Travel – Destination NOW

Homeward Bound?

Ya gotta have a little drama on every trip to make it memorable, but today was a bit much, even for me! Here’s how it started.

Originally, I thought I was FLYING from Innsbruck to Munich on Lufthansa, because that is what my United booking SAID.

I figured I’d have a leisurely breakfast, pack, then depart around 11 AM. To my surprise, my trip leader, Luca and fellow traveler, George informed me that there are no flights for the two hour and 45 minute trip. Furthermore, you only need to leave the hotel about 45 minutes to 1 hour before the bus departs.

Luckily, I was able to contact United to switch to the 10 AM bus. It only took about a half an hour on the phone and cost an additional $26, but it was worth it, because I had pretty much done everything worth doing in Innsbruck. Besides, the probability of rain that day was really high.

Four fellow travelers were on the 10 AM bus with me, so the hotel arranged for a van to transport us for the 12 minute drive to the airport. Yeah, even though we weren’t flying, we still had to go to the airport to catch the bus.

When I went to pay my share of the cost, I discovered my fanny pack, containing my passport, credit card, ATM card and cash was NOT around my waist. Pure panic!! I considered having a major meltdown, but decided to put that energy into devising plans B, C and D.

Luckily George was with me, so when I couldn’t figure out how to dial internationally, he called the hotel to ask them to check with the taxi company to ask whether it fell off in the taxi. Nope. Finally, I figured out the only other place it could be, was in my room, so the wonderful desk clerk at Stage 12 ran up and checked. Bingo.

I was so bloody lucky that she recognized that Jodie and Dan were in my travel group. She had called to reserve their taxi and knew they were traveling to Munich, so she gave them my fanny pack. When I met them at their hotel, Jodie told me that had I called five minutes later, they would have already left the hotel in their taxi. How lucky was I? How great were they?

Remember that movie “ Trains, Planes and Automobiles”? I felt like I had created my very own version, with me in a starring role —but I also added “Buses” to the mix. Why not?

Speaking of buses, this is something you don’t see every day— a bus driver smoking a pipe while driving!

When I arrived at the Munich Airport Hilton, the desk clerk allowed me to check in, using an image of my passport, stored on my phone. She wouldn’t accept the image of my credit card, but luckily I had stashed enough cash in my carry on. (George had very thoughtfully offered me Euros to tide me over, but my stash was adequate. )

By now, I am very aware of my many weaknesses, so I hide cash in multiple locations, specifically for times like this. I wish I could claim it was a rare occurrence, but it isn’t.

My next step was to figure out how to get to Jodie’s and Dan’s hotel in downtown Munich, which is approximately an hour away from the airport.

Rome2Rio app to the rescue! This free app listed all the different options for travel between the airport and the hotel, with the cost and the estimated time for each. For those who prefer a visual image, the app supplies a map that showed the distance between the two points.

Clearly The one way cost of $110 to $140 for a taxi was a non-starter, so instead I engaged in what OAT calls “Learning and Discovery”. I learned how to take the bus to the center and the train on the way back. ( The train is a much better option! No traffic. ). After giving me my fanny pack, Dan and Jodie walked me to the train station. This whole incident reminded me of the Beatle song “I get by with a little help from my friends”.

But wait! There’s more. I tried to use Apple pay at the airport ticket machine, and got rejected twice. Fortunately, I still had my last 20 Euros, so I paid cash.

On the train ride to the hotel, I got this text from Chase:

Alls well that ends well. The airport Hilton is beautiful,

the buffet dinner was delicious,

and I spent the rest of my evening thinking about how lucky I am to have had such an amazing trip with such wonderful new friends.

Photo by Jodie of Susan and I sharing umbrellas and Jodie’s husband.

Photo by Kay of Susan, Gail and I enjoying our farewell toast.

I’ll end this post with a line from the song Kay sent us all: “ Happy trails to you, until we meet again”. And I sure hope we do!

Last Stop- Innsbruck, Austria

This is the second time I visited Innsbruck. The first time was with Mike, on our honeymoon, 50 years ago, during the summer of 1976. I recall driving around in circles, seeing our hotel, but we were unable to figure out a way to get to it. Finally Mike said “The hell with it, I’m going the wrong way on that one way street.” And he did, which was very unusual for such a rule follower. The only other memory I have of Innsbruck was the two of us walking one night after dinner to see the “Golden Roof”, commissioned by Emperor Maximilian I around 1500 to celebrate his wedding. These days, it isn’t the only “gold” landmark.

What a difference 50 years makes!

Mike only took slides with his film camera (Yes, we watched slide shows way back then— but not frequently), so I don’t have any then photos to compare to now— only very vague memories. Let me assure you, I’m positive there were NO McDonald’s Golden Arches back then!

So let’s return to the present, shall we?

Because of the rain, we were unable to visit the scheduled waterfall, on our drive to Innsbruck. Instead, Luca arranged for us to tour a copper mine. Once again, the substitute activity turned out to be phenomenal. Much better, in my opinion, than a waterfall. Besides, our route took us alongside this raging mountain stream, so we saw plenty of water!

The copper mine, no longer operational, is now an attraction, led by another guide that my sister Sandy would have fallen madly in love with before the tour had ended. Can you tell how much I miss her?

Luckily, we were given hard hats and rain jackets. The ceilings in the mine were so low that I would have cracked open my head at least one of the many times I bumped it. Man, people were short back in the day! Mike and Greg would have been very uncomfortable on this tour.

The mine was extremely cold, so I was grateful for that 4th layer. ( yes, I was already wearing THREE layers and I was STILL cold!)

The little train whisked us to the start of the tour, where we were greeted by one of the seven dwarfs ( or was he the Travelocity gnome?)

If it has to rain on vacation, what better time than when we are riding on our bus? Luca always chose music appropriate for the day, and this day was no exception. As you can hear, some of us chose to sing along.

The weather has been absolutely crazy. That old New England saying “you don’t like the weather? Don’t worry. It will change” certainly applied to this trip. We had sunshine, torrential downpours, then sunshine…heat, then cold all in the same day.

Once again, Susan and I were safely tucked under an awning, having lunch, when the rain hit. Our delightful and engaging waitress demonstrated a novel use of a menu!

What did we care? We had great company, our favorite beverages, food on its way, and a free show!

By the time we had finished lunch, the sun had come out, so Susan and I decided to go on a reconnaissance mission to check out the 360 view at a bar Luca recommended.

As usual, our one full day in Innsbruck started with a tour by our excellent local guide, Tina.

We weren’t allowed to take photos inside the palace, but that’s okay. It was like all the other palaces I’ve seen, except it was filled with portraits of Maria Theresa’s 16 kids (including her daughter, Marie Antoinette). The church across the street was far more interesting.

Although Maximilian 1’s body is located in Wiener Neustadt, near Vienna, his grandson, Emperor Ferdinand 1, decided that Grandpa deserved a tomb in Innsbruck. And what a tomb it is!

Surrounding the cenotaph are 28 larger than life bronze statues.

I was particularly taken with the figures of women, especially the one with the long braids.

According to the brochure, she was Elizabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol, mother of 21 children, wife of King Albert, and “first ancestress” of the Hapsburgs. And I thought Maria Theresa was prolific!

Before our farewell dinner, I had time to visit the Swarovski store. I DID make a purchase, but that outfit wasn’t it.

One final photo of our schnapps toast in the square between the police car on the left and the marijuana dispensary on the right.

I head to Munich tomorrow morning, then I fly home the next day.

Biella, Italy

What?! You never heard of Biella? Before this trip, neither had I. That’s one of the many reasons I choose to travel with OAT. Their itineraries include places I didn’t know I wanted to visit until I got there.

Our hotel, the Agora Palace, is across the street from a beautiful park. Unlike the USA, Biella has public sources of pure mountain water, like this one, from which you can fill your water bottle.

Also near our hotel is a small mall with a grocery store and an inexpensive clothing shop. Because the weather has been unseasonably warm, and we were ALL expecting cold temperatures, most of us went shopping for lightweight clothes. For 30 Euros, I got a tee shirt, shorts and a long skirt. I wasn’t crazy about the slit in the long skirt, but that’s all Piazza Italia had in stock. (That’s the name of the store).

Before we arrived, Luca explained Biella is a quiet town, without much going on, so we were a little surprised when we encountered this:

Turns out, an “old car” race with over 100 cars was taking place that night. We were a little puzzled by the cars departing one at a time, but we learned it was a TIMED race, and unlike most “races” , the speed was not the point. It was actually an opportunity to show off your old car. Supposedly, the race went on all night!

Babes, band & cars — in a “sleepy” town??

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we were unable to visit the ice cave in Chamonix, so Luca negotiated with the OAT office to replace THAT activity with vermouth tasting at a historic bar.

We were all quite delighted with the change in activities!

Our second day in Biella started with a guided tour of the city’s highlights, namely churches, including this baptistry.

We’ve all seen churches, and the remainder looked like every other church I’ve visited, so I took no photos.

We then hopped onto a bus, which whisked us up to the old section of Biella, where we toured La Palazzo La Marmora. Here’s another reason I love OAT. The palace is normally closed on Sunday, but it was opened just for us.

Our guide, the marquis, was a member of the illustrious family, whose tree adorned the dining room wall.

To say the artwork and antiques were interesting would be an understatement.

The matriarch who commissioned the following family portrait gave birth to 16 children. The girls all moved away after marriage, so the artist had to visit the homes of the daughters to create “sketches” that he later incorporated into the portrait. Of course, the gathering of all surviving children portrayed in the painting never occurred. (Was this the forerunner of Photoshop or AI?)

I thought I could figure out who was who by matching the clothing, but apparently the artist preferred different outfits.

The 4 sons on the upper right were all generals in the Crimean war. So what do you do when a cannonball almost kills you? Why, if you are a member of nobility, you bring it home, melt it down and recycle it into a chair.

One final example of the artwork, before we move on.

For some unknown reason, the marquis didn’t point out this mural on the dining room wall. Perhaps he didn’t want to have to explain what his ancestors were thinking about while they were munching on their Cheerios?

After the tour, most of the group chose to take an optional cooking class, but Susan and I decided to skip it. Instead, we had lunch in upper Biella at the “Hasta La Polenta” restaurant. How could we resist a restaurant sporting a plaque that said ( in Italian) “Ernest Hemingway never was here”?

I absolutely LOVE the Italian sense of humor. Take a look at the English translations on their menu.

Of course, after our entree, we HAD to have dessert. Here’s Susan, showing off her selection.

After our wonderfully filling lunch, Susan and I worked off some of our dessert by walking back to the hotel.

By then it was time to get ready for a “home hosted” dinner with Marcelo and Claudia in their historical home, built in the 1800’s.

Our group of 14 split up to have dinner with 3 different families.

For final day we visited a cheese farm, to partake in what OAT calls “A day in the life”. As the name suggests, OAT travelers are given an opportunity to experience the area’s daily life. The best part? We walked part of the way there — and the weather was perfect!

We all got a chance to “make” cheese, while we learned more about Elisa, our host. Although she has a degree in economics, Elisa decided she preferred to take over her grandparents’ cheese making business.

OAT group at a Day in the Life, with our hosts

We ended the day with a visit to (what else) the church complex at Oropa.

This “new” church was built for a papal visit

The original church incorporated this rock into its wall, presenting the perfect backdrop for yet another group photo.

Dinner was on our own, so four of us went for pizza at Doppio Zero. It was very good, but very different.

Next stop Lugano, Switzerland.

Goodbye France, Hello Italy

OAT made the right decision to start this adventure in Chamonix! Our hotel, the Lykke, was ideally located. We could walk to the many restaurants, bars, trails and attractions. And we DID.

Not only that, but if you needed down time, the hotel’s pool/ whirlpool /sauna complex was the ideal spot to relax and recharge. I visited there twice during my four day stay.

The MAIN attraction of Chamonix, however is the mountains in general, and Mont Blanc in particular. During our stay, we rode the classic cog train to view the glacier which either starts or ends at Mont Blanc. I forget. But really, who cares?

Unfortunately, the gondola was not accepting passengers, but we saw its practice run.

We were SUPPOSED to ride the gondola to an ice cave, but because of climate change, the cave was closed. A new ice cave had to be built nearer to the glacier. Because the pace of warming is escalating, our guide told us over the last few years, a new ice cave had to be constructed every year.

I find it hard to understand how someone cannot “believe” in global warming and climate change. Yes, I know, our planet has been through ice ages and warming trends, but those changes took centuries to occur, not years. But enough on that topic. For those of you who will never visit Chamonix, here’s what you would have seen.

The vertical arrow shows the current position of the glacier. The horizontal arrow near the bottom of the photo marks where the glacier ended four years ago.

And if you were lucky enough to get Luca as your guide and Francois as the local guide, this is who you would have seen it with.

It wasn’t a problem that we missed out on the gondola ride, because the next day, we rode two huge gondolas to get to the Mont Blanc viewing platform.

60 of us were jammed into the gondola. It felt like a NYC subway, minus the hanging straps.

The photos can’t possibly capture the grandeur of the mountains. But those of you who have been following this blog know I’m going to try!

Yes, those ARE clouds in the photo below. That’s how high we were.

Although WE rode the gondolas, others chose a different method for getting to the top.

None of us had a death wish, so that’s why we chose the safer, more boring option. We DID manage to walk through an ice cave, AND we made it to BOTH viewing platforms shown in the header of this post, which required us to mount several flights of stairs.

Luca, our guide, emerging from the ice cave

If we wanted, we could stand in line for about an hour to step into “the void”, which was a transparent cube that allowed you to see to the bottom of the mountain. I imagine that on one’s instagram feed, it would look like the poster was suspended in mid air. The photo taking was undoubtedly why the wait to enter the cube was so long!

One of the MANY photos this couple took!

Since none of us have an instagram feed, we skipped that experience.

Instead, we used our eyes to take in the spectacular views.

The views from the gondola , on the way up and down

Before we leave Chamonix, one last photo of almost all of the single ladies at dinner at the Rose du Pont

Me, AB, Stephanie, Susan and Kay. We are missing Gail, the photographer

Although we ended up in Brielle, like most OAT trips, our bus ride was broken up by a stop in Aosta, a charming town along the way. Mike would have LOVED Aosta, because it was chock full of ancient Roman ruins. Back then, it was called Augusta Praetoria, shorten over the ages to Aosta.

He heard there was gold in them thar hills, so he decided to “ veni, vidi, vici”.

The original arches are 32 steps below the surface of the modern city. I don’t recall why or how they were preserved, but I’ll bet you don’t care either.

After sharing a half a bottle of this

with my new friend Sarah, I decided to press send without proof reading.

Biella deserves its own post, and once I sober up, I’ll get to it. But until then, happy reading and thanks for coming along.

Hawaii – with Family

I have been WAY behind in my blogging, so as I cool my heels at the airport, I decided to use the time productively by writing about last April’s trip with Sandy’s daughter and granddaughters. San would have LOVED this trip and I would have loved to have her sharing my room with me!

I had been to Hawaii twice before. My initial Hawaiian experience was when I was 26, on my first ever business trip, with Harper & Row publishers. We spent early December 2025 on the “Big Island” at the Mona Kea Resort. Fortunately, we didn’t have cell phone back then to immortalize the scandalous goings on.

My second trip was to Maui, another business trip, this time with Prudential in 1986. That’s when I discovered I really, REALLY liked red wine.

My third trip will be my first pure vacation, with Kristen, Katherine (13 years old) and Bonnie (12 years old). Because we will be going during their April 2026 spring break, and time was limited, we decided to stay in Oahu on Waikiki Beach.

I was surprised to find that Costco had some really great packages. I decided against using them for airfare. Although the pricing was attractive, the flights were decidedly not. Given that Kristen and the girls already had to endure long flights from and back to Boston, I wanted to make it as painless as I possibly could.

We met at the Denver airport, then flew together to Honolulu

Costco came through with a great price for the Outrigger Reef Hotel, right on Waikiki Beach. The package came with lots of perks, like entrance to the gorgeous lounge, which offered complete breakfasts and late afternoon snacks that were substantial enough to serve as our dinners, accompanied by as much wine or soft drinks as desired.

Also in the package was a $250 credit for the poolside restaurant (which paid for 2 lunches for the 4 of us) and a Costco gift card to use upon return.

Because I had heard so much about Pearl Harbor, I decided to book a tour there, right after the lei lesson. What I hadn’t counted on was Mark, our instructor, seemed intent on talking about everything except how to make leis. I finally told him I had to leave for my Pearl Harbor tour in 30 minutes, which prompted him to dub me, “Miss Arizona”.

The three girls weren’t interested in visiting Pearl Harbor, so they instead took a trolley tour around the island. I think they made the wiser choice. I’m not sure why people go on and on about Pearl Harbor. I was decidedly unimpressed.

Because we had so many activities planned, we didn’t take advantage of as many of the resort programs as I initially expected. As usual the girls wanted to do different things.

Katherine had wanted to go surfing and Bonnie chose snorkeling, so I signed them both up for both activities. Thanks to my son, Greg, I used ChatGPT to help me narrow down the choices for activity vendors.

We were able to walk to the surf lesson at a nearby beach. Initially, I was annoyed because I had wanted the two of them to take a private lesson for two. My thinking was that they would be scheduled at the same time and it would be easier for us to watch them both. Because Bonnie was under 13, the company insisted that she have her own instructor, so they each got a private lesson. That turned out to be best, given how many other people were in the water. They BOTH were able to stand on their boards, but they were too far out for me to capture them riding the waves. Although a photographer was in the water with them, you could only buy a package for $80 each ($160 total). Sadly, they didn’t sell individual videos or photos. It was all or nothing.

I don’t remember which surf company we used, but I recall that we used the Honolulu Snorkel Company for our snorkeling adventure.

We were unable to drive there, so we took a taxi. The driver didn’t put on his meter and attempted to overcharge me. Because I knew the cost per mile and (thanks to Google Maps) the distance, I did the math and told him what the fare should have been. He agreed to pick us up and bring us back to the hotel for no additional charge — which was a fair price for round trip.

Upon arrival, we learned that the private guide I booked had been in an accident that morning, so I decided to just stay on the boat rather than join the snorkelers. It was a good decision, because both Bonnie and Katherine got stung by jellyfish. Fortunately, they were BABY jellyfish, so the damage was minimal, but still. The company KNEW that when the wind shifted direction, baby jellyfish were blown into the area, but no one warned us. Despite the stings, the girls had a good time, and didn’t complain about the stings at all.

Another fun activity was riding an outrigger canoe at the beach. We rowed out, then rode the waves back to shore.

We were able to walk to the luau that I had booked but I was disappointed to see that it was in the center of a nearby MALL. The food wasn’t great, but the audience participation was lots of fun. We all got tattoos:

Bonnie was invited onto the stage to join the drummers, and the dancers were excellent!

The following image was taken at the mall, but ChatGPT changed the background to make it look like the girls were on a beach with the “fire eater”. Where is Katherine, you ask? Well, she’s 13, so she doesn’t always want to have her photo taken.

All in all, it was a memorable, wonderful way to spend time with my three favorite girls! I got to sit with Bonnie on the flight to Oahu and Katherine on the way back. It doesn’t get much better than that!

The Falkland Islands

Whoever said “All good things must come to an end” was certainly right about this trip. It has been abso-bloody- lutely FANTASTIC. Every time I thought it couldn’t possibly get any better it DID.

Our four days in the Falklands were magical!

Here are some highlights, not in any particular order:

Eating in unusual spots:

Tea in the ship’s laundry room, and in a beautiful little cottage after a hike,

the garden outside the cottage, and in line for the barbecue at a different venue, on a sheep farm.

Sorry, no photos of the barbecue. My hands were full of delicious food, and then I was so caught up in the moment, I forgot to take a picture.

Hiking, hiking and MORE hiking

Wonderful friendships

I wasn’t able to find photos of ALL the friends I made on this trip, but here are a few of my favorites:

Interesting Sights

Lichen on rocks Dennis the naturalist told us ALL about them.

Animals animals and MORE animals

Partying down with the ship’s staff

On our last night in the Falklands, as we set sail for Ushuaia, the ship’s staff put on a very joyous show for us.

Most of the ship’s staff are Philippine, so they dressed up in traditional costumes and danced around the room, to the delight of all.

To end the evening, we were all invited to shake our booties, and we DID.

Our last night, we were able to thank our hard working staff:

Carlos, Marketa and Chef Sarah who were responsible for the wonderful meals ( and my considerable weight gain!)

And our captain, who was Scandinavian and therefore had an unpronounceable name spelled with unrecognizable letters.

I think he might have been with the penguins too long. Do you think he’s adopted the macaroni penguin’s hairdo?

Okay, so now you’ve heard about our wonderful experiences on the trip. My next post will be about Ushuaia and our return home.

About Those Sea Days

If you’ve been following along, by now you should have a really good idea why someone would choose to visit the Antarctic Circle. You’ve heard about the hikes, the zodiac cruises, the animal sightings. I haven’t said much about the sea days, and they are equally fantastic.

Multiple decks provide plenty of viewing opportunities

Let’s start out with the food. The variety is mind boggling. I’m a picky eater, but I’ve gotta tell you, every meal has tasted delicious and looked beautiful! Here’s a small sample.

Can you tell I really like desserts?

Of course, if anyone wants to return home sporting less than an additional ten pounds, there is a fully equipped gym on Deck 7.

I favored the recumbent bike, although I will admit, I didn’t use it as much as I should have.

I didn’t utilize the igloo on a sea day, but those days gave me time to write about them. There are TWO of these structures on deck 8. Those who want to spend a night in the igloo make a request, and if demand is high, a lottery determines who has access.

Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to have a photo of the interior taken before it got too dark.

I had been joking with my two new friends that I expected them to bring me a flask, sort of like the Saint Bernards dogs do in Switzerland.

Not only did they visit, but they brought three shots of tequila, salt, and limes so that we could have a proper toast

The bed’s headboard was transformed into a bar. You might be able to see that it took all three cell phones to generate enough light for our selfie. Of course, if I had been more observant, I would have noticed the lantern inside the igloo. I am probably the least observant person on this ship!

So, what was the experience like? Was it too cold? Too bright?

It was toasty warm, because the floor of the igloo is heated and hot water bottles are placed in the bed. And you can see for yourself that it was plenty dark. I will confess, however that when I was awakened by the howling wind and the rough seas, I gave it a half an hour to see if I could fall back asleep. When I couldn’t, I decided it would be wise to return to my cabin on a lower, more central deck.

My plan to use the infinity/ whirlpool right outside the igloo was revised. I HAVE used it and the sauna multiple times, but always during the day, when I can gaze out into the ocean. With the whirlpool running, it looks like I’m IN the ocean, doesn’t it? The light blue water is the whirlpool. The darker blue is the ocean, and the plexiglass separating the two is invisible.

Here’s a description of our activities for our second sea day.

Let’s say you’re too tired to go to the lounge for a talk. Hey, it happens. You can view the talk on the TV in your room, from the comfort of your bed.

Next stop, four days in the Falklands.

South Georgia Islands, Part Two

On our last day in the South Georgia Islands, we were given a choice. We could either replicate Shackleton’s route to the Grytviken whaling station, starting from Fortuna Bay, OR we could take a zodiac ride. You’ve probably guessed which one I chose, but in case you didn’t, here’s a visual.

Boris, our cruise director, was quite specific in his description of the hike: “ It is about 4 miles long, and VERY steep. You will be ascending about 1000 feet. You can take water with you, but no food. And there are no bathrooms, so control your water consumption. Once you get dropped off, there is NO turning back, so be absolutely sure you can make it. The boat will pick you up at the whaling station”.

My interpretation, although he didn’t specifically SAY it, was “you could die”. And I probably WOULD have.

The start of Shackleton’s trail. The hikers are the orange and blue dots.

Despite his dire description of the event, 30 people signed up for the hike. After sleeping on it, six people changed their minds, so 24 of my cruise mates, including my hero Paul, (who helped me up when I fell, on an earlier hike,) and my kayak buddy, Marc (who is my age) made the trek.

As for me, I went on an absolutely fantastic zodiac cruise, where we saw waterfalls,

Macaroni Penguins,

Here’s a close up of these adorable little guys

fur seals,

Equally cute, so they get a close up too.

and elephant seals

It was a perfect zodiac cruise. Once again, we were blessed with ideal weather. But wait, there’s more…

While at the Grytviken whaling station, we toasted Shackleton at his gravesite,

visited the museum,

and were able to send postcards from the only post office we had encountered, so far.

We set sail for the Falklands in the afternoon, and spent the next two days at sea.

I’m not going to describe the seas as rough. Let’s just say I was extremely grateful for my patch.

South Georgia Islands

As the young ‘uns would say, “O.M.G., the South Georgia Islands are AWESOME”!

Lucky me. I got to spend FOUR whole days there.

I had expected rain the entire time we were there, because I believed the weather reports, but we lucked out.

Yes, I DID get up at 4:45 AM, on the first morning to ensure we beat the drizzle. It was SO worth it. The King Penguins are also early risers, so the welcoming committee was out in full force to greet us .

As a bonus, we also saw elephant seals tussling. We later learned that it was because they were roughly the same size. Usually, they can visually determine which one is bigger, ( and thus the winner, who will get all the “girls”) so no need for contact sport. As Ella, our seal expert explained, elephant seals are lovers, not fighters.

Mostly, they like to “wallow” next to each other.

Some of us opted for a two hour, two mile hike, with about a four hundred foot elevation.

That it took two hours to cover two miles SHOULD have been the tipoff that this was not going to be a stroll in the park. But as Elvis once famously sang “ fools rush in where angels fear to tread”.

Those that know me, will instantly know which term applies to me. My reward? Seeing little guys like this one hiding out along the way.

We started at the beach, way, WAY below. Though the grassy part looked pretty benign, it wasn’t. It was very spongy, but looked deceptively solid. Then you stepped on it and SANK varying degrees. Still, I was glad I did the hike. Not bad for a soon to be 77 year old!

The hardest part, by far, was the descent. Let me tell ya, the next day my thighs were screaming “ What were ya thinkin”? This was an ARDUOUS hike. (My friend Jean will get that reference!).

Our afternoon zodiac cruise was equally spectacular. the photo below just doesn’t do it justice.

So, when we were offered the opportunity to do ANOTHER hike on day 3, this fool ignored the pain in her thighs and continued to “rush in”.

Although the second hike was definitely not as “arduous” as the first, it was not without its challenges. We needed to cross a glacial stream both coming AND going.

Once again, it looked deceptively simple. Once again, it was not. You see, the glacial melt randomly deposited many different sized rocks in the stream bed. Some moved unexpectedly when you placed your foot upon it. That’s why members of the crew were standing in the stream to help us across. I was happy to “volunteer” to perform a VERY important safety drill. When I stepped on one of those moveable rocks, I pitched backwards, almost pulling one of the naturalists into the stream with me. Fortunately, the crew member behind me grabbed my butt and shoved me upright. Sadly, that memorable event was not captured on video. Instead, I offer some photos as an alternative.

The next excitement for the day was when a fur seal charged at me, with teeth bared. No video of THAT exchange either. But I DO have a photo of me with my two new friends, Dorothy and Karen.

I have so many fantastic videos, I could easily make your eyes glaze over and have you mutter “enough, already”. I’m a wildlife nerd, and for ME, I can never have enough of these charming creatures.

I LOVED watching these penguins “porposing” through the water:

One more video and then I’ll stop.

We encountered a bit of a “traffic jam” while waiting for the zodiac to return us to the ship.

South Georgia will be continued in a future post.

Elephant Island

I’m at the point in my life where if I think I’m not going to enjoy the experience, I’m not going to do it. Our last day in Antarctica ( before heading to South Georgia Islands) was one of those days. Riding in a zodiac when the sea is choppy, the sky leaden, with the wind blowing is definitely not my idea of a good time. Especially when I can watch the action from a warm, gorgeous ship. If this had been my first trip to Antarctica, I might have made a different choice. But it wasn’t, so I didn’t.

Unfortunately, Ernest Shackleton’s crew had no choice. After their ship, the Endurance, (that’s also the name of MY ship) was crushed by ice, they slowly made their way to Elephant Island. Most of the crew waited patiently for almost 5 months until Shackleton and his 5 companions could reach South Georgia to find help at one of the whaling stations.

That’s the reader’s digest version of Shackleton’s voyage.

Needless to say, their cuisine didn’t look quite like what we’ve been eating.

But I digress…back to Elephant Island.

I took the above photo from the ship. Those white dots that you see on the shore are penguins. They are certainly cute to watch, but I’ve already done that, and with another two weeks left on the cruise, I’m sure I’ll be seeing more.

It might not look rough, but remember, that video was shot from my balcony on deck 5. Why can you see two zodiacs containing only 1 passenger, you ask? Well those are members of the crew, standing ready to pluck someone from the frigid waters, just in case the seas started to REALLY rock n roll.

Compare that to the day before, taken from my kayak.

Now THAT experience was absolutely wonderful. What is not obvious from the photo was there were patches of surface ice. We had to break thru it with our paddles, which was a bit of a workout. A very NECESSARY workout, given the way I’ve been eating. Thank goodness for elastic waistbands!

I was very lucky to be paddling with an experienced kayaker, who was steering us through the icebergs.

Was kayaking the origin of the term “back seat driver?”

Marc was able to get us close enough to the nearby island so that I could get my first shots of Adélie penguins.

I was NOT as enthusiastic about the next activity, the polar plunge, but many of my shipmates were.

I figured once was quite enough. When Greg and I did it in 2011, we had to walk into the water, then return to the beach, and ride a zodiac all the way back to the ship. The 2026 version looked to be a whole lot better, given that the hot tubs and sauna were just a short elevator ride away.

We didn’t have a ship photographer capturing our moment, but Mike chose not to participate, so he was able to do the honors. My mother’s comment? “Mike’s the only one of you that has any sense”. Thanks, mom.

So let’s get back to 2026.

You don’t need to be on shore or in a zodiac to see wondrous sights. As we were traveling to Point Wild, we came across a massive pod of blue whales. Unfortunately, they stay mostly underwater, so the only way to know of their existence was spotting their “blows”.

This was as good as I could get, but undoubtedly those with powerful lenses did a whole lot better.

I liked this photo because you can see the tiny penguins swimming alongside the blue whales.

The weather alongside Elephant Island changed yet again from the brief sunny interlude during our whale watch,

to a progressively cloudier and foggier setting.

That didn’t stop some of my more determined cruise mates from getting into zodiacs to see what they could see at the historic Wild Point. Me, I decided to hear about it at the evening recap.

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