Baltimore/Washington/Virginia

Hello to all,

We decided to make a trip to visit Pamela this weekend in Columbia, Maryland.  Pamela moved from New York City to the Baltimore area this past fall to attend The University of Maryland. She is enrolled in their PhD program in Clinical Psychology. We are very proud of her!  She is a hard working student and a great daughter!  We wanted to see Pam's new apartment, her school and basically find out a bit more about her life in her new city. 

David and I left Hood River on Friday morning quite early. We arrived into Baltimore airport just before dinner time. We had a nice dinner with Pamela, then slept immediately afterwards. Jet lag and travel took their toll on us!

On Saturday, Pam had a lot of work to do at school during the day, so we told her we would meet up with her for dinner, and we set off to visit Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's beautiful home in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

Monticello is a place I was very much looking forward to visiting. The beautiful architecture, the fascinating history, and all those quirky inventions and anecdotes that make Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson virtually guaranteed a great experience. However, it was not to be. By the time we arrived, parked and made it up to the entry area, there was not sufficient time for us to take a decent tour. Not only that, but they have it set up such that you cannot even see the house from the entry area. So we did what any reasonable person with half an hour on their hands would do- we headed for the café.  I generally find that museum cafés transcend their utilitarian service as food dispensers for cranky tourists. Many are quite good, and this one was no exception. It had a nice elegant yet casual atmosphere, lots of great, healthy snacks and light meals, and a set-up that blended quite nicely with the overall venue. 

It had taken us more than three hours to drive to Monticello, so it took that long or more to return. On the way home, we opted for the back way through some quite scenic towns. This brought back fond memories for David, as he had spent a little over a year living in this area of Virginia as a young crop duster. In fact, his son Justin was born in Culpepper, Virginia. So it was a nice trip down Memory Lane for him as well. 

We drove through really gorgeous country on our way home.  Seductive byways winding and dipping between horse farms and estates, towns with interesting sounding names like Orange, 
Remington, Opal. The land was pastoral and pristine, much like I imagine the English countryside to be (I haven't been).  You almost expect to see the Downton Abbey family out and about on a fox hunt. 

We arrived back for a nice PF Chang dinner with Pamela and her school friend, Haley. Then it was off to bed for two tired travelers. 

On Sunday, Karen's Uncle Chuck drove down from Philadelphia to join us for the day. Karen's son Alex's fianceé Maria drove down from York, Pennsylvania to be with us as well. We were all looking forward to spending more time with Maria, as she will soon be a member of the family!  It was wonderful getting to know her a bit better. 

We decided to visit the home of another former President - Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate in Mount Vernon, Virginia (what are the odds?).   Mount Vernon sits grandly on the banks of the Potomac River. 

George Washington's father had built a modest home on the site during his lifetime, and it was added to considerably by the President and his half-brother before him. Interestingly, it was purchased by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association in about 1858, and they still own and maintain it to this day. Many of Washington's original items are on display. 

We had a very nice guided home tour, then explored the grounds a bit on our own. 

An interesting feature of the home itself, is that, while it looks as if it is made of stone, it is actually made of wood that has been "rusticated"  (made to look like stone by applying sand).  

As were most farms in those days, Mt Vernon was essentially a self-contained village. It had its own orchards, granaries, a grist mill, a butcher shop and a blacksmith shop - everything you would need to survive. It even had a small hospital set up for the poor slaves. Also, two years before George Washington died, they made a distillery, and by the time he died, they were the largest producer of whiskey in the area. They actually still make it in the same distillery that he built. We didn't buy any whiskey, though, as they charge $188.00 a pint for it!

David was looking forward to an exhibit of old weapons which were supposed to have been housed in the museum on premises, but sadly they were removed so that they could make a new, improved display for them. 

After a couple of hours there, we were feeling a bit hungry, and found a wonderful Nepalese restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner. It was a wonderful day with family.  

Good night everyone!  Tomorrow we leave for Woodstock, Vermont. 

With love,
Karen and David

Buenos Aires, Last Day

Hi friends and family,

It is with some sadness that we awake to our last day in Buenos Aires. Our flight does not leave until 9 p.m. tonight, so we basically have a full day to spend when we have nothing specific planned. We slept in this morning till 9, packed up our bags, checked out of the room, and enjoyed a nice breakfast in the hotel restaurant while discussing what to do with our day.

We felt almost overwhelmed trying to decide what to do and where to go. Soccer stadium?  Not really our thing. In fact, we had waited twenty torturous minutes in the hot sun at a bus stop in the city a couple days ago while fellow riders snapped pictures at a popular local stadium. You may remember from our earlier blog that we really had no idea what was going on in the tour bus. We had no idea that the bus was stopping for 20 or 30 minutes for pictures. Usually the bus stopped only long enough to pick up and let off passengers. We would have gone and taken pictures of the stadium too had we known!  

It seems everyone loves soccer (futbol) here. Futbol and politics are clearly the two major topics of discussion, but futbol comes first. Hmm, maybe futbol is a political tool used to control the masses so they won't think about the terrible economy and the other problems within the government?  Reminds me of the Roman Emperors who distracted the populace with games at the Colosseum. Bread and circuses.  Even the Pope is a huge fan of the local Club Atletico San Lorenzo de Amalgro team (as an aside, I read recently that Donald Trump has expressed an interest in buying the team). 

Did you know that the Pope grew up in the Flores neighborhood of Buenos Aires?  Like any native Porteño, he played futbol often as a youngster. When his beloved team won the South American cup last year, they brought it to the Vatican to show him. 

It is not unusual for people you meet here to have a Pope Francis story to tell. The classic case of "local boy makes good."  We were told that he grew up in a modest, middle class family of Italian immigrants to Argentina. He became a Jesuit priest in the 1950s, Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, then was made a Cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.  I (Karen) really like the guy. 

But I digress... What to do with our day?  We really couldn't decide, so we decided just to leave the hotel to do a walkabout. As mentioned, the area around our hotel was Embasy Row and was in a high class district. 

Thinking of that reminds us of the barrios we had passed on our way to the hotel. What a contrast. There are many poor areas of Buenos Aires, just as in any big city. The locals call them shanty towns. Many are quite large. The one we passed on the way from the port is called "number 31."  It is the largest in Buenos Aires. Some have names, but many just have numbers. Number 31 is somewhat famous locally, as even the government had no idea what to do about it. They don't go near the place. 

 Well, we ended up at a shopping mall. 

Yep, here we are in a beautiful foreign city, and we go shopping. But the best part was..

Uh huh. Another Starbucks! Starbucks has the two essentials tired travelers always need - caffeine and WIFI access. So, we set up shop there for a few hours. It was preferable to pay for the $4 cup of coffee and free, reliable WIFI than to hang out in the hotel lobby. At the hotel we got thrown off the WIFI every few minutes. Not so at Starbucks!

We must confess however, this was probably the most high-end mall we have ever been in. It was gorgeous!  Relaxing here and moseying around the stores was really fun. 

When we left, we walked more of the streets of town and soaked up some additional local flavor.  We began to see what lovely doors there were on the homes, churches, and businesses in the area we were walking through. 

As we close the door on this wonderful trip, we'll leave you all with some photos of the gorgeous doors of Buenos Aires. 

Until the next trip everyone!

With all our love,
Karen and David

Buenos Aires, Day Two

Hi Everybody,

We left the ship this morning (sigh), and had to have our bags packed and put outside our door last night by 10 p.m. Since we couldn't be sure we would be back from the tango show by then, we packed everything and had it ready by 5 p.m. last night. What that means, of course, is that we had no packing to do this morning and, as a result, no choice in what we were going to wear. David just wore the suit he had worn to the tango show, which wasn't particularly comfortable for him. 

We were assigned groups to leave the ship. We were group 8, and that meant we were the last to leave. Since we had till 9:45 to meet up with our group, we enjoyed a leisurely morning shower and an equally leisurely breakfast. In fact, instead of eating on the upper (Lido) deck as we did most mornings, we went to the fancy central dining room. It was a nice send off. David resisted the urge to load up on mimosas, as this would be the last free booze!  But he wanted to be fresh for touring Buenos Aires. 

Everything Crystal does runs like clockwork. So, at 9:45 they called our group, and we all filed down the gangway and into the waiting buses. 

This was just a shuttle to the hotel. If you book a room through Crystal for an extra night after the cruise, they take care of everything. A really nice, new bus was waiting to take us to the hotel,

and a guide was provided to give commentary along the way. At the hotel, they had a special representative waiting to check us in and answer any questions. We got an early check in and were in our room by about 11:00 or so. Everything they do, they do first class.  Here is the front of our hotel, by the way. 

By noon we had rested our backs and decided to go exploring Buenos Aires. 

One thing we like to do when going to a new city is to ride on one of those double decker tourist buses and get an overview of the city. So off we went to find the closest stop for the tour bus. It was maybe a half mile from us. Just a very nice walk to get there. 

Usually these buses are quite nice and provide headphones with synchronized recorded information given in several languages for the area you are passing through. Well, the bus itself was not too bad this time, but the headsets were non-existent. The guide, bless her heart, tried. But we were in the upper deck in the wind, quite far from the speakers. And her English was not much better than our Spanish. Ok, our Spanish is nonexistent, and at least she had SOME English!

Here were some pictures we took along the way. Sadly, we have no idea what we were photographing, but it was beautiful nonetheless. 

After an hour or so of this, one of us had to go REALLY bad. So we got off at one of the stops and found a little cafe with baños (bathrooms). It is not polite to use their facilities without buying something, so we ordered an espresso and an ice cream (helado). David ordered whiskey/walnut ice cream, assuming it would be like rum raisin. Not so! It was ice cream covered with actual whiskey with walnuts chunks on top! Hic! It was excellent! Hic!

After cooling off a little in the cafe, we got back on the next bus that came by. They run every 20 minutes or so, and you can get on and off as much as you want. 

We toured for a couple of more hours and decided our brains were fried from the open-topped bus. So we got off at a stop fairly close to our hotel and walked back. 

We did some shopping (actually just looking) on the way back. We shopped on Florida Street, which is the famous shopping district in Buenos Aires. 

All along the street, people were calling out to you "cambio."  There must have been at least a hundred people in just a couple of blocks calling "cambio." We had no idea what it meant. We thought they were trying to entice us into their shops. Well, as it turns out, the people of Argentina do not trust either the government or the banks (with good reason), so there are black market people offering to exchange your pesos to dollars or dollars to pesos, whichever you need. As it was explained to us, people went to bed one night with money in the bank. When they woke up the next morning, the government had devalued the currency by over 80%. People were wiped out overnight. The only saving grace is that the government has done this more than once, so many people do not keep any money in the bank. 

By now we were hot, sweaty and tired, so we walked back to our hotel, which itself looked like some of the palaces we had seen while sightseeing.  We took long hot showers and flopped on the bed till dinner time. We had asked the concierge to make reservations for us to dine at a local restaurant. We asked for 7. However, upon confirming our reservation for us, he informed us that the restaurant didn't open till 8. We had been warned about this. They say Porteños (people from Buenos Aires) don't usually go out to eat till 9 at the earliest, but most dine between 10 and 11. 

It was a beautiful 15 minute walk to the restaurant. The area we were staying in is like Embassy Row. Many countries have their Embassies in this area. The buildings are quite beautiful - old world European in style. 

When we got to the restaurant, we were surprised that there was a crowd outside waiting to be seated. Guess who? All Americans! This was the only restaurant where you could dine early, and only our countrymen were here. Funny!

I wish I could say it was a wonderful meal. It was just okay. We had been so spoiled by the cruise that our standards were way high. David's ribeye was top notch, but the rest of the meal, other than the wine, was just okay. The ambience was very nice. We were seated on a second floor balcony and had a view of everyone dining below. It was fun people watching. We recognized several couples who had been on our tour. 

Back at the room now and looking forward to a good night's rest. 

Night all!!!

David and Karen

Buenos Aires

Greetings all!

We arrived into our final destination port of Buenos Aires this morning. It's somewhat sad to be ending our cruise soon, but it will also be nice to get home and enjoy the remainder of the beautiful Hood River winter snow. 

Today we grabbed an early breakfast and ventured out with a rather small group for an "Evita Highlights" tour. Yes, I confess that I (Karen) am interested in all things Evita.  Peronism is fascinating to me - a curious cross between Socialism, Fascism and Democracy.  I loved the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical, both the Broadway and the Madonna versions. And I do find myself enthralled by a political/social/historical figure that can invoke so many differing thoughts and emotions in so many people. She was quite the controversial woman. Part feminist, part self-serving iconoclast, an actress (both movie and radio), part tyrant, part fashionista, part humanitarian, part social climber, part activist. Very interesting lady.  The recent lecture on board the ship about her only whetted our appetite for more. 

Our first stop was Plaza de Mayo (pronounced by locals as "Plaza de maisho"), the main square in central Buenos Aires and the hub of much current and past political activity in the country. 

It was here in the square that on May 25, 1810 a revolution was held which led to Argentina's independence from Spain in 1816. 

Then in 1945, the square was the site where mass demonstrations were assembled by supporters of Juan Peron in an effort to gain his release from prison. In fact, the wealthy residents of this part of the city were aghast that thecampesinos  (villagers) who supported Peron had the nerve to show up in this square at all. The campesinos soaked their feet in the fountain pictured above. It was a gesture which shook the very foundations of the country. The protesters were eventually successful, and - well, the rest is history. 

La Casa Rosada (The Pink House) sits right on the Plaza de Mayo. It is quite large, and takes up one entire side of the square. This  iconic mansion is the Presidential palace.  It is not generally where the President lives, but he/she does have their executive offices here. 

It was here, from a balcony in front, that Evita gave her famous speech and, as Andrew Lloyd Weber paraphrased her in that very catchy tear-jerker, told Argentina not to cry for her.  

We then visited the cemetery where Eva Peron was ultimately laid to rest. I say ultimately, because her body took quite a circuitous route over a long period of time to get there. When she died, Juan Peron had her body essentially mummified so that she could lie in state in perpetuity inside the Foundation she founded. But not long after her death, Peron was deposed by a military coup and exiled to Spain.  The new regime, wanting to ensure that there would be no cult to Evita, basically stole her body and buried it under a false name in Milan, Italy. Imagine that!  It wasn't until Peron returned to Argentina at the end of his life and was once again elected President that he was able to exhume Evita's body and have it brought back to Argentina. It now lies in her relatively humble Duarte family mausoleum in Buenos Aires. I say "relatively humble" compared to some of the other mausoleums within this cemetery, (The Recoleta) which were really elaborate and ornate.

We ended our Evita tour in a lovely private home (more like a mansion) that was purchased (some say confiscated) by Eva Peron's foundation during her lifetime and used as a shelter for abused and homeless women and children. It is now the Eva Peron Museum. Quite a fascinating place, full of memorabilia from her life, film clips from speeches she gave and movies in which she acted, clothing she wore, social programs she enacted, people's lives she touched. The museum staff had a decidedly positive spin on Eva Peron, while our tour guide for the day was clearly against her, and so it went during our travels in Buenos Aires. No one was neutral!  It reminded me very much of our US political situation. There isn't too much middle ground on this one either. :)

We returned to the ship, had a late combination lunch/dinner, and prepared for our outing of the night - a trip to a club for a tango show. We were very excited about this. And so, I guess, were the few hundred fellow guests who went with us on our four large motor coaches. 

Tango is a big deal in Argentina. Developed in working class areas of Argentina and Uruguay, the native dance form mixed with immigrant and African slave dance traditions to meld into the beautiful, mysterious and dramatic spectacle that it is today. When it began, it was performed only by men together, and only in brothels. Isn't that hard to imagine? It represented men dueling (or maybe just being macho) for the women in the brothel. 

The tango show we attended was fantastic. We were fortunate enough to have gotten seats right in front at the small, intimate theater, so we had a great view of the intricate foot maneuvers the dancers were performing. There were eight dancers in really elaborate costumes, two gauchos performing feats with bolos and drums, and two singers.

The acts were all accompanied by a phenomenal band. Of particular note was the accordion player. He was the leader of the band, and played so beautifully. (Actually, the instrument is called a bandonéon in Spanish.  It is a type of concertina).

After the show, we went home to pack, as we will be leaving the ship early tomorrow morning. What a fantastic cruise it has been!  We will be staying in Buenos Aires for two more days. 

Good night everyone!

All best,
Karen and David

Montevideo, Uruguay

Hello,

We sailed overnight from Punta del Este and arrived at Montevideo about 8 a.m.  I said to Karen, "I see a hill!"  That, of course, is a joke. The joke is that no one knows why Montevideo is called Montevideo. But, one theory is that the explorer who first went there said to his first officer in Spanish, "I see a hill."

One thing we discovered is that we would much rather be in Uruguay than Brazil. It is a cleaner, more organized place. Traffic mostly stays between the lines, and of course they speak Spanish instead of Portuguese. That just means we could communicate easier, as we have a smattering of Spanish and virtually no Portuguese. 

Montevideo is the capital and largest city in Uruguay. About a third of the total population lives here. It is a big city;

well over a million people. But you don't get that feeling. It feels like a smaller place. 

They have many beautiful 

beaches in the area. Today we were scheduled to go horseback riding on one of them. And so we did! 

We first enjoyed a leisurely breakfast while watching the ship dock. Incidentally, this is our breakfast restaurant on the ship. They have a really nice selection daily. 

Then we made our way to the van that took us out to the horses. You never know for sure what the setup is for leaving the ship. Sometimes you are tendered. Sometimes you just walk out and are right in the town such as in Itajai. Sometimes you take a bus through the port area and then switch to another bus after clearing customs. But here in Montevideo, you got directly onto the bus that takes you to the horse venue. 

Our guide for this trip was a very nice lady named Maria Teresa. She was a lively 30ish woman who spoke very good English. That is not always the case with our guides. Sometimes we would think "please speak Spanish instead of trying to speak English!  We will understand you better!"  But not so with Maria. We liked her immediately, and had an easy time communicating. One reason is that she reminded us so much of Alex's fiancée Maria. Quite the resemblance both in name and appearance!

Our ride out to the country was about half an hour and took us through downtown Montevideo. It is a nice, clean, well laid-out city.  Maria gave us a brief history of Uruguay (which, by the way, means "land of many colored birds" in the language of the indigenous people) and Montevideo. There are many wineries in this area, along with much other agriculture and quite a large cattle industry. One thing that is not here is oil. Apparently they have none. That may be one reason the government hasn't screwed things up so bad. It seems like in any South American country with oil, the government owns the oil industry and uses the proceeds to screw up the country. But, that is just my (David's) opinion!

As we were getting close to the ranch, our guide made an error about which dirt road to turn down, and our poor bus driver ended up having to back all the way out and go to the next road. Which he did with aplomb. Actually, our destination was not so much a ranch, but a nature preserve - the Costa Llama Reserve. (As an aside, most Spanish language speakers say the double L kind of like "yuh." But both in Uruguay and Buenos Aires, they say it with a "sh" sound. As in "shut."  They do the same thing with "y."  My horse was named Bayo. But it is pronounced Bah Show.")

Our hosts provided a nice breakfast for us of local coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice dulce de leche (a kind of soft caramel that they use like peanut butter) and many local pastries all made fresh for us on site. Unfortunately, we didn't get the memo on this and had already had a huge breakfast on board ship, so we could not enjoy much of it. 

They gave us a short talk about the area and showed a brief film.  Then it was time to be introduced to our horses.

Karen had not been on a horse since she was bucked off of one as a teenager in summer camp. Needless to say, she was apprehensive about getting back on the horse! But she persevered, and lo and behold, after much nail biting she was up and on!!! Yay for Karen!!!

We mounted up and, along with twelve other guests, went for a beautiful ride on the beach, just outside the reserve. We crossed several areas where the sea ran inland a short distance and formed small streams. I wondered how the horses would react to getting their feet wet. They didn't react at all. The water was only about a foot deep, and only ten or twenty yards wide. 

An hour or two later we returned. It had been many years for both of us since "forking" a horse, and we were ever so slightly sore.  But we slid off and had some of that breakfast we didn't have earlier, and before we knew it, we had forgotten any soreness. 

After saying goodbye to the horses, we loaded back into the bus headed back to the ship. 

On board that night, we were treated to a fantastic tango show! A tango dance club from Montevideo came on board and just dazzled us. They had a kids group performing with them as well. The kids were probably about 12 or so years old. They were amazing! 

Then off to bed to rest up for Buenos Aires!!! Night all!!!

David and Karen

Punta del Este

Good morning everyone!

We awoke this morning quite early and did a stretch class in the fitness center at the top of the ship. As we stretched, we were pulling into a gleaming city on a long stretch of peninsula. Punta del Este, with its lovely beaches, white granular sand and large yacht harbor looked beautiful on this sunny morning.  

Punta del Este is known as the Monaco of South America. It is like what the Hamptons is for wealthy Manhattanites. With its glitzy high-rise hotels, casinos and expensive shops and restaurants, this is where the glitterati of the world comes to relax and play. It is extremely popular with wealthy Argentinians, Brazilians and Uruguayans.  

We tendered in late morning to do a "highlights" tour of the city. 

You almost expect to see Robin Leach of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" filming a segment everywhere you look. It's a very glamorous place. 

Our first stop was a beautiful overlook point where the Atlantic Ocean meeting the juncture of three rivers. We can't recall what those three rivers were, but we were told that this point was one at which the rivers were the widest in the world. 

Our next stop was the Ralli Museum, home to a large collection of Latin American art. At this time, they had a traveling exhibit of Dali paintings and sculptures. 

We then visited a home/museum which was the highlight of the trip for Karen. Casa Pueblo, a very unique house overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  It was home to the Uruguayan artist Carlos Paez Vilaro, who died just last year. 

Gleaming white in today's sunshine, this lovely home cascades down several levels hugging a cliff side. It is built in a whimsical and unique style that looks like a cross between Moorish architecture and Dr. Seuss. If you are familiar with the Spanish artist Antoni Gaudi, the style is very similar. 

Vilaro's art, pottery and tile work is much like Gaudi's and also resembles the work of Picasso. In fact, there is a large photograph in the house of a young Vilaro with Pablo Picasso. We are not sure if he was a disciple or just an admirer of his work. 

After we toured the house, we discovered that there is also a lovely hotel that has been built adjoining the house in the same style. Also a nice restaurant on a terrace atop the property. We would love to come back and stay here sometime!

Just outside the house and across the street, there were several people hang gliding from the cliff (which overlooked a busy beach). 

We were pretty tired after a busy sightseeing afternoon in the heat and humidity. We tendered back to the ship for dinner and a show, then off to bed.

Tomorrow we will be in Montevideo, capital city of Uruguay. 

Buenos noches everyone with love!

Karen and David

At Sea

Hi all,

We left Brazil and are now en route to Punta del Este, Uruguay. We are scheduled to arrive there at approximately 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. Today is an "at sea" day, the only day on this cruise when we will not be in port or tendering. 

We decided to take advantage of having nothing lined up this morning and slept in till 9 a.m. (David had not been sleeping well). It was a nice treat! We had a nice breakfast, then took a long walk on the teak walking/jogging track. This track is outside of the seventh floor (aptly called the Promenade Deck) of the ship. It is a beautiful place for a nice stroll or some vigorous exercise. The track completely surrounds the ship. 3 1/2 times around make up a mile. 

After exercise and a shower, it was almost time to attend the lecture we had been waiting for. Crystal arranges three or four speakers each cruise. They generally speak on topics pertinent to the particular voyage. Today's speaker was Dr. Jay Wolff, a Georgetown University historian, and his lecture was entitled "The Wild Days of Eva Peron." 

It was fascinating to learn more about this interesting lady. One thing we had not known was that the Perons accepted large payoffs from the Nazis in the aftermath of World War II in exchange for allowing them (and their booty) to hide out in Argentina. 

After the lecture, we rushed back to the room to change for the Mozart Tea. This is a fun event that takes place once each cruise. It is an afternoon tea in the fancy tea room on the top floor of the ship.

The waiters and waitresses all dress in Mozart period costumes, and the pianist plays "all Mozart, all the time" on the beautiful white grand piano. Meanwhile, a choice of teas is served, along with endless delectable hors d'oeuvres, strudels and tortes.

As if there were not enough food this afternoon, it was soon dinner time. This evening, we had reserved a table in the specialty Japanese restaurant on board. David had a nice Wagyu beef steak, and Karen sampled a delicious lobster.  After a great show in the lounge, it was soon time for bed.

More tomorrow from Uruguay!

Karen and David