Buenos Aires

Fun and tiring way to end our trip. We got off the ship and on to a bus for a 3 hour tour -basically a time filler before we could check in. But it filled in some historical facts and gave us a basic knowledge of places we might want to see and their approximate location. Sort of like looking at a Table of Contents.
We got to the hotel waited for our bags and walked a few blocks to get some lunch. We ended up eating at a famous steak place called La Chacra. It was a really, really good steak. We were lucky enough to be sitting next to a table with a film crew from Iran.  Nosy Paula got the scoop from them.

Later that night we walked down 'Florida' pedestrian street and decided on Argentina's version of ice cream for dinner.  The flavor and texture sort of reminded you of the Italian ice cream I had in Rome many many years ago.  Serving size was too generous!

Next day was very warm and sunny. Paula and I joined the "Free Walking Tour of Buenos Aires". We definitely got our 10,000 steps in that day. Lots of information about the early European immigrants and their impact on Argentina. I ended up talking to a young lady from Colorado that was taking a gap year after HS and traveling around South America - we invited her to lunch at a restaurant that our guide recommended for good empanadas. They were great - and so was the beer!

I had ice cream again for dinner and Paula had an Argentina Moon Pie (filled with caramel) - photo below

Monday - Another country

It's Monday so we must be in Punte del Esta, Uruguary. It was a holiday so most of the stores were closed. We walked al the way to the craft market to find most of the stalls closed. 

We strolled back to our ship's tender pier along the wooden deck which provided us with great people watching and nice scenery. We are definitely having a hard time spending money here. I am sure we will do better in Bueno Aires 

Saturday and Sunday - at Sea

Friday - Falkland Island and More Penguins

Paula talked me into butting in line ( I still feel guilty ) and we were able to get  on an earlier tender into town and quickly found a 4 wheeled vehicle and driver that would take us to gypsy cove. It was only a short ride past peat fields and the small, neat houses. More penguins, some geese, and no trees. 

The penguins were still there because they hadn't finished molting yet, so they were huddling together for warmth. 

Afterwards we went thru town and got some great hot chocolate, ok internet (as in less than the ship's 2 dollar a minute charge), and a pretty sunny day. Souvenirs were rather expensive - I got a 9 dollar magnet for my refrig- I think that is the most I have ever paid my favorite trip reminder.

When we got back on the ship we went to our South American wine and food tasting. I took a Sine-off so I wouldn't sneeze and itch the entire time I was drinking wine. It worked, but the combination of the two caused me to sleep from 5:30 pm till 6:30 am the next morning. Even though Paula didn't have the anti-histamine as an excuse - she slept that long too. Well maybe it might have been just the wine.

Thursday - Cape Horn

Well, we can now wear a gold earring in one ear- or maybe both because our ship did go past it twice. It was early in the morning - Paula slept thru it but I got up and took a photo. Both passes the ship blew its horn. The Chile government has a small military station on the rock. 

Side note- Last night the wind was so strong we could not push open the outside deck door. (No it wasn't locked) They had it listed on the navigation TV channel as 48 mph. We were rocking on the boat but it wasn't bad enough to cause us any lack of sleep.

 Later in the day, we did a couple of the ships activities and listened to two lectures. The guy has one of those voices that sort of lulls you to sleep after about 10 minutes. Make sure you read Paula's blog, she is much more detailed about our onboard activities, I think she actually stayed awake thru both lectures. 

Glacier Alley and Ushuaia, Argentina

We went thru the alley early in the morning, so we treated ourselves to breakfast in bed. The views from our covered deck were perfect. Since it was a little drizzly this morning we were able to stroll around the whole ship under protection. We got some great shots.  

We got to Ushuaia Argentina in the afternoon. We found a nice hotel/cafe to drink beer and use their free wifi. We spent 2 hours catching up. Then we spent another 2 hours shopping and walking. We saw a lot of young trekkers and a lot of hostels. Someone told us that with  Argentina's unsure economy a lot of young people were moving to Ushuaia because it was safe and isolated from the troubles. When we got back we spent about an hour watching the container ship next to us get loaded. It looked very dangerous for the workers.