Sonoma, CA – SFO – Munich, DE – Milan, Italy The last day of 2025 and the beginning of the 2026 travel year. The morning starts out with the goal of spending the night in Torino. We have a two-bedroom apartment in Piazza Maria Teressa in Torino for the next week. The plan is to meet up with Harry V in Munich and then fly together to Milano, where we will meet up with Ali. We have arranged a car to take us from Malpensa to the apartment in Torino. The day begins with a 09:

Kansas City, MO, - San Carlos, CA – Sonoma, CA There has been silence for the past eight days or so. It has not been due to the Christmas Holiday or anything exciting. It has been due to the fact that influenza has hit the Kansas City Falks. Harry IV took Rochelle to emergency care and it was officially diagnosed as having influenza. On the 22nd I started coughing and just couldn’t stop. So, on the night of the 23d, Harry IV and Mary, took me to the emergency clinic. They

Kansas City, MO, USA Sunday. Today is the shortest day of the year – the Winter Solstice. Sunrise here in Kansas City was 7:34 and Sunset was 17:00; 9 hours and 26 minutes of “daylight”. Interestingly, Antartica, whence we just came, will have twenty-four hours of daylight. Iceland, where we were last year, will have four hours and seven minutes of daylight today. Well from now the days up here in the northern hemisphere start to get longer. It may or may not seem obvious

Kansas City, MO, USA Saturday. Up at 05:00. Had a good night’s sleep. Worked on the blog while waiting for other people to get their lazy asses out of bed. At 07:30 decided to go to Starbucks for a tea and sandwich. Then changed that to go to Messengers to get Mary one of their really good cinnamon rolls. I drove down Main Street towards Messengers, stopped at Starbucks and got myself a tea. Then continued down Main until Grand. Started down Grand before I realized that i

Kansas City, MO, USA Friday. Good news, nothing planned for day, except taking the grandchildren to Scheels in Overland Park for some shopping. They don’t need Christmas when their grandparents are around. Several thousand dollars later we are leaving the store. Now, they want lunch. We finally settle on Spin Piazza. I let them do that and sat in the car. I had no interest in piazza. After lunch Mary, Harry V and George head out to do a little Christmas shopping for the f

Kansas City, MO, USA Thursday. Early this morning I did some scouting for Harry V. He is going to meet Ali in Roma for Valentine’s Day, and Ali’s birthday which is a few days after Valentine’s Day. We fondly remember the Il Giardino di Albino is Roma near Piazza Barberini. The front of the restaurant looks like nothing. It is only about 3 meters wide. You can only see two tables. When you walk in you still can’t see anything other than the two tables and the podium for th

Kansas City, MO, USA Wednesday. It is cold but it is neither raining no snowing. Again, not much going on today. The cleaners will be at the house from 11:00 to 13:00. Then the chef stops by and prepares dinner. They have a chef prepare them three dinners a week, in a normal week. Tonight, she is just preparing fajitas, cilantro lime rice, ranchero beans, chimichurri steak with simmer sauce, pollo asada, Smokey chili shrimp, pico de gallo, guacamole, all served with tortill

Kansas City, MO, USA Tuesday and our first entire day in Kansas City. Nothing special going on today. I was scheduled to drive Grace to Columbia, Missouri but Riya’s, Graces friend, mom decided to let her take the car. Much easier on me. I did pick-up Starbucks for Oliver, George & Grace this morning. I hung out at the house while Mary had a few video calls to make. I did pick-up dinner from Pizza Tascio out on Waldo. It is a six-store chain here in KC. This one is new an

Santiago, Chile > Kansas City, MO, USA Travel Day(s). It all starts with an 08:00 tour of the Maipo Valley. Our flight isn’t until 22:50 tonight so rather than spend the day in the hotel it was decided we should take a day trip to the Maipo Valley. The region is particularly famous for its Cabernet Sauvignon wines, but we aren’t going wine tasting. We are going for the history and apparently stunning scenery in the foothills of the Andes Mountains. The valley is about an

Santiago, Chile Mary had closed the drapes last night, apparently in an effort to reduce the music from the area below our window. This kept the sun at bay, and when I woke up at 05:30 it was dark in the room. I showered and got dressed then went down to the restaurant just off the lobby for breakfast. Simply a cappuccino and brioche, and a cappuccino to go for Mary. I arrived back in the room just before it went 08:00. We are to meet Susan and Richard in the lobby at 09

Puerto Williams > Puerto Arenas > Santiago, Chile Up at and them at 05:40. We are supposed to be in the Arts Café ready to go at 06:05. We got there with sufficient time for me to order a cappuccino and grab one of the pint-sized blueberry muffins. 6:05 came and went. Apparently there was some issue with the off loading of the luggage. Finally, about 06:30 we are loaded into the buses and head for the airport. 07:00 we arrive at the airport. Now the departure time on our

Antarctica > Puerto Williams, Chile Good morning. This our last full day aboard the Silver Sea Endeavor. I got up and went down for my cappuccino and brioche at 06:30. Brought Mary back a cappuccino and a blue berry muffin (they are little, tiny things). Just after 08:20 we went to to the Grill and had breakfast, our first and last on this cruise. Eggs Benedict. They were excellent. After breakfast we came back and packed. The bags must be out after dinner tonight. I took

Antarctica > Puerto Williams, Chile 02:43, sunrise. We are in the Drake Passage. The ship is doing its rock-n-roll thing. Nearly fell out of bed. We will be traversing the passage all day today and most of the day tomorrow. We are scheduled to arrive in Puerto Williams at 22:00 on Thursday. I was able to go back to sleep until 06:00 when I got up and got dressed and headed down to the Arts Café. The Daily Chronicles suggests a few things to do today. Wildlife Watch, lectu

Antarctica Morning Morning. Sunrise 02:31, Sunny 23:31. Three hours of semi-darkness. We arrived at Charlotte Bay this morning just before it has gone 07:00. This morning we have the pleasure of being in the first grouping of Zodiacs off the ship beginning at 07:30, there are four groups ahead of us, so it really means we’ll probably leave the ship closer to 08:30 than 07:30. Today’s zodiac ride is around Charlotte Bay. It is 0° C (32° F). The weather for today is betwe

Antarctica Morning Morning. We are expected to arrive at Danco Island, or Oslo Dedo, this morning about 07:45. Isla Dedo lies at 64°42′S 62°36′W in the Errera Channel between the west coast of Graham and Rongé Island. It was discovered by Adrien de Gerlache between 1897 and 1899. He named the feature in honor of Léo Errera, a professor at the University of Brussels and a member of the Belgica Commission. Why is this important? Well, Adrien de Gerlache led the Belgica Ant

Antarctica Sunday Morning. Slept until 06:30. The last three hours have been difficult to sleep. The sun was up high in the sky and it was very bright in the cabin. It could be just the excitement of the possibility of going ashore this morning. Zodiac Group 4, that is us, are going to start boarding at 08:45. We were supposed to arrive at Mikkelsen Harbor at 06:45, but that has passed and the ship is still moving. However, the sea looks as smooth as a lake. Mikkelsen...

Sailing the Drake Passage > arrival at the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica Saturday Morning. Slept until 06:30. The rocking of the ship seems to provide some comfort while sleeping. It was still rocking pretty well when I woke up. This morning I decided to use one of the scopolamine patches. I don’t think the rocking is bothering me, but I want to be awake for everything today. It is -1C (30F) this morning and snowing. As I make my way to the Arts Café for my cappuccin

Sailing South through the Drake Passage Friday Morning. Early this morning I was jolted awake by what sounded like breaking glass. More than half asleep I realized we must be in the rough seas of the passage because I could feel the movement of the ship. It is then I realized that a teacup had fallen on the floor and broken. It apparently has rolled off the edge of the dresser. Nothing I could do about it, so I went back to sleep. It had just gone 05:45 when I woke up. It

Puerto Williams, Chile > Sailing to the Garibaldi Fjord Thursday Morning. We have spent the whole night cruising northwest up the Beagle Channel to the Garibaldi Fjord. The stunningly beautiful fjord is situated in the southern part of Chilean Patagonia within the Alberto de Agostini National Park, part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. At the head of the fjord is the massive, but shrinking, tidewater Garibaldi Glacier. Surely you have the same question I did. What is a ti

Puerto Williams, Chile Wednesday Morning. Sitting at the dock of the bay….. Ok, sitting in the Arts Café on the very nice cruise ship, sipping a cappuccino and enjoying a brioche, by the dock on Beagle Channel at the “fin del Mundo”. The only way life could be better is if we were underway to Antarctica, however weather has come in giving us three-four-meter waves, make passage right now impossible. Safety first is ok with us. Breakfast is the Arts Café. Much like the Reg