I have a couple of days of activities to catch up on, but in the meantime, I want to share what we woke up to this morning. Our Expedition Leader, Olivia, made a ship-wide announcement at 7:30 am to let us know that we were going to enter the La Mer Passage at 8:00. The passage is usually full of ice. Olivia and the captain didn’t know if we’d be able to enter the passage, so they didn’t announce this yesterday. They just made the decision this morning when we got to the passage.

The passage is seven miles long and only 2,000 meters wide at its narrowest point. We are the largest ship to ever sail down it, and this was only the second time to do so. At other times, it has either been too full of ice or the weather had low visibility. As you’ll see, the weather today is sunny and gorgeous! We were able to sail almost the full length of the passage. There was an ice blockage at the end, so we turned around and sailed back out. 

The passage is also called Kodak Alley, because it is the most photographed place in Antarctica. Enjoy!

After a second night of rocking back and forth while the ship finished crossing Drake’s Passage, we awoke to find that we were at the entrance to the English Strait. We had spent the last 36 hours crossing Drake’s, and we were happy to 1) see land and 2) officially see Antarctica. 

We went outside on the bow of the ship where the crew greeted us with hot chocolate and Irish coffee and watched as the ship navigated the strait with islands on either side.

During that time we saw lots of penguins swimming around the ship, popping up out of the water and then diving below the surface again. We also saw several whales off in the distance with water spouts and tails making an occasional appearance.

The weather wasn’t too bad (34 degrees, cloudy, slight breeze), so we stayed outside for an hour. During this time, the crew started a mandatory safety drill, so as we headed inside for breakfast, crew members were walking around in life vests going to various stations while announcements were being made over the intercom system. Because this was a simulation, the Expedition Leader, Olivia, would say, “For exercise,” before giving each instruction to the crew. My favorite was hearing “For exercise, for exercise, for exercise. Abandon ship. Abandon ship.” All while we were eating breakfast.

The ship continued to cruise through the morning until we reached Fort Point, our first “port” of call, at noon. The ship dropped anchor, and everyone prepared for an afternoon of outdoor activities. Each day, the ship sails to a new location where guests have a choice of excursions – going on land for a hike, taking a cruise around the bay, kayaking, or going for a submarine dive.

We were scheduled for a hike at 4 pm. The first set of zodiac boats ferried people across the water, and we watch people disembark and walk around the spit of land. There was a penguin colony at this location, so I was vibrating with excitement. The thing about penguins is that they poop, and when you have a colony of penguins, the smell from so much penguin poop can be overwhelming. We could even smell it from the ship.

When it was our turn for our hike, we got suited up and stood in line to get on a zodiac. We were a few minutes away from starting our adventure when all excursions were canceled for the rest of the day. The weather had taken a turn for the worse, and there were large swells on the water and gusty winds which made it dangerous to go out. We were a bit disappointed, but we also know that you need to be flexible in Antarctica.

When we met up with Jolie and Lucy later in the afternoon, we heard that they had been on land when the weather turned. They were some of the last people to be ferried back to the ship, and their boat filled up with water on the way back due to the swells.  As Lucy put it, they got the Shackleton Experience where they thought they might die in Antarctica.

The four of us had a nice, leisurely dinner together sharing stories about our day. As we were finishing dinner, we looked outside and saw a big iceberg going by. Of course, we went bananas and took a bunch of photos. Little did we realize that 24 hours later we would have seen so many icebergs that we would say, “Oh look. Another iceberg. Whatever.”

The ship pulled anchor at 8 pm and sailed to our next destination on calm seas while we slept.

On Tuesday night, we went to sleep as the ship entered Drake’s Passage, and the water was pretty calm.

The thing about Drake’s Passage – it is the body of water between the tip of South America and Antarctica. It is also the craziest water on the whole planet. The way the ocean currents meet each other without any land masses to slow things down means that the water can be quite violent, but sometimes the water can be relatively calm. There are two nicknames for the passage – Drake Lake and Drake Shake.

We were lucky to have the Drake Lake during our 36-hour passage, so we didn’t experience violent waves or significant seasickness. However, the water did start to make the ship roll side to side, very gently, but enough to rock us awake during the night and make the boat creak and grown. So sleep was on and off, fitful during the night.

On Wednesday, as we continued across the passage, the boat continued to roll. As we moved around the ship, we found ourselves weaving left and right as we tried to walk in a straight line. It was like a ship full of toddlers trying to get around. It’s helpful to keep one hand touching a wall or handrail to stabilize yourself.

In the morning, we had another mandatory training session, this one in accordance with the agency that regulates tourism to Antarctica. We were taught how to walk on the land without disturbing the natural ecosystem like local plants, penguin “highways,” snow pack. We also learned about the importance of keeping the continent clean by not tracking in foreign objects on our clothes and shoes and preventing accidental littering (think about things getting blown out of your hands or falling out of your pockets), and we had to get our person gear inspected for foreign contaminants.

I also attended a lecture from the lead scientist on board our ship. Did I mention that our ship has a science lab with actual scientists and ongoing scientific research activities that are tied into research projects around the world? Awesome!

During the day, we also attended kayak training sessions where we learned about kayak protocol and had to do a physical test to show that we are able to slide from a zodiac boat into a kayak on the open ocean and get back onto the zodiac again. Let’s just say that it is not a graceful procedure.

Oh! I also had to go through a training session to be able to go on a submarine excursion. More on that later.

At the end of the day, a light supper amongst the four of us. Even though we had seasickness drugs, we all still felt funny after a day of the boat rolling around, so we all went to be early. And the boat kept rolling all night long, so we kept waking up and trying to go back to sleep and being annoyed, but it was all worth it the next morning when we spotted this…

We got up at 5 am on Tuesday morning so we could eat a quick breakfast and then board the shuttle bus at 5:45 to head back to the airport. We were lucky to be in Viking Group 2 heading back to the airport. Group 1 left at 3:10 am.

Viking had put all of its guests and crew in two hotels, the Intercontinental and the Hilton.  There were several shuttle busses taking everyone back to the airport on Tuesday morning where Viking had chartered two commercial planes to take all of us to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, to meet up with the cruise ship. It was kind of strange to think that everyone on our plane was headed to Antarctica – a plane full of intrepid explorers!

Our 3-1/2-hour flight landed in Ushuaia at noon. We checked in on the ship and went through safety training. We had a few hours to kill, so the four of us walked into town and strolled around. We were expecting a quaint little village and instead discovered a city of 82,000 people nestled in a little bay. The town is a jumping off point for several cruise companies and is also a stopover for South American cruises that are sailing around Cape Horn.  As a result, the town is chock full of tourist shops, souvenirs, and restaurants. I don’t think we got to see the “real” Ushuaia.

We were all back on the ship for the 5 pm daily briefing. The daily briefings give updates on what to expect the following day – weather, boat and land excursions, on-board activities, lectures, musical performances, films. Then we headed to the Explorer’s Lounge at the bow of the ship to have a cocktail, bid adieu to the Americas, and watch Ushuaia disappear as the ship set sail.

We had dinner together and then headed to bed. After a shortened sleep the night before in Buenos Aires and then the red-eye flight the night before that, we were ready to hit the hay. We were a little nervous about rough waters on the Drake Passage, but we managed to get to sleep.  Now did we stay asleep all night? Hmmm…

Our flight from Atlanta to Buenos Aires was long (10 hours) but uneventful. And, yes, I did manage to pack everything in carry-on.  Here’s proof:

We did see some interesting things during the flight including orange lightning off in the distance. We also sighted many lights in the water off the coast of Chile. We thought maybe they were oil rigs or other permanent structures in the sea, because they were too regular to be ships. And then, a beautiful sunrise over the Andes.

We’re on a trip with Viking Cruises, so representatives met us at the airport when we arrived and guided us to the transportation shuttle. Viking had booked hotel rooms for everyone, so we hopped onto a shuttle with 30 other people and headed to the Intercontinental Hotel. We checked in, got our daily download from Viking, and then headed out to explore the city.

Monday was a public holiday to honor the Immaculate Conception. Our hotel was in a business district and, since it was a holiday, almost everything was closed. 

Our Viking rep told us to go to Puerto Madero neighborhood and assured us that lots of people would be strolling along the canal on this holiday day, and that there would plenty of restaurants open for lunch. As it turns out, Jolie and Lucy got booked into a hotel in that area, so off we went to meet up and spend the afternoon together.

There is a large canal there that the federal government constructed to act as a shipping port, but either it was never used as a port or only used for a couple of years. The shipping needs outgrew the size of the port, and the area was essentially abandoned. Fast forward several years, and this area is Buenos Aires’ newest neighborhood with lots of recent development, pedestrian zones, apartment buildings, hotels, restaurants and bars.

The four of us walked around for a little, exploring the area, and then stopped for a leisurely lunch of typical Argentine food – steak, pasta, grilled veggies, empanada, and a couple of apps.

After lunch, we visited an old ship that had been decommissioned and was now a museum. After paying 70 cents each for admission, we climbed aboard and explored the ship. It’s always interesting to check out ships and submarines and imagine what it’s like to live on those vessels for months at a time.

And once upon a time, there was a dog that boarded this particular ship and became the crew mascot and was so beloved that, when he died, he was taxidermied and kept on ship as an honorary sailor.

After an afternoon of exploration and catching up with friends, we headed back to the hotel for a light dinner. Due to the red-eye flight to Buenos Aires, we went to bed at 9 pm. We also had to get up at 5 am the next morning, so we wanted to get some good sleep.  We will return to Buenos Aires on Dec 13, and we’re looking forward to a week in the city so we can explore its various neighborhoods.

A few months ago, I was texting my BFF, Jolie.  (Yeah, yeah, Juli and Jolie.) We hadn’t talked in a while, so I was catching her up on my life – cataracts, arthritis, maybe glaucoma – and she said, “Well I just got a huge promotion at work and then Lucy and I are going to Antarctica.”  I was speechless for a split second and then yelled, “OMG can I go with you?”  Well, I yelled via text.  And two days later Chad and I had booked tickets on the same trip.

I never thought I would actually go to Antarctica, but once the opportunity was staring me in the face, it became real.  I thought, I could wait until I retire when I’m older and my knees are tired and I might have physically difficulties, or I could just go now RIGHT NOW with my BFF of 50 years and her wife.  Oh, and with my husband, which was a touch and go decision for a little bit because of the potential for epic seasickness.  (More later on Drake’s Passage, the roughest water on the planet.)

To prepare for our trip, we had to purchase a few layers – wool socks, sock liners, long underwear, base layers, fleece, waterproof Gor-tex gloves, wool glove liners, wool neck gators – things I never thought I would purchase as someone who lives in the South.  The travel company provides a parka, winter overpants, and boots.  You have to give the pants and boots back, but you get to keep the parka.  Which will be so useful in Georgia.

The Antarctica portion of the trip takes about 2 weeks, itinerary is below.  And then we decided that, as long as we’re flying all that way, let’s spend Christmas week in Buenos Aires because 1) Buenos Aires is beautiful and 2) Christmas in a Catholic country is probably pretty amazing.  And thus our December in the Southern Hemisphere was born.

We went to the Emory University travel clinic primarily to get seasick meds (Drake’s Passage), but we came away with all kinds of prescriptions and vaccines for covid, Hep A, Hep B, typhoid, tetanus, traveler’s tummy. The travel clinic was doing its job and preparing us for illnesses that aren’t so common in the US but that we might be exposed to in Argentina.  The nurses also told us not to eat the street food in Argentina.  As if. I’ve already figured out where the food trucks are in B.A.

Now we’re finishing up the work week, super-cleaning the house for the Rover house sitters, and thinking about how we’re going to get all of our stuff into carry-on bags because we don’t check luggage.  Here’s a photo of my stuff from our 6-week trip to Italy in 2018 – carry-on is possible! But cold-weather clothes for Antarctica are bulky, so there’s that.

Here are some things we expect to see in Antarctica – gentoo penguins, Weddell seals, whales, glaciers, antarctic terns, giant petrels, other birds, whaling heritage, geology, fur seals, chinstrap penguins, and southern elephant seals.

Chad plans to unplug, but I will not!  I will be the Intrepid Travel Blogger!  (Except for maybe the Drake’s Passage seasickness part.) So check back for more posts over the next month if you want to follow along.

Itinerary:

Day 0 – depart Atlanta 7:30 pm

Day 1 – land in Buenos Aires 7:30 am, meet up with Jolie and Lucy at the Intercontinental Hotel, spend the day exploring the historic city center, stay the night

Day 2 – fly to Ushuaia, southernmost town in Argentina, board the boat, pray to the Gods of Calm Water

Day 3 – sail Drake’s Passage

Day 4 – arrive in Antarctica and anchor for a week, take a Zodiac cruise up the coast to explore

Day 5 – hike on Danco Island

Day 6 – travel down the coast in a Special Ops Boat, whatever that is

Day 7 – hike around Nekko Harbor

Day 8 – hike on Portal Point

Day 9 – hike around Mikkelson Harbor

Day 10 – hike Half Moon Island

Day 11 – Drake’s Passage, have mercy on us

Day 12 – scenic sail around Cape Horn, Chile

Day 13 – arrive back at Ushuaia, fly to Buenos Aires

Day 14-20 – Christmas in Argentina, lots of things to see and eat, more details to come, red eye flight out

Day 21 – arrive in Atlanta 5 am, Sunday – tired and maybe cranky at each other, but loving the experience…once in a lifetime…

The Tiber River runs west to east through central Rome.  I love walking along the river and watching the water.  The river also offers a respite from the streets where you are surrounded by tall buildings, because the river offers a wide-open expanse and view.

rapids on the river

rapids on the river

in the middle of the photo, you can see the remains of the ancient Roman bridge with the modern bridge behind it

a view of the river from the lower level

this section of the wall next to one of the bridges has plants and flowers growing out of it

You can either walk along at street level or you can go down to the boardwalk at the river level.  On one of our previous visits, there was a festival down on the boardwalk, and Chad and I spent an evening down there walking around, looking at things for sale amid the temporary tents with food and bars.

2018 riverside festival – food and crafts tents

2018 riverside festival – checking out the activities

2018 riverside festival – checking out the activities

There is an island in the middle of the river called La Tiberina.  On the island there is a hospital run by the Catholic Church, a hotel, a large church, a couple of restaurants, and a gelato shop.  We stopped at the gelateria and I got two flavors – lemon-basil and fresh pear.  Yum!  During a previous visit, we had lunch at one of the restaurants and enjoyed a wonderful tasting menu.

the west end of the Tiberina island

the island’s church

the island’s hospital

The river draws people at all hours of the day and night, and we walked along it or across it several times a day.  The river is particularly beautiful at night.

And finally, a video shot one night while we were crossing a bridge from Trastevere into central Rome.

On this trip, we stayed in the Trastevere neighborhood just as we have done on past trips.  Trastevere is just across the Tiber River from the Jewish Ghetto and the famous monuments just beyond.  Our street food tour guide told us that “tras” means “across” and “tevere” means “Tiber.”  However, I had previously learned that the neighborhood got its name from “tra” which means “between” and “stevere” which was an ancient spelling of “Tiber.”  If you look at the neighborhood on a map, you can see that it is nestled in a bend in the Tiber and that it is surrounded on three sides by the river.  It’s between the river.

In any case, I love this neighborhood.  It is a lively area with lots of restaurants and bars, good food and wine shops, pretty churches, cute streets. 

entrance to a small plaza

our go-to wine bar in the neighborhood

a typical street

another typical street

a little courtyard at the end of a street

the facade of this restaurant was covered in lights

outdoor dining

we found a cool little shop with lots of interesting foodstuffs

Of course, along with all of this great stuff comes throngs of tourists.  It wasn’t too bad now in May, but Chad said last August it was unbearable with shoulder-to-shoulder people in the streets.

Trastevere makes a convenient home base for seeing the sites of Rome.  You cross a bridge over the river and you’re in the Jewish Ghetto.  You walk a few minutes more and you’re at Trevi Fountain or the Pantheon.  Walk a little more and you can see the coliseum and the forum.  You can even walk to St. Peter’s and the Vatican from Trastevere, but it’s more of a hike.

Much like Molise in the springtime, flowers were in bloom in Trastevere.  Everywhere you look, you can see buildings draped in ivy, jasmine, and bougainvillea, so this creates walls of color in the spring.

There is also a lot of graffiti in the neighborhood.  Some of it is just straight-up spray paint tagging, but a lot of it is nice street art.

We had a couple of memorable meals in the neighborhood.  One evening, we walked up to the top of a hill to Ristorante Umbre Rosse (Red Clouds) which had a wonderful, two-level outdoor dining area.

steps up the hill to the restaurant

you can see the upper level of seating behind Chad

I was so happy to have a giant salad

Chad had a giant plate of meat and cheese (I helped with some of it)

notice the variations on the Caipirinha on the drinks menu

Another evening, we ate at Ristorante Moridionale.  we had wanted to dine here before but couldn’t get reservations.  We were happy to have the opportunity this time around, and we sat at a table on the cobblestones across the street from the restaurant.

restaurant entrance

seared tuna with sesame seeds

chicory pallotte (kind of like a meatball but made with bread and cheese instead of meat)

dessert – semi-freddo gelato with chocolate sauce and pistachios

And one final photo from the Trastevere neighborhood.

a mosaic mural of a swimmer

This was our fourth time in Rome together.  During previous visits, we made a point of seeing the monuments, going to other tourist sites, and exploring the city by walking all over the place.  On this trip, we did have an agenda, but it was not tourist-related.  Agenda items included figuring out how to get 24 liters of olive oil home, going to Ristorante Giulia, going to a restaurant specializing in Abruzzese food, and generally just wandering around.

In a densely populated city such as Rome, it’s beneficial to have a small car.  You can see lots of Smart cars which zip around and are easier to park than larger cars.

One benefit of a Smart car is that it can park perpendicular in a parallel parking zone.

We also saw some newer models of cars that we hadn’t see in the past.

Here’s a little 2-person electric car at a charging station.

Here’s a one-person electric car by Renault

All-electric Yoyo model by XEV

Of course, motorcycles, Vespas, and other scooters are also great, because you can zip in and out of traffic, and free parking is easy.

A church plaza filled with motorcycles and scooters

Speaking of driving, we learned two new things while in Italy.  First, if you move to Italy, you can only drive with a foreign license for one year.  After that, you have to have an Italian driver license if you want to drive.  Second, the driver test is extremely hard.  We heard this both from our Canadian friends and from Chad’s Italian relatives.  So, in preparation for a potential move to Italy, we went to a bookstore in Rome and bought a two-volume driver license study guide.  Volume one is the textbook, and volume two contains thousands of example test questions.  Of course, the books are all in Italian and the language is very technical, so, in addition to learning the Italian rules of the road, these books will be an exercise in translation for us.

driver license study books

We did walk past some of the famous sites such as Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon.  However, I didn’t take any photos there since I already have photos from previous trips.  Instead, I took notice of other interesting buildings and urban features.

I liked this stately building on the corner of a main avenue

This archway led into a grand courtyard

another view of the church that had all of the scooters parked in the plaza in front

a little alley in the Jewish ghetto

I liked the covered terrace at the top of this building – seems like a good place to hang out when it’s too hot in the sun or when it’s raining outside

this church was at the intersection of two narrow streets, so it was hard to get a good photo, but it had an interesting “coin offering” feature

this church had a slot on the front of the building where you can insert coins to support the poor who have died (and are perhaps in purgatory?)

I love this fountain with its turtles.

the fountain

close-up of the turtles

We also paused to notice the details that are typically overlooked by tourists who are on a schedule.

Parking on the main avenue along the river had notices indicating that parking would be prohibited that weekend due to the Giro d’Italia passing through Rome (the Giro is the Italian version of the Tour de France).

Many of the cobblestone streets are so narrow that there is no room for a sidewalk.  Instead, a pedestrian pathway is striped off and a symbol indicates which side to walk on.

Throughout our trip, we saw a lot of unique restrooms signs in restaurants indicating Men’s and Women’s.  Here’s one for the women’s room in Ristorante Giulia.

We saw some fun things in shop windows.

I liked this jewelry set inspired by leaves from the ginkgo tree

We saw this coffee service fashioned from chocolate in a confectioner’s shop

this is perhaps the world’s largest loaf of deli meat

And, finally, viewership of Stranger Things is not limited to the United States.

a cardboard cutout of Eddie Munson

at Easter time, giant chocolate eggs are given as gifts – here’s a Stranger Things chocolate egg that I saw at the beginning of our trip

Our return to the U.S. started out auspiciously.  Our flight landed 45 minutes early.  I know!  When does that ever happen?  We zipped through immigration, collected our checked luggage and went to Jim and Fran’s house to stay the night.  The plan was to relax, eat a light supper, and get a good night’s sleep and then pack up the kitties and go on to our house on Saturday morning.

Luna died in the middle of the night.  I found her the next morning curled up under a table.  She was only 10 years old, so it was quite a shock.  We’re just thankful that we got to spend her last day with her.  She was a sweet and curious girl.  Instead of getting settled back into our house and enjoying the holiday weekend, we went to the pet crematory and grieved.  Luna was always looking out the windows and trying to sneak out of the house, so we will sprinkle her ashes in our garden.

So that was Saturday.  Sunday morning, Chad and I both woke up sick with colds.  I haven’t been sick in years, and I forgot how much it sucks.  Then on Monday night, a mosquito got into the house and feasted on me while I was sleeping.  I’ve got over 60 mosquito bites.  So in addition to concluding our vacation and dealing with jet jag, our cat died, we’re both sick, and my entire body itches.

On the bright side, we still have our kitty Bokchoy who has been very snuggly since we got home.  The packages that we shipped from Rome made it to Georgia without any problems.  The head colds will go away, and the mosquito bites will heal.  We miss Luna immensely, but we have many years of wonderful memories with her.  She had a good life with us, filled with lots of love and lots of cat treats.  Ciao, Luna.

our sweet, curious, cuddly Luna