Cruise Summary and afterpiece

5047.2 miles steamed. well that is what it said on the GPS screen on board but the summary issued by the ship said 4,864 miles. What is a few miles between friends

Final position 23deg 53.71’S 43deg 10.89’ W, alongside in Rio

The last day in Rio was spent on a tour of the city, as much to kill time until the evening flight home as any other reason. We wne across the long Rio/Niteroi bridge to Niteroi across the bay where we stopped at MAC the Niedermeyer designed art museum which looks like a mushroom. The museum was closed so all we were able to do was to photograph it from outside.

(This picture was taken in 2007 when MAC and I visited the museum when it was actually open and we actually did go inside, (we even bought the baseball hat which has, of course MAC on the front!! – OK is is better than having Boston Red Sox on the front!!!).

In truth the exhibits inside the museum were not that interesting and although the design is striking from the outside, it is not that practical to display art as the light enters awkwardly. The building is more a work of sculpture than a practical edifice. (Not juts my view it was also the view expressed by our Brazilian guide.). From there we drove back over the bride to Rio and to Sugar Loaf. At this point, it was a choice, to go up Sugarloaf in the cable car or to go on to an air-conditioned shopping mall. OK I have not been up Sugarloaf, so the obvious choice was to do so. But…….it was in the 90’s and Sugarloaf is not nearly as high as Corcovado which I had been up the day before and which I have been up at other times. So, I by-passed it and wandered around the shopping mall in the cool and feasted on a Bob’s ice cream!! Excellent, of course!! When we went back to collect the Sugar-loafers, the story was that the cable car had got stuck halfway for ten minutes so maybe it wasn't such a bad call after all.

Then we went on to tour the beaches in the bus, including Leblond which I had not been to before. We stopped here for a short while to watch the hang-gliders landing. They jump off a nearby mountain and glide down to a soft landing on the beach. Most were doubles with an experienced pilot in charge and a tourist strapped to his back……maybe next time??

Take off point

In flight

Landing

From there we circumnavigated the lagoon and then went on to the airport and the flight home. We had a long wait at the airport as the flight to Sao Paulo was not until 8 p.m. and we arrived at the airport at 2 p.m. In the event although long and tedious the flight home via Sao Paulo where we had to change planes was uneventful and we arrived more or less on time in a cold (-1 deg C 30 deg F), snowy, but sunny JFK and I was home by 8 a.m.

If I forget the Insignia and even some of the places at which it called I will never forget the new friends I met on board who were so unremittingly kind to me and whose company I will treasure for ever. These were certainly vacation friends for the long term. I very sincerely hope that they all find their ways home safely and that we are able to meet up again soon. I truly wish you Au Revoir in the real literal sense of the words.

That’s all for this blog, thanks for reading.

Rio de Janeiro 9th February 2010

 

Sugarloaf Mountain, entering Rio

Sunrise, entering Rio.

Just a quick note from our day out in Rio. Today, we were joined by Dave and Jill a very nice couple from Minnesota and Palm Springs CA, (summer/winter quarters). We took a ‘free’ H. Stern, (a jeweler who thought we might buy from him!!), cab to Corcovado and went up to the statue of Christ the Redeemer on the small train that carries you there. It was very hot and we did not linger long there. The view was, as usual, spectacular with too much haze.

 

Statue of Christ the Redeemer, Corcovado mountain, Rio

Then we descended by the same train and took a cab to Ipanema. There we checked out the beach and thought it was about lunch time. We found, quite by accident a cafe called A Garota de Ipanema, which is the cafe in which Antonio Carlos Joabim wrote the song “The Girl from Ipanema” The cafe was not too spectacular but the T-shirt will be a conversation piece!

The words of the song “The Girl from Ipanema” by Antonio Carlos Joabim.

The cafe ‘A Garota….’

After lunch we decided that the heat had got the better of us and retired back to the ship to shower and start packing.

Day 19 – Arriving Rio 9th February 2010

This will probably be the last blog post of this trip which I will make from Insignia. I will make a summary of the trip when i get home and I am not being charged extortionate amounts for an internet connection!!

It was a spectacular morning as we steamed into Rio which, although a ‘superficial city’ (all seafront and nothing behind), has some scenic geography on the approach, Sugarloaf Mountain, Corcovado, etc. In some ways, it is a city which I often think, flatters to deceive.

Yes Copacabana and Ipanema Beaches are very nice but they are, in my opinion far from the most beautiful in the world. Rio, has hyped itself a bit beyond its real merits. Still, with the sun rising and the mist rapidly clearing, there is no doubt that, at a distance it is attractive.

When it comes to things to do, Rio shows its limitations. Once those two above have been covered, the city has little else to offer unless you are there at Carnaval and want to experience that sort of vicarious clamor.

For me, I will be glad to get on to the plane home tomorrow evening. Meanwhile I will pass the time in Rio revisiting places I have already been and packing for the journey home.

Asta la vista.

Monday 8th February, evening.

We all convened in the Terrace cafe for dinner.

If you look very carefully you will see the my dumb traveling companions Penguin and Homer the Bear sitting in the center of the table. They joined us for the last night’s dinner and behaved themselves quite well even though SOME of our number made fun of them!! We had another really fun meal with so many laughs it was impossible to count them all. I learnt some unusual facts including how Sam Bucatini was responsible for placing three coffee beans in a Sambucca!!! Harvey is just a mine of knowledge about such things and he is such a wonderful teacher!!

I have been so incredibly lucky to meet up with this simply perfect group of friends on this cruise and I cannot adequately express my gratitude to them for allowing me to participate in the fun events which we have shared together. These are not just vacation friends and I do hope that we have the possibility to meet up again soon and continue the really exceptionally enjoyable times we have experienced together. Harvey and Barbara will be in New York around the 18th March and we are determined to meet up with them at their favorite restaurant for dinner. The place will certainly be rocking for that evening.

It was so sad to say goodbye to Harvey and Barbara tonight as they leave in the morning for their trip to Iguazu. We are going to go to Corcovado tomorrow and will meet up with Joan and Barbara, hopefully for a last dinner tomorrow night.

On departure from Santos we passed the m.v. Repubblica del Brasile which was sufficient to remind me who pays the bills!!

We go to sleep tonight with a strong thunder squall developing outside which may mean that tomorrow will dawn just a little cooler than today. I look forward to entering Rio from the sea and although I have been there before, it is one of the more striking places on earth. It will be a fitting backdrop to the end of the cruise.

Day 18 – Monday, February 8th 2010 – Arriving Santos, Brazil

We steamed into Santos this morning amid a beautiful sunrise. The port is very busy and the largest in South America. The ‘usual suspects’, Maersk, MSC, Hamburg Sud and others were in attendance as well as the Grimaldi (erstwhile ACL), Conro vessel m.v. Repubblica del Brasile. We nearly bought her at the end of 2009 but the deal never took place. I remember visiting her in Tilbury and I thought she was not in bad shape for her age. She is now 21 years old.

Santos is a very large city and the beachfront is under heavy development with high-rise condos. Where we are berthed is probably NOT vintage real estate but we are hoping to take taxi to the nicer part of town, take a walk along the beach and perhaps have lunch at a recommended fish restaurant on the sea front. The temperature, even at this time, is 86 deg F , 30 deg C, so this will be a warm day.

Yesterday we received our disembarkation instructions for Rio so things are drawing to a close here on Insignia. I am going to take a tour of Rio which will include some of the sights I did not see on the last two visits I have made here in the past. The tour then drops me at the airport for the plane home which leaves at 8 p.m. local time on Wednesday, calls at Sao Paulo and then flies direct to (a snowy) JFK, arriving at 6 a.m. on Thursday morning. I am now ready to get home and cold, snow or whatever it will be good to be back. I am sure that our two cats will welcome me with their usual indifference. If I am really lucky they may even raise their heads from sleep for a few seconds before resuming the slumber position. I doubt that they will even relish the fact that I bought cat food in Argentina for them and carried it all the way home. Such are the rich rewards of cat-owning.

Although I did not witness it, I understand that New Orleans unexpectedly won the SuperBowl and although I am a fan of neither team nor the sport itself, that seems like a good result for a blighted city and from the news reports they are celebrating in good old “Nawleans” style. Well done to them. I always prefer the underdogs to win.

After being taken in the morning by a shuttle bus to the so-called ‘passenger terminal’ we took two cabs to the beach area of Santos. There we walked alongside the beach alternating in sun and shade. The temperature reached close to 100 deg F., (38 deg C). the beach is wide clean and very attractive. It is bordered by high rise condos and is very redolent of Copacabana in Rio although the shops and restaurants along the roadway are not quite so high-end. It is said to be the longest stretch of beach in the world. All in all a very pleasant beach-front.

There are showers at regular intervals and a lot of staff cleaning, sweeping and hosing down the paved areas. The beach was not too crowded and there was a gentle surf. I am not sure how people can go on the beach in swimwear with the sun so strong.

Despite the not very flattering descriptions of Santos in the ship’s literature, we were all quite impressed by this part of the city although I am sure that there are also large areas which are not so nice

We then strolled back to the restaurant Vista Ao Mar which had been recommended. It is a fish restaurant and they served up a great meal of fish and octopus, preceded by some interesting appetizers and accompanied by cold beer. All very welcome in the cool of the air-conditioned interior.

The fish….

…. and the octopus.

My companions, Joan and Bill, Harvey and Barbara and Bernie and Michele very kindly picked up the tab for my share which was very nice of them indeed and I am most grateful both for their kindness and friendship during the whole cruise, it has really made it for me.

I think we were all quite full and retired back to the ship for some afternoon siesta and to look forward to our last night at sea on board Insignia. Tomorrow, Harvey and Barbara will leave the ship and go to a hotel before setting off for Iguazu Falls. Joan and Bill remain on board and also set off for Iguazu later in the week before returning to attend the Carnival Ball, the highlight of the Mardi Gras/Carnival celebration. Bernie and Michele will stay a day or so in Rio and come home on Friday.

Sunday 7th February, evening

What an evening!!! We had a wonderful drinks party in Harvey & Barbra’s stateroom with food partly provided by the ship as well as some cheese and salami that I bought in BA. I doubt that I, or any of us have laughed so much for a long time.

One of the butts of the jokes was my penguin and his bear friend. I have no idea why these two young friends should be the cause of such mirth. Although being in close proximity for nearly 19 days may have established an unhealthy relationship between them, I am sure some therapy when they get home will straighten them out again.

Here we all are, before dinner.

Then we retired to the Polo steakhouse for a dinner which was even more entertaining and amusing than the pre-dinner drinks. The laugh levels reached close to incontinence and we had what I think for everyone was a really great time. I have been SO lucky with the friends that I have made on this cruise and I really do think that they will not just be fleeting acquaintances. I am so grateful that they included me on their activities and it has certainly made the trip eternally memorable.

Here we are at dinner.

It was, without doubt, a night to remember.

Tonight, the ship has focused on the SuperBowl. I have tuned in to it briefly in my room. Fortunately there are commentators who are much better players than those on the field and for me, the best player is the guy in the black and white striped shirt who has lovely arm movements. After watching the rugby the other day, I can see the difference between the two sports. Someone has just been penalized for ‘unnecessary roughness’, I do hope he wasn’t also rude to the other player and didn’t have bad breath too. I am expecting someone to be sent off for inadequate deodorant or badly adjusted clothing before the game is over.

Tomorrow we arrive in Santos and our first brush, on this trip with Brazil.

Day 17 (cont’d) – Sunday 7th February 2010 (Super-Bowl Sunday – yawn………)

The day has started bright and sunny and the temperature is rising and with it the humidity. Looking at the pictures of Washington DC which is in physical, meteorological gridlock instead of the usual political gridlock is quite a contrast but it is 3-4,000 miles away so it is ‘sufficient unto the day’ that I will have to deal with the US winter weather. As I am a ‘winter person’ who does not do well in the heat above about 23 deg C or 75 deg F. the return to the cold holds no terrors in fact I am looking forward to it.

I must say that the write up in the ship’s daily newsletter called ‘Currents’ regarding both Santos and Sao Paulo make me wonder what on earth possessed the cruise line to call there. Santos is described as “ ………a city which has seen better days and, as a destination for travelers, is of limited interest”. That really gets you going doesn’t it? Of Sao Paulo “It can be an intimidating place….but if you like big cities it is worth a visit.” It goes on to say “The residents constantly complain of street violence, traffic problems and pollution….….Reports of crime in the city have increased and it is now said to be less safe than Rio”. Well, sounds like a really exciting place to be mugged. The organized tour spends almost all its time on the bus according to the description of it, because the traffic is too heavy!!!!! Bearing in mind that, in docile little old BA, one of the passengers from ‘Insignia’ on an organized bus tour had his wristwatch removed (cut with a box cutter) from his wrist by a thief as he was getting off the tour bus, one can only begin to imagine what they may have in store for us in Santos/Sao Paulo. What ere they thinking?

Breakfast was out in the open (but shade), on the after end of the Terrace Cafe and as it is Sunday, some of us had a Bloody Mary or a Mimosa. We also opened one of the jars of ‘Deedle Dee’ jam which I bought in the Falklands. The jam is made from a berry of the same name which looks a bit like a red-currant. Its taset is not unpleasant. The temperature is 28 deg C or 82 deg F and I think we are in for a warm day.

The usual menu of ‘entertaining treats’ is on offer today including the ‘Superbowl of Trivia’ which promises to be the culminating episode of the long-running trivia quizzes which have taken place throughout the cruise. The anticipation for this event is almost palpable. It seems that the appetite for trivia is totally elastic, does this say something about modern life? Perhaps ‘triviality is the new reality’, who knows? Certainly, the only news channels available on the vessel, CNN and Fox avoid hard news like the plague and the programs seem to be driven far more by the presenter than by the content, the latter of which is kept deliberately ‘light’. I have yet to hear anyone ask a difficult question of anyone else, a combative question, perhaps but not an intelligently phrased question to which the answer needs to be more than one sentence. If the news is trivia, then it is only to be expected that its consumers will be interested in trivia too. At the moment, the uncrowned queen of Trivialand, Sarah Palin, rules the airwaves. She can see Trivia from her house. End of sermon.

Tonight should be a good night to take over control of the ship and steer it away from Santos as, I assume, many people will be watching the Stupidbowl, sorry, SuperBowl. I wouldn’t ask for a ransom for the ship, just the avoidance of Santos!! I am hoping to attend a course on ‘Swahili for Dummies’ during this evening football-watching period as I am sure such knowledge will serve me well during the World Cup in South Africa. Phrases common to the British soccer stadium such as the chant “Here we go, here we go, here we go”, helpful advice for the players, for example  “Nutmeg ‘im Kevin” or pertinent observations about the visual acuity of the match officials in the form of “Oi! ref, where is your dog and white stick?” or even a waveringly lyrical version of the ballad “You’ll never walk alone”, all expressed in the native vernacular will do much to endear me to the locals, I am sure. Also, expressing my sentiments in a lesser known language will avoid the hostility I might incur from those around me when England play USA on June 17th. when my loyalties will be tested to the full. Now that the captain of England has been discovered ‘in flagrante’ with the significant other of one of his teammates, the internal dynamics of the England team should be as interesting as the maneuvers on the field of play.  This could be the first case of a red card for adultery. If the England players had been more strategic thinkers, they would have committed adultery with a significant other of a member of one of the opposition teams, not one of their own. There is still time…………..

The half-time interval at the SuperBowl is to be performed by the last mortal remains of the ‘Who’. The Geritol-fuelled duo will arise from their walking frames and try to pretend that they are 50 years younger than they are. Sure they were great once but perhaps it is time to hang up the guitars and the dirty T-shirts It is probably salutary to think that the players in the game which they will punctuate are possibly old enough to be their grandchildren. How many of the live and TV audience watching will even know who they are?

More from today, later.

Day 17 – at sea 7th February 2010 – en-route to Santos.

Postscript to Day 16 - An update of last night’s dinner. We were out on the aft part of the Terrace Cafe on what was a spectacularly beautiful evening with a wonderful sunset sky. The sky was so spectacular that I am enclosing a couple of photos.

 

The evening was very convivial in this lovely setting until our 50th anniversary couple, Joan and Bill turned their discussion to what had been said at a New Year’s Eve party last year. Memories differed on the identity of the person who had uttered a particular remark. Leaving out the detail of the dispute, sufficient to say that a bet was laid as to who had said what and the stakes of this bet consisted of an indeterminate number of pairs of Ferragamo shoes, obviously, these were due to the distaff side, should she prove to be the person with the correct recollection. The pay out for the male party was not established. Michele agreed to be a stakeholder but her commission for this appeared to be a further pair of these shoes. Being married to a UN person I did my best to maintain a neutral stance although neutrality is not a position familiar to the UN. Phone calls to the Californian attendees of the New Year’s Eve party failed to connect and thus the we were left without a winner and we all dispersed with the outcome unresolved. It is to be earnestly hoped that the 50 year maturity of the relationship survives this wager! We agreed to meet for breakfast and open one of the jars of Diddle Dee jam that I obtained in the Falklands.

When I returned to my room, this is what I found.

Day 17 - This is our last full day at sea on this cruise. I am enclosing a few pictures of the ship

The pool deck. just above the deck itself is the running/exercise track which runs around the area and where 13 laps are equal to one nautical mile, (6,080 feet).

The bar at the entrance to the main dining room.

Part of the main dining room

A table setting in the main dining room.

The ship has four dining areas, two of which require reservations, a steakhouse in which the food is excellent, an Italian restaurant where the food is generally good but not always. Then there is the main dining room which you see above and which has an extensive menu of classic American and European dishes. There is also a less formal Terrace Cafe where the food is served buffet style at. At lunch time, in one corner of the pool deck they serve hot-dogs, burgers, salads and other lighter (?) fare. The staff are extremely helpful as an example; one of our number wanted some chicken soup which was not on the menu but it was produced quickly by the obliging cooks.

There are numerous bars and other lounges, a fitness center, a spa, a rather nice library, an internet center and, of course, the obligatory casino with slot machines and tables. There is no cinema but there is a huge DVD library and each room has a TV with a DVD player. As I write this, I am watching the Six Nations Ireland v Italy rugby union international live from Dublin, relayed, of course, via satellite.

I am also able via the new networks to see the huge snowstorm which is hitting DC and some parts of NJ. I just hope that by the time I arrive back, next Thursday morning the travel chaos has subsided.

Day 16 – at sea en route to Santos. 6th February 2010

Our departure from BA was delayed somewhat as one of our unfortunate fellow passengers had to be taken ashore on a stretcher and away in an ambulance. I don’t know what the problem was but he/she also had to have their belongings packed and taken with them so it was something which would require some treatment. I am not sure if they will be able to travel to Santos to meet the ship there or will return home from BA.

After departure the Gods showed some displeasure by venting upon us a huge and violent thunderstorm which resulted in extremely heavy rain, very spectacular lightning and thunder the particular sound of which was very unusual, almost like fireworks going off. As we left the port the lightning came close and the rain very heavy. We had dinner outside on the after deck which is protected by an awning but the awning kept filling up and as the ship moved it emptied itself with a huge deluge onto the deck below. It was quite a dramatic backdrop to dinner. The city was soon lost in the gloom.

After dinner we retired to a lounge and found ourselves inveigled into a trivia quiz. It is always as source of surprised amusement to me the pleasure some get from these activities, bingo, trivia, etc. I am sure that I am an exception within the human race that finds them tedious and I would in no way demean those who find them fun as long as they keep it to themselves!! Anyway, I survived this one and the group with which I found myself, who were very nice, came second, winning some sort of ‘coupons’ redeemable for something from the gift shop.

This morning we find ourselves, having re-passed Montevideo, just at the mouth of the River Plate (Rio de la Plata), estuary. We are 14 miles off Punta del Este. We will soon start to turn our course north-easterly, parallel to the coast of Uruguay and then Brazil. We have now traveled over 4,000 miles since our departure from Santiago on the other side of the South American continent. The day has dawned rainy and cloudy but there are hopes that the sun will come out for those who love to bask in it.

I have published another posting with some more photos in it as I now have  some extra internet minutes to use up.

Photo montage for the South American cruise.

The Amalia glacier in the Straits of Magellan, taken from the ship.

Statue of Magellan in Punta Arenas

Statue of the unlikely-named Bernado O’Higgins, the ‘father of Chile’ and leader of their road to independence.

The “Train to the End of the World” (Ushuaia)

Rabbits at the end of the world!! (Ushuaia)

Seals at the end of the world!! (Ushuaia)

The lighthouse at the end of the world (Ushuaia)

The sad memorial in the Falklands to those on Atlantic Conveyor, including the fondly remember Ian North who lost their lives in the 1982 conflict.

The huge whalebone arch which stands at the entrance to Port Stanley Cathedral.

Perhaps a cautionary reminder to all mariners entering Montevideo harbor that accidents can happen!!

That will have to do for now.

Day 15 – February 5th 2010 - BA

Arrived this morning to a cloudy BA and docked at a very busy container terminal almost completely occupied by MSC containers. There was also a Costa cruise ship in port which had, presumably, grabbed the only real passenger berth.

I walked into town, via the bus and train stations. These are always good places in which to get the rhythm of a place. BA is no exception. There are stalls and shops and food stands and people hurrying this way and that. From there on through the town and up the street named ‘Florida’ which is the main shopping street. This extends way into town and is lined with small shops and side gallerias all the way. I had no intention of buying anything so it was of little interest. I arrived at the main Avenida in the hope the famous Opera House, Opera Colon would be open so that I could, at least get a tour of the place. The last time we were here, a couple of years ago, it was under renovation, well guess what? It still is. So that was a bit of a bust. The simultaneous needs for a coffee and a toilet demanded a stop at a small cafe for both. I then walked on down to the Plaza de Mayo where there is the cathedral and the ‘pink palace’, the home of the President, Madame Kirchner. The cathedral is, I fear the usual gaudy, gold-leafed place with multiple religious statues in glass cases. There is also the enormous tomb of General Jose de San Martin, the national hero, which is guarded by guards in ceremonial uniforms.

Walking on behind the palace (the rear of which is being dug up as part of the subway redevelopment - not a very attractive view for the great lady out of her back door). I came into the area named Puerto Madero. This is a sort of waterfront development around some old docks with a lot of high end apartments and similar high end restaurants. Well it could actually be in a number of cities and has very little of the local color or imagination in its development. The development of the old, existing warehouses is OK but the new shiny, high-rise apartments may look OK now but I feel that they will not soon and even now, they do look a bit cheap and ‘flashy’ and not really in keeping with the area. I could name a number of cities with equally ill-advised developments. The docks were ‘decorated’ with two old sailing ships and perhaps these will be added to and the whole place made to look a bit less sterile, in due course.

I was due to meet some of my cruise mates there for a meal but as I passed the appointed meeting place restaurant, I realized this was far more high-end than I needed what with all the rich food on the ship. I was suddenly seized by a need for some street food. Some unidentified cooked flesh prepared in less than hygienic circumstances seemed to be just what I needed. Across the street was a small bus depot and there was the sight of a stall with smoke coming out of the back. This was just what i wanted. The guy in front of me ordered something and it looked OK to me so I just said  - “I’ll have one of those too”. Neither my chef nor I spoke a common language but he understood. Problem!! The guy behind me ordered something which looked even better than what I had ordered. Well the language impediment as well as the likelihood of a ‘scene’ prevented me from changing my order so I persevered with what I had asked for which was some sort of meat, breaded and served on a bun with fried egg and cheese. It went down well enough.

I then started to wend my way back to the ship via an open-air market and a hypermarket where I picked up some local cheese, some salami, a bottle of local ‘champagne’ and what I call a ‘Billy Joel’ (a bottle of red and a bottle of white, for those not fans of the singer). Hopefully this will enliven one of the remaining nights of the cruise. I also bought some cat food for our cats as they like to think that they have cosmopolitan tastes.

Passing through the cruise terminal I was stopped by a young lady who was taking a survey and asked questions about my experiences in BA and then, via shuttle bus (we could not, of course, walk on the terminal), I was aboard for a cold beer. I had scarcely sat down by the pool with the beer when the heavens opened and it simply poured with rain, one of those late afternoon showers common here. I was lucky to have avoided being out when it happened. It was all over in ten or fifteen minutes but very heavy whilst it lasted.

At this point it would be remiss if I did not mention that my two dumb traveling companions are being thoroughly spoiled by the staff who attend to my stateroom. This will give an indication of the way they have been treated.

Getting home to cold snowy New York in a few days may be a bit of a shock to their systems!!!

Montevideo – 4th February 2010

Arrived in Montevideo this morning in a light rain and mist but this soon cleared. We walked up through he old town and to the Plaza Matriz where we went into the cathedral which is a fairly typical ornate example. Thence to the Museo Gurvich. Jose Gurvich was an interesting Uruguayan artist who worked in many media including sculpture, wood, fabric, collage and of course, various types of paint. His work is interesting if not altogether so attractive. He paints many women but all of them look profoundly miserable.

We then walked down the street called Sarandi towards Plaza Independencia. On the way we stopped at the Museo Torres Garcia who is another Uruguayan artist who also worked in many types of media. In the museum was also work by another artist who is, I think related to Garcia but all the signs were in Spanish so we had a bit of a hard time being sure what was what.

In the Plaza, which is, effectively, the center of the city there is a large statue of General Gervasio Artigas who is the ‘father of Uruguay’. Underneath the statue is a mausoleum where an urn containing the General's remains lies guarded by two guards who are dressed in uniforms of his time. The guards are completely motionless and the whole area is very impressive and somber.

We then meandered back towards the Mercado del Puerto for lunch… and what a lunch!!! On the way, we passed a restaurant where they was a live tango show and to promote this, the dancers where dancing in the street.

Then on to the market. This consists of some restaurants but the highlights are the round areas where you sit at a bar and in the middle is a huge barbecue.

The barbecue is attended by some large and very active, sweating chefs. The barbecue is loaded with all kinds of meat and I had dined on Chorizo, Black Blood Sausage, and something called Choto which was described as ‘Guts’!! Delicious!!. I then had something which was described as ‘Kidneys with extras’. I washed this down with a couple of glasses of ‘medio y medio, a mixture of white wine and champagne, very refreshing. Some of my fellow passengers nearby ordered “Parilla for 2 or 3” and got an enormous pile of barbecued meat, beef, lamb, chicken, etc. I doubt that they could manage half of it. The place was very lively and the chefs and servers were animated and very busy. The whole atmosphere was really wonderful and the food was terrific.

I then sought to walk along the Ramblas the promenade by the sea but the port seems to have extended out a long way and I walked some way but could not get to the end of the high wire fence surrounding the port area. So, as it was getting progressively hotter, I am afraid I turned back to the ship. Without doubt this was too short a stay in this port and there are more things to see. One thing which Montevideo shares with BA is a rather haphazard planning. There are wonderful and attractive old buildings with awful ugly modern ones right next door. One side of Plaza Independencia is occupied by one of the ugliest buildings in the world, whereas at the other end the tall Palacio Salvo is an ornate Art Deco building. Although perhaps not such a beautiful city as BA it certainly is worth a longer look and there are other things in Uruguay I would like to explore. Oh well!! gotta come back I suppose!

We sail shortly for BA for a similarly short stay.

Day 13 - Wednesday February 3rd 2010 - en route to Montevideo

Woke up this morning at about 6.30 a.m. (we have advanced the clocks one hour during the night), to a fairly thick fog with visibility less than half a mile. Curiously, there was no fog signal sounded until about 9 a.m. Naughty, I am sure this was so as not to wake the passengers but as far as I recollect the International Regulations for Collisions at Sea give no such respite to passengers or anyone else. I presume that we are in an area where two sea currents, one warm and one cold meet and this is the cause of the fog bank through which we are traveling. The temperature is now up into the mid-sixties and I am sure that in Montevideo tomorrow, it will be much higher.

Last night we had a very enjoyable and laugh-filled party in Harvey and Barbara’s magnificent suite and this was followed by lovely meal in the steakhouse. The food is excellent and the company just superb.

The nightly ‘entertainment’, (note the emphasis!!) was a word game show where unusual words were defined in different ways by a panel and then the audience, by acclaim, had to decide who had given the correct answer. I have seen this sort of show done well before but this was not a good example of it and my stay was brief. We have on board a British couple who are a comedian/magic duo. It is what I would call, at best, ‘end-of-the-pier’ entertainment. There is also another Brit (well he is actually an ex-pat who lives in southern Spain), who gives ‘interest talks’ I am sure this is a great gig for him as most of what he talks about plus much more could be found on Wikipedia, where I am sure that he found it. He has had talks on Darwin, the Falklands War of 1982, the Battle of the Falklands during the first World War and other things. He and his wife seem to get a free cruise in return for not an awful lot. Hey! more power to his elbow. He has a pony-tail, I can’t really trust a person of his age who sports one of those. There is also a ‘Master Chef’ (his name is Jean-Jacques Dietrich, which sounds like a Franco-German hybrid), who gives classes.

At lunchtime today we will meet to discuss what to do in Montevideo where we have no formal excursions planned. I had thought that I would go to Colonia del Sacramento which is a UNESCO Heritage site but the place is over 100 kms away and the tour there is 8 1/2 hours which is a bit longer than I would prefer, especially as it is expected to be quite hot. This will have to be for another time. There are a number of interesting sites within walking distance in the city as well as places for lunch and doubtless for shopping. However, it seems that the main focus of the visit to Buenos Aires on the day after, for the ladies, is shopping and the stores which sell silver goods close to the Opera House. I am not sure that I will join them for this. I would like to see if there is a tour of the Buenos Aires Opera House as it was under construction when I was there last.

It is now afternoon and the fog has cleared and the ship is making good progress towards Montevideo.

Tuesday 2nd February 2010 – Day 12

We have two days at sea until we reach Montevideo. The weather is already beginning to warm up although there is still a ‘lumpy’ following sea which makes this rather awkward-moving vessel lurch all over the place. Still the sun is shining but the movement of the vessel has meant that the pool has had to be lowered as it was fit for surfing last night and was emptying itself all over the decks. The Jacuzzis are still in operation and have attracted a few takers. Otherwise the mostly elderly passengers (guests as they insist on calling us!!), are reading and sleeping in their chairs.

If I haven’t mentioned it before, I am amazed at how little has changed since I was, myself serving on passenger vessels in the sixties and early seventies. Bingo, trivia quizzes, bridge, ‘interest talks’, fairly ‘over-the-hill’ entertainers, (one billed as having performed with the Glenn Miller Orchestra which would put them in their nineties, at least!!), cooking classes, etc. I suppose this is what most people who cruise want and that is why the cruising companies supply it. It seems that nearly everyone here has spent their entire lives cruising and much of the (overheard), conversation is comparing one Line and/or one ship with another. I do think that this form of vacation is a bit of an acquired taste.

Whilst a repetition of this experience for me is in the realm of the highly unlikely, I cannot fault the ship or the ship’s staff who are universally polite and helpful. They have certainly been well-drilled not to let you pass them without acknowledging you by a ‘Good Morning’ or other sort of greeting. The staff in the restaurants are also cheerful and courteous. The food is, on the whole extremely good although as might be expected there have been a few failures. If I had to list the, relatively small items with which I would take issue they are:

• There is a tendency to ‘nickel and dime’ rather too much with charges for some items which, at the costs of this whole cruise, I would have thought could be included. As usual water is one of these items which is at Manhattan prices.
• Sometimes there is a bit of a ‘hard sell’ for future cruises but I suppose as they have you captive they would like to ‘hook’ you for future trips.
• The schedule is a little strange and I think I would have arranged it differently. For example, Buenos Aires and Montevideo are large cities with varied cultures. I think I would have allowed the vessel to stay there until at least midnight  so that we could, for example in BA, have had some sort of tango show either on board or as a shore excursion; or even that people could have had dinner ashore in those places. An 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. daytime stay seems to be a little ill-thought-out. It might be fine for Ushuaia or Punta Arenas but for major cities it doesn’t seem very appropriate.
• In a few areas, the ship, which is always neat and clean. could do with a bit of an upgrade, especially in the fitness room where the equipment is rather old. Perhaps they have invested more in the spa where there is a bigger profit margin.

Although I am not sure that the option was ever there, I would probably be happy to disembark and come home from BA. I have not been to Santos but I am not sure it is exactly a ‘must-see’ place anyway and I have been to Rio twice before so really the remainder of the cruise, after BA, is a bit superfluous. I could imagine that the change things would cause an immense rumpus as well as mucho $$$$$$, so I had better leave it be.

Tonight we have another party in the Owners’ Suite of Harvey and Barbara. They are a much larger than life couple originally from New York, but now living in California. Harvey has a business supplying movies to cruise liners and Barbara is an interior designer. As I think I have mentioned before they have been married 55 years and I would think must be in their 70’s but they are the life and soul of the party and all gatherings that include them are great fun. They are generous to a fault and great hosts.

After the party we have dinner in ‘Toscana’ the Italian-themed restaurant. This is one of the two ‘specialist’ restaurants for which booking is required although the food is included in the cost of the cruise, it is just that there is limited space in the restaurant. There is also ‘Polo’ a steakhouse as well as a formal Grand Dining Room and a Terrace Cafe which is informal. Quite enough opportunities to over-eat!!

Port Stanley, Falklands, 1st February 2010

A couple of pictures of the penguins from today’s trip. The top two photos are of Gentoo penguins which are smaller. The lower photo shows two King Penguins who were the only ones there but did not deign to turn around for a proper shot!!

We left the ship around 8 a.m. for quite a long boat ride to Port Stanley. During the boat ride, porpoises played around the bow of the tender delighting the passengers. When we got to the jetty we boarded small minibuses and drove out of town to the west on a partly tarmac and partly gravel road. On the way we passed many areas of minefields which are still active. In some areas, clearing work is under way by a company from Zimbabwe who are using metal detectors and probes in a pain-staking and slow search. Some animals still wander into these areas with awful consequences. The area outside town is mostly moorland with hilly outcrops of rock many of which saw heavy fighting in the 1982 war. The moorland runs down from the road to wide bays.

We stopped after about a half hour’s drive. There we switched to Land Rovers, four of us to each vehicle. I shared my vehicle with a very gutsy lady who was using a walking frame as well as two Canadian Chinese who have traveled in many places and were as intrepid as anyone. We then left the road for the rockingest and rollingest ride of my life. Our driver, a rather stout gentleman called Pete handled the the LR with great skill. Meanwhile he talked a ‘blue streak’ with interesting facts about the Falklands, such things as, a good sheep shearer can shear 350 sheep a day and the record is over 450!! Pete has a small farm with cattle sheep, horses and poultry. His ‘take’ on life in the Falklands was most interesting. It took about 45 minutes of this roller coaster ride from the road to a place by the bay where the penguin colony is situated. We got there and disembarked and there they were, several hundred Gentoo penguins with their young. The young were at the stage of being nearly as big as their parents but with all that woolly down over their feathers which they were in the process of molting. In a few days and weeks they will stop being fed by their parents and then they will have to go down to the sea to hunt for them selves. It is then they will be most vulnerable to the predatory seals. The two King Penguins were still incubating their eggs as they take much longer in their breeding cycle. King Penguins usually live further south but these two had found a much warmer and more comfortable locale for their activities. The day just got better weather-wise and we were very lucky to have sunshine, light winds and relative warmth. Also around the area were other types of birds including Turkey Vultures, Upland Geese and various other kinds of ducks.

After a time photographing the penguins and walking on the beach, we all retired to the Sea Cabbage Cafe where there was barbecued lamb, barbecued Upland Goose, Kingklipp (fish), Sea Bass and other savory delights. Then there was a scone with Diddle Dee jam and cream as well as cakes and cookies and, of course, TEA!! Adjacent to the cafe is the Bluff Cove Museum which is small but contained a lady who was spinning wool and another who played the accordion.

After refreshments and a review of the area, we re-boarded the Land Rovers for Pete’s return drive. It was no less exciting than the drive on the way out. Then back to the minibuses for the return to Port Stanley.

I spent the afternoon wandering around this charming town and visiting the cathedral, Government House and the other sights along the promenade. Then for a pint of beer in the Globe Tavern, some shopping and back to the ship on the tender at about 3.30p.m. after a good day in the Falklands.

A view of Ushuaia

 

This is a test post using Windows Live Writer

Sunday 31st January 2010

Today is a 'sea day' as we prepare for arrival tomorrow in the Falklands. We are now out of the Magellan Strait/Beagle Channel/Drake Passage area and feeling the effects of the South Atlantic. I am doing a trip to Bluff Cove Lagoon. This is supposed to be the 'Innovative Shore Excursion of the Year 2009'. We will see. The trip involves minibus to Bluff Cove Farm. Then I transfer to a 4 x 4 vehicle, (Land Rover) for an 'exhilarating 30 minute off-road adventure to the Bluff Cove Lagoon penguin colonies. The drive is through stunning vistas but also, presumably involves white knuckles. When we get to our destination there will be awaiting us, I assume in full black and white uniforms, a colony of 1,000 Gentoo penguins and an 'expanding colony' of King Penguins. On the beach there will also be Magellanic penguins. There are also many other birds there. Other highlights of the trip include:

• Walking along the beach and beachcombing.
  
• Calling at the Sea Cabbage Café on the beach which serves up hot drinks and snacks which include fresh scones and 'Diddle Dee' jam!! Plus, of course, fresh farm cream.
  
• There is also a museum with lots of exhibits of life in the islands, wrecks, handicrafts as well as the items from the war of 1982.
  
• There are some demonstrations of spinning and weaving and, of course, the obligatory gift shop.
  

I think this may be one of the highlights of the trip and I am very much looking forward to it. I am sure that my camera will be red-hot to the touch by the end of the day. So far the weather on all the trip[s has been favorable but as my cruise companions are not coming on this one with me and they have certainly been good-luck talisman with the weather up until now, I am hoping that I can keep up the good weather record. I really don't care what it is like I have wet weather gear and will take it as it comes.

The trip above takes three hours and the ship is there from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. so as I start out first thing in the morning, I should be back by lunch time and able to spend some time in the town where there is a cathedral and 'English pubs'!!!

I am hoping, when I get back home and get a better internet connection either to update the daily blogs with relevant photos or otherwise just to publish one single blog with photos with descriptions underneath. As there are several of my cruise companions who are also taking photos, I hope that we will be able to exchange them at the end giving a complete record of the journey.

Slightly curiously for a vessel which is registered in the Marshall Islands which are as I recall a US dependent territory they seem to have a penchant for arranging 'British' events. The passenger complement consists of quite a number of Canadians, a few Dutch, some British but the majority, I would guess are Americans. There is an on board lecturer and also a husband and wife comedy/magic duo who are British so I am at a loss to explain why there should be such a British focus. Those who know me will hardly be surprised to learn that I have avoided these gatherings!!!

Ushuaia 30th January 2010

I woke up early and went on deck. It was misty and rainy but you could see the mountain peaks, snow-capped in the distance as well as the lights of Ushuaia. We approached the port slowly and berthed at the pier, the other side of which was occupied by a Maersk ship, the Maersk Funchal, loading what seemed to be empty containers.

We made an early start on our day's excursion and boarded buses which took us a few miles thought the countryside to the 'Train at the end of the World' This train, which was built in the early 1900's was originally used to service a high security prison which was established in Ushuaia in temporary buildings in 1896 with the permanent buildings being commissioned in 1920 after a building period of 18 years. The train commenced service in 1910 and the line was extended gradually until 1920. The establishment of the prison was mainly to give the area some purpose and upon the base of the prison. It was modeled on other 'escape proof prisons such as Devil's Island and Alcatraz. Ushuaia grew to a large town as it is today. The prison was in the town and the rail line was used to take the prisoners to the forests where they cut down wood for building and heating. The cruelty and rigors of being incarcerated in this part of the world and made to work under these circumstances are difficult to imagine. The prison was closed in 1947 but the rail line was preserved and re-opened as a tourist attraction in the 1990'sWe reached the station and boarded the small train (only 60 cm gauge track but pulled by a small steam engine. It was raining lightly but the scenery which is through what is now a National Park (established at least partly so as not to allow neighboring Chile to move the border between Chile and Argentina!!) was wonderful although there is ample evidence of the depredations of the prisoners with large areas of tree stumps. We crossed and re-crossed the Pipo River which is named after a convict who tried to escape from this (at the time) desolate place but whose frozen body was found later in the Beagle Channel after it was washed down the river that now bears his name. After a stop at a halfway station to see some waterfalls and get a better view of the landscape we continued on to the end of the line. Here we re-boarded the buses for a drive through the National Park. Our guide, Victoria, was extremely knowledgeable and interesting pointing out many things on the way such as:

• Beavers were introduced from Canada into the area for the fur they produce to make clothing. Unfortunately, the beavers developed hard and short fur to cope with the conditions and this was of no use for clothing so the beavers simply multiplied in the predator free environment and have caused much damage by making dams which then flood the land and kill the trees. A program to try to cull the beavers is under way.
  
• Rabbits were also introduced into the area and bred like, well…….rabbits and gave also caused many problems and are also being culled by the introduction of the grey fox which is more of a predator than the native red fox and also by chemical means. The eradication progress can hardly be described as a success as we saw many of the little devils who romped very close to the paths and roads.
  
• Various fungi and 'false mistletoe' on the trees which either lived happily with its host or not.
  
• Upland geese with young as well as steamer ducks and other bird life.
  
• She also handed around a stuffed beaver's head which was a bit gruesome!!
  

Eventually we disembarked the bus and boarded a catamaran which took us out into the Beagle Channel. We had a lunch on board and then we ventured out in the channel. We wet along the coast and close by an island colony of king cormorants, another island with a colony of sea lions and then on to the 'Lighthouse at the end of the World' (this is what the Argentines call it as Cape Horn is in Chilean territory). The trip was in great weather and was a wonderful experience with the backdrop of the Andes Mountains.

When we arrived back at the ship a new vessel was also docked at the pier, one of Swan Hellenic's ships, the 'Minerva' which goes to the Antarctic. It had had an engine failure somewhere down south and had to proceed back here at severely reduced speed. The passengers all missed their flights home and were, I assume, less than pleased.

Everyone agreed that this was a really great day out. We disembarked the catamaran and went into town for a shopping expedition. Most of the souvenirs were of penguins and other miscellanea but not of great attractiveness. However, I bought a bottle of the local 'champagne' from the end of the world!! We also bought some local cheese, crackers and sausage so that we could have a small cocktail party before dinner which we will have in Joan and Bill's stateroom as it is rather larger than mine.

We did inquire again about a trip by helicopter to Cape Horn but this is not possible. I wish now that I had tried to do this from Punta Arenas. Cape Horn is Chilean territory and the Chileans and Argentineans are not the very best of friends. You CAN go to Cape Horn from Ushuaia but first they have to go to Chile to get a Chilean Air Force officer to accompany you. The lady in Ushuaia said that the two governments don't hate one another but they don't want to make life easy for each other either!!

Ushuaia is a medium sized but smart and thriving town which compares favorably with Punta Arenas its Argentine neighbor.

I do have some good photos of the trip and I know that my traveling colleagues do too and I hope we will be able to exchange them at the end. Then, when I get home with a decent internet connection, I will load a lot of them onto the blog.

At 6 p.m. this evening we leave for Port Stanley, Falklands Islands, (which the locals and all maps here in Argentina staunchly refer to as the Malvinas). All the maps have the Falklands, South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia claimed by Argentina. I suppose there can be no further negotiation until Lady Thatcher passes on, if even then. Still borders down here are jealously kept (see above regarding the National Park), and I suppose the richness of the fishing and the potential for oil and gas are as much to blame for this as anything.

Punta Arenas, Chile, 29th January 2010

We docked in Punta Arena, the southernmost port in Chile today at about 7 a.m. After breakfast we walked ashore, having no fixed excursions. The town is quite a thriving place with smart houses for the most part and a mixture of old and new buildings. The most striking feature of the town is the large number of banks, local and international. One or more on every block, so it seemed. Quite why there should be so many is not clear. There are a few old and interesting buildings including:

• The Braun House – built in 1895 – it a very beautiful example of the French beaux artes style. The draperies and woodwork were very impressive.
  
• The Magellenes Museum which is housed in another of the grand houses of the city owned by a family of Braun-Menendez. This house is largely preserved the way it was as a dwelling but also has a number of exhibits from the surrounding area such as bones of prehistoric animals and relics from the indigenous Indians, now all disappeared, who lived here when the European arrived.
  
• The maritime museum which contains many nice exhibits of the maritime past. One of the most impressive events in this museum is an old film, taken in 1929 by a Captain Johnson of a voyage he took on the sailing vessel Peking (yes the one which is in the South Street Seaport in NYC). The film is remarkable when considering the time in which it was taken and the conditions of the voyage which were simply awful, even though the storms which they endured where winds reached 100 mph were described as the 'best storms they had ever been in'!! The shots from the top of the masts in the heaving seas and of the Captain's dog which was trained to bite slow-movers around the ship were incredible. The camera seemed to get submerged many times but still kept on working and the intrepid Captain Johnson took film from all angles in all conditions. I cannot think of any better representation of what it was like to round the Horn than this. The voyage started in Hamburg and due to a huge storm in the North Sea took 14 days to get into the English Channel. Thereafter it was plain sailing until Cape Horn when things really got exciting. I believe that the film is in the Mystic Seaport Museum and if so and anyone is visiting there, it is well worth seeing. The other exhibits in this museum were also good and well laid out.
  

  
   

The Indians were decimated either by the greater fire-power of the Europeans or the disease which they brought with them and to which the Indians had no defense. This whole area has a most rich past with visits by as diverse a bunch of people as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid who escaped here from North America when things got hot up there, a bandit named Red Pig, Darwin and Fitzroy, (who kidnapped some natives and took them back to UK), all sorts of eccentric Scots and British farmers and sheep farmers as well as the sundry seafarers who were wrecked in the area and stayed. The book 'In Patagonia" by Bruce Chatwin which I was advised to bring with me is a fascinating account of the author's wanderings in the region and of the people he met and the tales of their forebears.

We sailed for Ushuaia at 2 pm today and we will be there tomorrow. We have an excursion which takes us on the 'train to the end of the world' which should be interesting. I did try to see if I could arrange a helicopter or plane trip out over Cape Horn but it was not possible as the area is a military zone and permission needs to be obtained in advance. Pity, I wish now that I had investigated further earlier.

January 28th 2010

Last night we went in and out of the fjords and the weather changed almost by the hour. We had some quite violent squalls but now we are back inside the lee of the land and will remain there until we leave the Straits of Magellan and head out for the Falklands which is not for a few days yet. This morning the ship stopped for about an hour at the end of one fjord for us to view the Amalia Glacier which is very impressive but the weather was rather rainy and misty so, unfortunately it was not as beautiful as it might have been on a good day. Sitting on one of the upper decks is a small bird which must have got blown on board and is now wet and bedraggled. I hope that it will recover and fly away.

Today is a day steaming through the fjords but with no port calls. Tomorrow we arrive at Punta Arenas. I have no organized excursion there but perhaps a group of us will take an independent tour with a guide in a van. I guess we will then be back, temporarily in civilization and I can get my Blackberry to work again although I am not sure that this is such a boon!! I refuse to have it on aboard the ship as the charges are rather high and the service is very slow.

Every day there is a quiz and Michele is so competitive, she and Bernie have won several days running but I have to admit that I have connived by using my internet connection and Wikipedia to find out some of the answers. As the questions are all about Mediterranean countries and especially about Picasso and other artists, they are often not so easy to know as a matter of general knowledge.

Day 6

Above are a couple of shots of my cabin (stateroom!!)

Well we have two full days at sea before Punta Arenas so it may be time to review the first impressions of the cruise experience. The ship is very pleasant although the décor is a bit old-fashioned for my taste. The crew are outstanding, very attentive polite, cheerful and professional. They come from every country on the globe it seems. Many from Romania, Philippines, Serbia, Italy, UK, Sweden, you name it. The food is also outstanding and a tendency to waistline growth could certainly apply if not careful. There are four or five places to eat. Toscana is an Italian restaurant, Polo a steak house, the Grand Dining Room which is a full restaurant type menu. Then there is the Terrace Café which does lighter food and tapas in the evening. There is also a burger and hot dog bar out on the deck.

The activities on board haven't changed much since I was at sea with bingo, bridge, dancing lessons and some evening cabaret. There are also some lectures on ports of call, wellness, and some cooking demonstrations. On deck there are the usual games as well as putting and that sort of thing which are not too easy to play in heavy seas. So far, I have not been tempted by any of these.

My cabin, (stateroom) is adequate if small but there are much larger and grander rooms on the ship. The 'owner's suites' of which there are several are extremely grand and I was invited to one of them for drinks and I must say that they are very nice with outside verandahs, butler service and all the trimmings. I still could not envisage myself wanting, needing or paying for such facilities but then I am a 'penny potato' traveler by nature and have had so much fun traveling 3^rd Class that I am loathe to give it up.

Although food is all included there are some rather annoying small charges for soda and bottled water which I would have thought they could have supplied gratis. The internet connection is appallingly slow and very expensive. I have turned my Blackberry off whilst at sea and I will wait until I can get a shore station before I turn it on again. The data charges on board are ridiculous. So for those connected via Blackberry, you will get some black-out periods when I do not respond to any message directed to me. I am writing this blog in MS Word and then just posting it after I have finished. This is the best way not to use up all my expensive minutes on the internet connection.

The ship, for some reason has a very lumpy movement, perhaps because she is so short v her beam. Today there are moderately heavy seas and she is all over the place. We are out in the open Pacific but should be back in the fjords this afternoon and the seas will be calmer.

I think that this experiment of cruising may have been worth it for the parts of the world it reaches but I am not sure at this stage I would repeat the experience. This has nothing to do with the ship or the facilities which I am sure are as good as it gets. Those veteran cruisers on board (and there are a lot), all compliment the ship and the cruise in comparison with others they have taken. There are too long periods of inactivity, especially for someone who is not innately sociable.

I have met some spectacularly nice people on board and we have had some great times. Last night 7 of us met up for martinis before dinner and then we had dinner in the Italian restaurant which was a really fun time. Bernie and Michele's friends Joan and Bill Clark are very nice indeed. They are the ones on their 50^th anniversary cruise. They are from California. We have also met up with Harvey and Barbara, also from California (they are in the owner's suite) and are both very funny – they have actually been married 55 years!! Their constant repartee is very amusing and they have stories by the hundred so our table was just one peal of laughter all through dinner. As a single, I have been a bit of a 'fifth wheel' but they have been very good at including me in things and that has certainly made the time pass. I have also met others, some from UK, a very interesting couple who have married each other twice!! Also a nice Australian chap who had been to sea years ago and with whom I could exchange experiences.

For me the ports are the places I want to get to and see so the sea passages in between are a bit tedious but necessary, I suppose.

Laguna San Rafael 1/26/2010

We took a trip on a motor catamaran southward to Laguna San Rafael, starting at 0730 this morning. The trip took an hour or so winding amongst narrow channels with low land on the west side and the snow covered Andes on the east.
The glacier which is receding fast, due in part to global warming is pretty impressive and is nearly 2 kms wide when it enters the lagoon.

Hopefully these pictures give some idea of the scene with broken ice in the bay through which we threaded our way. Areas of the glacier and some of the small bergs were a very intense blue due to the refraction of the sunlight. The glacier if moving at 11m (about 35 ft), per day and although we did not see any, large pieces are frequently breaking off and floating into the bay.

There was, again no great abundance of wildlife although there was a swirl of water which our guide said was a sealion, (well, maybe!!). It was certainly cold but that was to be expected.

Monday 25th January 2010

Today we stopped at Puerto Chacabuco. . The way in was via the fjords and this was a wonderfully scenic approach with snow-capped mountains and narrow channels. The town itself was rather small and disappointing being the major salmon farming and freezing town of a few hundred inhabitants in the area. We walked around the town and to a rather fine hotel on a rise above the town. We were followed for a long way by a rather down-at-heel dog who needed a very good wash and brush but was very cute and had those appealing eyes which said, when we arrived back at the tender to take us back to the ship "You can't leave me here", but, of course we had to and we did but he was obviously very disappointed.

We were invited to a cocktail party in one of the owners' suites with Harvey and Barbara from California. They are a wonderful couple who are very engaging company. Harvey is a constant wise-cracker who keeps everyone in stitches and his wife of 55 (count 'em fifty five!!!!) years, Barbara, is an equal match. Their suite was gorgeous and we had a great time there. Then it was off to the Grand Dining Room for dinner which was also excellent.

I have a 7.15 a.m. take off to go glacier visiting tomorrow, so it is to bed early tonight.

Puerto Montt, Chile 1/24/2010

Arrived this morning at Puerto Montt. The m.v. Deutschland, a German passenger ship had arrived just before us, having left Valparaiso about an hour before us. Anyway, she grabbed the only berth here (isn’t that always the way with the Germans, they grab all the sun loungers and they grab the berth in ports too!! First come first served I guess. We anchored outside the port and the weather was quite windy with a nasty chop on the sea. The crew had quite a job getting the tenders organized and the platform from which the passengers embarked on them rigged. It took until about 10 a.m. until the first passengers on the tours got away. We waited until about 11.15 a.m. and then they let the ‘independents’ (those not going on organized tours go. The boat ride ashore was quite bumpy but without incident. We decided not to go on a trip with some others in a taxi to the volcano but just to wander around the town. The town was full of people, some from the Deutschland but many locals who, it seemed, had come in from the country side as it was Sunday. We reviewed the craft fair and ended up at the fish market which was very busy and colorful. As it was lunch time we then had a great seafood lunch in a very tiny little restaurant where you ordered the food and they went below to the market to buy the fish, brought it upstairs and cooked it in a miniscule kitchen. We had oysters, clams, mussels and a really wonderful piece of grilled wild salmon. We then wandered into the small town and Michele found what she believed to be the hotel she stayed at here 35 years ago!!!! It had been modernized since but she was almost sure it was the place. Then it was a cab ride back to the pier and into the tender for the trip out to Insignia. The weather which had started off rather unpromisingly perked up and we were able to spend some time around the swimming pool aided and abetted by some cold beer.
This evening there is a wine tasting and also many people are glued to some so-called football games which will decide who will play in the Stupid Bowl. Tonight we sail south again and tomorrow we will arrive in Port Chacabuco also in Chile.