Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Victoria is our last port of call.  I am sure that the following comments are not the only reason that our cruise ship ported here.  But there is a Federal law that says a "foreign" ship cannot go just from one U.S. port to other U.S. ports - somewhere along the route they have to stop at another country.  It was thought back then, that this would favor U.S. flagged ships.  But Victoria is also quite beautiful.  I have been here before, but I enjoyed seeing it through other's eyes. 

There were so many beautiful gardens, I had to take some photos.

We walked the 1 1/2 miles from the ship to the downtown.  The area has a lot of Victorian era homes.

Coming across this reminded me of the Netherlands and stories I have heard about being on one.

The Empress Hotel and downtown from across the water.

The Parliament Buildings.  Stephanie and I did the tour.

Just across the way from the Parliament is the tallest Bell Tower in Canada.

Inside the Empress.  There is a Tea Room in the lobby, as well as a restaurant and 464 rooms you could stay in.  In one room is the famous stained glass window. 

Next to the Empress Hotel is this landscape.

Ice cream is a favorite with this group.  We stopped at a place called Chocolats Favoris on Government street.

Time to head back to the ship.

Fishermen's Wharf from a distance.  We did not have time to explore it.

Going back to the ship - we will be heading back to San Francisco and then I will be flying home.  We were so lucky on this cruise.  We had extremely calm water the whole time.  Other than the first few days of cold and lots of wind, we ended up with beautiful weather most of the time.  I'll be heading back to New Mexico where the temperatures are close to 100 degrees!

Sitka National Historic Park and Raptor Center

Sitka is our last stop in Alaska.  Sitka is located on Baranof Island and is quite isolated, accessible only by ship or plane.

Alaska was controlled by Russia from the mid- 1700s until the U.S. purchased it in 1867.  Sitka was the capital of Russian America so there are a lot of Russian influences here.  Below is the Russian Bishop's house.

 Below, St. Peter's by the Sea Episcopal Church.

Next was a hike through the Sitka National Historical Park where we hiked the one mile Totem Trail.

The totem poles in this park are carved by the Tlingit and Haida people.  There were a few really old ones, but most were carved much more recently and show some modern touches.  Some of the totem poles are replicas of those made in 1904 for the St. Louis World's Fair.

This is a part of a totem from a much earlier time.

We saw a lot of bald eagles on this trail as well as around Sitka.

We came upon a large open grassy area with this totem pole.  This is the site where the Tlingit Indians fought their battle with the Russians in 1804.

 These two bald eagles were in the Sitka National Historic Park.

After we finished the Totem Trail loop, we headed on over the Indian River to the Alaska Raptor Center.

The birds in the following pictures are all injured, most of them will not ever be released back into the wild as their injuries were too severe.

We listened to a short talk on the mission of the Alaska Raptor Center.  This bald eagle is around 30' tall and could weigh from 7-14 lbs.  Our speaker held the bird with the support of a pole for her arm.

Half way through the show the bird got a little excited and knocked the pole over.  She finished the talk fully supporting the bird which looked very tiring.

On our walk back to the ship.

Downtown Sitka.

The very Russian looking St. Michael's Cathedral right in the middle of town.