the boomer live

I forgot to mention in yesterdays post that the entertainment last night was Judy Carmichael, a noted Jazz piano player, playing for a sparse crown she was very good.

Disembarkation went very smoothly (another benefit of a small ship) onto the coach and straight to the Hotel Emperador, very nice hotel. They had a conference room set up with chairs and refreshments and an area to put hand luggage (guarded )for safe keeping if you were going out exploring on your own. In our opinion this was an excellent set up (I think a bit of late decision on Azamara’s part) kudos to Azamara for stepping up to the plate after a lot of pax comments.

We met Pedro outside the  hotel at 12:30 as arranged, and jumped into a taxi, or  in Pedro’s case “fold & contort” into the taxi, he’s quite tall and the taxi’s quite small! Off to San Telmo. San Telmo is a bohemian area of BA with cobblestone streets very similar in looks and atmosphere to Montmartre in Paris. Off some of the streets are  shopping arcades with various specialty shops (Vicki  bought a Tango painting (very nice) at Fanny Bergmans studio ($30), this studio also had some very nice Tango figurines (very modern) but out of our budget range ($1000 & up) . The main market square seemed to mainly antiques and paintings, very interesting to look around. I noticed that Pedro was keeping an eye in every direction to make sure we stayed together, and I think possibly looking out for any unsavory characters that may be thinking we were easy marks. I think he was just being cautious and responsible for us. Vicki also bought a pair of ornamental leather sandals (see photo) for $10. Best buy of the trip IMHO. (street vendor about 2 blocks off antique market). We enjoyed San Telmo , it’s a must visit if you have time. Into a taxi, and off to La Boca. La Boca announced itself before we got there. Smell! And not in a good way. Its from the pollution in the river (see photo), but don’t let it put you off, this is a another must visit area. La Boca is the old immigrant, seaport area of BA and has been some what “touristized” but it still has a vibrant air about it, with interesting colored building, street vendors, etc. You can also have your picture taken with very pretty Tango dancers (male & female!) in great posses. I now regret not having ours done! Almost the end of our tour Pedro took us to Café Notables, an old café, seafront bar. We sat and talked over expresso about life and times in Argentina. When Vicki went outside to take a photo, Pedro jumped up and went with her, just being careful. (we did not feel at all uncomfortable in this area). Also the Cafe had a GIANT bouncer by the door. Pedro said to him jokingly “I bet nobody messes with you” he replied, not jokingly “NO”.  After we left the Café, I wanted to photograph an old ferry and the river pollution. Pedro then suggested we take a quick look at an Art museum. The build looked like a cross between a police station and a government building, we went in, and up three floors. The art space is not very pretty compared to big galleries, but some of the work by Argentinean painters is outstanding.  If you have any interest in art do not miss this.

Back to the hotel and said goodbye to Pedro, having the feeling we had got a mini immersion in Argentine history, life and politics.  The transfer to the airport was handled very well. (all Azamara’s agents staff in BA spoke very good English as opposed to Sao Paulo, who were very poor.) Short lines but slow staff got some pax upset at the airport (last chance to complain?). Duty free at BA airport has a good selection but not many really good deals(all priced in US$).  I did spot some very nice replica competition polo shirts (horse and mallet). A unique gift, or for your self, $100-$120.

In conclusion, for now, we really enjoyed our cruise on Jouney.  The small ship experience (not for everybody) was great.  A sense of unhurriedness and calm, very few lines, and not being  harassed into joining inane competitions, although the belly flop competition would have been interesting taking into account the small pool and Archimedes principal!  and no PA announcements every 2 minutes.

One amusing point, I just checked the flickr site and the photos that got the most views were of the food!

Please keep in mind that our reports have been of OUR experience and OUR opinions, when you have 600 people on a cruise you are bound to have different takes on everything.  I am sure other  CC member on the cruise will post some of their feedback soon.

A quick note on our new  Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 which we used for all our  pix. Very easy to use, very easy to change settings, large readable setting screen which I could change without putting on my glasses. Quality of pix, we are very happy, but you be the judge after I upload the full quality photos (2-3 weeks). Only negative, once the shutters that protect the lens jammed, I released them gently with a finger turned the camera on and off, and they worked perfectly from then on.

I will be doing a summary on all the ports individually in about 2-3 weeks. If you are sailing soon and have a question I will try and answer it. For the next week or so I will be a little busy catching up with work.