Puerto Madryn to Buenos Aires

Highlights of Week 5
It is difficult to believe that the cruise is almost over.  In a few more days we will be cruising into Buenos Aires and on to the next phase of this Great Adventure.
After leaving the Falklands we were finally heading north again and toward some warmer weather.  Ready for some sunshine!!    Puerto Madryn was our next stop. 

The beach boardwalk was the perfect place to spend the afternoon strolling.

Montevideo is our last port of call before heading into Buenos Aires.  It was another beautiful day to wander the streets once we were able to get off the ship.  It was another huge industrial area and a maze to get out of.

Had a wonderful afternoon checking out the main plazas in town and having a nice lunch at a side walk café. 

We checked out the huge Picada de Puerto first and decided the people watching was better outside. And it was just too pretty to sit inside!  Montevideo is a gorgeous colonial city that deserves lots of time to get to know.  Maybe next time.

Our last night on the cruise was spent at Vine’s of course, saying good bye to all of the great people we had the pleasure to meet during the last 30 days.  Time really does fly when you are having fun.  I wasn’t sure if I would like 30 days on a cruise ship but the verdict was a big yes.  Not because of the many ports we saw but for the time on the ship to relax and friendships formed.  Think a repositioning cruise across the Atlantic might be great.
Our disembarkation in Buenos Aires was one huge cluster…  They had 4 cruise ships in port at the same time.  A cruise terminal info guy said that 10,000 people were getting off and another 10,000 embarking before the day was over.  Not fun!  Hours to get a taxi.  We finally decided to walk up two blocks to the bus terminal and were the only people in the taxi line.  Thank you Gonzolo for the map and the directions.  
  Buenos Aires …… We’ve arrived.  Phase 2 of the Great Adventure starts now!

Falklands to Buenos Aires – 1,432 Nautical Miles
San Francisco to Buenos Aires – 9,803 Nautical Miles/11, 281 Miles
Totally miles so far….  13,694 miles.  And my feet feel it!!
To see more photos of our ports of call just click on the red port to visit “Dreamchaser Travels” at Shutterfly!
Till next time,
Don’t forget to relax and get some sand between your toes!!

Santé,

Amalia Glacier to the Falklands - Part 2

High Lights of Week 4
The cruise through the Beagle Channel brought us to Ushuaia which claims to be the southernmost town on earth. This is the main jumping off point for Antarctica and the end of the Pan-American Highway. “ The city is set against a backdrop of snow-capped, densely forested peaks, the Martial Mountains, and with a view-scape that includes glittering seas, glacier-clad mountains, and the last islands on the continent.” per Princess.  It is always surprising to see the European influences in the architecture.

I mailed postcards from the end of the world.  No one has received one yet but heck, it’s the end of the world!

Fun story.. 4 or 5 couples from the nightly Vines Bar crew ended up at the same pizza joint for beer and internet.  Couldn’t have planned that!

Our first experience in Argentina has been a positive one. Ushuaia rocks! But look out Cape Horn here we come….
We have had extremely calm seas for the total cruise and our journey around the Horn was the same. I have always imagined that going around The Horn would be extremely rough and scary. Thank you God! It was gorgeous. The crew said it was the best they had seen in years. It was a little grey when we started but the skies soon cleared and it was a beautiful day.


Think even I might be able to sail these waters around the Horn.

The week has been packed full of first and we still have a stop in the Falklands. The weather was a little inhospitable when we arrived but some warm clothes and an umbrella took care of that problem. We were searching for some authentic fish and chips and lucked out, thank you to some good local advise.





Then a stop at the Globe, a local tavern on the pier for a beer and some local flavor. Met a Falklands veteran, 85 years old, who was a hostage during “the war”, and he drinks one beer a day, on the house and has his name on the his chair.  That is small town!

Time to head on…see ya later Stanley.
 Puerto Montt to the Falklands – 1,903 Nautical Miles
To see more photos of our ports of call just click on the red port to visit “Dreamchaser Travels” at Shutterfly!
Till next time,

Don’t forget to relax and get some sand between your toes!!

Santé,

Amalia Glacier to the Falklands–Part 1

High lights of Week 4
The cruise has kicked into high gear now.  We are seeing wonderful vistas daily.  Probably the most amazing thing for me was cruising through the fiords of Chile. Up first was the Amalia Glacier.  I was up with the sun because I was too excited to sleep and I was not disappointed.  The countryside surrounding this area is amazing. “..the Andes curve gently eastward and slowly sink beneath the sea. This geographical fact lends the region its wild and untrammeled character: scattered islands of exceptional beauty, deep fiords, snow and glacier-capped mountains, continental ice caps, beech forests, and the grassy lowlands so attractive to sheep farmers.” according to Princess info.


One of the best parts of the cruise was the wonderful people that we met.  This is Stu and Susan, retired from Charleston, West Virginia.  And it was really that cold!

It was unbelievably blue!



The Amalia Glacier was an unreal experience even if was was a tad chilly. 
Next stop……

Punta Arenas sprawls up the slope of the straits of Magellan and is the largest southernmost city in South America.  Most of the important buildings and commerce are located on the central plaza which is dominated by a huge statue of Magellan.  It was market day and I actually bought some great mittens.  So much for missing winter this year.  LOL!

Local lore is that if you kiss the Indian’s toe you will return to Puerto Arenas.  I settled for just a little rub! After wandering around all the neighboring streets we found a wonderful place for lunch called  La Luna.  Good food and fun place.

Because of tide conditions at our next port of Ushuaia we had the pleasure to experience Glacier Alley, a few hours of magnificent scenery and 5 different glaciers.  It was cold but we wrapped up and sat on our balcony and didn’t miss a minute of it.  Probably THE HIGH LIGHT of the whole cruise!  Definitely worth losing a few hours sleep. 




This glacier was calving. Checkout the lower left corner.  You can see a series of these at Glacier Alley on Shutterfly



Caught this one calving.  My second one for the day!  Wahoo!

What a week!  And this is only part one!

Puerto Montt to the Falklands – 1,903 Nautical Miles
To see more photos of our ports of call just click on the red port to visit “Dreamchaser Travels” at Shutterfly!
Till next time,

Don’t forget to relax and get some sand between your toes!!

Santé,

Coquimbo to Puerto Montt

High lights of Week 3
We have pretty much settled into this cruising life style by our third week.  Cappuccinos in the morning, on the balcony if it is warm enough.  There is always something going on during the day, Spanish lessons which we dearly needed, briefings on the next port of call, walks around the deck so we don’t feel guilty about the wine we are drinking at the wine tastings and the quick visits to the ports just about every other day.
And we have met some wonderful people during our adventures.  Most of our favorites are Aussies and the two Tazi’s, Carol and “Electric Bill”.  The Vines Wine and Tapas Bar is the basis for most of these relationships.  Vines has become the unofficial meeting place in the evenings, before and after dinner, or for dinner.  It is located in the main Piazza so there is always some type of entertainment.
Our first port this week was Coquimbo in Chile’s Norte Chico.  We have finally made it to Chile and will be spending a vast majority of the cruise exploring the whole Chilean coast.  La Serena is a charming colonial city with some great architecture, local artisan fair at La Recova Market and the required central plaza.  The region is also the home of that wonderful grape they use in Pisco!

I love it when our port days are on the weekend!  All of the locals are out cruising the streets along with the 2,600 cruise ship passengers.  Quite a sight to say the least.


I love all of the parks and plazas. Their respect for their trees and public areas is something we could learn from.

After all of that walking, it was time for some lunch.  A local café, up the stairs and around to the back of the building on a terrace overlooking another street. Glad we found it.  The Conger Soup was tasty.  And we found our way back out too!  Wahoo!!

It was a gorgeous day to explore La Serena.  Chile could be a favorite!
Next stop ….. Valparaiso!
We are actually overnighting in Valparaiso. We arrived around noon and right smack dab in the center of their industrial port.  This is not the Port of Miami kids.  The containers are stacked so high that you need a GPS to get to the gate.  One of the main drawbacks of large ships it getting that many people off loaded and out with buses, tenders or whatever.  Lots of lines and wasted time which is really precious on short layovers.
Our first stop once we were off the ship in Valparaiso was the funicular that travels up the hill to get us into the old town. 

Found a great restaurant for lunch.  Food has been awesome in Chile.

Loved the colorful houses up in the hills.

I think that Chile is an area that I would like to come back to and explore in depth.
Puerto Montt was our last port of call this week.  It is located in the Lake District of Chile and home to our new friend Fritzy.  There were a couple of towns located nearby that we wanted to see so we succumbed and joined a cruise tour on a bus!  Before we left we wandered around town and checked out a few of the little artist nooks.

The electric lines in town were a hoot!  Kind of like spaghetti!

After cruising around Puerto Montt, we were off to Puerto Varas, or the Rose City. It’s a beautiful town on the edge of Lake Llanquihue.

Final stop on our uber quick tour is Frutillar, a hamlet of Germanic descent, with a pretty neat little museum also on Lake Llanquihue.  It was a replica of an old German village complete with mills and all.

We had a great day exploring this picturesque area.  Think Fritzy made a good choice when he settled here.  We will return to Puerto Montt  and the Lake District some day.

To see more photos of our ports of call just click on the red port and visit “Dreamchaser Travels” on Shutterfly.

 

Callao to Puerto Montt – 3,067 Nautical Miles

Till next time,

Don’t forget to relax and get some sand between your toes!!

Santé,