Yay vacation
So that wasn't bad. And yesterday I got into work and reviewed all that I relaxed past... and oh my god, I felt retroactively more relaxed. Apparently I missed hell. :P

The joke has already been made - yes, I have no tan from my trip to Alaska. It was raining a good percentage of the days. I think at least three of seven, possibly four?

Regardless, it was a good time, and largely stress-free (certain familial bullshit recurring nuisances notwithstanding).

The last day was actually a bit more of a mess than any of the previous. I was supposed to have this luggage program where the cruise sent my bags on to the airport and they would already be checked when I got in. I found out at something like midnight that they were refused, so I ended up having to bring my too-heavy luggage with me for Sunday. This wasn't so bad, though. Then I overslept (not horribly). When initially I woke up (but didn't get up - far too tired), my mum got a call from my sister, saying that Rob (her husband) had managed overnight to come down with a stomach virus that the crew at large had been warning us against all week, and was not feeling well. I fell back asleep, woke up in time to hurriedly shower, and spent the time in the shower unsure of whether I'd dreamed Rob's illness, as it just seemed such an absurdity to get the thing on the day of departure. Apparently not. /:

So Rob and Debi ended up going straight to the airport, rather than spending any time in Seattle. This was unfortunate, as there were several things Debi had wanted to do, most of which I was interested in as well. Well, it's a norovirus, what can you do? </random in-joke poking fun at the ship's captain>

Mom and I went to the hotel she was staying in that night, since she was leaving the next day, and dropped our luggage off. I then took a good long walk, went to the market (around Pike st, Pine St and the waterfront past 1st avenue... it sort of goes on a while). They were having some sort of cheese festival, which is such a fabulous idea, really.

Anyhow, I picked up some comics, a small watercolour by a local artist, two books (Neuromancer by Gibson, which I've been meaning to read forever, and Lincoln's Dreams by Connie Willis, which I haven't read in forever) and a cafe mocha, and a sort of artisan-type grilled sandwich with cheeses and The Most Delicious Strawberries Ever. They were amazing! Then I set off toward the central library. Honestly, this is not a far walk, really, and it was pleasant, though I did have a heavyish bag with me... but walking up from 1st Avenue to 5th is quite a steep uphill, and I was actually singing the whole way, so by the time I got the library, I was actually a bit red-faced. *pathetic*

I love that library. It is possibly the best library ever. Honestly, it alone is almost a reasonable incentive to move to Seattle... except I fear I would spend so much time there that I would no longer have any friends. Seriously.

After the library, I headed back to the hotel my mom was at and kind of low-keyed it for a while. We went to dinner at a Moroccan restaurant which was thoroughly awesome. Mom and I both enjoyed the music (!!?) and the food ended up being really appropriate to our shared interests, and also quite tasty - they served three sort of pre-main-course dishes, one of which was a lentil and chickpea soup we both got a bowl of (yum!), one of which was a salad plus vegetable puree that my mum wasn't as interested in, and I cheerfully took the lion's share of, and the other was a strange phyllo-egg-almond-sugar concoction which I left to my mom. We ate the whole meal without utensils, which is a lot harder than you'd imagine it to be, somehow. Likely it was inhibitions getting in my way, and not actually any physical difficulty.

The other really neat thing about dinner is that in the middle they played a song by an artist I recognise. Hearing Akhenaton, I was all, "HEY! They're playing I'AM! Best restaurant ever." It was a song I don't have, and I couldn't find out what it is, though, so I guess I'll have to hope I stumble across it again one day.

Shortly after dinner, I was intending to head down to the bus stop to make my way over to the airport. Unfortunately, the airline called to say the flight was delayed quite significantly. Fortunately, however, I was assertive and managed to get myself on another flight, which was actually direct. (Score!) Unfortunately, my luggage didn't make it on that flight with me. Fortunately, however, it arrived at my doorstep later last night, which really is a more simple/easy option than had my luggage traveled with me, forcing me to drag it to work via mass transit.

On balance, everything went fairly well. Though I guess I'm more sanguine about whatever mishaps now that I've actually slept in the last 36 hours.

Best parts of the trip were getting to spend so much time with my sister (it's been a couple years since I last saw her), and the bits where we actually got *off* the boat. I enjoyed the sled dog camp excursion and the boat/wildlife/fjord thing quite a bit. Also, during various dinners they had a couple really nice dishes in the middle of a week of actually fairly consistent good food. Also, also, I had enough downtime to read four books, which is definitely my idea of relaxation, and to do fun, silly things like play shuffleboard and ping pong in high wind. (The latter particularly does not work well, but is highly amusing.)

Most unfortunate things were basically related to it being a bloody boat. The constant rocking motion didn't make me sick, but it definitely disoriented/dizzied me, and made me want to spend a lot of time not dealing with it, which resulted in lying down a bunch despite not being tired. Also, there wasn't that much walking to be done. I did a few circuits of the ship on a few occasions, but honestly my ideal vacation would involve a lot more walking tours of cities and a lot more cultural immersion. Being holed up on a moving hotel filled largely with Americans is not exactly my idea of a good visit to any place.

Actually, I think *the* most unfortunate bit is that in nine days, I think 40% of my enthusiasm was for the two days in Seattle. *sigh* I honestly had a pretty good time, but also don't ever want to go on a cruise again. At least not until I'm enfeebled and can't walk.

Anyhow. Very glad to be back. There's nothing like being across the country in a really marvelous city, having a good time, and still thinking to yourself, "y'know, I'll be so happy to be home." Later this week is Neil Gaiman's talk at MIT, which I'm very excitedly anticipating. And I missed rambling walks from Harvard square to Boston (crossing the Harvard bridge on a good, windy day is one of my favourite things), good mass transit, having somewhere to *go* on good mass transit, friends, and, yes, this makes me a sick person, work. Mostly, though, I missed friends. Life is good. :)

Only problem? Somehow I'm still on west coast time. Why am I up at one am when I didn't get enough sleep last night?