At sea today

Wow, the internet connection on the ship sucks! Unbelievable. Takes me forever to load up a page and then with that, I pay an arm and a leg. Sheesh! Can't even remember when I posted last. I believe I posted about Santiago, but can't remember if I posted about Puerto Montt so if I did, here's some repetition.

We were in Puerto Montt Christmas Eve. I was on a full day tour of the Chilean Lake District, including the Petrohue Falls, Emerald Lake (Lago Todos Los Santos), Mount Osorno, Puerto Varas, etc. The falls were gorgeous. B/c we had clear skies we had great views of the falls and the volcanic peaks in the background.

The big black flies were annoying, but tolerable. From there, we went to the Emerald Lake, which is part of a lake/land passage into Argentina. Puerto Varas is a cute little lakeside town. We had lunch in a quaint restaurant and then walked around for a bit. They had lots of handicrafts, but none that I was particularly interested in. On the way back we stopped at the fish market for a tour. Instead of going in and smelling the fish, Amy and I walked around some of the little shops. I ended up purchasing a Lapis necklace and a pair of lapis earrings to match. Apparently, Chile and Afghanistan are the only places that Lapis comes from so I definitely wanted to buy some while I was here. I love that stone.

Yesterday was a day at sea along w/ cruising the Chilean fjords. We woke up to cloudy, foggy weather which was quite cold. I went to a program Amazing Journeys put on that was a group game of sorts. Afterwards, I ate lunch upstairs and then sat out on the back deck to read and get some sun. Eventually, the sun actually came out and was quite warm. Around 4 pm, we entered the fjords, and I don't have to tell you that I took a LOT of pictures! It really was beautiful. Similar to Alaska's inside passage, but on the other side of the world!

Dinner last night was a trip. I sat at yet another table (we have 8-10 tables we can sit at) with a larger group tonight. The man sitting next to me, Joey, was a bit toasted from 4 appletinis at the cocktail hour. Well, he was definitely in livened spirits. He serenaded the table all through dinner. Sometimes we'd all chip in, but then we'd feel bad for others sitting next to us. It really was a lot of fun. Afterwards, the group went to the coffee bar to hear this guitar player who has a large list of songs to request and sing a long with.

Unfortunately, my roommate was sick at the beginning of the cruise and passed it on to me. My head feels like it's going to explode. Luckily, today is another day at sea so I can rest and drink lots of tea. Already it's starting to move to my chest which means it should be gone soon. I plan to order room service tonight and watch some movies.

The weather today is cruddy. Clouds, fog, rain. We supposedly entered the Strait of Magellan around 4, and I'm sure we did b/c it's much calmer than it was earlier in the day; however all I see is grey.

Tomorrow is Punta Arenas and the penguins. Hopefully the weather will be a little better. We were lucky the first few days w/ lots of sun. Guess it's better to be under the weather when the weather isn't so great. We've already had 3 seas days and 1 day at port so I'm getting antsy to be doing something. With the ship rocking so much, the gym isn't much of an option and walking the jogging track is tough in the wind. So I'm psyched to move around again tomorrow. We have 2 port days in a row - yippee! I hope to post about the penguins tomorrow. Until then, hasta luego!