Just ignore most of what I said in the previous post. As it turns out, we spent 2 days in Madrid, because the first flight was delayed and we couldn’t make the connection in time. Moreover, the flight to Seattle was via Chicago instead of New York. And, worst of all, our baggage was lost. No trace of it in the system.
Actually, I’ve just learned an hour ago that tomorrow morning (it’s still an hour before midnight here in Anchorage), it will fly from JFK to Los Angeles, and then, from LAX to Anchorage, arriving at 1 in the morning, so until the 8th we won’t have it. But, until one hour ago, no one was able to tell me anything about my baggage. Imagine spending a week without your clothes, without information even about whether you’d recover it at all. I feel very fortunate about recovering it at all, which in no way makes me less mad at Spanair, American Airlines and, most of all, Iberia, which (apparently, because I have no idea) has retained my baggage for 7 days, ignoring not only my complaints, but the voice mail left by their partners, American Airlines.
But, anyway…
Today, we’ve spent the day cruising the Kenai Fjords. They look exactly like the way you picture the Alaska wilderness in your mind, only better. We’ve seen snow at sea level, orcas, sea lions, sea otters, harbor seals, mountain goats, bald eagles… even a glacier. I wish I had a card reader in this laptop to show you the pictures, but alas, I have not, so you’ll have to wait until I return home and I post the pictures. The way up to (or down to) Seward, were we have boarded the boat, has been beautiful as well. Impressive views: everything is covered by forest, and now and then you find a log cabin and a pickup in front half-buried in snow. If it weren’t for these traces of civilization from time to time, I would say I was up in Westwatch-by-the-bridge. I wouldn’t be less surprised if I had seen a group of wildlings or a Night Watch scout come out of the forest (they say Westeros is loosely based on Britain… well, the North is definitely based on Alaska).
Anchorage is no less impressive to a Spaniard as well, but for different reasons. I’m used to see snow only up in the mountains, seeing it here in a plain so vast boggles the mind. Not to mention the mountain backdrop that you get when you gaze to the East and South. Alaskans say Anchorage is too urbanite… and, except for the sheer size of it, it’s like a rural town in Andorra to me, only flat. Imagine how wild is the rest.
Ok, enough bantering. I have work to do now…