Day 97

-
DECEMBER 6, 2019

 PUERTO MONTT, CHILE

Woke up early for a 7:00 AM departure to a seven and a half hour excursion to Emerald Lake, Petrohue Falls and the German-settled town of Puerto Varas. Went to the Star Theatre with everyone else to await tendering instructions. Instead, Captain Lars announced that due to weather conditions all excursions were cancelled. Widespread disappointment. Swells were unexpectedly large which destabilized the tenders and caused the ship's anchor to drag.

Fortunately, the Viking Sun has good WIFI. So, on sea days, as today has become, I have plenty of time to stumble around the internet seeing and hearing many new and unexpected things. Today I ran across a TED talk that stunned me. It challenged some firmly held beliefs. It was a revelation.
What is your impression?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0YjL9rZyR0 

 As we move along the overcast sea is peppered thickly with floats that indicate there are plenty of traps below to capture crustaceans. Fish farms are evident too. From a distance the surrounding landscape looks cleared and organized for agriculture - looks just like Vancouver Island.
















Now that we are in the Andean mood, let's listen to Viento de los Andes (Wind of the Andes) playing "Pueblo Lejano" (Distant Village).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTSdsuYTVXI&t=72s



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1

-
Image
August 31, 2019 We boarded Viking Sun and settled into Penthouse Veranda Suite 6072 (388 sq ft) The various suites on the ship can be viewed here: https://www.vikingcruises.com/con tent/ocean-star-tour/start.html A tour of the ship: https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/ships/viking-sun.html#noscroll All of the cruise stops, including available excursions can be viewed here: https://www.vikingcruisescanada.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/world-grand/2020-world-cruise/index.html#itineraryday/2 There is always a free tour provided by Viking - optional tours are made by reservation and at a cost to the traveler.  Today  Karen and I wanted to tour Blenheim Palace  but it is several hours from the ship and time was limited so we enjoyed the following video as our vicarious visit.   https://youtu.be/SKv-3cU6sHk That's OK - tomorrow we visit a real palace! With limited time we took a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of London, visited the National Gallery (w...
Read more

Day 182

-
FEBRUARY 28, 2020 DARWIN, AUSTRALIA We all recognize that life is an adventure - there will be surprises. Coronavirus is an unexpected development and this voyage has already made adjustments. Further adjustments are possible, even likely, during the two months remaining on Viking's World Cruise.  At a time when authorities must be " seen to be doing something " about the chances of a pandemic, fear can provoke overreaction and more surprises. Karen and I have taken a cautionary attitude about how matters could evolve. We believe this is prudent. Consequently, we have decided to defer the remainder of this voyage to a later date.    With that in mind, a fitting tune is Sophie Zelmani's  " Going Home ". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrIG3K40-8A
Read more

Day 11

-
Image
September 10, 2019 EDINBURGH - They say Scotland gets a lot of rain. Tell me about it! Arrived here in the fog and that became a steady drizzle. But at least it wasn't cold, around 16 degrees.  The rush hour (good planning) bus tour of The Queen City was mostly about crawling from stoplight to stoplight. Incredibly dense traffic made worse by many downtown streets being closed to accommodate the filming of Fast and Furious Nine - we saw the support trucks, an army of them, dozens. The main attraction, of course, is the Castle on the hill. Very impressive from below, but almost inaccessible due to the overwhelming crowds and the discouraging wait times - where did all these people come from? I'm told that tourism gridlock is becoming the new normal in cities like Paris and Rome. Meanwhile, on the Viking Sun there is so much space, even in the restaurants, one never feels pressed.  After returning to the ship from downtown, wouldn't you know it, the sun came out. ...
Read more