We all pretty much slept in and yet somehow still wound up being early out this morning. We all wore our Big O B-day T-shirts today in honor of Jim's 80th birthday. Babs reported that Jim scored a bran muffin with b-day candle and a song because of it. Glad we could help! Happy Birthday, Jim!! Babs also said that Jim planned to wear his t-shirt with his tux tonight to the Formal SSS reception and to their hosted table in Compass Rose with Bryan Townsend, Cruise Director. We will look for him!
We had breakfast in Compass Rose and all went to Terry Breen's morning lecture on glaciers. Debbie did not last and was the first one out. It was just too rough for her and she went back to bed. Margie made it through the lecture, but then to bed. Clay had to tough out the next lecture alone. Lunch was a Tex-Mex buffet on the Pool Deck, Debbie's favorite. We got food, but it was so crowded that there was no inside seating. We did find sheltered seating on the completely empty smoking side, but it was still so cold and windy that Debbie's warm flour tortilla had cracked and she couldn't eat her burrito anyway. Margie had a hard taco and ate it and then Clay was left alone again while Debbie and Margie made their way downstairs to Compass Rose for lunch. Margie had 3 courses here and Debbie had 2. For reasons unknown, the first appearance of chocolate brulee was on the lunch menu today, so they had to have it. Yummy.
There was a Chilean vintner onboard doing a tasting of his Montes wines at 2:30pm. Margie opted out and Debbie and Clay went. After arriving, Debbie realized that there would be 3 reds, 1 rose and only 1 white. Given that she choses to drink only white wine, there was not much to keep her there and as seats were getting full, she told Clay that she would give her space to someone else and use her time better. Clay was left alone yet again! Debbie had been trying to follow up with a dropped arrangement for touring in Buenos Aires through the volunteer agency http://www.cicerones.org.ar/. She had been dealing with one woman by email for months before we left home and then when we expected to get our volunteer and make firm arrangements with them, all communications ceased. Debbie finally got a single ping back from a web query last night that they knew nothing about us. We waited to get a 2nd reply after resubmitting our requested information and nothing again. So, Debbie decided now would be a good time to use some of that free phone time. She did speakto the man in charge there and evidently Debbie's previous contact is no longer there and we need to start from scratch now. The satellite phone connections are really slow and full of echoes and with the language barrier to boot, it is difficult. But, we will wait to hear back from him tomorrow evening and if we still hear nothing, then we will have to get really busy with making alternate arrangements. There was one RSSC full-day excursion that we all had some interest in and Clay spoke to the Travel Concierge Desk about it this morning. It looks like we will still be able to book that a few days from now if we can't get anything else lined up. The H. Stern people onboard handed out Buenos Aires guides and H. Stern visitors stickers to each person recently, but there was nothing in their packet that indicated what they were actually offering. Supposedly, one could go down to their desk on Deck 5 from 10 to noon and make an appointment to go to their store, but their info packet was pretty confusing about what they were offering here in BA, so none of us has gone to speak with them.
Margie planned to go to 3pm Arts & Crafts to make a wine present sack, but it was upstairs in LaVeranda and she wasn't sure she could take the rough seas up there. Then she planned to go to needlepoint in Horizon Lounge (on a lower deck!) at 3:45pm. Debbie planned to finally go to a Chocoholic Tea in Horizon Lounge at 4pm.
Margie made it through the afternoon and made her wine gift sack, made it through needlepoint and then repaired back to bed for the remainder of the day and evening. Clay sat through the world's longest wine tasting and then picked up Debbie to meet Margie in Horizon Lounge for Chocoholic Tea. Margie's area was full and was every other one. Debbie & Clay went up to the buffet anyway and walked around it. Clay picked up a couple of small slices to take back to the cabin. Since Debbie had gone strictly for the Chocolate Fountain with fruits and it was absent, she got nothing. We decided they must not have offered it this time because they were afraid of sloshing! The event was clearly well attended. They had a nice display with big chocolate sculptures which is always impressive. They had chocolate and white ice cream, which was unlabeled but which we hope was white chocolate. Sugarless chocolate silk cake, moist chocolate cake, brownies with raspberry jelly on top, chocolate-pumpkin pie and black forest cake.
Tonight is Formal and the Seven Seas Society reception. Margie is down for the count and Debbie and Clay are dressed up to try to go it alone. We'll see how far they get. The seas are very rough now. Captain Romeo said at the SSS reception that he expects us to notice a smoother ride about 4am when we enter the fjord to Puerto Montt. It turns out that Clay cannot say fjord. This is going to be fun. ;) We finally saw Babs and Jim at dinner in Compass Rose and had to go over and get a photo of him in his 80th B-day T-shirt with his tuxedo. Clay wondered how he got his bow tie to look so good with the T-shirt?!
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| Jim's 80th Birthday! |
We are hoping to make Puerto Montt on time since we have a private tour arranged there and we are looking forward to a good day ashore. Pasted below is a loose description of tomorrow's tour. It has been modified for just the 3 of us. Gail phoned us before we left home to asked how many wanted "curanto" which Debbie had requested as a local dish for Clay. He said that it had to ordered 3 days in advance and he needed to know how many orders, only Clay! So, we may be eating at a different restaurant as well.
"The excursion begins in Puerto Montt city, current capital of Chile's tenth region. On the Pan American highway we bypass farms and green areas capturing the areas true escence. Arriving to the quiet german city of Frutillar for the first time your eyes will capture the great Lake Llanquihue, Chile's largest lake with Volcano Osorno in the backround. The next city you'll visit is Puerto Varas (larger german city), nicknamed the Rose city. Boardering Lake Llanquihue we arrive to Ensenada. Here restaurant "Las Tranqueras" awaits with a typical chilean lunch, providing above that an excellent service. We enter the Vicente Perez Rosales national park and our first stop is in the Petrohue Waterfalls. Beautiful green waters running down the mountain guarded by the Volcano Osorno, known by it's perfect cone. Surrounded by green mountains, staring straight at the andes, in front of Chile's astonishing Emerald Lake is where our tour ends."
