Port Stanley, Falkland Islands 1/16/16
The weather gods smiled on us today, big time! We awoke this morning to find the Zaandam anchored in the outer harbor of Port Stanley with brilliant sunshine, blue skies and flat seas. This made boarding the tenders and riding the 15 or 20 minutes to the pier a snap. Lucky us. This was the first nice day in the Falklands after over a week of freakish weather for mid-summer, rain, sleet, hail and cold. The six ships ahead of us on this route weren't able to stop because of the conditions.
The Falklands have a civilian population of 2,500, three quarters of whom live in Stanley. There are another 2,000 stationed at the British base on the islands. The houses are perched on the sloping hillside (not very high) overlooking the harbor. They're mostly white but have brightly colored roofs--red, blue, green, orange, yellow--which made them look as if made of Legos. There's one main street with schools, shops, churches, post office and pubs. They use the Falkland pound, today worth about US$ 1.60. Children go to school until age 16 when they take comprehensive exams. Score well and the Falklands government pays for your further education in the UK whether university or vocational school. There is no crime or unemployment. Most of the land is privately owned and used for sheep, cattle and tourism. A UK oil company and Mobil Oil have been exploring for oil offshore and supposedly have found a lot, but with the price of oil so low right now, who knows when they'll actually drill.
We took a three hour tour to Bluff Cove Lagoon, the breeding grounds for Gentoo and King penguins. First we boarded minibuses, 16 in each of three vehicles, for the twenty minute ride over first paved, then gravel then dirt roads to a large gravel parking area on the outskirts of the Bluff Cove Farm. Then we transferred to Land Rovers, four per car and off we went overland, well, actually over rutted peat to the coast. As our driver Barry said, "This is what Land Rovers are meant to do." Holy moley, what a ride. The four of us had death grips on whatever looked attached to the vehicle as we bounced up and down and all around.
And then we arrived at the cove, a big, wide sandy beach with waves rolling in from the open sea. And above the waterline at least a quarter mile from the water, penguins! Hundreds of fluffy Gentoo chicks were impatiently waiting for their parents to return with lunch. They jostled each other, flopped on the ground and generally acted like the bored teenagers they are. There are over 1,000 breeding pairs of Gentoos as well as a growing colony of King penguins. The Kings were still sitting on their eggs, although one chick had just hatched and was beginning to peek out from under the front flap of the adult bird. We wandered about, cameras clicking like mad, chatting with the three rangers there to answer our questions and make sure we stayed outside of the flags marking the penguins' territory. Unlike the Magellenic species, the Gentoos and Kings barely make a dent in the ground for their nests.
After penguin time we ambled down to the Sea Cabbage cafe for a cream tea featuring an endless array of baked goods (delicious) made and served by some local ladies along with a cuppa, all served on china. After that it was next door to the little Bluff Cove Museum and shop for some penguin-themed souvenirs as well as yarn spun from the resident 4,000 sheep.
Our driver Barry is a retired shepherd, born and raised here. They now have electricity (30% from six wind turbines, the rest from diesel) but Barry said back in the day they harvested peat, 150 square meters per family per year, for fuel. The men would cut it, dry it, turn it and dry it some more and then haul it to their homes. The peat stoves had to be tended 24 hours a day. I don't think Barry much misses those good old days. All the ranching back then was done on horseback. He seemed to enjoy driving the Land Rover. All the drivers were ever so colorful. One showed me the list of dates and ships expected between October and the end of March...42.
Not only were we spectacularly lucky with today's gorgeous weather (65, sunny and dry) but we were the only ship in port so we didn't have to share the place. On some days two big ships were expected, dumping 5,000 visitors ashore.
I forgot to mention that there are no native trees in the Falklands, just grasses and a lot of rocks left over from the ice ages. It looks very wind-swept and barren, but there's enough vegetation to support the sheep and cattle. There are lovely trees and gardens around the houses, all carefully tended and nurtured.
We lifted anchor about 4:30 pm and now are heading 630 nautical miles south to Admiralty Bay in the protected Antarctic zone where a number of rules and regulations will control our activity. We will take aboard an ice pilot to guide us through the bergs. This is also Jim's last day to wear shorts. Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 30s, cloudy with the occasional snow shower. Time to break out the Cuddleduds, scarves, hats and gloves. Ever so glad I decided to bring my heavy, lined long jacket. Tonight we're dining in the Pinnacle Grill where they're recreating the decor and the cholesterol-be-damned French cuisine of the Le Cirque restaurant, the favorite New York haunt of the movers and shakers in the 70s.
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Puerto Madryn, Argentina, 1/14/16
Welcome to Patagonia! Which means "big feet" by the way. Men with big feet are called patones. And the landscape looks exactly like the view from I-10 between Phoenix and Indio except it's dry clay instead of sand. This region gets 8" of rain per year. It's hot, dry and windy! It was blowing 20 knots or so but today's guide, Flavia, said we were so lucky to have a nice calm day. It's all relative. Flavia is a high school geography teacher who works as a guide during "summer" vacation. She's also of Italian/Spanish decent.
Now as we all know from watching Happy Feet and every documentary ever about penguins, they live on ice, hopping in and out of the frigid sea from said ice. Imagine our surprise after our 2-1/2 hour bus ride to Punto Tombo that these Magellanic penguins live way ashore in this desert. They either dig saucer-shaped indentations out in the open or deeper burrows at the base of the scrub bushes. The path we walked stretches for a mile or so a half mile or so from the water, with penguin nests everywhere. Thousands of them, tens of thousands of them. One parent stays home with the chick while the other waddles down to the sea and spends the day feeding before bringing home the bacon, or in this case, krill. The chicks we saw were about 2/3 the size of the adults who are 18 a 24 inches tall but still covered with a cocoa-colored down. Until they molt and get their mature feathers they are not waterproof and so don't go near or into the water. Once they molt and learn to swim, all parental obligations are complete. No "boomerang" penguins coming back to live with mom and dad. The birds are not afraid of humans so just stand and stare, occasionally stopping the tourists to cross the path. This makes it very nice for picture taking.
I'm guessing the wind speed was above 30 knots at Punto Tombo but Flavia once again said how lucky we were. It was still dry and about 90, but most of us were comfortably in lightweight windbreakers. Oh, and sunscreen. Lots of sunscreen. We're closer to the sun and the ozone hole. Ever so glad I got the SPF 50 at Farmacity in Buenos Aires.
This was our last docking port until we get around the Horn. Now all fingers are crossed that the weather gods are smiling on us so we can safely tender ashore in Port Stanley. The Falklands are notorious for rough seas in which case the ship would do a drive by and head to Antarctica.
Addendum
At sea on the 15th, the ship held a ceremony awarding medals to those who had reached 100, 300, 500 or 1,000 cruising days. They also have a star system based on how much money spent buying the cruises and how much spent on board. Jim and I got our 100 day medallions along with a number of other people. However, there was one couple acknowledged for 1,600+ days at sea. I can't imagine.
Welcome to Patagonia! Which means "big feet" by the way. Men with big feet are called patones. And the landscape looks exactly like the view from I-10 between Phoenix and Indio except it's dry clay instead of sand. This region gets 8" of rain per year. It's hot, dry and windy! It was blowing 20 knots or so but today's guide, Flavia, said we were so lucky to have a nice calm day. It's all relative. Flavia is a high school geography teacher who works as a guide during "summer" vacation. She's also of Italian/Spanish decent.
Now as we all know from watching Happy Feet and every documentary ever about penguins, they live on ice, hopping in and out of the frigid sea from said ice. Imagine our surprise after our 2-1/2 hour bus ride to Punto Tombo that these Magellanic penguins live way ashore in this desert. They either dig saucer-shaped indentations out in the open or deeper burrows at the base of the scrub bushes. The path we walked stretches for a mile or so a half mile or so from the water, with penguin nests everywhere. Thousands of them, tens of thousands of them. One parent stays home with the chick while the other waddles down to the sea and spends the day feeding before bringing home the bacon, or in this case, krill. The chicks we saw were about 2/3 the size of the adults who are 18 a 24 inches tall but still covered with a cocoa-colored down. Until they molt and get their mature feathers they are not waterproof and so don't go near or into the water. Once they molt and learn to swim, all parental obligations are complete. No "boomerang" penguins coming back to live with mom and dad. The birds are not afraid of humans so just stand and stare, occasionally stopping the tourists to cross the path. This makes it very nice for picture taking.
I'm guessing the wind speed was above 30 knots at Punto Tombo but Flavia once again said how lucky we were. It was still dry and about 90, but most of us were comfortably in lightweight windbreakers. Oh, and sunscreen. Lots of sunscreen. We're closer to the sun and the ozone hole. Ever so glad I got the SPF 50 at Farmacity in Buenos Aires.
This was our last docking port until we get around the Horn. Now all fingers are crossed that the weather gods are smiling on us so we can safely tender ashore in Port Stanley. The Falklands are notorious for rough seas in which case the ship would do a drive by and head to Antarctica.
Addendum
At sea on the 15th, the ship held a ceremony awarding medals to those who had reached 100, 300, 500 or 1,000 cruising days. They also have a star system based on how much money spent buying the cruises and how much spent on board. Jim and I got our 100 day medallions along with a number of other people. However, there was one couple acknowledged for 1,600+ days at sea. I can't imagine.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Uruguay, 1/12/16
Montevideo, Uruguay, 1/12/16
Last night we sailed across the Rio de la Plata (actually an estuary rather than river) arriving in Montevideo early in the morning. After the bustle of Buenos Aires, the city and entire country seems to move at a more leisurely pace. Our guide, Pilar, said they live by the manana principle. Uruguay (it's not a Spanish word and is pronounced ur-ooo-why) is the second smallest country in South America with a population of just three million, and like Argentines, descendants of Spanish and Italians. The capital city is a mix of colonial and modern architecture. Lots of squares with lots of statues of various generals and presidents. And beaches. Unlike Buenos Aires, the Uruguayan coast line is sandy and the water fine for swimming and thus a popular vacation destination. We drove along the waterfront Rambla, with river front beaches on one side and high rise apartments on the other. In the summer dogs are banned from the beaches so they have special dog beaches. People love their dogs down here.
After stopping here and there throughout the capital, we drove about 25 minutes from the port to the Bouza Winery. Family-owned and only ten years old, it started wine making with locally grown tannat grapes. They now have a young white that tastes like a Portuguese wine as well as a merlot. We toured the place then went into the gorgeous dining room created in an old brick building that had been on the farm forever. We tasted four of their wines along with some terrific breads, sausages and cheese and then, lunch! Well, for ten of us. The other two at our table were vegans who sipped water and watched us eat farm to table vegetables, lamb and beef (absolutely the best ever--the cattle roam the ranch eating only grass) while one duo played tango music and another duo tangoed through the dining room.
While I was chit chatting with the couple from St. Louis on my left, Jim was talking to the couple from Colorado on his right. Then he turned to me and asked, "Who was your Master Gardener friend who was a meteorologist for the Weather Channel and moved to Boston?" "Lisa Booth. Why?" And Karen, the Coloradan said, "She's my cousin."
Annnnnddddd, rim shot
At sea on the 13th, and then back to Argentina on the 14th to Puerto Madryn and a 2-1/2 hour ride to Punta Tombo to see the 200,000 pairs of Magellanic penguins who nest there. First penguin sighting of the cruise! Then another sea day before the Falklands on the 16th. We've been told that wifi there is iffy at best so this might be the last for a while. When we leave Stanley we'll be headed to Antarctica (!) where we'll spend the next week cruising the coast and channels and straits and then the Drake Passage around Cape Horn. You can follow the ship on line; just Google, where is the Zaandam.
Last night we sailed across the Rio de la Plata (actually an estuary rather than river) arriving in Montevideo early in the morning. After the bustle of Buenos Aires, the city and entire country seems to move at a more leisurely pace. Our guide, Pilar, said they live by the manana principle. Uruguay (it's not a Spanish word and is pronounced ur-ooo-why) is the second smallest country in South America with a population of just three million, and like Argentines, descendants of Spanish and Italians. The capital city is a mix of colonial and modern architecture. Lots of squares with lots of statues of various generals and presidents. And beaches. Unlike Buenos Aires, the Uruguayan coast line is sandy and the water fine for swimming and thus a popular vacation destination. We drove along the waterfront Rambla, with river front beaches on one side and high rise apartments on the other. In the summer dogs are banned from the beaches so they have special dog beaches. People love their dogs down here.
After stopping here and there throughout the capital, we drove about 25 minutes from the port to the Bouza Winery. Family-owned and only ten years old, it started wine making with locally grown tannat grapes. They now have a young white that tastes like a Portuguese wine as well as a merlot. We toured the place then went into the gorgeous dining room created in an old brick building that had been on the farm forever. We tasted four of their wines along with some terrific breads, sausages and cheese and then, lunch! Well, for ten of us. The other two at our table were vegans who sipped water and watched us eat farm to table vegetables, lamb and beef (absolutely the best ever--the cattle roam the ranch eating only grass) while one duo played tango music and another duo tangoed through the dining room.
While I was chit chatting with the couple from St. Louis on my left, Jim was talking to the couple from Colorado on his right. Then he turned to me and asked, "Who was your Master Gardener friend who was a meteorologist for the Weather Channel and moved to Boston?" "Lisa Booth. Why?" And Karen, the Coloradan said, "She's my cousin."
Annnnnddddd, rim shot
At sea on the 13th, and then back to Argentina on the 14th to Puerto Madryn and a 2-1/2 hour ride to Punta Tombo to see the 200,000 pairs of Magellanic penguins who nest there. First penguin sighting of the cruise! Then another sea day before the Falklands on the 16th. We've been told that wifi there is iffy at best so this might be the last for a while. When we leave Stanley we'll be headed to Antarctica (!) where we'll spend the next week cruising the coast and channels and straits and then the Drake Passage around Cape Horn. You can follow the ship on line; just Google, where is the Zaandam.
Monday, January 11, 2016
Tigre Delta, 1/10/16
On every trip we take an excursion not expecting much but we go because we're there and why not. We might just have stumbled across this tour even before our cruise actually starts! On Sunday morning en route to the ship we drove to the river, the extremely polluted river, where Eleana pointed to trees we could just see on the far horizon and said, "Those are the islands of the Delta." You never know if that qualifies as "visiting the Delta islands" as described in the brochure so we all looked up the wide (Uruguay is on the other side) brownish-red river, took pictures of the tree tops on the horizon then turned around to take pictures of the skyline of Buenos Aires city before getting back on the bus.
We continued driving north to the very lovely San Isidro Barrio (neighborhood). After the crowded streets and endless high rises of Buenos Aires city, this was positively bucolic. The old, very grand homes are now converted into private schools but were once summer "palaces" where the very wealthy escaped the yellow fever and other inconveniences of the city in the hottest months. Even though it took us maybe 30 minutes to drive from the city center, way back when travel was on horseback making San Isidro at least a day's ride away, putting those people beyond the reach of disease. The barrio has small, tree lined streets of single family homes with yards and garages that seem to be comparable to an upper middle class neighborhood in the US. Lots of locals out walking their dogs (LOTS of dogs in Argentina), jogging, riding bicycles or having coffee at an outdoor cafe during the pleasant early hours of a Sunday. Eleana told us it was the priciest real estate in the Buenos Aires area.
We wandered around a bit thinking, well, this is a nice respite from the city and now to the ship. But we continued up the river to the Tigre Delta. Oh, my, what a surprise. It is an area of small streams and rivers that continuously deposit sediment to form "green islands." We have to keep reminding ourselves that this is mid-summer; the schools are closed so January is vacation time for families. I think a good percentage of them were at the Delta. It was mayhem, but a happy mayhem of cars streaming in loaded with families, beach paraphernalia, coolers, bags of charcoal and bundles of wood all headed to the docks to ride a boat to the various recreational area on the islands. There was a huge amusement park, cafes, fast food (Mickey D's everywhere down here, along with KFC, Burger King and Subway), numerous rowing clubs and people, swirling crowds of people in bathing suits, T-shirts and flip-flops. It was warm, but cloudy which made it pleasant. It sounds like a nightmare but the excitement of spending the day "at the beach" was palpable and just made me smile.
There is, of course, a story of how a previous governor or president claimed to have shot the last tiger in Argentina so he was naming the river Tigre and it was now safe to build houses on the green islands. Eleana told us that everyone knew there had never been a tiger in Argentina (Jaguars, yes and still) and it was just the usual politician's stuff and nonsense, but the name stuck.
The islands are not "connected to the continent." Keep in mind that the islands are mere yards from "the continent" but this is an important distinction. They are dotted with summer/week end homes from modest to grand, clubs, camping areas, daytime use spots with faux beaches continually refreshed with loads of sand. There is electricity and wifi on the islands but no water or cooking fuel. Each home, club, campsite has a boat dock because the only way to get to any home, club or campsite is by boat. There are big boats, small boats, water taxis, private small motor boats, row boats, canoes, kayaks, anything that can float and get you from the continent to your island destination. We boarded a wooden boat with covered seating that could probably hold 30+ people and then cruised around for an hour or so. There are floating gas stations to refuel your boat, floating supermarkets to bring you food and water and garbage boats to pick up your trash. It's like putting the UPS sign in your office window to alert the driver to stop for a pick up. Need trash pick up? Hang the bag on your dock. Need groceries or water? Hang an empty bag on your dock. (The houses all have cisterns to gather rain but that is only for bathing and clothes washing. Drinking and cooking water is delivered in big Sparkletts-type bottles.) need a ride? Text the water taxi and he dashes out. And I mean dashes. The channels are not wide, certainly not as wide as the ferry lane in Newport Harbor, but all the boats just zoom so the chop is a foot or two high. Our driver slowed whenever he passed a canoe or rowboat or the two federales just floating on jet skis, but other wise, open her up! It was such a fun time looking at the houses and waving to the people on the docks or in the other boats as we motored around. Once again, everyone was in holiday spirits which was infectious.
Every once in a while we'd pass a house that had collapsed into a pile of rubble. The buildings in Buenos Aires look a bit scruffy thanks to the heat and especially humidity, but maintenance on the island houses is even more of a challenge. Oddly enough there is a lumber mill on one of the islands (plenty of trees), but any hard materials such as cement or bricks or hardware or paint has to come by water as well as the contractors to use all of the above. Small houses start around 50k US, but it's the upkeep that really spins the meter! I think the smart thing to do would be have a friend with a house!
We boarded the Zaandam in the afternoon. Buenos Aires has a nice, big, new cruise terminal building (Eleana told us the old one was "horrible, just horrible") but no specific cruise ship docks. We are smack dab in the middle of a very busy, very noisy, very bright at night commercial port. Our view is of endless stacks of containers being moved from here to there and sometimes onto an enormous, waiting Maersk container ship.
I'm writing this Monday morning. We don't sail until 5 pm so lots of people got off to go on an organized excursion or just explore the city. Since we've been here since early Thursday, we're having a quiet day on the ship. Even though all the ships have the same basic layout, each is just a little bit different so today is a good time to figure it all out. Jim brought along one of those five pound Ken Follett books so he left an hour or so ago to find his hidey-hole for reading. I'm setting up my internet account. You still pay for the service (from .75 per minute pay as you go or buy larger bundles of minutes that get it down as low as .25 per minute) but the good news is that rather than use the computers in the library (HAL ships still have lovely libraries) there is now wifi all over the ship so I can connect on my iPad.
We don't have enough cruise days for complimentary internet yet, but we do have enough for free laundry and pressing! We left a very stuffed laundry bag on our bed when we went to dinner last night and it was clean and pressed and wrapped in tissue in a willow basket on our bed when we got back from breakfast this morning. Putu, our room steward, has ice in the bucket, flowers in the vase and one pear and one apple in the fruit basket at all times. Everyone LOVES their room stewards!
Two bits of good news: Daryl and Noel's luggage arrived at the hotel on our last night in BA and the college football championship will be on the ship's TV.
Montevideo tomorrow. It's about 50 kilometers from here so we'll have a slow crossing tonight.
On every trip we take an excursion not expecting much but we go because we're there and why not. We might just have stumbled across this tour even before our cruise actually starts! On Sunday morning en route to the ship we drove to the river, the extremely polluted river, where Eleana pointed to trees we could just see on the far horizon and said, "Those are the islands of the Delta." You never know if that qualifies as "visiting the Delta islands" as described in the brochure so we all looked up the wide (Uruguay is on the other side) brownish-red river, took pictures of the tree tops on the horizon then turned around to take pictures of the skyline of Buenos Aires city before getting back on the bus.
We continued driving north to the very lovely San Isidro Barrio (neighborhood). After the crowded streets and endless high rises of Buenos Aires city, this was positively bucolic. The old, very grand homes are now converted into private schools but were once summer "palaces" where the very wealthy escaped the yellow fever and other inconveniences of the city in the hottest months. Even though it took us maybe 30 minutes to drive from the city center, way back when travel was on horseback making San Isidro at least a day's ride away, putting those people beyond the reach of disease. The barrio has small, tree lined streets of single family homes with yards and garages that seem to be comparable to an upper middle class neighborhood in the US. Lots of locals out walking their dogs (LOTS of dogs in Argentina), jogging, riding bicycles or having coffee at an outdoor cafe during the pleasant early hours of a Sunday. Eleana told us it was the priciest real estate in the Buenos Aires area.
We wandered around a bit thinking, well, this is a nice respite from the city and now to the ship. But we continued up the river to the Tigre Delta. Oh, my, what a surprise. It is an area of small streams and rivers that continuously deposit sediment to form "green islands." We have to keep reminding ourselves that this is mid-summer; the schools are closed so January is vacation time for families. I think a good percentage of them were at the Delta. It was mayhem, but a happy mayhem of cars streaming in loaded with families, beach paraphernalia, coolers, bags of charcoal and bundles of wood all headed to the docks to ride a boat to the various recreational area on the islands. There was a huge amusement park, cafes, fast food (Mickey D's everywhere down here, along with KFC, Burger King and Subway), numerous rowing clubs and people, swirling crowds of people in bathing suits, T-shirts and flip-flops. It was warm, but cloudy which made it pleasant. It sounds like a nightmare but the excitement of spending the day "at the beach" was palpable and just made me smile.
There is, of course, a story of how a previous governor or president claimed to have shot the last tiger in Argentina so he was naming the river Tigre and it was now safe to build houses on the green islands. Eleana told us that everyone knew there had never been a tiger in Argentina (Jaguars, yes and still) and it was just the usual politician's stuff and nonsense, but the name stuck.
The islands are not "connected to the continent." Keep in mind that the islands are mere yards from "the continent" but this is an important distinction. They are dotted with summer/week end homes from modest to grand, clubs, camping areas, daytime use spots with faux beaches continually refreshed with loads of sand. There is electricity and wifi on the islands but no water or cooking fuel. Each home, club, campsite has a boat dock because the only way to get to any home, club or campsite is by boat. There are big boats, small boats, water taxis, private small motor boats, row boats, canoes, kayaks, anything that can float and get you from the continent to your island destination. We boarded a wooden boat with covered seating that could probably hold 30+ people and then cruised around for an hour or so. There are floating gas stations to refuel your boat, floating supermarkets to bring you food and water and garbage boats to pick up your trash. It's like putting the UPS sign in your office window to alert the driver to stop for a pick up. Need trash pick up? Hang the bag on your dock. Need groceries or water? Hang an empty bag on your dock. (The houses all have cisterns to gather rain but that is only for bathing and clothes washing. Drinking and cooking water is delivered in big Sparkletts-type bottles.) need a ride? Text the water taxi and he dashes out. And I mean dashes. The channels are not wide, certainly not as wide as the ferry lane in Newport Harbor, but all the boats just zoom so the chop is a foot or two high. Our driver slowed whenever he passed a canoe or rowboat or the two federales just floating on jet skis, but other wise, open her up! It was such a fun time looking at the houses and waving to the people on the docks or in the other boats as we motored around. Once again, everyone was in holiday spirits which was infectious.
Every once in a while we'd pass a house that had collapsed into a pile of rubble. The buildings in Buenos Aires look a bit scruffy thanks to the heat and especially humidity, but maintenance on the island houses is even more of a challenge. Oddly enough there is a lumber mill on one of the islands (plenty of trees), but any hard materials such as cement or bricks or hardware or paint has to come by water as well as the contractors to use all of the above. Small houses start around 50k US, but it's the upkeep that really spins the meter! I think the smart thing to do would be have a friend with a house!
We boarded the Zaandam in the afternoon. Buenos Aires has a nice, big, new cruise terminal building (Eleana told us the old one was "horrible, just horrible") but no specific cruise ship docks. We are smack dab in the middle of a very busy, very noisy, very bright at night commercial port. Our view is of endless stacks of containers being moved from here to there and sometimes onto an enormous, waiting Maersk container ship.
I'm writing this Monday morning. We don't sail until 5 pm so lots of people got off to go on an organized excursion or just explore the city. Since we've been here since early Thursday, we're having a quiet day on the ship. Even though all the ships have the same basic layout, each is just a little bit different so today is a good time to figure it all out. Jim brought along one of those five pound Ken Follett books so he left an hour or so ago to find his hidey-hole for reading. I'm setting up my internet account. You still pay for the service (from .75 per minute pay as you go or buy larger bundles of minutes that get it down as low as .25 per minute) but the good news is that rather than use the computers in the library (HAL ships still have lovely libraries) there is now wifi all over the ship so I can connect on my iPad.
We don't have enough cruise days for complimentary internet yet, but we do have enough for free laundry and pressing! We left a very stuffed laundry bag on our bed when we went to dinner last night and it was clean and pressed and wrapped in tissue in a willow basket on our bed when we got back from breakfast this morning. Putu, our room steward, has ice in the bucket, flowers in the vase and one pear and one apple in the fruit basket at all times. Everyone LOVES their room stewards!
Two bits of good news: Daryl and Noel's luggage arrived at the hotel on our last night in BA and the college football championship will be on the ship's TV.
Montevideo tomorrow. It's about 50 kilometers from here so we'll have a slow crossing tonight.
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Tango and Gauchos
January 9, 2016
Tango/Gaucho
Let me tell you, the tangos done last night at the Cafe de los Angelitos in no way resembled the one taught us by Miss Gollotz at cotillion in 1958! The show lasted nearly two hours-- a blur of feet and legs moving at warp speed. Good dinner. Lots of wine. Great fun. So glad we went.
The same can be said for our trip to the Pampas today. We spent the day at the Estancia Santa Susanna, a huge spread 80 kilometers west of Buenos Aires. The ranch is divided between farming (corn and soybeans), cattle and tourism. The tourism part involves dashing Gauchos, at least three dozen horses and two herding dogs. We looked around the ranch, some went horseback riding and then we all (300-400 people) had lunch of salads, barbecued sausage, beef, chicken and more beef ending with flan. After that, music, singing, dancing and then out to watch the Gauchos work the horses. Each of three men led one horse with a cow bell around its neck and a designated group of horses would follow here, there and everywhere, ending by hanging their heads over the hedge between us and them and posing. Then the dogs moved the horses around, stirring up huge clouds of dust, before the horses were turned out into a pasture so the Gauchos could ride their horses at break neck speed attempting to spear with a small stick a ring dangling from a crossbar. Every time one of them got a ring, he would ride over to the spectators, present it to a lady who in return gave the Gaucho a kiss. Sort of like knights jousting. Endlessly entertaining. The five horsemen took a bow still on horseback, then one by one rode over to a small ladder going over that aforementioned hedge and suddenly one of the ringed ladies would climb up that little ladder, the Gaucho would reach down, grab her and swing her up behind him on his horse and off they would gallop. All the women were swooning and all the men realized they had been outplayed by these romantic guys in puffy shirts and billowing pants tucked into scrunched boots. There. Was. No. Contest. And did I mention lots of wine and beer with lunch?
There was a large contingent of guests from the Zaandam at the estancia. They were just finishing sailing from Valparaiso to BA. I took an informal poll of several of them who all loved the trip. They had great weather all the way. Here's hoping we do, too.
I'm going to attempt to download some pictures and attach to this blog before we leave for the ship tomorrow. We don't sail until Monday at 5 pm so we have another day to explore Buenos Aires.
BA is called the little Paris. There are some older buildings that look exactly like those in Paris. It has wide boulevards with sidewalks for strolling and cafes for a meal or glass of wine or beer. People walk a lot and they walk fast, most of the women in sandals with platform soles of cork. We haven't seen anyone In a suit other than the doorman at this hotel who really isn't a people person.
I'm starting to collect characters from our fellow passengers who also came early to visit BA. There are the British sisters of a certain age, Sylvia and Veronica, who sport matching blonde page boys. Then there are the American sisters from Delaware, Daryl and Pat. Their luggage is in Miami but they are being good sports, albeit that is getting harder to carry off each day. Glenda and Pat are besties who met in Dallas 30 years ago. Both are now widowed. Glenda still lives in Dallas but Pat is a full-time RV-er ( and you better believe that was hard to explain to Sylvia and Veronica!) who divides her time between Jackson Hole, Quartzite, Arizona and Harump (sp), Nevada.
Can't top that so it's time to stop.
Tango/Gaucho
Let me tell you, the tangos done last night at the Cafe de los Angelitos in no way resembled the one taught us by Miss Gollotz at cotillion in 1958! The show lasted nearly two hours-- a blur of feet and legs moving at warp speed. Good dinner. Lots of wine. Great fun. So glad we went.
The same can be said for our trip to the Pampas today. We spent the day at the Estancia Santa Susanna, a huge spread 80 kilometers west of Buenos Aires. The ranch is divided between farming (corn and soybeans), cattle and tourism. The tourism part involves dashing Gauchos, at least three dozen horses and two herding dogs. We looked around the ranch, some went horseback riding and then we all (300-400 people) had lunch of salads, barbecued sausage, beef, chicken and more beef ending with flan. After that, music, singing, dancing and then out to watch the Gauchos work the horses. Each of three men led one horse with a cow bell around its neck and a designated group of horses would follow here, there and everywhere, ending by hanging their heads over the hedge between us and them and posing. Then the dogs moved the horses around, stirring up huge clouds of dust, before the horses were turned out into a pasture so the Gauchos could ride their horses at break neck speed attempting to spear with a small stick a ring dangling from a crossbar. Every time one of them got a ring, he would ride over to the spectators, present it to a lady who in return gave the Gaucho a kiss. Sort of like knights jousting. Endlessly entertaining. The five horsemen took a bow still on horseback, then one by one rode over to a small ladder going over that aforementioned hedge and suddenly one of the ringed ladies would climb up that little ladder, the Gaucho would reach down, grab her and swing her up behind him on his horse and off they would gallop. All the women were swooning and all the men realized they had been outplayed by these romantic guys in puffy shirts and billowing pants tucked into scrunched boots. There. Was. No. Contest. And did I mention lots of wine and beer with lunch?
There was a large contingent of guests from the Zaandam at the estancia. They were just finishing sailing from Valparaiso to BA. I took an informal poll of several of them who all loved the trip. They had great weather all the way. Here's hoping we do, too.
I'm going to attempt to download some pictures and attach to this blog before we leave for the ship tomorrow. We don't sail until Monday at 5 pm so we have another day to explore Buenos Aires.
BA is called the little Paris. There are some older buildings that look exactly like those in Paris. It has wide boulevards with sidewalks for strolling and cafes for a meal or glass of wine or beer. People walk a lot and they walk fast, most of the women in sandals with platform soles of cork. We haven't seen anyone In a suit other than the doorman at this hotel who really isn't a people person.
I'm starting to collect characters from our fellow passengers who also came early to visit BA. There are the British sisters of a certain age, Sylvia and Veronica, who sport matching blonde page boys. Then there are the American sisters from Delaware, Daryl and Pat. Their luggage is in Miami but they are being good sports, albeit that is getting harder to carry off each day. Glenda and Pat are besties who met in Dallas 30 years ago. Both are now widowed. Glenda still lives in Dallas but Pat is a full-time RV-er ( and you better believe that was hard to explain to Sylvia and Veronica!) who divides her time between Jackson Hole, Quartzite, Arizona and Harump (sp), Nevada.
Can't top that so it's time to stop.
Friday, January 8, 2016
Buenos Aires, January 8, 2016
Friday, January 8, 2016
Buenos Aires
So far, so good. We left Atlanta Wednesday night about 9 pm and three movies, two meals and a few glasses of wine later arrived in Buenos Aires a little before 9 am. It's always a good start to a trip when your luggage also arrives!
We're staying in a big Sheraton in the city center. BA is made up of a number of different neighborhoods from posh to commercial to extreme poverty. The economic divide is wide and quite pronounced. Currently inflation is at 30% (every store, restaurant and street merchant is more than happy to take Euros or US dollars) but the people are trusting the newly elected president to solve that.
Yesterday was a blur of naps and a little exploring. We're a short block to Florida Avenue, a pedestrian-only shopping street that stretches for a mile or so. There is a multi-story upscale mall in an old building with a painted dome topped by a glass roof. The population of the city is 3 million and it seems that they're all out on the streets or in the shops. We've stood in a few lines for this and that, but everyone just patiently waits their turn. Every store seems to have plenty of staff. Lots of American and European brands and oodles of chocolate shops and fancy-shamcy baby stores. We had lunch at an Italian restaurant close to the hotel. The population is mostly European descent, predominately Spanish and Italian.
Today we took a city tour with our guide during our stay in BA, the lovely, charming, 30-ish Eliana. The city covers a lot of real estate, but we managed to go from one end to the other and hit a lot of the high points. We spent some time wandering through tiled streets of the Recoleta Cemetery, which is not at all as creepy as it sounds. It's a "city" of ornate family mausoleums that date back two centuries. They're crammed in, some still in use, some outlasting the original family. Eliana told us that even the abandoned mausoleums cannot be torn down. If they fall down, they can be removed and the land resold but since they're built of stone, marble &/or granite, it's going to take a long, long time for that to happen. A new law has been passed to solve this thorny issue, sort of. If the annual tax has not been paid for 99 years, the mausoleum can be removed. As I said, a solution, sort of.
Recoleta is a lovely area with parks and trees and well-kept residences. And dog walkers! It's the Argentinian version of doggy day care. Each day the dog walker takes his charges (15 dogs at a time is not unusual) out for three or four hours. I did not see any pooper scoopers.
We drove by the polo fields, the La Boca soccer stadium, embassies, palaces and a slum or two with stops at the Plaza de Mayo, the heart of the country and chosen demonstration spot for anything and everything but usually about money, and the Carmenita, home of the tango. At the Plaza we rode the subway (first built in 1800s and still going strong, 5 pesos per ride at 13 or 14 pesos to the US dollar, this week) a couple of stops to the one of the most traditional and oldest cafes in BA, Cafe Tortoni. All wood and marble inside and still very popular. Gave us a chance to have a coffee and snack and chat with others in our little group.
We've learned that education is free in Argentina, the average salary is $1500 US per month, there is a large underground economy called the Black Economy, gas seems to be approximately $4/gallon and the traditional greeting is one air kiss, right cheek to right cheek.
I've also learned there is free wifi in the hotel lobby (when I'm queen, it's going to be available everywhere) so I'm heading down to get this posted. Adios for now.
Dinner and tango show tonight, out to an estancia on the Pampas tomorrow to see the Gauchos strut their stuff.
Buenos Aires
So far, so good. We left Atlanta Wednesday night about 9 pm and three movies, two meals and a few glasses of wine later arrived in Buenos Aires a little before 9 am. It's always a good start to a trip when your luggage also arrives!
We're staying in a big Sheraton in the city center. BA is made up of a number of different neighborhoods from posh to commercial to extreme poverty. The economic divide is wide and quite pronounced. Currently inflation is at 30% (every store, restaurant and street merchant is more than happy to take Euros or US dollars) but the people are trusting the newly elected president to solve that.
Yesterday was a blur of naps and a little exploring. We're a short block to Florida Avenue, a pedestrian-only shopping street that stretches for a mile or so. There is a multi-story upscale mall in an old building with a painted dome topped by a glass roof. The population of the city is 3 million and it seems that they're all out on the streets or in the shops. We've stood in a few lines for this and that, but everyone just patiently waits their turn. Every store seems to have plenty of staff. Lots of American and European brands and oodles of chocolate shops and fancy-shamcy baby stores. We had lunch at an Italian restaurant close to the hotel. The population is mostly European descent, predominately Spanish and Italian.
Today we took a city tour with our guide during our stay in BA, the lovely, charming, 30-ish Eliana. The city covers a lot of real estate, but we managed to go from one end to the other and hit a lot of the high points. We spent some time wandering through tiled streets of the Recoleta Cemetery, which is not at all as creepy as it sounds. It's a "city" of ornate family mausoleums that date back two centuries. They're crammed in, some still in use, some outlasting the original family. Eliana told us that even the abandoned mausoleums cannot be torn down. If they fall down, they can be removed and the land resold but since they're built of stone, marble &/or granite, it's going to take a long, long time for that to happen. A new law has been passed to solve this thorny issue, sort of. If the annual tax has not been paid for 99 years, the mausoleum can be removed. As I said, a solution, sort of.
Recoleta is a lovely area with parks and trees and well-kept residences. And dog walkers! It's the Argentinian version of doggy day care. Each day the dog walker takes his charges (15 dogs at a time is not unusual) out for three or four hours. I did not see any pooper scoopers.
We drove by the polo fields, the La Boca soccer stadium, embassies, palaces and a slum or two with stops at the Plaza de Mayo, the heart of the country and chosen demonstration spot for anything and everything but usually about money, and the Carmenita, home of the tango. At the Plaza we rode the subway (first built in 1800s and still going strong, 5 pesos per ride at 13 or 14 pesos to the US dollar, this week) a couple of stops to the one of the most traditional and oldest cafes in BA, Cafe Tortoni. All wood and marble inside and still very popular. Gave us a chance to have a coffee and snack and chat with others in our little group.
We've learned that education is free in Argentina, the average salary is $1500 US per month, there is a large underground economy called the Black Economy, gas seems to be approximately $4/gallon and the traditional greeting is one air kiss, right cheek to right cheek.
I've also learned there is free wifi in the hotel lobby (when I'm queen, it's going to be available everywhere) so I'm heading down to get this posted. Adios for now.
Dinner and tango show tonight, out to an estancia on the Pampas tomorrow to see the Gauchos strut their stuff.
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