But here’s one shot of the pastoral surroudings.

And a better shot of the leaves.

Once in downtown Montreal at the train station, we asked a railroad worker where to catch a taxi to the hotel. He almost laughed in our faces, since the Fairmont Le Reine Elizabeth is located right above the train station, so it was an easy walk up the escalator to check-in and our beautiful room.

Here’s the city-scape view. The domed building in the foreground is a half-scale-sized copy of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome.

Unfortunately, we weren’t nearly as impressed with Montreal as we were with Québec City. The Old Town allowed cars, so wasn’t particularly pedestrian-friendly.

But a few highlight in Montreal included:

Lunch at Dominion Square Taverne.

Spencer’s Roasted Chicken Caesar with Cheddar Dressing (the best Caesar he’s ever had, he told me!).

And my Steamed Mussels, perfect with a crisp glass of French Rosé.

And dinner at the hip, happenin’ Garde Manger, where I enjoyed a sublime Cold Seafood Tower (finally got some PEI mussels!) and Spencer had amazing short ribs.

Dessert was the clincher, though–a Fried Mars Bar à La Mode. Gotta love Canadian cuisine!

And with that, dear readers, I end my diary of our Fall Foliage Cruise.

Uncle Tony’s Pub was the setting for our afternoon wine-and-food-pairing in the Old Town section of Québec City.

While some might think of the phrase “Québec wines” as an oxymoron, we were happy to try to prove them wrong. Here’s some useful background info from the Quebec Wines website:

“There are over 30 wineries in Quebec located in five distinct regions.

“Although grapes have been cultivated in Quebec for centuries, it is only in the last 20 years that local wine production has taken off in a big way.

“Few people outside the region are familiar with Quebec wines because the majority of production is consumed domestically. Many wineries sell out their inventory simply by marketing to visitors of the winery.”

When we arrived at Uncle Tony’s, places had been set up in a back room with three wines and samples of Wild Boar and Venison Paté, Brie Cheese, and dried apricots, along with a basket of sliced bread.

The white wine, Orpailleur Classique, was sourced from one of the original five founding wineries in Québec, Vignoble de L’Orpailleur. Made of 90% Seyval Blanc and 10% Vidal, it was a light-bodied and crisp wine that displayed green-apple aromas and flavors as well as what our wine guide described as “boxwood” notes and a green-bean finish.

Comparing the wine to a Sauvignon Blanc (which was more of a fond wish than actual reality), she suggested we pair it with the raw-milk, Brie-like local cheese.

Orpailleur Rouge, a red blend made from three local varietals, displayed notes of cherry and black currants, and, once again, “boxwood.” It was designed to pair with the paté, and was likened to a California Merlot, Beaujolais Nouveau, or a Spanish or South African red. Hmmm. . .again, wishful thinking.

Les Vergers de la Colline L’Ensorceleuse 2008 Mistelle de Pomme was an intriguing dessert beverage described as an Ice Cider.

The multi-award-winning Ice Cider was produced from a whopping 80 McIntosh apples per each bottle, according to our wine guide. It was very apple-y tasting, with notes of licorice and oak.

It paired okay with the dried apricot, but would have been better with our wine guide’s suggestions–drizzled over a fruit salad or served with a dark chocolate tart.

We arrived in Québec City right on time at 8 a.m. and were excited to have an entire day to spend there before returning to the Eurodam for one last dinner prior to disembarkation the next day.

We had scheduled a shore excursion that included a 1 1/2-hour walking tour of the Old Town and a tasting of Québec wines at an atmospheric pub during the afternoon.

So we were on our own all morning, and after several hours of window shopping, we decided to eat lunch al fresco at a famous Old Town restaurant–Le Lapin Sauté–where the patio dining area overlooked a pumpkin-filled plaza.

Here’s the homey interior of Le Lapin Sauté, clearly being enjoyed by locals and tourists alike.

Our Planked Salmon Salads were among the best dishes on the entire trip!  The salmon had a light maple glaze and the greens were very fresh and clean. I’m not usually much of a fennel fan, but the layer of pickled fennel was surprisingly refreshing and formed a fitting contrast to the lovely fatty salmon.

I had a glass of Québec Vidal, a light white varietal that smells and tastes slightly of apples. As you might imagine (since it is so cold with such a short growing season in this new wine-growing region) it was a bit thin with there wasn’t much of a finish.

Québec winemakers might do better to stick to their famous ice wine and hard cider. There were more than half a dozen hard ciders on the menu!

After our exciting day in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, we had a relaxing day at sea cruising the Gulf of St. Lawrence on our way to the remote town of Saguenay, in Quebec Province.

We got up at 6:30 this a.m. to see the parade of islands.

Although we had high hopes, you can see that the fall colors were sadly underwhelming. After we returned, we heard from East Coast-based friends that the leaves never did much this year.

Some theorized that the hurricanes forced salt water into the leaves and they didn’t turn; others said there wasn’t a long enough of a cold snap to foster fall colors.

At our next port call, Saguenay, Canada, we were met at the $50-million dock by costumed locals who performed dances and songs as their ancestors might have done. The music reminded me of Zydeco and the costumes looked like American frontiersmen.

We were plied with fresh blueberry pie and frozen maple syrup when we got off the boat. The costumed locals poured the maple syrup on fresh snow so it would harden around wooden sticks, like very tasty, cold lollypops.

The sugar rush allowed us to walk up the hill to the small downtown, which we walked through before heading back to the boat for lunch.

Continuing our Fall Foliage cruise diary, once we left U.S. waters, the weather took a decided turn for the worse, as the Eurodam started playing hide-and-seek with the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia that was working its way up the Eastern Seaboard.

The result was 40-foot waves and unsettling groans and moans of the ship all night as the expansion joints in the windows and walls moved back and forth ceaselessly.

Communications with the Mainland (or any land!) also became dodgy. As expected, the moment we entered Canadian waters, our cell phones quit working unless we paid odious data-roaming charges. So I broke down and bought a computer plan at 55 cents a minute so I could stay in touch with my work and family as needed.

Our first port call in Canada–Halifax, Nova Scotia–was underwhelming. After we trudged up the hill to The Citadel, a Canadian military outpost (from where the photo above was taken), we went back downtown in hopes of finding interesting shops and a good place for lunch.

Finding neither, we went back to the boat and enjoyed delicious salmon and lamb burgers. Oh, well!

The storm was so serious that our scheduled stop in Sydney,Canada, the next day was cancelled! This is referred to as a “blow-by,” and really upsets the local economy and residents of these other-worldly places who rely on tourism to scratch together a meager living.

Our next port call after Sydney–Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada–was in question due to Ophelia’s wrath. It’s a place I’d always wanted to visit since I’d heard a lot about, and even sometimes eaten the famous PEI mussels.

But after another rocky night, we got through to Charlottetown okay. Even though we were greeted by extreme wind and cold and weather that ranged from hail to sleet to sun and even snow (!), it was VERY nice to be on terra firma once again.

We enjoyed a long bus ride through the countryside en route to the Anne of Green Gables house and a lobster lunch at a local jam shop and restaurant–the Prince Edward Island Preserve Co. This shot was taken through the bus window as we were leaving–it was so cold and drizzly we didn’t even want to get off the bus for a better shot.

Our lobster lunch was fun and tasty and the shellfish was from local waters. We shared our table with a Dutch couple who were very experienced mariners–the husband had worked for Holland America for many years, although there was a bit of a language barrier and we never could figure out exactly what he did.

Dessert–Raspberry Cream Pie made from local berries–was to die for.

Driving back to the ship, we marveled at the wild waves (turned a dramatic rust color from the hurricane!) on the Island’s north shore.

Our guide pointed out the mussel beds. But sadly for this foodie, we never did get to taste the Island’s most famous export.

Glosta lobsta: Braiden wrestles a 1 ¼-pound lobster

During the second port call of our Fall Foliage cruise on the Holland America Line, we stopped in Gloucester, Massachusetts, a.k.a. “Glosta.”

It was a small and not very interesting town, sadly. But we did enjoy lunch at the Seaport Grille, a popular waterfront restaurant and bar, before we got back on the boat.

I was drawn to this particular place (among several recommended dining options) when I saw one of the specials of the day–Steamed lobster with coleslaw, puréed squash (which reminded me of sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving) and potatoes au gratin–all for an astonishingly low $12.95.

I didn’t eat much of the starch or coleslaw, but I did manage to eat the entire lobster. Here are the poor creature’s sad remains.

Glosta lobsta eaten

After I excitedly emailed the “before” photo to a select group of family and friends, I received this response from my talented web designer, Christopher Prouty, founder of Studio 99 Creative.

“There is no better lobster than a Gloucester lobster,” he said. “And here’s a tip. A splash of vinegar in your melted butter adds some incredible flavor… got that from an old Maine lobster man.”

I was intrigued. But what kind of vinegar to use, I wondered. Balsamic would certainly be a big statement. Apple cider would add an interesting tang. Blueberry? Not so much.

Another round of emails elicited suggestions from both Chris and his wife, Amy.

“Malt vinegar for me,” Chris replied, “but Amy is a traditionalist and likes white. You know you get the right amount when it is indiscernible, yet different than regular butter. Yum-yum.”

BTW, my Gloucester lobster paired perfectly with a glass of California Sauvignon Blanc.

During our first port call on the Holland America Line’s Fall Foliage cruise from New York City to Québec City, we stopped in Newport, Rhode Island.

We began our exploration of this venerable and historic city on the legendary Cliff Walk, an easy bus ride from downtown.

We enjoyed a brisk stroll with threatening skies above, crashing waves on one side, and the back side of millionaires’ formidable mansions (nicknamed “cottages”) on the other.

Upon returning to downtown, we strolled the main drag, Thames Street. It’s pronounced the American, not English way, like the proper name, James, with the “Th” pronounced like  the “th” in “the.”

It was a pretty ticky-tacky mix of chain stores you’d see in any American city plus some local businesses, but offered another good stretch of our legs.

Between that and the Cliff Walk, we had worked up a pretty good appetite, so settled in at the historic Black Pearl, which had been recommended by a friend of mine who hails from Newport.

A gorgeous lobster salad  at the historic Black Pearl in Newport, Rhode Island

Here’s the lobster salad I enjoyed–plenty of the freshest shellfish mixed with just the right amount of mayo and served over tender butter lettuce and a handful of sweet pear tomatoes. A good pairing with real brewed iced tea.

Photo from our hotel room

Here is a photo from our centrally located and LOVELY hotel–the Renaissance Times Square. Highly recommended.

In subsequent posts, we’ll give you updates on our port calls and notes from the journey–high winds, a hurricane, all sorts of nautical tales, and “lobsta.”

So please stay tuned!

Our long-time friend and colleague, Jackie Roberts, owner of the venerable Pink Door restaurant in the Pike Place Market, and her chef, Steve Smrstik, have recently become avid beekeepers.

In an effort to raise awareness about the peril of the honeybee, Roberts and Smrstik will present the documentary,  ”The Vanishing of  The Honeybees,” followed by conversation led by local ”Beeks” (beekeepers)  from Seattle’s Urban Bee Project.com on Sunday, August 7, at 6 p.m.

“Our food chain is in peril as the honeybees are perishing,” Roberts told me. “We started this past spring with one hive in our backyard. The colony multiplied very rapidly and formed a ‘swarm,’ and right before our eyes 6,000 bees flew onto a branch 30-feet-high in our neighbor’s  back yard. It was quite thrilling!

“Our hope in showing this documentary is to help educate and raise awareness about the dire situation of the honeybee and what we can all do about it as urban dwellers. Many people do not realize that without the honeybee we would not be able to enjoy many of the foods we eat. Our front-yard vegetable garden is lushly thriving thanks in great part to our phenomenal friends, the honeybees.”

Attendees are asked to donate $5.00 to attend the viewing and join the conversation. The Pink Door will be serving complimentary antipasti.

So mark your calendars now for Sunday evening, August 7. Local honeybees, beekeepers, and the entire food chain will thank you!

Cranberry, Horseradish, and Garlic Vodka, along with typical Russian appetizers, served at a restaurant in St. Petersburg

During our summer vacation cruise of the Baltic region, we took a shore excursion in St. Petersburg billed as “Life Through the Eyes of the Russian People.” It included a tour of the city’s massive subway system, a project undertaken during the Stalin era; a visit to a farmers’ market; a stop for souvenir shopping; and a vodka tasting at a “real” Russian restaurant.

The restaurant had the ambience of a Long John Silver and was filled with Americans from our cruise ship and others in port that day–no locals in sight.

We were served a trio of cranberry-, horseradish-, and garlic-flavored Vodkas, along with typical Russian appetizers.

The appetizers included a chunk of dill pickle skewered on a plastic toothpick along with a tasteless cherry tomato and canapes layered with coleslaw, whitefish, cucumbers, and other bland spreads and veggies.

If this was typical bar fare, I was glad I didn’t live in Russia!

Once back in the tour bus, our guide announced that “real” Russians would never drink flavored Vodka–only the straight stuff. And that most women eschew Vodka for Champagne (my kind of women!). The spread we had sampled was strictly for the tourist buses!

Preferred nibblies with alcoholic beverages  among St. Petersburg natives include brown bread with pickled herring, pickles of various types, and vegetables of the season.