Polartec fleece, long johns, parka, woolly socks, sweaters, liner gloves, hat, extra hat...( Read more... )

I imagine that unhappy experiences have led to the booking agent for Hotel Skt. Petri in Copenhagen including this postscript on the email sent to me confirming a change in my booking: "Please note that Bar Rouge at First Hotel Skt Petri is one of the most popular cocktail bars in Copenhagen, resulting in an extraordinary buzz and music especially during Friday and Saturday nights until 2 am."

Fully appreciating the implications, I have made us all happier by booking into another hotel. It is better to visit one of the most popular cocktail bars in any city than to lodge above it.

I made a list of the loose ends for myself today; before that I was relying on a giant itinerary with bits marked on it that needed to be booked, or investigated, or whatever. There are more things on the list than I thought there would be, mainly because the time has come to stop doing research and start making firm bookings with hotels and the like. ( Read more... )

The schedules settled down and I felt confident enough to spend the money on airline tickets. Up till now everything's been reservations and refundable deposits. What a difference a credit card charge makes. ( Read more... )

The critical moment in the whole trip is the arrival in Ushuaia.

The Fram is supposed to arrive in Ushuaia on November 23. Originally it was scheduled to arrive November 22.

On December 1, the Kapitan Khlebnikov leaves from Port Stanley in the Falklands.

There is no direct way from anywhere in Argentina to the Falklands. (A continued hissy fit of dick-waving by Argentine government is responsible for this dim-sighted policy.)

LAN has one flight a week hopping down Chile's long spine, beginning in Santiago. It stops in Punta Arenas and then goes on to Port Stanley (Mount Pleasant is the airport name). That week's flight is on November 24.

So, if the Fram is late, apparently I'll miss the only way there is to get to the Falklands.

My idea of this week-long interlude was that I would go to Buenos Aires and indulge in wine, steak, cafes, and opera, but as the Argentine government does not want me to do this, I'l have to fly to Punta Arenas as soon as the Fram lands, to wait overnight there for the flight to Mount Pleasant.

In an especially fine fillip of scheduling, the times of the flights are exactly arranged to make it impossible to do this in one day. The flight from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas arrives at 16:15. The flight from Punta Arenas to Mount Pleasant leaves at 13:15.

I am calling the Norwegian Coastal Voyage people to find out whether they have additional scheduling changes in mind.