The Story of our trip to Rio, Iguazu, and the Antarctica with the MV FRAM, Feb. 09

[caramelo]

I was surprised how central the location was in the centre of Buenos Aires considering that it was as large as a sporting arena.

This is the location:

As soon as we arrived we were immediately served a glass of wine and some puff paste turnovers filled with meat “empanadas”. The show was before the dinner so we went outside. The seats were in elevated rows so we had good views. The photos didn´t come out well as there wasn´t enough light and there was a lot of movement with the horses and the people so they came out mainly blurred……. but some came out ok, like these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[caramelo]

 

 

 

And these last 3 are not my photos but they help to give you an idea how the show was:

 

 

 

 

 

The following photo is quite dark but the horseman was really incredible, I can hardly explain the things he could do on horseback, turning somersaults on the sides and nearly under the horse, absolutely fantastic to see:

 

 

 

 

We really enjoyed the show, it was worth seeing. We were also so lucky, as if we would have had the same torrential rain as the previous day then the show would most likely have been cancelled, but when we went we had a fabulous time.

[caramelo]

After the show we had the dinner. It was a lot more elegant that we had imagined and the service and the waiters were excellent. The constantly were at the table filling up our glasses of wine, and with an extremely good wine. The meat was also very good.

 

This was the menu:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[caramelo]

 

The minibus was waiting for us outsider the main Entrance and we returned to the hotel at about 12:30am.

 

Friday, 6th of March.

 

We woke up to another sunny day. We had an appointment at 12 o´clock midday in the hotel reception with the local representative of Hurtigruten in Buenos Aires for our transfer to the airport, for our flight to Madrid at 3:20pm.

 

After breakfast we took advantage to have a last look at everything near the hotel, the Plaza de Mayo, La Casa Rosada (The Pink House or the The Presidential Palace),

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Presidential Palace:

 

 

 

 

[caramelo]

and the police on horseback:

and from behind:

We saw some soldiers marching along the street:

Then we went to see the Cathedral:

[caramelo]

 

 

When we went inside I saw the other soldiers, who had been changing guard:

 

 

 

 

I soon understood why: they were guarding the mausoleum of the General San Martín which is inside this cathedral:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[caramelo]

 

 

They were also working to restore the floor of the Cathedral:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We returned to the hotel, and did our checkout and we were ready in the reception when the Hurtigruten representative arrived. The chofer left us at the airport at 12:40pm and we joined the long queue for Iberia.

 

We saw on the tv screen that our flight would be delayed:

 

 

 

 

What we didn´t know was that the delay would be 27 hours as the flight was cancelled and we couldn´t leave until the following day.

 

 

We finally got home, one day late and very tired after the long flight, and without suitcases……… they arrived a few hours later!

 

 

The summary of the whole journey ...... all I can say is that it was incredible and I will remember it as the best trip of my lifetime, an unforgettable experience.

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed the story…..I also enjoyed sharing it with you.

 

THE END!

[sooper]

Wow...thank you for sharing your wonderful pictures and trip...what an amazing experience you've had! Did it take you a long time to plan this trip?

[ckekjhaze]

wow great story and pictures!!!

 

thank you for sharing

[lancelady]

WOW what a great travelog and fantastic photo's. Thanks for all the time you spent putting this together for others to enjoy. We cruised from Valpariso to Buenos Aires and we lucked out the seas were calm enough

(in the eyes of the Captain) just real windy, so we were able to cruise around Cape Horn. Planning to do Antartica and the Falls so your stories

of great value to us in our planning.

The CD you received from the ship with photo's in PDF.

RE: PDF disk for your computer. You can download the Adobe Program by

going to: Adobe.9PDF.com This will allow you to read the PDF files on the disk. (The best part is the download is FREE).

Hope this will help you.

Again thanks for the stories and photo's.

[caramelo]

Thanks everyone. Sooper, we booked the trip nearly a year and a half in advance, and started planning it little by little. It was good that way, as when the time came most of the extras, hotels, excursions had been paid for! Thanks lancelady, I shall have a look at the Adobe 9PDF. Thanks.

[ckekjhaze]

I have to ask you about a certain leg of your trip- how did you find the guide that took you into Paraguay?

 

My husband is very interested in visiting Paraguay again because he lived there until he was 11

 

Thanks

Kathy

[luv2cruise450]

Caramelo...thank you so very much for the 'continuation' of the story of your travels after leaving the ship...your narrative and pictures are excellent! The time you took to write up your travelogue plus all the photos that you included takes a lot of time and it is very much appreciated. This past January we did the cruise from Valparaiso to BA on Celebrity's Infinity and it was a wonderful sailing filled with fascinating ports. This was to be the prelude for our upcoming ANtarctica sailing. Again thank you for all the information that you provided.

Wishing you continued wonderful journeys!!

 

Betty

[MMDown Under]

.

 

Sad to see your informative review finally end. Have enjoyed your journey. Thank you very much for taking the time to share your beautiful photos and experiences.

[caramelo]

Thankyou all for your nice comments and I´m glad you enjoyed it.

 

Kathy, I found the excursion and the guide to Paraguay, through the company ISANGO, they were very good, and the guide was also very good, his name is CRISTIAN. Their link and the tour we booked is the following:

 

http://www.isango.com/Product/Shopping_Tour_in_Paraguay_1097.aspx

[ckekjhaze]

Thank you for the link! That will help so much in planning next year's trip for us. I'm a bit nervous going to Paraguay with the kids and having a guide will definitely help.

 

Kathy

[Jade13]

 

 

 

 

The restaurant was called:

 

 

 

It has its history:

 

 

 

 

It was really very good. We were positively surprised as we expected it to be much more simple and basic being a lunch included in an excursion.

 

 

The starters were a buffet buffet:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh wow, we ate at the same place and also thought the food was good.

[HappyHappy578]

Hi Caramelo,

 

Thanks for taking the time to post pictures and write a trip report. We really appreciate it. It really gives us good insight on what we'll see.

 

We booked the cruise over the weekend and have a few questions about it based on some information we read on other posts:

 

1. Is there a door to get to the front deck on deck 5 or are the exits to the promenade deck from midship?

2. I read that there is no bottle water provided on the ship. All bottled waters must be purchased and that you can refill your bottles easily either. Is that true?

3. In packing for the trip, do you really need a waterproof backpack?

 

Thanks so much for your help.

[brazilgirl]

Caramelo-

 

I absolutely loved your story and your photographs...

 

I just wanted to say that you can tell what a neat , positive person you are from your posts. It is fantastic to see such a great attitude and obvious love of life!

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

Kim

[tiegs]

Thanks for some very helpful information. We are booked on the Dec 5th sailing of the Fram and I have a question about wine and drink prices on the ship. Did you bring any local wine on the ship in Argentina and if so how much was the corkage fee?

Your pictures were great, any other hints or tips would be appreciated.

Bill

[photoguy66degrees]

Caramelo, thanks for your very wonderful review of the MS Fram in the Antarctica. I read every word and found the information to be very informative! I used it as a guide to help me on two cruises that I took as Ship Photographer and a member of the Expedition Team. I had worked on the MS Fram in early 2009 in the Baltic Sea so I knew the ship. Your information was very helpful in understanding the passengers' viewpoint and gave me insight that was useful in my role on my two voyages, 2 November (BA, Falklands, So Georgia, Antarctica, Ushuaia) and 19 November 2009 (Ushuaia, Antarctica, Ushuaia). Your images were excellent as well! I'll be back on the MS Fram in Greenland in 2010 and will keep all of your comments and notes in mind.

[Lirio]

Marrion and Barry. You can get a cost comparison on Expedition Trips and Quark Expeditions. I have done almost a year of research for my trip.

 

Some companies offer special conditions for singles.

[Lirio]

Caramelo,

 

Gracias!!

 

Saludos de Rio de Janeiro.

[MMDown Under]

Marrion and Barry. You can get a cost comparison on Expedition Trips and Quark Expeditions. I have done almost a year of research for my trip.

 

Some companies offer special conditions for singles.

 

Thanks for your comments, Lirio.

 

I'm on Expedition Trips email and my daughter sailed with Quark Expeditions with Orlova last January.

 

I will need a single special to be able to afford to go. My daughter shared to be able to afford to travel.

[MMDown Under]

Caramelo, thanks for your very wonderful review of the MS Fram in the Antarctica. I read every word and found the information to be very informative! I used it as a guide to help me on two cruises that I took as Ship Photographer and a member of the Expedition Team. I had worked on the MS Fram in early 2009 in the Baltic Sea so I knew the ship. Your information was very helpful in understanding the passengers' viewpoint and gave me insight that was useful in my role on my two voyages, 2 November (BA, Falklands, So Georgia, Antarctica, Ushuaia) and 19 November 2009 (Ushuaia, Antarctica, Ushuaia). Your images were excellent as well! I'll be back on the MS Fram in Greenland in 2010 and will keep all of your comments and notes in mind.

 

Yes, Caramelo gave a lot of people a lot of pleasure, as well as valuable information.

 

I'd appreciate your comments on sailing so early in the Season, 2nd November, in particular, with regard to wildlife and weather.

 

MS Fram particularly appeals to me, as it was on our Norwegian Coastal Voyage that we learnt of the Chillean Fjords and that the Norwegian Coastal Voyage intended to sail there.