David and Karen Journey – DNKJOURNEY – Page 4 – DNKJOURNEY- Happy Journeys wherever we travel!

Three Paris Icons

Notre Dame, Roudin Museum, Lourve Museum:

The Notre Dame is a french-gothic architectural masterpeice from the 12th century. This amazing cathedral is a visual masterpeice of stone and glass. The Notre Dame is a world renowned historical landmark in paris, literally in the heart of paris. Literally all distances from the city of paris are calculated from a bronze stone in front of the cathedral called kilometer zero. The spire contains copper statues of the twelve apostles with the symbols of the four evangelists. Viollet-le-Duc the architect, represented himself as Saint Thomas holding a square.

It had been years since David or I had been to Paris, and I enjoyed learning about all the years of work and renovation involved in the Notre Dame we see today. My head rotated around and around just trying to take it all in. My favorite part was the lovely, shaded park and garden located beside/behind the building. With the crowds and heat outside on an August afternoon, there was a place, next to the river, where one could find trees, flowers, rest and comfort. I guess I am just showing my age.

Rodin Museum was another garden spot well worth an August afternoon. Did you know Rodin lived with Dante for a year or so, when he needed studio space. So Rodin life’s work was related to Dante’s Inferno and bringing to life the creatures in the layers of Dante’s Hell. Ultimately, the gates of hell, the major characters (the Thinker, for one) were also used by Rodin as independent pieces. Personally, my favorite of his work was his first: the man with the broken nose, which you might find as the man with the character filled face, and a slightly flattened nose. David’s favorite was “the Kiss”. The large yellow house, once a hotel, is where Rodin had his “rooms” and now is the Rodin Museum. The larger pieces are in the gardens surrounding the Museum.

The Lourve museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century. The fortress eventually lost its defensive function and was converted into the main residence of the French Kings. In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection. During the French Revolution, the assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nation’s masterpieces. The majority of the works were confiscated Royal or church property. So is it really the biggest museum in the world?

Now that we have been to both the Hermitage and the Louvre in the same month, I decided to look it up: In terms of museum size the Hermitage is the largest 24 km (15 miles) of gallery to walk through, 3 million items. In terms of paintings, the Louvre is king – 30,000 paintings, prints and drawings (by comparison the Hermitage has 12,000). The Louvre also has thousands of sculptures and the famous Mona Lisa.

The Louvre is separated into 8 departments. The Nintendo video and audio guide that rents at the start tries to give different walking tours, we were so perpetually lost that we just walked till our feet hurt, and our head hurt, and said, OK, enough of this!

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Baltic Cruise

The Baltic cruise included capitals surrounding the Baltic Sea including Saint Petersburg. Cruise included many ports but by far the highlight was Saint Petersburg .as evidenced by the last three blog posts. This post covers the cruise and ports other than St. Petersburg.

We flew from Moscow to Copenhagen, where we embarked on the Regal Princess and 12 day journey. Our kids lived in Copenhagen a long time ago and I fully expected a 5 year old grandson to still be at the airport waiting and happy to jump into my arms. He is now 15 and lives in Qatar, but a person never really forgets these things. Copenhagen is still beautiful, bike lanes in full use and the weather was cold and rainy; so no pictures.

Oslo was the first stop. The boat moored right next to the Akerhus Fortress, steps from the downtown area. Oslo, famous for Vikings and Viking ships and Thor Heyerdahl for Kon Tiki and the Ra. Thor Heyerdahl gained worldwide fame when he crossed the Pacific Ocean on this balsa wood raft in 1947. He was trying to prove the theory that the south sea islands were originally colonized by South Americans. We knew the theory from the peoples of Easter Island who believed they originated in Peru. Thor later built a reed boat “Ra II” and sailed it from Morocco to Barbados. Thor wanted to prove this type of vessel could cross the Atlantic Ocean using only the current and trade winds. This amazing man was truly and Adventurer (Capital A) and the wanderer in us got to see “the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey would say.

Warnemunde Germany, a gateway to Berlin was another stop. We opted to stay near the port city and made a trip to the town of Schwerin and its Schwerin Castle. The Market Square at the center of the Old Town is proudly guarded by a statue of Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony. The column on which the lion sits depicts scenes from his reign. One of the more curious scenes features several people’ pants pulled down to reveal their buttocks in what came to be known as the “bottom parade.” It seems that when Henry arrived to conquer the town, it’s residents mooned him in order to show their contempt!

The town has a lovely pond and the cathedral sits along its edge, it was made in a Brick Gothic style. Build in 1260 – 1416 it is the oldest building in the entire city. It was not damaged in World War II because the townspeople took it upon themselves to climb on the roof during the bombing and throw off any shells that landed on it.

The Castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It actually sits on its very own island, surrounded by gardens and a park. During Communism (this castle is in the former East Germany) it was turned into a public building and it currently serves as the State Parliament for the German State of Mecklenburg and a museum showing the public rooms of the Duke, including his throne room. It was stunning.

Tallin, Estonia on the Gulf of Finland retains its walled, cobblestoned Old Town, and it’s 15th-century defensive tower. The architecture remains one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe. It survived this way because it was part of Russia and not a strong defensive position. For a birds-eye view of the city, we went to the observation deck overseeing the entire city.

Helsinki and Stockholm were not camera days for us. Some days it is good to just roam and not be a tourist.

We disembarked in Copenhagen and the same day flew to Paris. Stay tuned for blog posts of Paris and Normandy.

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St. Petersburg Hermitage Museum

Good God, what is there to say. It far, far, far exceeded our expectations. I saw more than I thought I would, I liked more than I thought I would, I walked more than I thought was possible, and I was sure I had not scratched the surface of what the Hermitage has to offer. Wealth, lavish and magnificent are the words that come to my mind.

This world famous museum is virtually wallpapered with celebrated paintings, part of the former private art collection of the Czars. The gold laced lavish rooms in which the art resides, are works of art themselves. The name Hermitage comes from Catherine the Great herself, who meant her private apartments to be a place of retreat and seclusion — where she could be a hermit. Catherine the Great took it upon herself to acquire some of the world’s finest works of art. With 400 exhibit halls and gilded salons, it’s impossible to see everything in a single day.

The main artwork of Leonardo, Rembrandt, Van Dyck and the Peacock Clock were astounding. The Peacock clock has a story of its own…The clock consists of a guided peacock on a branch, a rooster and an owl in a cage. It was given to Catherine in 1781 and remains in working order today. At the top of the hour, the peacock spreads its wings and turns in a circle, the rooster crows, and the owl opens and closes its eyes. The mushroom at the bottom tells the hour and a dragonfly acts as the tiny second hand on the mushroom dial.

Catherine had an entire garden planted on the rooftop next to her office. It was here she would go outside and have tea or think, for some reason it made her seem a little more a human, who wished to be a hermit rather than this towering person of history.

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St. Petersburg Palaces

If you are a Czar, you need a lot of space. Living in an RV sometimes we wish we had more space, but we consider Camp Casa our little palace on wheels that can be moved to new settings whenever we wish.

A city palace with a private art gallery and throne rooms, ball rooms, guest rooms. Perhaps a 1,000 rooms in all, in 4 buildings would suffice for Catherine the Great. This palace, after the revolution, became the home to the Hermitage. And we will cover the splendor of those buildings and the art in another subject.

They aren’t the only palaces in St Petersburg, there are the other royals, extended family, children and grandchildren who all need a palace or two. The palaces seem to go one, one from another but we saw only a few.

Catherine’s summer place is the blue facade with the gold onion domes marking her personal chapel. That is the location filled with her personal effects, bone china, tapestries and furniture, for public rooms and family rooms. The ball rooms there are still used (other cruise people went back for a baroque concert in the evening), and it is used for New Year Balls or weddings. I can’t imagine the glitter of the evening.

In yet another palace, we were treated to a concert in their personal theatre. Of course, a palace would have one! The quartet was perfect in their classical offerings. One of the guides along the way explained if interested in the arts at age 6 you are tested for rhythm and pitch, dance or art and are given lessons three afternoons a week during elementary school. The field is narrowed for a specialized high school and again for university. The finest are then sent to a conservatory for another 5 years before they begin the professional careers. Then, of course, the best of the best perform at the highest level of ballet, choir, orchestra, dance or art. At the end of the day it is a lively cultural scene. Cultural events are common and affordable in Russia because the arts are just as profitable as being a business person.

We went to another palace to see where Rasputin was murdered. Rasputin, the bearded guy, was a poor peasant from Siberia. Yet the Romanov family, who had an ill son, believed him to be a healer and a seer. Rasputin counseled the family and rose to have an inappropriate amount of influence over the current Czar Nicholas II. Other royalty in St Petersburg were concerned and lured Rasputin to dinner and killed him. These royal people were deported to Europe to pay for their crime, amazingly then, they were the only royalty to survive the Bolshevik Revolution.

The final palace was the gardens and fountains of Peterhof. A beautiful sunny day to stroll the gardens, in the St Petersburg countryside. Peter the Great visited Louis XIV at Versailles, saw the splendor of Louis XIV gardens and attempted to capture the splendor in his own summer palace. There were over 1,000 fountains at Peterhof. Meticulous formal gardens in the French style are adorned with statues and cascades. The fountains of Peterhof were unbelievable! We spent at least 2 hours walking around the gardens viewing the splendor and beauty created by Peter.

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St. Petersburg Churches – Russia continues

The Russian Orthodox Churches are just amazing. Much like Moscow, the churches that remain standing fall into two categories: those attached to Palaces (as family places of worship) and those that were purpose built as a memorial. St Issac’s was built in 1818 to commemorate the victory over Napoleon. It is lavishly decorated with marble and other stones (malachite columns). It was closed during the communist era, which is how it survived to the present day.

In the case of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, the son of Alexander II built that church on the spot where his father was murdered by a terrorist bomb. The multi colored onion dome church in Moscow, Saint Basil (that celebrated the victory over Kazan) was the most spectacular memorial in the land. So, Alexander III believed Alexander II deserved one even more spectacular . . . . He commissioned The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. The frescos and paintings were spectacular and all the gold leaf, I can not see churches in the same way again. The mosaics stretch from floor to ceiling (70,000 square feet in total). It survived the communist revolution by reinventing the space as a barn and a stable.

The Cathedral of Sts Peter and Paul is the building with the singular gilded spire, and was St Petersburg tallest building for over 200 years. It contains icons created in 1720. The colors are still vibrant and the artistry is awe inspiring. Peter the Great moved the capital of Russia from Moscow to St Petersburg in 1712. Therefore, all the leaders since that date were buried here in the Peter and Paul Fortress, including Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and all the way till Nicholas II (and his family) the final Czar of Russia. This church survived the communist revolution as a prison.

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Три дня в Москье. (Three Full Days in Moscow)

Moscow is a very cosmopolitan city, the women are beautifully dressed and sneakers are not worn unless a is performing athletics, or a tourist is visiting. What I realized is that tourists are performing athletics. In the space of beautiful, interesting and diverse 3 days, David and Karen walked 25 miles!

We decided to use guides in Moscow. Three delightful ladies shared their day with us, showed us a city they loved. Kremlin, means walled fortress and there Kremlins in many towns, THE Kremlin means HUUUUGE fortress in Moscow. (Like THE Donald there is only one!). It is shaped like a triangle with red brick, square towers on each corner, also at the entrance. Notice the double headed eagle on top of the tower, it is the symbol of the Republic. Construction of the existing red brick walls lasted from 1480 to 1495. This structure was being built the same year Christopher Columbus discovered the New World! Our lovely guide Angelina shared the Kremlin with us.

The Kremlin has both a tourist and a governmental purpose. The state office is the big yellow picture. That’s where Putin works. The Armory, where cannon from various wars are displayed, we are standing next to cannons used against Napoleon. The “N” is engraved on the metal and the cannons are named for ladies, much like boats. (No Karen, I looked, it must not have been popular in 1812). There was a Czar’s cannon, it is the largest cannon in the world, and luckily has never be fired in battle.

Uniquely, Russia builds churches to commemorate significant events, wars won, rulers death, etc. We saw three churches, (classified as museums) the Annunciation Cathedral; it served as a personal church of Russian Czars. Czars used to spend some time their, every morning to pray for deliverance from countless perils. The Cathedral of Twelve Apostles is connected to the Patriarch’s Palace and was considered his private church. Patriarch is the title of the head of Russian Orthodox Church. (We didn’t see that one but it is all those crosses, 12 apostles). The Church of St Michael; was used as the cemetery for Czars. And the most important of all and also the biggest church in the Kremlin – the Assumption Cathedral. Since the end of the 15th century it had been the place for every coronation of every single Czar until the last one – Nicholas II. Inside these churches/museums, every square centimeter of walls’ surface is covered with murals, left and right walls picture biblical plots connected to the name of the church.

The Armory houses all the state treasures from Russian history. Its name comes from the actual arms workshop of the Kremlin. Besides arms, it also hosts the collection of royal regalia, carriages, dresses, tableware and ambassadorial gifts. The Armory also contains the Diamond Fund Museum, which is the state jewels worn by the Czars and their family during their reign. Huge diamond collection which includes: raw diamonds exceeding 50 carats; cut diamonds exceeding 20 carats; cut diamonds of exceptional quality exceeding 6 carats; raw emeralds, rubies, sapphires exceeding 30 carats or 20 carats cut unique nuggets, amber, pearl and jewelry, including diamond laid crowns, baubles with 50 carat emeralds, broaches, and rings. It is the third largest collection of precious stones in one place. (First is the Royal Family of Britain, second is the Shah of Iran). Preservation, sales and looting of imperial treasures after the Russian Revolution of 1917 is a matter of controversy and speculation. The Imperial collection was moved from Saint Petersburg to Moscow during World War I; the Soviet Diamond Fund was officially established in 1922 (official site). The treasure was first exhibited to the public in November 1967. Originally a short-term show, in 1968 it became a permanent exhibition. It was impressive.

You move from the Kremlin into Red Square. The big open brick patio in the pictures is red square. It is called “red” because that is the Russian word for beautiful. One side of Red Square is the Kremlin Wall, the second is a large red brick building that houses the Russian Natural History Museum, third was the GUM state department store and the fourth side is ST Basils Church with its onion dome roofline. St Basil, commissioned by Ivan the Terrible, was erected to memorialize the military conquest over Kazan The people of Kazan were colorful, so the architect decided to add the colorful domes to the memorial. It is now of course, a wonder of the world. And, of course, one of the most photographed sites in Moscow.

Also in Red Square, which we did not take time to visit, is Lenin’s Mausoleum (Russian: Мавзоле́й Ле́нина, tr. Mavzoléy Lénina; IPA: [məvzɐˈlʲej ˈlʲenʲɪnə]), also known as Lenin’s Tomb, situated in Red Square in the center of Moscow, is a mausoleum that currently serves as the resting place of Vladimir Lenin. His preserved body has been on public display there since shortly after his death in 1924, with rare exceptions in wartime.

The Moscow subways are public art. On the circle line, 5 stations have murals or stained glass, paintings, etc. People pass through the station rushing like people in all big cities to their destination. Oh to look up, and see the beauty. On a personal note, there was no litter, or tagging, anywhere in the city. It was a beautiful city filled with many parks and fountains, abundant green space and efficient public transport.

We traveled to the suburbs to see the summer palaces of the Czars. One was a log lodge, built by Czar Alexis I, it contains a mere 400 rooms, and the large gothic one belonged to Catherine the Great, however, she died before it was finished so it remains unfinished to this day. This started a discussion with our lovely guide Anna, about Downton Abbey, and the lives of the aristocrats in Britain. That’s one for PBS and one more addicted viewer.

Our lovely guide Victoria, took us to the Cosmonaut museum. The original Sputnik was there, and a mock up of the International Space Station. There was a live feed showing the current position of the ISS and satellites in space. Rockets, and satellites, the evolution of space suits and even the story of the first creatures in space — two small, Russian dogs and other small animals and monkey, all stuffed for your viewing and praise.

We ate amazingly well, we kept ourselves busy in the evening with the Youth Theatre ballet production of Sleeping Beauty. (The Bolshoi was on summer break.) Moscow Circus provided another nights entertainment, and is another Moscow staple. I went on a shopping excursion with Anna, who translated while we shopped for a piece of Russian red gold jewelry. Karen’s jewelry box is filled with one of a kind bling with memories of places and faces attached. It is lovely to add one more.

It’s been very educational summer: in the United States we visited sites of the American Revolutionary War; The Civil War; and now in Europe: World War II; and The Cold War.

Author Miriam Beard said, “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” Our view of Moscow has certainly changed, thru seeing it with own own eyes, the kindness and friendliness of our guides, or experiencing another piece of history first hand.

After four nights in Moscow we departed via airplane to Copenhagen, where we will embark on a 12 day cruise of the Baltic states.

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End of a Chapter

The remainder of summer 2016 (3 months) was spent traveling the Southeast USA covering states of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. A relatively small area, 375 miles if you drove straight through, but what would be the fun in that? We had 3 themes for this journey: Civil war history; water/beaches; and culture (concerts/theater).

We found a list (of course there was a list involved) of the 50 most preserved Civil War sights a with an interpretation center. The National Parks took over many, and they do a great job.

When President Lincoln was elected in November 1860, South Carolina succeeded from the Union declaring themselves a separate country. However, military forces, belonging to the Union were barracked at Ft. Sumter which South Carolina interpreted this as a foreign force within its territory, moreover, Union forces refused to surrender the fort. The confederate forces shot on the fort, destroying it in April 1861, this became the first shots of the Civil War!

Ft Pulaski was considered invincible. Its 7-1/2-foot solid brick walls were backed with massive piers of masonry. Confederate forces provisioned it with 6 months of supply, determined to protect the Savannah River. The North however, had a new weapon; the RIFLED bore cannon (vs the smooth bore). The rifled bore would provide extra spin and distance on the shell. Ft Pulaski lasted 48 hours.

From November 15 until December 21, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. The purpose of this “March to the Sea” was to frighten Georgia’s civilian population into abandoning the Confederate cause. Pre-Civil War Savannah was praised as the most picturesque and serene city in America. It was known for its grand oaks festooned with Spanish moss and its genteel citizenry. Upon entering Savannah, Sherman was said to be so impressed by its beauty that he could not destroy it. On December 22, 1864, he sent a famous telegram to President Abraham Lincoln, offering the city as a Christmas present.

We toured Andersonville Prison near Athens, GA, an iconic reminder of the horrors of Civil War prisons. It was overcrowded to four times its capacity, with an inadequate water supply, inadequate food rations, and unsanitary conditions. Of the approximately 45,000 Union prisoners held at Andersonville during the war, nearly 13,000 died. The photo with the headstones was taken at Andersonville. (POW conditions of the Civil war were so egregious, the National POW museum stands there today).

Chickamunga Battlefield in Tennessee was one of the bloodiest battles of the civil war. Veterans held reunions on the field, and petitioned Congress to create a park. The veterans returned to the battlefield and found their position when a specific event occurred. Today, the park has hundreds of monuments that show a regiment north and south positioned against each other and a placard chronicling what happened at that spot. The Military Park was conceived “not to honor one army, but both.” It is the first military park of its kind. Chickamunga is located near Chattanooga, we had a photo opportunity of the Chattanooga Choo Choo and a tour of a local Tennessee distillery.

Hilton Head Island had miles of beaches. Water and beaches were fantastic. We discovered the sand was hard enough to ride bikes on the beach! That’s cool. Hilton Head SC is just 20 miles from Savannah. Savannah itself with the squares (a 1/4 city block dedicated to green space) was the perfect reprieve from the summer heat. Did you know Savannah is the birthplace of Girl Scouts? Karen’s inner cadet came out visiting the Juliette Gordon Low house.

We camped next to state parks, lakes, beaches; water was everywhere, but we did not kayak. The tides from high to low were 15 feet! Every 12 hours or so 15 feet of water came rushing in or rushing out. One water trail had trees larger than our kayak floating by. We decided, our inflatables were good, but no match against water like that and the razor sharp oyster beds that covered the shoreline. So when life gives you oceans, we eat their seafood. Fish Boils were heaven. Oceans also give you aquariums and turtles, and other great ways to spend your days.

An anchor activity, planned months in advance was Charleston, SC. Our most enjoyment came from “cultural exploits”. The Spoletto Festival, in Charleston, SC starting Memorial Day weekend was the summer highlight. This festival has been going on for 40 years and is 18 days of dance, theatre, music, comedy and all things cultural. Literally, there were 30 or more cultural events every day. From seeing “The Importance of Being Ernest” to listening to the Westminster Choir to Comedy Clubs, to the singing of Amazing Grace in Charleston, SC the ground zero of the slave trade in the 1800’s. We had 14 date nights and each one was distinct from every other. In addition to theatre at night we went plantation viewing during the day. These grand old homes and their gardens were magnificent. We got to see our first magnolia tree in bloom! Summer concerts in parks, and along rivers, bicycling and meeting lovely people rounded out our summer. Jekyll Island, GA had the most beautiful bike trail I have ever been on, as it followed alongside the beach.

We are writing this blog post in Atlanta, GA, where we will store the RV and begin our next chapter which includes: Russia; Scandinavia countries; Germany; France; and Spain. We return to the US in mid November via a trans Atlantic cruise.

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Florida – Family, Friends and Fun

We just spent 3 months (Feb, Mar and April) in Florida, more time than we spend to see an entire country! But, Florida is big, or it is certainly diverse, you drive a few hours and feel like you in a whole different place.

Ft Myers, where we settled in for our first foray in a 55 and over community is spectacular. (Theatre, history, kayaking, wildlife): So much so that we are going to return for the season next winter.

David connected with a sport plane group at the local airport and successfully checked out in a light sport airplane and logged 8 hours this winter. That is a major milestone, and place of happiness for him.

David’s sister from San Francisco joined us for a week, making all 4 siblings in one place. Karen’s friend Priscilla from Littleton, CO joined us for a week of sightseeing. We visited David’s cousin Marty many times as he lives in Punta Gorda, a short 15-minute drive from the RV.

We saw the Florida Keys and the Everglades under the wing of the Cessna T-210 with our good friends, Carl and Julie, and ate Key Lime Pie like there was no tomorrow! The beach, snorkeling and the chance for Carl and David to attend Sun and Fun (the second largest air show in America), while the girls enjoyed a few days sunning in San Juan.

The little grandkids came and loved the beach, sandcastles, and seafood. The world famous Florida Amusement Parks are always a hit, and did not disappoint. Denver had a blizzard while they were in Florida, and the weather was all the sweeter.

The teenage grandkids came and we were able take in a spring training baseball game, hike in a wildlife management area where they saw a turtle digging a nest and laying eggs. Alligators swimming just below the surface, and baby eagles fledging. These are the gifts you want to give your kids.

Next stop in Camp Casa is Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

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A natural wonder – Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls are truly a magnificent display of nature. Their size and scale are unlike any other waterfall on earth. The falls may be viewed from Argentina and Brazil, we visited them from Iguazu National Park in Argentina as Brazil required a visa. The park has many catwalks and trails taking you over rivers and to the upper and lower circuit and Devil’s Throat. In all we walked over 7 miles to see the falls from different viewpoints.

Iguazu is a system of 275 waterfalls or cataracts, with the exact number depending on the season. It spans an area 2.7 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) wide. We visited them in their wet season, making the falls at its highest flows for dramatic photos and videos.

The tallest of these waterfalls, called the Devil’s Throat, drops by more than 80 meters into a milky abyss that creates a permanent cloud of mist. A highlight of visiting iguazu is a boat tour getting very close to the falls. Our boat ride started in front of San Martins Island, inflatable speed boats head into the Devils Throat Canyon where we received an unforgettable baptism under the falls.

Check out our video of the falls.

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Penguins as far as you can see

Penguins as far as you can see — 2 million adult penguins and 1 million chicks!

We cruised further north along the Argentina coast to Puerto Madryn where the temperatures were more summer like. This port gave us the last opportunity to go on an excursion to view penguins. The excursion took us on a 2 hour bus ride to a rocky 3-km long and 600-meter wide sea side area, covered by sand, clay and gravel outside of Punta Tombo, Argentina. Surrounded by beach, it is the worlds largest concentration of sea birds and penguins in the entire Patagonia region. There is one gravel path where human visitors must stay, and bridges so the penguins can travel their route to and from the water without human interference.

The landscape is full of caves, where the penguins lay their eggs and raise their young.
We watched the hectic activity dominating the colony, as whereas some penguins would stay in their caves or sun just outside their caves, others would fight over their territories, at the same time that the continuous murmur of their voices would invade the atmosphere. The chicks were born in November (we were there in January) so the family portraits were great fun to create. The chicks still have their down and cannot swim so either mom or dad are out to sea looking for food, hungry mouths to feed and all that stuff.

This is the largest Magellan Penguin rookery in the world, and amazing cacophony of sound.

View these penguins on our video:

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Rockhopper Penguins on Falkland Island

Distinguished by their pink webbed feet, red-orange beak, blood red eyes, bright yellow crests, and the irreverent black and yellow “crown”.

They were named for their distinctive hopping movements over the rocky hills and cliffs where they live and breed. Due to the harsh rocky environment, they cannot slide on their bellies like most penguins, so they hop to get from one place to another. These gregarious marine birds are among the world’s smallest penguins, standing about 20 inches tall.

View our video of them hopping on the rocks, click here:

Baby penguins are hatched with down, not feathers. Penguin chicks cannot swim until they grow their feathers. The time it takes for a penguin to grow feathers that waterproof typically takes 5 months. For that reason, mom and dad go to sea, gather food and feeds the chicks, krill (a type of shrimp) by regurgitating directly into their mouth. The last 4 pictures show this process.

The non technical side of Rockhoppers – they are just fun to watch. There were a few hundred chicks at the Falkland Island colony. We just sat and enjoyed watching mom/dad come up from the sea, and chicks so excited to see them, ok and eat, and realize what lucky “chickas” we are.

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Antarctic icebergs and penguins

I had expected my fair share of snow capped mountains and stark, white landscape but I was genuinely surprised by its icebergs. I had not imagined them to be so beautiful or abundant. They came in all shapes, sizes, and colors. When it was sunny, they glistened like beautiful gems, and when it was cloudy they took on the color of the sky. I was in total awe of what seemed like enormous man made sculptures of ice and snow – only they were absolutely genuine works of nature.

The largest icebergs recorded have been calved, or broken off, from the Ross Ice Shelf. We were in the neighborhood, Wow! Tabular icebergs have steep sides and a flat top, much like a plateau, with a length-to-height ratio of more than 5:1. This type of iceberg, also known as an ice island. They are also huge, several stories high with a mass as large as a city block. We passed some larger then our cruise ship. The lecturer said some are bigger than islands (larger than Sicily) now that is big!

Typically, only one-tenth of the volume of an iceberg is above water. The shape of the underwater portion can be difficult to judge by looking at the portion above the surface. We tried to show that in the pictures where there is a little underwater ice showing. The other cool thing I learned/saw was when a piece of iceberg ice melts, it makes a fizzing sound called “Bergie Seltzer”. This sound is made when the water-ice interface reaches compressed air bubbles trapped in the ice. As this happens, each bubble bursts, making a ‘popping’ sound. The bubbles contain air trapped in snow layers very early in the history of the ice.

You may have seen penguins, seals and whales before, but nothing comes close to observing them in their natural habitat. At one point, the naturalist counted 42 whales across the bow of the ship in 15 minutes. We stood there watching the “blows” of whales all around us. David caught one whale tail, I was too mesmerized. The naturalist published a list of the animals we encountered: 6 types of penguins, 5 types of whales, 3 kinds of seals, more birds than than I imagined. Since we were on a cruise ship penguins were always at a distance, but we made up for that with excursions in the Falkland Islands and Puerto Tombo (next post).

Penguins breed in large colonies for the most part, which explains why you may see so many in one place. Most are monogamous for the breeding season and the couple shares the incubation period, with males and females taking turns keeping the eggs warm while the other feeds at sea. The naturalist estimated the colonies we saw to be several hundred thousand breeding pairs, and then their chicks which are fledging this time of year, sends it into the incredible numbers. David took video then zoomed in and it looks like penguin super highways. Click on this link for our video of thousands of penguins running to the sea

Their black and white appearance protects them from predators. Looking upward, for example, orcas and leopard seals have difficulty distinguishing the white penguin bellies from the water’s surface while the penguin’s dark back camouflages it from above. Our best treat was to find penguins on icebergs. You had to be quick though, if the ship got too close they would jump back into the water, I mean wouldn’t you!

The cruise was a fantastic experience it exceeded every expectation. My only mistake was putting Antarctica last on my list of the seven continents to visit. Take my advice – make it the next one on your travels.

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Antartica Amazing Landscapes

There is a phrase we all know: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. These last few weeks are filled with moments I will not forget, they took my breath away. You did not want to go to bed because you didn’t want to miss a moment — and it never really got dark so it made it all the easier to watch.

The Antarctic Continent is called “the land of snow and ice”; the Continent is literally covered with a thick ice sheet that reaches up to more than a mile thick. The average temperature was 30 degrees Fahrenheit along the coast without the wind chill. The extreme cold, strong winds and dryness in Antarctica have created one of the most severe natural environments on Earth. At times the wind would send you ripping across the bow, unable to walk back to the original spot you were standing. So you just hold on to the handrail for a few minutes.

When you cross 60 degrees south latitude, you fall under the Antarctic Treaty Area, and the laws imposed by that treaty. We were so impressed by the way the cruise ship self imposed environmental constraints, and the restrictions on guests. The areas south of 66.5° South Latitude have days without the sun in winter and days with sun light for 24 hours in summer. We reached 65 degrees south, so there was a couple hours each night of dusk. We were limited to the Antarctic Peninsula during our visit and to 65 degrees south, the ice was to dangerous for us to go further south. We did thread our way in and out of various bays and were successful to see Paradise Bay, the ice opened up 3 days before we got there.

Overall, we saw 10 Antarctic stations from several different countries. We stopped at Palmer (US) station and rotated out some personnel there, and in return, the returning staff gave lectures on the ship on current news at Palmer – a bit of science, a bit of history, a bit of first person account. In addition, Holland America brought on professionals to enrich this journey with daily presentations. The presentations were by specialists and naturalists in the following areas: sea ice and icebergs; penguins; facilities and research centers in Antartica; and Antartica now and then. The lectures were a highlight of the cruise giving us a better understanding of Antartica and surrounding areas

The scenery was bigger than expected. It was like Alaska but on a bigger scale. In Alaska, you enter an area of ice and snow for a couple hours, we only saw a small part of Antartica and it goes on for days. There were weather changes, of course, one day with the bluest sky ever, another with fog and snow, making the moodiness of the landscape all the richer.

The next post covers Antartica icebergs and penguins.

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Ushuaia, Terra Del Fuego, Cape Horn, and Drake Passage

We cruised to the southernmost town on the South American continent and last outpost before Antarctica, Ushuaia has earned the name el Fin del Mundo. Ushuaia is, quite literally, the end of the road. Located off the tip of the South American continent in the archipelago called Tierra del Fuego, it’s considered the southernmost city in the world. its location — between snow topped mountains and the Beagle Channel — is striking.

This is home to Terra Del Fuego, it ranks up there with all those exotic named places on this trip. The island was named in the early 1500s when Ferdinand Magellan sailed by on his trip to circumnavigate the globe. He saw fires used by natives on the shores and dubbed it a land of fire. The natives of this land were naked and fire was an important component of their culture. (I would agree with that). It’s most striking features are the mountains, the southern Andes range. Peaks jut high to heaven and spread far across land and sea, snowcapped and rocky, solemn and jagged. They preside as stone sentinels, cold, rugged, remote, isolated.

Within this land of bleak emptiness was a prison. In the early 1900s, prisoners worked every day building roads, building infrastructure and chopping wood to keep the furnaces going. The prisoners built a railway to take them each day further into the woods to find wood and to cart the wood back to town for use as a building material and heat source. The train is still there and the stumps you see in the picture are the remains of their chopping, as the guide says you can see the depth of the snow at the time the tree was cut, some are high others are low.

Sure, we had comfortable accommodations, fantastic food and evening entertainment on board our ship and were never going to be seafaring explorers, but it still felt mystical to be connected even in this way to the globetrotting explorers of the past with only 1,000 kilometers of water separating us from Antarctica. Our nerves were zinging with a combination of anticipation, anxiety and over preparedness. Sea sickness pills, check; empty SD cards, check; layers and layers of clothes, check! Ok let’s go.

Today, the act of sailing around the southernmost tip of South America is a veritable rite of passage and, for me, the experience of a lifetime. The Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile. It is at this spot the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet. For years before the Panama Canal all boats going to the Pacific had to round these rough waters. The light house is still there and providing service to those ships passing by.

The precarious journey owes its notorious reputation to the body of water that lies between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans known as the Drake Passage. Named after explorer Sir Francis Drake, the first recorded passage through these waters occurred in 1616. While the passage is a nature lover’s paradise (whales, dolphins and seabirds are plentiful in these waters), the weather conditions here could be so ferocious that sailing ships, at times, barely made headway against it. The current of nearby Antarctica carries an immense volume of water with it — more than 600 times that carried by the Amazon River.

We were extremely lucky with weather. In fact, it was fairly smooth waters and we cruised the entire Drake passage in one day and were treated to an extra day in Antartica. Our Captain forecasted that the weather was predicted to be extraordinarily good for our first day in Antartica. He was right, Antartica is amazing, our next few posts covers our 4 day visit to Antartica, containing great photos and stories.

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The Chilean Fjords, Glacier Alley

The Chilean fjords’ snow-capped volcanoes and spectacular frosty glaciers are certainly dramatic highlights —

During this part is of the cruise, we were out on deck with binoculars and camera in hand to watch the Captain expertly maneuver through the slalom course of islands and channel markers, dodge brash sea ice and bits of ice bergs as we pass by the glaciers. We saw lots of birds and the Chilean dolphins and even a whale or two. We saw hanging glaciers, (those that suspend above the water) with ribbons of waterfalls snake down the steep mountainsides; and tidewater glaciers (those that end in water and calve). All these are “outlet glaciers”, glaciers originating in the South Patagonian Ice Field and show a remarkable shade of brilliant blue. One interesting thing I learned is the icy bits in the water give off a fizzing sound along with bubbles, the result of the glacier ice re-oxygenizing after years of a compressed state. We also passed the area of two ship wrecks.

Holland America brought on professionals to enrich this journey with daily presentations. The presentations were by specialists and naturalists in the following areas: sea ice and icebergs; penguins; facilities and research centers in Antartica; and Antartica now and then. The lectures were a highlight of the cruise giving us a better understanding of Antartica and surrounding areas.

It seemed impossible that we would find larger glaciers one after the other . . . . Oh we were so naive.

Our next post takes us to the end of the world including Cape Horn, the southern tip of South America before cruising further south beyond 60 degrees south latitude.

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The Chilean Coastline

We embarked on our 22 day South America and Antartica cruise on December 20, two months after we began our South American land journey. Our departure port, Valipariso, was one of the most intriguing and distinctive cities in Chile. Its most striking feature is the array of houses – a mad, colorful tangle of them tumbling down the hills to a narrow shelf of land below. Steep streets greeted us daily as we awaited our cruise to begin. Puerto Montt founded by German immigrants (lots of German architecture) was the only port city where we took an excursion. This is the Lake Region of Chile (lakes extend into Argentina). It is just beautiful, rural and volcanic. Of course, it had the llamas and the Chilean staples of life.

Chiloé Island, our next stop, is home to an amazing collection of 150 Jesuit-carved wooden churches, houses raised up on poles out of the water and was fun to walk around. The churches were carved by Jesuits from locally grown Patagonian cypress, larch and luma trees, the detailing and precision are amazing. The weather in this part of Chile receives rain approximately 300 days a year, so our wandering and camera toting became pretty limited as we moved through Puerto Chacabuco. I can say it was very green, and the rain gear we brought worked quite well.

We returned to Punta Arenas, for the third time and it was wonderful to feel at home in a port. We saw a re-creation of Magellan’s ship Nao Victoria for our port day. Magellan, sailed this ship to became the first person to circumnavigate the world. The city of Punta Arenas found the original plans, had the boat made in Spain using original wood, and then created this museum on the Straits of Magellan. The museum has also begun the finish work on the HMS Beagle (Charles Darwin), it was amazing to move in their exact spacial confines. The other big tourist attraction in Punta Arenas is the local cemetery. Yes, that’s right. The families in South America take great pride in the family mausoleum, and so the grounds are manicured to the point of being a tourist attraction. The day we walked through, people were changing fresh flower bouquets, sweeping or washing the floor, gardening, removing the Xmas decorations from the mausoleum. The attention to detail was amazing.

We spent our first week on the cruise visiting these ports with dryer and cool temperatures. Our next ports and journey will take us to the end of world, the southern tip of South America, icebergs, glaciers and penguins.

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Antartica WoW

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We made it to our 7th Continent. Antartica is amazing. This post is a preview of what to come.

Wine tasting in Casablanca, Chile

Wine tasting is one of our favorite past times during this trip. Although difficult, we have come up with our favorite wines. Unfortunately, some are not exported to the US. An area to the northeast of Santiago is a region of many fruit and vegetable farms. Further to the east and closer to the Pacific Ocean is the town of Casablanca, mostly Chilean wine wines. We hired a private tour to transport our luggage and our bodies to our next stop on the Pacific Ocean in Vina del Mar. This also positioned us close to Valparaiso, where we embark on our 22 day cruise on December 20. Of course, our private tour had stops at three wineries in Casablanca. Unfortunately for Chile, we did not find our favorite white (blanco) wine. Our favorite white wine is from New Zealand and South Africa. Oh, how great it is to visit wineries worldwide.

This was our third and final stay at the Trivento Apartments in Santiago, many thanks to Victor, in making our stay feel like home. Victor stored our large duffel, which contained much of our cruise clothing, which allowed us to travel a little lighter, as we visited other parts of Bolivia, Argentina and Chile.

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Patagonia: a magical-sounding name for a faraway land

Fin Del Mundo – ‘End of the World’, that what the sign says, but it felt that way as we rented a car in Puerto Natales and drove the 2 hours, mostly on gravel roads, to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Chile. Our hotel was, Hotel Torres del Paine.

Patagonia is far south in South America, one would think being this far south in the Southern Hemisphere it would be lovely summer. Summer is here only on the calendar, as temperatures during the days were in the low 40’s and night temps getting to the low 30’s. It was often very windy with near gale force winds. We were told to park the car into the wind as the wind can take off the car door if parked downwind. Of course, this introduced other challenges as it was difficult to open the door, and once opened, keep it from closing on your leg.

The region comprises the southern section of the Andes mountains as well as the deserts, steppes and grasslands east of this southern portion of the Andes. Patagonia has one of the most dramatic mountain regions in the world – a rugged land of huge granite peaks soaring above the grasslands. Soaring almost vertically more than 2000m above the Patagonian steppe, the granite pillars of Torres del Paine (Towers of Paine) dominate the landscape of what may be South America’s finest national park. Before its creation in 1959, the park was part of a large sheep estancia.

Most people visit the park for its one greatest hits (those iconic towers) but, once here, realize that there are other attractions with equal wow power. We’re talking about azure lakes, trails that meander through emerald forests, roaring rivers you’ll cross on rickety bridges and one big, radiant blue glacier. Variety spans from the vast openness of the steppe to rugged mountain terrain topped by looming peaks.

Part of Unesco’s Biosphere Reserve system since 1978, the park is home to the guanaco, a sub species of llama, which has the look of a camel, we watched them graze the open steppes where pumas cannot approach undetected. After more than a decade of effective protection from poachers, these large, growing herds don’t even flinch when humans or vehicles approach.

When the weather is clear, panoramas are everywhere. However, unpredictable weather systems can sheath the peaks in clouds for hours or days. Some say you get four seasons in a day here, with sudden rainstorms and knock-down gusts part of the hearty initiation.

The crowning attraction of this 1810-sq-km park is its highly developed infrastructure. The housing section is on land that was once the estancia, and is right in the middle of the park. From there there is a myriad of hikes, easy to hard, hours to days. We stayed at Hotel Los Torres (the red buildings) and considering how far it is from anything else, they do a really nice job.

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Cat-walking Moreno Glacier

The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that is growing. The reason remains debated by glaciologists. The Perito Moreno Glacier is 3 miles wide, 19 miles in length, and is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice and has an average height of 240 ft above the surface of the water. It has a total ice depth of 558 ft.

We spent 3 nights in El Calafate, Argentina, (Patagonia), located in the southern part of South America. Patagonia is a region shared between Argentina and Chile. Some glaciers are split between the two countries, talk about slippery ice field.

Perito Moreno Glacier is a glacier located in the Los Glaciares National Park and is the closest to El Calafate. It is one of the most important tourist attractions in the Argentinian Patagonia, because of its extensive walk ways you literally get up close to this glacier. The walk ways start at the visitor center and works their way down to the the top level of the glacier. Look at the photos, as we got very close to the glacier. We heard the glacier thundering but did not see it calve as the walkways lead to only two of the three faces of the glacier. We viewed the third face by boat.

This ice field is the world’s third largest reserve of fresh water.

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Glacier National Park (Argentina)

We are in Patagonia with glaciers and snow covered mountain peaks. The Argentinian Glacier National Park has lots and lots of glaciers! We needed to decide between the largest glacier, the tallest glacier, the closest glacier, whew, so many choices! Well we picked the one closest to Fitz Roy massif. Fitzroy massif is the heart of the trekking experience, and is located near Viedma Lake/ Viedma Glacier the tallest glacier in South America.

A 2+ hour drive (200 km) from our base in El Calafate, El Chalten is the home of trekking in Patagonia. Its name, Chalten, means blue mountain or smoking mountain in reference to the Fitz Roy Peak, an unmistakable 11,170 ft mountain often enveloped in clouds. The history of these impossible spires adds a special flavour. Named after Captain Fitzroy, skipper of Charles Darwin’s Beagle. Fitz Roy is one of the most notoriously difficult mountaineering destinations in the world.

We opted for lunch at an eco camp (they had llamas and lupine there) and a boat excursion to the face of Viedma Glacier. Viedma has an area of 380 square miles! With the shrinking of some glaciers, and the growth of others, it may be either 1 or 2 in size. It flows directly from the ice field to Viedma Lake. It’s front rises 130 feet above the level of the lake. Its origin is the very heart of the icefields, between 5,000 to 7,000 feet above sea level.

We were lucky to have the chance of coming close to the glacier in order to behold the colors, cracks, formations and listen to the sounds made by this wonder of nature. The icebergs, with hues ranging from white to extreme blue had been in the water for 1-2 weeks, were also a delight, aren’t they huge!

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Penguins, penguins, everywhere (plus a couple hybrids)

What a great experience it was to view the thousands of Magellanic penguins that call this island their summer home. Lots of penguins, like 150,000 were on the Magellana island, and many were keeping their baby chicks warm while they grow strong enough to feed on their own. The humans have to stay on a roped off path, but the penguins are free to roam where they want to. They often make holes (nests) relatively close to the walking path. They were active and were quite fun to watch going about their business. This was our first tour from Patagonia. We departed at 7am by small boat from Punta Arenas that took 45 minutes to reach Magellana Island, the home of these 150,000 plus 2 penguins. We were very fortunate as the wind had died down and the boat ride was smooth.

Magellanic penguins are medium-sized penguins which grow to be 24-30 inches tall and weigh 6-14 pounds. The males are larger than the females, and the weight of both drops while the parents nurture their young.

Adults have black backs and white abdomens. There are two black bands between the head and the breast, with the lower band shaped in an inverted horseshoe. The head is black with a broad white border that runs from behind the eye, around the black ear-coverts and chin, and joins at the throat. Chicks and younger penguins have grey-blue backs, with a more faded grey-blue color on their chest. Magellanic penguins can live up to 25 years in the wild, but as much as 30 years in captivity.

The “rock star” penguins (they had sunglasses on, so they must be rock stars) were just walking in circles, laughing gleefully. Since they have discovered great South American food, you should see them waddle! No, forget that thought, you will never get it out of your mind.

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Chile wine country by Bicycle

Traveling on bikes must be one of our favorite things to do. If you add a winery or three, in another country, we are talking about the perfect day. It was a perfect day . . . The tour started with breakfast empanadas and scrambled eggs, then a 7 mile bike ride on thru the Santa Rita vineyard (which included three separate labels and processing facilities). One label being ‘120’. According to legend, 120 patriots, exhausted after a long, hard battle during the fight for Chile’s independence, reached the land belonging to Santa Rita. On that fateful night in 1814, these forces of liberty found refuge in the estate cellars. Today, within these same cellars, their award-winning 120 wines are crafted to honor their heroic character. These are young, elegant and fruity wines, perfectly balanced with soft tannins and good acidity.

We rode, we learned about grape varieties, and history of wine making and enjoyed the warmth and beauty of the day. The wine tasting featured both red and white wines, and was located in a hacienda that was originally built in the 1600’s, and honored as a part of Chilean history. It really doesn’t get better than that, exercise, wine, food, and a chance to see a special place in history.

There are several wine areas very close to Santiago. Santa Rita is a 30 minute drive to the southeast.

A great day, in a wonderful country, now it is time to move on to the next adventure.

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Bolivia final farewell – La Paz

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It was nice to return to La Paz. Our regular driver picked us up from the airport and took us back to our home away from home, the Rendezvous. Zach the owner of this B&B Hotel, is from Boston and always makes feel like we are home.

This time, our goal was to see the sights of La Paz and the surrounding areas (two previous posts). In the city itself, the government installed cable cars as a pollution free transportation option. As the heart of La Paz is about 1000′ lower then El Alto La Paz, we took the gondola as a way to view the city from a unique vantage point. We also spent time wandering around this pretty walkable city, checking out the scenery and a few of the locals.

Now it is time to head back to Santiago, and Part II of the trip. This next part of our journey is touring wineries in Chile by bicycle and Touring Patagonia in Chile and Argentina.