The alarm went off rudely at 6am. Dan and I had had trouble sleeping as the ship was in the dock and not moving at all!
We were the second bus out at 7:50, so that meant an early breakfast - the restaurants opened early today so we had one last meal in Lindstrom. Our waiter knew our drink order (cappuccino and a glass of oj) which was bittersweet! I don’t want to get off! Got myself the omelette again and Lo and behold I managed to finish it this time. Not knowing when we would get to eat next we tried to stuff as much in us as possible.
We returned to our room via a walk outside to finish packing our hand luggage. The night before Dan’s nice hurtigruten drink bottle was misplaced and no one turned it into Lost and found - we checked again this morning. We stood awkwardly in the middle of our room, not quite ready to leave it and not really able to start anything new. A few minutes after 7:50 our bus two was called so we said goodbye to the room and made our way down to deck 4 to disembark. Lots of people were gathered around here but I think they were just early as we walked past them all and off the ship.
Both Dan and I teared up a little turning our backs on the Fridtjof Nansen and we waved goodbye to the mighty ship that safely saw us cross the Drake passage - four times. Once on bus two we realised we were about the last ones on somehow, thankfully two seats next to each other right up the front. Eventually we trundled off out of the wharf.
“Be back at the bus at 9:55am,” our guide said. “That gives you about 2 hours in Ushuaia.”
“Are shops open?” someone asked.
“No they open at 10am.”
I thought it was hilarious that they were literally just piling us off the boat and unloading us into an empty town. I still wanted to try to find a magnet, and anyway we had t really explored Ushuaia Main Street so Dan and I made our way up to it once the bus stopped.
It was an absolutely stunning day, quite the opposite of what we had experienced our first time in Ushuaia. The vast majority of the snow had melted in the mountain tops and the air was hot and pointy. After Antarctica 23C felt like a heatwave! And we weren’t fully prepared!
We enddd up doing a full lap of the Main Street - the guide wasn’t wrong, even the majority of coffee and breakfast places weren’t even open yet! Randomly one little kiosko was open, and randomly again it sold magnets. We walked right to the end of town as we thought maybe the supermarket would be open, but seeing it was not we about turned and returned up the Main Street. Passing the kiosko again I went inside.
The walls started to close in around me and the ground rose up to meet my feet - my land legs were having some troubles in this claustrophobic little tiny store! We bought an Antarctica magnet (for about au$13, ouch - it still says Ushuaia on it but only in little letters) and back out in the fresh air.
“There might be a train in the prison museum complex, apparently it’s viewable from the road at a certain angle.” I laughed, of course we had to find the train! We continued to were the train was supposed to be and could see it at a very long distance behind what looked like an imposing Naval complex. The instructions for the train say that it could be seen up a block, so we kept wandering to no avail. At some point I noticed people and signs for a variety of museums, so we thought we’d go check it out. There were two big bus loads inside and around the Prison museum, so we went inside and I used the facilities while Dan figured out how to see the train. We were surprised it was open, but there were heaps of people milling about. There was also a gift shop in here -I wondered if I might find a better magnet.
The museum was set out like a wheel - a central area with spoke passageways going out from the centre. We tried every passageway to find this train. Up one passage showing imitations of prison rooms. No exit at the end. Back to the centre. Up another passage - a converted art gallery where two artists were selling their wares. Upstairs from here we could just glimpse the train through the tiny prison windows - but how to get to it?
We noticed some people had come in through a door behind a curtain. Odd, but we followed and realised the door was unlocked. Success! We were outside and in the courtyard of the train!
Once Dan had his fill of pictures we decided to go back in so I could peek at the gift shop. We still had plenty of time before we needed to be back at the boat. Back in through the door and the curtain, exclaiming how weird it was when we were confronted by a man.
“What are you doing in here?”
“Um”, we flustered “there were people…”
“Not open yet!”
When we looked flabbergasted he relented and said free to stay.
Major whoops!!
Chatting with Dan later on, I thought he meant the museum was free anyway so we could stay inside, but Dan thought he meant we are here already. Turns out the museum was over $6000 pesos - major major whoops!
We quickly peeked in the gift shop and made a speedy exit.
On land we said a final farewell to Marianne and Heidi (and I gave them a bum steer thinking the museum was free, sorry!) and then we returned to the bus.
From here it was a short bus ride to the airport building. We had to collect our luggage from a pile and check it in. On the queue we spoke with one of the guys whose luggage hadn’t arrived - it was still back in Dallas (so no fault of hurtigruten). He had to buy practically everything - he has a lot of Ushuaia branded clothing now!
Once through and through security, Dan and I found a seat fairly easily and settled in to wait. And wait. It was quite warm up here /l- the building didn’t seem prepared for warmer weather. People were starting to line up at our gate so we joined them thinking it would only be 10ish minutes. We stood here and waited. And waited. The line grew behind us. It was very hot up here and everyone was looking ready to collapse!
Finally boarded, and we set off. We didn’t expect a food service at all and we enddd up with a huge tray! Lots of breaded products - it filled us up. Early into the flight Dan and I donned our masks again as the guy behind us spent the whole flight sniffing, coughing and spluttering - we nicknamed him Sniffles McGoo - he wasn’t wearing a mask but the lady he was travelling with was. It was a bit shit.
Other than that the flight was uneventful. At the other end it took forever for the luggage to appear, and then it appeared at a different turnstile than the one Hurtigrutrn guide had directed us to. I didn’t want to traverse public transport so Dan had organised a transfer - our driver was waiting patiently for us when our luggage finally arrived.
The transfer was considerably quicker than the first time! We didn’t get stuck in any traffic. The day was very warm, over 30C, and all along the grasses banks of the highwaY families had pulled up and set up picnics - and impromptu games of soccer were everywhere. I also noted that the music on the drivers radio was in English, the ABCDE F U song and it wasn’t bleeped out! Dan and I spent much of this drive reminiscing about people we had met or observed on the expedition.
We never really had much of a chance to debrief! Straight into the next part of the adventure - two nights now in Palermo Soho. There was a steak restaurant I wanted to try near here that did 40% off happy hour at certain times, so once checked in by the lovely guy at our next hotel, we dumped our things - had a quick look around the room (nice and bright and airy! Didn’t expect to get a kitchen) and out the door again.
On the walk to La Cabrera we spotted a street market and vowed to check it out after dinner (if we get in) or for dinner (if we do not). Happy hour at La cabrera was 6:30pm-8pm and we arrived pretty much right on the dot of 6.30pm to see the restaurant swamped by a crowd of people.
A lady told the instructions in Spanish and English, that we MUST be out by 8pm, they started calling names off the list. Ah. I went up and asked if they still had space and a baby faced young man said no. To try again tomorrow - maybe get there about 6pm? We promised we would and we turned around and walked away.
We came across another arm of the market so followed it until we ended up in the main square of Palermo soho. It was buzzing! We inspected the goods then thought we’d find a central place to eat. The first one we sat at felt a bit tourist trappy and just didn’t get with me, so after checking the menu we just upped and left.
Across the way was a tap house called Valk with craft beers - I suggested we try one of those while we considered what was next. Sitting outside a menu was brought to us and our waitress had a decent amount of English. They had a special with loaded fries and two craft beers, I chose Red Honey and Dan the Belgium IPA.
This turned out to be exactly the vibe we were looking for. Perched up on high stools, sipping our tasty beers, and watching the crowds. Soon a busker set up near by. Those who know me may already know I generally do not like buskers, (especially those ones that trap you on public transport and play two terrible songs and expect to be paid). This guy though was amazing. He played a great mix of western songs and Argentinian songs, he was great at the guitar and it was just a vibe. Some people gathered around and danced and sang, and everyone was happy.
A cool breeze took the edge off the night, and we ordered some Chilean cheese bread sticks (I can’t remember what they’re called to hand) and another round of beers - a sour for m that tasted like lemonade (very refreshing) and a Hefeweizen for Dan (both by Gorilla).
At the conclusion of our beers, we gave the busker some money (I do not do this often or lightly!) and started walking home. I veered us off the path slightly when I noticed a helado shop near our accom - Dan reluctantly agreed as he was full. I couldn’t read most of the menu so I stuck with old favs chocolate and raspberry, and we were able to get toppings too - and with that dripping down my hands we raced back to our balcony to share the gelato.
It was a lovely way to end a long, tiring day! We had an early start in the morning, so we called it a night.
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