Hello Hello I'm Back Again!

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 8:05 am

Thanks to those of you who sent kind wishes about my wedding - particularly Spooky.

The wedding was a fantastic day and it flew by. I won't bore you with the details.

We spent our honeymoon in Canada and Alaska. To any Canadians on the board - you have a wonderful cosmopolitan country and incredibly friendly people. For your info I went to Toronto, Jasper, Banff, Kamloops and Vancouver before going on an Alaskan cruise. Unfortunately the cruise was full of Americans who, it seemed, have never seen food before.

I had a weird EC experience. On July 2nd at 10.20pm, I was sitting in the entertainment theatre on the cruise ship. I was already gutted that my time in Canada would just miss EC but at that very moment "Everyday I Write The Book" came on over the PA! It could have even been the time he was playing it in Toronto!

Anyway, I've caught up with a few EC happenings and note there's no UK dates yet.

Thanks again to those who sent good wishes.

VG

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 8:12 am

Welcome back!!!

Nice to see you back again.

Gillibeanz · Post by **Gillibeanz** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 11:31 am

Congrats on your wedding!! No details about weddings are ever boring.....tell all!!

sulkygirl · Post by **sulkygirl** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 9:04 pm

Oooh, an Alaskan Cruise!!

Lived there for several years, always told myself that if (and when) I win the damn lottery, gonna take the "Inside Passage" cruise...

Beautiful country up that way.

Congrats, VG!!

Post by **BlueChair** » Thu Jul 10, 2003 6:26 am

Thank you, verbal gymnastics. Glad you enjoyed it up here.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Thu Jul 10, 2003 6:38 am

Oh I just don't know where to begin....(sorry!)

We had a glorious day weather wise. My brother's boss chauffeurred me and my brother in a 1957 two tone blue Bentley.

My other half looked stunning and I will never see her look so beautiful again.

We got married in a Register Office with only 40 other people. My little 2 and a half year old nephew (who was dressed like us) was the star of the show (especially when he jolted my brother and sent the rings flying!). I saw these rings out of the corner of my eye and heard my brother mutter something whilst I was reciting some words and gazing (lovingly) at my other half!

Then we had the obligatory photo calls which was not too good for an ugly bug like me.

The reception was fantastic and flew by as everyone said it would. We spent a few hours on Sunday drinking champagne and opening presents (with our nephew's help again!).

The honeymoon got off to a good start. My mate got us into an Executive Lounge at Heathrow. We flew to Toronto where we spent three nights. We went to the CN Tower, Niagara Falls and did a tour of the city. We then went on the Canadian train to Jasper. It was interesting to sleep on the train but it wasn't uncomfortable - especially as we upgraded. Our next stop was Jasper for a couple of nights which was beautiful. We went to the Athabasca glacier which was awesome. From there we went to Banff and then on the Rocky Mountaineer stopping at Kamloops for an overnight stay before reboarding to Vancouver where we spent two nights. Vancouver was so cosmopolitan and friendly, just like everywhere else. we were told that due to travelling fears, tourism was down between 50-95% in some places. People were genuinely pleased that the English had travelled and just made us all so welcome. My wife did her utmost to pump as much money as she could into the Canadian economy.
Overall, the animal count was 3 grizzly bears, 1 black bear, numerous moose, elk, deers, sheep etc

We then went on the cruise. We started by cruising the Inside Passage and then stopped at Ketchican. We also stopped at Juneau, Wrangell. The highlight was the Sawyer Glaciers which were just beautiful and difficult to describe how electric blue parts of it were.

We did a whale watch and wildlife quest and also did the Klondike tour and did the panning for gold.

All in all a wonderful time. Now all I have to do is pay for it and prepare for my 40th in September...

Gillibeanz · Post by **Gillibeanz** » Thu Jul 10, 2003 1:33 pm

Thank you for sharing - it sounds so wonderfully romantic and a lovely story to look back on and tell the grandchildren in years to come!

Theres not enough romance in the world....dont ever lose it and you will never lose your wife to someone who would be only to willing to provide it...........

sulkygirl · Post by **sulkygirl** » Thu Jul 10, 2003 4:28 pm

I know what you mean about the electric blue in the glaciers, VB...saw quite a few of them when I lived up there. Did you actually get to see any of them "calve" (this is when they shed large chunks into the bays/fjords)?

And, as to the whale watch--were they Beluga?? White whales that ber a striking resemblance to porpoises, both physically and intelligence wise.

Damn, I DO miss Alaska...

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Fri Jul 11, 2003 5:50 am

It's so nice that people are genuinely interested. Thank you.

Sulky - we did see some ice fall of the glacier into the water but it wasn't a major fall. I don't know if that technically classifies as a calving!

We only saw humped back whales although there was a sighting of an Orca on one of the sister boats.

If it's any consolation, I'm missing (Canada and) Alaska already too.

Gillibeanz - thank you for your kind words too.

Sorry if this is so slushy!

Time to put on my macho hat. Who wants to talk about beer and football?!!!

PlaythingOrPet · Post by **PlaythingOrPet** » Fri Jul 11, 2003 6:28 am

Slush away, VG! You are, afterall, talking about your wedding. Sounded like you both had a wonderful time. Were the grizzly bears huge? The nearest I've come to a grizzly bear was a stuffed one in Dublin.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Fri Jul 11, 2003 8:01 am

PoP - we saw a mother and two cubs which we were told were about a year old.

It's funny but in Canada as you walk around, people smile at you and say hello (as well as forever telling us that our accents were quaint or neat!) and think nothing of it as it's the norm. If you do that in England people look at you as if you're some kind of weirdo or just say "What are you looking/smiling at?".

We have a lot to learn. And then you get websites like this one where even though I've never met anyone personally, everybody seems so friendly and interested in each other as well as sharing their EC thoughts. I really enjoy coming onto this site.