Trip Report: October 5 through 14, 2002
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
THREE WEEKS BY LAND AND BY SEA
DAY THREE: SEATTLE TO VANCOUVER BC,
AND A CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH
HER MAJESTY, QUEEN ELIZABETH.
October 7, 2002 We've written about the Mt Baker International trip to Vancouver on previous trips, and on this murky and overcast day there are no spectacular snow-covered mountain vistas to catch our attention. The only remarkable feature of the trip is the deterioration of the BNSF tracks, so that on some stretches we're wondering if we've derailed and are riding on the ties as we're lurched back and forth by the Talgo Train that was designed for smooth European rails. So much for the conversation, previously quoted, that BNSF was advising UP to upgrade their tracks!
The food and service are, as usual, top-notch. Train Supervisor Cynthia Wise tells us privately that today Amtrak is eliminating her position and will be down to only about 100 Train Supervisors systemwide. But she is optimistic that Amtrak's new president Gunn is "really doing something different, not just talking about it or going through the motions". And she is glad that she has enough seniority to remain with Amtrak in an onboard capacity, although with a different job description and a pay cut.
We quickly get through customs at Vancouver's Pacific Central Station, after telling the agent we're in Canada to take a cruise on Holland America's Zaandam.
"Oh, my parents are on that ship right now," she tells us. "And I heard the Queen is in town!"
"The ship or the woman?" I ask, momentarily thinking she might be referring to the Queen Elizabeth 2.
Queen Elizabeth enters the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver for luncheon with the Prime Minister.
Photo by Ted Blishak |
It turns out to be Her Majesty! The taxi coordinator tells us that the Queen is staying at the Fairmont Waterfront. It had been booked up, so we have reservations at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, where crowds line the sidewalks. As our taxi pulls up at the carriage entrance, the driver announces that the Queen is supposed to be arriving here for luncheon in a few minutes, and sure enough, there are some important looking suits standing at the entrance something is going on. We press through a crowd in the lobby to check in, and notice that the center is cordoned off with blue velvet ropes.
"The Queen will be here, along with the Prime Minister, in just a few minutes," explains a breathless registration clerk. We see an empty spot just behind us at the door, and ask if we can stand there. "Sure, it's a once in a lifetime experience," she agrees. Soon a limo pulls up in front, security guards come in and take their positions, and we can see a lady in a high blue hat making her way up the steps. And she comes in and walks right past us! |
Ted admits he's never expected to see a Queen, and so hadn't ever thought how he'd react. But there is an indescribable sense of excitement and polite applause as this familiar lady, with the greatest poise and friendliness, enters the room in her impeccable blue coat and dress. While she doesn't photograph well, she is strikingly pretty and charming in person. Obviously enjoying herself and spreading warmth throughout the room, she is elegance itself. She stops to chat and accept bouquets from two or three onlookers, and then goes upstairs to make a speech.
Everyone who has had even a glimpse at her seems bouyed up and in high spirits.
Once checked into our room, we unpack our concert clothes, and soon are walking the three blocks or so to the Orpheum Theatre, formerly a rococo movie palace complete with a Sistine-chapel-like ceiling, to hear the Vancouver Symphony play Bach, Beethoven, and Schumann.
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