January 7th NCL Star cruise to Antarctica , Argentina and Chile with a 10 day stay photo travelogue

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 Moving back to see the whole monastery I first saw the horse and carriage lady .

 

 

I asked if I could take a photo of her . What a beautiful smile ! We wished that we had time for the carriage ride but we had to meet our group .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 23 by scubacruiserx2

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 Praca do Comercio

 

 

 

Victory arch

 

 

Got Coke ?

 

 

 

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  Our next stop was the Belem Tower

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belém_Tower

 

 

 

 

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  The next stop was a pretty area near the beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boca do Inferno - Hell's Mouth arch

 

 

I don't know why these photos are coming out so small from Photobucket . Please click twice on them to enlarge them .

Edited March 24 by scubacruiserx2

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  The fishing town of Cascais was next and is home to some of the most expensive real estate in Portugal .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascais

 

 

Our van is parked behind the bus . Photo of  King Peter I with an Irish pub behind him from Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

To shoot a panorama I had to take 4 overlapping photos and let the computer to stich them together . Click on photos to enlarge them .

 

 

 

 

Edited March 25 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  The next couple of stops were our favorite in Portugal .The first one was a surfing beach .

DW took this photo of a young lady waxing up before going out . I enjoyed many years surfing but - wetsuits Brrr . I'm from Florida .

 

 

 

Cabo da Roca is the western most point of Portugal and the continental Europe .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabo_da_Roca

 

It is breathtakingly beautiful to see and photograph . Our guide warned us about getting too close to the edge of the 300' sheer cliffs . The previous year , a couple and their children were photographing the cliff and using a selfie stick to get that perfect selfie . The couple back closer to the ledge watching the phone and not the ledge . They backed over the ledge in front of their 3 horrified children leaving them as orphans . People are drawn here like lemmings . Note the person seated on the edge of the ledge on the promontory . Please double click on the photos to enlarge .

 

 

Edited March 26 by scubacruiserx2

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  The lighthouse has been here since 1772 - 4 years before the independence of the USA  . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These photos are a very high quality and I would encourage you to double click on them on especially the last one on the largest screen that you can .

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 Monument announcing Cabo da Roca as the westernmost point of continental Europe . Photo from Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

 

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 Much of the vegetation on this cape is low-lying and adapted to saltwater and windy conditions. Once home to a variety of plant life, Cabo da Roca has been overrun with the invasive plant species Carpobrotus edulis. This creeping, mat-forming plant, a member of the Aizoaceae succulent family, was introduced as ground cover by local residents several decades ago, but now covers much of the arable land on Cabo da Roca. Wikipedia

 

 Beautiful , but deadly like the cliffs .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  After a day of cluster type headaches I had to take my bride of 46 years to the hospital for a possible stroke protocol yesterday morning. She also had severe abdominal pain . The CAT scan was negative and she got a room about 2300 and we are awaiting the results of the late night MRI . Her blood pressure and pulse were both very high when I left her last night . She had trouble with bright lights and stomach pain with nothing to eat or drink all day . This is one cruise that we hope to get off soon . We hope and pray that she and I will be better soon and back on CC , hopefully today .

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 Happy Good Friday . Today is the the day that " We all, like sheep, have gone astray , We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all. "

  And "  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. "
 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 And then was time to leave the beautiful cliffs and head for the hills . We went inland and higher in elevation , into some woods making some short stops on the way spotting these pretty flowers but deadly flowers . They are Foxglove from which the heart drug Digitalis is made .

 

 

 

We then stopped at the Seteais Palace where they were having a wedding .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seteais_Palace

 

It was just finishing as we arrived and time for photos .

 

 

 

Pena National Palace in the Distance

 

 

 

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  The Pena National Palace

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pena_Palace

 

 

 

Sintra National Palace

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra_National_Palace

 

 

 

 

Sintra

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  Happy Easter , the Lord has risen ! And Pat came home on Friday . 

A  Good Friday indeed .

 Last night's launch of a Space  X Falcon at Cape Canaveral 150 miles away from our front road . I'm surprised that we would deploy a Russian satellite .

 

Second stage separation 

 

 

 

 And the capsule jellyfish

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 Having left Lisbon we weren't far from Vigo , Spain .

It was a DIY port and we understand Spanish better than Portuguese . First we did a little shopping before lunch

 

 

 

 

 

 For lunch we found a place near the ship that smelled good , wasn't crowded and was handing out discount flyers . We ordered Paella and while we waited had some Tapas and house wine , which we carried on board to our cabin .

 

 

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187509-d2318090-Reviews-Fai_Bistes-Vigo_Province_of_Pontevedra_Galicia.html

 

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 We find it interesting that two major religious holidays fall back to back on this year's calendar .

Easter Sunday is the day that Jesus rose from the dead proving that there is life after death and that God's penalty for sin has been met for all who believe and follow Christ .

 And April Fool's day is the international holiday for all agnostic and atheistic people as Psalm 14 verse 1 has said , " The fool has said in his heart , " there is no God . " "

 

Edited April 1 by scubacruiserx2

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 We forgot to mention that before lunch we had went for a walk in the Castelo do Castro park high above Vigo . We saw this oddly proportioned statue of Jesus and his mother after his death on the cross  on Good Friday . Jesus as a full grown man with a beard is held like a small baby in his loving mother's arms .

 

 

 

 View of the city and the Connie in the harbor .

 

 

 

 

Edited April 1 by scubacruiserx2

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 There was no place that we wanted to see in the city but the ship offered us a trip to the Picos de Europa and we thought that it would be great to go up into the mountains .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picos_de_Europa

 

While it looked promising sailing in

 

 

Unfortunately , this was as close as we got to the - a viewpoint 

 

With a view of the foothills at the base of the mountains .

 

 

Looking back toward the port

 

 

Edited April 1 by scubacruiserx2

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  We were let off the bus at Cangas de Onis and told to walk around and back to the bus that would be parked at the bus station about a mile away .

 

 

The so called "Roman Bridge " was built in the 14th or 15th century .

 

 

 

 

 

They looked like a couple of lizards sitting on the warm rocks in the cool air

 

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  We stopped here for a buffet lunch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A grain storage room elevated with protective white rat guards .

 

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  Our last stop was Covadonga to see the Cave of our Lady a shrine dedicated to Mary , the mother of Jesus .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We were raised Roman Catholic but no longer attend that church . Although we would define ourselves as Christians - followers of Christ . The video clip isn't ours but it does show this place better than our still photos .

 

 

 

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  Our last stop before London was our first visit to France at La Rochelle . The ship docks a distance from the city and the ship offered bus rides to the Church and return trips from the same place 

It was rainy and cold so on the gangway we decided to go back and get an umbrella , good think as there was a light rain all day . We first headed to a store with a bathroom and made a purchase to use the WC . First up a walk around the harbor and to see the 2 towers , the Chain Tower and the Saint Nicolas Tower , patron saint of sailors . They date back to the 15th century and use to stretch a large chain between the towers to keep out unwanted boat traffic .

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to an early lunch at Les 4 Sergents , a nice place for lunch looking like a pair of drowned rats . We tried our limited French and were seated and given menus in French  . After about 15 minutes with no water or bread . We knew that our type were not wanted here - until we could order in French . As we left the man said " Leaving so soon ? " , with a smile . We walked about 2 minutes to a place with a menu in French and English and had a very nice lunch .

 

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Restaurant+l'Aunis/Les+4+Sergents,+49+Rue+St+Jean+du+Pérot,+17000+La+Rochelle,+France/@46.1563515,-1.1583133,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x480153a4df27269b:0x63c38f70d06632dc!2m2!1d-1.1550587!2d46.1565523!1m5!1m1!1s0x480153a4ba281d3b:0x8153b2ef533eafe6!2m2!1d-1.156494!2d46.1561508!3e2?entry=ttu

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 We were in transit as we made port in London staying at the airport with a flight to Saint Petersburg , Russia on British Air and staying in an apartment for about a week . Thus these photos are from our visit to London on our first stay in London after having done a Baltic cruise on the NCL Dream in 2006 . We had a overnight stay in St. Petersburg and we saw a lot and missed a lot , so we wanted to visit there before the busy cruise season began in May .

  We stayed near Buckingham Palace where we had pre booked a guided tour .

 

 

 

We walked around a lot 

 

 

 

 

An Eye full

 

 

 

Peter and Paul Cathedral

 

 

Brown town

 

 

Our favorite Fish and Chips were found at the end of the walkway

 

 

Here , where we make a visit when we stay in the city , one of our favorite cities .

 

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 Our flight to Saint Petersburg was uneventful and we met our guide , Gennadiy Chentsov , at the airport . He took us to the apartment that we had rented on that evening and showed us where to shop for food . On the next day we went to the Hermitage Museum without any crowds of cruise ship passengers . They have over 3 million items and works of art from all over the world . At that time Dmitry Medvedev was the President of Russia .

 

 

 

 

 

The Palace Square , the Alexander Column and the Hermitage .

 

 

The crowd at the Hermitage

 

 

 

 

The Hermitage Museum complex. From left to right: Hermitage Theatre – Old Hermitage – Small Hermitage – Winter Palace (the "New Hermitage" is situated behind the Old Hermitage)

 

 Last photo from Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermitage_Museum

Edited April 4 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  Before entering the Hermitage we paused and looked across Palace Square to the General Staff building which houses some of the Hermitage .

 

 

The Triumphal Arch commemorating the Russian victory over Napoleonic France in the Patriotic War of 1812  Wikipedia

 

 

 The Throne Room in the Hermitage

 

 

Note the lack of crowds

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Da Vinci Room

 

 

These doors were made from turtle shells

 

 

 

 

 

 

Da Vinci photos from Hermitagemuseum .org

All others are mine

 

The Return of the Prodigal Son and the entrance to the Rembrandt Room