We arrived February 13th in Montevideo and will be staying overnight, as our port of call to Punta del Este was cancelled due to sea conditions not being favorable for tendering. And, Punta del Este is a tender port. We were greeted with, while cool temperature, bright sunshine and fair winds. We booked the 7 hour tour to the La Rabida Working Ranch for the first day. The tour started with a brief glimpse of the city which did not impress me at all but then proceeded for an hour and half through the lovely Uruguayan countryside, which was absolutely gorgeous, even though generally flat. The gentle rolling hills and its varied vegetation with blue skies and puffy white clouds just was such a pleasant site after many days at sea. We arrived at the ranch and were greeting by some members of the family on horseback. We were directed to a large pasture field with many huge shade trees and open-air buildings where we were given a brief history of the ...
February 6, we awake to very cold, overcast and low hanging cloud day and wonder will we actually see the glaciers. The ship was gliding through the fjords ever so slowly and as we got closer and closer to the Amalia glacier more and more ice chunks and mini icebergs floated around. And then miraculously the low hanging clouds lifted and allowed us to see the majestic glacier. This glacier skirts the northern rise of the Reclus volcano located right behind it. The ice flow goes all the way into the water. This area was once the world’s largest continuous ice field, the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. Today it is merely a fraction of it’s former self. Though still very impressive. There we were also blessed with a glimpse of some marine otters. The ship did a 360 to make sure everyone was able to view the glacier. We continued at a slow speed to the next glacier the El Brujo glacier even more impressive than Amalia...
Istanbul, what an incredible city, one that deserves a second visit, but not when it is in the 40s, rainy, windy and a real-feel temperature of the 30’s. The at-sea-day before already was an indication of the miserable weather to come. We could not see anything of the passage through the Dardanelles Strait, Sea of Marmara and Bosphorus Strait due to the heavy mist. I truly had seconds thoughts of getting of the ship and going on our tours, but as Margit reminded me, you have never been here and who knows if you ever will be again. So I mustered all my energy and braved the cold. I am glass I did. Part of Istanbul (formally called Constantinople) is on the European continent (60%) and the other 40% is on the Asian Continent with the Bosphorus Strait between the two sides. It’s the only transcontinental city in the world, which alone makes it unique. Depending on which tour guide you believe there are about 15 to 18 million inh...
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