Look for Magellan

 Here is a quick update while I have wi-fi minutes.   I promise to add to the news when I can get the chrome book connected and type on a real keyboard because I am hopeless with the phone. 

None of us went ashore in Chacubuca because the little tender system was having trouble,  then we had two At Sea days so not much to tell.  There is always eating.

]

pll)

Tiny room.   Teri and willie have a handicap room with more space. 

Nothing to see but the sea.  Especially when it splashed on our little porthole down here on deck 4.  But we have more stability than the rich folks up on deck 12.

Mexican train in the chapel.  It might be a sin..

Through the Straits of Magellan where the Pacific becomes the Atlantic.   I didn't see the line.

Magellan and his mermaid.

Puerto Montt

  Yesterday was a get-to-know -the-ship day at sea.  Today we are in Puerto  Montt, on the coast, of course.   Teri and willie went on an excursion.   Al and I walked to town for lunch.  See? 

More later. 

Load 'em up

 Monday, so it's time to get on the Sun Princess.  A driver will be picking us up to go to San Antonio and we won't have to unpack/pack/unpack for two whole weeks!  We understand that wi-fi on the ship is very limited so you'll have to patiently wait until it's available.  See ya! 

ps  Because I don't really know what I'm doing it seems that if any of you comment it comes up as "unknown" and they just sit in a pile somewhere, so wait until we get home and we can email all about it to catch up.  There is also a bunch of spam in the comments and I wouldn't want to confuse you with somebody who wants to sell me strange things.  I should have taken a better blog lesson. 

Valparaiso

 The afternoon was spent on a walking/climbing hills/steps/cobblestones/funicular tour with a couple of really perky women who told us all about the city and some of the history.  They had a huge earthquake in August of 1906 which wiped out all of the town, mostly becase of the fire.  Sound familiar?  There are tons of murals everywhere, much of it intentional to discourage the graffiti hoodlums. 

Here is some of what we saw.

A new building inside an old building.

They are everywhere. 

One of the best meals of all time at la Concepcion.  Put it on your list. 

Scallops parmesan for Pat

Some form of white fish for Al

Something curry for Willie

Brisket for Teri

Peanut butter cheesecake

Coconut mango delight - isn't it gorgeous?  

 

I'm full and exhausted.  Night night. 

(Did you notice that the dessert pictures are extra large?)

Saturday

 After a lot of negotiating and confusion, a driver took us to Atillio & Mochi winery near Valparaiso - not where we planned to visit but all the grapes aligned for us to meet the owners and have a private tasting, even though they were closed for the day.  Delightful people who used to own a restaurant in Brazil but had enough of that so bought 5.5 acres and grow a few grapes.  They do most of the work themselves, only make a few wines, and love it.  She speaks perfect English and her grandmother was a Gallo.  What a small world.  They winery is build of shipping containers that maintain the perfect temp year round.  Look - 

And they grow lavender - I wanted to start weaving wands.  

Dinner at a fancy but not expensive place - - -

Al enjoyed the lamb very much. 

Moving Day

 We all kind of lolled in the morning until a driver with a van (lots of luggage) picked us up for the trip to Vina del Mar, which looks to be a charming city right smack on the oceam.  After checking in we regrouped enough to search for dinner and that's the end of another travel day.  

A Room With a View

Hop on, Hop off

 Or in my case, drag on, drag off.  We had a good overall view of Santiago from the top of the double  decker  bus, stopped to see some stuff, rode a tram up a hill, rode a funicular down the hill, had a disappointing lunch because we went the wrong way.  Like any city with six million people, there is good and not quite so good.  We haven't been very far, but most of what we have seen is clean and beautiful, many nice parks, and very little graffiti.  

Here is some of the day for your viewing pleasure, in no particular order.

Teri with anothe Saint Therese.

Which Alberto is the saint?  

Al likes the wire system in this neighborhood.  

                                                                         Eewwwww!

                                                                  Double eeeeeewwww!

Look!  It's the Sales Force Tower. 

Al enjoyed his dinner, the rest of us weren't as excited so there are no food photos.  

ps  Do you know that funiculi is to ride up and funicula is to ride down on the funicular?  Sing a few bars of the song now and get it stuck in your head for the rest of the day.  You are very welcome.