Return to USA

Wednesday, 11 Jan 2012 –This is our “going back to the U.S.” day.  About 12:15 AM we took our luggage to the hotel lobby in Santiago, Chile and arrived at the Santiago, Chile airport by taxi about 1:15 AM.  We stood in line for what seemed like forever to check in with Copa Airlines, along with other travelers who all seemed to be Spanish-speaking (we didn’t hear any English) and going to other South or Central American destinations.  “Copa” is affiliated with Continental Airlines and based out of Panama.  There was a service available at the airport for wrapping your entire suitcase in lime-colored plastic (like Saran Wrap) for 7,000 pesos (about $14), called security wrap.  (Imagine what American airport security would do to a suitcase with that!)   Since Copa allows 2 suitcases per person, there were big stacks of those plastic-wrapped suitcases, like giant leftover sausages, being loaded onto the conveyor belt.

On the first leg of our travel (from Santiago to Panama City, Panama), we managed to be assigned an aisle and middle seat.  However, a young man was supposed to have the window seat beside us, and his wife and baby were across the aisle one row forward.  We let him have the aisle seat, which turned out to be a good decision for us, since he needed to help his wife and hold the baby about half of the time. If we hadn’t traded, we might have been passing the baby back and forth between them for the entire flight!  They were going to Nicaragua for their baby’s baptism; some of their family was even coming there from Miami for the celebration.  That plane took off about 5:10 AM.  Drinks were served very soon, including free alcoholic ones (which seemed strange for that time of day), but we had orange juice and a little later, a small breakfast.  (We had enough alcohol in Santiago to last us for a few days!)

The plane landed 6 hours and 40 minutes later in Panama City about 9:45 AM.  Before landing, the Panama Canal was said to be visible from the left side of the plane, but we were on the wrong side to see it. 

While we were sitting at the gate in Panama City waiting for our American Airlines flight to Miami, tables were set up beside the gate.  Our luggage was inspected before boarding, though they didn’t have an X-ray machine.  En route to Miami, only drinks were served – no snacks. 

At the Miami airport, we had to go through passport checks, customs, and reloading of luggage.  Luckily, we didn’t have to go too far to the assigned gate, so that we had time to buy some food before leaving for Detroit at about 7:45 PM.  That last leg of our journey was mostly in the dark; we even had an empty seat beside us.  Jesse (with earphones in his ears) snoozed the entire way, through the tremendous amount of turbulence, the captain’s announcements to use seat belts, and a baby’s crying up near the front of the plane.  (We were in the third row from the back.)

By the time we reached our motel near the Detroit airport, we were almost sleepwalking, but felt lucky to function at all – a not very glorious end to a wonderful trip halfway around the world and back!

JESSE AND SALLY – SIGNING OUT FROM OUR MARVELOUS, RELAXING, AND ROMANTIC 30-DAY TRANSATLANTIC CRUISE, AND LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING EVERYONE IN 2012!

Santiago - Last Day South of the Equator

Tuesday, 10 Jan 2012 –This will be our last day south of the equator.  The prune liquor turned out to be a lot more potent than we anticipated.  We were planning to consume the entire bottle in one sitting, but only made it halfway.  Luckily though, we were stumbling around our hotel room and not outside in public – that could have had disastrous consequences.  Sally had her first hangover this morning; Jesse is a veteran.  This kept us from attempting any serious sightseeing other than just walking around the area.

This hotel is more upscale than our usual accommodations (which was necessary to ensure that we have air conditioning).  The only problem is that the staff does not speak much English.  Just giving our room number to the breakfast staff was a chore – dos, uno, siete.   That’s not exactly the correct way to say room 217 in Spanish, but we got our point across.   There was a good buffet breakfast here, and we went out again in the late afternoon so that Jesse could have a salad.

Soon we will repack – that is, go through our luggage to make sure that we have only allowable things in our carry-on bags.  Even though the temperature here is about 85 degrees today, we plan to wear our heaviest clothes (corduroys, etc.) and carry our coats.  Our suitcases are at the maximum limits weight-wise.  (It’s supposed to be 92 degrees on Thursday so it could be worse!)  Meanwhile, we have TV to watch.  There are 100 channels here in Santiago.  Many of them are American shows (Dr. Oz speaks fluent Spanish, did you know that?) or English language movies, etc., with Spanish subtitles.  Even we could probably eventually learn Spanish this way.

The desk will have to call a taxi for us.  Since the plane is supposed to depart at 5:00 A.M., there’s no time to sleep.  We don’t have seats on this first plane to Panama City, but maybe someone will trade with one of us so that we can sit together; the two other legs are to Miami and then to Detroit.

Jesse was never able to confirm that the water goes down the drain in the opposite direction here as it does at home although, according to Urban Legends, it does.  The drains we’ve found seem different and the water seems to just go straight down without swirling.  Oh well, Jesse will have to take Urban Legends word for it.

Goodbye Southern Hemisphere!

Santiago, Chile

Monday, 9 Jan 2012 – This morning the deadline for breakfast was earlier than yesterday (9:00 A.M.) at the DaVinci Hotel, so we arrived to eat about 8:30.  While there, we talked with two men from Venezuela who had also arrived in Valparaiso on the Princess Star.  One of them spoke English, obviously, said his parents had spoken German; and he said that the hotel owner (who is from Italy and has been in Chile for only 3 years) speaks Spanish with an Italian accent. 

After that, we packed up, not that we had actually unpacked very much.  While we were in the lobby, the hotel owner told us that that the hotel is 110 years old and was originally the home of two families, one upstairs and one downstairs.  He apologized for the outside street being torn up; and although he had no control over that, he gave us a sizable discount.  He and an older man helped haul our luggage to the end of the street to the taxi, and then gave us warm goodbyes (which were kisses on the cheek for Sally).

At about 12:30, a taxi van arrived to pick us up; and then we went to Joyce’s hotel to pick her up.  The young taxi driver had to ask directions about 4 times from other drivers before we finally arrived at her hotel.  We stopped for wine tasting at a vineyard, where we tasted four kinds of wine.  Besides the vineyards, the area between Valparaiso and Santiago is known for olive trees and avocados – and we also saw corn!

When we reached Santiago, the taxi driver first took Joyce to her hotel, and then he delivered us to ours, the Hotel Neruda.  This is a fancy-looking hotel on a busy street in downtown Santiago.  We surveyed the inside, which includes an indoor swim pool (for which a swim cap must be used by both men and women). 

Then we ate at a nearby Chinese restaurant.  (What the heck!  We have already eaten at two very good restaurants with authentic Chilean food!  Anyway, we lost our great Spanish translator – Joyce.  We sincerely miss her!)  We split one meal, which was plenty for two people who have overeaten for the last month!  After coming back to the room and resting for a short time, we went out again and ate hot fudge sundaes at McDonalds!  We wanted ice cream, and that was the only place we saw that offered it.  A little later in our room, we drank some of the liquor that we bought in Venice because we certainly can’t spare the weight it would take in our luggage.  (Joyce said it is prune liquor.  We just hope that it isn’t quite like prune juice because we have a very long airplane flight coming up!)

Then we went to bed feeling really, really inebriated!

Valparaiso

Sunday, 08 Jan 2012 – At 10:00 this morning we found the breakfast room, which turned out to be on the third story (top level) of this building.  It was light and airy up there, with the windows open.  Because of the high ceilings, we climbed a lot of stairs to get there!  (We feel fortunate to have a ground-floor bedroom!)  Our filling breakfast consisted of a fruit plate and yogurt; ham & cheese sandwiches; and scrambled eggs and biscuits (& rolls). We also had juice and coffee.

            We talked with the owner during breakfast and found out that he is from northern Italy, which explains the Italian name and décor of the hotel.  In the early afternoon we climbed the hill and steps to Joyce’s hotel.  Since the sun seemed very warm, we sat in the garden behind her hotel in the shade of a large umbrella talking for quite some time. 

About 3:30 we started walking toward the Casa Museo (House Museum), the house where Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) lived.  He was a writer who won a Nobel Peace Prize.  Before starting our tour, we shared a small pizza and each had a cappuccino.  For the tour, we each carried an audio device which described, in English, each room on the 5 floors.  Every level had a huge, glassed-in view of the city and harbor, including from his bed!  From there, we headed toward an outdoor “museum” where there is artwork on street lamps and buildings; we stopped several times en route so that Joyce could ask directions.  We’re still not sure we were in the right place for that, but we had walked enough!

 And then we headed toward the city center, which looked liked most big cities: lots of cars, busses, and people.  Again, we stopped a lot for directions because we were searching for a place to get on a funicular, rather hidden back from the street.  The funicular turned out to be a large elevator that went up like a cable car to a much higher street – for a charge of 60 cents each.

            When we reached the top, we had come to a restaurant where we had reservations for 8:00 P.M.  However, when we got there, it was closed!  (We found out later that the manager’s grandmother had passed away, and the restaurant had closed after serving lunch.)  But there was another restaurant next door, the Paparazzo, and we ate there instead.  After being overly full last night, tonight we ordered two meals to split between the three of us.  One meal was beef tenderloin with grilled potatoes & tomato; the other was tuna with chopped vegetables and chips.  Besides that, there were some extras brought that we hadn’t expected.  It was more than enough food – all delicious – but of course, Jesse cleaned it up quite well.  When asked just now whether he thought it was even better than last night’s, Jesse said he thought both were good – but wine always makes a meal taste better!

            This is a good time to mention the Chilean peso/American dollar relationship.  The peso amounts are always amusing (and confusing), and Sally is carrying a little conversion chart in her fanny pack to help with the conversion. 

$1 = 512.55 Chilean pesos.  $20 = 10,000 Chilean pesos. 

Tonight the cost of our meal, if in USD, would have bought a very nice house back in the 1960’s.

            After our meal, we walked first to Joyce’s hotel; and by the time the two of us reached our hotel, it was almost 10:40 P.M.  The streets were mostly empty by then, and we held our breath a little for the 5 minutes that it took us to walk as fast as possible downhill to our hotel – but made it safely.

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Saturday, 07 Jan 2012 – Around 9:00 A.M., we disembarked from our “home sweet home” of 30 days in Valparaiso, Chile.  We could see our hotel from our ship’s balcony.   After seeing the steep hill from the coast to our hotel, we were glad that we had decided to take a taxi in lieu of taking the public metro and then walking to the hotel from the metro stop.  We had found our hotel on Google maps, but from the satellite, everything looks flat, so we didn’t know about the hills.  We should mention that the ship docked very near our hotel; however, we were then bussed to the ship passenger terminal, which was another 10 to 15 minute ride from the ship.  We would have needed to ride the metro back to the ship’s docking location.

Going through security in Chile at the ship passenger terminal was unusual.  They aren’t interested in finding guns or knives, or drugs, but they do have food-sniffing dogs circulating among people going through the line; they are most interested in preventing any fresh food from entering Chile.  We each had a form on which we declared any food items, and were told to have in our hand any items that might be construed as being fresh food.  Fines are very steep for smuggling food!  (Our bag contained such things as granola bars, sweetener, chewing gum, etc., which they inspected but allowed in.)

We exited with a woman, Joyce, from New Jersey, whom we had met during the cruise.  She retired from teaching English as a second language to what later became mostly Spanish-speaking students, and she has a good command of Spanish.  We were very, very lucky to find Joyce for a traveling companion!   We had previously located her Valparaiso hotel on the Internet and it was shown to be just a few blocks from ours, which made it simple to share a taxi from the terminal station.  She obtained a large taxi (minivan, because of so much luggage) before we even found all of our suitcases, and we were soon at our hotels.  The driver let her off first, and when he came to our hotel, we understood why.  The street in front of the DaVinci Hotel was completely torn up; the taxi driver had to stop at the corner and lug our suitcases down the street to the hotel.

We arrived at the hotel at 10:30; however, our room wouldn’t be ready until 2:00 P.M.  We talked to a couple who was soon to embark on the Star Princess, and cruise back around Cape Horn to Rio – the reverse of what we had just done; they live in Springfield, IL.  They told us how wonderful the hotel was and we told them how wonderful the cruise was!

Then we walked to Joyce’s hotel.  “Walked” is not the right word; “climbed” is more appropriate.  The Google map shows the distance as being small, but the slope and number of stairs is great!  We found that we could climb to her hotel in 10 to 15 minutes, and descend back to our hotel in 5 minutes.  Joyce’s hotel has a very nice garden in the back, and we sat there with her and some other guests among the flowers.  Those guests (from the Netherlands) were also about to embark on the Princess.  During that time, the sky totally cleared and the sun came out.  It had been cloudy for 3 days, others said (and it had been foggy or cloudy on the ship, too). 

We stayed there until Joyce was able to get into her room.  Then we walked a short distance to La Coco Sangucheria, a café where we had a “bite” to eat (the word used by the woman at the desk of Joyce’s hotel).  We had empañadas (somewhat like calzones) with ham & cheese in them; a large, yummy salad with lettuce, sliced apples, walnuts, crumbled blue cheese; and (for Jesse and me) the largest bottles of beers that we had ever been served!  Joyce had wine.  After that, we rested in our individual hotel rooms for a while.

Later, we climbed back to Joyce’s hotel, where she joined us, and we walked to the Restaurant Café Turri.  It seems to be the first restaurant recommended in Valparaiso.  Joyce was eager to go there, and though it was far above our usual level of eating on trips, it was definitely a great dining experience.  The view of the harbor and city was beautiful from our table, and the food and wine were also excellent.  For an appetizer, we shared a flaming bowl of “scallops and shrimps in whisky and cumin.”  (The bowl looked like a small basket that had been shaped of caramel; after eating the contents, we broke the sweet basket into pieces and ate them.)   Everything was a la carte.  Sally and Jesse both ordered “Squid black ink lasagna with shrimps and scallops” (English translation as it appeared on the menu), Joyce ordered salmon, and we all shared a side dish of a large, sliced tomato.

By the time we were leaving, it was dusk; and lights in city buildings and on ships in the harbor were shining.  We felt in no danger walking back; the streets were well lit, and there were other people out, probably some of them just going to dinner (since people here often eat late).  Also, there seemed to be some sort of celebration or parade in progress, with a policeman directing traffic and parking.  The walk back to our hotel was mostly downhill, except for one hill with a very, very long staircase.  (We stopped and rested half-way up.)

We have our own key to the front door of the hotel and to our room; and after returning from our evening meal, we went into our room for the first time.  It is very small, with a VERY high (maybe 15 ft.) ceiling.  The window area extends out beyond the wall of the room, like a balcony having a width of only about 18 inches.  [Most of that width is taken up by a shelf (seat?) below the outside window.  This could be called a “balcony,” but it is not a balcony that is big enough to stand on, at least when the interior windows are closed.  Both the exterior windows and interior windows can open inward, and (as in Europe) have no screens.  The top of the outside window is about 12 ft. high; Jesse can’t reach the top of the curtains without standing on something – very unusual!  The inside windows are heavy doors.  The view is of the street outside (now torn up).  Like all of the buildings here, this one is built right onto the buildings on each side.

It is obvious that the tiny bathroom is an add-on; the ceiling is lower than that of the bedroom.  There is also a built-in closet that is an add-on.

Last Day at Sea

Friday, 06 Jan 2012 – After writing yesterday that today would be a packing day, we need to add that we are NOT packing to come home quite yet!  We plan to disembark in Valparaiso, Chile but then to stay in Chile for 4 nights before flying to Detroit on 11 January.  (We won’t actually be back in Iowa until 14 or 15 Jan.)  Therefore, our packing is a little more complicated; we are packing one suitcase for clothes to use in Chile (while we are “living out of a suitcase”), and the other filled with everything else.  Also, we expect to be online in Chile so that we can continue writing on this blog.  (So, please keep writing to us, too.  We have been enjoying reading your messages!)

This morning we ate our customary “late” breakfast, attended dance class, and followed up with a light lunch a couple of hours later.  Today’s dance class was a review of the Salsa, Tango, and Waltz.   Then, we returned to our cabin and started our packing routine.  It’s summer here but today was still “chilly.”  (Was this the origin of Chile’s name?) 

Later in the afternoon, we took a break and attended a Spanish lesson.  It was a small group this time, so the instructor had each of the students recite responses, etc., in Spanish.  Needless to say, we didn’t do well.  We both tried to say that we were “retired” in Spanish, but apparently in some South American countries, “retired” translates to being fired, so the instructor gave us alternative words to use (which we don’t remember anyway)….

After eating our last dinner with our table companions and saying goodbye to our wait staff, we danced for the last time to the Buenos Aires Quartet.  We will definitely miss the convenience of dancing to Latin music right in our “own home.” 

It was announced earlier today that tonight the Southern Cross would be visible from the starboard side of the ship (which includes our balcony).  When Sally went out on the balcony to look at 10:00 PM, there was a full moon in the east almost in front of the ship, and two fairly bright stars in the south, possibly associated with the Cross.  Apparently, several South American countries include some of those stars in their national flags.

At Sea

Thursday, 05 Jan 2012 – We slept in this morning and went to breakfast around 10:30, where we shared a table with a couple, Lynn and Larry, from Long Island, New York.  They have been on lots of cruises.  Jesse and Larry shared stories about “tours” to Vietnam.  They actually cruised to Vietnam three years ago and enjoyed their visit.  They also shared information on other cruises that they have taken to the Far East, which really peaked our interest.  A little later, we returned to the Horizon Court for a light lunch, then dance class at 4:30, where we reviewed the Merengue, Samba, and Cha Cha.

Tonight was our last formal night dinner, where we enjoyed lobster (again!), and then we danced to the Buenos Aires Quartet.

After cloudy and foggy days, today was sunny and warmer.  Sunset was also much earlier, so that we can tell we are going north, away from the South Pole.  We now only have one more day aboard ship before we disembark in Valparaiso and, among our other activities, it will be a packing day.

At Sea

Wednesday, 04 Jan 2012 – Last night, even though the sun had set (about 10:15)  and it was getting dark, at 10:37 PM we could still see mountains with snow on them from our balcony.  However, this morning we awoke (late) to rough seas and very heavy fog all around us; and the foghorn of the Princess Star sounded occasionally, just in case any other boats happened to be close. 

By noon the fog had lifted and we could see little islands, some of them mountainous, in the distance.  As the day went on, snowy mountains were closer, and we could see occasional small waterfalls from melting snow.  A haze remained, making the view somewhat surreal.  Sally was tempted to take one photo after another, when we could see the view.  Part of our afternoon was spent in the laundry room for the second time on this cruise. 

After dinner, fog descended again; the ship’s motion made walking (or dancing) difficult; and the foghorn sounded occasionally again.  We’re heading north along the coast of Chile, along the west side of South America.

We danced to the Buenos Aires Quartet tonight.  Then after they went on break, we went to another lounge to dance again to the Vintage Band; however, this time they were playing all jazz, so we soon returned to our cabin to relax, watch latest news on the Iowa Caucus, and play on the Internet. 

Punta Arenas, Chile

Tuesday, 03 Jan 2012 – We had signed up to see more penguins today.  Since the Princess ship couldn’t dock in Punta Arenas, everyone had to board the ship’s tenders again to go ashore.  Then our minibus traveled for about an hour on a gravel road, and then we walked about another mile to a remote colony of magellanic penguins at Otway Sound.  On Saturday at Volunteer Point in the Falkland Islands, we had seen king, magellanic, and gentoo penguins.  Today we saw only magellanic penguins, which are smaller.  And although we saw a lot of them running around today, we couldn’t get as close to any of them here.  Therefore, we thought our experience today didn’t come close to that of last Saturday.  (But if we hadn’t gone today, we would never have known!)

After that, the guide pointed out some of the sights of Punta Arenas before we walked back to the dock where the Princess tenders were shuttling passengers back to the ship.

After dinner, we danced to the Vintage Band for the first time.  The Vintage Band replaced the Grooveline at Rio.  We thought they played mostly jazz, but tonight they played ballroom dance music, including several Cha Chas.  Then we returned to our cabin to relax, watch TV, and play on the Internet.  After today, we will have 3 days at sea before disembarking at Valparaiso, Chile.

Ushuaia, Argentina

Monday, 02 Jan 2012 – Early this morning our ship docked at Ushuaia, Argentina, and when we awoke, we could see snow-covered mountains from our cabin.  By 8:00 we were at our group meeting place.   However, there was a disconnect between the tour company and our tour organizer, with the result that we stood waiting on the street for almost 1.5 hours until we were finally seated on a bus.  Eventually, a full-sized bus pulled up (with a tour guide), and the 14 of us had the big bus to ourselves.

Ushuaia, nestled at the foot of the mountains, is known as the southernmost city in the world, now with about 30,000 inhabitants.  The guide said that electronic assembly is now performed here, then sent to Rio for distribution; and an average house costs about 200,000 Argentine pesos or about $50,000.  The scenery is beautiful, rather like Alaska or the Grand Tetons in Wyoming.  Our bus soon took us to the Tierra del Fuego National Park.  (The name, meaning “Land of Fire,” was given by early sailors who saw many fires.  Our guide said the natives wore little or no clothing and used fire, even in the bottom of their boats, to keep warm.)  The Tierra del Fuego butts against the Chilean border; the mountains are the southern tip of the Andes.  This area is also called the “End of the World.”

Although it was chilly here, especially in the morning, the weather was mostly clear – except for a few tiny drops of rain that kept trying to bother us.  When our ship was ready to pull away from beautiful Ushuaia about 4:00, the captain had announced that we were ready to embark, as soon as the last two passengers were on board.  We watched those stragglers from our balcony as they ran for the ship.

While we were finishing dinner, we saw glaciers from the dining room window.  We ran to our cabin to get a better look.  After that, the ship continued to pass several glaciers, one of which also was producing a good-sized waterfall.  The ship’s narrator referred to it as the “melting” glacier.  The view was similar to the Inner Passage of Alaska, but some of these glaciers are closer to the water than is usual in Alaska.  Seeing glaciers was an added bonus to this trip that we had not anticipated.  The only problem is that there was a fine mist in the air, and clouds were hanging low on the mountains, making it difficult to discern snow from fog.  It was still magnificent scenery!

Due to the glacier viewing opportunities, we missed our dancing tonight.  Tomorrow is another excursion day, this time to Punta Arenas, Chile, and more penguin colonies.

Cape Horn

Sunday, 01 Jan 2012 – Sally didn’t make it up from her nap last night in time for us to attend the “balloon drop” and party last night.  (At our dinner table tonight, the other four said they had not attended either, but heard that the passengers were “shoulder-to-shoulder.”  That didn’t sound too appealing, anyway.)  Oh, well!  So, instead of wild celebrating last night, we started our New Year’s morning with Catholic Mass at 10:00 – which was followed by breakfast, then some Spanish instruction, and finally dance class.

Passengers were advised to be on the top deck between 5:00 and 6:00 P.M. if they wanted good views as the ship sailed round Cape Horn.  We donned our warmest clothes to stand in the cold wind.  In spite of freezing drizzle that collected on eyeglasses, we had wonderful views of rocks, cliffs, a mountain with visible snow, and the world’s southernmost lighthouse.  The treacherous Cape was notorious among sailors worldwide (before the Panama Canal), as numerous ships were lost as they traveled between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  Cape Horn is not actually on the mainland, but is part of the Islas Del Cabo de Hornos or Islas Hermite as they are also known.  The most well known is Isla Hornos famed for the cape which bears its name.  The island is named for its twin peaks which resemble towers or horns.  Because of the cold, Jesse soon remarked that he had already seen too much of Cape Horn, so we headed back to our cabin.

The Buenos Aires Quartet was not scheduled to begin playing until 9:15 tonight, so after dinner, we returned to our cabin to rest up for tomorrow’s shore excursion in Ushuaia, Argentina.