Cruising Alaska's Glacier Bay

     It was a beautiful sunny morning when we cruised into Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park on Holland America Line's MS Zuiderdam, July 20, 2011. There were very few clouds in the clear blue sky, and glacier viewing conditions were excellent for this highlight of our Alaskan Inside Passage cruise. We entered the park at 6am, with two park rangers boarding shortly afterwards. Throughout our stay in Glacier Bay, they provided informative commentary as we slowly made our way north towards Margerie Glacier in Tarr Inlet, located near the Canadian border.

Beautiful sunny day in Glacier Bay, mountains reflected in the calm waters.

     The greenish-blue waters of Glacier Bay were extremely calm throughout our cruise. As we slowly moved through the park, the near-perfect reflection of the ice-capped mountains in the still water lent an air of solitude and tranquility to our visit. Although we spotted an exiting Princess cruise ship in the distance at one point, it was otherwise quite easy to imagine that we were all alone in the unspoiled natural beauty of the park. Wildlife could be spotted all around us, from sea lions and whales in the water, to bears on land and seagulls in the air.

Sea lion, come back!

One of two brown bears playing on the beach opposite Margerie Glacier.

     The Zuiderdam spent about a full hour in front of the massive Margerie Glacier at the top of Tarr Inlet. Captain Timmers allowed plenty of time for everyone on board to see the glacier fully, turning the ship slowly so that the port, stern and starboard all faced the glacier for a significant amount of time. The air was chilly, but the sun was warm, and we were in luck, as the Margerie Glacier was actively calving. The sound of the ice breaking away from the glacier was like great rumbling thunderclaps, echoing towards us over the water. Seagulls circled over the pools of ice formed by the crumbling chunks of glacier, looking for fish. It was an awesome spectacle of nature - not to be soon forgotten, and highly recommended to all.

Calving from Margerie Glacier

Related posts: 
Photo Tour of Zuiderdam's Penthouse Suite #7046  
A Balcony With a View: Penthouse Suite 7046
Cruising Alaska's Inside Passage on HAL's Zuiderdam
Shore Excursion: Gold Panning in Juneau
Shore Excursion: Supper at the Gold Creek Salmon Bake in Juneau 
Shore Excursion: White Pass Railroad in Skagway
A Taste of Tracy Arm Fjord

Bu: Montreal restaurant and wine bar

     Now that the weather is cooling off, Montreal's bars and restaurants are closing up their terrasses for the winter and patrons are retreating inside from the autumn chill. This is probably welcome news for the owners of Bu, a wine bar/restaurant located on a not-so-trendy stretch of northern St-Laurent Blvd, just north of Fairmont Avenue (5245 St-Laurent). When we were there this past summer, on a warm Saturday night in July, the place was completely empty when we arrived at 10pm.  The restaurant livened up only slightly when a passing group of four friends, looking for a place to chat over a glass of wine, decided to accept the obligatory purchase of a food dish even though they weren't hungry, and took the table next to us.

Bu: empty on a Saturday night in July

     Our waiter/sommelier, Alex, had all the time in the world to explain to us how things work at Bu, and also told us that summer is their worst season, but that winter nights are completely different. This does reflect our past experience, having had to wait for a table one Halloween evening, and again on a snowy Saturday in February last year, when we were finally seated at a table next to renowned Quebec film director, Robert Lepage. The advantage of being only one of two groups of clients at a wine bar, is that you benefit from very personalized service. We had an interactive wine-tasting session with Alex, who willingly answered our many questions and offered a very interesting and thorough description of all we were drinking.

Caprese Salad

     Bu has been around since 2003, and is officially a restaurant with a liquor license rather than a true bar. This means that everyone must purchase food from its menu of simple yet flavorful Italian antipasti-style dishes in order to taste the real star of the show at Bu: the extensive and constantly-changing list of privately-imported wines from all over the world. Wines are available by the bottle or glass, and contrary to most restaurants, the choice of wines available by the glass is both extensive and excellent in quality. Bu's wine menu also includes wine trios: three 2 oz. glasses of wines grouped together by some theme, such as geographical region or type of grape.

Brandade de morue

     On this visit, I had the trio of chardonnays from Burgundy ($20), and my husband chose the Languedoc-Roussillon trio, with one white wine and two reds ($21). These were accompanied by the Caprese salad ($11) and the brandade de morue ($6), a whipped concoction of codfish served with two pieces of toasted french bread. Both dishes were fresh and tasty, and served as an excellent backdrop for our wine tasting.
     Alex brought out the bottles of wine for each trio separately, and displayed each label as he described the wine's composition and flavors before pouring each glass. He was knowledgeable and also clearly enjoyed his work, taking time to answer our many questions with enthusiasm.
     Although we were initially surprised to find Bu practically deserted on this beautiful summer Saturday night, it worked out to our advantage, as we had more attentive service, and the opportunity to really question our sommelier about the wines we were drinking. I recommend rushing over before the crowds come back!