2/27 Lima, The Battle Of The Kettle
Okay, I am being, like, way overly dramatic with that title. It would be more accurate, but much less gripping, to call this the comedy routine of the kettle.
I believe, but am not motivated to verify, I closed the last stirring installment with news the hotel room kettle would not activate and I was - tragically - facing a morning without coffee! ( Sorry if that cliffhanger added stress to your already fraught day.)
The hotel restaurant was glad to handle the immediate emergency: caffeine and sustenance, so my survival was assured.......at 3.25 Sol to $1, at a very modest price.
The outgoing, night shift front desk apparently failed to communicate the seriousness (or existence) of our crisis to the day shift. This was easily corrected and about lunch time two young men, one housekeeping and one engineer, appeared at our door. Between them they had slightly less English than I have Spanish. But we were all game to solve the problem.
They plugged the kettle in, flipped the switch, and, after serious observation, we all agreed it didn't turn on. They then stared at the outlet. I grabbed a charger and proved the outlet had power. The housekeeper acknowledged this was now too technical for him and retreated to clean the bathroom.
The engineer poured out the existing water and tried a smaller amount (in my morning enthusiasm, I had slightly overfilled it).
No joy.
Now for the hard part. He explained in great verbal detail what he was going to do next. We shared a jolly chuckle over my expression of extreme non-comprehension. He then pointed at the kettle, pointed at his two eyes, lifted the kettle, clutched it tightly to his chest.....twinkled his eyes at me and exited as I waved bye-bye to the kettle.
A short time later he returned with a kettle. Ceremoniously he filled it. The housekeeper joined us as the engineer plugged, switched, and - to everyone's great delight - the kettle worked!
Modestly, the engineer accepted my thanks, the housekeeper glowed with happiness, and I enjoyed my post-lunch coffee. I call that a reasonable approximation of 'happily ever after'.
I really like all of the people I met in Lima, district Santiago de Surco. The energy here is strong, open and very positive.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
2/27 Lima, Peru
I'm making this entry via iPad so it may be rudimentary or mangled. If this bothers you, take a deep breath and get over it: my mind and communication skills are similarly mangled and rudimentary.
As planned a limo/SUV driver with lots of space for luggage took us to the airport yesterday. And may I comment in passing that packing no more than 50 pounds in one suitcase for almost a month traveling through seasons that range from hot, late Summer to near-antartic chill - especially when carrying laptops, iPads, face creams, foot creams, chargers, transformers (yes, the kind that twist, turn, and abruptly grow from fit-in-your-pocket sized handy devices to skyscraper-high beneficent alien beings with ulterior motives incomprehensible to mere human beings)........
Have I lost the point sufficiently yet?
Anyway, packing for this kind of trip brings the concepts of layering, compression folding, repurposing, reusing, coordinating and doing without to new highs / lows. Should I get into taking selfies, expect to see the same blue jeans and rapidly fading white t-shirt over and over and over.
We arrived at the Hilton Garden Inn in the Surco district about 01:00 AM. Very nice except the kettle doesn't work so, even after breakfasting is in the restaurant, I am severely sleep- and coffee-deprived.
Ah well, suffering for one's pleasures is SOP.
I'm making this entry via iPad so it may be rudimentary or mangled. If this bothers you, take a deep breath and get over it: my mind and communication skills are similarly mangled and rudimentary.
As planned a limo/SUV driver with lots of space for luggage took us to the airport yesterday. And may I comment in passing that packing no more than 50 pounds in one suitcase for almost a month traveling through seasons that range from hot, late Summer to near-antartic chill - especially when carrying laptops, iPads, face creams, foot creams, chargers, transformers (yes, the kind that twist, turn, and abruptly grow from fit-in-your-pocket sized handy devices to skyscraper-high beneficent alien beings with ulterior motives incomprehensible to mere human beings)........
Have I lost the point sufficiently yet?
Anyway, packing for this kind of trip brings the concepts of layering, compression folding, repurposing, reusing, coordinating and doing without to new highs / lows. Should I get into taking selfies, expect to see the same blue jeans and rapidly fading white t-shirt over and over and over.
We arrived at the Hilton Garden Inn in the Surco district about 01:00 AM. Very nice except the kettle doesn't work so, even after breakfasting is in the restaurant, I am severely sleep- and coffee-deprived.
Ah well, suffering for one's pleasures is SOP.
Monday, February 26, 2018
2/26/2018
Okay guys, here's the plan!
About 05:00 this afternoon we climb aboard the big silver bird and whoosh our way to Lima, Peru. Arrival time is midnight. (Ask me if I'm excited about that.)
From the airport we taxi to a hotel which should know we will arrive waaay tooooo early (excessive early = really late the day before).
Tomorrow is, in theory, spent exploring Lima. There is a chance it will be spent moaning and napping......I'll let you know.
Day after tomorrow about 02:00 pm we stagger via taxi and shuttle to the port, find the ship, board the ship, find our cabin, and start trying to find our way around. Hopefully we will find the main dining room in time for dinner.
Itinerary:
Wish us luck!
Okay guys, here's the plan!
About 05:00 this afternoon we climb aboard the big silver bird and whoosh our way to Lima, Peru. Arrival time is midnight. (Ask me if I'm excited about that.)
 |
| around and around we go! |
Tomorrow is, in theory, spent exploring Lima. There is a chance it will be spent moaning and napping......I'll let you know.
Day after tomorrow about 02:00 pm we stagger via taxi and shuttle to the port, find the ship, board the ship, find our cabin, and start trying to find our way around. Hopefully we will find the main dining room in time for dinner.
Itinerary:
| Feb 28 Wed | Lima/Machu Picchu (Callao), Peru | Embark 1 PM | 7 PM |
| Mar 1 Thu | Pisco/Nazca Lines, Peru | 8 AM | 2 PM |
| Mar 2 Fri | Arequipa (Matarani), Peru | 12 PM | 9 PM |
| Mar 3 Sat | Iquique, Chile | 1 PM | 9 PM |
| Mar 4 Sun | Cruising the Pacific Ocean | ||
| Mar 5 Mon | Coquimbo, Chile | 10 AM | 7 PM |
| Mar 6 Tue | Santiago de Chile (San Antonio), Chile | 10 AM | 8 PM |
| Mar 7 Wed | Cruising the Pacific Ocean | ||
| Mar 8 Thu | Puerto Montt, Chile | 8 AM | 5 PM |
| Mar 9 Fri | Puerto Chacabuco, Chile | 11 AM | 9 PM |
| Mar 10 Sat | Cruising the Chilean Fjords | ||
| Mar 11 Sun | Cruising the Chilean Fjords | ||
| Mar 12 Mon | Punta Arenas, Chile | 5 AM | 5 PM |
| Mar 13 Tue | Ushuaia, Argentina | 12 PM | 8 PM |
| Mar 14 Wed | Cruising the Atlantic Ocean | ||
| Mar 15 Thu | Port Stanley, Falkland Islands | 8 AM | 5 PM |
| Mar 16 Fri | Cruising the Atlantic Ocean | ||
| Mar 17 Sat | Cruising the Atlantic Ocean | ||
| Mar 18 Sun | Punta Del Este, Uruguay | 8 AM | 6 PM |
| Mar 19 Mon | Montevideo, Uruguay | 8 AM | 6 PM |
| Mar 20 Tue | Buenos Aires, Argentina | 8 AM | |
| Mar 21 Wed | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
Wish us luck!
Sunday, February 25, 2018
2/25/2018
It would be fair - and precisely accurate (Yes, I know that is redundant) - to say John and I are cruiseaholics.
We call cruising the Whitman's Sampler approach to travel. (And we should know, given we are certainly chocoholics!)
Do you know Whitman's Sampler? You pay one price and buy a box of candy and every piece - every single piece - is unique. Maybe you love it and wish the whole box held nothing but that. Or maybe you spit it out and wish you had never tasted it.
Same - same with cruising.
You pay one price and go to a resort. Then the resort launches itself and starts sailing. Almost every day you wake up in a new experience, in a new city, a new country, a new something. You explore the new location then return to the resort. On days the resort does not dock (AKA sea days) you spend your time relaxing in the pleasures provided by the resort.
And, everywhere you go, your hotel room - in fact the whole resort - goes with you.
Historically I have sent a more-or-less daily email update to my family. Someone, possibly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of emails, suggested I was practically writing a blog so why not go ahead and publish it?
After much (well, okay, five or six minutes) of thinking about it, I decided that was a very good idea. And here it is.
Taaah Daaah
The next trip starts tomorrow. Stay tuned.
It would be fair - and precisely accurate (Yes, I know that is redundant) - to say John and I are cruiseaholics.
We call cruising the Whitman's Sampler approach to travel. (And we should know, given we are certainly chocoholics!)
Do you know Whitman's Sampler? You pay one price and buy a box of candy and every piece - every single piece - is unique. Maybe you love it and wish the whole box held nothing but that. Or maybe you spit it out and wish you had never tasted it.
Same - same with cruising.
You pay one price and go to a resort. Then the resort launches itself and starts sailing. Almost every day you wake up in a new experience, in a new city, a new country, a new something. You explore the new location then return to the resort. On days the resort does not dock (AKA sea days) you spend your time relaxing in the pleasures provided by the resort.
 |
| It's a tough life, but someone has to live it! |
And, everywhere you go, your hotel room - in fact the whole resort - goes with you.
Historically I have sent a more-or-less daily email update to my family. Someone, possibly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of emails, suggested I was practically writing a blog so why not go ahead and publish it?
After much (well, okay, five or six minutes) of thinking about it, I decided that was a very good idea. And here it is.
Taaah Daaah
The next trip starts tomorrow. Stay tuned.
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