“So give as much care to the end as the beginning.” ~Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching The end of a journey can be a funny thing. Sightseeing is over, bags are packed, the home fires beckon. Like an afterthought, the last day often becomes a footnote to the trip instead of the final paragraph. The end … Read More
“We need to sit on the rim of the well of darkness and fish for fallen light with patience.” ~Pablo Neruda, The Sea and the Bells There’s something uniquely wonderful about walking through a house where someone we’ve admired once lived. Passing by the table where they ate, the desk where they wrote or the … Read More
The clues to Fruitillar’s heritage are scattered throughout the lovely lakeside town. Bavarian-looking architecture. A clock that seems like it belongs in an alpine village. A restaurant door carved with names of German cities. And one of the town’s main attractions: Museo Colonial Alemán, the German Colonial Museum. Nestled on the shores of Lago Llanquihue, … Read More
“Color! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams.” ~Paul Gaugin The residents of Castro, Chile, have a wonderfully creative, think-outside-the-crayon-box sense of style when it comes to color. The town’s wooden stilt houses called palafitos are swathed in a world of oranges, greens, blues and reds, all in the deepest and boldest … Read More
“There is absolutely nothing there!” Jo was laughing as I asked her about Puerto Chacabuco, our next port of call in Chilean Patagonia. As one of Seabourn’s Destination Services staffers, Jo was helping passengers book last-minute tours for this unplanned stop. With an instantly likeable smile and a twinkle in her eye, she continued to … Read More
“I now belong to a higher cult of mortals, for I have seen the albatross.” ~Robert Cushman Murphy It was the photograph that had eluded me. After more than two weeks of travel in Antarctica and southern South America, I had memory cards brimming with pictures of penguins, sea lions and sea birds…but none of … Read More
“More penguins?” my husband Herb asked as we were finalizing plans for our day in Punta Arenas. “Aren’t you penguined-out by now?” The truth was that I would never completely tire of watching the antics of such delightful creatures. And the other truth was that the Magellanic penguins would be new to us, a species … Read More
“It is scarcely possible to imagine anything more beautiful than the beryl-like blue of these glaciers, and especially as contrasted with the dead white of the upper expanse of snow.” ~Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle Cape Horn Five-thirty came early as we turned off the alarm and made our way to the Observation … Read More