TravelStream™ news feed for member coryandlaura on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/coryandlaura en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:36:44 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/16/1201672860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/16/1201672860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/16/1201672860/tpod.html Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:36:44 -0500 Happy Feet from Argentina through Antartica to Chili and back.

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Davenport, Florida, United States

Okay if you are family or friends you know that Cory and I go somewhere out of the country every year. I found the Travelpod site just a few months ago and I thought this would be a way to keep everyone up to date and keep in touch.

It is the night before we fly out. Normally Cory and I travel pretty independently. I book flights and hotels online and usually choose one or two countries and then concentrate on them.

This is going to be quite different. Call me Cruise Director Julie... We found this deal on Travelzoo for a 16 night cruise on Princess through the Antartica Penninsula. It was too good to pass up! $999.00. Of course I still had to find flights.

Cory and I decided that since there was so much time at sea that we wanted friends to go with us. We talked to a few people and the timing wasn't right. We had Paulie hooked as soon as we suggested it, we just had to find someone that could go with him so he didn't have to pay the single suppliment. Jeremiah balked. He didn't think he would have his tax return in time to book.

Unfortunately to get the boys all hooked up we waited too late to get the 999.00 fair but still got a great price of 1299.00. It is worth it to be traveling with such great friends. Paulie and Jeremiah were on our trip to Turkey and Greece in 2006, Jeremiah went to China with us in 2004 and Paulie was at our wedding in Italy in 2002. They have always been great travel buddies so I am looking forward to having them along.

The Cruise is all set for Cory, Jeremiah, Paulie and I. I am so excited.



1 Buenos Aires, Argentina Arrive by air 7:00 AM Depart 5:00 PM
2 At Sea
3 At Sea
4 Falkland Islands (Stanley) 8:00 AM 6:00 PM
5 At Sea
6 Antarctica Peninsula (Scenic Cruising) 10:00 AM
7 At Sea
8 At Sea
9 Antarctica Peninsula (Scenic Cruising) 11:00 AM
10 Cape Horn (Scenic Cruising) 5:00 PM 6:00 PM
11 Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego), Argentina 7:00 AM 4:00 PM
12 Punta Arena, Chile 7:00 AM 7:00 PM
13 At Sea
14 At Sea
15 At Sea
16 Montevideo, Uruguay 8:00 AM 5:00 PM
17 Buenos Aires, Argentina 7:00 AM - Concorde Hotel
18 Fly back to Orlando Depart 1:00 PM
19 Arrive home

I have been getting some of the guys at work to teach me a little Spanish for the South American part of the vacation. Of course right now I only know how to order beer, ask for the bathroom and say "Whats your name baldy?"

I booked us a flight through Copa that flys into Panama and then on to Buenos Aires. It leaves Orlando on the 18th and arrives early on the 19th.

I went ahead and bought the transfers for all of us with Princess. I wouldn't normally. Getting a taxi is half the price but the transfer also includes a hospitality room (someplace to leave our luggage and they provide breakfast and lunch) and the opportunity to check in early.

For the flight back I added a day in Argentina and booked a hotel in Buenos Aires The Concorde Hotel. This will give us a full day in Buenos Aires to get to see a little more of the city.

I have written up some cool facts about all of our ports of call, the weather averages, city maps, and things to do. I printed them up and when we met tonight I gave the guys their packages.

There are a lot of days at sea so we want to have other things to do other than the casino... I ordered games for the cruise. Truth or Dare cards and a "would you rather" travel game. We met on the 10th to get things a little more established.

This is going to be so different for us. The amount of relaxation time and all the planning done for us. I don't know if we know how to relax. Usually we are trying to catch trains and find ourselves emersed in one country. This time we are not only seeing 3 different coutries but two continents. This will mean that we have seen every continent except Australia.

Packing for this has been crazy. We are going to experience almost every season. We have to pack for the warmth of Buenos Aires and the cold of Antarctica, then we have the formal dinners. Good news is that we don't have to unpack and pack all of the time.

I really think that this is going to be fun.... I am going to try to update this throughout the trip. If I am not able to get wireless I will be saving our adventure in word and then posting it, videos and pictures later on.

We are going to be on the Star Princess. They have bridge cams so you can take the cruise with us.
www.princess.com/bridgecams The dates are Feb 19th through March 6th.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1173394080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1173394080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1173394080/tpod.html Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:49:31 -0500 Quantum Liebchen a journey back in time

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Florence, Tuscany, Italy

We had called Ben Singleton the man who coordinated our wedding 5 years ago to let him know that we were going to be in town and that we would love to take him and his wife out to dinner. He was fully booked but he made us an offer. He had a wedding on the 8th of March of two people that didn't have witnesses. He asked if Cory and I would like to be witnesses at a wedding. We jumped on it. So today we are going to be witnesses for a wedding.

We had a lovely breakfast at the hotel Lombardi and then headed out to Santa Maria Novella. It is one of the churches that we didn't have a chance to see in 2002. We didn't have a lot of time before we were to meet Ben and the wedding couple. The church fit nicely into our plans.

After exploring the beautiful church we trekked across Florence to the Palazzo Vecchio where we were to meet Ben. I found myself more intrigued by the tourist than by the architecture or the artwork. I have been to Florence two other times. The first time I was awestruck with the architecture and art. The second time I noticed the details of the artwork. This time it was the people that captured my interest. People from all over the world being floored by some of the greatest artwork of all time. I found myself trying to capture moments in time on my camera. Strangers in motion.

Across the Piazza I saw Ben waiting on us and Cory and I made a beeline in his direction. He smiled broadly and gave us both a hug. It was so good to see him again. He explained that the couple that we would be meeting was from California. They were in Italy alone and needed witnesses.

Barbara and Roger soon arrived. It was great getting to get a different perspective on the Italian Wedding. It was great when we found out that Stephano was the photographer. He was our photographer 5 years ago. We were able to sit in the witness chairs this time around. It gave us a chance to reflect on our own wedding 5 years before.
As Stephano took pictures we caught up with Ben. We even slipped away for a quick espresso. It was lovely to get to visit for a little bit. After leaving Ben we headed out to finish our day.

Today is Festa della Donna (International Women's Day) March 8 was one of the first of the springtime festae, a day sacred to Ariadne, whom Thesius had abandoned on the Island of Naxos after promising to marry her if she helped him slay her father's pet Minotaur. Seduced and abandoned, she was a prototype for ancient Mediterranean womanhood. She later married Bacchus, but that was a whole new adventure. Before the Second World War, Women's Day had been celebrated on different days in early March in several Italian cities. In 1945, the Union of Italian Women decided to hold all celebrations and commemorations on March 8. However appropriate it would have been, they didn't have Ariadne in mind. In fact they were memorializing two events outside of Italy: a March 8, 1857, strike by women garment workers in New York, which led to the formation two years later of the first women's union in the United States, and a strike by Russian women calling for "bread and peace" on March 8, 1917 (February 23 on the old Russian calendar but March 8 in the rest of the world.)
Authorities don't agree how or why, but the custom started in Italy -- some sources say in Rome in 1946 -- of men giving their wives, mothers, daughters, and other women friends sprigs of bright yellow Mimosa flowers on March 8. Women have since also started to give Mimosa to each other. The flowers are intended as a sign of respect for the women and also an expression of solidarity with the women in their support for oppressed women worldwide. Not only do the Italians celebrate with mimosa flowers but the government gives women free admission to some museums and historical sights. We decided to take advantage of this and visit some of the more expensive sights.

After a short walk across the famous Ponte Vecchio we headed to the Palazzo Pitti. This palace was once owned by Luca Pitti but the wife of Cosimo I bought the palace from a great grandson of Luca. The Palace is full of art that the Medici collected. Rafael, Michelangelo, Leonardo, all of the great masters of the Renaissance is housed in their palace.

Our first stop was the Galleria Palatina and Galleria d'Arte Moderna. The artwork was fantastic. It was such a gorgeous day that we couldn't stand to be inside any longer.

I love the Boboli Gardens so we headed outside. We started exploring the gardens. We were trying to set up our tripod to take a couple of pictures of us together when we were approached by an American couple. We had such a lovely conversation. It was their first trip abroad. They had come to Italy to visit their daughter who was studying in Florence. We talked about how we were there for some strangers wedding and then explained how we had been married there 5 years earlier.

My favorite part of the Boboli Gardens is the Grotto. It is a man made cave with reproductions of Michelangelos statues. It has this feel of an underground cavern. The figures have a look of coral. Perfectly lovely. Just a few feet from the Grotto stands the famous guy riding a turtle, Valerio Cioli's 1560 statue. It shows Pietro Barbino, Cosimo I's court dwarf, as Bacchus. While we were there we admiring the statue we had a good laugh at some other tourists posing on each others backs as if they were riding their own turtle.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1173238680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1173238680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1173238680/tpod.html Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:05:40 -0500 Quantum Liebchen a journey back in time

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Cologne, Germany

Best laid plans. Cory got out of the shower last night and decided to catch a couple of winks. We didn't wake up until around 11 pm. By that time the entire town was shut down. It is a small town and it is the off season. We decided to catch up on our sleep. Of course we woke very early in the morning. We had told Lettie that we would be down for breakfast around 8 but it was much earlier than that.

We decided to watch the sun rise from Burg Stahleck. We made the climb to the top of the mountain. It was freezing cold but the air was crisp and fresh. As we watched the sun rise over the Rhine we took in all the beauty surrounding us. It was a fabulous morning. After our hike and the beautiful sunrise we descended the mountain and explored the town. It was as if the town was deserted. At that hour of the morning there wasn't a soul in sight and the town was bathed in silence.

We got back to Pension Lettie's, She made us breakfast to our specifications. Delicious. We talked about our plans, where we were going, what we were doing.

The train station was within walking distance so with a full belly we walked down to the train station to catch the train to Cologne.
Our first stop was going to be finding a store that had electric adapters. Of all the things to forget. We aren't able to charge our camera batteries without it. We stopped by the tourist information center. It was there that we bought a museum card and asked about where we could find an adapter. They directed us to an electronics store. The store was three stories high. We roamed from aisle to aisle looking for an adapter. Finally we found what we were looking for and proceeded to check out. Shopping in a foreign country is like playing pictionary. You rely on the advertising alone because you can't read the boxes. It makes it pretty fun.

After we finished our shopping we headed to the Dom. The Cathedral in Cologne is gorgeous. It is 144 meters long and 86 meters wide. The spires stand 157 meters tall. It has been a place of worship since the beginning of the city's history. The Cathedral possesses a significant religious treasury. We descended into the the bowels of the Dom to admire this collection. The collection has origins from the 10th century and are held in several underground vaults. The collection of sacred objects has been built up both by the acquisition of reliquaries and the purchase of liturgical vessels robes and books for worship, as well as by the bequests of insignia from archbishops and cathedral ministers and is therefore closely related to the cathedrals history. Above all it was the relics of the three magi brought to cologne in 1164 by archbishop Rainald of Dassel which created the most significant expansion of the cathedral treasury



After our tour of the Cathedral we wandered over to the Ludwig Museum. It is the Modern Art museum. Roy Lichtenstein's "Maybe" Andy Warhol's "Brillo Boxes" and George Segals "Restaurant Window" all icons of American Pop Art are housed in this museum but the one installation that impacted me most was a room. The room was set up to look as if someone was in the middle of working on it. It had a ladder and a couple of tools on the floor. The frames on the walls had something written in German on them. I guess our ignorance of the language might have added to the mystique. We were left to wonder what they said. The kicker was the floor. It was a wood floor created to creak LOUDLY. You really had that feeling of "am I really supposed to be here, is someone going to yell at me?" Most visitors to the museum would only pop their heads in. Few had the nerve to enter. Cory feels that installations are more theater than anything but to me it has become so hard to come up with something original in the art world that I was inspired by this exhibit. Art is supposed to be about making someone feel something, inspiring emotion. Usually this is sadness, anger, happiness, love but I have never had a piece of work make me feel anxiety. I loved this.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1173152160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1173152160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1173152160/tpod.html Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:44:29 -0500 Quantum Liebchen a journey back in time

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Bacharach, Germany

It was around 4 in the afternoon when we finally arrived at Lettie's. In Bacharach my memory came right back. I knew right where Lettie's was. The first time I was in Bacharach I had tried to book another pension in the town but the owner had broken his leg and recommended Pension Lettie. It was such a wonderful experience that I knew that I had to stay there this time around.

Lettie met us at the door. We were the only ones staying with her so she gave us her best room. It was on the top floor with a beautiful view of Burg Stahleck. The room had a little kitchenette and dining area. That would be great for snacks. As with many German towns most of the restaurants were closed. Cory and I thought we would take a shower and then head out to explore Bacharach. I took my shower first. While Cory was taking his shower I thought I would just catch a few winks of sleep. I was sure that he would wake me as soon as he got out of the shower.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1173151860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1173151860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1173151860/tpod.html Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:28:22 -0500 Quantum Liebchen a journey back in time

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Frankfurt, Germany

We arrived in Frankfurt, tired harried and jet lagged but ready for a wonderful vacation. The first night of our vacation I had booked a Pension called Pension Lettie's in Bacharach. It is a beautiful little town on the Rhine. It has been 8 years since I had been here I had to figure out everything all over again.

Frankfurt is a pretty big city. Most people in cities are pretty busy. They aren't necessarily the warm and fuzzy type. We found that Frankfurt is full of wonderful helpful people. We had bought the ticket that would take us to the rail station but as we stood and tried to figure out where to go a gentleman came up and showed us where to go. Not only did he show us where to go he pulled my luggage. At first I thought he was working for a tip. So many countries that I have been in there has been that "I helped you now give me a tip" mentality but he just wanted to help.

The kindness didn't stop there. I was trying to find the rail station from the airport terminal. While standing with our luggage, map in hand, a sweet woman came up and asked in German if she could help us. I responded in German "sprichst du Englisch?" She not only helped us but instead of just giving us directions she had us follow her and showed us where we should go. I really don't think that would happen in New York.

I had bought a rail pass that had to be validated before the first use. I was so jet lagged and had forgotten so much about transport in Germany. We followed the signs but I was having trouble reading the schedules. There were two different areas that the trains left from we must have spent a couple of hours just trying to figure out the rail schedule. Pretty embarrassing for someone that takes pride in her traveling abilities.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1173065220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1173065220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1173065220/tpod.html Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:02:45 -0500 Quantum Liebchen a journey back in time

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Charlotte, North Carolina, United States

Our flight with U.S. Air left Orlando at 3:30. We were at the airport hours ahead of time which ended up not being that important. There were problems with weather and we waited and waited. Sitting in Orlando Airport we had access to Internet. I love MCO. It is one of the few airports that has free Internet. FREE. It came in very handy. As our layover time became shorter and shorter in Charlotte N.C. we knew that it was going to be tight between flights. We scoped out the airport and located the direction of the gates for the international flights.

At this point we knew that we might not make our connection and that would throw off our entire trip. Our flight out of Charlotte was one of the last of the night. That would mean a entire night in Charlotte. Not really where we wanted to spend a day of vacation.

As we thought we were really running late. They told us that there would be info on our flights when we got off of the plane. Our flight from Charlotte to Frankfurt wasn't on the screen. We weren't sure what gate but we knew from our research what terminal all US Air flights left out of. We headed out at a speedy pace. As soon as we got to the terminal we saw a gate for US Airways. We ran up and asked the gentleman behind the desk which gate our flight was leaving from. He asked us to hang on for a moment and picked up the phone. "uh huh, uh huh," he nodded and then he blurted out at us the gate number and urged "run"

We ran down the terminal toward the very last gate. They were standing at the door waiting on us. At first the gentleman started to speak to us in German. He realized then that we weren't German and asked our seat numbers. "25a and 25b? You're not supposed to be here!" I guess that U.S. Air had called ahead saying that we wouldn't make it. We wouldn't have had we not done the research for ourselves. Had we asked a U.S. air representative when we got off of the plane they would have told us that we had missed our flight. The info wasn't on the board any longer so it was by shear luck and initiative that we would make it to Frankfurt on time!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1172978700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1172978700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/8/1172978700/tpod.html Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:00:51 -0500 Quantum Liebchen a journey back in time

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Orlando, Florida, United States

Cory and I wanted to go to Italy for our 5 year anniversary. We were married in Florence Italy and thought it would be very romantic to retrace our steps that day. I started looking for flights into Rome, Florence or any other Italian airport. Everything into Italy was about twice the price that we really wanted to spend. We were getting notices about cheap flights into Frankfurt Germany. I proposed the idea that we fly into Frankfurt. Cory hadn't been to Germany and there were so many things that I wanted him to see there. After we booked our flight into Frankfurt I found a flight from Frankfurt to Florence with Lufthansa for only a hundred dollars. We were going to be able to fly into Florence for our anniversary after all. It still ended up being cheaper than flying into Italy from the states. Almost half the price.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/16/1204994280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/16/1204994280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/16/1204994280/tpod.html Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:09:55 -0400 Happy Feet from Argentina through Antartica to Chili and back.

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Orlando, Florida, United States

This was it! We got up early this morning. Poor Paulie didn't sleep at all. He coughed all night. I am glad that we are getting him home. I am also glad that this didn't happen to him at the beginning of the trip like it did in Istanbul a couple of years ago.

We went downstairs to look for Eric but instead found a man who handed us Eric's card and said that Eric couldn't pick us up but that he would be taking us to the airport. Since it was the same card we figured that we were okay. This just seems to be the way that things are done in Panama. This gentleman took us back to the airport a different way and for a moment we worried if we had done the right thing. Actually he was avoiding the tolls and in the process took us by some historical ruins in Panama.

Panama La Vieja (Old Panama) is the name used for these ruins of the Monumental Historic Complex of the first Spanish city founded on the Pacific coast of the Americas by Pedro Arias de Avila on 15 August 1519. This city was the starting point of the expeditions that conquered the Inca Empire in Peru (1532). It also was a stopover point of one of the most important trade routes in the history of he American continent leading to the famous fairs of Nombre de Dios (God's Name) and Portobelo where most of the gold and Silver that Spain took from the Americas passed through.

The fire, destruction and pillage that was caused by Henry Morgan in 1671 provoked the move and construction of a new city in 1673, which today is known as the Old City Center or Colonial Panama. Its old stone paved streets now overgrown with grass make you appreciate its 476-year old history. Currently a new archaeological project was started on this site with the idea of protecting and restoring the ruins. The administration of the project is run by a foundation that is a joint force between the government, a civic club and private enterprise.

He dropped us at the check in with plenty of time to get our luggage out of storage and check in for our flight. Our attendant asked how long we were in Panama and when I said only one night I could see his disappointment. I explained that we just had a long layover from a flight from Buenos Aires but that some day we hoped to visit again. It is obvious that the people of Panama have great pride in their country. He seemed more pleased when I said that we would try to come back to Panama.

Paul and Jeremiah had a little trouble at check in. The restrictions on baggage weight had put them in a pinch. I had noticed our weight and was trying not to draw attention to our bags. We were over the limit but the guys getting us checked in were trying to let it slip on by. Jeremiah looking for a place to put some of his stuff asks about our luggage. I try to just brush it off. I didn't know what to say. Luckily they had already sent our luggage on its way. Jeremiah said he would pay the 25 bucks and suddenly when they weighed it again it wasn't over the limit... Yea!!!!!!

Going through security we didn't have any trouble but when we got to the gate a table was set up out front of all flights going to the U.S. They confiscated Paulie's decongestant. They were following the liquids rule for flights going to the U.S. Funny thing was that our flight from Buenos Aires to Panama allowed the same liquid on board. It was easy to see that the band-aid that the U.S. had put on the wound of terrorism did nothing more than make it more difficult for the employees of the airlines and their customers. I know that I am suppose to support anything that is done to prevent terrorism but in my opinion some of the rules that they have implemented have done nothing to prevent anything and it bothers me that people are willing to accept the rules without logical thought into what they actually do to make them more safe. I guess that this thought is only reinforced as I travel to other countries and see the more effective rules put in place to make people safer not just to make people feel safer. We weren't even allowed to bring a soda or beverage, purchased in the airport, into the area before boarding the plane.



The flight home was great. I am so glad that Copa ended up being a pleasure to fly. The prices are great and when I go back to South America I will be looking into flights with Copa. I won't be going back on a cruise. I have decided that 3 and 4 day cruises are my limit. For me a cruise is good for nothing more than pure decadence and relaxation. It is not a means to which you can see the world. I found out on this trip that there aren't a lot of "cruise activities" that appeal to me.

I learned a lot about myself on this trip and for that it was well worth it. I also learned some ins and outs about how to visit Antarctica. If I ever decide to go back I am going to fly into Ushuaia and take one of the Norwegian or Russian boats and actually stand on the continent. I want to get up close and personal with the wildlife. I definitely want to go back to South America. I want to go back to Buenos Aires and visit Iguazu falls. Overall it was a fantastic trip and I can't wait to go back. Though I don't think our dog wants us to ever leave home again....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/16/1204876440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/16/1204876440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/16/1204876440/tpod.html Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:07:57 -0400 Happy Feet from Argentina through Antartica to Chili and back.

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Panama City, Panama

We got up this morning and took a taxi to the airport. The front desk employee called a cheap taxi for us. He said that some charge more to drive outside the city. We needed two taxis with all of our luggage. Two cars pulled up out front. They weren't taxis at all but private cars. They still gave us a fantastic price and took the fastest and shortest route to the airport.

We found the line to check into our flight.. Thank god we weren't going to Madrid. The line snaked across the airport and nearly back out again. Our line was nearly empty. As we came up to the first attendant I said Buenos Dias. She replied in Spanish... stunned I said no habla espanio and before I could get habla Anglaise she was saying that my dialect was so good she thought I was fluent. We both laughed because at this point she saw that I was terrible at speaking Spanish.

Upon check in we wanted make sure that our seats were together. After the weird fiasco with Copa on the flight here we did our best to at least sit two and two. When she looked it up she saw that I had reserved seats on line and we got those seats...Weird since they hadn't shown up on the flight to Buenos Aires. We also asked for the tourist visa. This seemed to confuse her. That is when she told us that we couldn't check our bags all the way through to Orlando if we were leaving the airport. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if we had gotten the visas in Orlando like we tried to do. I think then our luggage would have been checked. No big deal though. She explained that they had a luggage storage place in the Panama airport. Getting everything checked in we headed to the gate and waited to leave Argentina.


Our plane was out on the tarmac and we had to walk out onto the tarmac and ascend some stairs to get on board. This flight was 200% better than the flight to Buenos Aires. Maybe the crew was just tired on the overnight flight. The crew on this flight was very attentive and nice. We were served a couple of meals and drinks were brought by several times. It was really nice flying Copa Air.

In just 7 hours we were arriving in Panama. This was the most confusing part of the entire trip. Since I had only found out on our day of departure that we would be staying in Panama I didn't do much more than research the hotel. Remember I was booking that as we boarded the plane to leave Florida. We got to customs and I was rather proud of us, even with just a few hours I had known that we had to have a visa for Panama. There were 2 couples in front of us that ended up being shocked as they stood in front of the customs agent. They didn't have cash on them and had to send their husbands in search of a $5 to pay for the visa. We were prepared and did nothing more than hand over our little tourist visa. It didn't take us long to find the luggage storage place. For just $3 a bag we were able to leave everything but our carry ons in the airport.

In the mean time Cory went to look for an ATM. Get this the ATM didn't contain Panamanian currency only US Dollars. The Storage place asked for US currency also.

After storing our luggage we scanned the area for an official taxi stand. We didn't find one. That was when we decided to approach the Avis Car rental place. They were so helpful. I don't know if they were being helpful to us or to one of their friends but it ended up being a help to us. The guy at the Avis desk had a friend that would pick us up. True this probably was taking a risk but his friend was there in 5 minutes. He was driving a nice SUV. His name was Eric and he took us directly to the Roma Plaza for just 30 bucks. I did have enough time to read that a normal taxi from the airport to the center of town was 25 and this was more comfortable and worth the extra 5 bucks. Eric gave us his card and offered to pick us back up to take us to the airport. We decided that it was a great idea and made a meeting time that we thought was appropriate.

We checked into our room. We had decided that for one night it was okay for all of us to stay in the same room. It was the largest room that we had the entire trip. The room was pretty warm. We turned on the air conditioning. There were a few bugs on the floor. They weren't gross bugs, but I could feel the boys tension. They looked like some sort of fly. I thought we were going to have a Paulie and the pea moment... I can feel the springs...... Jeremiah joked that if those bugs landed on his lip and laid eggs he was going to freak... Somewhere in Antarctica Jeremiahs lip had some sort of wind burn or fever blister. The entire lower lip went through stages ending in splitting and bleeding. Maggots would just be the perfect ending. Yikes!

We were looking at the neighborhood outside the building and trying to decide if we were in a safe neighborhood. If it were a city in the U.S. it wouldn't be a safe neighborhood. There were dozens of men loitering outside. We weren't sure if they were taxi drivers or locals just hanging. We had thought about driving to the canal and checking out a view at night but we weren't sure. It had already gotten late and we had an early flight in the morning. Our driver was picking us up at 7am. Paulie had really gotten sick. He didn't sleep at all last night. He was so sick. We needed to get some medicine for him. There was a pharmacy right across the street. We struggled to communicate what Paulie needed but we managed to get the point across when Paulie started to cough. There was also a man inside that was bilingual. He was married to a girl from Panama but he was from the United States. He stepped in and translated for us. We talked to him as we left the shop. He was staying in the Roma Plaza as well. It was the weekend of a big expo in town and the Roma Plaza was the only place with rooms. He was kind enough to tell us that the cafe over at the Americana Hotel was very good. So that is how we ended up spending our one evening in Panama. Cervasas and food. It was a very local joint and we seemed to be the only foreigners in the joint. We enjoyed our beer and Paulie enjoyed his decongestant.



We stayed in the bar for a little while and then returned to our hotel and our room. Paulie lent me a shirt to sleep in since I had not brought anything to sleep in. After taking turns in the bathroom getting ready for bed, we all nestled down for a good nights sleep


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/16/1204789980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/16/1204789980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coryandlaura/16/1204789980/tpod.html Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:59:43 -0400 Happy Feet from Argentina through Antartica to Chili and back.

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Buenos Aires, Argentina

We got up in plenty of time for breakfast. We were surprised that they had the full set up for breakfast after all today is the day we get thrown off of the ship. We had a wonderful breakfast and then went downstairs to wait for our dismemberment number to be called. They were running a little behind but probably only by around 45 minutes. That isn't too shabby. Better than what we expected. The embarkation was such a cluster and so was the first tender to shore. They have seemed to learn a lot through all of that and they had a pretty organized system set in place.

They loaded us on a bus that took us to the exit of the port authority. It was a pretty simple process, we picked up our luggage and loaded it on to the xray machines. After exiting there was a little bit of chaos. Some of the passengers were taking transit to the airport while others were meeting for tours of Buenos Aires before heading to the airport. We were one of the few that were grabbing a taxi into Buenos Aires. After a little orientation we found the line for the taxis. I think that we were the only Non Spanish speaking passengers in this line. They definitely had designed this for cruise passengers. There was a set fee for the taxi that you paid up front no matter your destination. It was higher than the actual taxi fare but it was the only choice.

We showed the address to the man taking the money and he told the driver while we loaded our luggage in the back. Cory and I took the first taxi. We missed out on the commotion when poor Paulie was almost left behind. They had loaded their luggage in the taxi. The trunk was still open and Jeremiah had gotten in the taxi when it took off, trunk open and Paulie calling out "You forgot me!!!! Don't leave me!!!!" This seems to be something that happens every trip, Paulie gets left behind. It is especially funny since he is the one that says "I am your son, I will just follow you." Poor Paulie. Jeremiah was able to stop the taxi driver before they got too far and they got Paulie.
Cory and I made our poor attempt in Spanish to say hello and introduce ourselves. His English was limited but still greater than our Spanish. He told us he liked getting to practice his English on us. He explained that he had been driving a Taxi for some time and that he was too old to try anything else. He had never been out of Argentina but would like to some day. He was so nice.



We arrived at the Concorde Hotel with Paulie and Jeremiah right behind us. The front desk at the hotel was fabulous. They said that they could have a room ready in just an hour but that if we wanted to head out into the city that they would keep our bags secure. The Front desk cashier called a taxi for us and we started our journey into the city...

First stop: La Recoleta Cemetery. It is a famous cemetery located in the exclusive Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Cemetery includes graves of some of the most influential and important persons of Argentina, including several presidents, scientists, and wealthy characters. Internationally, Eva Perón is the best known person buried in this cemetery.

Our taxi driver drops us off at the cathedral just down the street from the cemetery. Basilica Nuestra Señora Del Pilar is decorated in traditional Spanish style. Guilded alters with beautiful red backgrounds decorate the walls. It is beautiful. When we first arrived here a tour bus had just dropped off a bunch of tourists. As most crowds they were noisy, didn't turn off the flash of their cameras and ignored the small crowds of worshipers trying to make confession. Not wanting to be confused as one of them we waited outside until they had left. After they had left we quietly went in took in this part of the culture, looked around, and took a few pictures (with the flash turned off on our camera).

We walked down the sidewalk to the entrance of the cemetery. The entrance to the cemetery is through neo-classical gates with tall Greek columns. Outside stood people on both sides of the gates saying that there was no charge for entrance but a donation was suggested. Not knowing any better we gave a donation. After thinking about it I don't think that they were associated with the cemetery at all. I am behind supporting charitable organizations but I don't like supporting deceit. Oh well sometimes desperation is a motivator and we felt that we had done something decent.

The moment that we passed the gates we were in awe. The cemetery contains many elaborate marble mausoleums, decorated with statues, in a wide variety of architectural styles. It was as beautiful as many of the art museums that we have seen around the world. I think that at that moment we were in heaven. I guess the current residents were hoping that would be their destination.

The entire cemetery is laid out in sections like city blocks, with wide tree-lined main walkways branching into sidewalks filled with mausoleums.

While many of the mausoleums are in fine shape and well-maintained, others have fallen into disrepair. We found several with broken glass, littered with rubbish, and on occasion used as a janitorial supply closet, with cleaning and maintenance products stored on top of coffins. What was fascinating is that when you peered into the mausoleums the elaborately carved wooden coffins were in plan sight. They didn't hide the use of the mausoleum behind stone plaques. Cory and I have been fascinated by the cultural differences in death, we have seen funerals in Egypt and Thailand. We have been to cemeteries in England and France. The great Pyramids of Egypt and the Valley of the Kings symbols of ancient burials. Every country has a whole culture that surrounds death.

Each mausoleum bears the family name etched into the facade; brass or bronze plaques are added to the front for particular family members. La Recoleta is one of those cemeteries where the tradition of engraving a death date but no birth date has been maintained.

One interesting and unique aspect of La Recoleta is a colony of feral cats that resides within the gates. It wasn't but a few minutes until we saw the first cat and then started to see them all over the place. They seemed to be content with just a little attention and a rub on the head. They roamed the walkways and slept in some of the mausoleums that were accessible.

We did our best to find the quiet crowd free areas of the cemetery. Tourist buses would drop off hordes of tourist all tightly grouped. They had the highlights that they would hit and then leave. We took a more leisurely stroll taking in all of the wonder of the city of the dead. After several hours we left back out the front gate where the same man that had taken our donation tried to get another from us. He apologized when I said, "you already got ours."



We were in search of an ATM again. We started to wander from the cemetery through the park where people had brought their dogs to play. We spent a little time watching a dachshund and a puppy play then crossed the street into an area filled with restaurants. On first look at a menu it looked to be a very expensive restaurant... I keep forgetting that the dollar sign with only one line through it is the Peso sign and was one third cheaper than the dollar. We were getting tired and hungry looking for an ATM. We finally give up and decide to put whatever we eat on a credit card. We find a little place to eat. It was a brewery type restaurant with their own beer. We were met by a woman that when I said "Habla Anglaise?" She started speaking English with no Latin accent at all. The first half of her life was spent in California. She had only moved back to Argentina a few years before. It ended up being nice to be able to ask questions about the menu and she suggested the Cervasas that were good and we ordered yet another fantastic steak. We first had some appetizers, Fried Calamari. Delicious! It was a great meal and the beer was perfect.

She asked where we were going next. We told her La Boca and she advised us to be out of there before dark. This coming from someone that lives there made us believe that it was good advice. Having only one day in town we didn't have a lot of time. We didn't have time to take the local transportation so we were taking taxis. Outside of the restaurant we found a taxi that took all 4 of us to La Boca.

La Boca is a neighborhood, or barrio of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It retains a strong European flavor, with many of its early settlers being from the Italian city of Genoa. After a lengthy general strike, La Boca seceded from Argentina in 1882, and the rebels raised the Genoese flag, which was immediately torn down personally by then President Julio Argentino Roca.






It is one of the most picturesque places due to its colorful port setting. The corrugated roof style of the houses and the customs reflect the European influence, mainly southern Italian, who arrive between 1860 and 1910. Te so-called "a Piccola Italia (Little Italy) is stamped with Mediterranean style, from its typical restaurants "cantinas" to its architecture. Brightly painted multicolored houses, inhabited by families, called "conventillos" give La Boca its main characteristic. La Boca has always been a working class neighborhood and in the past, people used the paint left over from ships to paint their houses. You will notice that sidewalks are elevated to prevents flooding from the Rio de la Plta.

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We were dropped off near the brightly painted houses on Caminito Street. Before our feet hit the ground we were approached by the touts. We were handed pamphlets and encouraged to try out restaurants. With out the proper arsenal of Spanish words I resorted to patting my belly trying to express that I had just eaten. This got responses of "you not fat, you twig." Guess my pantomime skills were lacking. Paulie had been getting sick and hadn't been doing too well. I think that it was the pollution. We hadn't had much sleep the night before either. Paulie shared that he was having a bit of a hard time coming to terms with the touts. He had done so well in Turkey and Italy when faced with the same thing. He said he understood that it was part of the culture but was feeling overwhelmed. Truthfully I think that the touts here were not as aggressive as those in Thailand and Turkey. There was no deceit involved just the hard sell with an aversion to no thank you.

The area was beautiful! The brightly colored buildings and murals that had the quality of some museum work. There were over sized figures carved first out of foam and then covered with some sort of coating. I found this out by inspecting some of the less maintained figures. They are all over Caminito Street. Some represent famous characters and others the early occupants of this area of Buenos Aires.






Street artist and performers paint, dance tango and take pictures outdoors. There is also a handicrafts market where you can buy all kinds of things.



We were in one of the shops trying to find a gift for our neighbors the Shepherds. They were taking care of our dog while we were gone and wanted to find something special for them. We were drawn to what we thought was a water pipe or something of the like. As we began to look at the gourds with their silver stands and silver straws one of the women in the store came over. This is where we suddenly felt rather stupid... She explained that the Yerba Mate [Yerba Mahtae or Jerba Mahtae] is an all natural green herbal drink, as rich in antioxidants as it is in culture. It can be consumed hot or cold ( Terere) and is a healthy and satisfying alternative to coffee. From the Guarani, to the early Jesuit Priests to Charles Darwin, Yerba Mate has had a rich history; and although its roots are in South America, Yerba Mate has crossed centuries, cultures, languages, and religions to become an integral part of the diet for millions of people around the world.

Mate is typically consumed with a traditional mate y bombilla, the silver straw used to drink out of the gourd. The girl explained that she often has mate with her mother. They treat it like a coffee break and discuss what is going on in their lives. It is not only a drink but social event.

She explained how to make the mate and we were sold. We had found something that was perfect to share with friends. Not only did we get one for Tina and Ken but we also bought one for ourselves. We found another store that sold the tea. After a little shopping we started to head out of La Boca. Again we were approached by the touts. I pulled out my get out of jail card, "No Tengo Lucas" I saw a slight look of confusion and then heard someone mention Platas another word for money. "Ce, No tengo Lucas, No tengo Platas, No tengo denaro" I even pulled my empty pocket inside out... they laughed and one of them said held out his hand with a coin in it while he said "for the bus!!!! " We all had a good laugh and hailed a taxi back to the hotel.

We were having a hard time deciding what to do next. We were only a couple of blocks from the shopping area but I was exhausted. I was ready for a shower and wanted to go to bed. We hadn't found an ATM and we needed money to get a taxi to the airport tomorrow. Cory left to find money and something to drink. By the time he got back I had repacked our luggage for the journey to Panama tomorrow.
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