It is probably boring to hear about our quiet, relaxing and comfortable time together in Seattle. So, we haven't written. What could be interesting about reading about our days of sleeping in, taking walks and cooking meals together? We are being very diligent about cleaning up our gastronomic act...we are eating totally vegetarian, non-fat foods. It is a big change from our lavish traveling meals. Caitie has thrown in her assistance and it has been a joy to cook meals together. Tonight she invited a friend over for dinner (Beans, Spanish rice and tortillas) and she baked a (unbelievably) wonderful non-fat carrot cake. It was fun to work together on the meal.
We are catching up on our doctor and dentist visits. The library is back on my every other day visitation schedule. Eating vegetarian requires more frequent shopping, so we hang out at the stores now. Boring, Huh?
Later....
Monday, June 2, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Back to Seattle
After 26 hours door to door from San Sebastian Spain to LA, a three hour nap and then a drive to Palm Springs, we finally were able to pick up our car and head north to Seattle. We made a stop in the Bay Area to see our daughter Megan, husband Matt and Athena and Ricky. They are all doing great with Megan back to work, Matt teaching a Latin course for HS seniors at Cal this summer, Athena and Ricky both with birthdays in June. They are amazing children and a credit to their parents who could write a book on proper parenting. After a shopping spree in which Athena got to purchase her own birthday gifts with her self proclaimed budget of $14.99. She was actually pretty close until we let her do some deficit spending:) It was wonderful to see them all and we are planning a summer visit for a week or so. Our trip back to Seattle took about 13 hours with Deanne and I driving in 2 hour shifts.
We had our last In & Out burger in Redding Ca. knowing that healthy diets begin the following day. We arrived at 10 pm on a surreal, misty, rainy Seattle night ( we have a lot of these) Our great tenants had left our home in pristine condition for which we are grateful. We unloaded the car, and just let the sounds of Seattle sink in, the late night boaters, the water lapping against the logs, the creaking of the struts on the dock and the wind coming from the Southwest bringing with it the familiar rains we are famous for here in the Emerald City. The foghorns, the sightseeing vessels making their last trip back to harbor, the Mariners flag flying on the home across the channel and finally the sight of the Space Needle along with the city lights illuminating a the lake and Queen Anne hill across the way. What a sight, with the clean fresh air and the familiarity of being home and a sense of completion we look forward to having Caitie home tonight, Mike and Dana, Matt and Jonny home on Sunday for a long awaited reunion. We woke up to the sound of the UW crew team practicing as they do each morning, making a pot of Peet's coffee and planning the day which will include taking all of our stuff out of the storage closet and resuming our normal daily activities. We will be on the road again in a number of months but for now we will enjoy the summer with friends and family re-telling the many adventures we were so fortunate to experience. Stay tuned!!
Ciao for Now
Mike
We had our last In & Out burger in Redding Ca. knowing that healthy diets begin the following day. We arrived at 10 pm on a surreal, misty, rainy Seattle night ( we have a lot of these) Our great tenants had left our home in pristine condition for which we are grateful. We unloaded the car, and just let the sounds of Seattle sink in, the late night boaters, the water lapping against the logs, the creaking of the struts on the dock and the wind coming from the Southwest bringing with it the familiar rains we are famous for here in the Emerald City. The foghorns, the sightseeing vessels making their last trip back to harbor, the Mariners flag flying on the home across the channel and finally the sight of the Space Needle along with the city lights illuminating a the lake and Queen Anne hill across the way. What a sight, with the clean fresh air and the familiarity of being home and a sense of completion we look forward to having Caitie home tonight, Mike and Dana, Matt and Jonny home on Sunday for a long awaited reunion. We woke up to the sound of the UW crew team practicing as they do each morning, making a pot of Peet's coffee and planning the day which will include taking all of our stuff out of the storage closet and resuming our normal daily activities. We will be on the road again in a number of months but for now we will enjoy the summer with friends and family re-telling the many adventures we were so fortunate to experience. Stay tuned!!
Ciao for Now
Mike
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Inside the Guggenheim
Apparently there are no city buses to get us to the museum, so after our breakfast (more on that in a minute) we trekked down to the waterfront (about a mile each way) to the Guggenheim. Inside it is a three story building. You stand in line to pay your admission on a set of steps going downhill. Once inside we had the pleasant surprise of reduced admission. Instead of the normal 12.50 Euros (think $20) they had reduced the admission to 7.50 Euros because one of the exhibits was closed and we could not visit the middle floor. It felt like our cruise where we got rebates for missed stops.
Included in the admission was a personal sound device that played recordings when you programed the number of the art piece you were standing in front of. We were particularly fascinated with the architecture of the building and spent about half our visit time listening to how the building was conceived and built. The art itself was modern, some of which was great and other parts were strange. It was the only art museum we visited in ten months on the road (heathens that we are) so now we can say we visited at least one of the famous art museums of Europe.
Breakfast was included in our 60 Euro hotel room. For those you you who have been to Europe recently will know, 60 Euros is a cheap rate for a hotel, particularly on a holiday weekend in a tourist city like Bilbao. Expectations for breakfast were low, and largely met. Croissants seem to be the staple breakfast food of Spain and Italy, along with a cup of very strong coffee. In Italy the croissants are called cornettos and they are breadier in the center than the flaky ones you associate with France. In Spain they are flaky on the inside, but they coat the outside with a sugar glaze so it is a cross between a croissant and a glazed donut. Because the glaze is sticky the Spanish eat them with a knife and fork on a plate or napkin. Typically the included breakfasts have breads, yogurt (I love the natural unsweetened yogurt they serve here) and jam. At the better places you also get cheeses and ham, but not here. That's okay as we are getting kind of burned out on that stuff anyway.
Based on our last trip to Spain we expected to encounter waiters, hotel clerks and salesclerks that spoke English, but it is not necessarily so in the central parts of Spain. In the Catalonia province where Barcelona resides the people speak Catalan and Spanish, with only a portion of the people we met speaking English. Here in Bilbao the people speak Basque and Spanish, with English a distant third language. Although most are not overly friendly, the people are not rude and seem to try to understand us. As an example, we were trying to decipher our map on the walk back from the hotel and an English speaking Spaniard with his family stopped to provide directions.
Our hotel has free internet (remember when I said the cheap hotels are the most likely place to get internet?) so we are both taking advantage of the opportunity to catch up on our e-mail and blog. We leave tomorrow, so if anyone has anything to communicate do it today while we have communication.
No word from Caitie yet on Sylvania, but when we hear how the visit went we will pass it along so you can all consider your future trips to this destination hot spot.
Ciao,
Deanne
Included in the admission was a personal sound device that played recordings when you programed the number of the art piece you were standing in front of. We were particularly fascinated with the architecture of the building and spent about half our visit time listening to how the building was conceived and built. The art itself was modern, some of which was great and other parts were strange. It was the only art museum we visited in ten months on the road (heathens that we are) so now we can say we visited at least one of the famous art museums of Europe.
Breakfast was included in our 60 Euro hotel room. For those you you who have been to Europe recently will know, 60 Euros is a cheap rate for a hotel, particularly on a holiday weekend in a tourist city like Bilbao. Expectations for breakfast were low, and largely met. Croissants seem to be the staple breakfast food of Spain and Italy, along with a cup of very strong coffee. In Italy the croissants are called cornettos and they are breadier in the center than the flaky ones you associate with France. In Spain they are flaky on the inside, but they coat the outside with a sugar glaze so it is a cross between a croissant and a glazed donut. Because the glaze is sticky the Spanish eat them with a knife and fork on a plate or napkin. Typically the included breakfasts have breads, yogurt (I love the natural unsweetened yogurt they serve here) and jam. At the better places you also get cheeses and ham, but not here. That's okay as we are getting kind of burned out on that stuff anyway.
Based on our last trip to Spain we expected to encounter waiters, hotel clerks and salesclerks that spoke English, but it is not necessarily so in the central parts of Spain. In the Catalonia province where Barcelona resides the people speak Catalan and Spanish, with only a portion of the people we met speaking English. Here in Bilbao the people speak Basque and Spanish, with English a distant third language. Although most are not overly friendly, the people are not rude and seem to try to understand us. As an example, we were trying to decipher our map on the walk back from the hotel and an English speaking Spaniard with his family stopped to provide directions.
Our hotel has free internet (remember when I said the cheap hotels are the most likely place to get internet?) so we are both taking advantage of the opportunity to catch up on our e-mail and blog. We leave tomorrow, so if anyone has anything to communicate do it today while we have communication.
No word from Caitie yet on Sylvania, but when we hear how the visit went we will pass it along so you can all consider your future trips to this destination hot spot.
Ciao,
Deanne
Friday, May 2, 2008
Bilbao- another wacky Gehry building
Seattle has the Experience Music Project (EMP) museum about two miles from our home. It sits at the bottom of the tall Space Needle, the top of which is easily seen from our deck. The EMP building is hard to explain- it is a wild, multicolored curved building that looks like someone smashed a giant guitar on the pavement. Built less than ten years ago, it is a landmark in Seattle. The EMP architect, Frank Gehry designed the Guggenheim Museum here in Bilbao, Spain at about the same time as he worked on our music museum. This museum is larger and sits along the edge of the water in what was apparently old port industrial. It is really a gorgeous site today. Tomorrow we will tour the insides and see about all of the fancy art work it houses.
Last night's dinner in Tudela was in a very nice restaurant. We ate Spanish style, with a shared ensalata mixta (iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, white asparagus and canned tuna with olive oil and wine vinegar on top), a shared plate of green beans and ham bits, a shared appetizer of grilled shrimp complete with heads, etc. then individual mains of steak. Combined with bottled water (after all, the locals think drinking tap water is akin to drinking from the toilet), wine and coffee this meal set us back about the same price as a night in our hotel. What a splurge for the cheapo Handrons. It was very nice. Our hotel desk clerk made the reservations, obviously assuming that Americans can afford a dinner of that price range. Dinner was served at 10:00 PM, and we were back to our room at the early hour of midnight (yes, Leanne, you heard correctly).
We were up at the Spanish wake up hour of 9:00 when all of our hotel neighbors started their showering and shouting, and by 10:00 we were on the road again. Our intention was to find a hotel in a small town in the wine country. Never happened. The towns were either too small to sport a hotel or too big to feel like a small town. Eventually we gave up the search and headed to Bilbao, our intended hotel for the following night and decided to spend two nights here. We had no idea that this was a bank holiday, with four days off for all good people of Spain, so hotel reservations are not easy to come by. After parking near the aforementioned Guggenheim museum and walking around to nearby hotels and the information office, we eventually hit the phones where we started dialing for hotels, starting with the most expensive and working our way down the list to the two star hotel where we now have the last room available. As we made our way here through the maze of one way streets our opinion of beautiful Bilbao changed a bit. We got to see its seamier side. Not that it is horrible here or anything. We have the "Fantasy sex shop" directly across the street, so it is an entertaining neighborhood.
It took us half an hour to find the hotel after missing a few of the tiny turns that would have made it the reportedly ten minute drive from the museum. We parked in front and checked in. Our friendly English speaking desk clerk advised us to bring the bags in here because it is easier than carrying them to the parking lot in the car and trekking them back. That should have been a clue that the parking lot was not an easy walk. Nor was taking the bags up three flights of stars. Thankfully we have been traveling light (leaving the heavy bags we are carrying for Caitie in the car). After stowing the bags in our room (two twin beds, pergo floor, Ozzie and Harriet bedspreads, etc.) we caught our breath and went downstairs for instructions on stowing the car. He pulled out a two page instruction sheet and map to tell us how to unlock the garage door, and how to illegally back up on our one way street to the previous corner in order to get to the street behind the hotel where the parking was. He failed to tell us that the parking lot entrance wasn't directly on the street behind, but required another turn and lots more illegal backing to get our car to the entrance. Then, a few tight, tight turns inside the lot and three floors down and we were parked in our prescribed spot. It sure is nice we aren't driving a car of our own.
We ate a picnic dinner in our room tonight with supplies from the deli and bakery on the corner near the sex shop. It beats another expensive late night. Tomorrow we have the entire day to visit the museum and the city, as we don't leave for San Sebastian until Sunday. Thankfully we have reservations there, so we have no trouble locating a room on this holiday weekend, although who knows how hard it may be to find.
Our discount room is only 65 Euros, so we are saving money. I will let you know tomorrow whether we listen to cat fights all night.
Peace,
Deanne
Last night's dinner in Tudela was in a very nice restaurant. We ate Spanish style, with a shared ensalata mixta (iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, white asparagus and canned tuna with olive oil and wine vinegar on top), a shared plate of green beans and ham bits, a shared appetizer of grilled shrimp complete with heads, etc. then individual mains of steak. Combined with bottled water (after all, the locals think drinking tap water is akin to drinking from the toilet), wine and coffee this meal set us back about the same price as a night in our hotel. What a splurge for the cheapo Handrons. It was very nice. Our hotel desk clerk made the reservations, obviously assuming that Americans can afford a dinner of that price range. Dinner was served at 10:00 PM, and we were back to our room at the early hour of midnight (yes, Leanne, you heard correctly).
We were up at the Spanish wake up hour of 9:00 when all of our hotel neighbors started their showering and shouting, and by 10:00 we were on the road again. Our intention was to find a hotel in a small town in the wine country. Never happened. The towns were either too small to sport a hotel or too big to feel like a small town. Eventually we gave up the search and headed to Bilbao, our intended hotel for the following night and decided to spend two nights here. We had no idea that this was a bank holiday, with four days off for all good people of Spain, so hotel reservations are not easy to come by. After parking near the aforementioned Guggenheim museum and walking around to nearby hotels and the information office, we eventually hit the phones where we started dialing for hotels, starting with the most expensive and working our way down the list to the two star hotel where we now have the last room available. As we made our way here through the maze of one way streets our opinion of beautiful Bilbao changed a bit. We got to see its seamier side. Not that it is horrible here or anything. We have the "Fantasy sex shop" directly across the street, so it is an entertaining neighborhood.
It took us half an hour to find the hotel after missing a few of the tiny turns that would have made it the reportedly ten minute drive from the museum. We parked in front and checked in. Our friendly English speaking desk clerk advised us to bring the bags in here because it is easier than carrying them to the parking lot in the car and trekking them back. That should have been a clue that the parking lot was not an easy walk. Nor was taking the bags up three flights of stars. Thankfully we have been traveling light (leaving the heavy bags we are carrying for Caitie in the car). After stowing the bags in our room (two twin beds, pergo floor, Ozzie and Harriet bedspreads, etc.) we caught our breath and went downstairs for instructions on stowing the car. He pulled out a two page instruction sheet and map to tell us how to unlock the garage door, and how to illegally back up on our one way street to the previous corner in order to get to the street behind the hotel where the parking was. He failed to tell us that the parking lot entrance wasn't directly on the street behind, but required another turn and lots more illegal backing to get our car to the entrance. Then, a few tight, tight turns inside the lot and three floors down and we were parked in our prescribed spot. It sure is nice we aren't driving a car of our own.
We ate a picnic dinner in our room tonight with supplies from the deli and bakery on the corner near the sex shop. It beats another expensive late night. Tomorrow we have the entire day to visit the museum and the city, as we don't leave for San Sebastian until Sunday. Thankfully we have reservations there, so we have no trouble locating a room on this holiday weekend, although who knows how hard it may be to find.
Our discount room is only 65 Euros, so we are saving money. I will let you know tomorrow whether we listen to cat fights all night.
Peace,
Deanne
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Spain again after nine months
IT has been 19 years since I last delivered a child but one of the things I remember is that when you get to the nine month deadline you are READY for it to be over. We are at almost ten months of time away from home, and although we are still having a great time there are signs of being READY to go home.
Sign #1: We got to the Barcelona airport after traveling by train from Florence to Rome at 7:52 am then taking a 12:40 bumpy flight. We picked up our car, a diesel Opel station wagon that we have unaffectionately named the Russian wagon. We were on the highway thinking that we were being tailed by a hovering aircraft before we figured out that the loud noise canceling out the full blast radio was our engine. What a tank this vehicle is! It is stick shift with the weird arrangement of six gears with the move from five to six always grinding badly. The navigator and the pilot of the Russian tank had a few tense moments finding our way to a road out of town, but eventually we were on the road. In our nine months on the road there have been few tense moments between us, but this tank probably doubled the number.
Sign #2: Jonny called tonight about car problems. We wanted to keep him on the phone as long as possible. There is no doubt about it- we miss our kids. We had a fantastic visit with Caitie, who left for Sylvania when we left for Spain. We need to look up on a map to see where she went because our geographically challenged selves have no idea where this new Eastern European country is, but she traveled there by train for a four day visit with friends. I think she was sorry to see us go, just as we were sorry to say goodbye. She finishes finals at the end of next week, then spends a week in Boston on her way home to being picked up at the airport by us on May 15 when we all meet back in Seattle.
Sign #3: We are getting lazy about our laundry. After nine months of doing our laundry in the bathroom sink every night we are now gauging whether we can make it until the end with the remaining clean clothes. Our laundry is now on a need to wear basis rather than, "this is dirty so I need to wash it".
Sign #4: We have no idea when to sleep anymore. It started on the ship...sleeping in late than not being able to sleep the next night. That required a nap, which then caused us to be awake at night. We were on opposite schedules. The one of us that could sleep did so soundly while the other counted sheep. We had that largely sorted out until we hit Spain again. Tonight's dinner reservation, made by the hotel clerk on our behalf, called for dinner at 10:00PM. How is the world can you go to sleep at midnight when you get back to your hotel? This morning, when we went in search of coffee at 9:00 AM when we were up and showered, was a real search as most places did not open until 11:00 AM. We are ready to have our meals at the times our bodies crave food. And to sleep at normal bedtimes.
I am sounding like this is not fun, but that is not the case. Tonight we are in a town that did not fit the guide book's description, Tudela. It is dirty and crowded, but yesterday we were in Montblanc, not too far outside Barcelona and it was spectacular. The town was clean, the people friendly, and the hotel inexpensive. The guide book only had a sentence on Montblanc. Go figure.
It is 12:30, so I'm off to brush my teeth and get ready for bed. Until tomorrow...
Deanne
Sign #1: We got to the Barcelona airport after traveling by train from Florence to Rome at 7:52 am then taking a 12:40 bumpy flight. We picked up our car, a diesel Opel station wagon that we have unaffectionately named the Russian wagon. We were on the highway thinking that we were being tailed by a hovering aircraft before we figured out that the loud noise canceling out the full blast radio was our engine. What a tank this vehicle is! It is stick shift with the weird arrangement of six gears with the move from five to six always grinding badly. The navigator and the pilot of the Russian tank had a few tense moments finding our way to a road out of town, but eventually we were on the road. In our nine months on the road there have been few tense moments between us, but this tank probably doubled the number.
Sign #2: Jonny called tonight about car problems. We wanted to keep him on the phone as long as possible. There is no doubt about it- we miss our kids. We had a fantastic visit with Caitie, who left for Sylvania when we left for Spain. We need to look up on a map to see where she went because our geographically challenged selves have no idea where this new Eastern European country is, but she traveled there by train for a four day visit with friends. I think she was sorry to see us go, just as we were sorry to say goodbye. She finishes finals at the end of next week, then spends a week in Boston on her way home to being picked up at the airport by us on May 15 when we all meet back in Seattle.
Sign #3: We are getting lazy about our laundry. After nine months of doing our laundry in the bathroom sink every night we are now gauging whether we can make it until the end with the remaining clean clothes. Our laundry is now on a need to wear basis rather than, "this is dirty so I need to wash it".
Sign #4: We have no idea when to sleep anymore. It started on the ship...sleeping in late than not being able to sleep the next night. That required a nap, which then caused us to be awake at night. We were on opposite schedules. The one of us that could sleep did so soundly while the other counted sheep. We had that largely sorted out until we hit Spain again. Tonight's dinner reservation, made by the hotel clerk on our behalf, called for dinner at 10:00PM. How is the world can you go to sleep at midnight when you get back to your hotel? This morning, when we went in search of coffee at 9:00 AM when we were up and showered, was a real search as most places did not open until 11:00 AM. We are ready to have our meals at the times our bodies crave food. And to sleep at normal bedtimes.
I am sounding like this is not fun, but that is not the case. Tonight we are in a town that did not fit the guide book's description, Tudela. It is dirty and crowded, but yesterday we were in Montblanc, not too far outside Barcelona and it was spectacular. The town was clean, the people friendly, and the hotel inexpensive. The guide book only had a sentence on Montblanc. Go figure.
It is 12:30, so I'm off to brush my teeth and get ready for bed. Until tomorrow...
Deanne
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
An Italian Welcome
On the first night we were in Florence, way back in September when we were taking Caitie to drop her off at school, the three of us had dinner at a neighborhood trattoria called Brincello. Although many of the guests at the ten or so tables were foreigners, the staff was obviously Italian. They called out to each other loudly over the heads of the guests charming all of us that could not understand what they were saying about us. Caitie ate there with us a few times on our first visits to Florence and Mike and I ate there a few times on our own. Tonight we returned and were greeted like long lost family. How wonderful to have the waiters recognize us and wonder where we have been, hug us and give us the double cheek kisses. It was wonderful.
We leave on the 7:52 AM train tomorrow morning for Rome, to catch our flight to Barcelona at noon. We have enjoyed seeing Caitie, having a chance to visit with her and her friends, and will move on sadly but with the expectation that reunion is only two weeks away.
Tomorrow night I will write again from Spain.
Ciao,
Deanne
We leave on the 7:52 AM train tomorrow morning for Rome, to catch our flight to Barcelona at noon. We have enjoyed seeing Caitie, having a chance to visit with her and her friends, and will move on sadly but with the expectation that reunion is only two weeks away.
Tomorrow night I will write again from Spain.
Ciao,
Deanne
Monday, April 28, 2008
Contentment is wandering the streets of Florence with your daughter
We have spent yesterday and today enjoying our reunion with Caitie and with the city of Florence. When we arrived on Saturday evening after planes, trains and automobiles from Barcelona we were greeted at the hotel like family returning home. This is our third visit to this hotel, and each time we have stayed for a week or two so we know the staff and feel comfortable here. If any of you visit Florence we recommend the City Hotel, a reasonably priced hotel a few short blocks walking distance from the train station in one direction and the famous Duomo in the other. In exchange for the reasonable price and central location we put up with street noise and rules about not bringing food or drink into our room.
Caitie has moved in with us for a few days so that we can all see as much of each other as possible. We have a cozy room on the first floor (which of course means up a flight of stairs from the lobby which is on the ground floor) with both a queen and twin bed so that we can all stretch out. The bathroom looks like an afterthought. It is so narrow that you can literally stand in the center of the room and touch each of the side walls with your bent elbows. As you walk into this narrow room you first encounter the sink which is immediately followed by the toilet then the bidet and the back wall. The shower head is high up on the wall above the bidet. You stand beside the bidet to shower, pulling the shower curtain closed to keep the water from spraying the rest of the room. There is no shower floor, nor anything to mark the area as a shower except the shower head and the curtain the divides the room into two halves: that half that you stand in to shower and the other half that stays dry when the curtain is closed.
Caitie left us this morning at 8:30 to attend a class after staying up until 3:00 AM working on a paper due on Tuesday. She walked the two miles back into town from campus, returning at 12:30 so that we could all have lunch together. After lunch we set off to walk around the city on what was the most beautiful day we have ever been in Florence. We walked around downtown, across the Arno river and up into the hills where the wealthy live and where the homes of luminaries such as Michelangelo and DaVinci are located. There is a beautiful church up above the Piazza Michelangelo where we took photos looking across the city to her campus on the other side. The weather was spectacular and I will remember forever the beauty of that sight. It was great to have time to catch up with Caitie and hear all about her year away.
Mike and I served as editors and coaches as she worked on an essay due tomorrow. It was fun to be called into service to give her advice about the wording on this paper that describes one aspect of her experience while here in Florence. Not only were we impressed once again with the quality of her writing and her insights, but we had deja vu moments of when the three of us worked on reviewing her papers in high school.
Dinner tonight was in a smaller neighborhood trattoria. Many of the restaurants have fixed price menus in which you get a first course of soup or pasta, a second course of meat and a desert, complete with a bottle of water and a glass of wine. We had set off to eat at a familiar restaurant that offered such a dinner and ended up trying one around the corner from the hotel with that same type menu. Caitie and I had wonderful minestrone soup while Mike had spaghetti, then all three of us had grilled chicken breasts and a crème caramel that looked better than it tasted. We had a great time.
We are sitting on our respective beds now, Mike reading a novel, Caitie and I yping away at our computers. I think we are all very content and happy to be together. We are looking forward to our summer together in Seattle in just a few weeks.
Tomorrow Caitie heads back up to campus in the morning for class while Mike and I head over to the neighborhood Laventeria (Laundromat) for an overdue appointment. We are taking a bus up to campus to meet Caitie and four friends for lunch. It seems hard to believe that we will be leaving her to return to Spain on Wednesday morning.
Do you like the new photos?
So long,
Deanne
Caitie has moved in with us for a few days so that we can all see as much of each other as possible. We have a cozy room on the first floor (which of course means up a flight of stairs from the lobby which is on the ground floor) with both a queen and twin bed so that we can all stretch out. The bathroom looks like an afterthought. It is so narrow that you can literally stand in the center of the room and touch each of the side walls with your bent elbows. As you walk into this narrow room you first encounter the sink which is immediately followed by the toilet then the bidet and the back wall. The shower head is high up on the wall above the bidet. You stand beside the bidet to shower, pulling the shower curtain closed to keep the water from spraying the rest of the room. There is no shower floor, nor anything to mark the area as a shower except the shower head and the curtain the divides the room into two halves: that half that you stand in to shower and the other half that stays dry when the curtain is closed.
Caitie left us this morning at 8:30 to attend a class after staying up until 3:00 AM working on a paper due on Tuesday. She walked the two miles back into town from campus, returning at 12:30 so that we could all have lunch together. After lunch we set off to walk around the city on what was the most beautiful day we have ever been in Florence. We walked around downtown, across the Arno river and up into the hills where the wealthy live and where the homes of luminaries such as Michelangelo and DaVinci are located. There is a beautiful church up above the Piazza Michelangelo where we took photos looking across the city to her campus on the other side. The weather was spectacular and I will remember forever the beauty of that sight. It was great to have time to catch up with Caitie and hear all about her year away.
Mike and I served as editors and coaches as she worked on an essay due tomorrow. It was fun to be called into service to give her advice about the wording on this paper that describes one aspect of her experience while here in Florence. Not only were we impressed once again with the quality of her writing and her insights, but we had deja vu moments of when the three of us worked on reviewing her papers in high school.
Dinner tonight was in a smaller neighborhood trattoria. Many of the restaurants have fixed price menus in which you get a first course of soup or pasta, a second course of meat and a desert, complete with a bottle of water and a glass of wine. We had set off to eat at a familiar restaurant that offered such a dinner and ended up trying one around the corner from the hotel with that same type menu. Caitie and I had wonderful minestrone soup while Mike had spaghetti, then all three of us had grilled chicken breasts and a crème caramel that looked better than it tasted. We had a great time.
We are sitting on our respective beds now, Mike reading a novel, Caitie and I yping away at our computers. I think we are all very content and happy to be together. We are looking forward to our summer together in Seattle in just a few weeks.
Tomorrow Caitie heads back up to campus in the morning for class while Mike and I head over to the neighborhood Laventeria (Laundromat) for an overdue appointment. We are taking a bus up to campus to meet Caitie and four friends for lunch. It seems hard to believe that we will be leaving her to return to Spain on Wednesday morning.
Do you like the new photos?
So long,
Deanne
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Ever finished a 14 day cruise with a bill for $216?
We paid for our cruise and our shore excursions in advance of the cruise. Once we were on board we started charging things like our daily bottle of wine with dinner, and occasional glass of wine at a nighttime show, the cover charge for the specialty Italian restaurant (once) and Johnny Rockets (Five times). We charged our internet time at the whopping rate of 55 cents per minute and our gratuities which came to over $200. While we were busy charging Royal Caribbean was busy giving us money back. We got our shore excursions money returned for the ports we missed, plus $100 consolation for each port to use for wine money to drown our sorrows or keep us from getting antsy. They returned $70 each for an oil surcharge that was returned. Apparently the cost of the cruise included port charges which were returned because we missed so many ports. All totaled, we walked off the ship with a charge of $216 against our credit card. It is like winning the at the slot machine.
We arrived into Barcelona last night at about 10:00 PM and they had arranged free shuttles to operate all night to take us into downtown. Mike and I had not been sleeping well so we passed on the entertainment (why start partying now off the boat after two weeks of lock down?) and went to bed early (no sleep for me AGAIN). Getting off the ship in Barcelona was the most efficient ever. The bags were orderly and organized and everything was very efficient. We were at the airport by 9:00 AM for our 2:00PM flight to Rome.
After sitting around the airport waiting for flights then finally flying to Rome we caught a train to Florence and met Caitie at our hotel at 8:00 PM for dinner at a neighborhood outdoor cafe. After a couple of Greek salads and a pizza we were still talking like crazy to catch up. We have four days to catch up and we don't want to miss any of it.
Tomorrow we are going Tuscany site seeing together for the day, then back to Florence for dinner with one of Caitie's roommates. Mike and I are having fun.
Free internet again.... life is good.
I will check in again tomorrow.
Deanne
We arrived into Barcelona last night at about 10:00 PM and they had arranged free shuttles to operate all night to take us into downtown. Mike and I had not been sleeping well so we passed on the entertainment (why start partying now off the boat after two weeks of lock down?) and went to bed early (no sleep for me AGAIN). Getting off the ship in Barcelona was the most efficient ever. The bags were orderly and organized and everything was very efficient. We were at the airport by 9:00 AM for our 2:00PM flight to Rome.
After sitting around the airport waiting for flights then finally flying to Rome we caught a train to Florence and met Caitie at our hotel at 8:00 PM for dinner at a neighborhood outdoor cafe. After a couple of Greek salads and a pizza we were still talking like crazy to catch up. We have four days to catch up and we don't want to miss any of it.
Tomorrow we are going Tuscany site seeing together for the day, then back to Florence for dinner with one of Caitie's roommates. Mike and I are having fun.
Free internet again.... life is good.
I will check in again tomorrow.
Deanne
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Life Aboard the Misery of the Seas
I have decided that being retired gives you perspective. In the scheme of things, two weeks doesn’t make much of a difference. This trip has not been THAT bad. Sure, we didn’t get to get off the boat for 12 days, and we missed the opportunity to see those beautiful spots in Spain that we were so looking forward to, but on the other hand, it isn’t like they starved us or made us do dishes. You should hear the complaints flying around here. Apparently after the announcement last night that we were taking off at approximately 1:00 AM for Barcelona with no stops until we arrived set lots of people off. There was some sort of protest rally down on the promenade deck main street which is another reason why the large ships with those crowded areas are a bad idea.
Royal Caribbean has provided us with $100 per cabin credit for each of the two stops we have missed. Most of the charges on our account are for wine, so that $200 of credit has provided us with the wonderful benefit of free wine in exchange for lost stops. Maybe those people complaining only have two weeks of vacation and they feel ripped off that they had to spend the entire two weeks on board the ship, even if it was not very expensive and the wine was free! Although Mike and I aren’t bent out of shape, there are plenty of people that are, and when they get together the mass of people starts to growl.
After all those years of management consulting I learned a thing or two about customer service and I have to compliment our weary captain and the cruiseline for their handling of these problems. He has very professionally taken arrows for the problems and has fielded a complaint session in the largest theater. He has negotiated with headquarters and earned us a discount against a future cruise equal to 20% of the purchase price of this cruise (admittedly, that isn’t a big number given the price we paid).
The onboard staff is equally disappointed not to being making the stops but they are working hard to make sure we enjoy ourselves. They have rallied to design a ton of entertainment and games to keep us occupied when we would be walking around Saville and Malaga.
As the days at sea have progressed we have been setting the clock forward one hour every day to account for the time difference between EST and the time in Barcelona. For some odd reason, the time change occurs at 11:30 AM when we jump to 12:30 AM. This means that lunch comes immediately after breakfast unless you get up real early to eat. We have been skipping breakfast and eating lunch when we wake up. To save money on this cruise Mike and I took our usual inside cabin, so we sleep in a pitch black and very quiet room. This morning we slept in so late that we almost missed lunch. Take heart though, we didn’t miss it.
Royal Caribbean has provided us with $100 per cabin credit for each of the two stops we have missed. Most of the charges on our account are for wine, so that $200 of credit has provided us with the wonderful benefit of free wine in exchange for lost stops. Maybe those people complaining only have two weeks of vacation and they feel ripped off that they had to spend the entire two weeks on board the ship, even if it was not very expensive and the wine was free! Although Mike and I aren’t bent out of shape, there are plenty of people that are, and when they get together the mass of people starts to growl.
After all those years of management consulting I learned a thing or two about customer service and I have to compliment our weary captain and the cruiseline for their handling of these problems. He has very professionally taken arrows for the problems and has fielded a complaint session in the largest theater. He has negotiated with headquarters and earned us a discount against a future cruise equal to 20% of the purchase price of this cruise (admittedly, that isn’t a big number given the price we paid).
The onboard staff is equally disappointed not to being making the stops but they are working hard to make sure we enjoy ourselves. They have rallied to design a ton of entertainment and games to keep us occupied when we would be walking around Saville and Malaga.
As the days at sea have progressed we have been setting the clock forward one hour every day to account for the time difference between EST and the time in Barcelona. For some odd reason, the time change occurs at 11:30 AM when we jump to 12:30 AM. This means that lunch comes immediately after breakfast unless you get up real early to eat. We have been skipping breakfast and eating lunch when we wake up. To save money on this cruise Mike and I took our usual inside cabin, so we sleep in a pitch black and very quiet room. This morning we slept in so late that we almost missed lunch. Take heart though, we didn’t miss it.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Royal #@$%^&* Caribbean
While I am in whining mode I may as well tell you all the things wrong with our bargain cruise. Keep in mind, we are on a 14 day cruise that we originally paid $899 each for, then found a cheaper price and got a $300 refund each, plus a $100 on-board credit each (Following the math means we ended up paying less than $500 each or $36 per day each for hotel, food and entertainment). As bargain shopping world travelers, this was an ideal deal. Our itinerary included a visit to Bermuda for an overnight and day, the Azores, Lisbon, Cadiz, Malaga and finally, Barcelona. We heard prior to departure that the stop in the Azores was cancelled without explanation. So, why the whine?
First of all- let me tell you about the Navigator of the Seas, one of the largest ships on the water. Part of Royal Caribbean’s new Independence class ships it holds 3500 passengers plus crew. It has a skating rink, a huge climbing wall and a promenade deck that looks like a street of shops and pubs. When it is empty I bet there are few ships to rival it for beauty and diversity in venues. But, when it is full of fellow bargain hunters it is like Wal-Mart on the day a going-out-of-business sale is announced. You have to wait for elevators then ride them fully packed, line up fifteen minutes before the doors open thirty-minutes prior to show-times to get seats for the ice shows, and walk hunched over your plate in the buffet line so that the crowd doesn’t knock it out of your hands or cough all over it. Our New Zealand cruise was aboard Rhapsody of the Seas, a smaller ship in the fleet and we thought it was wonderful. So, we have decided not to take the large ships again.
Second whine- On the trans-Atlantic cruises you spend quite a long time at sea. In our case, over half our 14 days involved no stops at all. Many people really enjoy this time, taking full advantage of the day time activities (climbing, skating, trivia, bingo, etc) and the evening activities (gambling, dancing, game shows). We don’t participate in any of these. We spend our time in more private pursuits like reading, walking, watching politics on the news (Mike is SOOO into this political season) . We treasure the shore days as breaks in the routine and a chance to see these exotic ports of call. Unfortunately yesterday as the ship was set to depart Lisbon the captain announced that we had broken a stabilizer (or if you are speaking in his Norwegian accent…stab a li zer.) The Portuguese authorities to whom this had been reported were not granting us to permission until it is fixed, so the captain was busy trying to figure out how to get a crew in to fix it. Every few hours we have had updates. First news… today’s stop in Cadiz/Seville was cancelled. Next news….we had to leave the Lisbon dock because another boat had it reserved so we were going out to float in the river and would apply for permission to anchor. After idling for a day in the river, next word was that we were granted to travel two hours away into the ocean where we were out of risk of the tides and could anchor. Then we had to wait for a barge and equipment to arrive so that the divers could make quick repairs to last until Barcelona. Oh, and the Malaga stop was cancelled. Next announcement…we will be traveling directly to Barcelona whenever we can go, and hopefully we will make it in time for connecting flights. This is our second cruise to involve damage to the ship. Our New Zealand cruise has a broken rudder which caused a skipped port made up by a $100 credit. No word on what the cruise lines will do to make up for the missed ports this time. Free cruise, anyone? With 3500 Wal-Mart shoppers.
Assuming we make it off the ship in Barcelona in time to reach the airport for our 2:00 flight to Rome, we will be on track for our reunion with Caitie in Florence on Saturday night. Keep your fingers crossed.
Now that I am in the swing of things again I will write tomorrow and let you know what happens to the marooned traveling gypsies floating around outside Lisbon.
Love, Deanne
First of all- let me tell you about the Navigator of the Seas, one of the largest ships on the water. Part of Royal Caribbean’s new Independence class ships it holds 3500 passengers plus crew. It has a skating rink, a huge climbing wall and a promenade deck that looks like a street of shops and pubs. When it is empty I bet there are few ships to rival it for beauty and diversity in venues. But, when it is full of fellow bargain hunters it is like Wal-Mart on the day a going-out-of-business sale is announced. You have to wait for elevators then ride them fully packed, line up fifteen minutes before the doors open thirty-minutes prior to show-times to get seats for the ice shows, and walk hunched over your plate in the buffet line so that the crowd doesn’t knock it out of your hands or cough all over it. Our New Zealand cruise was aboard Rhapsody of the Seas, a smaller ship in the fleet and we thought it was wonderful. So, we have decided not to take the large ships again.
Second whine- On the trans-Atlantic cruises you spend quite a long time at sea. In our case, over half our 14 days involved no stops at all. Many people really enjoy this time, taking full advantage of the day time activities (climbing, skating, trivia, bingo, etc) and the evening activities (gambling, dancing, game shows). We don’t participate in any of these. We spend our time in more private pursuits like reading, walking, watching politics on the news (Mike is SOOO into this political season) . We treasure the shore days as breaks in the routine and a chance to see these exotic ports of call. Unfortunately yesterday as the ship was set to depart Lisbon the captain announced that we had broken a stabilizer (or if you are speaking in his Norwegian accent…stab a li zer.) The Portuguese authorities to whom this had been reported were not granting us to permission until it is fixed, so the captain was busy trying to figure out how to get a crew in to fix it. Every few hours we have had updates. First news… today’s stop in Cadiz/Seville was cancelled. Next news….we had to leave the Lisbon dock because another boat had it reserved so we were going out to float in the river and would apply for permission to anchor. After idling for a day in the river, next word was that we were granted to travel two hours away into the ocean where we were out of risk of the tides and could anchor. Then we had to wait for a barge and equipment to arrive so that the divers could make quick repairs to last until Barcelona. Oh, and the Malaga stop was cancelled. Next announcement…we will be traveling directly to Barcelona whenever we can go, and hopefully we will make it in time for connecting flights. This is our second cruise to involve damage to the ship. Our New Zealand cruise has a broken rudder which caused a skipped port made up by a $100 credit. No word on what the cruise lines will do to make up for the missed ports this time. Free cruise, anyone? With 3500 Wal-Mart shoppers.
Assuming we make it off the ship in Barcelona in time to reach the airport for our 2:00 flight to Rome, we will be on track for our reunion with Caitie in Florence on Saturday night. Keep your fingers crossed.
Now that I am in the swing of things again I will write tomorrow and let you know what happens to the marooned traveling gypsies floating around outside Lisbon.
Love, Deanne
American Airlines #@$%^&
Our post-Palm Springs itinerary started with a flight from Ontario airport to Fort Lauderdale right in the middle of the week in which American Airlines cancelled all of their MD-80 flights. They cancelled our flight to Dallas and it’s connecting flight to Fort Lauderdale, both conveniently scheduled for the Friday prior to our Saturday boarding. Reaching AA by phone was impossible, but they left us a voicemail telling us that they had rebooked us on an other flight which would get us to Fort Lauderdale only two hours after our ship leaves the port.
Trusting the statement on the American website which promised to refund the ticket prices for people that chose to abandon their cancelled flights, we booked ourselves on Southwest airlines and had an uneventful flight (truly the best kind) to thunderstorm ridden Nashville, then on to Fort Lauderdale. We are still waiting to hear whether the refund of our American tickets will come through. We already have heard that American will not reimburse us for the cost of the full fare Southwest tickets we were forced to buy at double the cost of our advance-fare, but cancelled American tickets. After a year of traveling (all of the air booked on American) this was the only time we had any problems with American (well, there was that time with the suspected terrorist on the plane that caused us a multi-hour delay at a NY airport). Let’s hope they come through with that refund.
Trusting the statement on the American website which promised to refund the ticket prices for people that chose to abandon their cancelled flights, we booked ourselves on Southwest airlines and had an uneventful flight (truly the best kind) to thunderstorm ridden Nashville, then on to Fort Lauderdale. We are still waiting to hear whether the refund of our American tickets will come through. We already have heard that American will not reimburse us for the cost of the full fare Southwest tickets we were forced to buy at double the cost of our advance-fare, but cancelled American tickets. After a year of traveling (all of the air booked on American) this was the only time we had any problems with American (well, there was that time with the suspected terrorist on the plane that caused us a multi-hour delay at a NY airport). Let’s hope they come through with that refund.
Warm, Glorious Sun
Palm Springs was great. Every day was warm and sunny. The first week was in the 80’s, and the rest of the time it was in the 70’s. Imagine having a big home and swimming pool available to you in Palm Springs when the weather at home was still cold and snowy. We felt privileged. Our only firm commitment was to walk the dog. Lily, my mother’s little poodle/terrier mix was going through her own transition. Just a day before we arrived she and my mother moved from the family home into the Palm Springs house. The dog lost her yard, lost her owner when Mom left on her cruise and gained two vagabond retirees as her caretakers.
We developed a wonderful relationship with Lily. She slept with us, appreciated the walks we took her on and sat fetchingly at our feet whenever she needed to remind us of our responsibilities (feeding or walking her). She jumped to her feet every time I moved around the house on the hope that it was time for a walk, or if not that good, at least time to water the plants and bark at the hose. After a few days of handling her lunchtime walk Mike returned to the house and said that he had nicknamed this tiny little black dog with a more manly name. So, on and off for the rest of the stay we referred to her as “Spike”. When Mom checked in on our charge we sent a photo of Spike with her new collar, a tiny pink collar studded with spikes. A photo to follow.
So, what did we do during our stay? We tried to help with domestic chores to make Mom’s return to her new home go more smoothly. Her garage was stacked floor to rafters with big boxes that took about half the floor space. We had cabinets installed to hold the boxes, which required moving the boxes from the crowded side of the garage to the car side of the garage and back twice in order to measure the garage and order the cabinets then return the car (after having it tagged for parking outside our garage), then to install the cabinets. Somewhere in those moves I hurt my back, but just in time to put the boxes away in the newly installed cabinets my wonderful niece, Emily showed up for a visit. She recruited a strong friend to move the boxes and saved Mike’s aching shoulders and my hurt back. We installed software on Mom’s new computer and set up Outlook. We paid the bills and opened mail. We organized cupboards and bought and organized filing cabinets. The plants on the patio had expired so we bought and planted new ones.
Lest you think we spent all of our time working, let me tell you the flip side. We didn’t sleep in (the dog started her head-butting wake up calls at 7:30 if we were not already up and moving towards her first walk of the day) but we did have an afternoon nap most days. In order to keep the kitchen pristine we ate our meals out (good excuse, huh?). We became regulars at the wonderful neighborhood deli, Sherman’s. They started making Mike’s studio sandwich (turkey on rye with cole slaw and Russian dressing) and my oasis salad (huge salad with vegetables, chicken chunks, cut up dates and cornbread croutons) when they saw the three of us show up (yes, walking the the deli was a favorite for Spike, too, who was fond of the big basket of dog biscuits at the entrance to the outdoor patio). With a strong hint from great friend, Wendy C, we discovered Tyler’s sliders, these small, White Castle sized burgers. Served with grilled onions and catsup, these slid down just right. Then, of course, all former Californians have to visit In-N-Out when they return for a visit. It wasn’t gourmet but it sure tasted good.
One of the highlights of the stay was the Spring break visits of each of our student/hard-working sons and the loves in their life. Jonny and Megan arrived first. They visited a day then borrowed our car and headed out to Las Vegas for a few days. They returned just as Matt and Kassi arrived, so they had two days overlap with us before Jonny had to return to school. He received the news that his place of employment for the past two years, a fifties burger joint had burned to the ground while he was gone. His boss told him he is eligible for unemployment payments, so he left to figure out how all that was going to work. Matt and Kassi left when Jonny did in order to see Las Vegas. Finally Michael and Dana arrived. Unlike their younger brothers, they preferred the relaxed Palm Springs life to Las Vegas, so they stayed and visited with us. We are so proud of these three guys and enjoyed every minute we had to spend with them.
When it was time to leave Palm Springs we were sad to say goodbye to Spike. Next year we have a repeat engagement as dog sitters so Spike will see us again. In-N-Out….we will be baaack!
We developed a wonderful relationship with Lily. She slept with us, appreciated the walks we took her on and sat fetchingly at our feet whenever she needed to remind us of our responsibilities (feeding or walking her). She jumped to her feet every time I moved around the house on the hope that it was time for a walk, or if not that good, at least time to water the plants and bark at the hose. After a few days of handling her lunchtime walk Mike returned to the house and said that he had nicknamed this tiny little black dog with a more manly name. So, on and off for the rest of the stay we referred to her as “Spike”. When Mom checked in on our charge we sent a photo of Spike with her new collar, a tiny pink collar studded with spikes. A photo to follow.
So, what did we do during our stay? We tried to help with domestic chores to make Mom’s return to her new home go more smoothly. Her garage was stacked floor to rafters with big boxes that took about half the floor space. We had cabinets installed to hold the boxes, which required moving the boxes from the crowded side of the garage to the car side of the garage and back twice in order to measure the garage and order the cabinets then return the car (after having it tagged for parking outside our garage), then to install the cabinets. Somewhere in those moves I hurt my back, but just in time to put the boxes away in the newly installed cabinets my wonderful niece, Emily showed up for a visit. She recruited a strong friend to move the boxes and saved Mike’s aching shoulders and my hurt back. We installed software on Mom’s new computer and set up Outlook. We paid the bills and opened mail. We organized cupboards and bought and organized filing cabinets. The plants on the patio had expired so we bought and planted new ones.
Lest you think we spent all of our time working, let me tell you the flip side. We didn’t sleep in (the dog started her head-butting wake up calls at 7:30 if we were not already up and moving towards her first walk of the day) but we did have an afternoon nap most days. In order to keep the kitchen pristine we ate our meals out (good excuse, huh?). We became regulars at the wonderful neighborhood deli, Sherman’s. They started making Mike’s studio sandwich (turkey on rye with cole slaw and Russian dressing) and my oasis salad (huge salad with vegetables, chicken chunks, cut up dates and cornbread croutons) when they saw the three of us show up (yes, walking the the deli was a favorite for Spike, too, who was fond of the big basket of dog biscuits at the entrance to the outdoor patio). With a strong hint from great friend, Wendy C, we discovered Tyler’s sliders, these small, White Castle sized burgers. Served with grilled onions and catsup, these slid down just right. Then, of course, all former Californians have to visit In-N-Out when they return for a visit. It wasn’t gourmet but it sure tasted good.
One of the highlights of the stay was the Spring break visits of each of our student/hard-working sons and the loves in their life. Jonny and Megan arrived first. They visited a day then borrowed our car and headed out to Las Vegas for a few days. They returned just as Matt and Kassi arrived, so they had two days overlap with us before Jonny had to return to school. He received the news that his place of employment for the past two years, a fifties burger joint had burned to the ground while he was gone. His boss told him he is eligible for unemployment payments, so he left to figure out how all that was going to work. Matt and Kassi left when Jonny did in order to see Las Vegas. Finally Michael and Dana arrived. Unlike their younger brothers, they preferred the relaxed Palm Springs life to Las Vegas, so they stayed and visited with us. We are so proud of these three guys and enjoyed every minute we had to spend with them.
When it was time to leave Palm Springs we were sad to say goodbye to Spike. Next year we have a repeat engagement as dog sitters so Spike will see us again. In-N-Out….we will be baaack!
Blog Blahs
I apologize. In fact, I beg forgiveness from those of you who have been so complementary of our blog. Can you see me groveling? I have been overtaken with a bad case of the blog blahs. In fact, even the pleading message from my good friend Samm begging to know whether we were alive and well wasn’t enough to get me onto the keyboard. Please forgive me. I wake up in the morning thinking it is about time I got caught up, then it hits me that this is like a job and I lose motivation. The delayed gratification of your compliments just wasn’t enough to get me moving. But I am in gear again…so here goes.
In order to make it readable, I am breaking up the review of the past month into pieces. I hope you enjoy.
Deanne
In order to make it readable, I am breaking up the review of the past month into pieces. I hope you enjoy.
Deanne
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Greetings from on-board the navigator of the seas
We are alive and well for those of you wondering about us. The incredibly expensive computer time has deterred us from writing, but we will go for it anyway. I have a few minutes of free time to let you know we are alive, but will write again soon. Love, Deanne
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Good Bye Palm Springs
We're out of here!!! Friday April 11th we hit the air, oceans and roads once again. Our stay at Palm Springs was great with outstanding weather, fantastic deli's ( Sherman's and Manhattan) famous In and Out Burgers and a new favorite Tylers for Sliders. For those of you in Upstate New York they are akin but will never be as good as Jack's in Albia burgers. Sliders are 1.5 once little burgers served with grilled onions on a diner roll. They are excellent. Recommend with onions and ketchup only. We spent a lot of time taking care of Lily the wonder-dog a combination Schnauzer-poodle who at first was very leary of the out of towners. She was kind of prissy and afrais of other dogs so we bought here a spike collar and re-named her Spike, of course!! Now when we take her to the dog playground other little dogs cower in fear:) She gets four walks a day and we were hitting upwards of 5 miles per day sometimes so Spike was pretty tired at times. But she is in great shape and helped us walk off the huge deli sandwiches and burgers. No ice cream exceot for one enormous apple pie ala mode when our son Mike and his wife camt to visit. We also had Matt and his wonderful new girlfriend Kassi and Jonny and his fabulous girlfriend Megan. Last but certainly not least was Deanne's niece Emily and
her friends from college. They were all very welcome and brought that great youthful energy to the house and demo'd the beer and liquor closet:) We have a lot of errands to run this week in preparation for our transatlantic cruise. Our first stop is Bermuda and Deanne will be getting back to her photos and blogging. Our great tenants at our houseboat have had a change in career responsibilities and will not be staying in Seattle. If you know of anyone who is interested in renting a fabulous houseboat at the end of the dock with astounding views of downtown Seattle, Queen Anne and the channel let me know. It is for a year beginning in September. We have to assign it to a realtor when we return so the person who rents thru us will get a great deal!! It is time to take Spike for her mid day walk, also the hottest,
and then off to lens crafters. We will be writing from Bermuda soon. Life is short enjoy every moment!!
Ciao
Mike
her friends from college. They were all very welcome and brought that great youthful energy to the house and demo'd the beer and liquor closet:) We have a lot of errands to run this week in preparation for our transatlantic cruise. Our first stop is Bermuda and Deanne will be getting back to her photos and blogging. Our great tenants at our houseboat have had a change in career responsibilities and will not be staying in Seattle. If you know of anyone who is interested in renting a fabulous houseboat at the end of the dock with astounding views of downtown Seattle, Queen Anne and the channel let me know. It is for a year beginning in September. We have to assign it to a realtor when we return so the person who rents thru us will get a great deal!! It is time to take Spike for her mid day walk, also the hottest,
and then off to lens crafters. We will be writing from Bermuda soon. Life is short enjoy every moment!!
Ciao
Mike
Monday, February 25, 2008
Z Pack
Azithromycin!! After seeing a doctor in Palm Springs the first day back and determining I had a sever bronchial infection I took the above medication and now feel like a million bucks! the chicken soup did not hurt either. Now we are into our "get in shape" phase and joining a gym for the next 6 weeks. Walking the dog four times a day won't hurt either. Lilly is quickly realizing there is a new act in her regimen each day. So far so good; she has taken to us pretty well. this is a wonderful place to plan our next venture which is a transatlantic cruise stopping in Bermuda, the Azores, Lisbon, Seville, Granada, and Barcelona. It is very pleasant homework and I recommend it for all. Our trip cost 450 each with a 100 offset for gratuities for a 14 day trip!!! that's cheaper than staying home. Cruises have become much better over the years and now the entertainment is so outstanding you really have something to look forward to each night. the people you meet on the cruises are terrific, and why not...your all on vacation! But we have been extremely fortunate in the people we have met on the last two cruises. So many interesting backgrounds, so many accomplished careers and proud parents and grandparents. It is always great to get another person's point of view on life, travel, etc. so we look forward to the next portion of our journey. We have decided that the nomadic life suits us fine so we have extended the lease of our wonderful tenants who will be back in September for another year!! So if Deanne's fingers hold up you will have plenty to read in the future! In the meantime we will continue to shed light on the fun and the foibles of travel. A new addition to necessary items for the next part of the trip is....Z PACK!!!!!!
Enjoy!!
Mike
Enjoy!!
Mike
Monday, February 18, 2008
Sometimes only your own bed will do
We love this little lodge in the Chilean wine country, but as wonderful as it is, it's not home. Mike's cough that won't quit is hanging on, so we have changed our plans. We are flying home tonight instead of Friday night. Even though we don't really have our own bed for him to crawl into (given that it is rented along with the house until mid May) we have a bed waiting for us in Palm Springs. A mother-in-law's guest bed will just have to do. He misses being able to have chicken soup and hot tea when he wants- things you can't do as easily when you are staying in a remote country lodge. Last night when we explained to the manager here that we were leaving early to have more familiar surrounding for Mike to get well in, she went into the kitchen and asked the chef to whip up some homemade chicken noodle soup for him. He looked like an ecstatic little boy tucking into that wonderful soup. It is the first thing he has eaten in days. He forecasts that once he is home for a day or two nothing will satisfy him as much as a wonderful IN AND OUT burger.
Today is another gorgeous warm sunny day here and we are set to enjoy it as much as we can. We will set out mid-day to make the three hour trek to the Santiago airport. All of the flights from here to the US fly out in the late evening, so we don't take off until just before midnight. We fly all night and arrive in Dallas ten hours later, with the time change at 6:30 AM. Then, one more flight and we're back to Southern California. I know my mother is frantic with last minute house selling and six-week-trip-packing so I am hopeful she will accept our help with things and not be burdened with our early arrival.
I will continue writing in the blog for a bit when we get to Palm Springs and let you know how it is back in the USA. It may get boring reading about us worshipping the washer and dryer, the huge goregeous aisles of the grocery store, the marvelous stacks of books (in English!) at the library and the friendly chit chat in ENGLISH with strangers we meet. If you tune out to reading while we are in California we will understand. Log back in during April though so you can read about the transAtlantic cruise and Northern Spain, our destination after Palm Springs.
Deanne
Today is another gorgeous warm sunny day here and we are set to enjoy it as much as we can. We will set out mid-day to make the three hour trek to the Santiago airport. All of the flights from here to the US fly out in the late evening, so we don't take off until just before midnight. We fly all night and arrive in Dallas ten hours later, with the time change at 6:30 AM. Then, one more flight and we're back to Southern California. I know my mother is frantic with last minute house selling and six-week-trip-packing so I am hopeful she will accept our help with things and not be burdened with our early arrival.
I will continue writing in the blog for a bit when we get to Palm Springs and let you know how it is back in the USA. It may get boring reading about us worshipping the washer and dryer, the huge goregeous aisles of the grocery store, the marvelous stacks of books (in English!) at the library and the friendly chit chat in ENGLISH with strangers we meet. If you tune out to reading while we are in California we will understand. Log back in during April though so you can read about the transAtlantic cruise and Northern Spain, our destination after Palm Springs.
Deanne
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Not Another Wine Tour!
You have to feel sorry for us...we are negotiating with each other about whether or not we can take on another wine tour. Apparently the Chilean wineries don't really host wine tastings at the wineries like they do in Napa, they arrange tours with tastings that follow. You must book ahead to make sure there is room in the group and an English speaking guide. We have done two Chilean wine tours, one that we arranged in advance after learning the ropes and another that we accidently happened to arrive at the winery just as an English language tour with room was starting out. Due to Mike's illness we didn't go on any in Argentina. In New Zealand we stopped at a few wineries for tastings but not tours. The most recent tour included a horse drawn wagon ride through the vineyards before stopping at the production facitilies for the tour, then a ride back to the tasting room. Charming.
So, now we have heard about the most prstigious winery in the area. Owned by one of the French family that makes Grand Marnier. Beautiful winery up on a hill with supposedly stunning wines. However this place charges $40 US for the tour instead of the typical $10 or so. Our big dilema is to tour or not to tour. After the last one we had decided we were finished. That was before hearing about this winery. Check out there website http://www.closapalta.cl and cast your vote here. Another wine tour or not?
Our lodge is full this weekend for the first time since we have been here. There is a group of about ten Americans here on some organized trip that involved leaving here at 8:30 this morning on bikes for some horrendously long bike ride, followed by showers somewhere, then lunch and a bus trip back. Several planes landed in the landing strip in front of the lodge yesterday, so we suppose they avoided the three hour drive here from Santiago by flying in. We overheard them talking about the river rapids trip they were taking when they get to Mendoza, Argentina. It made us feel like slackers, but happy ones. Sure glad we don't have to do anything today but decide whether or not to do another wine tour some other day in the future.
Resting quite comfortably in Chile,
Deanne
So, now we have heard about the most prstigious winery in the area. Owned by one of the French family that makes Grand Marnier. Beautiful winery up on a hill with supposedly stunning wines. However this place charges $40 US for the tour instead of the typical $10 or so. Our big dilema is to tour or not to tour. After the last one we had decided we were finished. That was before hearing about this winery. Check out there website http://www.closapalta.cl and cast your vote here. Another wine tour or not?
Our lodge is full this weekend for the first time since we have been here. There is a group of about ten Americans here on some organized trip that involved leaving here at 8:30 this morning on bikes for some horrendously long bike ride, followed by showers somewhere, then lunch and a bus trip back. Several planes landed in the landing strip in front of the lodge yesterday, so we suppose they avoided the three hour drive here from Santiago by flying in. We overheard them talking about the river rapids trip they were taking when they get to Mendoza, Argentina. It made us feel like slackers, but happy ones. Sure glad we don't have to do anything today but decide whether or not to do another wine tour some other day in the future.
Resting quite comfortably in Chile,
Deanne
Saturday, February 16, 2008
The Party's Over
You know that vacation must be coming to an end when you start to think about all of things you have to do. Mike paid bills today (he does that about once a week using our bank's on-line check paying service) and I exchanged e-mails with my sister about arrangements for our arrival back in California next week. We will be dog sitting for five weeks when we get to Palm Springs while my mother and sister go on a cruise through Asia. They are packing and getting ready and if that wasn't enough, my mother sold the family homestead this month and is closing escrow at the end of this week. She is packing her clothes for the trip and twenty-five years worth of accumulated belongings that are going to the new house where we will be staying. Originally the house was closing after her return and we were going to help pack, but it got moved up and she is doing it as she prepares for the trip.
There are certain things you can't do from the road no matter how helpful friends and family are. Our daughter-in-law, Dana has been opening our mail and sending us notes about our bills which has allowed us to keep up with them on the road. Things that haven't been possible:
1) the car came up for re-registration which requires a Washington exhaust emission test. The car is in Palm Springs awaiting our arrival. It will have expired tabs by the time we get it back up to Seattle for that emissions test. Let's hope we don't get pulled over.
2) the IRS sent a letter saying I goofed on the 2006 return and owe more money. I'm saving that little mess to untangle when we get home. Not to mention the 2007 tax return I get to screw up in the next month.
3) Mike has another trip to the doctor and pharmacy when we get back. We planned touchdowns in the US for every three months in order to refill the heart transplant medicines.
4) Working out is probably possible when you are on a six month round-the-world trip, however in our case it was unlikely. We needed our merciless trainer, Rose around to keep us on track when we lacked self discipline. We need to restart our workouts when we get back.
This morning we woke up with the thought that it is our last Saturday on the road for awhile (assuming that dog sitting in Palm Springs is not really on the road albeit it is not at home). What a Saturday it has been though! Warm and sunny. After breakfast of a fruit plate (sandia/watermelon; peach and something we could not identify) and two fried eggs with dark rich coffee con leche we sat out by the pool and read for awhile. Then we drove into town where a little town fair was going on. We went to three prospective ATMs before we found one that would replenish our meager cash funds. Then we walked around the little booths of crafts and barbequing meat. We had lunch at our little Peruvian restaurant where the entire staff came out to greet us. An hour nap, a little internet, some more pool time and then dinner. Life is good. Even if it is the last Saturday before we leave South America.
Deanne
There are certain things you can't do from the road no matter how helpful friends and family are. Our daughter-in-law, Dana has been opening our mail and sending us notes about our bills which has allowed us to keep up with them on the road. Things that haven't been possible:
1) the car came up for re-registration which requires a Washington exhaust emission test. The car is in Palm Springs awaiting our arrival. It will have expired tabs by the time we get it back up to Seattle for that emissions test. Let's hope we don't get pulled over.
2) the IRS sent a letter saying I goofed on the 2006 return and owe more money. I'm saving that little mess to untangle when we get home. Not to mention the 2007 tax return I get to screw up in the next month.
3) Mike has another trip to the doctor and pharmacy when we get back. We planned touchdowns in the US for every three months in order to refill the heart transplant medicines.
4) Working out is probably possible when you are on a six month round-the-world trip, however in our case it was unlikely. We needed our merciless trainer, Rose around to keep us on track when we lacked self discipline. We need to restart our workouts when we get back.
This morning we woke up with the thought that it is our last Saturday on the road for awhile (assuming that dog sitting in Palm Springs is not really on the road albeit it is not at home). What a Saturday it has been though! Warm and sunny. After breakfast of a fruit plate (sandia/watermelon; peach and something we could not identify) and two fried eggs with dark rich coffee con leche we sat out by the pool and read for awhile. Then we drove into town where a little town fair was going on. We went to three prospective ATMs before we found one that would replenish our meager cash funds. Then we walked around the little booths of crafts and barbequing meat. We had lunch at our little Peruvian restaurant where the entire staff came out to greet us. An hour nap, a little internet, some more pool time and then dinner. Life is good. Even if it is the last Saturday before we leave South America.
Deanne
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Final Stop- Valentine's Day in Chile's Wine Country
As we checked out of the Hyatt we were reminded why we didn't stay at such hotels this trip....while wonderful, it was a very expensive two day stay. Our three day stay in the country helped to balance the price, and since we didn't eat anything except crackers and cheese from the supermercado while we were there that was the cheap part of our Argentina stay.
We had a 1:00 flight which went over the Andes to Santiago in half an hour. After clearing customs in Chile for the third time this trip, we rented our car and headed out on the drive to the wine country. The Avis folks helped us with a shortcut to the highway that allowed us to skip downtown Santiago...that was a treat after driving through it so many times on the last trip here.
We got to the Inn at about 4:45 where the kind staff made us feel like long lost frineds. It is 5:30 and we are enjoying our free internet out on the back deck. It is probably about 80 depgrees and clear and beautiful. With the exception of Rio, we have had exceptionally beautiful weather. It is good to be back at this wonderful part of Chile that we enjoyed so much on the last visit.
We have CNN again. Mike is a happy political junkie once again.
Deanne
We had a 1:00 flight which went over the Andes to Santiago in half an hour. After clearing customs in Chile for the third time this trip, we rented our car and headed out on the drive to the wine country. The Avis folks helped us with a shortcut to the highway that allowed us to skip downtown Santiago...that was a treat after driving through it so many times on the last trip here.
We got to the Inn at about 4:45 where the kind staff made us feel like long lost frineds. It is 5:30 and we are enjoying our free internet out on the back deck. It is probably about 80 depgrees and clear and beautiful. With the exception of Rio, we have had exceptionally beautiful weather. It is good to be back at this wonderful part of Chile that we enjoyed so much on the last visit.
We have CNN again. Mike is a happy political junkie once again.
Deanne
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Don't cry for me Argentina
Today is our final day in Argentina. We have loved Argentina and the people we have met. Unforutnately we did not get to explore Mendoza like we would have liked due to the bug that laid Mike up, but we have definately put a return trip on our list of things to accomplish in the future. This is a beautiful place and the prices are so reasonable that another trip to Argentina is a sure thing. We want to take Spanish classes at home to imrpove our ability to communciate with these friendly people. As in Europe, the children are all learning to speak English in the schools, but it would be nice to try and meet people in their own language.
Tomorrow we take off for Chile. When we planned this trip months ago we could only get a roundtrip ticket into and out of Santiago, Chile with our frequent flyer points. So, we started and end our South American trip in Chile. Although there are lots of places that remain to be seen in Chile, we so enjoyed the Central Valley wine country that we have booked our final week in the same place we stayed a week in January. I think the manager of the place was surprised to have us back so soon, but it seemed to be a happy surprise.
After that week we are off to Palm Springs until April 11 for our house/dogsitting adventure. It will be nice to be in the US for awhile to take care of the things we have not been able to do while we have been gone...doctor's visits, pharmacy, car emissions testing, tax returns, etc.
We are off to take a walk. Later,
Deanne
Tomorrow we take off for Chile. When we planned this trip months ago we could only get a roundtrip ticket into and out of Santiago, Chile with our frequent flyer points. So, we started and end our South American trip in Chile. Although there are lots of places that remain to be seen in Chile, we so enjoyed the Central Valley wine country that we have booked our final week in the same place we stayed a week in January. I think the manager of the place was surprised to have us back so soon, but it seemed to be a happy surprise.
After that week we are off to Palm Springs until April 11 for our house/dogsitting adventure. It will be nice to be in the US for awhile to take care of the things we have not been able to do while we have been gone...doctor's visits, pharmacy, car emissions testing, tax returns, etc.
We are off to take a walk. Later,
Deanne
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Mixing Politics and Rest
Everyone who knows Mike knows how much he loves politics. If ever there was a time for him to be down with a cold/flu, it is during elections when he can stay tuned to the election results. This only works if there is CNN or an equivalent available. Our country hacienda had CNN, so for the three days we were there recuperating from the bug that got him, he watched election returns. I am amazed at the number of television hours that can be dedicated to election returns and the analysis provided by various pundits. We watched it all, and there is no greater expert on the elections after imposed television watching than Mike.
Today we took a remi (like a taxi) to downtown Mendoza and checked back into the Hyatt. For the first time in several days, Mike felt hungry so we had a nice lunch. The last few days we have been eating bread, cheese and almonds washed down with bottled water and Sprite Zero, which represented the best I could find in the Supermercado in town. As much as we enjoyed our picnic dinners in Europe, there was nothing like it to be found in this little town.
The prices in Argentina are so reasonable. We were in the cab for about twenty minutes or so and the fare was $20 Argentina pesos, or $7 US. Lunch at the Hyatt with ridiculous hotel pricing for two three course meals (appetizer, grilled steak, dessert, wine and bottled water) was $50 US. My grocery shopping trips were always less than ten dollars for half a dozen bottled drinks and our sick house rations.
The weather is beautiful- warm but not hot. We spent awhile out by the pool just relaxing while our room was being made up.
Today is Potomic Super Tuesday and we just found out there is no English version of CNN here. We will have to use the internet to track election results.
Later, Deanne
Today we took a remi (like a taxi) to downtown Mendoza and checked back into the Hyatt. For the first time in several days, Mike felt hungry so we had a nice lunch. The last few days we have been eating bread, cheese and almonds washed down with bottled water and Sprite Zero, which represented the best I could find in the Supermercado in town. As much as we enjoyed our picnic dinners in Europe, there was nothing like it to be found in this little town.
The prices in Argentina are so reasonable. We were in the cab for about twenty minutes or so and the fare was $20 Argentina pesos, or $7 US. Lunch at the Hyatt with ridiculous hotel pricing for two three course meals (appetizer, grilled steak, dessert, wine and bottled water) was $50 US. My grocery shopping trips were always less than ten dollars for half a dozen bottled drinks and our sick house rations.
The weather is beautiful- warm but not hot. We spent awhile out by the pool just relaxing while our room was being made up.
Today is Potomic Super Tuesday and we just found out there is no English version of CNN here. We will have to use the internet to track election results.
Later, Deanne
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Quiet day in an "exclusive" suburb
Mike was wiped out today from the cold and not sleeping last night so we changed plans. Instead of taking a wine tour we grabbed a "remi" or rented car and driver for the twentyfive minute drive out of Mendoza to the exclusive suburb of Chaca de Coria. As we turned off the highway we could see the huge, American style homes. Most were two story homes with tiled roofs and tiny yards guarded by six foot wrought iron fences. If work ever drives up for Eric in LA there is a place for him in Argentina making fences and window guards for the wealthy. It may feel safe but it sure seems like the locals are protecting something. Our posada is a five room estate behind a tall stucco fence (with a wrought iron gate that opens after speaking into the box). Inside the gate is the host family's home, a swimming pool, a four car garage and the posada, with shared living areas such as a living room, tv room and kitchen. It is beautiful. Carlos and his wife made us feel at home even though we arrived two hours before check-in time (we had to go somewhere after check out time at our hotel and Mike was too sick for lunch out). Mike sat in the living room for an hour and a half until the room was ready while I walked the five or six blocks into town to the Super Mercado - a three aisle grocery store. I bought some Sprite for the convalesing husband and some almonds and raisins to sustain us through the missed lunch. Our room is pleasant and air conditioned although it has been cool enough to turn it off. I laid outside in a hammock under some trees for an hour reading until raindrops forced me inside.
This town seems more prosperous than similiar sized towns in Chile. There is a modern mini-mall with about ten clothing boutiques selling things to tourists like leather coats. As you walk around you have to be on your guard all the time to watch for broken bits in the sidewalks. In 1985 there was a massive earthquake in Mendoza of 6.0 that wiped out lots of buildings and wrecked havoc on the sidewalks. It requires that you walk carefully.
It is dinner time (8:30) so I am off to serve crackers and 7Up to the invalid. Tommorrow hopefully his big deep chest coughs will be gone.
Bye, Deanne
This town seems more prosperous than similiar sized towns in Chile. There is a modern mini-mall with about ten clothing boutiques selling things to tourists like leather coats. As you walk around you have to be on your guard all the time to watch for broken bits in the sidewalks. In 1985 there was a massive earthquake in Mendoza of 6.0 that wiped out lots of buildings and wrecked havoc on the sidewalks. It requires that you walk carefully.
It is dinner time (8:30) so I am off to serve crackers and 7Up to the invalid. Tommorrow hopefully his big deep chest coughs will be gone.
Bye, Deanne
Is it starve a cold and feed a fever or vice versa?
Mike slept all day yesterday, and of course that meant he was up all night coughing. We decided to cancel our chauffer driven wine tasting trip which we had arranged through the concierege. One of the hotel drivers was to take us to two wineries then drop us off at our next hotel. Mike just isn't up to it. We got up and packed this morning, then he went back to a prone position to rest up for our noon check out. He drank some tea but has no appetite....we are trying the starve a cold routine.
I will write again this afternoon assuming the advertsied wifi is functional.
Deanne
I will write again this afternoon assuming the advertsied wifi is functional.
Deanne
Friday, February 8, 2008
Mike's turn to take ill
No, Montezuma did not wreck revenge on Mike. It is just a cold that has taken hold of Mike today. He is taking it easy. We went for a short walk this morning near our hotel. Mendoza is a beautiful city. The ancient Incas had established a system of canals here to bring water from the Andes to the desert. The same canals line the streets today watering the beautiful aspens along the streets. The trees here are beautiful. I walked up to the Parque de San Martin this afternoon and walked around a long, skinny man-made lake. Although the lake wasn't anything to brag about the park grounds were gorgeous and the trees magnificent. I met a couple of mountain climbers from Ireland. They had just finished their climb of the famous mountain.
We had an interesting episode last night after dinner. We returned from our dinner, went to the lobby for e-mail, then returned to our room about midnight to go to bed. I put the do not disturb sign in the front door, changed into a tee shirt for sleeping, then brushed my teeth. Mike was in the bedroom and I was brushing my teeth when the lights went out in both rooms. It was VERY DARK. I opened the blinds in the bathroom and saw lights in rooms across the plaza, so it was obvious we were in the dark but no one else was. Mike could see better than I could, so he directed me to the desk where our flashlight was sitting, and through a serious of instructions, "higher, farther, straight ahead, keep going..." I found the flashlight but couldn't figure out how to turn it on. I finally found him and passed it to him so he could turn it on and find the phone. Which was dead of course. So, using the flashlight I got dressed again to go down to the desk and ask about our lights. Just as I opened our door out into the lighted hallway it dawned on me what happened. We had one of those energy saving devices in the room that require you to put your key in the slot at the door to turn on the room's power. We had never needed to use it because the do not disturb sign was plugged into it instead of a key, keeping the power on. Once I took the do not disturb sign out of the slot we had about five more minutes of power before it went off. I am sure glad I figured it out before I got to the front desk and demanded to know what had happened to our power. Talk about feeling foolish.
Tomorrow we take off for the countryside. Apparently our next ledge is only about half an hour outside of town.
We had an interesting episode last night after dinner. We returned from our dinner, went to the lobby for e-mail, then returned to our room about midnight to go to bed. I put the do not disturb sign in the front door, changed into a tee shirt for sleeping, then brushed my teeth. Mike was in the bedroom and I was brushing my teeth when the lights went out in both rooms. It was VERY DARK. I opened the blinds in the bathroom and saw lights in rooms across the plaza, so it was obvious we were in the dark but no one else was. Mike could see better than I could, so he directed me to the desk where our flashlight was sitting, and through a serious of instructions, "higher, farther, straight ahead, keep going..." I found the flashlight but couldn't figure out how to turn it on. I finally found him and passed it to him so he could turn it on and find the phone. Which was dead of course. So, using the flashlight I got dressed again to go down to the desk and ask about our lights. Just as I opened our door out into the lighted hallway it dawned on me what happened. We had one of those energy saving devices in the room that require you to put your key in the slot at the door to turn on the room's power. We had never needed to use it because the do not disturb sign was plugged into it instead of a key, keeping the power on. Once I took the do not disturb sign out of the slot we had about five more minutes of power before it went off. I am sure glad I figured it out before I got to the front desk and demanded to know what had happened to our power. Talk about feeling foolish.
Tomorrow we take off for the countryside. Apparently our next ledge is only about half an hour outside of town.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Great food and wine in Mendoza
We are back from dinner. A two hour affair that began with a one block walk from our hotel to Francesco's, a wonderful Italian restaurant. The sommelier tried to steer us to a wonderful bottle of local malbec priced at $275 (pesos, or about $85US) but we figured our palate was not sophisticated enough for the difference between a $30 bottle and an $85, so we downgraded the selection. I guess when the concierge of the nicest hotel in town calls to make your reservation and you are seated in the front table facing the gardens they expect you can afford the expensive wines.
We each had delicious pasta dinners, but the appetizers were the rave. Mike had a shrimp brochette that he loved. My caprese salad came with an eggplant side dish that was fabulous. After we finished eating our waiter took us on a tour of the wine cellar (where two photos of our chef shaking hands with the pope are prominently displayed) and the huge gardens. On our way out the door we passed a young couple walking in the front door. They overheard us talking to each other and made mention of the fact that we were speaking English. That started the inevitable, "where are you from?". It turns out that we are all from Seattle. They are on a two week vacation in Argentina and jealous of our much longer trip.
Apparently internet only costs about 30 cents an hour in the internet cafes here, but we have no idea what we are paying at this hotel. They hand us a 2 hour password upon request and ascertaining our room number, but we don't know what we are paying. The wireless doesn't work in our room on the fifth floor so we are sitting out in the lobby working on this. It is 10:45 PM and the restaurant at the other side of the lobby is doing a hopping business so the lobby is filled with the noise of dinner conversations with a faint sound of Kenny G in the background.
Our hotel has a spa so we each had a Thai massage this afternoon. This was a first time experience, but we have both vowed that it won't be the last. Unlike a traditional Swedish massage, during this massage the therapist climbs up on the massage table to get a better angle. It works. The knots in both of our backs (the stress of carrying suitcases and making airplane schedules is horrendous!) were grateful for the rigorous work-out these therapists gave them. When we were all done we were amazed to find that two hour long massages were $100 combined. That is about half the price of massages at home.
At the airport today in Santiago, on our way to Mendoza, Mike struck up a conversation with an American from Pennsylvania while I was shopping in the duty free (for a new paperback book to read). This guy was approximately Mike's age, with long gray hair and a wiry, fit body. He was on his way to Mendoza to climb a 7000 meter (23,000 ft) mountain in the nearby Andes (we can see them from the windows of the hotel). He was surrounded by beat up canvas packs that he says have been on lots of previous climbs with him. He told us that he makes his living caddying at the nearby golf course in the summer and building rock climbing walls in the winter. We had a nice conversation and walked away thinking that he was an unusual fellow traveler that we would be unlikely to meet again given our temporary status at the upscale hotel in town. When we followed the hotel's driver to the car after he met us in the airport lobby as we cleared customs, our buddy was no where to be seen. So, we were surprised when we say him later this afternoon working on a computer in the lobby of the hotel. He said he likes to splurge on his climbing trips.
I apologize for all of the typos in the last several write-ups. Spell check does not work when you log in from other countries. Sorry.
I hope you are enjoying the stories as much as we are enjoying being here.
So long,
Deanne
We each had delicious pasta dinners, but the appetizers were the rave. Mike had a shrimp brochette that he loved. My caprese salad came with an eggplant side dish that was fabulous. After we finished eating our waiter took us on a tour of the wine cellar (where two photos of our chef shaking hands with the pope are prominently displayed) and the huge gardens. On our way out the door we passed a young couple walking in the front door. They overheard us talking to each other and made mention of the fact that we were speaking English. That started the inevitable, "where are you from?". It turns out that we are all from Seattle. They are on a two week vacation in Argentina and jealous of our much longer trip.
Apparently internet only costs about 30 cents an hour in the internet cafes here, but we have no idea what we are paying at this hotel. They hand us a 2 hour password upon request and ascertaining our room number, but we don't know what we are paying. The wireless doesn't work in our room on the fifth floor so we are sitting out in the lobby working on this. It is 10:45 PM and the restaurant at the other side of the lobby is doing a hopping business so the lobby is filled with the noise of dinner conversations with a faint sound of Kenny G in the background.
Our hotel has a spa so we each had a Thai massage this afternoon. This was a first time experience, but we have both vowed that it won't be the last. Unlike a traditional Swedish massage, during this massage the therapist climbs up on the massage table to get a better angle. It works. The knots in both of our backs (the stress of carrying suitcases and making airplane schedules is horrendous!) were grateful for the rigorous work-out these therapists gave them. When we were all done we were amazed to find that two hour long massages were $100 combined. That is about half the price of massages at home.
At the airport today in Santiago, on our way to Mendoza, Mike struck up a conversation with an American from Pennsylvania while I was shopping in the duty free (for a new paperback book to read). This guy was approximately Mike's age, with long gray hair and a wiry, fit body. He was on his way to Mendoza to climb a 7000 meter (23,000 ft) mountain in the nearby Andes (we can see them from the windows of the hotel). He was surrounded by beat up canvas packs that he says have been on lots of previous climbs with him. He told us that he makes his living caddying at the nearby golf course in the summer and building rock climbing walls in the winter. We had a nice conversation and walked away thinking that he was an unusual fellow traveler that we would be unlikely to meet again given our temporary status at the upscale hotel in town. When we followed the hotel's driver to the car after he met us in the airport lobby as we cleared customs, our buddy was no where to be seen. So, we were surprised when we say him later this afternoon working on a computer in the lobby of the hotel. He said he likes to splurge on his climbing trips.
I apologize for all of the typos in the last several write-ups. Spell check does not work when you log in from other countries. Sorry.
I hope you are enjoying the stories as much as we are enjoying being here.
So long,
Deanne
Don Your Green
We have been hearing some of you say that you are green with envy that we are able to take a nine month round the world trip like this. For those of you that can't stand the envy...don't read on. But for those who figure we deserve some great moments to balance out the crummy places like our over-priced rathole in Copacobana Beach, Rio de Janiero where it rained the entire time we were there...this is for you.
We flew into Mendoza, Argentina this morning and we are in heaven. We couldn't get a budget hotel for the first two nights. Everyting was sold out so we HAD to book two nights at the Park Hyatt at $213 per night- about $50 more per night than our budget. But what a splurge it is. I am sitting in the lobby using the free wifi while Mike had a massage ($60 for an hour). When he is done we trade places. We have dinner reservations at one of the great places in town. With a bottle of wine dinner is usually $50 here. It is heaven.
We spend two nights here then we move to a lodge at a winery where we have a room for $150 per night. Then two nights at the next place for #120 per night. How can you miss? We have a comfortable bed with a down duvet, a marble clad bathroom (currently covered with a winding clotheslines and everything we brought with us hanging drip drying), and a minibar with affordable prices!
Aunt Donna told me we would love Argentina and she was right. The people are great. Many speak English and those that don't are very tolerant of our horrible Spanglish. The prices are the lowest of any of the countries we have been to so far, but the cities are not nearly as run down.
I will take photos tomorrow and let you see what we mean. Until then, eat your hearts out (said with the greatest amount of love).
Deanne
We flew into Mendoza, Argentina this morning and we are in heaven. We couldn't get a budget hotel for the first two nights. Everyting was sold out so we HAD to book two nights at the Park Hyatt at $213 per night- about $50 more per night than our budget. But what a splurge it is. I am sitting in the lobby using the free wifi while Mike had a massage ($60 for an hour). When he is done we trade places. We have dinner reservations at one of the great places in town. With a bottle of wine dinner is usually $50 here. It is heaven.
We spend two nights here then we move to a lodge at a winery where we have a room for $150 per night. Then two nights at the next place for #120 per night. How can you miss? We have a comfortable bed with a down duvet, a marble clad bathroom (currently covered with a winding clotheslines and everything we brought with us hanging drip drying), and a minibar with affordable prices!
Aunt Donna told me we would love Argentina and she was right. The people are great. Many speak English and those that don't are very tolerant of our horrible Spanglish. The prices are the lowest of any of the countries we have been to so far, but the cities are not nearly as run down.
I will take photos tomorrow and let you see what we mean. Until then, eat your hearts out (said with the greatest amount of love).
Deanne
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
South America from the Photos
While we are on the ship we had no reasonably priced access to the internet so we laid off for awhile. Now that we have it again I have caught up on the photos. It is time to tell a little about the stories behind these photos. Starting with the beginning of the cruise on January 10, our first stop was Puerto Montt.
Puerto Montt: This coastal town is about two thirds of the way down from the northern border of Chile. The town is very run down, housing poor workers from the salmon farming industry. Apparently the minimum wage in Chile is about $175US per month. Divers who don wet suits and work the farms from underwater are much higher paid, making as much as $1000 per month. Higher paid employees and wealthier people live in the nearby resort town of Puerto Varas. On the south shore of huge Lake Llanquihue, this town looks much more like a resprt town you would find in other places. Hotels and cute resaurants are side by side with adventure sports outlets. Our bus trip showed us both towns on our way out to the country on our "volcano photo safari" - a cruise shore excursion code name for a LONG bus ride with occasional stops to climb out, shoot a photo, then climb back in and ride longer. The photos start out with the run down housing of Puerto Montt then move on to the volcanoes. We drove about half way up the volcano, so a few of the photos show the view looking down. The dancing children are a family of kids that dress in native costumes (not what anyone wheres on a daily basis) to dance for the tourists to earn tips. Finally, the photos show Puerto Varas and a street market selling local woolens and wood products.
Chilean Fiords: I must admit these were a disappointment after touring the fiords of New Zealand and Norway (even Alaska for that matter). They are barren hills as opposed to dramatic mountains arising from the sea. They provided scenary on a day in which we were at sea, so they were better than watching waves.
Punta Arenas: Located in Patagonia, famous for cold winters, short summers and lots of wind we had an exceptional day. This town is not much to look at, so most tourists visit the nearby National Parque, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. Due to the time in port we were not able to see the park so we went for a walk through town. The photos were taken on that walk from the port to the main plaza, then about eight or nine more blocks to the cemetary. This was the first of the cemetaries we visited on this trip- apparently they are popular spots for tourists. The Chileans and the Argentines revere their dead and the cemetaries are quite beautiful.
Cape Horn: We passed Cape Horn at 6:00 AM just as the sun was coming up. The photos could not show how cold we were, but you get the wind and cold by looking at what we were wearing (everything we had in our suitcases). Although we had expected cold on this trip, the deck of the ship as we passed Cape Horn was the only time we were really cold. Although all you see when you pass the Cape is a big rock sitting in the water, the history of this most famous rock got everyone out of bed to see it.
Ushaia, Argentina: Apparently this town at the bottom of the world gets only thirty sunny days per year and we were lucky enough to be there to see one of them. The locals were in good spirits as we took another long bus trip around town and into the Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego. The photos show the drive through town and the national park.
Buenos Aires: Our city bus tour took us directly to the cemetary, so there were lots of photos of the city of the dead. In town we visited the main cathedral where we were able to see the changing of the guard which I was able to photograph. They can't refuse a photo so they are easy targets. The rest of the photos are street scenes taken while walking around or from the bus windows.
Montevideo, Uruguay: These are all photos taken on our bus trip around town.
Rio de Janiero, Brazil: It rained cats and dogs our first two days here, but today was cloudy and dry. We walked down to the beach and took all these photos from the bench at the beach. The final few were from the view of our (not) very luxurious hotel.
I hope you enjoy these photos. Deanne
Puerto Montt: This coastal town is about two thirds of the way down from the northern border of Chile. The town is very run down, housing poor workers from the salmon farming industry. Apparently the minimum wage in Chile is about $175US per month. Divers who don wet suits and work the farms from underwater are much higher paid, making as much as $1000 per month. Higher paid employees and wealthier people live in the nearby resort town of Puerto Varas. On the south shore of huge Lake Llanquihue, this town looks much more like a resprt town you would find in other places. Hotels and cute resaurants are side by side with adventure sports outlets. Our bus trip showed us both towns on our way out to the country on our "volcano photo safari" - a cruise shore excursion code name for a LONG bus ride with occasional stops to climb out, shoot a photo, then climb back in and ride longer. The photos start out with the run down housing of Puerto Montt then move on to the volcanoes. We drove about half way up the volcano, so a few of the photos show the view looking down. The dancing children are a family of kids that dress in native costumes (not what anyone wheres on a daily basis) to dance for the tourists to earn tips. Finally, the photos show Puerto Varas and a street market selling local woolens and wood products.
Chilean Fiords: I must admit these were a disappointment after touring the fiords of New Zealand and Norway (even Alaska for that matter). They are barren hills as opposed to dramatic mountains arising from the sea. They provided scenary on a day in which we were at sea, so they were better than watching waves.
Punta Arenas: Located in Patagonia, famous for cold winters, short summers and lots of wind we had an exceptional day. This town is not much to look at, so most tourists visit the nearby National Parque, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. Due to the time in port we were not able to see the park so we went for a walk through town. The photos were taken on that walk from the port to the main plaza, then about eight or nine more blocks to the cemetary. This was the first of the cemetaries we visited on this trip- apparently they are popular spots for tourists. The Chileans and the Argentines revere their dead and the cemetaries are quite beautiful.
Cape Horn: We passed Cape Horn at 6:00 AM just as the sun was coming up. The photos could not show how cold we were, but you get the wind and cold by looking at what we were wearing (everything we had in our suitcases). Although we had expected cold on this trip, the deck of the ship as we passed Cape Horn was the only time we were really cold. Although all you see when you pass the Cape is a big rock sitting in the water, the history of this most famous rock got everyone out of bed to see it.
Ushaia, Argentina: Apparently this town at the bottom of the world gets only thirty sunny days per year and we were lucky enough to be there to see one of them. The locals were in good spirits as we took another long bus trip around town and into the Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego. The photos show the drive through town and the national park.
Buenos Aires: Our city bus tour took us directly to the cemetary, so there were lots of photos of the city of the dead. In town we visited the main cathedral where we were able to see the changing of the guard which I was able to photograph. They can't refuse a photo so they are easy targets. The rest of the photos are street scenes taken while walking around or from the bus windows.
Montevideo, Uruguay: These are all photos taken on our bus trip around town.
Rio de Janiero, Brazil: It rained cats and dogs our first two days here, but today was cloudy and dry. We walked down to the beach and took all these photos from the bench at the beach. The final few were from the view of our (not) very luxurious hotel.
I hope you enjoy these photos. Deanne
Monday, February 4, 2008
Ten Year Anniversary
On 2/5/08 it will be 10 years since Laurie made a decision to have her husband Dave become an organ donor after a tragic automobile accident claimed his life through no fault of his own. He was a young man with a wonderful wife and devoted parents and sisters. For those of us who have lost family members there is no greater pain. So on this day I remember Dave Dawson, his amazing wife Laurie and his sisters, parents and family members. So to all of my wonderful family and friends I hope you keep Dave and Laurie and family in your thoughts, prayers and intentions this day, as I do each day.
Love
Mike
Love
Mike
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Updating Photos in Rio de Janiero
Our cruise ended this morning. Like all other cruises we have been on, disembarkation is so terrible it makes you wonder if the trip was worth it. That's why we like the longer cruises best- there is more time for the fun with only one painful day. We got up this morning at 6:30, showered and finished the last minute packing (big packing was done last night when the suitcases went out into the hallway), had breakfast and sat around until 10:00 when we were finally called for departure. The departure hall where you crawl through masses of people to find your suitcases was positvely the worst ever. First of all, it was raining, which just barely improved the heat and humidity of Rio. The room was stifling. Second, the hall was too small for the crowds of people so we were crammed in and it was hot, both in temperature and tempers. Third, there was no rhyme or reason to how the bags were laid out and the process you had to go through to get out the door. We did not leave the hall until almost noon.
When we got outside we were surrounded by taxi drivers all offering to drive us to our hotel. When I retrieved our hotel name and address from our bag, they all assured us that we made a mistake- the hotel is 200 km away from the port. I guess it is now clear why I got such a good room rate during Carnival. I booked a room in an entirely different city! The most persistent of the taxi drivers who had followed us around as we dragged our bags through the crowded, rainy streets assured us that he could find us a good room for a reasonable rate if we paid him $40 for a taxi ride to the hotel. Knowing it was a rip off but being hot and frustrated, we jumped in the taxi and plowed through the rainy streets to Cocacobana Beach where he drove us to a suitable mid priced hotel where we were able to book a room for about $175 a night. Not as good a rate as my previous place, and probably not as nice as a Sheraton Four Point, it nevertheless fits the bill of being in the right town. And, for 20 reals a night (about $11) we have unlimited wifi access. Yahoo.
Mike took a nap when we got back and I worked on e-mail, then we went for a walk around the neighborhood. The rain seems to have kept many people indoors, so the beach, located about three blocks from our hotel, was deserted. An open air market had vendors all talking to each other with no customers. After circling the block we settled on a place for lunch. Imagine having lunch at 3:30! The place was crowded though. As we sat down at one of the semi-outdoor tables (covered but no walls) the waiter handed us English menus. No matter how we try to blend, we are obviously not Brazilian!
We feasted on beef. I wonder how long the life span of a typical South American is. They eat a heck of a lot of beef.
As we were finishing our meal an older woman and her adult son came in and spoke to a number of the waiters. She was clearly highly regarded among the staff, possibly a waiter's widow. As she made her way to visit with some regulars or staff sitting in the corner behind us, she walked by our table and we initiated a terribly executed, but very warm conversation. She used sign language and hugs, and we spoke English and hugged, so it was quite warm. Our waiter liked us much better after that, and when the bill was settled and tip left he came over to shake our hand and say goodbye. Lunch was fun and filling.
We tried to find tonight's Superbowl on tv in our hotel but to no avail. Mike will be forced to check the internet every ten minutes or so to see how it is going.
Do you like the new photos I just uploaded? Two weeks worth of photos. I will write later and explain them a bit. Until then, it is off to listen to the Superbowl. We are skipping dinner for the night and living off the big lunch, so with a start time of 9:15PM our time, it will be midnight or later before the game is over.
oh, please forgive the errors. Spellcheck doesn't work when you are out of country.
Goodnight and happy Superbowl,
Deanne
When we got outside we were surrounded by taxi drivers all offering to drive us to our hotel. When I retrieved our hotel name and address from our bag, they all assured us that we made a mistake- the hotel is 200 km away from the port. I guess it is now clear why I got such a good room rate during Carnival. I booked a room in an entirely different city! The most persistent of the taxi drivers who had followed us around as we dragged our bags through the crowded, rainy streets assured us that he could find us a good room for a reasonable rate if we paid him $40 for a taxi ride to the hotel. Knowing it was a rip off but being hot and frustrated, we jumped in the taxi and plowed through the rainy streets to Cocacobana Beach where he drove us to a suitable mid priced hotel where we were able to book a room for about $175 a night. Not as good a rate as my previous place, and probably not as nice as a Sheraton Four Point, it nevertheless fits the bill of being in the right town. And, for 20 reals a night (about $11) we have unlimited wifi access. Yahoo.
Mike took a nap when we got back and I worked on e-mail, then we went for a walk around the neighborhood. The rain seems to have kept many people indoors, so the beach, located about three blocks from our hotel, was deserted. An open air market had vendors all talking to each other with no customers. After circling the block we settled on a place for lunch. Imagine having lunch at 3:30! The place was crowded though. As we sat down at one of the semi-outdoor tables (covered but no walls) the waiter handed us English menus. No matter how we try to blend, we are obviously not Brazilian!
We feasted on beef. I wonder how long the life span of a typical South American is. They eat a heck of a lot of beef.
As we were finishing our meal an older woman and her adult son came in and spoke to a number of the waiters. She was clearly highly regarded among the staff, possibly a waiter's widow. As she made her way to visit with some regulars or staff sitting in the corner behind us, she walked by our table and we initiated a terribly executed, but very warm conversation. She used sign language and hugs, and we spoke English and hugged, so it was quite warm. Our waiter liked us much better after that, and when the bill was settled and tip left he came over to shake our hand and say goodbye. Lunch was fun and filling.
We tried to find tonight's Superbowl on tv in our hotel but to no avail. Mike will be forced to check the internet every ten minutes or so to see how it is going.
Do you like the new photos I just uploaded? Two weeks worth of photos. I will write later and explain them a bit. Until then, it is off to listen to the Superbowl. We are skipping dinner for the night and living off the big lunch, so with a start time of 9:15PM our time, it will be midnight or later before the game is over.
oh, please forgive the errors. Spellcheck doesn't work when you are out of country.
Goodnight and happy Superbowl,
Deanne
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Magellan´s Revenge
Montezuma is not the only one who wrecks revenge on the intestines of visitors. Our ship has an outbreak of the norvovirus and yours truly has fallen prey to some invisible bug that has laid me low for a few days. Surprisingly and fortunately, Mike has escaped the bug. The buffet lines have been modified on the sip to disallow self service, so we have longer lines as we eat one of our hundred meals a day. We were committed to eating healthy foods this cruise, and for the most part we have stayed true to our commitment. A few desserts here and there, but mostly three healthy squares a day. Even if they don´t stay in the tummy long enough to be digested.
We are at the internet cafe in Montevideo, Uruguay today. We took a bus tour of the city with lots of photos to share whenever we get a chance to download. Yesterday we had a long stay in Buenos Aires, and we took lots of photos as we roamed around on the bus tour there. One day is hardly enough time to see either of these cities, but after these short visits we aren´t sure we need to see much more of Montevideo. After all, on a highlights tour they are probably showing us the best they have, and well frankly, there wasn´t that much to see. Buenos Aires on the other hand looks like a grand city...Paris of South America, with lots of charm worth a second visit.
Our cruise ends on Sunday morning when we arrive in Rio. Hopefully, if all goes according to plan our Carnival tickets will be waiting for us when we arrive and the cheap hotel we found will be both passable and within a reasonably priced taxi ride from the ship´s dock. We hope to get better access to the internet so that we can keep in touch more regularly.
Til then,
Deanne
We are at the internet cafe in Montevideo, Uruguay today. We took a bus tour of the city with lots of photos to share whenever we get a chance to download. Yesterday we had a long stay in Buenos Aires, and we took lots of photos as we roamed around on the bus tour there. One day is hardly enough time to see either of these cities, but after these short visits we aren´t sure we need to see much more of Montevideo. After all, on a highlights tour they are probably showing us the best they have, and well frankly, there wasn´t that much to see. Buenos Aires on the other hand looks like a grand city...Paris of South America, with lots of charm worth a second visit.
Our cruise ends on Sunday morning when we arrive in Rio. Hopefully, if all goes according to plan our Carnival tickets will be waiting for us when we arrive and the cheap hotel we found will be both passable and within a reasonably priced taxi ride from the ship´s dock. We hope to get better access to the internet so that we can keep in touch more regularly.
Til then,
Deanne
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Greetings from the Bottom of the World
We are in Ushaiha, Argentina, the self-reported bottom of the world. The last city before Anarctica. We went on a bus tour of the National Park, Tierra del Fuego earlier today. Now we sit in the Internet Cafe in the little town with the big banner reading, "Bottom of the World and the Beginning of Everything". It is a magnificently located town surrounded by jagged mountains covered in snow. They only experience thirty days of sunlight here (and you thought Seattle was bad!) but lucky for us we hit a gorgeous sunny day.
Mike just called time, so I have to run. We spent time doing our bills and answering e-mails so we are out of time here. I Will write soon.
Deanne
Mike just called time, so I have to run. We spent time doing our bills and answering e-mails so we are out of time here. I Will write soon.
Deanne
Friday, January 25, 2008
Our Last Port in Chile
We just took the tender boat in from our ship into the small port town of Punta Arenas. It is so foggy outside the window of the internet cafe on the dock that we can't see the ship sitting outside the window. These little internet cafes seem to have sprung up on the piers where the boats dock. There are rows of tiny phone booths for the crew and passengers to make internet phone calls to home, and a wall of computers for us to access the internet at the princely sum of $2 per hour. Compared to the exorbitant rate of 50 cents per minute on the ship (which we are currently boycotting until we are more desperate) this is heaven.
Punta Arenas is our final city in Chile. We have traveled down the entire southwest coast of South America, past the Chilean fiords and through the Magellan Straits and we are in the final city before we start up the other side of the continent. Punta Arenas was a powerful trading city for ships making the trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific or vice versa before the opening of the Panama Canal. Since then it has languished so that it is now a beautiful little town with several mansions left from the days of rich wool traders now turned into museums for the tourists coming through on ships. We have seen numerous other ships both in front of, and behind ours as we make our way through relatively narrow channels such as the Magellan Straits and the fiords. It is clear that the trip we are on is popular with other tourists as well. Unlike the other cruises we have taken, this one appears to have a minority of North Americans and many others speaking languages we don't recognize. There are also many Spanish speakers on board, giving us a chance to practice our deadly Spanglish on the poor staff and fellow passengers that we encounter.
Our last stop was Puerto Montt, Chile. We took a long, 8 hour bus trip called a photo safari around the countryside to see the sites. I have some beautiful photos of the lake, volcanoes and city that I will post when we next get access to wifi. The town itself was rundown and poor, but the countryside was spectacular. The nearby town of Puerto Varas was much more prosperous and worth another visit someday when we get back to Chile. The major industry of the area is Salmon farming, and it seems that every tour into the countryside included a salmon lunch at one of the restaurants catering to the cruise tours. Farmed Atlantic salmon is not really a big treat for residents of the Pacific Northwest who are able to eat fresh Alaskan salmon most of the year, but it was accompanied by some traditional foods as appetizers (a small empanada and sopilla) so we were able to try some Chilean food. Our bus was nice looking but missing some important part that holds it steady. We shook and swerved on the country roads. Most of the time it was fine, but it was a little scary coming down the narrow, curvy mountain dirt road at the volcano.
We are enjoying the company of our table mates on the cruise. We come from the four corners of the US, and the center (Seattle, New York, Florida, St Louis, with a nod to my origination in LA). The group are frequent cruisers so we have been able to hear about other great trips they have made.
Well, the fog has lifted enough for us to see the dock outside, but still not our ship. We are going to set off to explore the town. We may log in again in a few hours after walking around. If not, we will catch you in the next port of call. Until then,
Deanne
Punta Arenas is our final city in Chile. We have traveled down the entire southwest coast of South America, past the Chilean fiords and through the Magellan Straits and we are in the final city before we start up the other side of the continent. Punta Arenas was a powerful trading city for ships making the trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific or vice versa before the opening of the Panama Canal. Since then it has languished so that it is now a beautiful little town with several mansions left from the days of rich wool traders now turned into museums for the tourists coming through on ships. We have seen numerous other ships both in front of, and behind ours as we make our way through relatively narrow channels such as the Magellan Straits and the fiords. It is clear that the trip we are on is popular with other tourists as well. Unlike the other cruises we have taken, this one appears to have a minority of North Americans and many others speaking languages we don't recognize. There are also many Spanish speakers on board, giving us a chance to practice our deadly Spanglish on the poor staff and fellow passengers that we encounter.
Our last stop was Puerto Montt, Chile. We took a long, 8 hour bus trip called a photo safari around the countryside to see the sites. I have some beautiful photos of the lake, volcanoes and city that I will post when we next get access to wifi. The town itself was rundown and poor, but the countryside was spectacular. The nearby town of Puerto Varas was much more prosperous and worth another visit someday when we get back to Chile. The major industry of the area is Salmon farming, and it seems that every tour into the countryside included a salmon lunch at one of the restaurants catering to the cruise tours. Farmed Atlantic salmon is not really a big treat for residents of the Pacific Northwest who are able to eat fresh Alaskan salmon most of the year, but it was accompanied by some traditional foods as appetizers (a small empanada and sopilla) so we were able to try some Chilean food. Our bus was nice looking but missing some important part that holds it steady. We shook and swerved on the country roads. Most of the time it was fine, but it was a little scary coming down the narrow, curvy mountain dirt road at the volcano.
We are enjoying the company of our table mates on the cruise. We come from the four corners of the US, and the center (Seattle, New York, Florida, St Louis, with a nod to my origination in LA). The group are frequent cruisers so we have been able to hear about other great trips they have made.
Well, the fog has lifted enough for us to see the dock outside, but still not our ship. We are going to set off to explore the town. We may log in again in a few hours after walking around. If not, we will catch you in the next port of call. Until then,
Deanne
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Awareness served up by a tiny Peruvian waitress
Tiny Peruvian waitress, Andrea served our lunch at the highly recommended restaurant, La Casita de Barrealas. I described finding this little Peruvian treasure in another blog entry, as today was our second meal at this delightful little restaurant hidden in a roadside house. Andrea, young and sweet, readily agreed to posing for a photo (I will post them shortly when they are finished downloading) at the beginning of the meal, and utilized her superior English skills and our totally inferior Spanish to take our order. As the various courses were delivered (first a shared vegetable salad followed by a shrimp curry for me and a fried shrimp meal for Mike then profiteroles for dessert) I took a photo of the food. At the end of the meal Andrea asked to see the photos. She seemed pleased and touched with the results, particularly when I offered to e-mail the photos to her. She returned to our table with a business card that included her e-mail address and asked me to send the food photos to the restaurant. I am not sure what transpired in that interaction except that I understood her to be touched by my desire to share them with her, and I was touched by her sweetness. I hugged her, and she said goodbye with her hand to her heart and a kiss to her fingertips. I walked back to the car with tears running down my face.
I am currently downloading the photos to attach to the blog and send to Andrea and her manager. I feel like something special happened in that little restaurant.
Thank you, Andrea.
Deanne
I am currently downloading the photos to attach to the blog and send to Andrea and her manager. I feel like something special happened in that little restaurant.
Thank you, Andrea.
Deanne
Meeting Friends Along the Way
Every day we have been traveling has reinforced the charm of visiting each new location for a minimum of several days. The rushing two day visits of our European whirlwind tour, while providing exposure to many fascinating places, missed the joys that familiarity bring. Today is our seventh day in the Colchagua Valley at the Vina La Playa Hotel. We added an extra night to our stay so that we now leave here tomorrow morning, drive to the airport and throw ourselves on the mercy of the cruise transfer buses to take us the hour drive to Valparaiso to board the ship. When we leave here we will miss the familiar smiles of the staff when we pass each other in the hall, the laughter that our fumbling Spanglish brings as we try to order our food and the intuitive assistance we are provided because we have become familiar to the staff(towels and sunscreen appearing without request when we head out to the pool or a third egg for Mike at breakfast). Due to our cash difficulties we have spent a week without tipping anyone (a problem we rectify tonight and tomorrow as we say our final goodbyes to everyone) yet the staff has been wonderful to us. We recommend this place to everyone.
We have also made friends of other guests, no one visiting for nearly length of the week we are here. Each group of Americans that come through seem to gravitate together. Roger and Sue from New Jersey stayed three nights and shared meals and lots of laughter. Because they were here a shorter time they crammed in more wine tastings than we did each day and were able to point us to the ones they enjoyed the most. Last night three travelers from Pennsylvania came in. Only in Chile for a few days before boarding a cruise to Antarctica, they had hired a driver and guide to accompany them. They were seeing the countryside on the back roads. We enjoyed their company at dinner last night and had the pleasant surprise of a packet of information on Brazil left for us by Barbara. She also asked for the blog address, so Barbara, if you ever read this, we appreciate your kindness.
Also checking in last night was an Argentinian family from Mendoza, the wine country capital of Argentina. Their beautiful little girls, Clara and Emilia have captivated us with their sweet looks. Trained in Texas as a Longhorn, the father (name unknown) of these little girls has offered to provide us with ideas of places to stay in Mondoza when we get there several weeks from now. He is apparently in the wine and tourism business, so he is currently off working today, but we look forward to his ideas.
Yesterday we had a terrific wine tasting with a young, well spoken college man, Christian (photo in the set of the wine country). He is studying for a career in English translation and provided a wonderful overview of the wine making process and the unique qualities of wines in Chile. We were so impressed with Christian and his knowledge of wines, not the mention the great wine that we left the tour with bottles of wine to take with us on our cruise.
On our final day in the Chilean wine country we are off to the ATM machine to load up once again. We will probably take in another wine tasting and some pool time. It is a wonderful life!
Adios, Deanne
We have also made friends of other guests, no one visiting for nearly length of the week we are here. Each group of Americans that come through seem to gravitate together. Roger and Sue from New Jersey stayed three nights and shared meals and lots of laughter. Because they were here a shorter time they crammed in more wine tastings than we did each day and were able to point us to the ones they enjoyed the most. Last night three travelers from Pennsylvania came in. Only in Chile for a few days before boarding a cruise to Antarctica, they had hired a driver and guide to accompany them. They were seeing the countryside on the back roads. We enjoyed their company at dinner last night and had the pleasant surprise of a packet of information on Brazil left for us by Barbara. She also asked for the blog address, so Barbara, if you ever read this, we appreciate your kindness.
Also checking in last night was an Argentinian family from Mendoza, the wine country capital of Argentina. Their beautiful little girls, Clara and Emilia have captivated us with their sweet looks. Trained in Texas as a Longhorn, the father (name unknown) of these little girls has offered to provide us with ideas of places to stay in Mondoza when we get there several weeks from now. He is apparently in the wine and tourism business, so he is currently off working today, but we look forward to his ideas.
Yesterday we had a terrific wine tasting with a young, well spoken college man, Christian (photo in the set of the wine country). He is studying for a career in English translation and provided a wonderful overview of the wine making process and the unique qualities of wines in Chile. We were so impressed with Christian and his knowledge of wines, not the mention the great wine that we left the tour with bottles of wine to take with us on our cruise.
On our final day in the Chilean wine country we are off to the ATM machine to load up once again. We will probably take in another wine tasting and some pool time. It is a wonderful life!
Adios, Deanne
Friday, January 18, 2008
New Link to Photo Library
I took out the European photos to make the page load faster. If you want to see any of our photos, including the deleted photos, just use the link shown in the photo column to take you to picasweb. This site, http://picasaweb.google.com/WanderingGypsies has all of our photos which are available to anyone to download to their computer. I hope this makes it easier and faster to see the new photos.
Deanne
Deanne
Eating our way through Chile
Finding the restaurant was the most difficult part of lunch at the Peruvian restaurant yesterday. We had a flyer with a map showing the location as directly across from the Laura Hartwig winery on the road into Santa Cruz. It takes about ten minutes to get off the property of our hotel and its accompanying winery. The long, dusty and very bumpy rocky road from our door out to the public road through rocks up that we hear banging against the underside of our car. Each trip out to the road we see one or more of the hotel or winery staff riding in or out of the property on their bikes. They always give us a wave and continue bumping their way along. Once out to the main road, a left turn leads past small but clean and nice homes. Another fifteen minutes of driving past small homes on the road interspersed with corn fields and vineyards leads out the main road. That fifteen minutes of driving requires vigilance as there are many dogs, children, bicycle riders and folks waiting for the bus along the road. As we pass people, we usually are met with friendly curiosity. They look at us while we look at them, and mostly everyone is pretty friendly about the stare off. Eventually that road leads to the main road which is evidenced by the broken down and abandoned train station. It is our landmark for the turn.
We saw sleek, modern passenger trains on our long drive up and back to Santiago, but those trains never make it down here. In the Central Valley we have multiple track crossings marked on the roads only by a stop sign in front of them. Judging from other drivers, apparently the train track stop signs warrant a slow down before crossing, but nothing else. We haven't seen a train on these tracks yet, but I guess once is enough if you don't see it in time.
After turning off the main road onto the road into Santa Cruz, then crossing the train tracks, we drive down a long road littered with tiny towns. Some of these towns have huge speed bumps to slow down traffic, so this road requires a little caution. The homes alongside the road are not as well tended and modern as the ones near our hotel, possibly because the higher paid jobs are at the hotel rather than the town. Who knows? Eventually we pass a few signs for wineries, all of which are marked with large, clear tourist signs. The Laura Hartwig landmark sign told us the entrance was 150 metres ahead. We never saw it so we ended up in Santa Cruz to turn around. Coming from the other direction we saw a similar sign telling us that Laura Hartwig was 160 metres ahead. We finally determined a little gravel road hardly visible through a growth of trees was the entrance to the winery and one of the three or four houses across the road was our targeted restaurant. Driving slowly, we saw tables in front of the pink house and knew we had found the highly recommended Peruvian restaurant.
We chose to sit out on the front porch beside our car parked at the side of the road. Perhaps it wasn't the most attractive place to sit, as all of the other patrons could be heard inside, but it was fun to watch the action on the street while we ate. We had been told by the proprietor of another restaurant that the National drink- the pisco sour was worth ordering at the Peruvian place because they were almost as good as his homemade ones. Mike was designated driver for this trip, so I had this blended drink or lemon, sugar, ice and Chilean whiskey while we kept to a single glass of wine. Wonderfully refreshing. Our waiter, Mort and his assistant, Lady (introductions made with lousy Spanglish) recommended the Cebiche (I had the salmon version; raw salmon in lemon with thin sliced red onion which was wonderful while Mike had the enslada mixta- a huge salad with avocado, hearts of palm and artichoke) followed by our main course of tacu tacu (beef chunks for Mike and seafood for me- stewed and served with a slab of rice, tomato and bean mixture). A bowl of salted huge puffed corn kernels sat in the center of the table for snacking. We never made it to dessert, as the servings were huge. That was about $20,000 pesos, or $40.
Our hotel includes breakfast with our stay, so each morning we enjoy a small plate of fresh fruit, mostly honeydew melon and watermelon, but sometime nectarines or cherries. Today we had figs from the tree near the pool that has been dropping fruit in the walkway all week (I have been quietly taking a fig or two sometimes). Along with the fruit we get pan, or little round biscuits that are served at every meal at every place we have eaten. Butter accompanies the pan at every meal, and jam at breakfast. We drink coffee con leche; fresh coffee is served here rather than the Nescafe that many places serve when you order coffee. Finally, eggs cooked to order. We ate them scrambled for the first few days after ordering with nods to whatever was offered, but eventually we figured out how to order our Oevos Fritos, or fried.
Included in the price of our lunches and dinners (we still have no idea how much they are) is unlimited wine. We are staying at a winery after all. Given the small number of guests here the meal selection is limited to salad with or without shrimp for the first course, two main dishes which are usually beef, chicken or salmon but has once been lasagna and once gnocchi, then two desserts which are always custard or ice cream. We have been trying to get out to lunch so that we get a little variety, but have eaten our dinners in so that we can walk rather than drive after the wine.
For all of you following our trip, we are doing our best to eat and drink everything offered so that we can save you the guesswork of what is good or not when you get here. I had better take off to prepare for another round. Til later....
Deanne
We saw sleek, modern passenger trains on our long drive up and back to Santiago, but those trains never make it down here. In the Central Valley we have multiple track crossings marked on the roads only by a stop sign in front of them. Judging from other drivers, apparently the train track stop signs warrant a slow down before crossing, but nothing else. We haven't seen a train on these tracks yet, but I guess once is enough if you don't see it in time.
After turning off the main road onto the road into Santa Cruz, then crossing the train tracks, we drive down a long road littered with tiny towns. Some of these towns have huge speed bumps to slow down traffic, so this road requires a little caution. The homes alongside the road are not as well tended and modern as the ones near our hotel, possibly because the higher paid jobs are at the hotel rather than the town. Who knows? Eventually we pass a few signs for wineries, all of which are marked with large, clear tourist signs. The Laura Hartwig landmark sign told us the entrance was 150 metres ahead. We never saw it so we ended up in Santa Cruz to turn around. Coming from the other direction we saw a similar sign telling us that Laura Hartwig was 160 metres ahead. We finally determined a little gravel road hardly visible through a growth of trees was the entrance to the winery and one of the three or four houses across the road was our targeted restaurant. Driving slowly, we saw tables in front of the pink house and knew we had found the highly recommended Peruvian restaurant.
We chose to sit out on the front porch beside our car parked at the side of the road. Perhaps it wasn't the most attractive place to sit, as all of the other patrons could be heard inside, but it was fun to watch the action on the street while we ate. We had been told by the proprietor of another restaurant that the National drink- the pisco sour was worth ordering at the Peruvian place because they were almost as good as his homemade ones. Mike was designated driver for this trip, so I had this blended drink or lemon, sugar, ice and Chilean whiskey while we kept to a single glass of wine. Wonderfully refreshing. Our waiter, Mort and his assistant, Lady (introductions made with lousy Spanglish) recommended the Cebiche (I had the salmon version; raw salmon in lemon with thin sliced red onion which was wonderful while Mike had the enslada mixta- a huge salad with avocado, hearts of palm and artichoke) followed by our main course of tacu tacu (beef chunks for Mike and seafood for me- stewed and served with a slab of rice, tomato and bean mixture). A bowl of salted huge puffed corn kernels sat in the center of the table for snacking. We never made it to dessert, as the servings were huge. That was about $20,000 pesos, or $40.
Our hotel includes breakfast with our stay, so each morning we enjoy a small plate of fresh fruit, mostly honeydew melon and watermelon, but sometime nectarines or cherries. Today we had figs from the tree near the pool that has been dropping fruit in the walkway all week (I have been quietly taking a fig or two sometimes). Along with the fruit we get pan, or little round biscuits that are served at every meal at every place we have eaten. Butter accompanies the pan at every meal, and jam at breakfast. We drink coffee con leche; fresh coffee is served here rather than the Nescafe that many places serve when you order coffee. Finally, eggs cooked to order. We ate them scrambled for the first few days after ordering with nods to whatever was offered, but eventually we figured out how to order our Oevos Fritos, or fried.
Included in the price of our lunches and dinners (we still have no idea how much they are) is unlimited wine. We are staying at a winery after all. Given the small number of guests here the meal selection is limited to salad with or without shrimp for the first course, two main dishes which are usually beef, chicken or salmon but has once been lasagna and once gnocchi, then two desserts which are always custard or ice cream. We have been trying to get out to lunch so that we get a little variety, but have eaten our dinners in so that we can walk rather than drive after the wine.
For all of you following our trip, we are doing our best to eat and drink everything offered so that we can save you the guesswork of what is good or not when you get here. I had better take off to prepare for another round. Til later....
Deanne
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Sorry wrong day- come back tomorrow!
Arguing with bureaucracy is pointless no matter where you go. We had a devastating ten minutes in the Brazilian consulate yesterday. Although we have been enjoying ourselves immensely, at the back of our minds we have been sweating the fact that the visa required to join our already paid for cruise was not in hand when we arrived in Chile. We made that nasty drive in Santiago's web of crowded, busy, one way and pedestrian clogged streets in order to apply for our visa, then had to drive back to our secluded wine country retreat and wait to return on Wednesday to pick up the passports we had relinquished to the Brazilian authorities and the accompanying visa. So, after a sleepless night on Tuesday, we showered and dressed at 5:20 AM and left our hotel for the 2 1/2 our trip to Santiago. We were told to arrive precisely between 11:00 and 12:00 to pick up the documents, and not having any idea of commute traffic, we arrived at 8:30 to make sure we didn't miss it. Familiarity with Santiago helped, and we drove right to the very spot we had parked previously with little trouble. We spent an hour having coffee and a pastry, the breakfast offering at a little sidewalk cafe. This $1600 breakfast ($3.20 US) turned out to be coffee with a piece of lemon cheesecake. Not exactly health food, but a sugar and caffeine buzz to rev us up for dealing with the Brazilians.
As soon as the consulate opened on the 15th floor of a downtown office building we were standing in the hall outside the locked door of the documents office. One by one those of us in line in front of this closed door would ring the buzzer and be admitted singly to have our bags and pockets checked, handed a paper number from the dispenser at the reception desk, then be admitted to sit in one of the twelve chairs in the waiting room. As your number was called you went to the front of the room where you took a chair in front of a glass window to talk to the official on the other side of the glass, handing across the necessary paperwork through a small slot in the counter. Six officials on the other side of the glass when all desks were busy spent considerable time with each applicant, reviewing the applications and supporting documentation, and in the case of our first visit, sending us out on various critical errands such as depositing our application fee in their specific bank and returning with a stamped deposit slip. This time we waited anxiously for number 8 to be called. I had additional paperwork with me to further clarify some questions they had about the validity of our flight reservations out of Brazil at the end of our trip. We were ready.
The officials on the other side of the glass appear to sit in some sort of status positions. On our previous visits we noticed that the women officials always changed seats when the men arrived, relinquishing the center seats and sitting on the outside chairs. The men appeared to be the bosses, as questions of paperwork validity were always discussed with them before a decision was made. With our luck, the biggest, oldest and most bored bureaucrat, sitting in the center seat called number 8.
We handed him the receipt for our passport and he left his chair to go in the back. After several minutes he came back empty handed and returned our receipt to us. He pointed to the date at the bottom of the receipt and told us we were a day early- we were to return on the 17th. Mike told him that the women who had processed our application had counted out to Wednesday on her fingers, so here we were, on Wednesday. We aren't entirely sure he fully understand the discussion, but he arose from his chair and went in the back, returning with an English speaker we had not seen previously. By this point I was near tears which usually are wasted on bureaucrats, particularly women, but I could not imagine another sleepless night and five hours of additional driving. I explained that we had a misunderstanding with the woman we worked with and that it would be very difficult to leave and return the next day due to the driving distance. She didn't look convinced, but she disappeared into the back. Big tough guy told us to sit back down and wait by pointing to the waiting room. We sat there in utter frustration. Fifteen or twenty minutes later she returned to the window with our passports in hand. Apparently they were ready in the back and the big guy had missed them. Relief that felt just as good as hitting the ATM jackpot!
We were too keyed up to do anything but jump back in the car and head back to our wine country retreat. Even after the ride into town with dark and commuter traffic Mike took the wheel and got us out of the big city and onto the country roads. It is probably a testament to his worry about my driving that he always offers to drive. Highway driving in Chile is not like at home or in the relatively-similar-to-home roads of Spain. First of all, bicyclists are allowed to ride alongside the two lanes of traffic moving in each direction. Furthermore, the long distance buses pick up and let off riders at bus stops on the side of the road, so pedestrians are standing all over the side of the road. If you are trying to get somewhere on the East side of the road and your bus lets you off on the other side of the highway, you run across two lanes of traffic to the center divider, then wait for a clear spot and run across the other two lanes. Although not many of them try it twice, there are also dogs making the trek across the lanes of the road on which cars and trucks are doing 120 km per hour. If all of that is not bad enough, the roads are clogged with trucks that look like they were packed by the set designers of the Beverly Hillbillies. No wonder Mike prefers to drive! He has managed to get us back and forth on those roads with no near misses.... an unbelievable driver.
I will write later about the food and wine, so tune in again.
Adios (Chileans don't pronounce the s at the end of words that have an s, so take that into account when you read my Spanish)
Love,
Deanne
As soon as the consulate opened on the 15th floor of a downtown office building we were standing in the hall outside the locked door of the documents office. One by one those of us in line in front of this closed door would ring the buzzer and be admitted singly to have our bags and pockets checked, handed a paper number from the dispenser at the reception desk, then be admitted to sit in one of the twelve chairs in the waiting room. As your number was called you went to the front of the room where you took a chair in front of a glass window to talk to the official on the other side of the glass, handing across the necessary paperwork through a small slot in the counter. Six officials on the other side of the glass when all desks were busy spent considerable time with each applicant, reviewing the applications and supporting documentation, and in the case of our first visit, sending us out on various critical errands such as depositing our application fee in their specific bank and returning with a stamped deposit slip. This time we waited anxiously for number 8 to be called. I had additional paperwork with me to further clarify some questions they had about the validity of our flight reservations out of Brazil at the end of our trip. We were ready.
The officials on the other side of the glass appear to sit in some sort of status positions. On our previous visits we noticed that the women officials always changed seats when the men arrived, relinquishing the center seats and sitting on the outside chairs. The men appeared to be the bosses, as questions of paperwork validity were always discussed with them before a decision was made. With our luck, the biggest, oldest and most bored bureaucrat, sitting in the center seat called number 8.
We handed him the receipt for our passport and he left his chair to go in the back. After several minutes he came back empty handed and returned our receipt to us. He pointed to the date at the bottom of the receipt and told us we were a day early- we were to return on the 17th. Mike told him that the women who had processed our application had counted out to Wednesday on her fingers, so here we were, on Wednesday. We aren't entirely sure he fully understand the discussion, but he arose from his chair and went in the back, returning with an English speaker we had not seen previously. By this point I was near tears which usually are wasted on bureaucrats, particularly women, but I could not imagine another sleepless night and five hours of additional driving. I explained that we had a misunderstanding with the woman we worked with and that it would be very difficult to leave and return the next day due to the driving distance. She didn't look convinced, but she disappeared into the back. Big tough guy told us to sit back down and wait by pointing to the waiting room. We sat there in utter frustration. Fifteen or twenty minutes later she returned to the window with our passports in hand. Apparently they were ready in the back and the big guy had missed them. Relief that felt just as good as hitting the ATM jackpot!
We were too keyed up to do anything but jump back in the car and head back to our wine country retreat. Even after the ride into town with dark and commuter traffic Mike took the wheel and got us out of the big city and onto the country roads. It is probably a testament to his worry about my driving that he always offers to drive. Highway driving in Chile is not like at home or in the relatively-similar-to-home roads of Spain. First of all, bicyclists are allowed to ride alongside the two lanes of traffic moving in each direction. Furthermore, the long distance buses pick up and let off riders at bus stops on the side of the road, so pedestrians are standing all over the side of the road. If you are trying to get somewhere on the East side of the road and your bus lets you off on the other side of the highway, you run across two lanes of traffic to the center divider, then wait for a clear spot and run across the other two lanes. Although not many of them try it twice, there are also dogs making the trek across the lanes of the road on which cars and trucks are doing 120 km per hour. If all of that is not bad enough, the roads are clogged with trucks that look like they were packed by the set designers of the Beverly Hillbillies. No wonder Mike prefers to drive! He has managed to get us back and forth on those roads with no near misses.... an unbelievable driver.
I will write later about the food and wine, so tune in again.
Adios (Chileans don't pronounce the s at the end of words that have an s, so take that into account when you read my Spanish)
Love,
Deanne
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
$200,000 Spells RELIEF
That is not a typo. We are so relieved to have found success on our mission to go ATM hopping in the tiny town of Santa Cruz, Chile. After having no success at raising cash on either or our ATM cards while in the mega-city of Santiago, and quitting after several tries so that our cards would not be confiscated, we had called Washington Mutual from here to ask about the cards. Apparently there are four or more banking networks that allow member banks to check the balance level of an account at another bank before authorizing a withdrawal. Washington Mutual belongs to the Mastercard network (Maestro) and Sirrus, but not the Visa network, Plus. All of the Chilean bank machines we tried were tied to Plus. We got the list of Maestro ATMs on the website and went to Santa Cruz to get cash. The Santander Bank branch that we tried had huge lines of people to see the teller, but we had only a short wait for the ATM. I guess the folks in town either don't trust the ATM or don't have accounts. The bad news is that our cards didn't work there either, even though the Maestro logo was prominently displayed.
We were very nervous by the time we walked across the main plaza to our next listed ATM in the Farmacia Ahumada. No cash would mean difficulties with things like paying the parking attendant watching the street where we parked, the toll collectors on the highway when we drive to Santiago tomorrow to pick up our passports and visas, and the miscellaneous vendors selling things like critically needed bottled water. After waiting our turn behind a threesome that was unable to get cash from the ATM in the pharmacy, despite three people trying to figure it out, we were both able to extract the maximum withdrawal - $100,000. Although the Chileans use the dollar sign in front of their currency, their pesos are worth much less than our dollar. The 100,000 pesos is the equivalent of $200US. Flush with cash and relief, we went on a spending spree and left town with a bottle of diet coke and two bottles of fizzy water. Yahoo!
Like almost all Chileans we have met, the man collecting parking fees on the city block where we stored our car spoke no English. We managed to have a friendly interaction with him in which we think we paid him correctly, although the price sounded like it was $100 at first, and ended up being $300, possibly a misunderstanding and possibly an opportunity to collect additional permit fees from the unwary. He was quite engaging, asking us a long winded question which we did not understand at all with the exception of two words, "Barak Obama". Not sure how to respond to the conversation gracefully, Mike got in the car saying, "we like that guy", confident that our answer would be as hard for him to understand as his question was for us.
Confident that we can move around now without running into a cash crisis, we went in search of a restaurant for lunch recommended by our hotel manager, Barbara. PanPanVinoVino, or BreadBreadWineWine is a large restaurant on the 75 km road between our hotel and the main Chilean North South highway, the PanAmerican which brought us down to the wine country. A historic building that once served as a bakery, it has been charmingly remodeled as a nice restaurant. Barbara had called its menu Chilean, which she said is a hodge podge of foods borrowed from other cultures. She has recommended a second restaurant to us, offering a Peruvian menu, which she finds to have a more authentic menu tied to the traditional Peruvian culture. For a total price of $44US including tip, we had a delicious meal of steak in red wine sauce and caramelized bell peppers (Mike) and lomo, or steak strips with green pea salsa (me) accompanied by potatoes in bacon and fennel and creamed corn and a glass of wine each.
On our return to the hotel we stopped for gas, a complex and confusing exercise both times we have done it. A uniformed employee pumps your gas but not until you have waited in your blazing and suffocatingly hot car long enough to hop out and wonder what to do to get service. A casually dressed teenage boy washes your window and hangs out in the area in case you want to tip him a few $100 coins.
Today is warmer than usual. As much as we appreciate the warmth after the constant rain, snow and cold of home at the holidays, we don't enjoy the flies and mosquitoes that accompany the heat. Once again, a la Italy, I am spotted with swollen mozzie bites. Our bedroom is too warm at night to even consider a closed window and screens are just non existent.
It is 5:00 PM and we have a minimum of three hours before dinner. Like Spain, the Chileans wouldn't think of eating before 9:00 although the restaurants open at 8:00 in consideration of their visitors. I am going to sign off and spend some quality time at the swimming pool to cool off. My apologies to all of you in the rain, snow and cold.
Love, Deanne
We were very nervous by the time we walked across the main plaza to our next listed ATM in the Farmacia Ahumada. No cash would mean difficulties with things like paying the parking attendant watching the street where we parked, the toll collectors on the highway when we drive to Santiago tomorrow to pick up our passports and visas, and the miscellaneous vendors selling things like critically needed bottled water. After waiting our turn behind a threesome that was unable to get cash from the ATM in the pharmacy, despite three people trying to figure it out, we were both able to extract the maximum withdrawal - $100,000. Although the Chileans use the dollar sign in front of their currency, their pesos are worth much less than our dollar. The 100,000 pesos is the equivalent of $200US. Flush with cash and relief, we went on a spending spree and left town with a bottle of diet coke and two bottles of fizzy water. Yahoo!
Like almost all Chileans we have met, the man collecting parking fees on the city block where we stored our car spoke no English. We managed to have a friendly interaction with him in which we think we paid him correctly, although the price sounded like it was $100 at first, and ended up being $300, possibly a misunderstanding and possibly an opportunity to collect additional permit fees from the unwary. He was quite engaging, asking us a long winded question which we did not understand at all with the exception of two words, "Barak Obama". Not sure how to respond to the conversation gracefully, Mike got in the car saying, "we like that guy", confident that our answer would be as hard for him to understand as his question was for us.
Confident that we can move around now without running into a cash crisis, we went in search of a restaurant for lunch recommended by our hotel manager, Barbara. PanPanVinoVino, or BreadBreadWineWine is a large restaurant on the 75 km road between our hotel and the main Chilean North South highway, the PanAmerican which brought us down to the wine country. A historic building that once served as a bakery, it has been charmingly remodeled as a nice restaurant. Barbara had called its menu Chilean, which she said is a hodge podge of foods borrowed from other cultures. She has recommended a second restaurant to us, offering a Peruvian menu, which she finds to have a more authentic menu tied to the traditional Peruvian culture. For a total price of $44US including tip, we had a delicious meal of steak in red wine sauce and caramelized bell peppers (Mike) and lomo, or steak strips with green pea salsa (me) accompanied by potatoes in bacon and fennel and creamed corn and a glass of wine each.
On our return to the hotel we stopped for gas, a complex and confusing exercise both times we have done it. A uniformed employee pumps your gas but not until you have waited in your blazing and suffocatingly hot car long enough to hop out and wonder what to do to get service. A casually dressed teenage boy washes your window and hangs out in the area in case you want to tip him a few $100 coins.
Today is warmer than usual. As much as we appreciate the warmth after the constant rain, snow and cold of home at the holidays, we don't enjoy the flies and mosquitoes that accompany the heat. Once again, a la Italy, I am spotted with swollen mozzie bites. Our bedroom is too warm at night to even consider a closed window and screens are just non existent.
It is 5:00 PM and we have a minimum of three hours before dinner. Like Spain, the Chileans wouldn't think of eating before 9:00 although the restaurants open at 8:00 in consideration of their visitors. I am going to sign off and spend some quality time at the swimming pool to cool off. My apologies to all of you in the rain, snow and cold.
Love, Deanne
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