Our Alaskan Cruise to Glaciers, Gold and Glorious Scenery

My Alaskan adventure begins with flying to Seattle for a few days to catch our Royal Caribbean cruise to Skagway,  Juneau and Victoria, British Columbia,  in Canada.  Seattle is a beautiful city built high up on hills that cascade down to the water.  With its proximity to Canada and Alaska.  cruise ships originate from here.  We see many fellow travelers from Hawaii, Japan and points east.

Our hotel,  the Pensionne Nichols is situated right up the steep hill from the colorful and versatile Pike's Market.  The only drawback is the lofty two flights of stairs KO has to heave our fifty pound suitcase up and down.  The hotel is part of an historic building and provides a continental breakfast and an affordable price for being right in the heart of town.  We can walk down the hill to the market to see the myriad of flowers that sell for a mere $10 dollars for an enormous bouquet.  I am jealous that I am not going home to spread cheer all over my house with these blooms.  We see colossal fish hoisted in the air by the proprietors every time someone purchases a fish.  Local crafters, chocolatiers, aromatic bakers, and ethnic chefs peddle their wares to the hordes passing by.

  

Seattle also boasts the Space Needle for a panoramic view of the city, an Aquarium, Gardens 

with its many horticultural wonders, and adorable boutiques.  I can not resist purchasing some fashionable, three inch heeled sandals that remind me of the fifties with their ankle straps.

We have fun going to Veggie Grill and Plum Bistro.  The vegan food is scrumptious and I enjoy a mock chicken dinner and a Mushroom steak.  We make time to meet KO's first cousins.  They have not seen each other since KO was a toddler so it is a wonderful reunion with many reminiscences and picture taking.

 Finally the big day arrives and we set sail fro Alaska.  The Jewel of the Seas is a smaller older ship of the Royal Caribbean's fleet.  I like the smaller ships because the individualized excellent service can not be beat.  I will not be talking about the food here as I covered it in my last blog.  The cabin steward on this ship is Jason from St. Vincent, is a joy to behold daily.  Cheerful and friendly, he greets us several times a day with lively conversation and  fanciful creatures he invents out of our towels.

Jason is a key element toward our enjoyment of our journey.  He works seven months straight and then only gets to go home to see his two little children for two months a year!  Its a difficult life with an achy back and eleven hour days.  He shares with us the experiences he enjoys below our decks with friends he has among the crew of over fifty nationalities.  Its sounds like summer camp on the seas.  The entertainment on this cruise is stellar.  Broadway quality shows, a social director who is channeling Neil Diamond and puts on an amazing show of his life's songs,  a piano pro who dazzles us with a history of piano music from the rock stars of yesteryear right up to today, trivia games, cooking classes, art shows and more.  Never a dull moment on this ship and the dance parties take place right in the center of the ship where the several story atrium with glass elevators lives.  The Fourth of July red, white and blue party, complete with colorful balloons dropping from the ceiling and rocking live music for hours is a ball.

Now a word about the ports and scenery.  The ship sails through the placid, glasslike seas to our destinations.  The water is so calm it is hard to tell we are even moving until I look outside!  The windows are filled with green mountains, topped by snow covered peaks.  In the water we can see frisky seals climbing on tiny bits of bluish ice and some people see black and white whales.

In Juneau we opt for an excursion to some gardens, the Mendenhall Glacier and a cooking demonstration.  The gardens are amazing.  The owner cleared the grounds years ago and decided to create upside down trees with hanging flowers cascading down from the tops.

Every year he fashions these 45 arrangements by hand and they are original and lovely.  He also set up a nanny cam high in a tree so we are able to spy on baby eagles as their parents bring them sustenance.  The Mendenhall Glacier is like something you have never seen.  Ice has compacted into this enormous ice field.   This glacier has retreated 1.75 miles since the 1970s and forms a large lake and some waterfalls nearby.With global warming more and more ice melts each year.  Our cooking class is in a nearby cooking school.  The teacher is a local caterer and we enjoy a lesson about glazes and sauces.  We learn about the types of salmon including King, Coho and Sockeye and the main differences, where they are found and how to cook them.  We finish off with a yummy dessert,  Strawberry Blueberry parfait made with Chocolate Wine.

Our next stop is Skagway, a leftover town from the Klondike Gold Rush.  It is here that people rushed by the thousands to stake their claims and hopefully make their fortunes.  Actually very few did.  These people had to traipse over snow covered mountains and travel by water to even arrive here to pan for scarce gold.  We eat lunch in an old brothel.  It was here that men came to "relax" and as few women made this rough journey, these lovely ladies fulfilled an important "need".  The furniture is original and the hotel still remains as a bed and breakfast.  The restaurant is organic and has a garden outside that grows the rhubarb we enjoy in our dessert.  The town itself is pretty commercial with places you can buy fake gold nuggets, Daniel Boone type fur tailed hats and model trains to mimic the train we could have taken up into the mountains.  It is pretty amazing that this train was built through these mountains, without modern technology, back in the early 1900s to take the prospectors to the gold.  The scenery is spectacular as we are in a little valley surrounded by craggy snow covered peaks.

Our last stop is the flower ladened Victoria, British Columbia with its Victorian Empress Hotel and sparkling harbor.  Last time I was here I discovered Green Cuisine, run by fellow macrobiotic chef, Andy Cunningham.  We make a beeline to Market Square and have the best meal of the trip.  There is a buffet filled with healthy food including carrot and pea soup, brown rice, seaweed and pressed salad, tempeh stroganoff, "meatloaf," steamed kale,  black bean stew, four kinds of sauerkraut and other goodies.  I realize my non macro readers are thinking, "Big Deal", and "Is she Nuts?" but once you develop a taste for healthy, clean food, there is nothing like discovering it on a vacation!  The desserts are plentiful and only made with brown rice syrup for a sweetener.  We sample blueberry crumble, caramel chocolate brownies, mock cheesecake and some others and I take food back to the ship for the next few meals.

We took a tour that showed us the Chinatown, complete with an ornate gate of yore.  Chinese came here to help build the railroads.  The highlight was a visit to Craigdarroch Castle with its 187 steps.  Built in early 1900 by a millionaire Robert Dunsmuir, the richest man in British Columbia at that time,  it boasts exquisite woodwork, Victorian furnishings and ornate stained glass windows.  Unfortunately Dunsmuir died before the home was finished, but his wife and children lived on to fight out the future disposition of his home and fortune.

Things never really change in families, do they?  Back in town we visit the Empress Hotel where the Queen of England and many other members of the rich and famous have laid their heads to rest.  Afternoon tea at this establishment costs 60 dollars a person, so we just opt for a walking tour.  My favorite part of Victoria are the baskets of hanging flowers on every street corner and the quaint Victorian homes dotting the lanes.

The trip back to Seattle is exciting as we voyage down Endicott Arm, a 30 mile fjord with a glacier at the end.  This is a narrow passageway the large cruise ship gently negotiates toward this glacier that blocks any further passage.  We get close up and personal with this mound of frozen ice and it is fun to take pictures of all its grand beauty.  Along the way we see three story high chunks of ice. Sometimes we can spy mountain goats on the mountain and seals on the ice.

 As the trip comes to an end, we are filled with memories of stories of the Klondike Gold Rush, the natural beauty of this earth, people we have met on our voyage, the excitement of winning in the casino, the fabulous shows on the cruise and days spent on the sea.  We are ready to plan our next adventure!

Creating Health on An Alaskan Cruise

Creating Health on an Alaskan Cruise

A cruise trip to Alaska was never on my radar.  I thought, "Why go cruising to a cold spot when the Caribbean beckons?"  After many friends returned from trips to Alaska with stories of beautiful scenery and interesting history, I decided to give Alaska a try.  

The main quandary was how could I stay healthy on the cruise to Alaska.  That had been easy on the Holistic Holiday at Sea with Mark Hanna preparing all my delicious macrobiotic meals, but would a mainstream cruise line be able to meet my needs?  First I researched all the cruise lines on Cruise Critic, Trip Advisor and some vegan sites to see which line would be the most accommodating.  I had travelled on Royal Caribbean before I was macro, and remembered the elegant shows, warm friendly staff and delicious food and they seemed to be the most helpful for special diets so I decided to go with them.  In addition, I filled out a special diet questionnaire, spelling out the foods I would like to see on the cruise.  It turned out that some extra tweaking was required.  First, as I was traveling with three other macrobiotic people, we had some strength in numbers to get what we needed.  The first night in the dining room, we perused the menu and saw that pasta and salad might be our fate for seven days.  During a chat with the head waiter, we described all the foods we could and could not have.  He had not received the detailed notes we had sent from home, so we were starting from square one.  After that, things still were not ideal because if we were not eating in the main dining room, we had trouble finding them and they had trouble finding us.  Luckily, on the second day, we requested a meeting with the head chef.  They sent the head sous chef and I told him that I was sure he could be creative with our meals while still not including anything with a face in the ingredients.  He seemed excited that we were personal chefs and we developed a sort of kinship after that.  We started seeing steamed Bok Choy for breakfast, Vegetable Stir Fries with Tofu for dinner, and Veggie Lentil Soup for lunch.  

 

The best meal of the cruise was in the Italian restaurant, Portifino.  We had a credit of fifty dollars from the travel agent and decided to use it there.  This specialty restaurant has  an intimate candlelit setting overlooking the ocean.  

The Jamaican chef came straight to our table and we worked out a satisfactory menu.  My table mate indulged in crusty Focaccia bread dipped in chopped olive dip and red pepper spread. We began our meal with a Puréed Soup of Green Vegetables flavored with thyme.  It had a delicate and flavorful taste and we really enjoyed it.  Homemade al dente fettuccini and tempura zucchini were appetizers. Our main course was a Vegetable Risotto. The chef seemed skeptical that it could be made creamy without the use of cream, but I told him I had prepared it many times with just the use of vegetable stock and mushrooms and it turned out delicious! Our dessert was a simple baked Asian pear with a Raspberry sauce.  The chef had risen to the occasion and we enjoyed every bite!

Other notable culinary experiences were a cooking demonstration and meal in Juneau. We were taken to a cooking school and the chef taught us how to prepare a zucchini noodle dish, Coho Salmon, Rice and a Strawberry Blueberry dessert infused with chocolate wine.  Even though some of it was not in our diet, it was so enjoyable to talk to a local about Alaskan cuisine and cooking styles and to learn to use an Ulu.  An Ulu is a curved knife, originally used by the Aleut women, with a sharp blade that rocks back and forth on a wooden bowl as it efficiently chops up herbs, onions or garlic. Our cooking class was a unique and educational experience.

Trying to stay healthy on a vacation cruise can be a challenge with the myriad of desserts, soft serve ice cream, rich saucy dishes, buttery vegetables and  breads.   We have to be our own advocates for our health so we are not compromising our conditions every time we leave the house.  I learned that chefs know how to make delicious vegan food, use minimal oil and salt, and avoid nights shades, but most of the public is demanding the rich foods you see on most cruise ship buffets.  After we overcome the fear of standing out as different or worrying that we are causing an imposition, we can really get the most out of our vacation dollars  and return home happy and healthy.

Living and Learning at the Macrobiotic Health Classic

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It is fascinating to me that so many of the participants at the Macrobiotic Health Classic have been attending for over twenty years.  There is an intimacy that has been nurtured between them and yet they are so welcoming to us newbies and we are happy to share this experience with them.  The Classic has a camp like atmosphere of communal living and being somewhat removed from technology and immersed in nature draws us together even more.

Learning is one of my great passions.  I feel like I am a sponge soaking up all the knowledge these sage, seasoned macrobiotic teachers are offering.  I have been taught about the Five Transformstions before, but in the hands of Kaare Bursell, it crystallizes in my mind.  He explains that the Five Transformations can be used to explain our behavior, emotions and the condition of our organs and suggests the useful foods and tastes which help to heal those organs in the different seasons.  We have the opportunity to observe Kaare administering a ginger compress which uses grated ginger, a root with downward yang energy, to activate circulation and break up and dissolve stagnation in the tissues. "We can achieve deeper healing through consistency, patience, discipline and the use of the ginger compress," according to Kaare.

The teachings of Bob Sachs are new to me. I arrive early in the morning to attend his Buddha Meditation class.  Bob describes the Three Poisons, ignorance, attachment and aggression.  This gentle meditation serves to uproot the poisons. Since I have had some recent challenges over being too attached to outcomes, sweet things, and other people's opinions, this meditation seems perfect for me.  Bob explains that, "When the rational mind is suspended, the body is capable of miraculous things."  The idea is to put a virus in our neuroses programs.  He points out that our actions have created our current condition and our current thoughts and actions are shaping our future condition.  There is so much personal power in this idea.  We hold our fate in our own hands, for better or worse!  Bob leads us through a nostril breathing exercise intended to open our channels and then a lovely visualization.

I am grateful I decided to attend this insightful class.

Other notable speakers include Dr. Michael Klaper and Dr. Colin Campbell.  I had never heard Dr. Klaper before and he creates a presentation chronicling his life's journey from his childhood on a dairy farm through his traditional medical practice to his embracing a plant based diet.  After witnessing many surgical procedures where diet influenced disease in the form of arteries filled with plaque causing heart operations, he decided that a change in diet can prevent disease and even death.  Dr. Klaper's saying is, "from the operating table to the dining table."  Dr. Colin Campbell is our surprise guest.  In the neighborhood helping to promote his son Nelson's movie, Plant Pure Nation, he shows us how cancer can be turned on and off with the amount of animal protein consumed.  His book, The China Study, documents the work he did in China on this subject.  It is encouraging to see doctors and researchers taking on the traditional ways of thinking on health and disease.

The last day all of us gather together in the Peace Garden to honor and remember Michio Kushi,  who passed away last December.  Sitting on stone benches among a myriad of colorful paper cranes, Dr. Larry Kushi shares his memories of his father.  

The Kushis opened their home in Boston to over a thousand students over the years and Aveline taught them how to make futons(new to the U.S.) for them to sleep on.  The Kushis were pioneers of the organic, whole foods movement, urging farmers to plant fields without pesticides and guaranteeing that they would buy the produce the farmers grew.  The first natural foods market was founded by the Kushis and named Erewhon.  Many of Michio's students have started other companies including Eden Foods, Goldmine, East West Journal, the Kushi Institute, South River Miso, and Miso Master.  Long time Macrobiotic friends spoke of Michio's influence on their lives and shared anecdotes.  Verne Varona impersonated Michio impeccably and shared some brilliant stories of his early interactions with him.  Sanae Suziki described the caring she received from Michio through the difficult trials in her life.  Bob Sachs shared some warm sentiments as well.  The spirit of Michio lives on in the lives of everyone he touched with his teachings.

Finally it is time to leave our old and new friends and return to our day to day lives. We will miss the superb healthy food prepared by Mark Hanna and his team, the comraderie of sharing food with everyone at a communal table, the special conversations we shared and the enriching macrobiotic learning that enhances our lives every day.  All of us are encouraged by Larry Cooper, our charismatic host, to tell just one person what we have learned so it might change other's lives the way it has changed our lives.  "One grain, ten thousand grains."

I return home energized and inspired to make my macrobiotic experience and spiritual life more meaningful.  Hopefully, many more friends can attend next year to participate in the 34th Health Classic with me.

I would love to hear from some of you readers in the comments about your experiences with Michio or Macrobiotics.

The 33rd Macrobiotic Health Classic

We had become accustomed to attending the Kushi Summer Conference in New Jersey each summer, but when these wonderful events, organized by John and Cathy Russo, were discontinued two years ago, we began looking for a similar alternative.  Quite by chance, I heard about Larry Cooper's Health Classic on the west coast.  Curious about how people on the other coast practice Macrobiotics, we decided to sign up.  Larry was generous to offer us a discount for those I convinced to sign up and I was able to bring seven of us along for the ride.  What a perfect decision this was!

http://www.healthclassics.com

First of all, I have never been in such a beautiful, tranquil setting in which to learn about Macrobiotics.  La Casa De Maria Retreat Center boasts lovely wooded grounds with hundred year old trees and colorful bougainvillea and other fragrant flowers. Trees heavy with orange and lemons abound.  An organic garden has neat rows of Russian kale, crawling vines of squash and edible flowers.  The buildings are reminiscent of Tuscan type villas and the meditative Peace Garden is decorated with bright paper cranes in memory of a Hiroshima radiation victim named Sadako who created 650 paper cranes before her death. This is where we will honor the memory of Michio Kushi.

The lineup of speakers for the weekend is impressive.  Verne Varona, Kaare Bursell, Bob Sachs, Ron Peters, Jessica Porter, Dr. Gordon Saxe, Dr. Larry Kushi and Dr. Michael Klaper are just a few of our educators for the weekend.  

The eighty plus participants come from all over California and other states.  Larry sets the laid back vibe of warmth and friendliness.  Everyone is eager to chat and conversations are easy at all the communal meals.  What a wonderful atmosphere in which to share our practice of Macrobiotics!

The informative lectures cause us to think about how we have been conducting our lives. Verne urges all of us to discover our purpose in life and make it a passion.  In his body, mind, spirit approach to health, several times a day physical activity to promote circulation is crucial.  Avoiding processed foods and sticking to a whole foods plant based diet breeds clarity and flexibility.  He reminds us that,"with every mouthful we can make ourselves better or worse."  Verne stresses the importance of intuition and describes it as a "radio we have on all day" and that we can choose to listen to or ignore the message.  We can hurt our intuitive voice with sugar, caffeine, and salt or help make it sharper with meditation and relaxation.  Verne teaches us about the diagnosis of the singing (stomach, spleen, pancreas), sighing (lungs, large intestine), angry (liver, gall bladder) groaning (kidney, bladder), and monotone (heart, small intestine) voice and the connection each tone has with the health of our organs.  We learn to nurture passion through creativity.  Two of my favorites quotes from Verne that are still resonating with me are to, "Honor your parents by living the life they can no longer live." and, "Don't duplicate your parents' disease, shortcomings or addictions."  Wise words from a guy with 46 years experience practicing Macrobiotics.

I was excited to come here to meet Kaare Bursell.  He has been practicing Macrobiotics for over 40 years as well.  Kaare is a great admirer of the health benefits of the ginger compress and says it will help to alleviate intestinal stagnation.  Kaare tells us that chronic intestinal stagnation is the "root cause of every illness," and "The wisdom in your body is deeper than your deepest philosophy."  Interesting facts about facial diagnosis are shared and we are clearer about how to see illness as it begins to develop.  Looking forward to hearing more from this straight forward teacher about the five elements and about the correct way to prepare a ginger compress and daikon hip bath tomorrow.

Although I do not get to attend these lectures, others said they were very helpful.  Bob Sachs lectured on Nine Star Ki and using it to assess health, plan trips, choose compatible mates and understand oneself.  Jessica Porter asked,  "How Healthy Are You? " and led students through ways to determine health physically, emotionally and spiritually.  Dr. Ron Peters explained how the conscious and unconscious mind cause disease and how taking responsibility for our lives will speed up our healing process.  There were yoga and Tai Chi classes as well. I only wish there were two of me so I could attend more lectures.

The meals at the Health Classic are prepared by our favorite conference chef, Mark Hanna.  They are colorful, healthy and fresh and creative.  Grains have included tabouli, brown rice with nori sauce, and oatmeal with cooked fruit purée.  There is salad at every meal with lovely tangy or pungent dressings. Miso soup and lentil Dahl have been served up in a big soup pot.  One day we had a delicious creamy Humous and an eggplant dip.  Strawberry short cake and Kanten with cream have been the desserts so far.  The food is simple and tasty and I already feel the toxins and stresses of daily life and wide eating in LA melting away.

Now it's time to get  some rest before my 7:30 am. Morning Buddha Meditation with Bob Sachs.  I just may not want to go home after my relaxing time at the Health Classic.