A summary of the last month

 Having been away a month I thought it worth summarising the hilights and some lowlights.

Hilights

Visiting school friend of more than 60 years ago Edward and his wife Karin in Buenos Aries.

An Argentine BBQ with Edward’s son Guy and family.

A visit to Club Nautical San Isidro Yacht Club and an excellent filet steak at one of the restaurants there.

Visiting the Theatre Colon in Buenos Aires.

A sea lion colony and sheep shearing in Porto Madryn, Argentina.

Great views of icebergs, wildlife (Penguins, Albaross, whales etc) in Antarctica.

Experiencing a force 9 (50 Knots) strong gale on a cruise ship in the Drake passage.

Grateful to Hugh, friend of fifty years, for his companionship on this trip.We never cease to have something to discuss/argue about!

Excellent scientific talks on Antarctica on Oceania Marina.

Helpful talks on the use of the IPhone 14 pro on ship.

Meeting many travellers from all over the globe and having lively discussions over dinner on a cruise ship.

Intermediate bridge lessons and duplicate bridge on Oceania Marina when at sea. I even earned a few ACBL master points.

A “Robinson tours” adventure in Porto Mont taking a local bus to Frutillar and being able to observe Chilean families and housing.

Spending four days in Santiago experiencing the vastness of the city, its parks, its history and even a trip to observe the water supply in the foot of the Andes mountains.

Lowlights 

Missing the Falkland Islands.

On Oceania continuous upselling of products - spa, jewelry, casino etc.

Excessive cost of Oceania shore trips (about four times what is available on shore). Seasoned travellers seemed to go ashore and independently organise local tours for a much reduced cost.

Weak Internet on Oceania. (I am at Starbuck’s at Toronto Pearson airport with good internet as I write this). It is airport WiFi but almost anywhere in the world you go you can be sure Starbuck’s WiFi will be good. 

Many people on the cruise ship seem to spend much of their “retirements” voyaging and are proud of all the places they have visited. We did however have discussions with people that were most interesting. 

I will be home to-day - Sunday afternoon February 12th - after about 24 hrs of travelling - 3 + hrs wait in Toronto and nearly 3 hrs in Vancouver with Air Canada.

I am looking forward to seeing Penny and Lucy back home!😀






Location: 4VM92VMC+86

Comments

  1. Neil BMarch 1, 2023 at 4:16 AM

    Quite the trip! Too bad you couldn't get to the Falklands. Penny must be relieved to see you again - or maybe not!

    ReplyDelete

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