MV Dirona travel digest for Fall 2023


Show Fall 2023 travel log map Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise.

On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at //mvdirona.com/maps/LocationCurrent.html.


   

9/1/2023: Heading South
Heading south after a 24 hours spent at the North Pole. Only about 22,000 people have ever stood there.
9/2/2023: Broken Ice
Huge chunks of ice, 1-2m thick, broken by Le Commandant Charcot as the ship works through the pack ice.
9/2/2023: Hot Tub
Enjoying the trip through the pack ice from the hot tub on the patio of our stateroom at the stern of Le Commandant Charcot.
9/3/2023: Sunday Brunch
One portion of the amazing spread for Sunday Brunch aboard Le Commandant Charcot.
9/3/2023: Zodiac Excursion
Out for our first zodiac excursion of the trip on a windy day at the island of Kvitoya in northeast Svalbard.
9/3/2023: Kvityjkulen
The island of Kvitoya in northeast Svalbard is almost completely covered by the icecap Kvityjkulen.
9/3/2023: Polar Bear
A polar bear resting on a small patch of land on the southwest tip of Kvitoya in northeast Svalbard.
9/3/2023: Wine Tasting
After our wild and windy zodiac trip to Kvitoya, we enjoyed a completely different experience with an educational wine tasting on board Le Commandant Charcot.
9/4/2023: Svalbard
We got our first taste of Svalbard back in 2018 when Dirona was in Tromso, Norway and we flew to Longyearbyen for three nights. We really enjoyed the raw beauty of Svalbard, and wanted to see more. Our North Pole itinerary aboard Le Commandant Charcot didn’t include spending time in Svalbard, however, as we’d be heading directly to the North Pole, and from there to Iceland. We were thrilled then, when the crew announced during our trip south from the pole that we’d be spending a few days along the coast of Svalbard. As with our trip to Antarctica, the actual itinerary is quite fluid. The main goal of this trip was, of course, to reach the North Pole. But once that was achieved with time to spare, other destinations were added.

Read more ...
9/8/2023: Greenland
Greenland has long been high on our list of places to visit. We love high latitudes and wild, untamed places. Our initial plan for eventually returning to North America from Europe on Dirona was to travel the "Viking Route" from the Faroe Islands to Newfoundland via Iceland and Greenland. We didn’t have a firm timeframe in mind, but we looked forward to spending significant time in Greenland as part of that itinerary, and possibly returning in following summers after wintering along the US east coast. We ended up returning to the US via the Azores, and didn’t get a chance to visit Greenland, but it still called to us. We were super-excited, therefore, when we learned that Le Commandant Charcot would be making a stop in Greenland en route from Svalbard to Iceland.

Read more ...
9/10/2023: Reykjavik
Along with Greenland, Iceland also has been high on our list of places to visit for its spectacular natural beauty. We expected to spend several weeks touring the country when we eventually brought Dirona back to the US via the “Viking Route”, from the Faroe Islands to Newfoundland via Iceland and Greenland. In the end, we returned to the US via the Azores, but knew we’d eventually visit Iceland, likely by plane. So when we booked the trip to the North Pole on Le Commandant Charcot and one of the four itineraries included a disembarkation in Iceland, we jumped at the opportunity. We only spent a night there before flying home, but the small taste we got of the country had us wanting more.

Read more ...
9/11/2023: Reykjanes Peninsula
The Reykjanes Peninsula, also known as the Southern Peninsula, juts into the North Atlantic Ocean from Iceland’s southwest corner. Lying directly over the Mid Atlantic Ridge, one of the larges tectonic plate boundaries in the world, the area is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity. Recently, much of the peninsula is under volcano watch after thousands of earthquakes hit the area and a major eruption appears imminent.

Read more ...
9/13/2023: North Tower Parking Spot
The annual garage washing in our apartment building is taking place this week so we needed to move our car out of the south tower garage. We have an extra spot in the other tower that we can park it temporarily, but it's really tight for our Honda Passport.
9/15/2023: Pickleball Courts
As part of a downtown revitalization project, the City of Seattle shut down 5th Ave between Denny and Wall last weekend for a youth basketball tournament and this weekend for a pickleball tournament. We watched from our apartment as workers laid out the blue pickleball courts this morning.
9/16/2023: Brickwork
Some brickwork has already been installed on the 4th & Bell apartment building.
9/16/2023: Norwegian Bliss
The cruise ship Norwegian Bliss, sistership to the Norwegian Encore that we took on our Caribbean cruise, moored at Pier 66 in Elliott Bay.
9/16/2023: Edgewater Hotel
The bow of the Norwegian Bliss towering over the Edgewater Hotel. We enjoy watching the cruise ships depart from the Edgewater's terrace, where the ships seems close enough to reach out and touch.
9/16/2023: Bell Street Diner
When we're in town on a summer weekend, we often have lunch on the patio at Bell Street Diner with a view to whatever cruise ship is docked at Pier 66. Today it is the Norwegian Bliss.
9/16/2023: Insignia
The two towers of our apartment complex, Insignia, viewed from the bottom of Bell Street. Our apartment is just barely visible in the top left of the right tower. The apartment building under construction at 4th & Bell, in the foreground, will soon block our view of the water between Bell and Battery streets.
9/16/2023: Mexican Independence Day
As we walked through our Belltown neighborhood today, we saw dozens of dune buggies flying Mexican Flags in celebration of Mexican Independence Day. Today in 1810, Mexico became an independent nation from Spain.
9/16/2023: Seattle Street Art
Seattle is full of excellent street art, such as this mural on the Base Camp Studio building at 1st and Wall.
9/16/2023: Pickleball for All
On our way back to our apartment, we stopped to take in the action at the Pickleball for All Tournament that we'd watched being setup earlier.
9/16/2023: Dessert
James got a crazy-huge dessert at the Seattle Mariners' Diamond Club before the game this evening. We're generally not big dessert eaters, but might as well go big if you're going to have one at all.
9/16/2023: Mariners Dugout
View to the Mariners dugout from our seats as Seattle takes on the Los Angeles Dodgers.
9/16/2023: IF Positioning
Infield (IF) positioning chart visible in the Seattle Mariners dugout. The three-page chart shows how the infield should be positioned for Mariners' pitcher Andres Munoz based on various on-base scenarios, with one row for each batter in the Dodgers' lineup. We found it super-interesting.
9/17/2023: Here Today
Enjoying a hazy IPA tasting flight at one of our favorite summer haunts, Here Today brewery near the waterfront.
9/17/2023: Pickleball Teardown
The pickleball courts were being disassembled and loaded into a truck as we returned back home from lunch today.
9/17/2023: Sunset over Elliott Bay
A spectacular golden sunset over Elliott Bay this evening.
9/20/2023: First Hill Surgery Center
James wears glasses rather than contacts to avoid even the slightest risk of eye problems. He wouldn't go near laser corrective surgery, not because it's unsafe, but only because wearing glasses is safer than corrective eye surgery. So, you can imagine how happy he is to be heading in for eye surgery this morning. In fact, he's been so eager to get this surgery done that he has waited four years and until three ophthalmologists each independently come to the same surgical recommendation. Today is the day!
9/22/2023: Belltown 36
Looking up from the street to the Belltown 36 apartment building under construction at 4th & Bell, 2 blocks west of our building. The complex initially was planned for 29 stories, but we've been told the builders received approval for a few more floors. Right now they are completing the 27th floor.
9/22/2023: 71 F
The temperature is a wonderfully warm 71°F (21.7°C) this late September evening in Seattle.
9/22/2023: Anthony's Pier 66
Dinner on the terrace at Anthony's Pier 66 restaurant at the foot of Bell Street. We used to eat here a lot when we lived aboard in Bell Harbor Marina, visible in the background, but haven't been for ages. At far right is the stern of the Norwegian Sun cruise ship moored at Pier 66.
9/22/2023: Line Handlers
Line handlers using a forklift to release the Norwegian Sun's lines from the bollard.
9/22/2023: Norwegian Sun
The Norwegian Sun departing Pier 66 en route to Alaska, viewed from the terrace at Anthony's Pier 66 restaurant.
9/23/2023: Vindicktive Wings
At Vindicktive Wings in Belltown with Mike Morgan, one of the four co-owners. We love their wings and the general vibe of the place. Rarely a week goes by that we don't stop in for a wing fix, especially now that they are open for lunch on the weekends.
9/23/2023: Re-Stack
The sculpture Re-Stack, by Seattle artists Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo, at the corner of Thomas St. and 9th Ave. North in the South Lake Union neighborhood. The sculpture was inspired by the old and new of the area: the impressive facades created from stacked stones of the original buildings, and photographs of stacked pallets in the warehouses of the neighborhood's dominant tenant, Amazon.
9/24/2023: NFL Fans Departing
Some of the 65,000+ football fans departing the game after the Seattle Seahawks's 37-27 win over the Carolina Panthers.
9/25/2023: Concrete Pour
An amazing 11 concrete trucks on hand for a major pour at BB6/Seattle House, the apartment building under construction to our northeast.
9/25/2023: Storms
Several times today, dark black clouds swept across Elliott Bay, bringing heavy rain in their wake. One just hit now.
9/25/2023: Dusk
A stormy dusk sky looking across Elliott Bay from our Belltown apartment.
9/29/2023: Victoria
In late September, we made a long-planned weekend trip by floatplane to Victoria to celebrate the 70th birthday of James’ uncle Neil. We spent two nights in our home town, exploring the city, visiting old haunts and new places, and catching up with the Hamilton clan.

Read more ...
10/4/2023: Tethered
A worker tethered on for safety. while at the edge one of the higher floors at the Belltown 36 apartment building under construction at 4th & Bell to our west.
10/5/2023: Fog
A fog bank filling Puget Sound this morning, with the Olympic Mountains visible above.
10/6/2023: Fremont Brewing
We had an appointment in Ballard late Friday afternoon, so stopped in at the Fremont Brewing Urban Beer garden. We've not been here before and were quite impressed with the space. We weren't the only ones to feel that way. The place was pretty full when we got there, and more people were arriving constantly.
10/6/2023: Fresh Hop Tasting Flight
Fresh hop beer season is back! Here we have a tasting flight of Fremont Brewing's five fresh hop IPAs.
10/6/2023: Fresh Hop To Go
We enjoyed Fremont's Head Full of Fresh Hops so much that we got a four-pack to bring home with us.
10/7/2023: Mountaineering Boots
Checking out the mountaineering boots at Feathered Friends in Seattle. We’ll be making a trip to the South Pole this holiday season, and needed crampon-compatible boots for some day climbs during the trip.
10/7/2023: Oktoberfest
We attended a dinner tonight to raise money for Home Together, a charity to house families relocating to Seattle for cancer treatment at Seattle Children's Hospital. The evening had an Oktoberfest theme, so we decided to go all out and dress the part.
10/8/2023: Cat Food
As Spitfire has aged, he's often become reluctant to eat, so we have a large selection of foods on hand to keep him eating.
10/9/2023: Furnace Filter Cleaning
Time for the annual cleaning of the furnace filters in our apartment complex.
10/10/2023: Rain City Showcase
At Climate Pledge Arena for the the Rain City Showcase, a preseason NBA basketball game with the LA Clippers taking on the Utah Jazz. The NBA are likely to return to Seattle soon, and we can't wait.
10/11/2023: Yakima Caviar
Sampling the lauded, and delicious, Fresh Hop Yakima Caviar IPA at Cloudburst Brewing in Belltown.
10/14/2023: Crane Operator
The crane operator climbing to his station at the Belltown 36 apartment building to our west. The crane has been in place for over a year, but we've not spotted the operator coming or going until today.
10/14/2023: Empty Shelves
Strangely empty shelves at the Belltown Bartell Drugs store. The next day their parent company, Rite-Aid, declared bankruptcy. We've been noticing core Seattle pharmacies from all major chains have increasingly thinly-stocked shelves. We expect we're going to see more store closings.
10/14/2023: Inception Bomb
Jennifer having an Inception Bomb at Thomas Street Warehouse on the last stop of our apartment complex's annual Fall Crawl. An Inception Bomb is a shot within a bomb, within a bomb (a bomb is a shot glass of one beverage inside another larger glass of a different beverage). As the first shot glass is removed and consumed, the next glass falls into the larger one, creating the bomb, and the final glass falls into the pitcher. Jennifer has never done a shot before, but the complexity of this caught her interest and she decided to give it a try.
10/15/2023: Luna
The pristine and spacious engine room on Nordhavn 71 Luna. Owners Bill and Ronnie Grady invited us to Ballard for a tour of the recently-delivered vessel. The boat is absolutely amazing from all perspectives.
10/15/2023: Stabbert Marine & Industrial
While walking along the Ballard waterfront, we passed a sign for Stabbert Marine & Industrial. We've known owners Don and Sharry Stabbert for years as owners of the 75ft Northern Marine trawler Starr. We really appreciated their advice during our around-the-world cruise.
10/15/2023: Cloudburst Brewing Ballard
Having another taste of the delicious Fresh Hop Yakima Caviar IPA, this time at Cloudburst Brewing's Ballard location.
10/17/2023: Gloves Off
Fights in NHL games are a lot less common than they used to be, but the gloves came off several times as the Seattle Kraken took on the Colorado Avalanche in our season home opener.
10/19/2023: Garage Door Replacement
The garage door in our apartment complex is being replaced over a three-day period, during which no vehicles can enter or leave.
10/21/2023: Mountaineering Boots
We need crampon-compatible boots for some day climbs during our trip to the South Pole this Christmas. We've been shopping for a while, and settled on La Sportiva Nepal Cube GTX that we just picked up from REI.
10/21/2023: Concrete Form
The crane operator transferring a large concrete form at the Belltown 36 apartment building under construction to our west.
10/21/2023: Space Needle
The Space Needle looks dramatic lit up at dusk.
10/21/2023: Game On
The puck drop as the Seattle Kraken take on the New York Rangers in our third home game of the season. We lost 4-1, but it was an exciting match and we had a great evening.
10/22/2023: Coal
A train of coal heading east, certainly for shipment to China, viewed from Lumen Field before a Seattle Seahawks NFL game. It's king of sad that we're reducing our energy dependence on coal while shipping it somewhere else. Sharing an atmosphere, coal burned in China is not a whole lot better than coal burned in the United States.
10/22/2023: Mixed Allegiance
A fan of both the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks showing his mixed allegiance by wearing both team's caps. We've not yet seen anything, however, that tops Sean Boyle's mixed allegiance Seattle Kraken and Detroit Red Wings jersey and cap.
10/24/2023: Honey-Don't Handyman
We got a giggle out of this handyman truck parked near our building. Their logo is "We do, what your honey don't!"
10/24/2023: Spitfire Helping
Spitfire helping Jennifer change the sheets on the bed. He's about as helpful here as he is at the helm on Dirona, but at least he didn't fall asleep.
10/25/2023: Zoox
A Zoox test car in downtown Seattle sporting the new white and multicolored livery and carrying more subtle camera arrangements than we've seen in the past.
10/26/2023: Concrete Pour
A long delivery arm bringing bringing concrete to the 29th floor of the Belltown 36 apartment building.
10/26/2023: Workers
The concrete pour on the 19th floor of the Belltown 36 apartment building started early this morning and was finished before noon. Moving that fast requires a lot of workers, although judging from the picture it takes ever more supervisors :).
10/26/2023: Cement Pump
A prodigious amount of power is required to lift a 29-floor-high 4-inch cylinder of concrete. That's well over 300 feet.
10/27/2023: Olympic Mountains
The Olympic Mountains with the first dusting of snow for the 2023 winter season.
10/28/2023: Norwegian Bliss
The Norwegian Bliss moored at Pier 66 after its last sailing of the 2023 Alaska cruise season. The ship will be heading to Mexico tomorrow to cruise there until early January. Then it will transit the Panama Canal for Miami and the Caribbean.
10/28/2023: Belltown 36
Looking way up from street level to the 30 floors of the Belltown 36 apartment building under construction to the west of our apartment complex.
10/28/2023: Empty Shelves
More surprisingly empty pharmacy shelves, this one at the Belltown CVS. It's a signal that more pharmacy closures may be coming in the metro Seattle area.
10/28/2023: First Light
First Light is a 45-story apartment building under construction at 3rd and Virginia. With so many new apartment buildings under construction or just completed, it will be interesting to see their pricing and occupancy rates.
10/28/2023: Asean Street Food Hall
We often get delicious Singapore Noodles at the Asean Street Food Hall in Westlake Center, Seattle.
10/28/2023: Robotic Deep Fryer
Robotic deep fryer machines at CaliBurger in Westlake Center, Seattle. Associates put prepared potatoes into baskets, then robots lower the basket into an open location in the deep fat fryer and at the right time remove the final product for serving.
10/28/2023: Hector Bag
Thom Browne's dachshund Hector has been immortalized in several of the designer's dog-shaped handbags. This wool-cashmere Hector bag in plaid on display at Nordstrom can be had for a mere $2,490.
10/28/2023: Duane & Michelle
An excellent evening in great company at Barolo in Seattle with Duane Rodgers and Michelle Walker. We first met them in Melbourne in 2015, and have spent time with them all over the world, including Florida in 2017, and Amsterdam in 2020. We’ve not seen them since then and it was great to catch up and spend time together.
10/29/2023: Norwegian Encore
The Norwegian Encore moored at pier 66 after its last sailing, and the penultimate Seattle cruise ship arrival, of the 2023 Alaska cruise season. Tomorrow the Encore will be departing on a near sold-out 21-day cruise through the Panama Canal from Seattle to Miami, and will spend the rest of the winter cruising the Caribbean before returning back to Seattle next spring for the 2024 Alaska cruise season. We enjoyed a Caribbean cruise on the Encore over Thanksgiving last year.
10/29/2023: 35 F
Brrr. It's a chilly 35°F (1.7°C) this morning. Winter has arrived with a bang.
10/29/2023: Full Moon
A fabulous full moon setting over Seattle this morning.
10/29/2023: Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Cantrell, Alice in Chains' lead guitarist, playing an excellent rendition of the US anthem before the start of the Seattle Seahawks game against the Cleveland Browns. In an exciting and closely-matched contest, the Seahawks came from behind and scored a game-winning touchdown with 38 seconds left in the game, beating the Browns 24-20.
10/30/2023: Norwegian Sun
The Norwegian Sun en route from Seattle to Orlando, Florida via the Panama Canal. This is the last cruise ship departure from the Port of Seattle for the 2023 season. We'll miss seeing them in port.
10/30/2023: Seattle Fire Department
The Seattle Fire Department deployed three large fire trucks, including their ladder track, to the Via 6 apartment complex on 6th Ave between Blanchard and Lenora. We passed them as we walked out for dinner, but we couldn't see anything obvious amiss.
10/30/2023: Willmott's Ghost
It's amazing that we've never eaten at Willmott's Ghost in the Amazon Spheres, given the restaurant is right next door to James' office and we've walked past hundreds of times. We were both under the impression that it was mainly a lunch restaurant, but they have a great dinner menu focusing on Italian cuisine. We had an excellent meal, loved the atmosphere, and definitely will return.
10/31/2023: Port of Seattle
The Port of Seattle shrouded in fog this morning.
10/31/2023: Skyscraper Alley
Denny Way has become known as Seattle's "Skyscraper Alley" due to the number of highrises that have recently been constructed, with more to come. On the left is the distinctive wavy-shaped 42-story REN at Fairview and Denny. At right is the 44-story Ivey on Boren.
10/31/2023: Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods grocery delivery seeks to avoid food waste by supplying high-quality products that would otherwise go to waste because they are misshapen or just surplus.
10/31/2023: Seattle Times
A new office building is replacing the old Seattle Times building at Fairview and John. The heritage building was constructed in 1931 by the Times founding family, the Blethens, and declared a city historical landmark in 1996. The business name is visible in a portion of the preserved structure.
10/31/2023: Fall at SLU
Fall decorations at the Amazon South Lake Union (SLU) campus.
10/31/2023: Happy Birthday Jennifer
Celebrating Jennifer's birthday at one of our favorite Seattle restaurants, Butcher's Table.
11/1/2023: Hallowe'en at the Spheres
Hallowe'en decorations at the Amazon Spheres.
11/2/2023: Swift Arrow
The port tender Swift Arrow working to weather in Elliot Bay, where the winds are blowing a steady 18 knots with gusts to 30. During the storm, a container-laden barge broke loose from its mooring on Harbor Island and the wind blew it across Elliott Bay, where it crashed into the marina wall at Pier 66. Nobody was hurt, mostly due to the efforts of a King County fast ferry operator who used his vessel to keep the barge away from the Seattle Aquarium and nearby businesses.
11/2/2023: Vindicktive Wings
We spend way too much time at Vindicktive Wings, but we love the food and vibe there. This is their awesome logo, done up in neon.
11/2/2023: Drifters' Stitch
A "drifters' stitch" is a way to fix a torn bumper with zip ties. It's a creative solution to an expensive problem.
11/2/2023: DashMart
DashMarts are an expansion of the Door Dash restaurant meal delivery system. The private convenience store is for Door Dash deliverers only, and stock products from a variety of businesses to provide same-day local delivery of home essentials.
11/3/2023: Window Cleaning
A window cleaner striking a post for us, forty stories up, during the biannual window cleaning at our Seattle apartment building.
11/3/2023: Crane Operator
The crane operator at the Belltown 36 apartment complex under construction to our west just arrived into the cab and, after cleaning the windows, is ready to start his day.
11/3/2023: Vaccinations
We'll be heading to Peru for an Amazon River Cruise later this month, and today got three vaccinations at Katterman's Sand Point Pharmacy: Yellow Fever, Typhoid and Rabies. Some countries require proof of vaccination against Yellow Fever to enter, so the shot comes with an International Certificate of Vaccination.
11/3/2023: Seattle Children's Hospital
Passing the Seattle Children's Hospital main campus in Sand Point as we walked from Katterman's Sand Point Pharmacy after our travel vaccinations. The 407-bed facility is one of the top children's hospitals in the country. The Oktoberfest charity event we attended a few weeks ago was to support families of children being treated here.
11/3/2023: Burke-Gilman Brewing Co
At Burke-Gilman Brewing Co in Sand Point for a post-vaccination pint of fresh hop IPA.
11/3/2023: Leaves
Jennifer never can resist wading through a pile of fall leaves.
11/4/2023: Storm
A storm system is passing through the area today, bringing heavy rain and dark skies. So much rain is running down our apartment window that we can barely see through it.
11/4/2023: Emergency Vehicles
We noticed four fire trucks, at least eight ambulances, and multiple police cars blocking the intersection at 5th and Battery at the northwest corner of our apartment complex. It's unusual to see that many trucks deployed. The bus visible at bottom right crashed into our apartment complex.
11/4/2023: News Cameras
News cameras arrived soon after the fire trucks.
11/4/2023: Fatal Accident
Walking to the Kraken game, we saw the accident site. The purple car had run a red light on 5th and hit the bus proceeding northeast on Battery. The bus crashed into the building, injuring several on board and killing a pedestrian. Rescue workers removed the roof of the car to extract the driver, who was also injured.

That's pretty scary, as we frequently walk through that intersection. The only real lesson we can draw from this, however, is to be careful when crossing an intersection as Seattle drivers often run red lights. The driver has since been charged with vehicular homicide.
11/4/2023: Seattle Kraken Banner
A large Kraken banner being passed over the fans as the Kraken take on the Calgary Flames. We enjoyed the game, but the Kraken lost to the Flames 6-3.
11/4/2023: Accident Scene
The bus and other vehicles had been towed from the accident scene by the time we walked by on our way home from the Kraken game. The street still is blocked to traffic. The building is fairly heavily damaged, but has been determined to be structurally sound.
11/5/2023: The Victor Tavern
Sharing a half roast chicken at Victor Tavern. We really like the chicken, especially now that they've changed the side from grits to brussel sprouts and whipped potatoes. Even sharing it, this is a lot of food and we took some home for lunch tomorrow.
11/6/2023: Accident Scene
Flowers left at the accident scene in memory of the pedestrian that was killed. The street has now been reopened the day after the accident, and the building window boarded up, but a pile of debris still remains at the site.
11/7/2023: British Passport Renewal
Jennifer was born in Manchester UK and in 2013 applied for her first UK passport when we were living in Hawaii. We thought it might come in handy during our travels, and it ended up being incredibly valuable during the four years we lived in Europe. As an EU citizen, Jennifer and her immediate family had Right of Free Movement and weren't restricted to 90 out of 180 days in the Schengen immigration area that covers most of Europe.

The passport is less useful now post-Brexit, but it's still worth renewing it for option value.
11/7/2023: Climbing Formwork Disassembly
Many of the high-rises under construction in our neighborhood using a climbing formwork that hydraulically lifts up through the core of the building as each floor is completed (the core is the central structure of the building that provides primary support and houses the elevator supports). During construction, the core supports the climbing formwork and its hydraulic cement distribution boom, which is a wonderful invention where cement is pump up from street level and the boom distributes where needed one floor at a time.

Some climbing formworks can lift to the next floor in as little as 20 minutes. We never saw the climbing formwork actually move at the Belltown 36 apartment building to our west, but we've noticed it getting progressively higher with each floor. Today the climbing formwork is being disassembled now that the building has reached its maximum height. Our view to the cruise ship dock at Pier 66 is now partially blocked, but not as bad as we were expecting.
11/7/2023: Crane Operator Descending
After two years of never seeing the crane operator entering or leaving the cab, we've caught him twice in a week.
11/7/2023: Souvenir
We rarely walk on the south side of Bell Street between 5th and 4th, so haven't notice this installation of Sheila Klein's artwork Souvenir. The work, installed in 2014, is inspired by her time renting an apartment among Belltown's artist community in the 1980s. One piece is in each of the four blocks of Bell Street Park, a park-like corridor between 1st and 5th Avenues. We've noticed one other of the four sculptures, entitled "That was something we used to do", between 2nd and 3rd. Given how frequently we walk through the area, it's surprising we've not seen them all yet.
11/8/2023: Sunset
A beautiful sunset over calm waters in Elliott Bay. The days are getting shorter, and after daylight savings time the sun is now setting before 5pm.
11/9/2023: Construction Worker
A construction worker perched high above the city at the Belltown 36 apartment building to our west. At first glance he appeared to wearing no safety equipment, but he actually is secured by a tether. It would be surprising if he wasn't, as the construction company seems to be quite safety-conscious from what we've seen.
11/9/2023: Ivy Crown
Three Ivy Crown signature cocktails being prepared at Wilmott's Ghost while we sat at the bar for dinner. The cocktail is made with Brovo American aperitivo, ginger, rosemary, grapefruit, and lambrusco.
11/10/2023: Lunch at James' office
Jennifer picked up some sushi for lunch and we had it in James' office.
11/10/2023: Butcher's Table
Winding down on a Friday night with dinner at Butcher's Table, one of our favorite Seattle restaurants.
11/11/2023: Husky Game
The Washington Huskies college football team are taking on the Utah Utes today and traffic is a mess in the area. We're heading back to Katterman's Sand Point Pharmacy for our second rabies vaccination.
11/11/2023: Birke-Gilman Brewing Co
Lunch at Birke-Gilman Brewing Co before heading over to Katterman's Sand Point Pharmacy for our second rabies vaccination. The brewery doesn't have a kitchen, but allows any outside food. So we picked up some delicious tacos from the adjacent permanent food truck, El Camion.
11/11/2023: Seattle Children's Hospital
The Nordstrom and Gittinger Families Building at the Seattle Children's Hospital campus in Sand Point. Anne Gittinger is the granddaughter of John W. Nordstrom, who co-founded the Nordstrom department store chain in 1901, and is the second-largest shareholder in the company.
11/11/2023: Buses
Passing dozens of buses lined up on Montlake Blvd E as we return back to Belltown from Katterman's Sand Point Pharmacy. The buses are ready to pickup some of the 70,000+ attendees of the Washington Huskies college football game that will end in about an hour.
11/11/2023: Bambino's
A pre-game snack at Bambino's Pizzeria in Belltown.
11/11/2023: Kraken vs Oilers
In a rather depressing first period, the Edmonton Oilers scored four unanswered goals against the Seattle Kraken. We eventually scored one goal to lose 4-1. We enjoyed the game, but the Kraken performance didn't look like the work of a playoff contender.
11/12/2023: Sunch
Sheila Klein's artwork Souvenir, installed in 2014, is inspired by her time renting an apartment among Belltown's artist community in the 1980s. One piece is in each of the four blocks of Bell Street Park, a park-like corridor between 1st and 5th avenues that we frequently walk past. We've noticed one other of the four sculptures, entitled "That was something we used to do", between 2nd and 3rd a year ago, and recently saw another, "To be determined", between 4th and 5th. Today we decided to find the other two. This is "Sunch" between 3rd and 4th.
11/12/2023: Toast
The fourth and final sculpture in Sheila Klein's artwork Souvenir, in the Bell Street Park between 2nd and 3rd. We just spotted the third, Sunch, between 3rd and 4th.
11/12/2023: Abbey and Chris
A great lunch at Vindicktive Wings with Abbey Daniel and Chris Briner, who we met on the Fall Crawl a few weeks back. The Seattle Seahawks are taking on the Washington Commanders this afternoon, and this is Abbey's first live NFL game. Chris grew up in Washington and is a longtime Commanders fan.
11/12/2023: Chicken and Waffles
Chicken and waffles is a decidedly southern-US dish. Buffalo chicken strips with waffles and syrup doesn't sound very appealing, but it's surprisingly tasty.
11/12/2023: Vindicktive Wings Skylinyl
While we were at Vindicktive Wings for lunch, co-owner Mike Morgan presented us with this gift of a Skylinyl with the Vindicktive Wings logo carved into a Guns N' Roses album, to show appreciation for our being such big fans and supporters during the early days of Vindicktive. Local artist and studio drummer hand-cuts vinyl records with an exacto knife to create the pattern. He initially starting out doing city skylines from around the world, hence the name Skylinyl.
11/12/2023: Mike Morgan
With Vindicktive Wings co-owner Mike Morgan and his awesome Skylinyl gift to us. Thanks to Mike and the entire Vindicktive team for bringing high quality Wings to Seattle.
11/15/2023: Permethrin
Mosquito-borne diseases are prevalent in both the Amazon River, where we'll be travelling next week, and the African bush, where we will be over Christmas as part of our trip to the South Pole. We've been vaccinated against Yello Fever and will be taking anti-malarial pills, but the best defense is to avoid mosquito bites. Here we are spraying down the clothes we will be wearing with Permethrin to deter any ticks, chiggers, mites and mosquitoes we might encounter.
11/15/2023: Polar Star
The US Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star departing Seattle for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii en route to McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Every year, the ship leads Operation Deep Freeze, breaking miles of ice in support of US scientific interests in Antarctica.
11/15/2023: Air Mover
A large air mover being hoisted up to the apartment building under construction at 5th and Bell to our west.
11/16/2023: Packing
All our clothes and gear laid out to pack for our trip Amazon River trip. Tomorrow we fly to Peru, and the next day we'll board the Aqua Nera for a week-long Amazon River cruise. We'll be carry-on only for this trip, so have to pack carefully.
11/17/2023: Walking to SeaTac
We have a 5:45am flight this morning, so stayed at a hotel airport last night and at 4am are making the 10-minute walk to SeaTac. We'll be connecting in Los Angeles and then flying to Lima, Peru, where we'll overnight in another airport hotel and fly domestically to Iquitos the next day.
11/17/2023: Cusquena
Enjoying a local Peruvian beer, Cusquena (pronounced cus-keyna) at the airport hotel in Lima, Peru shortly after landing from Los Angeles. We'll be staying the night before taking a domestic flight to Iquitos tomorrow morning.
11/18/2023: Iquitos, Peru
Iquitos is the gateway to the Peruvian Amazon and, with a population of 500,000, is the largest non-island city in the world accessible only by air or water. Private vehicle ownership, particularly of full-sized vehicles, is rare here. The dominant form of transport is the mototaxi, and we passed literally hundreds of these three-wheeled motorcycles as we drove through town from the Iquitos airport after our flight from Lima.
11/18/2023: Aqua Nera
The Aqua Nera, our home for the next seven nights, moored along the Amazon River in Nauta. We normally would have boarded the boat at Iquitos, but the water levels are lower than normal for this time of year due to recent drought conditions, so we were bused two hours south to Nauta instead.
11/19/2023: Anaconda
A rare anaconda sighting, seen on a jungle walk within the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon. This one is just a baby, but a full grown anaconda can grow to 17 ft (5.2m) long and weigh 215 pounds (97.5 kg). They are the largest, heaviest and second longest snake in the world. The reptile coils around its prey and constricts to suffocate it, then swallows it whole. It may be small, but we're still not crowding it. It's amazing to be walking through the jungle and seeing animals you'd normally see only in a zoo. After we'd been observing the snake for a few minutes, James suggested that where there's a small anaconda, there may indeed be a larger one nearby :-).
11/20/2023: Piranha
This morning we fished for Piranha. Check out those teeth! After we'd caught a fish, our guide tied it to a stick and tossed it in the water for a hawk to swoop in and feast on.
11/21/2023: Nauta Market
Nauta, Peru has a population of 35,000 and is the staging area for much of the tourism into the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve. It is the terminus of the main road out of Iquiotos, where visitors then travel by boat to lodges in the jungle or board a cruise ship during low water season. This is where we boarded the Aqua Nera.

Guests on the ship stay for 3, 4 or 7 nights. Today we returned to Nauta to drop of those on board for 3 nights and pick up the 4-night guests. While there, we visited the expansive Nauta market, where people from all around come to buy and sell household necessities, ranging from flip-flops to fruit to medicine to 12-gauge shotgun shells.
11/21/2023: Tuk-tuk in Nauta, Peru
After visiting the Nauta market, we toured the area by mototaxi, called tuk-tuk here. The vehicles run amazingly close together. It was great fun, and a wonderful way to take in the town and surrounds.
11/22/2023: Tarantula, Peruvian Amazon
A pink-toed tarantula, about the size of Jennifer's hand, seen on a jungle walk in Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve.
11/22/2023: Tui Parakeet
Tui Parakeet in Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, Peru.
11/22/2023: Dusk
Out on an evening boat trip to look for wildlife in Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon.
11/23/2023: Long-nosed bat
Long-nosed bats in their typical single file orientation on a tree in Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, Peru.
11/23/2023: Gray River Dolphin
Two gray river dolphins, one of the two types of dolphins in the Peruvian Amazon.
11/23/2023: Squirrel Monkey
The distinctive white-masked face of a squirrel monkey, seen in Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, Peru.
11/23/2023: Blue and Yellow Macaw
The blue and yellow macaw in Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon. This is one of the largest macaws, reaching lengths of up to 34 inches (86cm) from head to tail.
11/24/2023: Catfish
Gathering catfish and roe along a small creek off the Amazon River. The catfish lay their eggs in underwater holes along the river bank and locals dive to retrieve the roe for food, and they also take some of the catfish.
11/25/2023: Piracuru
Two Piracuru at the Manatee Rescue Center Iquitos, Peru where we stopped for a tour on our way to the airport. Native to the Amazonian rivers and lakes, the air-breathing Piracuru is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, and can grow nearly 10 ft (3 m) long and weigh 485 pounds (220 kg).
11/25/2023: Amazon River Cruise
The Amazon River is the largest river in the world by discharge volume and second longest in the world (after the Nile). Originating in Peru, the Amazon flows 4,000 miles (6,400 km) eastward drain into to the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil. Over US Thanksgiving this year, we spent a fantastic seven nights cruising the Peruvian Amazon on board the Aqua Nera.

Read more ...
11/26/2023: All Lanes Closed
We had a fairly uneventful trip home from Peru, even with a 7-hour layover in Lima. But our luck ended as we attempted to cross the I-90 bridge after picking up Spitfire from Wagly Pet Campus in Bellevue. All lanes were closed due to a vehicle fire in the tunnel, with no ETA for reopening. The car at right is turning to exit on an entrance ramp. We did the same, along with dozens of our vehicles, and took SR-520 home instead.
11/28/2023: 32 F
Brrr. The temperature is right at freezing this morning, with a freezing fog warning. Freezing fog occurs when temperatures are at or below freezing and supercooled water droplets in fog freeze on exposed surfaces.
11/28/2023: Thick Fog
View at 7:20am from our 40th-floor apartment to the thick fog blanketing the region. The fog was so bad that SeaTac didn't allow planes to land for three hours and delayed departing planes 15 to 30 minutes or more. And a crash on I-5 created a 10-mile backup near Kent, WA.
11/28/2023: Fog Lifting
Downtown Seattle begins to emerge from the thick fog at 10am. We couldn't see any of the buildings all morning.
11/28/2023: British Passport
Jennifer's new British passport just arrived, only three weeks after she sent it into the UK using the routine service. Technically she hasn't had an EU passport since Brexit, but now the actual passport reflects that.

We wish the US Passport office was as efficient. Routine US passport renewals currently take 7-10 weeks, and expedited is still 3-5 weeks. We'll need to renew our passports early next year, and will have to time it carefully to avoid impacting our travel plans.
11/28/2023: Nitro Enchanted Forest
The Enchanted Forest winter light display in front of Amazon's Nitro building in the South Lake Union Campus. At far left is the historic Elephant Car Wash neon sign. The car wash operated nearby for 60 years, but closed in 2020. The larger of its two iconic neon signs was donated to the local Museum of History and Industry and the smaller was given to Amazon.