Bit of a Blog : Crown Princess : Buenos Aires - Valparaiso : February 1st 2017

[NorbertsNiece]

 

The food stalls..... people were sitting in rows at the stalls eating the food that has been prepared in front of them.... many many different cooks.

 

 

 

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

 

Freshly prepared smoothies / juice by the litre

 

 

A while ago I wrote about the buildings resting on Inca placed stones. We've gone back to the Main Square and down a side passage.

 

 

 

This is Hatun Rumiyoc, a 12 sided stone laid without mortar, part of the stone wall of what is now the palace of the Archbishop of Cusco and is a national heritage object.

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

 

I find a shop that has suitable gifts for my remaining family and manage a small discount on bartering. We then head for a coffee.

 

 

Starbucks!! I get a Peru mug to add to my collection

 

 

On the way back......

 

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

There's going to be a brief hiatus....to do with my camera.... once resolved I'll post the last pics from the trip and explain all. Thanks for following and for your wonderful comments..... I need to post reviews on Tripadvisor still.....

 

Linda x

[easyboy]

Thanks for the nice and interesting photos.

[westendgirl]

Anxiously awaiting the final installment Linda! Have greatly enjoyed travelling along with you and all of the terrific photos, especially Machu Picchu.

[NorbertsNiece]

Anxiously awaiting the final installment Linda! Have greatly enjoyed travelling along with you and all of the terrific photos, especially Machu Picchu.

 

I am soooo sorry.

Me too.

 

All will be explained imminently.... or soon.... I promise to post the last evening and homeward journey....

 

Ok.... here's the thing.... I'll 'fess up.

I don't actually have the camera in my possession.... I know where it is.... and it's making its way to me...

The sad tale involves British Airways, a stewardess with the wrong directions and extreme exhaustion on my part.

Also involves a Good Samaritan, Paying it Forward and the UK postal service who just cannot get it right.

 

[westendgirl]

Oh my!! But, as someone far wiser than I said: all's well that ends well. Thank heavens for Good Samaritans everywhere.

[NorbertsNiece]

Finally, I get to pop a full stop on this blog...... as the last 24/48 hours of my trip unfold all will become clear.

 

Day 25 contd

 

We're taken out for dinner in Cusco by the Wendy Wu guides.

 

 

It's a pleasant venue

 

 

I've taken pics of people and if you're still following and know I took your pic and would like it drop me an email and I'll forward it on.

 

I've pics of food but not terribly clear. Have a pic of a virgin colada instead. There's a guitarist playing Beatles songs.

 

 

There's a thunder storm outside and the lights go out....

 

 

The lights do eventually come back on.

End of Day 25

 

Day 26 Cusco - Lima - UK

 

I have my camera with me at breakfast this morning.

 

 

i have no idea.....

 

[NorbertsNiece]

I just wrote a whole long story and CC nuked it. Seriously.

It was so well written; witty, clever and not too self deprecating... sigh.

Maybe it was the pig cheese.....

[NorbertsNiece]

 

 

 

I've taken scrambled eggs, avocado and cucumber and the wait staff bring me a plate full of a variety of GF rolls..... so I supplement with cheese and meat...... then they bring me a bowl of jelly..... (jello) and a beef stew with fries and a creme caramel.....

 

[NorbertsNiece]

At Cusco airport a few of us don't have boarding cards so we are first in line to check in. My case is overweight and I'm taken to a window behind which is sat a very sour looking woman. The check in lady disappears. I am unable to make eye contact with the woman behind the glass. Check in lady eventually returns to say that I don't have to pay anything after all..... I have no idea why. Others are not so lucky but I'm good to go.

 

 

 

 

Farewell to Cusco and hello again to Lima

 

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

We are taken to the Wyndham Airport Hotel at Lima for lunch. Won't be sharing the food pics. Service was unbelievably slow and the food I was given not what the others had..... and I have an errand to run..... and a confession to make.... the last time I was at Lima airport I was negotiating the security machine and I'd left my Kindle there. I realised that as soon as I got on the plane to Cusco and didn't have it to read in my back pack. When I got to the hotel in Cusco I emailed the lost property office at the airport using Google Translate. They had it! So I went to retrieve it. This office is tiny and is an Aladdin's cave of mislaid items!

 

[NorbertsNiece]

And now for one more confession.

And why this has taken so long to finish.

This involves the sorry tale of a BA flight attendant who didn't know her left from her right.

She told me to turn left on the plane and my seat is the first on the right.

So I make myself comfortable there, walking boots, back pack, overcoat and Duty Free items are in the overhead locker. Camera, kindle, sudoku and pen are in the little drawer. Strap myself in etc....

'Excuse me but you're sitting in my seat.'

I was.

Sooooo embarrassed.

I gather up my belongings stuttering apologies..... others are also relocating..... I was not alone at least.

I sleep pretty much the whole 12 hours.

At Gatwick I've arranged for a transfer to Heathrow and settle into the car. But where's the camera? Ooops.

When I get home I put in a lost property report to Gatwick airport. And figured that was that.

 

What I hadn't figured out was that someone on a flight from Gatwick to South Africa would find the camera in the little drawer, it contained my details in the case. She kept it until her return to the UK as she didn't want to hand it in to the authorities in SA and then she posted it on. Royal Mail misdelivered it and it finally arrived today!! I have spoken to her and sent her some flowers and will be donating to her charity of choice.

 

Thanks for sticking this out. Here's a sunset over Peru as we headed home. I'm about to start singing ;)

 

[LEESRE]

Thanks NorbertsNiece,

 

I have read your Blog from start to finish and have enjoyed it, Thank you for doing this as we sail on Crown Princess in just over 2 months.

 

Again many thanks.:D:D

[upwarduk]

I too have enjoyed the blog.

We are sailing on Crown in 60 days,our first time on Princess!

[I'm from Oz]

Would love to have read your diatribe on pig cheese et al ;)

 

What a wonderful trip. Once again a great job keeping us all enthralled and entertained along the way.

 

Keep an eye out for a 2018 westbound TA via Iceland too ;p

[easyboy]

Nice to have your review back. Sailing on the Crown in 11 days!

[westendgirl]

Thank you Linda for taking the time and trouble to post this entertaining blog. I've recommended it to a good friend who's travelling to SA for the first time next year and know it will be a helpful planning aid for her.

 

The luncheon meats you pictured are known in the US as head cheese and pickle and pimiento loaf. If you don't have them in the UK you are fortunate indeed.

 

Can't wait for your next adventure!

[grandtraveler]

We are taking this cruise next year, I appreciate any and all tips and suggestions!

 

We took the Crown Princess from Santiago/Valparaiso on 1/18/17 and made it a point to arrive two days before embark, namely 7:30 AM of 1/15/17. We prearranged with Chile Fun Tours, specifically Fernando Ulloa, for pick-up at the airport and a full tour of Santiago and Chile Wine Country for day 1 (the 15th), with dropoff at Ibis Hotel, Valparaiso at about 6:30 PM. On 1/16, Fernando Ulloa picked us up at Ibis Hotel and had a full tour of Valparaiso and its adjacent beach communities of Vina del Mar and Con Con. This was comprehensive in scope and excellently executed - hats off to Chile Fun Tours and Fernando Ulloa (contact at e-mail, chilefuntour@gmail.com, or look over the offerings at their website, via Google search. Secondly, for the Port of Ushuaia, Argentina, despite trying to book an excursion to Tierrra del Fuego National Park via Princess, the tour was "sold out," so we booked a private tour. We used Diego Giles (contact e-mail, diegojoelgiles@yahoo.com), a taxi driver well versed in English who works loosely with two other English speaking taxi drivers to run private tours, per your request. He picked us up at the cruise terminal and toured us to every spot of the Tierra del Fuego National Park (so-called end of the earth, as you go the end of the Trans-Pacific Highway, which begins in Alaska), wherein we parked next to all the tour busses from Crown Princess, which we were unable to take due to "sold out." We had a very satisfactory experience with Diego Giles and certainly recommend him, should you need a private tour of Tierra del Fuego or other parts of the Ushuaia area. I believe the National Park is a not-to-be-missed outing. So, my two suggestions is not to miss the Santiago/Valparaiso area - arrive early and take a Chile Fun Tour, and when in Ushuaia do indeed see Tierra del Fuego, remembering that a private tour does not entail 40 people in and out of the bus, a very tiresome drill; perhaps Diego Giles is a better choice for you as it was for us.

[NorbertsNiece]

Thank you Linda for taking the time and trouble to post this entertaining blog. I've recommended it to a good friend who's travelling to SA for the first time next year and know it will be a helpful planning aid for her.

 

The luncheon meats you pictured are known in the US as head cheese and pickle and pimiento loaf. If you don't have them in the UK you are fortunate indeed.

 

Can't wait for your next adventure!

 

If Valerie and Ian do come to the Northern Hemisphere I may very well be persuaded to do a TA with them.

I do not like TAs.

I do however like Valerie and Ian very much indeed.

I've been to Iceland.... quite happy to go back..... I DO have a rule about not repeating ports of call as far as possible but I've never been to Iceland as a port of call...... ;p

 

I hate how quickly time flies when I'm away seeing the world.

Next official blog will be a Celebrity one. Unless something ridiculously cheap comes along.

Thanks again for all the support and encouragement :hearteyes:

[I'm from Oz]

I think you should join us. We are calling in to Greenland as well now 😊

 

Sent from my SM-N910G using Forums mobile app

[NorbertsNiece]

I think you should join us. We are calling in to Greenland as well now 😊

 

Sent from my SM-N910G using Forums mobile app

 

It's not showing on the UK site now.......

[newport dave]

Hi

 

We're doing the same tour/cruise next Feb. Was just wandering what you did for local currency, especially for Argentina. At the moment it's not possible to purchase Argentina Pesos in the UK.  Where you able to get some in the UK and if so, roughly how much did you take. 

 

Thanks

 

David. 

[NorbertsNiece]

@newport dave

Hi. Gosh this thread still getting read!

 

I've had a look through my notes but can't find any reference to currency exchanging. I tend to take US dollars in cash and a US dollar currency card with me when travelling.

 

M&S appear to have Argentine Pesos available.

 

Linda