Travels of THB: Day 2: Puerto Madryn

Day 2: Puerto Madryn

El Sombrero was not open at lunch or dinner (on a Saturday night!)

Weather: Cool and overcast, then clearing and very cold and breezy in the late afternoon, actually warmer at 9:45 pm when we were walking home from dinner

(cruise) Stats Of The Day: 108 people, 8 nationalities, 100 free wifi minutes and then you pay for usage (unless on ship’s computers), and maybe 40 people at the briefing tonight (which was over in 15 minutes)

THB on the road to ruin: caffeine for breakfast (and wine at lunch and dinner)

Rice pudding

Breakfast at hotel (included, as is room, for two nights…considered part of the cruise). Buffet is nothing special except if you have a craving for rice pudding, which you can sprinkle with cinnamon.

One last purchase: 2 pairs of hopefully waterproof gloves

We meet the local Polar Latitudes on-shore support person, Sarah. Here’s how {ed note: total filler, delete from here to next paragraph}: she’s at the table next to ours, sharing a meal with an elderly couple (you know the type, same age as THB, probably cruisers), looks to be in her early to mid 30s, fit. Some woman (our age? older?) comes over and interrupts their breakfast to ask this younger person a question. The room appears to full of people getting ready for an 8am hiking excursion; they don’t look like cruisers since a lot of them are wearing shorts (wait, so was the old guy at this younger person’s table) and have hiking poles, and jump up at around 7:40am to hit the trails (or at least get on a tour bus). Pretty soon it is just us and Sarah. We introduce ourselves and she explains that she was having breakfast with her parents, they are not taking the cruise, they are from N. Carolina and on their way to Ushuaia to help babysit Sarah’s 1 year old son as this is her busy period with the cruising season starting.

Not our ship (or else we've "missed the boat" again)

We dawdle til around 10am and walk the town to find extra needles for a project DB is working on. Much circling round, a few questions to ask for directions (one helpful, sort of, one not helpful at all) and finally, around 2 blocks from the hotel and maybe 45 minutes later, we find the yarn store which of course has just what DB needs. Big success: helped kill a morning and gave an idea of what the touristy part of town and nearby environs is like.

THB is on the path to ruin: a bottle of very decent Argentine wine is less than the cost of a glass of mediocre wine in the US

Rice with scallops accompanied by packets of Parmesan cheese

seafood stew: all seafood all the time

Nearby diners enjoying ice cubes in their wine glasses

Lunch at Bistro de Mar Nautico where we share a solid bowl of fresh seafood (seafood stew? no shells) in a mild, slightly salty tomato based broth, local scallops in Spanish rice, and drink half a bottle of Torrontes (we order a full bottle, they don’t sell wine by the glass), and a bottle of agua sin gas, $34. Probably $120 – 150 at a Bay Area bistro. We notice several tables where twosomes have ordered a bottle of red wine and are drinking it with ice cubes added. THB guesses white wine doesn’t come with ice cubes because it is already chilled.

THB and DB do a bit more recreational shopping: more needles, another pair of waterproof gloves for each of us (if you ever need waterproof gloves, we’re the couple for you!), and some gift items.

Sarah leads a briefing at the hotel at 6pm; as one of the women in the elevator said: it lived up to its name…we were in and out of the briefing in around 15 minutes. A few of the questions were helpful: start your anti-seasickness stuff early rather than later (wait, this was one of the answers! The answers were helpful); checkout of the hotel is 10am; be on the bus at 2pm sharp even though you’ll be able to see the boat at the pier…we’re going through passport control and it works better if we embark as a group.

Interior of El Amendro

Apertif offered (and offer accepted) by maitress d

Patagonian Pinot (very nice after opening up a bit)

First course: Grilled pulpo salad....one small piece of pulpo and a few small aspargi

Squash with quinoa

Hake rolled with bread crumb "stuffing" (very dry)

15 minute walk to dinner at El Amendro, highly recommended. Turns out to be more form than content: the food looked pretty, didn’t particularly live up to its own culinary expectations. A bottle of excellent Patagonian Pinot Noir, agua sin gas, $50 with tip. Funny thing: they were fancy, the cruise “what to do in Puerto Madryn” letter called it a steak and wine place, and the menu seemed a polyglot of Italian and Spanish and meat.

Pics from around town:

Not our ship