Below is a shot of our ship, the Viking Jupiter, as it lies docked in Valparaiso (Chile). Our final port of call is a quaint city built vertically from the sea. Its patchwork areay of streets are narrow and difficult to navigate. It has the feel of San Francisco but older, more worn, and a bit down on its luck. We were surprised that Santiago, the capital, was yet another 75 miles inland.

We arrived at our final port of call after one last day at sea. I was struck with a bit of nostalgia and even regret that the shifting panoramic scenes outside our veranda would soon be at an end. At the same time, there was an awareness that it was time to go home. A few more days of gorging on the endless array of culinary delicacies laid before us and they would have to pry me into the airline seat. Alas, I see a diet in my immediate future.

The going home process is never easy. We forced ourselves to arise very early on Sunday, the 21st. After mustering off the ship according to a remarkably orderly logistical plan, Viking put all of us with orange 4 tags on a bus to Santiago. After an almost 2 hour trip, we would have a whole day to wait for our Delta 11:00 PM departure that evening. We could have squeezed one more tour in but chose to wait in a luxurious Radisson hotel lounge area reserved for us instead. They fed us snacks and drinks throughout the day.

By the way, you could stay in the President’s suite at the Radisson when you are in town. It will only cost you some $2,500 per night … before taxes. I have no idea what you get for this princely sum, never having experienced such luxury.

We did walk around the area of Santiago adjacent to the hotel. That area had a distinctly different feel from what we experienced in Buenos Aries or Montevideo. Frankly, it looked like any American city. We soon found ourselves in an area of upscale restaurants and a retail mall that would rival any that might be found in the states (and I have been to the Mall of America on numerous occasions).

On thinking about it, this may have been a good way to segue from charming South America back into the more sterile, if convenient, environment that awaited us back home. Perhaps that was the plan from the beginning.

Anyway, after the usual airport crush of international travel and almost 12 hours on airplanes, we were back in Madison. We knew we were back to reality when the brash 25 degree air hit us outside the Madison airport. What happened to the high 80s we had enjoyed just the day before.

I must be old. I’ve been sleeping a lot since returning. Travel never tired me out as much in my prime. Still, we have all these great memories to recall 😀, like the distant past when I was in my prime 😞. They all will remain part of us, the good and the not so good.