Ushuaia: Day 1

So we arrived after our late night/early morning flight into Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, the southern most tip of Argentina, where we will board the ship tomorrow afternoon. The flight was again, thankfully, without incident, unless you count the movie screen not descending properly an incident.  As it was, the three of us slept for most of the flight.  After a beautiful pass over the mountains we arrived in Ushuaia, checked into our hotel which is perched beautifully on the hillside overlooking the bay, had breakfast, read the welcome letter provided by Quark, the travel company,  and decided to hike up the mountain to the glacier park.  After a 40 minute hike (Push and Sue are pictured below on the road to the park) we took a chairlift up the mountain where I proceeded to have a lovely nap in the sunshine on a park bench while Sue and Push continued on up the trail toward the glacier.

                   On the way up to the glacier park


 Although they never actually touched ice, they did say the walk was refreshing and provided a spectacular view (also pictured below). 

                    The view from the glacier park


Then it was tea in a very cozy teahouse which looked like it belonged in a country inn in rural Quebec.  Then back to the hotel for a quick hot tub and nap.  After, we had our first briefing from Marcello, our Quark representative here in Ushuaia.  He gave us the low down on the embarkation procedure tomorrow: leave bags in the lobby clearly marked with our baggage tags, meet at the parking lot (clearly indicated on our map), board the bus with the other passengers, and proceed to the port to board the ship.  Touch wood, but he certainly makes it seem simple and straightforward.    Then in the evening  a really nice dinner at a restaurant we happened across on our way up to the glacier, called Chez Manu www.chezmanu.com which provided fresh local king crab and a variety of locally raised meats - delicioso!  And speaking of restaurants, I forgot to give the website of the fantastic restaurant we went to in Buenos Aires - Happening.  Everyone we have spoken to mentioned that they were told to try it, and since we actually did and loved it, I think it bears giving the website:  http://buenos-aires.restorando.com.ar/restaurante/happening-costanera-norte?gclid=CNP2s73-lK4CFYpR7AodsB4aJg Then it was back to the hotel and tomorrow up in time to check out, get our luggage labelled and off to the ship, and then some time to kill perhaps at the local naval museum - little known fact:  Ushuaia was originally a penal colony where the inmates actually built the prison themselves.  In fact, it was a very successful prison because there was literally nowhere to escape- you are on the southern most tip of the continent surrounded by mountains - where would you go?  Marcello told us there was only one successful escape in the time the prison was in operation, and that was because this prisoner had a ship waiting.  Unfortunately for him, he was caught later in Chile - so the moral of the story is......In any case, the former prison is now the naval museum.  After that we board the ship and we are finally on our way.  So whereas before I said it felt like two trips in one, now, after experiencing the mountain today, it feels like three! And tomorrow we set sail.
Until then......