One of the Seven New Wonders of the World.....Iguazu Falls!

We left the ship this morning and took a taxi to drop our luggage at the Hilton, where we would spend one night after this little adventure.  Then on to the regional airport.  Our 2 hour flight to Iguazu Falls left at 11:15 a.m.   Once there, we grabbed a taxi and went to the Sheraton, which is the only hotel inside the park.   When we walked to the front desk to check in, we were awe struck!  We were looking right at the falls.  We made a quick stop by our room and off we went. 

A sidewalk out the back door of the hotel led us to two trails, the upper trail and the lower trail.  We first took the upper trail, which ran along the top of the falls. 

 

 

Words can't describe this!   We thought it just can't get any better than this.....but it did!  We then circled around and took the lower trail, that takes you down a series of paths and steps, all the way to the river!

 

 

 

 



We only had 24 hours here, but it was the high point of the entire 3 week trip!  

 

The first afternoon, we scheduled a boat excursion that takes you under the falls.  After seeing the volume of water falling here, and how rough the river was below....I was terrified.  But, I couldn't pass up this opportunity, which proved to be thrilling!

 

The next morning, we were up and headed into the park at 6:30 a.m.  (The park didn't officially open until 8 a.m., but we felt sure those chains across the pathway weren't meant to keep us out.)  We had the entire park to ourselves.  It was spectacular! 

 



Back to Buenos Aires

We left Iguazu Falls to catch our 1:45 p.m. flight back to Buenos Aires.  We checked into the Hilton and spent the rest of the day resting up for the next evening's long flight home.  We were finally able to facetime family after being out of touch for almost 3 weeks. 

We had to check out of our hotel at 1 p.m. and our flight wasn't until 9:10 p.m. so we scheduled a 3 hour tour of Buenos Aires, to hopefully see some better parts of town and leave with a more positive opinion of this city.

The tour covered the highlights of the city, and as we drove around, we could see that even the most elite parts of town was covered with graffiti and litter. 

The high point was visiting the Catholic cemetery.  Its where the remains of Eva Peron finally ended up, after years of battling over custody of them.  The cemetery was like a small city.   Some of the tombs were glassed in and the wooden casket and a picture of the deceased could be seen as you walked past it. 

 

So, although we feel we gave Buenos Aires a chance, let's mark this city up to one of those we don't feel the need to return to.

 

So after a 10 hour flight back to Atlanta, then a 3 hour layover and a 36 minute flight back to Huntsville, we are proud to be back in Sweet Home Alabama.....for 2-1/2 weeks!

 



Buenos Aires, Argentina

Have you ever thought you were really going to like something, only to realize it really wasn't at all what you expected?   Well, as bad as I hate to say it, this was Buenos Aires for us!   It boasts as being the "Paris of South America".  Well, I've been to Paris and the only comparison is maybe its vast size and some of the architecture. 

We arrived on Sunday morning and wanted to go to an antique flea market in town that we'd read about.  So, we grabbed a taxi and went to San Telmo.  This area is the oldest and has some beautiful buildings.  A few have been taken care of, but many haven't.  Since this was our first day here, we just wandered around and soaked it in.  The area is full of shops and restaurants. 

We were both carrying backpacks and were told by an Argentinean police woman that we should wear our packs in front and hold on to them.  Apparently anything that could be stolen, would be.  The crew on the ship had also commented that they were afraid to leave the ship when in Buenos Aires.  They said the mafia was really bad. 

We were over nighting on the ship and returned early to begin our packing.  We met up with a couple we had dined with and they had an encounter with one of the scams we had been warned about.  Crooks douse you with  a muddy looking liquid and then offer to help you get cleaned up.  All the while, picking your pockets.  The lady was wise to them and was carrying an umbrella, which she pointed at them and demanded that they move on.

More on Buenos Aires...when we return from Iguazu Falls!

Montevideo, Uruguay

We’ve been on the ship for two days, traveling north and the weather continues to get warmer and warmer.  We arrived at Montevideo, Uruguay this morning. 

The port was quite interesting.  The tide was out but it appeared that it had been out for awhile and wasn't coming back in!  There were a number of boats that were aground with no hope of ever being sea worthy again.

Once in town, the architecture was spectacular, but many of the old buildings are in disrepair.  

We stopped for lunch in an old train station that had been converted to food vendors that cooked meat, octopus, and fish over huge open fires.  The smell was wonderful.  We sat at the counter next to a man that had lived in the States for a while and he told us that the story of the building was that the material for the building was on its way to Bolivia and the owner didn’t pay the balance on the delivery, so it was just dropped off in Uruguay.  One of the locals bought it very cheap and built the train station……but there are no trains in Uruguay!   It was very crowded with locals, which told us the food had to be good.   When they brought us the bill for lunch (which was naturally in Spanish), we couldn’t figure out what one of the line items was, so I asked the man next to us.  He quickly answered, “oh, that’s for your fork and knife”.   That’s a new one for us.  But it would have been difficult to eat without them. 

We arrive at our final destination on this leg of the trip tomorrow…Buenos Aires!

 

Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands have approximately 2500 people living on the island.  Of those, about 1500 of them live in Stanley, the capital.  When the cruise ship got there today, we doubled the population….at least for a few hours.

The island is relatively flat.  They seem so cut off from the world, but we heard several locals saying that they have several options for leaving the island.  First, planes arrive 3 days a week, or shipping merchants let them ride to the mainland, and sometimes they can also get a ride on a cruise ship.   Several people we talked to said they have lived there since birth.  One question comes to mind immediately….do you meet your future spouse at a family reunion?

 Once the boat began leaving the harbor, the Captain announced that we might be able to see a colony of penguins on the starboard side of the ship.  Although we had to look through binoculars, we were able to see hundreds on the beach.

Around the Cape

Sailing around Cape Horn was the primary reason we booked this trip.   Only 500 miles from Antarctica!  We got up around 6:30 am and there was a heavy fog preventing us from seeing anything.  However, after a few cups of coffee, the fog lifted right as we got near the Cape.   I’m not sure if the two events are related or not, but it’s possible.  Richard was on our balcony trying to get some video!

After traveling south for a while, the captain turned the boat westward.  At first we were totally confused as we were expecting to travel south and then go east, around the Cape, and then turn northward on the east side of South America.  This is where my lack of paying attention in geography class shows.   What is considered the “Cape” is actually an island off the southern coast of South America instead of the most southern tip of the mainland.   The captain went around the entire island, before making his way northeast towards the Falkland Islands.   There were several towers and a monument honoring the sailors that had lost their lives making this journey.    

We have been cruising in the Pacific Ocean for 7 days now, and we entered the Atlantic Ocean when we got to the east side of the Cape, then because we circled the Cape, the Captain took us back to the Pacific, then once again back into the Atlantic.  So we went from the Pacific to the Atlantic, back to the Pacific, and then back to the Atlantic in a matter of a few hours.   Pretty cool!

The water was unusually smooth as we were protected by small islands, but soon we were out further from land, headed to the Falkland Islands, and things picked up a bit.  At one point the wind was blowing 79 miles per hour.  It was coming across the ship on the port side and I was unable to open our balcony door.   There were extremely dark clouds off in the distance and you could tell a huge storm was coming our way.  The captain did an excellent job steering us away from this storm, but in the distance we could see water spraying up in a circular motion.  Pretty scary!   

On a different subject, I’ve taken several Windows 8.1 classes while onboard.   I guess I’ll be looking to upgrade my operating system when I get home.  

Ushuaia, Argentina

We rode through the Beagle Channel this morning on our way to Ushuaia, Argentina.   The Beagle Channel is called Glacier Alley by the locals.  We saw at least 6 huge glaciers as we went through this narrow passage.  

We arrived in Ushuaia, Argentina around 1 pm and for the first time on this trip, we actually docked at the port.  We didn’t have to ride in tenders to get to the shore.   It began to rain so after walking through the town, checking our emails (and yes….Facebook), we decided to head back to the ship.  By the time we got back onboard it was 6:15 p.m.  We were scheduled to leave at 7 pm   Today I added yet another new country to my list of places visited!

We met up with new friends Corolla and Jim in the Crows Nest and we had dinner together at the Lido buffet.    The long daylight hours still seem a bit strange to us.  But at 10 p.m., its still light outside.   

Exciting Day in Punta Arenas, Chile

We woke up early this morning and had to leave the ship on our excursion to Magdalena Island to see the penguins at 7:50 a.m.   That hurt after having only 4 hours of sleep, but was it ever worth it.  There were thousands of penguins running around this island.  They are currently nesting so you could get just a few feet away from them.  They didn’t seem to mind us being there and walked right past us to catch fish and play in the water.   The trip consisted of a short bus ride from the terminal dock and then a 1-1/2 hour ferry ride to the island.  This is the only ship excursion that we booked but you can’t come here without seeing these cute little guys and the logistics prevented us from doing it on our on. 

 

Upon returning to the port to catch our tender back to the ship, we were notified that gale force winds were preventing the tenders from picking us up.  OK….so what now?  But they eventually started running again, but only putting 36 people in each tender.  With about 1500 ashore, that would take a while.   When our time came, we boarded our tender and it was tossed and turned in the waves.  After several attempts, we finally got secured to the side of the ship and the Holland America workers came onboard the tender to help all of us off….one at a time.  It was pretty crazy….or as Madilyn (our 6 year old great niece) would say, it sorta freaked me out a little.   After being transferred safely to the ship, we could not say enough good things about the nice young men that assisted us. 

Then if things couldn’t get worse (for the captain) our anchor got hung up on something and they couldn’t get it up.  We were supposed to all be on the ship by 5 pm and at 9 pm tonight, we were just informed that the anchor had been released and we would be heading to our next destination, Ushuaia, Argentina!

So, its 9:15 p.m., still daylight, and the ship is finally moving!  

 

Roll Tide from South America!

The weather has begun getting cold and its been rainy.    We passed the time with lots of shipboard activities (wii bowling, exploring the ship, attending various seminars and last but not least, staying up last night to watch Alabama vs. Auburn.)  The game was on ESPN and fortunately the ship carried this channel.  It didn’t come on until 9:45 p.m. though.   When we went back to our cabin after dinner, our room steward had left us an elephant towel art on our bed.  We felt like that was an omen.  The game was certainly a nail biter.   We watched the first half of the game in the Mix Bar and took our elephant made out of towels and put him on the bar in front of us.  But unfortunately an obnoxious Auburn fan (no, they are not all obnoxious….just this one and I’m sure if he had not been absolutely sloshed he wouldn’t have been obnoxious either), sat next to us and attacked our elephant.    Seriously, he sat down and slurred that he absolutely HATED Alabama, grabbed the elephant and squeezed it, destroying his cute trunk and ears.  We made repairs to the elephant and moved it out of his reach.  Then, he again reached for it.  We realized this just wasn’t going to end well, so we opted to take our elephant back to our cabin and finish watching the game there.   You can’t make that kind of stuff up!  The game ended at 1:50 a.m. , and we managed to stay awake for the entire game.   Roll Tide!  We’ll still be on the ship next Saturday when the SEC championship game is played.   Hoping it will be on ESPN so we can watch it as well. 

Cruising the Chilean Fjords

Two relaxing days at sea!  We are traveling through the Chilean fjords. 

We are seeing lots of dolphins swimming past the ship as we slowly make our way through this narrow passage.    The second day around 8 a.m., the captain brought us directly in front of Brujo glacier. 

We have been to Glacier Bay in Alaska, but it was nothing compared to this monster.   The area around the glacier was covered with huge icebergs.  We slowly cruised right through them.  Absolutely spectacular!

 

Thanksgiving in South America

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back in the U.S.A.!  We were awakened this morning by a tap on the door and a nice young man delivering a tray with coffee!   This doesn’t happen at home.  After breakfast, we again boarded the tender around 10 a.m. and found ourselves at Puerto Chacabuco, Chile.   There is absolutely nothing in Chacabuco (we were told that in advance), so we took a bus to nearby Aysen and connected with another bus that took us to the capital of this region, Coyhaique. 

The drive between Aysen and Coyhaique was breathtaking.   Green fields with patches of purple and yellow flowers, horses, and streams, with a breathtaking view of  the snow-capped Andes mountains in the background.   Coyhaique was a pretty little town (with a city square that offered free wifi). 

We met a very nice couple from Australia (Corolla and Jim) that have been sailing the world for the past 5 years.  Although we didn’t have much time there we saw the town, had lunch, and hopped on another bus to return to the port.  We were only docked there from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.   We reboarded the ship at 4 p.m., stopped by the bar for a beer, then headed to our cabin.  

 

I should have known better, but I couldn’t help but order what the chef described as a “traditional American Thanksgiving dinner” tonight.    Let’s just say it wasn’t my sister-in-law’s spectacular cornbread dressing that I’m used to! 

 

 

Puerto Montt, Chile

We dropped anchor off the shore of Puerto Montt early this morning.   Richard went down one floor to the Exploration café and brought back two espressos to get us going!  After breakfast we made our way to the tender for our quick trip ashore.  The port had wifi so we stopped for a few minutes to check our email before walking 5 minutes to the bus station to catch the local bus to Puerto Varas.  We paid the driver $800 pesos each (about $2.80 US) for the 20 minute ride to this scenic little town overlooking Lake Llanquihue, the Osorno Volcano, and the surrounding mountains. 

After a quick lunch, we again boarded the bus and returned to Puerto Montt and made our way to the Artesenal Angelmo shopping area which consisted of a fish market and small stalls with mostly women vendors selling their homemade knitted items. One lady was knitting with bright blue yarn and had apparently just begun her project. However, when we stopped back by about an hour later, she showed us the sweater that was almost complete. Beautiful workmanship! I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to own one of her ponchos!

 

We made our way back to the port and boarded our tender back to the ship. We had an early dinner and walked several laps around the promenade deck before dark….which isn’t until after 9 pm.  

 

Holland America’s clientele is mostly much older than we are….or at least older than we feel! The continual attempts at upselling and their overt attempts at increasing their bottom line are becoming quite annoying. Many of the activities on the agenda are for this sole purpose, not to enhance your ship experience.

November 25th At Sea

We spent today at sea, traveling to Puerto Montt, Chile.  The seas had calmed down somewhat and we had a relaxing day onboard.  We did make it to the gym and spent time on the treadmill, although running on a moving ship proved to be a little challenging.  Tonight was formal night and it was quite comical to watch little old men in tuxedos shuffling their feet as they dealt with the sway of the boat.   Can’t wait to see the real penguins! 

Cruisin!

We boarded the Zaandam after taking a walking tour of Valparaiso.  The tour was a “tour for tips”.   A pretty cool concept, as the guide gets rewarded for a job well done, and likewise not rewarded for poor performance.   (Our guide was great!)  We quickly unpacked for our two-week stay.  We booked a verandah suite, which I was expecting to be the equivalent of Princesses’ balcony cabin; and was pleasantly surprised to find it closer to a mini-suite….(I got my bathtub)!   Shortly after setting sail, we became aware that the seas were going to be very interesting!   The captain had warned us before ever leaving the dock that the wind would be 50 mph.    At bed time, they were at 58 mph!  We both took a Dramamine and slept great.   I’m not sure if it was the ship swaying or the fact that we haven’t cruised in several years and just haven’t gotten our sea legs yet.  We’ll see!

Valparaiso, Chile

We checked out of our hotel (Meridiano Petit Sur) and took a taxi to the bus station, where we got on a TurBus ($5 each!) to Valparaiso, Chile.  It was about an 1-1/2 hour trip but was non-stop and very comfortable.  Once there, we grabbed a taxi, which took us to our new hotel for one night (Hotel Latitude 33 Sur).  We dropped our luggage off and headed out to explore this eclectic city!  Richard commented that the entire city was a canvas!   The city was built on a hillside next to the Pacific Ocean, and there were murals everywhere! 

This is an artist's Mecca!   This is a place I would definitely recommend seeing....skip Santiago and  come here!

 

 

 

November 22nd, Santiago Chile

After leaving Hunstville at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, arriving in Santiago at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, spending most of Saturday at two wineries....we are about to leave Santiago for Valpraiso tomorrow morning.  Well, there is a little more to it than that.  

The timetable is accurate, but its been a non-stop adventure so far.  Although we were lucky enough to have an empty seat between us on the 9-1/2 hour fight to Santiago, we neither got much, if any sleep.  But after arriving at our hotel, we dropped our luggage off and kept going.  We enjoyed a great lunch of various seafood at a small Chilean cafe and walked around until check in time.   Then, after a quick shower and a power nap (30 minutes), off we go again to the subway to Plaza del Armas and the central market.  We made a stop by the Santiago cathedral, which although under construction, was pretty impressive.  We made a stop and picked up a bottle of wine and an empanada and enjoyed both on the outside patio at our hotel.  At 8:30 p.m., we were done!   We woke up at 8:15 a.m. today and realized we must have been much more tired than we realized. 

Having seen about as much of Santiago as we wanted to, we chose to spend today at the neaby vineyards and wineries.  We had prearranged a tour of Concha y Toro, which many of you know that we are very familiar with....and had the hotel contact the Santa Rita winery and arrange to get us on the noon tour.   We headed out and after about 45 minutes on the subway, we got off at the most southern stop and hailed a taxi for the rest of the trip to the wineries. 

They saved the best part of the tour for last, as we were treated to a great wine tasting.  Very informative....best I remember!



To the Ends of the Earth!

Here we go again!  I've told this man many times that I'd follow him to the end of the earth!  Tomorrow, I guess it will come true as we head south....stay tuned! 

September 3-14, 2014 Out West

After spending months of planning a trip to Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, and Banff, Alberta, Canada, we finally took off for a big adventure with four good friends.  The good news is, after spending 12 days together, we're all still speaking!  Good times, good memories, good friends. 

On September 3rd, we flew to Helena, Montana....rented a 12-passenger van, and set off for West Yellowstone.  Yellowstone National Park was pretty amazing.  The geysers, canyons, and of course Old Faithful were pretty spectacular.  With buffalo and elk roaming the streets, we were constantly entertained. 

One of the highlights of Glacier National Park was the red bus tour on the Going to the Sun Road, which closed the day after we were there due to the large amount of snowfall.   The snow continued as we entered Canada.  Hiking, eating, drinking, and certainly being merry were a few of our favorite things!

Feb -

Westward Bound!

Having survived our trip to Peru a couple of years ago, our good friends "the Georges" decided it was time to put together another adventure....this time they would bring their wives along.  So, tomorrow we depart for an 11-day adventure of Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, Banff, Alberta Canada, Lake Louise, and Calgary. 

Stay tuned.....

Silently Celebrating Warm Weather

Are we warm?   Yes
Are we hot?   Sometimes
Are we cold?  NO!

Do we feel guilty?  Not really.  However, we do hate that our friends and family are suffering with ice storms, single-digit temps, and dreary days. 

This past year we have "Liked" as our friends and family posted on Facebook of their trips to the beach to put their toes in the sand.  We were happy for them that they were having fun, enjoying life, and getting away from their normal routines.   We did wonder why they chose to make these trips when the weather at home was wonderful.  Vacations are typically scheduled....so why not schedule that beach trip for a time that you really might want to "get away" from the cold?

So, if you're reading this and are offended, I don't apologize.  Just stop reading.  This is our blog, not a social media site where our posts are forced upon you.  This is similar to a lady at the park that was fussing about her daily television shows being interrupted over and over again by Justin Beiber's recent arrest in Miami.  She was being forced to watch these news broadcasts over and over.  Well, it seemed really simple to us.....turn the TV off and do something else for heaven's sake. 

So don't hate us for spending January in the Florida Keys.  We are trying to live an active life while we are still young enough to do the things we enjoy, instead of spending the day huddled under an afgan looking at our tablets and laptops. 

So, other than sending a few "sunny" pictures by text to our closest friends, and an occasional beautiful sunset picture being posted on Facebook, we are quietly doing high 5's, happy dances, all the while slathering ourselves with sunscreen. 

Its All About The Dog!

 I'm not quite sure why, but children seem to love Lucy.  All the other dogs at "Yappy Hour" at Sunset Park are "designer dogs", and then there's our 15-year old "mutt", that has never really liked children.  But kids will walk past these "pretty pooches" and want to pet Lucy every time.  One of us always keeps a hand near her head...just in case.

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 After her daily outing at the park, she usually spends the next 18 hours resting.  Fortunately we have a fenced in backyard this year, so we leave our back door open and she's free to come and go whenever she likes.

 

Mutley, Grant's pug, is Lucy's best friend in the Keys.   She gets so excited when she sees him.

Par 3

 

 

Key Colony has the only municipal golf course in the middle Keys. Its surrounded by beautiful palm trees and you sometimes have to stop to let the occasional iguana cross the fairway.   Its a 9-hole par 3 course, and while its not Augusta, its still a lot of fun.  The dress code in the Keys is very informal and this is also true on this golf course.  Yesterday, a young man was playing barefoot!

 

I'm sure its not a surprise that I keep score and then come home and put our scores into an Excel spreadsheet, complete with averages per hole, per game, etc.  How else are you going to know if you're improving, right?

So, while single digit temperatures are haunting our friends and family in north Alabama, we try to maintain a positive attitude down here.  We're positive that we love the Keys, we're positive that we're enjoying life to the fullest, and we're positive that, God willing, we'll return again next year.

So KeeZee....What's Not To Love

We drove 1100 miles with kayaks on the roof of our truck.  Whether its kayaking around the island of Key Colony, through the canals with an old friend (Susan), through the mangrove trails in Sisters Creek with new friends (Eric and Piret), or just the two of us, its a great way to explore, enjoy a sunny day, and get some exercise.

 

 





Coolng Down...

We took a day trip to The Dry Tortugas on Tuesday.  Discovered by Ponce De Leon in the early 1800s, it is home to Fort Jefferson.  Construction of the fort began in 1846, and although it was never officially finished, its quite an impressive site.  Its located 70 miles off shore from Key West.  It takes a 2-1/2 hour ferry or float plane to get there.  We left Key Colony Beach at 5:45 a.m. and returned home at 7 p.m.  A long day, but worth every minute.  I would recommend going during the summer, as the snorkeling is great....but in January, the water is still pretty cold. 

The cold front has finally reached the Florida Keys today.  Its a very cool and windy 67 degrees, with no end in sight....at least for the next few days.  

One Week Down....

Its hard to believe we've been here a week already.  The rain has stopped, the sun is shining and it averages 80 degrees every day.  Our days are busy with round-robin tennis on Monday and Friday mornings, golf on most afternoons (I got my first birdie!), kayaking, walking, biking, and eating lots of fresh seafood.  But there's still time for Facetime calls with the little ones back at home. 

We're looking forward to our trip on Tuesday on the Yankee Freedom to visit the Fort Jefferson Dry Tortugas National Park. Its located 70 miles off of Key West.  So, if there are no more posts...check Cuba to see if we landed there accidently!

Florida Keys 2014

On New Year's day we left home with kayaks and bicycles loaded on the truck.  We stopped overnight in Tallahassee, then spent a couple of days in Ft. Myers, and finally reached our destination...Key Colony Beach in the Florida Keys. 

This is our third year to vacation here and over the first few days, we ran into many people we knew.  It was almost like coming home again.

We've been here five days so far and although we've seen quite a bit of rain, its been much warmer than the record-breaking, single digit temperatures we left behind. 

On Lucy's first trip to Sunset Park, she met up with Mutley (the pug), which was one of her favorites.  Although she's 15 years old now, she remembered him immediately and began to play like a pup.

This made the entire trip worth it!

 

 

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