Home Safe after a trouble free adventure

Well, it has been a week since we got home, and I've finally made some time to finish the trip blog. The flights were on time and we didn't have any trouble. Met a young lady who lives in Ottawa, and had been visiting relatives in BA. Turns out her father is an Aggie and is teaching at Dalhousie. We had a long visit with her during our lay over in Santiago. She didn't have a lot of complimentary things to say about her Argentinian heritage, and made it quite clear she was happy to be heading back to Canada. Anyway, the 25 hour trip home was tiring and when we arrived it was -20 C for a nice, round 50 degree change in temperature. Got right back into the routine of chasing Matthew around to hockey rinks. Karen was very relieved to be home safe, and glad to have our adventure to Fin du Monde behind us. Great trip, glad to be home!

Homeward Bound

Well, I think that this morning we are ready to start our long journey home. I´m in the business center at the Claridge making this post, after having our last full American breakfast and checking out. Just to save the embarrasment of having brought running shoes and shorts and not using them, I did actually visit the hotel gym this morning. Karen has been worried that my friend the garbage picker might be stalking me, so she won´t let me venture out of the hotel. We´ve checked out and are awaiting our transfer to the airport. I´ll leave this post now and complete it when we get home, along with adding photo´s of our adventure!

Buenos Aires, Day 3

So today is a no plan plan day. We got off to a lazy start since we needed to wait for the shops to open. Wandered down San Martin past El Establo parrilla (where we feasted two nights ago) and then back over to Florida - the main pedestrian street/mall. The street vendors were already out in force, and foot traffic was heavy. We visited Galerias Pacifico and found a really neat shop called El Boyero. We found some good stuff to add to our collections in a souvenir store, and wrapped up our shopping just before lunch with the purchase of Argentina rugby gear.

Found a lovely restaurant/cafe on Cordoba - La Barra. Enjoyed a Quilmes Bock, which I think is the best cerveça on this trip. Open faced veggie sandwich on Pan Negro was delicious. Karen had a Pizza Morreno and a Stella Artois. Waiter was very good and this was a great cafe (much better than Gran Cafe).

After lunch we strolled back to the Hotel for a siesta and visited the pool.

After getting ready to go out to dinner, at about 7:30 pm, and much to Karen´s chagrin, we headed out to walk to San Telmo and Parrilla La Brigada. We walked all the way down Florida past all the street vendors and amongst large crowds of people, Karen clutching her purse fiercly. We stopped near Plaza de Mayo to watch a four piece rock band busking. After a minor altercation between an intoxicated homeless person and another observer, we carried on across the main intersection, then made our way to Defensa Street. From there we walked along past loiterers and groups of youth getting their Friday evening underway. Once we got to Avenida Estados Unidos, the environment had improved some, but Karen didn´t relax until we were inside La Brigada. We had an excellent waiter, and the food was fantastic. Portion sizes were much more reasonable, we had essentially the same as at El Establo, including a bottle of Luigi Bosca Malbec Reserva. After dinner, the doorman hailed a cab and we returned to the Claridge promptly for 20 pesos. I had noticed a group of people scavenging a large pile of garbage at the corner of San Martin and Tuçuman. In an unwarranted provocation, I took a snapshot of this undertaking which infuriated one of the participants. We beat a hasty retreat to our hotel without further incident. Once inside, we retired to the bar for a Cosmo and a couple of Caipariñas (by far the best). I had noticed that in Chile, they used powdered azucar to make them, but at the Claridge, the bartender used granular azucar and it makes a big difference. I couldn´t help but notice that after serving our drinks, the bartender (a woman) dipped below the bar to drain the drink mixer, we had a good chuckle about this.

And that´s a wrap.

Buenos Aires, Day 2

Awoke feeling full from last nights steak, but that didn't stop us from heading down to the buffet breakfast. The Claridge full American breakfast best so far. The scrambled egg soup and raw bacon not quite so soupy nor raw. Rest of breads, fruits and sweets very appetizing. Our Four Balconies tour was scheduled for 10:00 am so we had time to get organized. Federico picked us up and we were off.

First stop, La Boca where we learned about the passions of Argentinian life - Futbol, Politics and Tango. These passions are personified by Diego Maradona, Eva Peron and Carlos Gardel. These three celebrities shared a common story of rags to riches, and memorable flame out. Carlos Gardel was killed in a plane crash, Evita died from ovarian cancer and Diego lost to the ravages of cocaine addiction. A major attraction in the vicinity is the La Bombonera futbol stadium. It seats 50.000 and when Boca Junior plays Club Atletico River Plate (los millionarios), it is apparently quite a spectacle. Of interest is that Coca Cola sponsors Boca Junior, but the River Plate team colours are red. So Coca Cola signs here are black and white, not the conventional red and white. We walked through the colourful tenement housing in the barrio, which the city is trying to upscale into a tourist destination with shopping and restaurants (Federico refered to this as "gentrification"). It is a bit of a tourist trap with tango dancers vying to get your attention to be photographed with you (for a fee). This area claims to be the origin of the Tango, where there was much poverty in amongst the brothels. The brothels were supplied by immigrants from Poland (mostly jewish) an the term polaquita was coined to refer to these prostitutes. Others from France - franchutas, were considered high class whores (not my words). Prostitution was a major component of the early history of this community. While waiting their turn with the ladies, apparently the men would pass time dancing together which apparently was the very earliest formulation of tango.

Next stop, San Telmo. This area was inhabited by the wealthy before the plague. Most abandoned the area to get away from the deadly disease. Consequently, lower classes moved in as took over abandoned homes. Now the area is also undergoing rejuvenation, again referred to here as gentrification. The area boasts museos and artisans. We window shopped at a old and famous silver smith, the make beautiful roses from silver. One such was gifted to Lady Diana upon her wedding by the government of Argentina. We walked through a big mercado with antique dealers (Karen noticed a set of golf clubs like mine) and back out onto the street. Federico pointed out a famous parrilla - La Brigada and I made note or the location in order to return.

From there we drove through Puerto Madero where the docks where originally designed for smaller ships to access and therefore the system is not used extensively any longer. We drove through some of the newer apartments and condos that are very expensive and occupied by the nuevo riche (brokers and lawyers).

Next to Plaza de Mayo which according to Federico is the nerve center of the country. Famous speeches from the Presidential Palace (Casa Rosado), large demonstrations, political unrest. We observed a 1.000 day old demonstration by army reservists claiming rights to benefits from the Falklands war of the early 80's. Every Thursday, Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo commemorate the disappearance of up to 30.000 men during the "Dirty War". The air force bombed this square at one point to quell a demonstration, and demonstrators have been shot and killed by police here. Federico took us on the oldest subway in the Americas. This was built prior to any kind of standards, and consequently the train cars cannot be replaced, but have been preserved and repaired. Old wooden benches, mechanical doors. We road two stops before disembarking to visit Cafe Tortoni, a cafe opened in 1858, but the wait was too long to enter so we decided to carry on.

Our last official stop was Recoleta at the Franciscan Monestary adjacent to the famous Cementario de la Recoleta. Inside the cemetary is a labyrinthine necropolis. The mauseleums are often ostentatious and representative of the vanity of Argentines (Federico's words). Eva Peron rests here along with many other famous and infamous, the who's who of Buenos Aires.

Afterwards, Federico dropped us off at Cluny restaurant in trendy Palmero. We had a delightful lunch before finding our way to the Subte Verde metro at Scalabrini Ortiz station. We bought tickets ($1,10 ea) and rode to Callao station on a very crowded tram (Karen was very nervous). There was some kind of scuffle between a man and a woman, but we couldn't figure out what was going on. We later learned this was likely a form of distraction employed by sophisticated pick pockets. We escaped unscathed. From Callao, we walked back to our hotel where we had a siesta and dropped by the pool for a cerveca.

Tonight, we had our Tango show. The transfer was by a bus to El Querandi. This is a smaller club and we got a pretty good table. Dinner and wine were typical for a dinner show, nothing exceptional, but not terrible. The show was really good, providing artistic representation of the history and development of Tango. Music, singing and dancing was great. Transfer back to the hotel and ended a long day of adventure in Buenos Aires.

Transfer to Buenos Aires, Argentina

Awoke early in port. Got our suitcases packed and set out in the hallway, then down to the Patagonia Deck for our last bit of scrambled egg soup and raw bacon. Had the usual fun jockinging for position around the toaster. Speaking of the food on our cruise, while the breakfasts leave a lot to be desired (which we have noticed throughout Latin America), the rest of the meals on board were very good. I primarily stuck to fish and seafood in anticipation of the beef expected in Argentina. The King Crab appetizer at last nights dinner was particularly good. We had a wide variety of wine from Chile which was good. The one Malbec from Argentina wasn't very appealing though. Service was good, and and overall, we didn't lose any weight! Back to our room to freshen up and received a call to indicated our transfer was waiting.

The driver was very pleasant, driving a beat up old Land Cruiser (lots of those around). He was parked right beside the ship on the pier. The ship Clelia was docked for repairs after sustaining damage in the Drake Passage prior to Christmas and capture world wide attention as it limped to port in 30 foot seas. Drove off the pier and right past the immigration station. After passing by the officer, he whistled at the driver to stop, back up and then they put two of our four bags through a scanner. We didn't get out, nor have to show passports. This was an interesting customs experience! We carried on from there. Ushuaia appears to be a more vibrant town than Punta Arenas, although the population is lower. There were lots of shops by the pier. It was about 8:30 am and everything was closed. We asked the driver if we could get him to drive us around a bit and possible do some shopping once the stores opened, but he refused, saying his orders were for a direct transfer to the airport. This was pretty disappointing as we had quite a bit of time to kill before our flight at noon and we didn't really get a feel for Ushuaia.

The airport terminal was small, but there were some closed shops. One displayed some penguins carved from stone that caught Karen's eye, so we parked in front of it wait for opening. It never did. Once the check in opened, we got in line. The agent indicated that our bags were oversized and overweight. We wouldn't be allowed to carry on our hand baggage and had to pay an extra fee for overweight (300 Pesos). He offered to put us on a later flight to the International Airport and waive the fee, but this wouldn't work because we had no way of notifying our guide and pre-arranged transfer to our hotel in BA. Karen's carry on was only 1 kg over, but they still said it had to be checked. I wasn't in the mood to argue, and neglected to consider that our Santa Rita wine glasses were in Karen's loosely packed bag. Anyway, this lead to a few hours of worrying over broken glasses in her bag. We paid the fee, and also the airport tax of 56 pesos. With the overweight fee and tax, still considerable less than the entry fee paid at Santiago though. The gate lounge was crowded as there was a late flight. It was a bit confusing because the gates were not clearly marked (two gates, one lounge). The flight departed close to on time and we were on our way to Buenos Aires.

The municipal airport in Buenos Aires is very close to downtown, right on the Rio de la Plata. It is a fairly small airport, but still used buses from the plane to the terminal. We recovered our bags, and were relieved to find no damage. Met our transfer guide, Federico (Fred). The drive to our hotel was fairly short, but confusing due to freeways and one-ways. Drove past what is equivalent to Brasil's Favelas, I think the slang term for these is "Villas". These "squatters" homes are built with whatever can be scavanged, but represent permanent homes for the impoverished of Buenos Aires. Arrival at the Claridge Hotel on a narrow street. Federico indicated that we are very close to the pedestrian Florida Street, where many shops are located (Karen likes it!). We got checked in and settled and off to explore Florida Street. Some things that are hard to miss about Buenos Aires: hot, crowded, malodorous, grimey, old, run down, disrepair. We walked by some repair work underway right in front of our hotel that was interesting. The streets are very narrow and don't lend themselves to mechanized construction. Excavations to expose pipes etc, by hand. Cement mixing with shovels right on the pavement (ie not in a wheelbarrow or mixing cone). Safety restrictions not evident, they just open up a hole, right there, leave it for days with some plastic ribbon as a barrier. Our exploring took us to Florida Street where we walked along just to get our bearings. Stopped for a snack at Il Gran Cafe for a cervesa and pizza to tide us over til dinner time, had a beggar walk right up to our table to see if we'd share our pizza with him. Walked by many shops, restaurants, banks, etc. There is a nice park with huge trees at the end of Florida, interesting historic buildings and statues.

Back at the hotel, we asked for a recommendation for a Parrilla. The consierge suggested El Establo, only three blocks away. Walking there at around 8:30 pm was interesting. Noticed several individuals sorting through mounds of garbage on the street. Groups of youths sitting on the curb drinking. The street we walked down was narrow and dark. I don't think my arm (where Karen was gripping me) will ever recover. We found the place, it was crowded but we got a nice table right away. Next to us sat a couple of American's and beside them two UA pilots. We overheard that this parrilla is a favourite amongst the airline crews. The meal was everything as advertised. The steaks were huge (even the half size). I had a 1.000 gm T-bone that was absolutely fantastic. Karen's half Bife de Lomo was also excellent. We were wise to share a salad and single order of frites. Nice bottle of Luigi Bosca Malbec that we really enjoyed. The waddle back to the Hotel was equally entertaining, young people quarreling over their booze(they carry liter bottles of coca and poor vodka into them).

Cruise Day 3

Early this morning, we arrived at Cape Horn. The seas overnight were a bit rough, but again, no problems. We disembarked to the island and climbed the steep stairs up to the top. Walked out to the promontory and took lots of photo’s. The monument shows an Albatross gliding in the wind. It represents the bird passing from calm into the storm from one side, and leaving the storm for calm on the other side. From here you can see the actual cape, which is off to the south. Lots of other passengers milling around, mostly completely oblivious to others trying to enjoy the surroundings and get photo's. Karen was very relieved to have completed this ridiculous undertaking at the end. We stopped at the lighthouse to shop for souvenirs and had a quick visit to the chapel before returning by zodiac to the Stella Australis. Underway once more with the last stop at Bahia Wulaia. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, very sunny and warm. This interesting cove was inhabited by indigenous people prior to decimation by European colonization and disease. The Beagle landed here with Charles Darwin and spent some time studying and integrating with the Yamani people. The cruise ship company (Cruceros Australis) has acquired a 25 year lease on this property to upgrade facilities and do archeological research. We walked up a steep path about one km to a clearing in the forest overlooking the bahia. Apparently, this cove was teaming with King Crab at one time. There would have been plenty of food to support the people. I tried one of the parasitic fungus that are throughout the part of the world (little orange spheres attached to tumorous knots on the tree branches). Also saw many more Chinese Lanterns (parasitic growth) and Fire Bushes which have a bright red flower that appear like little flames in the bush. Along the way, we passed a couple of beaver damns and lodges. It really is fascinating how these non-native creatures have survived and thrived throughout Patagonia. We enjoyed the information center and explanations regarding the history of this interpretive center. The outing was concluded with the customary scotch whiskey. The zodiac run back to the Stella Australis was particularly entertaining. We suspected something was up when the last to board the zodiac was a friendly woman who had neglected to where weatherproof gear for the excursion. The operator insisted that she move back along the side and have someone more appropriately dressed (Karen) take the foremost seat. The wind had picked up and there were some waves enroute that splashed over the bow and drenched those at the front. Karen believes he did it on purpose, but the gear we had finally proved worthy of packing it around with us. After this excursion, there was a short cruise to the port of Ushuaia, where the ship docked for the last night aboard. Our last dinner aboard was the best, with a King Crab appetizer that was particularly good. Plenty more vino tinto with our table mates, who enjoyed my pathetic effort to count to ten in German.

Cruise Day 2

Sailing overnight experienced a couple of rough spots (not really rough), enough to wake you up, but not too bad. This was apparently when we left the end of the Straight of Magellan and where exposed to waters of the Pacific Ocean. Today was a bit of a relax day, mostly cruising the Beagle Channel to our next destination, Pia Fjord and Pia Glacier. Pia is a Tidal Glacier and we were able to watch glacial ice calving into the sea. Once more, the water was calm, although the weather was not as good as yesterday. It was overcast and sprinkling a bit. The excursion include a short walk to gain a bit of elevation and get a better vantage point. Back at the landing, the bar was open again for a whisky on glacier ice – nice touch!. After returning to the Stella Australis, the route continued on through Glacier Alley. The first and very beautiful glacier was the Romanche which is named after an early explorer ship. After that, the next four were named for countries, Germany, France, Italy and Holland. While cruising past these glaciers, an hor d’ouvre and cocktail representing each country was served. Bratworst and Beer, Cheese and Champagne, Pizza and Wine and lastly, Meat Balls and Beer. After glacier alley, the Stella Australis cruised past Ushuaia on route to Cape Horn (we were able to pick up a cellular signal and call the boys as we passed Ushuaia). Then it was overnight to reach the cape. Once more, the cruising was mostly smooth with some rolling but not unpleasant.

Cruise Day 1

We awoke to beautiful blue sky that prevailed the whole day. The weather was fine and cruise overnight was very smooth to Bahia Ainsworth and the Marinelli Glacier. The first excursion by zodiac had Karen worried, but the water was calm and there was no problem. Here we followed a nature walk trail through the beach area and forest. Eduardo provided excellent commentary on the Flora along the trail including Chinese Lanterns, Devil's Strawberries and the famous Calafate berry, which if eaten, ensures your return to Patagonia. Along the forest walk, we stopped at a "Tranquility" station where water naturally drips into a pond from moss covered cliffs. We finished the walk looking across the bay at Marinelli Glacier. After the walk, the staff was awaiting us with a glass of Johnny Walker Red on Glacier Ice! On the return by zodiac, we were able to observe Elephant seals, but not particularly closely. Once back aboard, we had a short sail to the Tucker Islets. Again, the weather was beautiful and warm. The excursion was a circumnavigation of one island where we observed Cormorants on the cliff walls. This island was formed from conglomerates which when eroded result in various ledges which create ideal nesting conditions. We came around to a playa where a Magellenic Penguin colony habitates. In amongst these was a King Penguin, which apparently is highly unusal as this Penquin was apparently lost and separated from his colony. We stayed and observed these penguins for quite a while before completing the circumnavigation and returning to the ship for cocktails and dinner. Our table mates were a German couple who seem to enjoy vino tinto as much as I do! We had lots of fun working around language barriers with them and the waiter (Maurice).

Off to the end of the earth

This morning, we had an early start to pack and get breakfast. Transfer to airport was quick as the city cleaned up after the celebration, we drove right down the main drag past the main plaza where a huge party had been held. Apparently, 30 tonnes of pyro technics had been deployed in twenty five minutes (this according to Juan) and obviously, lots of people in attendance. Still some younger people stumbling around at 08:00 h. The rest of the transfer to the airport and check in proceded according to plan until about a half hour after our flight departed, I was awakend by the sharp U turn and seeing the Andes on the wrong side of the plane had me disoriented. There was a young lady fluent in Castellano and Ingles who informed me that we had turned back. Her sister was terrified to tears. We returned to Santiago and ultimately the problem was diagnosed as having to do with the door. Repairs made, we were off again, about 1,5 hours behind schedule. The rest of the flight was uneventful, and our transfer to Punta Arenas and the Australis office was no problem. We didn’t have as much time to kill, so we had a quick look around the town square (market was partially open) and then went to the Cabo Del Hornos Hotel with our drink tickets. I updated the blog in the lounge WiFi, this would be our last internet access for 5 days. Next stop, the pier where we went to board the Stella Australis. Once on board, we found our room, right across the hall from the Captain’s quarters and adjacent to the bridge. Huge picture window on the port side. The welcome consisted of an entertaining Chilean song and dance troupe and cocktail reception in the Darwin Lounge (level 5), followed by dinner in the Patagonia Room on level one.

Santiago Day 3

Last night, we took a cab to W (this was recommended by some other tourist from Switzerland that we met at Santa Rita winery). It turns out the cab was not warranted as the W was less than 4 blocks from our hotel, straight down Agusto Leguia to Plaza Isadora. Nonetheless, we didn't know that at the time and needless to say I got completely turned around and after W (and a few Caiparainas) and we wandered around a bit lost until we got our bearing when we recognized the UMarc near our hotel and realized how close we were. Then we decided to just grab a table at "Happenings" which turned out to be great. Then a short walk back to the Hotel and a nightcap at El Moro. The lounge at W was was pretty spectacular as the sun was setting. The locals call this the Andy Warhol Hotel due to it's remarkable architecture and artistic impressions. Speaking of Architecture, the Los Condos community within Santiago is the new financial district. It is very modern with lots of new high rise building. Santiago has turned out to be very different from what I had imagined, it is modern, spacious, clean and vibrant. The people are busy, polite and ambitious. There is a great deal of very spectacular and stunning building design here, which also obviously meets very high standards for earthquake resistance after the large quake which hit in February. My Architect freinds really need to put Santiago on their bucket list (Miles, Liam!!!)

Today, we had our city tour. I'll have to fill in some details later, but Juan (our ProTours guide) did an excellent job of showing off the main historical parts of the city. From Mont Christobal to Los Leones, the main square and St. Lucia, we really got a great tour. The statue of Virgin Mary on Cristobol was awesome. The thing Karen and I really noticed was the ubiquitous nativity scenes throughout and absence of Christmas trees. We discussed the origins of the Christmas celebrations with Juan, and the return to Pagan worship of the sun's cycles that we appear to be returning to (commercialism). Chile is not immune to this in spite of the obviously strong catholic presence throughout the city. Chilean's are proud of there history and heritage, in spite of the blotches.

The Metropolitan Cathedral was spectacular alongside Plaza de Armas (Main Square). Luis Cousino and Isadora Goyenechea's mansion was under restoration from damage from the earthquake. We went to another Pre Hispanic museo in the center of Santiago. Here they have a dramatic example of ancient death rites and mumification technology that pre-dated Egyptian rituals. There was a 7.000 year old mummy of an infant on display. More details on that when I get to a better place to post. After finding the Museum of Modern Art closed, we went the Santa Lucia hill where are military fort was placed. Here we saw a plaque commemorating Charles Darwin's visit here.

After our tour, we figured out that there was a Sky Airlines office nearby. We had been having troubles getting checked in for the flight to Punta Arenas, so we went to the office and got our boarding passes. This took us back by the W where I had noticed a very popular Pizzaria called Tirimisu. We found a bookstore across the street and bought some souvineers and then had a great pizza for a late lunch. I don’t think I talked about the rest of New Year’s eve day after lunch at Tirimisu. We went back to the Hotel and Karen had another long siesta while I went for a walk to get Olive Oil and Water. I carried on with my exploration and drank the whole 1.600 liter bottle before returning to wake Karen. Neither of us were hungry, but we thought we should find something to do for New Years eve. As we walked out of the Hotel, a very friendly male dog joined us for our walk about. The expression “sticks out like dogs balls” was there for all to appreciate. We wanted to get rid of the shrapnel in my pocket so stopped at a convenience store and bought a diet coke. When we came out, the dog was distracted so we hastily crossed the main street (Avenue Apoquindo) and wandered over towards W. We didn’t find much going on, but one place looked interesting, the Akarana Restaurant and Bar. I had noticed it before, but it always appeared empty. The restaurant was decorated for a party so we checked with the hostess who said they were fully booked for dinner, but we could sit at the bar for a drink. This wound up being our New Years Eve entertainment as we parked at the bar for the whole evening. Turned out the proprietor was a Kiwi and her boyfriend also from NZ. We enjoyed the evening drinking Caiparaina’s and Cosmopolitan’s while people watching until 11:30, didn't have the jam to see the New Year in and headed back to Rugendas.