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Whales and Seals and Penguins – Oh My!

Posted on February 1, 2020February 2, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 28, Grand World Voyage 2020 Friday, Jan. 31, 2020; Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica If we were thrilled to be in Antarctica yesterday, today was simply stunning. I awoke at 4 a.m. and saw the sun hitting a distant mountain. The days start early and end late. By the time I

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2020 Grand World Voyage
6 comments

Arriving at the Bottom of the World

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 27, Grand World Voyage 2020 Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020; South Shetland Islands, Antarctica When I considered booking this cruise, I gave some serious thought as to whether an “Antarctic Experience” would satisfy my desire to visit this continent. Holland America was clear from the start that we would not

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2020 Grand World Voyage
3 comments

Falkland Islands from the Ship

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 25, Grand World Voyage 2020 Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020; Port Stanley, Falkland Islands We made it to the Falkland Islands this morning, but only to the harbor. Shortly after arriving, the captain announced that the local harbormaster had closed the harbor for our small tenders, deeming conditions too rough

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2020 Grand World Voyage
6 comments

¡Feliz Cumpleaños! – Montevideo Style

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 22, Grand World Voyage 2020 Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020; Montevideo, Uruguay Today we celebrated my sister Elaine’s birthday with a leisurely day in Montevideo, Uruguay, and a lively Chinese New Year celebration on the Amsterdam. A trio of birthday cards from our travel agent, travel hosts and the captain

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2020 Grand World Voyage
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Enjoying the Fruits of Argentina

Posted on January 25, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 21, Grand World Voyage 2020 Friday, Jan. 24, 2020; Buenos Aires, Argentina Think of Malbec and you’re likely to think of Argentina. Yes, this hearty red grape originated in the Bordeaux region of France, but now it is mostly grown in Argentina. So today we enjoyed a great Kaiken

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2020 Grand World Voyage
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Olive Oil Tasting in Uruguay

Posted on January 24, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 20, Grand World Voyage 2020 Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020; Punta del Este, Uruguay When Anthony Bourdain traveled the world for his No Reservations show on CNN, he usually found time to gather with friends old and new around a table — eating, drinking and laughing. These are some of

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2020 Grand World Voyage
6 comments

Everyone’s Writing a Blog

Posted on January 23, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 19, Grand World Voyage 2020 Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020; At Sea I hear there are 6 million travel blogs. At least a dozen of them originate on this cruise. There must be something that urges some of us to write. I know I spend about two to three hours

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2020 Grand World Voyage
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The Next Best Thing to Carnival in Rio

Posted on January 22, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 17, Grand World Voyage 2020 Monday, Jan. 20, 2020; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil I’ll admit I wasn’t excited to get up early this morning to take the cable car to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. I wasn’t sure how I felt about cable cars. Sometimes heights give me the

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2020 Grand World Voyage
5 comments

Copacabana! Ipanema! It’s Rio!

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 16, Grand World Voyage 2020 Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Our first view of Rio de Janeiro came early on Sunday morning as the Amsterdam sailed past Sugarloaf Mountain into Guanabara Bay. The captain invited passengers to enjoy the iconic sail-in from the open bow on

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2020 Grand World Voyage
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Breathing the Air of Recife

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 13, Grand World Voyage 2020 Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020; Racife, Brazil What a pleasant surprise to see that our first selection in the World Cruise book club is The Air You Breath, by Frances De Pontes Peebles. I met Frances a little more than a year ago at her

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2020 Grand World Voyage
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