Here’s your bleary eyed but intrepid reporter back at the keyboard dishing out all the dirt (I just like that sentence). I did get some sleep, but not enough. Woke up at 4am againL Michael had a good 10 solid hours of sleep. I don’t know how men can sleep so well and so easily. Grrrrr
Anyway, I am in a much better mood today. After a leisurely morning, Michael dashed the dirt; that is, he did our final laundry before we have to pack. What a good guy he is! I hate to pack dirty laundry as I don’t want the fumes to contaminate the clean clothes.
He reported back to me that it was raining sheep and dogs and it was a good thing we waited to go to shore. We are anchored today and did not have any excursions planned. Are you curious about my statement: it is raining sheep and dogs? Here in Chile they have dogs, lots of stray dogs. Dogs are a protected species and they roam about everywhere. They sleep right in the middle of the sidewalk; they sleep on park benches; they sleep anywhere they goddamn well please. And they have sheep….. however, in all our journeys we only saw ONE cat. That cat must have been a brave little feline to live among all those dogs.
Anyway, I am in a much better mood today. After a leisurely morning, Michael dashed the dirt; that is, he did our final laundry before we have to pack. What a good guy he is! I hate to pack dirty laundry as I don’t want the fumes to contaminate the clean clothes.
He reported back to me that it was raining sheep and dogs and it was a good thing we waited to go to shore. We are anchored today and did not have any excursions planned. Are you curious about my statement: it is raining sheep and dogs? Here in Chile they have dogs, lots of stray dogs. Dogs are a protected species and they roam about everywhere. They sleep right in the middle of the sidewalk; they sleep on park benches; they sleep anywhere they goddamn well please. And they have sheep….. however, in all our journeys we only saw ONE cat. That cat must have been a brave little feline to live among all those dogs.
We packed up the backpack with bottled water, two umbrellas plus the camera and an extra polar fleece jacket for Michael. Today, the skies were dark and threatening rain. In contrast, our last visit here was quite warm and sunny. As we boarded the tender, the excursion manager said it was going to pour any minute and that we should take the ship’s large umbrellas. That was a wise decision, because it never rained the whole time ashore and the skies even got blue for a few minutes. So we juggled all the gear while I stripped off my new Ushuaia polar fleece jacket and Michael took off his heavy sweater. It was downright balmy and humid.
We decided to go to the local handcraft market. What a treat, what a surprise. Booth after booth was filled with local handknit items such as sweaters, socks, mittens, dolls, hats; leather goods, jewelry, knitting needles, plus a bunch of souvenir crap. But …. they also had – ta da – WOOL. LOTS AND LOTS OF IT. IN ALL COLORS AND TEXTURES. Bags of it, balls of it, hanks of it -- I WANTED IT ALL! They also had handmade knitting needles and crochet hooks. The prices were CHEAP. I bought three huge balls of handspun wool. I have absolutely no idea what I am going to make with it, but rest assured I will figure out something to do with it. Can you tell I am slightly giddy?
At the far end of the market was the fish and fresh vegetable market. This was Pike Place Market, Puerto Montt style. The salmon looked different than the wild salmon we are familiar with. It was skinnier and paler. I think most of the salmon here is farm raised; it is a big industry in Chile. There were other fish we did not recognize. There were clams, crab (small and dark brown in color), and oysters. The fishing boats pull right up next to the market and off-load their catch.
We had done enough shopping because we literally have no place left to pack it. I will have to use my roll-aboard suitcase to get the yarn home. So we returned to the ship and sat outside on the pool deck to have pizza for lunch – and it started to rain! This segment of our trip has not seen the best weather. Whenever it rained, it was either at night, on a sea day or after we returned from an excursion (ok, except for a few drops down the steep hill yesterday). What luck we have had as far as the rain goes. This part of the world is not known for its wonderful weather.
On a totally different subject, Michael is adored by the bridge players. They all have said they have never had such a good bridge teacher. He is patient and says things in plain English so they can understand whatever it is he is talking about. They love him. Even people who don’t play bridge have been singing his praises. The cruise director is sorry that they were so short sighted as to not have us complete the voyage to Ft. Lauderdale. Oh well, some other time, and hopefully in a different cabin.
As I write this, the anchor is being raised (with all the noise in our cabin) and we are off for Valparaiso. We have a sea day tomorrow and will arrive in port at 8am on Tuesday. I’m signing off for the evening. Have to get dressed in formal duds tonight.
On a totally different subject, Michael is adored by the bridge players. They all have said they have never had such a good bridge teacher. He is patient and says things in plain English so they can understand whatever it is he is talking about. They love him. Even people who don’t play bridge have been singing his praises. The cruise director is sorry that they were so short sighted as to not have us complete the voyage to Ft. Lauderdale. Oh well, some other time, and hopefully in a different cabin.
As I write this, the anchor is being raised (with all the noise in our cabin) and we are off for Valparaiso. We have a sea day tomorrow and will arrive in port at 8am on Tuesday. I’m signing off for the evening. Have to get dressed in formal duds tonight.
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