2012.5.30~31Famous for its art and religious works, Siena was once a rival to Florence for the dominance of Tuscany from medieval time to the Renaissance. Today, the city is an UNESCO heritage site. It may be the best preserved medieval city in Italy, thanks to its conquest by Florence – as Florence became bigger and busier, Siena turned its focus on building the city to retain its traditions and blend into its surrounding landscape.
Tourists’ vehicles are not allowed to enter the inner city. From our hotel, alone Via Roma, it takes 15 to 20 minutes to walk to the city center. At the first day morning, I got up at 6am and had a walk in the city. In the early morning, tourists had not taken the streets yet.
The view of the shell-shaped brick-paved public square, Piazza del Campo, is a signature image of Tuscany. At one end, there sit the tower of the town, Torre del Mangia, and the city hall, Palazzo Pubblico; at the other end, it’s the Fonte Gaia (Fountain of Joy). Every year, two horse races, Palio, are run in the piazza, to promote pride and rivalry of among 17 contrade of Siena.
When I walked to the Piazza del Duomo, where Siena’s main cathedral is located, the morning sun just started lighting up the piazza. The churches were immersed in the warm golden sunlight.
Santa Maria della Scala (the Hospital), now the National Archaeological Museum, across across the Piazza del Duomo from the cathedral, Siena
Siena’s main cathedral is a Romanesque-Gothic style church. Its west façade is a masterpiece of medieval architecture. The façade was built in two stages, the lower part was designed in Tuscan Romanesque style, the statues and pinnacles of the upper part was heavily influenced by French Gothic architecture.
Façade statues in Gothic style on the left tower of the Duomo, Siena
Delicate statues on top of the centeral portal of the Duomo, Siena
After spent the rest of the day in the country side, we returned to the city center the next day morning.
Piazza del Campo, Siena
The marble loggia of the Torre del Mangia was put up after the Black Plague, Siena
A shop next to Piazza del Campo, Siena
We paid a small entrance fee to get into the Duomo.
The most striking feature of the Duomo’s interior is the black and white marble stripes on the walls and columns, Siena
The pulpit was sculpted by Nicola Pisano, who just completed his work of the pulpit of the Pisabaptistery. His son, Giovanni Pisano, extensively involved in the project, then in turn sculpted the pulpit inside the Duomo of Pisa.
The stained-glass window of the Duomo, Siena
The inlaid marble mosaic floor in the Duomo, Siena
The colorful frescoes inside Piccolomini Library in the Duomo, Siena
The dome of the Duomo, Siena
The Duomo was supposed to be enlarged to double its current size, but the Black Plague in 1348 stopped the effort. We climbed to the top of the unfinished façade. From there, we had a panorama view of Siena.
The dome and the bell tower of the Duomo viewed from the unfinished façade, Siena
Piazza del Campo viewed from the unfinished façade, Siena
Walking out of the Duomo, we had a lunch at Trattoria Papei at Piazza del Mercato, right behind Piazza del Campo.
We left Siena at afternoon and drove to Florence, which is only 50 miles away. We returned our car at the airport, which is the best decision I made of the trip, and took taxi into the city.
2012.5.30We only planned two days around Siena area, so we didn’t choose the countryside villa but booked our stay at Hotel Santa Caterina. The hotel was remodeled from a patrician house. It’s small and cozy. The dinner room opens to a lovely garden and countryside of southern Tuscany.
Overlook Southern Tuscany countryside from Hotel Santa Caterina in the early morning.
Southern Tuscany is famous for the hilltowns and villages of great art history. We spent our first day driving around countryside. Our route largely followed the suggestion from Slow Travel Italy website. We knew we would be at most a little more than an hour drive from Siena, so we started late in order to be at Pienze area around the sunset time.
1. Montalcino
Montalcino is the hilltown surrounded by vineyard, olive orchard and oak trees. We went to see the cathedral but soon got lost on our way out. We struggled hard to make a turn in a narrow dead-end on the slope.
Montalcino, Tuscany
2. Sant’Antimo Abbey
Sant’Antimo Abbey was built in 8th century. We got there in the noon. It was too sunny otherwise it would be a good place for a picnic.
Sant’Antimo Abbey, Tuscany
Vineyard near Sant’Antimo Abbey, Tuscany
3. Castiglione D’orcia
The winding road over Val d’Orcia took us to Castiglione D’orcia. A small church just off the road provided us some necessary shade to have a rest.
Stone-paved street, Castiglione D’orcia, Tuscany
Castiglione D’orcia, Tuscany
4. San Quirico d’Orcia
San Quirico d’Orcia is strategically located in the center of Southern Tuscany. We drove around the town and enjoyed beautiful music and tasty pasta at restaurant La Locanda di Fonte Alla Vena.
A villa and the road lined with cypress trees near San Quirico d’Orcia, Tuscany
Restaurant La Locanda di Fonte Alla Vena at San Quirico d’Orcia, Tuscany
5. Torrenieri
When we stepped out of the restaurant, a dry and hot day has become cloudy and it started drizzling. We drove north on SR2 and got off the road at Torrenieri. From there, we would go east on the country road SP137. As we climbed up to a small hill, the drizzling rain had developed into a thunderstorm. We had to stop on top of the hill. For a while, we were worried about being struck by lightning.
Thunderstorm in Tuscany
Thunderstorm in Tuscany
5. Country road SP137 and SP71
The rain stopped after half an hour, we continued driving east on the dirt road SP137. This area features beautiful rolling hills, a signature landscape of southern Tuscany.
Rolling hills, Tuscany
A farm on SP71, near Pienza, Tuscany
6. Monticchiello
It’s 6pm already. We passed Pienza, drove south on SP del Monte Amiata and east on SP88 to reach Monticchiello. Again, we had some difficult time to park and turn in this hilltown.
Poppy field at the intersection of SP del Monte Amiata and SP88, Tuscany
Cypress lined roads, another signature view of Tuscany, near Monticchiello, Tuscany
7. Pienza and SS146
We came back to Pienza at 7pm. Tuscany was immersed in twilight. If you have an extra day, stay in Pienza for one night is a good option.
Pienza at sunset, Tuscany
On SP146, Tuscany
Unfortunately, we saw a lot of poppies and several other types of flowers, but we didn’t see any sunflower, although some reported that they saw “fields of fields” sunflowers in various months from May to September. Before we left for the trip, we asked the hotel clerk about where we could see them. He said that it really depended on the farmers, if they grew them and when/where they grew them. He certainly didn’t forget to leave a hint that we could see sunflowers in the region at the time. 🙂
2012.5.29Before checking out from the hotel at Lucca, we had a short visit to Viareggio. It is a beach town only 20 miles west of Lucca. The local road, Via Sarzanese, runs through mountains and villages. It’s much more interesting than the highway but it took us almost an hour to get there.
Viareggio is a popular beach resort. We came in the morning on weekday. No one was on the beach yet.
A seaside café at Viareggio
Taking SS12, Pisa is only 10 miles south to Lucca. After passing a small hill and tree-lined country road, we could see the Duomo and the Leaning Tower from miles away. Circle half around the out wall to the west, there is a big parking lot only two blocks to the entrance of the piazza. A couple of people were selling faked leather craft and watches outside of the parking lot.
The Leaning Tower is just one of 4 major edifices in Piazza dei Miracoli. The other three are, the Duomo, the Baptistry and the Camposanto. It’s a such famed place that attracts a lot of tourists. Although it might be overly popular, the piazza is beautify, refreshing and definitely worth visiting.
Piazza dei Miracoli, Pisa
The Baptistry’s inner decoration is intentionally plain. From a lookout on the second level, people have a clear view of the Duomo.
Interior view of the Duomo, Pisa
The elaborately carved pulpit inside the Duomo, Pisa
The Leaning Tower started tilting during construction. Now, its top is 12ft away from the vertical center.
Visitors are allowed to climb to the top of the tower.
View of Pisa city from the top of the Leaning Tower.
We left Pisa at 4pm. There are several ways can get us from Pisa to Siena. The fastest is to take A11 to go back to Florence and then go south by Florence-Siena Highway, but it would be boring to drive on the same road; so we decided to take the shortest path. We went south on SS206, turned east on FI-PI-LI (Firenze-Pisa-Livorno) Highway, got off the highway at ss429 and continued driving south, eventually merged into Florence-Siena Highway. My GPS stopped working and only things I had were a printed Google direction and Touring Editore’s Toscana map. We passed countless villages and roundabouts, made many wrong turns. Finally, we arrived at Siena and checked into Hotel Santa Caterina at 8pm.
2012.5.27~28Italian consulate’s office in San Francisco was very small and the officers sometimes were quite arrogant, luckily we got our visa without any issue.
Consulate General of Italy, San Francisco
We arrived in Florence at 4pm local time. At the airport car rental counter, we got a free car upgrade. It turned out not as ideal as it sounds, the bigger car caused us some headache while driving and parking in those hill towns at Tuscany. Our first destination is a small town 50 miles west of Florence, Lucca, After a little more than an hour, we checked into our hotel, Hotel Ilaria & Residenza dell’Alba.
Lucca, Italy
Lucca, Italy
Lucca, Italy
Lucca, Italy
Lucca, Italy
Lucca, Italy
Lucca, Italy
The hotel is located in the old town enclosed by Lucca’s historical walls. I had a walk around the city right after we settled down. Via Santa Croce run right through the middle of the inner city from east to the west. It was late afternoon. I only got time to cover the southern part of the old town.
Piazza del Giglio, Lucca
A dog drinking water from the public faucet at Piazza XX Settembre, Lucca
We had dinner at Ristorante Giglio at Piazza del Giglio. Grilled fish and Octopus are some of the local favorites.
The next day morning, as usual, I had a morning walk by myself before the breakfast. Lucca is famous for its narrow lanes winding among the medieval buildings and suddenly opening to small piazzas at one side of the streets. Morning sunshine provided some intriguing lighting condition for photography.
Via del Fosso, Lucca
Via del Gallo, Lucca
Piazza San Martino, Lucca
Via Antonio Vallisneri / Via del Battistero / Via delle Trombe, Lucca
The hotel serves the breakfast at an open patio that overlooks the garden of a villa at back of the hotel. After the breakfast, our city tour officially started.
Via del Fosso in front of the hotel
Locals like to do people watching over their windows
Anfiteatro Romano (Roman amphitheater) is Lucca’s most famous landmark. It was built by Roman in the 1st century. Restoration in 19th century removed the slum houses and revealed the arena-shaped piazza. Piazza del Mercato today is dedicated to the town market, café and small shops.
Basilica of San Frediano is a Romanesque church located in northwest direction next to Anfiteatro Romano
San Michele in Foro is a church in Pisan-Romanesque style, which is notable for the facade with incredible details.
Guinigi tower is one of the most prominent buildings in Lucca. Its main characteristic is its hanging garden with several oak trees growing out the top. It’s a good place to enjoy the view of Lucca’s old town and surrounding mountains.
Lucca’s inner city is quite small, but our legs got really heavy after walking back and forth in those narrow alleys. As usual, after lunch we went back to hotel to take a nap and resumed our tour again at 4pm.
Lucca’s Renaissance-era city walls was used to protect the old town but never put to the test in war. The inner side of the wall can be easily accessed. Centuries-old trees grow on top of the wall. It’s a nice recreation area for local residents and visitors.
Shops in Piazza Napoleone under the afternoon sunshine
Much more compact, quiet and slow-paced than Florence and Pisa, featuring beautiful medieval architecture and maze-like lanes, Lucca is a jewel of a Tuscan town, a surprising treat of our Tuscany trip.
2012.1.8The next day morning, we went to see the Obelisco de Buenos Aires. It’s located in the intersection of avenues Corrientes and 9 de Julio. Spanning seven lanes on each direction and 2-lane byway on each side, Avenue 9 de Julio is the widest avenue in the world. Only two blocks away from the Obelisco, Teatro Colón is considered to be one of the best opera houses in the world. Unfortunately, the theater was in renovation, we didn’t even have a good look of it from the outside.
Obelisco de Buenos Aires on Avenue 9 de Julio.
Still traumatized by the incident the earlier day, my wife asked me to explore the city by myself in the afternoon. The taxi first took me to the Plaza Dorrego at San Telmo. A short walk lead me to the small plaza that is surrounded by beautiful two-storied buildings. It’s Sunday. The plaza was taken over by stands selling all kinds of antiques. This is Buenos Aires’ most famous flea market, Feria de San Pedro Telmo. Everything selling here must date before the 1970s.
Flea market at Plaza Dorrego, San Telmo.
Flea market at Plaza Dorrego, San Telmo.
Flea market at Plaza Dorrego, San Telmo.
Flea market at Plaza Dorrego, San Telmo.
Tango dancers who had a rest at Plaza Dorrego, San Telmo.
A local and a visitor at Dorrego, San Telmo.
I spent about an hour at Plaza Dorrego then took taxi to another legendary place of Buenos Aires – El Caminito at La Boca. This is a short pedestrian street overcrowed with restaurants and shops, but what draws visitors and photographers here are the houses painted in vivid colors. They are predominately in blue and yellow, which are the colors of the Boca Juniors football team. Although the street is crowed by visitors having their good times, there was no single visitor could be seen immediately out of the area – La Boca’s crime rate is among the highest of the city. Even within the tourist area, there were many police on patrol to keep the street safe at least in the daytime.
El Caminito, La Boca.
El Caminito, La Boca.
El Caminito, La Boca.
El Caminito, La Boca.
El Caminito, La Boca.
El Caminito, La Boca.
El Caminito, La Boca.
El Caminito, La Boca.
Buenos Aires is a such elaborate and culture-rich city, two days was not enough to cover it all even in the most superficial way. We didn’t got chance to visit Palermo and Belgrano, the upper-class side of the city. We left Buenos Aires in the evening and concluded our 16-day trip.
It’s already nine months and two more trips later as I finished the last installment of the travelog. The legacy of this unparalleled journey is that wherever we go, we always think, “we have been to Antarctica, nothing will surprise us”. However, the fact is, the world’s beauty and diversity have never stopped amazing us in every unexpected way. With an open mind and keen eyes, we will never feel bored of travelling.
2012.1.7Buenos Aires was the last stop of our entire trip. It’s certainly cannot be called “the last place on earth”, as it is the most visited city in South America. This is what the consul told us as we applied for the tourist visa at Los Angles, “Buenos Aires is different from other Latin America cities. It’s a little bit Spain, a little bit Italy, ….”. Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world back in the beginning of the 20th century. Its prosperity attracted large amount of immigrants from Europe. They brought in their cultures and greatly influenced the growth of the city. From the grand buildings and broad avenues, to lovely sidewalks, cafés, bookstores and parks., no wonder Buenos Aires is often referred as the “Paris of South America”.
However, Buenos Aires is not immune from the problems of big cities. Especially after the collapse of Argentina economy 10 years ago, unemployment, poverty and economic inequality led to high crime rate. Ten years after, the economy is recovering and street is much safer, but crime is still a big obstacle of Buenos Aires.
We got to our hotel, Esplendor Buenos Aires, well after the midnight. The hotel is one of the oldest hotels in the city and located at the heart of the Microcentro district. It’s right next to Galerías Pacífico mall. Florida Street, Plaza de Mayo, Plaza San Martin and Obelisco are all within the walking distance.
Painting of Che Guevara in Esplendor Buenos Aires
The next day morning, the street was still very quiet at 10am. We first walked to Plaza San Martín. The plaza has a park and several monuments and memorials within its perimeter. It is surrounded by some beautiful buildings, including the famous Kavanagh building.
Monumento a los Caídos en Malvinas and Kavanagh building
Returned to where we lived, we went to Galerías Pacífico. Compared to the noisy Florida Street jammed by stall shops, Galerías Pacífico offers a more elegant shopping environment. Centro Cultural Borges can be accessed from the second floor of the mall. Besides art exhibitions and auctions, it also hold year-round tango shows in very low price.
Galerías Pacífico
After a short break at the hotel, the plan for the afternoon was to see the other side of Microcentro district. We first went to the Florida Street (Calle Florida). It’s so famous that we felt we were obliged to see it as least, however, neither the environment nor the style of shops were what we like, so we just walked through the street without making any stop.
Florida Street in the morning
We then spent sometime around Plaza de Mayo. In the height of summer of Buenos Aires, it’s a hot and humid day. We stopped at a Café on Ave. de Mayo. As we just sat down, my wife found her iPhone was not in her bag. Knowing pick-pocketing is quite common in Florida Street, we almost left everything in the hotel, but the only thing my wife brought couldn’t survive being stolen. My wife understandably got very upset, so we returned to the hotel directly.
Plaza de Mayo
City Hall and the Catedral Metropolitana at the corner of Plaza de Mayo
Our evening program was the Tango Show at La Ventana. Argentine tango is originated in Buenos Aires. From the tango school to the tango shows, from the street dance to Milonga filled with locals, this city takes tango to her heart. I am specially attracted by the tempo of tango music. I originally talked to one of services that would take guests to several popular Milongas to experience more authentic tango, but eventually, considering that we were the first time visitors without any tango knowledge, we chose the more entertaining tango shows. It’s a little touristy indeed, for example, the part that actors sung “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” and waved the Argentina flags in the middle of the show, however, I could see the passion and pride they put into the program. I was deeply moved when the old man who created and run the show for many years was introduced. He played accordion on the stage for the rest of the show. Since then, I was particularly fascinated by elder Argentine men when they are singing, dancing or playing instruments, as I can perceive a sense of elegance that can hardly be found in Argentina’s turbulent recent history.
Tango Show at La Ventana
Dish tray used in the crowed restaurant, La Ventana
The tango show started at 10pm and ended at almost midnight. To Porteños, this is only the beginning of their night lives. Leaving the theater, walking on the cobblestoned street, I began to comprehend the magic of the city. Our taxi drove along the Puerto Madero. The light decorated the building and the river, the dark concealed the graffiti and trashes on the street. Buenos Aires is a more beautiful city to watch while riding a taxi.
2012.1.6I booked a tour to see Tierre del Fuego National Park on our second day at Ushuaia. Knowing that the scenery is not as dramatic as TDP, my wife preferred staying in in the city to do more shopping.
The guide met me at hotel at 8:30am, then he went around the city to pick up a family from Australia and two Argentines. Our first stop at the park was a railway station. Besides offering a steam locomotive tour, the station has a major theme of its prison history. The city of Ushuaia was first created mainly as a prison because of its remote location. At the first half of the 20th century, Argentine government expanded the town around the prison to increase its population and to enforce Argentine sovereignty at Tierre del Fuego. This is why posters and paints of prisoners can be seen everywhere in Ushuaia.
The ‘End of the World’ train
Southern Fuegian Railway Station
Southern Fuegian Railway Station
All of us were more interested in natural beauty so we skipped the locomotive tour and directly went into the park. The next stop was Ensenada Bay, we had a short walk on the coast of the Beagle Channel and the surrounding hills.
Overlook the Beagle Channel at Ensenada Bay
Forrest around Ensenada Bay
The tour took us to the Roca Lake. It’s located at the border between Argentina and Chile and offers one of the most beautiful views in the park. We walked along the lake to the visitor center. I got an opportunity to shot a group of Black-necked Swan.
Roca Lake
Roca Lake
Black-necked swans at the Roca Lake
Driving south, we made a brief stop at Green Lagoon to overlook the lake in the turquoise color and the trees damaged by the beavers.
Green Lagoon
The highlight and the final stop of the tour was Bahia Lapataia. The guide stopped the car at a trail head and let us walk over the hill. The trail leads to a parking lot that marks the end of National Route 3. This is the most southern end as far as the road runs.
Lapataia Bay
The end of the Panamerican Highway at Lapataia Bay
We bumped into our co-passengers of the Antarctic cruise from time to time on the street of Ushuaia and we met many of them at the airport. It’s an interesting feeling that we came from all over the world, spent several days together in such a surreal place and now we would return to whoever we are. At the check-in counter, Aerolineas Argentinas told us the flight “is ONLY delayed by 50 minutes”. We would arrive in Buenos Aires at the midnight.
The plane was ready to take off from Ushuaia Airport at 9pm.
2012.1.5In the morning at 7am, the ship reached the pier in Ushuaia. Our journey in the Antarctic came to the end. We would spend the rest several days in Argentina.
Pier of Ushuaia
We checked into Alto Andino Hotel. It’s a little bit off the main road, small but very well built. It’s still too early to get a room, so we left our luggage at the hotel and walked to the city center. Ushuaia is the capital of Tierra del Fuego Province and often regarded as the southernmost city in the world. However, compared with Punta Arenas, which is a fully diversified city, Ushuaia’s main function is the gateway for researchers and tourists to explore the Southern Ocean.
Overlook Ushuaia from Alto Andino Hotel
Signpost on San Martin St.
Ushuaia really has only one main street, San Martin. At one end of the street, there is a Chinese restaurant, Arco Iris (Rainbow) restaurant. The owner came down from Buenos Aires to manage the restaurant by herself. They run a good lunch buffet and also offer traditional Argentine BBQ. However, we asked the chef to make a special order of tomato soup noodle. It was HUGE. After eating western dishes for more than a week, we finally had a real Chinese comfort food at the world end.
Rainbow Restaurant
There were many booths around the port selling cruise tours to the Antarctic region. The lowest price of the similar tour like ours was $3500. Only the backpacker can take advantage of this low rate. We stopped at several museums and Souvenir stores, but for the most of the day, we just took time and rested at the hotel room.
Street drawing on San Martin St.
Street drawing on San Martin St.
Street drawing on San Martin St.
Ushuaia is famous for its spider crab dishes. Living in the cold water in Beagle Channel, Spider Crab is a similar species to Alaska King Crab. We had the dinner at La Cantina Fueguina de Freddy on San Martin. The crab was fresh and tasty, but we are still in favor the dishes at Brocolino in Punta Arenas.
Restaurant La Cantina Fueguina de Freddy
Crab dishes at Restaurant La Cantina Fueguina de Freddy
2012/1/3 ~ 4Roaring forties, furious fifties and screaming sixties are the names given by the sailors to the strong westerly winds found in the Southern Hemisphere. Drake Passage, notorious for its rough, often violent, sea, spans between the latitudes of 50 and 60 degrees. We will take two days to cross it.
Drake Passage is about 500 miles wide. It’s estimated that the passage was opened around 20 to 40 million years ago. This ‘event’ not only isolated Antarctica from other continents, but also made the unimpeded flow, Antarctic Circumpolar Current, possible. The current keeps the warm water away from Antarctica and further cools down the continent. Many researchers believe it is a major factor of the glaciation of Antarctica. Where the warm and cold water meet, named Antarctic Convergence or Polar Front, sees a sharp change of the surface water’s temperature and forms a significant biological boundary. As the cold water sink, upwelling of deep water bring substantial amount of nutrients and nurtures abundant Krill, which results in food chains supporting fish, whales, seals, seabirds and other species.
The Captain watching the sea while navigating the ship
The first day on the Drake was quiet and eventless. The whole day was dedicated to lectures. In the morning, Jolande spoke about the Race to the Pole, the competition between Scott and Amundsen to be the first to reach the South Pole. I learned their stories when I was in the middle school; sailing at the Antarctic and listening to their heroic story, I couldn’t help felting inspired again. I believe a lot of people felt the same way, because the whole lecture room was filled by the passengers. After Jolande’s lecture, Lex talked about the whales and dolphins of the area where we had been sailing. After lunch, Jolande gave another talk about the general introduction to Antarctica, including both its geographic features and political status.
The sea was smooth, we were visited only by some Cape Petrels. Petrel and Albatross spend most of their life in flight. Once they grow up, the often fly for several years without returning to the land. Gliding is the most energy-efficient for them to cover the long distance to locate patchy food sources. In fact, their wings are so adapted to glide, when the sea is calm, they are forced to rest on the ocean’s surface and wait for the wind to pick up. We saw this happen several times with these Cape Petrels.
Cape Petrels resting on the sea
Cape Petrels
The second days saw a totally different weather. The wind was getting stronger and the sea was rough. Only a few people showed up in Jolande’s presentation on the life of Edward Wilson. He was a naturalist and artist who went to the South Pole and lost his life together with Captain Scott. Although the lecture room is at the bottom of the ship, we couldn’t stay in our seats because of the rolling sea. Even for me who were never too sensitive to anything started feeling uncomfortable for a while. Lying on the bed soon calmed me down, then I was literally thrown out of the bed by a huge wave.
Huge waves in Drake Passage
The wind speed reached 60 knots. Not everyone made to the breakfast and lunch. We had to take care of our forks and plates, otherwise, they might fly off the table. One French girl was pushed to the floor and the chain to secure the chair to the floor got broken. The afternoon lecture was cancelled, instead, the film “Around Cape Horn” was shown in the library. The following are two videos I shot on the rough sea. It’s Lex who was making announcement about the film in the first video.
It was foggy outside. We sailed past Cape Horn without actually seeing it. At the afternoon, the wind was still strong but as we closed to the land, Tierra del Fuego, the waves slowed down. We settled our bills on the ship, returned boots and parkas and got our passports back with stamps of Antarctica. Every passengers received an Antarctic Dream’s jacket and a certificate reads,
We hereby certify that while travelling aboard the M/V Antarctic Dream,
XXXX XXXX
has set foot on the Antarctic continent, just as the original explorers that came before him/here. This event took place on,
Brown Bluff 30-12-2011
Neko Harbour 31-12-2011
Captain: Ernesto Barria Expedition Leader: Stefan Kindberg
After dinner, we had a farewell cocktail party. Stefan urged us to come back and revisit this fascinating continent in the future; then, he held an auction of the captain signed navigation chart of this voyage. After a heated bidding war, the Russian family living in the most expensive suite eventually beat the Spanish family living in the second most expensive suite at $2100.
The sun returned by the late afternoon, I finally saw a sunset after several days. We’ve reached Beagle Channel. The captain stopped the engine. We would wait there until the next day morning to get to the port of Ushuaia.
