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Live from Viking Octantis - Antarctic Explorer - January 17-29

Australia08

By Australia08,
in Viking Ocean

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LindaS272 "Live from...." Rare

LindaS272

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12 hours ago, Australia08 said:

The Moai gift from Rapa Nui

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We enjoyed the inside of this museum too. History of the island, excavations, lots of pictures. We went there independently before our March 2020 Valparaiso to BA cruise.

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Australia08 "Live from...." Rare

Australia08

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8 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

You’re making me want to return to Valpariso!  Have a great cruise. 

Thanks, Clay. It’s been great so far. We are in Buenos Aires this evening. We do know we want to return to Chile though - so many more vineyards to explore. 😉

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Clay Clayton "Live from...." Rare

Clay Clayton

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1 minute ago, Australia08 said:

Thanks, Clay. It’s been great so far. We are in Buenos Aires this evening. We do know we want to return to Chile though - so many more vineyards to explore. 😉

Add Uruguay to your list! We had a great wine tasting with delicious noshes when I got a CC rollcall group together when we were there years ago. 

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Australia08 "Live from...." Rare

Australia08

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January 15 - Goodbye, Chile - Hello, Argentina!

 

This morning, we decided to enjoy brunch at a spot not too far from our hotel.  Our late afternoon flight to Buenos Aires meant we could take our time to pack up and have a late check-out.  We had checked out a small bakery-cafe in a residential area near our hotel on one of our evening walks.  It was a perfect spot to enjoy the cool morning breeze have a little something to eat since we knew we would probably skip lunch.  After our brunch stop, we loaded up and we were headed to the airport about 1:00 pm. Since we had taken three private day tours while we were in the Santiago area or we walked throughout the Vitacura and Las Condes area, we hadn’t needed much public transportation.  There is a modern Metro in Santiago, however.  For our trip from the airport and to the airport, we used UBER.  If I’d needed to go somewhere else, I definitely would have used UBER again because both times we did use it, a car was there within 2 or 3 minutes and the transaction was seamless.  They knew where we needed to go and we knew the cost going in.  Tonight, when we arrived in Buenos Aires at EZE, we also used UBER. Again, super simple and fast!

 

Our flight on Latam from Santiago to Buenos Aires was good, too.  I had purchased premium economy (the highest class on the aircraft).  It’s similar to most European business class with the three seat row with the empty seat between.  Even though it was a flight of less than 2 hours, they served sandwiches, chips, dessert and drinks.  I had purchased the premium economy since I’m not a fan of planes with three and three seats.  This solved that problem, even though the rows were still quite narrow.

 

We booked two extra nights at the Buenos Aires Hilton - Viking already booked our night before the charter flight on Wednesday morning.  Our surprise was at check-in when we were given a double upgrade to a corner suite.  While the suite is a bit retro with a design circa 1980s-1990s, the space is unbelievable.  Plus, it includes Executive Lounge privileges for breakfast and happy hour.  And they said we didn’t need to change rooms for our Viking night - NICE!

 

 

A Nice Way to Start our last day in Santiago

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Australia08 "Live from...." Rare

Australia08

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January 16 - Buenos Aires, Argentina

 

I am so glad that we have a couple of days in Buenos Aires before we head out on the charter flight.  I can’t imagine flying in tomorrow exhausted and having to wake up before dawn to make a charter.  I loved the lazy day we had today.  Up at 8:00 am, breakfast, then out to sightsee on our own by 11:00.  This is a nostalgia visit for me.  50 years ago this month, I spent a month in Argentina.  I stayed with a family in LaPlata.  They took me around LaPlata, Buenos Aires, their family estancia in Puan, Argentina (in the Pampas), to the seaside resort of Mar del Plata, and to the Andes to camp near Bariloche.  It was a dream trip staying with a wonderful family.  Somehow, over the years, I lost touch with them.  I am still trying my best to reach any of the family members, but alas, my efforts have failed to date.  Today, as we walked to the Casa Rosada, the Cathedral, and to Cafe Tortoni, I remembered my visits, having my husband take photos of me at the same iconic spots.  I especially enjoyed our lunch at Cafe Tortoni, although I must admit, the cafe doble seemed better in 1973,  Maybe my tastebuds have deadened a bit.  I loved being back in the city today with my husband (I was engaged to him when I visited last), but it is bittersweet to not be able to connect with the wonderful family I stayed with back then. 

 

 

Me at the Casa Rosada - 50 years after my first visit in January 1973!

 

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springtravel

springtravel

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What a sweet story of your youth and returning.  That must be extra special to be visiting again after all these years.  Funny how we remember every detail from 50 years ago and can't remember what we had for lunch today.  I love your pictures and comments on each.  This will be on my bucket list for a future cruise.

 

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Australia08 "Live from...." Rare

Australia08

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January 17 - Buenos Aires

 

Another lovely day in Buenos Aires.  We had breakfast in the Executive Lounge at the Hilton, then headed downstairs to check in with the Viking Desk.  We are on the third bus tomorrow morning so we don’t have to be downstairs for breakfast until 4:15 am. Thank heavens we're not on the first bus!  We walked down to meet our Iconic Buenos Aires walking food tour at 12:30.  It was a wonderful food tour.  Our guide took us around the neighborhood to visit some of the historic buildings in San Telmo.  Then we went to the Public Market area.  Our first stop was at the El Horneros shop for empanadas and local beer.  After this delicious tasting, we went outside of the market to a wonderful wine shop where we were introduced to three Argentinian wines - a Mastaba Torrentes from Stone Winery in Salta, a Malbec from Mendoza and a Cabernet Franc from Mendoza.  Each was excellent.  The tastings were accompanied by a selection of regional cheese.  Following this relaxing tasting, we returned to the market to enjoy choripán, a wonderful chorizo sandwich with a nice salsa mayo.  I had a glass of Malbec, Mike had another local beer.  Following this, we headed over to another market stall for steak, fries, and grilled provoleta (grilled provolone with oregano and olive oil).  With this, I had another glass of Malbec and Mike had another local beer.  We were stuffed, but it was time to go to another stall for yerba mate and alfajor, a lovely cookie filled with dulce de leche and covered in chocolate.  Our guide prepared the yerba mate in a ceremonial way - it was delicious and relaxing.  Our last stop was at an ice cream shop that was outside the market.  I had a dulce de leche ice cream and Mike had dulce de leche and chocolate negro.  It was  the perfect sweet ending to our Argentinean food tour.  I highly recommend this excellent walking food tour if you find yourself in Buenos Aires!

 

After stuffing ourselves all afternoon, we headed back to the hotel about 5:30.  We went to the happy hour at the executive lounge, but found that we were too stuffed to have more than a sip of wine. 

 

We put our large bag out to be collected by Viking and decided to watch a bit of TV before we turn in for our early morning charter flight to our expedition ship.

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