photography – Destination NOW

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.

San Candido and The Dolomites

Before we boarded our bus to drive to San Candido, I couldn’t resist two last Bolzano shots. The Grief Hotel had the very best breakfast of the trip (at least so far). I LOVE fresh fruit.

I also enjoyed the beautiful poppies in front of the cathedral, almost as much as the bees did.

Our first stop was at the stunning Lake Carezza. On the ride there, Luca told us the story of a beautiful fairy who was looking for a handsome man (aren’t we all?). The ugly old wizard, who was quite smitten, changed himself into a handsome suitor, but the fairy figured it out, changed him back, then pushed him into the lake, which became a veritable rainbow of colors.

She didn’t even bother to determine whether he had redeeming qualities! I was ready to write her off as a superficial witch until I saw this at the lake, which offered a very different perspective. Maybe there are multiple sides to every story!

Which legend do YOU prefer?

The twisty mountain ride through the Dolomites ensured everyone on the bus got an excellent view. If the view was on the left, no problem, because around the bend, it will be on the right. I’m very glad I don’t suffer from motion sickness!

Believe it or not, I took the next two photos from a moving bus with my new IPhone 17.

Well, at least I am impressed by the phone’s capabilities!

Our hike gave us plenty of “Kodak Moments”, like these:

For THIS hike, we were offered options: a short hike and a long one. Susan and I got outvoted, so we took the short hike, which was still very picturesque.

The photos can’t possibly do the vistas justice. You just have to come to the Alps to see for yourself. (Or watch a PBS special).

San Candido is another glorious village that I never would have found on my own. Thank you, OAT, for this little gem.

We occupied every single room in this boutique hotel. Because every room is decorated differently, it feels like you are staying in someone’s home.

The main attraction of the area is hiking. That’s what we came for, and that’s what we did. This time, we all did a short hike around the lake, then those of us who wished could continue around the lake for what Luca described as “more challenging”.

Because Susan and I have been the speediest hikers, Luca looked directly at us when he said “whoever gets to the beach first needs to find us a picnic table”. As you can see, we took the assignment very seriously.

For the challenging part of the hike, we were joined by our buddies, Dan and Jodie.

Once again, for our final day in San Candido, we lucked out with the weather. Fortunately for us, the weather forecast was much worse than what we experienced. But the forecast resulted in the optional ($220 per person) hiking trip in the Dolomites to be cancelled.

Instead, Luca substituted a (free) beautiful morning hike by the river, and it was GREAT!

Susan and I decided to take the forecast of rain starting at noon seriously so we hightailed it back to the ski lift. No way were we missing the chance to ride up to the top of the mountain and take the “fun bob” down. It was every bit as AMAZING as we anticipated!

Dan and Jodie surprised us by positioning themselves so they could capture our descent.

I was so focused on my path under the bridge

I didn’t even notice Jodie standing on it with camera readied for us!

Admit it. You didn’t spot her either!

The rain DID fall, but by then Susan and I were seated under an awning, enjoying our lunch.

What does one do on a rainy day in a ski/ hiking town? Well if “one” is me, you invite your favorite travel companions to a party in one’s suite. The local grocery store carried Franciacorta wine, which is not sold in the USA. What’s special about it, you ask? Ms Google describes it this way:

“Franciacorta is a premier Italian sparkling wine from Lombardy. Crafted using the Metodo Classico (identical to Champagne’s bottle-fermentation), it is the first Italian wine to earn DOCG status. It offers incredible complexity, fine bubbles, and rich tasting notes of brioche, citrus, and toasted nuts. “

Dan discovered yet another( very practical) use for my bidette.

After that, we were more than ready to walk through the hailstorm to dinner !

Next stop Innsbruck!

Bolzano

Although Mike and I visited Bolzano in 2018, I had absolutely no memory of anything except Otzi, the Iceman. And because I wasn’t traveling solo back then, I didn’t blog as often, — Mike tended to distract me —so I couldn’t even consult my “on-line” trip journal.

So, I’ll just have to wait till I get back home to see whether the photos on my computer jog my memory. Oh, a mind is a terrible thing to lose.

This time, the trip to Bolzano included a morning stop in the lovely village of Monza where the Carabinieri were having some sort of a convention.

The main attraction was supposed to be (what else?) the Monza Cathedral, which houses the iron crown that was used for Charlemagne’s coronation. The Italian policemen were an unexpected bonus.

This is a replica. The real deal is locked up below.

So what makes this crown so special? Well, in 324 AD, St Helena, mother of Charlemagne, traveled to the Holy Land. The enterprising locals quickly recognized an opportunity to make a few shekels, so they told this gullible woman that they found a nail that was used to crucify Jesus (in their grandpa’s attic, no doubt). Oh, and by the way, if she wanted—and had enough money—she could also purchase a piece of the cross on which Jesus hung. (She did. It is a relic someplace else—I forget where).

The centuries old nail was melted down and made a part of the interior of the crown. No photos of the relic were allowed, but that’s okay, because the crown made it into the cathedral’s brochure.

Must have been a really big nail to circle the interior of the crown. Something tells me it will never be carbon dated.

Theolinda’s chapel was totally covered with visually impressive frescoes, but photos were only allowed to be taken at a distance, outside the chapel.

Who was Theolinda, you ask? Well the frescoes tell the story of her life. She was a Bavarian princess, who outlived her two Lombard husbands ( no small feat, back then). There is more to her story than that, but I’ve forgotten the details. Supposedly, she is buried in that chapel.

It wouldn’t be a Catholic house of worship without an image of a gruesome death, and this cathedral was no exception: John the Baptist’s severed head was prominently displayed.

We had time between our cathedral tour and lunch, to explore Monza. Here are a few of our sights.

It’s a good thing that the morning was so delightful, because we spent the remainder of the day stuck in traffic, arriving at our hotel around 9PM.

We were lucky that our bus was super comfortable, we all had our entertainment centers (otherwise known as cellphones) and all bus seats had charging ports. Plus, we pulled into a comfort station to load up on snacks when it became apparent that we needed to cancel our dinner reservation. Fortunately, everyone rolled with it, without complaining.

As usual, we started our day with a local guide who pointed out what makes Bolzano special. Our tour ended at the archaeological museum, where we could visit Otzi. Although the iceman was fascinating, Susan and I had already seen him, so we chose to roam the streets of Bolzano instead.

Though we only two nights in Bolzano, we packed a lot into our brief visit, including a hike on the Freud Promenade. To get there, we had to take a train that strongly resembled NYC mass transit during rush hour, which was definitely not a highlight. Like everything else in life, when you travel ya gotta take the good with the bad.

But the NEXT part of our journey more than made up for the crowded train ride. This fabulous gondola provided 360 degree views of the beautiful countryside.

The walk was lovely, the weather was perfect, and by the time we finished, we had worked up quite an appetite.

Once again, Luca chose a fantastic restaurant, where we were served our choice of three courses. I had delicious barbecued ribs, and ended up so full, I began to wonder whether I’m going to exceed my usual five trip pounds gain!

Our next stop will be in San Candido. I sure hope the weather report continues to be wrong, because it is predicting rain for all three days that we are there.

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.

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.

Ushuaia, and the Drake Passage

Our flight to Ushuaia took off at 11:20, an hour and a half late. Okay, so maybe we got off to a bit of a rocky start.

Did we really need to leave the hotel at 7AM, to spend over 3 hours in a domestic airport that only had unappealing snacks? After we landed in Ushuaia, I realized it was truly a minor inconvenience, soon to be forgotten.

The above photo was taken on our 2011 trip, but the experience hasn’t changed at all. It was every bit as harrowing as the first time. We popped through dense clouds, in between the mountains, to make a bumpy, rather exciting landing.

But enough about the downside of travel. The Endeavor, our ship is exquisite!

While it was being cleaned and readied for our arrival, we had a late lunch, while we cruised thru the Beagle Channel on a catamaran.

I didn’t take any photos, because I knew I couldn’t top the ones from 2011. Today, 15 years later, I didn’t see a single seal, which made me sad. I hope climate change didn’t do them in—perhaps they were just frolicking elsewhere.

Everyone that I have met so far, both in the hotel and on the ship, is really friendly, interesting, and well traveled. I am delighted that I will have time to get to know many of them over the coming weeks.

The ship’s management very thoughtfully arranged for us single travelers to meet for dinner. Marc from Boston is the only man traveling solo. He doesn’t seem to mind being outnumbered.

So many people have asked me “ what do you do on a trip like that”?

Well, there is no shortage of activities. So far, I’ve missed the 7AM stretching class, and I haven’t made it to the gym or sauna, but I plan to take advantage of all of them really soon.

I HAVE attended the very informative lectures, such as this one on Seabirds. This lecture focused on petrels and albatross. Quite honestly, I don’t really care about the 126 different species! Fortunately, meither did the lecturer.

I won’t bore you with the details, other than to tell you that the way to differentiate between those two species is by the number of nostrils they have. If you want to know more, you have to either come on an Antarctica cruise or ask me yourself.

Tomorrow we expect to be clear of the Drake, and will be able to enjoy our first landing on Antártica.

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