I went to Alaska a couple of years ago. Didn’t go on a cruise - We flew to Anchorage and rented a car.
Seward park in the south was interesting - we took a boat in one of the national parks and saw some whales. I was only wearing t-shirts since it was warm, but out in the water I regretted it (It was June/July.) Saw lots of fjords! (loved the word ever since i read hitchhikers as a kid)
Had lots of fresh halibut and salmon. Really tasty! Frozen fish is so not the same (my childhood was in the caribbean with no refrigerators so I miss the food sometimes.)
Saw big park in the Fairbanks area, lots of sheep, and a big moose.
The interesting part was we did a day trip (took a plane there) to Barrow, Alaska. It’s the northernmost point in the US (Canada has points farther north of course). I brought my parka because I was a wuzz. Pretty cold! I saw a freezer for the whale meat - they dig up the permafrost and store it there. Oh, they didn’t call themselves Innuits and definitely nobody used the word Eskimo. Our guide claimed Innuit was for the canadian side.
There was a public school that was build at a cost of $7 million for a handful of students. Mostly because it’s expensive to build / tunnel anything there - the outside of houses are littered with broken washing machines, cars, first because it’s a pain to throw out anything, second, they keep it around for spare parts. At that point about half the houses were connected to sewage system - most expensive way to get shit moving this side of the atmosphere! the pipes are kept warm so effluent doesn’t freeze.
Oh, btw, the natives are kinda lucky because an oil pipeline passes through their territory. The way I was told, back in the 70s the oil companies came around. The tribal elders didn’t speak any english but they knew something was up. They took a CANOE and paddled down to seattle, where they somehow hired a lawyer. They get a cut of percentages. Cool story.
There was a little eskimo girl (forgive the world) playing outside in the snow in freaking shorts - meanwhile I am shivering in a puffy jacket. Kids play all night long since it doesn’t really get dark in the summer. All the hotels had very, very thick double set of drapes so you could keep sun out to sleep.
Recently I read an article on barrow. A man opened his permafrost whale meat to a reporter and you could smell the stink - the ice has been melting. That kind of hit me, darn, world is really warming up.
Other weird bits. Passed by a construction crew resurfacing a road. On the way back they were DONE! the crews work 24 hours a day in the summer (several shifts) because they can’t get anything done in the winter. Doesn’t work like this in New York!
I’d definitely say it was an interesting place. Not sure if it’s the place for a honeymoon thought!
Fun cruises. I took a really fun cruise down the Yangtse river last year. It was about 10 days total, the ship was about 4 days total. There were other young people around in our group so it was fun time. We were pretty lucky in that aspect. China was interesting because it breaks/confirms many stereotypes. It’s weird how one guy tells me that the internet cafes were closed in Beijng because of a fire whereas I’d just seen reported in western media that it was censorship.
Food verged from good (street vendors, etc) to fantastic. Some places had way too much service. Was at this restaurant in Beijing, and I guess they are trying to be too western. I sip my beer. Put cup down. Waitress runs over and refills it. Take another sip. Put cup down. Waitress runs over (maybe same one). Repeat seven times. I was like, LEAVE ME ALONE, it’s just a beer!
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Greece. Took another trip to greece the year before the Olympics (was that 2003?). The mainland was a packaged tour, which was kind of fun, but kind of sad. You’d go to ruins and see pictures and reproductions of statues. The originals were all in the Louvre or the Museum of London. Mental note, wear sneakers cause two thousand year old marble is slippery when wet.
Then took maybe 5 day cruise on greek islands. Went to Mikonos a few days on high recommendations. I’m not really into nightlife so not into it. It was a bit dirty, nobody to pick up stuff. Santorini was pretty thought. it’s built into a volcano with little white houses and colorful roofs. hmm, where can I find some coffee, oh look this is a restaurant up this little cranny and around the corner.
Conclusion is mixed, but it does seem like a classic romantic honeymoon trip. I actually ran into an old friend from high school there on her honeymoon. They were having a crappy time themselves thought, maybe a fight. The husband didn’t even say hi to me, nevermind shake my hand. Rude!
Edit: The school in Barrow cost $7 million NOT $180[/i]
