Home really is Sweet

Now that everyone has seen my butt....

You probably noticed that I didn't get around to using my sisters' free minutes. There is so much that I saw and did. I did take notes, but my suitcase is still standing my the door and I can't refer to them right now.

After Puerto Madryn, we rounded Cape Horn and it was very exciting. I mean it just looked like mountains and landscape but it was exciting all the same. We saw beautiful glaciers. There were five major ones all named after the countries of the five men that explored them. The first one, Italia, was the most beautiful and went from way up, all the way down to the waters edge. What I didn't know previously is that a glacier is not an iceberg. Glaciers form between mountains, in the cleft sort of and down the sides. So that's the icy part. The rest of it just looks like a mountain with snow (ice) on top.

At our Ushuaia stop, we (Les MaTantes) took a cab to the Marshall Glacier and took a ride up the glacier on a ski lift. For your chuckle of the day, picture me and Rita trying to jump onto a ski lift that doesn't stop. Many people on the ship paid big bucks for excursions. Our cost was $10.00, US for the cab and $11.00 US for three lift tickets. About $7.00 per person. Everyone was so jealous.

The next day, we took a cab ride for $20.00 US per person to the penguinarium. After a 1 1/2 hour ride (one way) we found out that we still had to walk over a mile on a gravel path in order to actually see the penguins. I asked someone on his way back if it was worth the walk and he said it was a long way to go to see 4 penguins. So we didn't walk the extra mile. The poor cab driver tried to get us to go see the museum and/or the palace or cemetery (highlights of the city) but we declined. We did manage to see the whole city and lots of pretty countryside with ocean views on the long ride.

Two days were spent at sea going through the Straights of Magellan. Many people spent much of the day sitting on the decks outside but it was really cold and I spent more time in the Constellation Room which was right in the front of the ship on deck 11 and had floor to ceiling windows on three sides. There was a guide-type person who gave lectures (which I did not attend) and gave a running commentary over the PA when we passed anything pertinent.

One of the main speakers and personages on the ship was Patch Adams. If any of you saw the movie, I understand that he comes off as some kind of magnificent healer when played by Robin Williams. Well, in real life, he is a major jerk. I believe that he has done good deeds, and believes in healing through laughter or something, by being a clown. But it seems that he has accomplished nothing. He lost me when he told about the making of the movie. He said that he agreed to let them make the movie and they agreed in turn to build his "Hospital," where he would promote his healing ideas. He is something of a flower child (in his 60s at least) and doesn't believe in lawyers. Well, guess what. Not only did the hospital not get built but he said he never got $10.00 from anyone involved with that movie. I was not one of the people standing in line to buy his book to help contribute to the building of his hospital. If he couldn't be bothered to get a decent written contract regarding building the hospital in return for making the movie, he doesn't strike me as a good risk.

After I open my suitcase, if I think of more stuff I will blog again.