FROM MY EYES TO YOUR YOUR SCREEN

Weaving Visit We went to a couple of lama/alpaca weaving spots . At one, they went into great detail on how they clean the fiber (it is a fiber, not wool), how they wash it, dye it (the natural items used for dying the fibre) what the use to modify the colors (salt, lime). This alpaca was in our Hotel lobby. I didnt think it was real and it scared the crap out of me when it moved. We went to so many places, saw so much, learned so much. It's been a wonderful trip. I can't begin to even post everything.  I've run into a problem with my photos and storage. I'll have to straight that out before I can post my remaining picture. I should be able.to do that over the weekend. More to come on the land tour portion! Home We are home now - a 15 hour travel day from LIM - ATL - YYZ. As much as I enjoy traveling, I also always love coming home. I'm really looking forward to my next cruise in July 2025. We will be taking our oldest grandson on his first European trip (we will do...

Early morning, breakfast was light with fruit and breads. There were also some cake like treats. One thing about being early is we beat most of the traffic to the airport. We were all wondering why we just didn't stay at a hotel near the airport, but we are at the domestic airport today as opposed to the international airport yesterday. Our Group There are 18 people in our group. Most are Americans, we have 2 Russians, an Australian and us. Several of the American are Chinese or Taiwanese citizens. And OMG, some of the comments made last night, like to the Russians "are you from   Kazakhstan?". Or to the Taiwanese,  "China is wanting to take you over, but the Americans are going to protect you". And then there is one lady, very loud and always talking. Yap, yap, yap. Of course, she was behind me on the 3 hour flight from Santago the Lima yesterday.  Speaking of the flight... it was Latam and I was impressed. They fed us - a warm ham and cheese sandwich on a croi...

It's been a long day. We left the ship at 7 am, toured Santiago, Chile, flew to Lima, had dinner, and went to bed. We leave for Cusco tomorrow morning at 545 am. Breakfast is at 5 alarm is set for 430.  We are at the Swissotel Lima. Beautiful hotel and decorated lovely for Christmas. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos. Our room was great except for the party going on outside across the street. I could hear every word being said. Could not understand a word, but could hear it. I called the desk and asked to be moved. They were very accommodating and sent someone up to move us, but that ate in to half an hour of sleep. I did sleep great though. The bed, pillows and sheets were super comfortable.  And you could have a small party in the bathroom.  Figuring out how showers work in different counties is always challenging for me.  Some you push, some you pull, some it's a leaver, some it's a turn.   Vineyard and Crops in Chile  Christmas in Chile 

Last night I was sitting at one of the bars talking to a fellow from New Zealand and one of the guest services agent came up to me and asked me if I was "Cynthia Plante-Jenkins"?  Why yes I am.  The wrong color of tags and departire times for our Macchu Picchu trip had been given to us and I guess it was easier for them to give them to me in the bar (just down from the Guest Services Desk) rather than make their way upto our cabin on the 10th deck.  That's the magic of the Medallion - they can find you anywhere! Coqumbo This was another industrial port, but it was the worst.  The whole portway was covered with bird droppings and it stunk. Shuttle bus out of the port, then onto another bus for our excursion.  We had an early morning excusion today - 7:00 am to see some petroglyphs and wine tasting. I wasn't really interested in the wine tasting, but wanted to see the petroglyphs. The one with the holes in it, the holes lines up with one of the constellation at ce...

Some photos for the gym rats. The  change rooms.  No one was is the change rooms, so why not snap a few pics.  If there are 3 or 4 of you in a cabin, using the gym change rooms to shower and get dressed, can be a life saver.  If I was on the 51 day cruise, I'd be a regular here in the gym,.but the zumba and my on line fitness class will suffice for our trip. Another package inclusion I forgot about is fitness class.  Some classes are free, others are paid classes. With the Plus package, you get 2 free "paid" classes. With the Premium package, you get unlimited paid classes. People boarded the ship in Lima, which had me scratching my head. Lima was not the start or end of a leg.  Today, I found out there were 70 travel agents who joined in Lima and will be leaving in Santiago.  The number of kids joining in Santiago has also been adjusted. It will be just under 200 instead of the 500 we were previously told.  Today was formal night and the farewell...