Montreal)  

We sailed out of Montreal on Saturday Sept 9.  First stop was Quebec City on Sept 10.   A beautiful city that felt like Europe.  First picture is the world famous Chateau Frontenac.  The pano shot from the deck of the ship is taken along the St. Laurence river North east of Quebec city. 

Sep 11 had us in Prince Edward Island for the day.  We took a few hours off to rent a car and drive around the center part of the island.  We were on a quest for fresh PEI muscles and we found them at a little place on the north shore in the middle of the island in a town called new Glasgow.  Picture below is on the south coast with PEI's famous red mud cliffs at Argyle shore Provincial Park. 

Sept 12 had us calling on Sydney Nova Scotia.  We were working most of the day but did get off for a 30 min walk around the harbor as the weather was simply spectacular.  Warm sun with a cool breeze.  Exactly what you want in an early fall day in September.   Second picture is from the ship as we made our way east from Sydney with the water like glass.  
 

 
Sept 13 had us landing in Halifax Nova Scotia.  While the ship was sailing on to Bar Harbor Maine and then to Boston, Halifax was our exit point for this journey.  Friday September 14 I was flying back to Seattle to catch the next ship so spend an afternoon exploring Halifax.  Again - simply beautiful weather.  
Picture list:
1. - coming into the port of Halifax in the morning.
2,3 - Halifax Public Gardens
4 - View from the Citadel (old fort built by the british)
5 - Guard on duty at the Citadel... no talking or interaction with this guy
6,7,8 - The Halifax public library - an amazing piece of architecture.  Not the 'piece' jutting out and overhanging.  The picture of me inside the library if a seat in the corner sticking furthest out where I spent some time relaxing.
9 - A beer at the Halifax Alehouse - established in 1717.


  

Alberta Heritage Museum

Yesterday, was our last day on our trip and we spent the day at the Heritage Museum in Calgary. The mesuem consisted of Alberta's history from the natives to the railway to the coming of the automobile. The kids loved it and got to ride some old fashion carnival ride at the end. We had a wonderful holiday in Alberta Canada and feel so fortunate to have seen such beautiful mountains and scenery.

Floating the Athabasca River

Today we drove into the town of Jasper for the day. The weather has been unseasonably cold here. We did not plan for this so we stopped off to buy some hats and gloves for our rafting trip. The weather wasn't looking great but the sun broke through which made for a nice afternoon. After our float down the river we met up with Ralph and Fran to have lunch and enjoy the quaint town of Jasper.

Columbia Ice Fields- Jasper National Park

Yesterday we traveled from Lake Louise to the Columbia Ice Fields in Jasper National Park. The first picture is taken at Peyto Lake along the ice fields parkway which is in Banff National Park. When we arrived at the ice fields in Jasper National Park we took a bus tour up onto the Athabaca Glacier. It was our first family trip to an ice glacier. We are staying at the Glacier Inn which looks onto the ice fields. This is a unique area because it is considered the only triple divide in North America where you have water flowing from a single source into three different oceans.

Yoho National Park

Today we went to Yoho Natifinal Park in British Clombia. There we went to Emerald Lake and rented canoes and paddled all around. This might have been one of our favorite days yet. This water is stunning in color and almost looks like it is not real. The sun came out after it down poured all morning. It made for a lovely afternoon. We then went and saw Takakkaw Falls. It was beautiful!

Moraine Lake

Today we went to Moraine Lake in the valley of the Ten Peaks. We climbed to the top of the hill to get some pretty views. It was rainy but the lake was so beautiful despite the weather and the water was a bright blue. We then went for a hike along the Bow River which is right in the town of Lake Louise. Another great day full of amazing beauty.

Lake Louise

Today, we traveled on the scenic Bow River parkway and had an app downloaded that told us all about the different mountains, wildlife and scenery. We all learned a lot. We even got to see a coyote. Once we got to Lake Louise we headed straight to the lake and the famous hotel. The backdrop and lake are absolutely stunning! We hiked along the lake to the far end taking many stops and pictures along the way. We ended the afternoon stopping in the hotel for a hot coco. Perfect day!