Day 6: Guanaco Pass

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Updated: March 28, 2025

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The sun was fully up before we were this morning. With a late departure of 10:00 am, we got to sleep in and leisurely enjoy some coffee before breakfast.

Breakfast was served

The hike for today is to Guanaco Pass. To reach the start of the hike, we drove about 30 minutes back north towards Patience Valley. We parked, got ready, did our stretches and started the hike. There are no set trails here, so Matias & Matias gave us the chance to act as guides and figure out what route to take along the way. Sort of like a choose-your-own-adventure hiking book — Oh no! You selected the wrong switchback and have fallen off a steep ledge. The End.

Ready to find the right path

Jen took the first turn leading. The terrain was rocky (a combination of small, medium, and large rocks), with large patches of a soft plant called yareta. The plant grows very slowly (about 1 cm per year) and can be used as fuel because it burns slowly. In some areas of Chile, such as Atacama, they are protected, but here in Tierra del Fuego they are abundant and quite nice to walk on.

Scouting the trail

Yareta plants are common in this area

Closeup vegetation

Once Jen had enough of leading, it was Jo’s turn. With Matt as assistant guide, we made our way up the pass. There were lagoons (stand alone small bodies of water) and lakes (small bodies of water with a connection to the ocean) along the way. There were also lots of fun rocks to find.

In America, you have eagle eye. In Chile, you have condor eye

Jo marking our path to the top

Just a couple of Patagonian guides now

15 million year old Reece’s peanut butter rock

We made it to the top of the pass where there was a great view of the valleys on each side. After taking pictures, we had a snack of soup and delicious fudge brownies as we enjoyed the view.

Matts cubed

Latest entry in our summit flag series

The view is… alright

Group shot

As always, the way down was much faster. Matias Guide led the way and couldn’t resist dumping out his half-filled water bottle, just so he could collect a few sips of this delicious (presumably) water. We quickly made it back to the car and drove a few minutes down the road to a nice spot for lunch.

Heading back down

Nature’s water fountain

The views are still… alright

There were a herd of guanacos nearby that retreated into the forest upon our arrival. We ate our canisters and drank Patagonian beers (Calafate Ales). We spotted some condors flying above and learned that while they may fly solo, many condors live together in… condorminiums. You’re welcome for the second condor joke of the blog.

Lunch view

Guanaco parade

When we were full, we drove back to the estancia and arrived at about 3:30 pm. We had time to nap and relax before meeting up again with the group to visit the museum on the property and meet the owners. Don Germán explained the history of this estancia as well as the creation of the roads in the area, which — because they were build with his consultation — is the reason the canyon is named after him.

Quite the Rigamarole!

The keys are ornamental at the end of the world

After the museum visit, we went back to the main cabin for dinner and our briefing for tomorrow – a hike in Yendegaia National Park. Before falling asleep, we also realized there were no clouds (or moon) in the sky to detract from a bit of star-gazing.

Good to see you again, Southern Cross!

Today’s turndown note… The South of the Continent: “Where the continent ends and the remote becomes evident, we encounter the beauty of the untamed.”

Day 5: Fiordo Parry

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Updated: March 28, 2025

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Today we take to the fjords! The journey starts with a 6:30 am wake-up call and grabbing a quick breakfast snack before leaving at 7:00 am. The van ride took about 30 minutes driving west from Lake Fagnano, across the river, and terminating in estancia Caleta Maria — the literal end of the road.

Sunrise on Lake Fagnano (100km long)

Matias squared

End of the Road

Our new home for the day was a snappy red, 60-foot, sight-seeing boat named the Alakush. It was anchored a short walk down the beach along the side of the bay. We used a small raft/zodiac craft to board the Alakush in few trips.

There’s our boat!

Upon boarding, we found a cozy indoor cabin, a top deck, and narrow walkways along the side to navigate both levels. More importantly, we immediately enacted Operation: Don’t Get Seasick! We were told that the first portion of the day would be choppy (heading west out of the Azopardo Bay), then we would get to calmer waters (once we turned south into Fiordo Parry) — at which point a full breakfast would be served.

Fiordo Parry party planner

As promised, the first part was indeed choppy. There was too much wind and spray from hitting the waves to stand outside, so we were all in the cabin. Jo was not feeling great, and tried valiantly to meditate/sleep through the rough patch. Once we found the ‘calm’ waters, we ventured up to the top deck. There were lovely views and it felt much better to be outside.

Captains of the Boat

At the southern end of Fiordo Parry, the winds picked up again as we approached and entered Fiordo Cuevas. The plan was to anchor, take the raft to land, go on a short hike up to a glacier, and return to the boat. Unfortunately, the waters were way too choppy to stop and disembark safely. There skies were clear, but too much wind.

The captain said he has never seen conditions like this. So… go us!?! Jo’s strategy for this section of Operation: Don’t Get Seasick! was to sit on the top deck, wind and water spray be dammed. Major shoutout to the Fjallraven Explora puffy coat that kept her warm and dry the entire time.

Tierra del Fuego car wash

Later, our guides hypothesized that today’s winds were something like a one-percent anomaly due to a disruption in the typical west-to-east high to low pressure mechanism — ie. perhaps it was TOO sunny and that warmed up the western side too quickly, allowing a south-to-north wind pattern to emerge and rush down the glaciers. Anyways… it was hella windy out there in the wrong direction.

The fjords are quite salty today

Without having to worry about a landing party expedition, we had time for more sightseeing. The captain drove slowly so we could enjoy the views of the mountains and glaciers surrounding us. We also had time to venture all the way to the end of Fiordo Parry to see the Darwin Glacier and several others — one of which should henceforth be called the Happy Glacier.

You get a glacier! (Luis de Saboya)

And you get a glacier! (Nuevo Zealandia)

EVERY… BODY… GETS.. (Cuevas)

A GLACIER (Cuevas)

Check out how happy this glacier is!

Amid the rocking waves near the glaciers, the staff managed to fish a huge chunk of glacier ice out of the water that we were able to break apart and use for dinks. Jo’s strategy for this section of Operation: Don’t Get Seasick! was sitting along side the helm in the shelter of the captain’s cabin.

Bandera hanging on by a thread

Made it to Darwin Glacier

Once we turned around and headed back north, we found traveling with the wind (and the waves) was slightly more pleasant. We ducked into a protected cove where the boat crew tethered us to pre-established lines and we ate lunch free of the boat rocking and swerving all over the place. Having skipped the full breakfast (so it wasn’t immediately returned), we were hungry for some food.

Piscola with real glacier ice

After lunch, we sailed the rest of the way out of Fiordo Parry, turned east and headed back toward estancia Caleta Maria. It was definitely a calmer ride on the way back, but there was still some rocking. Jo’s final strategy for Operation: Don’t Get Seasick! was to sleep again for an hour before sitting on the top deck with Matt for the rest of the ride (it was dry this time). We enjoyed the views and the calmer weather.

Smoother sailing with the wind

Fin Fiordo

We disembarked back onto the raft, which delivered us to the beach. We walked back along the shoreline toward the van while collecting some beach rocks and shells. Because of the schedule changes on the board, we made it back to estancia Lago Fagnano a bit earlier than originally expected and had time to walk over and see the lakeshore. Some excellent rock-skipping opportunities, but otherwise it was getting cloudy and a hot shower sounded better than grey skies.

Hello, Captain… I want to go on land!

Jo relieved to be back on solid ground with cool rocks.

Everyone met up for drinks, appetizers, and dinner at 7:00 pm. Alexis served the best Chilean sea bass we’ve ever eaten. Roberto gave us our plan for tomorrow – a relaxing day with a 4km hike to a summit/lookout point. A couple more Pisco Sours and off to bed we go!

Today’s turndown note… Darwin Mountain Range: “And then emerged the Mountains, the end of the Andes Mountain Range, just before the land ends. They gifted us their splendor with their masses of ice; possibly ephemeral.”

Day 4: Pietro Grande

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Updated: March 28, 2025

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Waking up after our one-night stay at Hosteria Lengas, we packed our bags, enjoyed a scrambled egg breakfast, and headed out at 9:30 am. We drove back out via the very long ‘driveway’ carved into the hillside amongst the Lenga trees (aka. Deciduous Beech). We hooked back up with the main road, and continued towards our hiking destination for the day.

On the way, we drove through Pampa Guanaco – a town with a population of 100 people (and many more guanacos) where our team leader Matias once needed to make an emergency stop ~20 years ago and was offered refuge at the local police station. If we continued east, we’d soon hit the Chile-Argentina border, but we turned right and continued south.

Public enemy No. 1 in Tierra del Fuego

Our hike was in a transition zone between two ecosystems – Patagonian steppe and Andean forest. We entered Karukinka Park, a natural (but not National) park. After registering at the gate, we parked the van and started the hike to Cerro Pietro Grande. The first part was a nice walk through the steppe. We spotted a whole bunch of guanacos, a variety of mushrooms, and plenty of evidence of lumber harvesting from the mid-twentieth century.

Pietro Grande game plan

Remnants of early 20th century development

Along the edge of the Pampa is another Lengas forest. We entered and immediately felt warmer. We were protected from the wind and the cover of the trees helped trap some heat. This forest is also home to Canadian beavers, which were probably introduced in Argentina for purposes of the fur trade, but now are an ecological problem. Beavers are evolutionarily predisposed to hate the sound of running water. When they hear it, they immediately get to work to stop it. This causes changes in the landscape, flooding areas of the forest, and killing the trees (unlike in North America where the topsoil layer is deeper).

Entering beaver paradise

Beaver paradise

Along the hike in the forest, we stopped to marvel at all the different mushrooms we could find, even tasting one that wouldn’t kill us — according to Matias —the tasty digueñe mushroom.

Matias Guide foraging for lunch

Digueñe mushrooms

We saw some guanacos in the forest as well. Typically, guanacos only live in the steppe because they need visibility to protect themselves from pumas and other predators. Since there are no pumas on Tierra del Fuego, the guanacos roam farther and more freely than usual, including forest terrain. (P.S. We don’t have to worry about trying to see any pumas on this trip.)

The first half of the forest portion was a gradual ascent. When we arrived at a lookout point, we stopped for lunch. More Explora soup!

Obligatory camping chair photo

From there, the trail got more steep — alternating between steps and dirt ramps. At this point, Ann decided she should head down and went back with Matias. Jen, Jon, Matt, Jo, and Matias Guide kept on going towards the summit.

Gonna be windy from here on up

Eventually, we hiked high beyond the tree line, where the wind really kicked up. At the base of the final summit push, Jen and Jon decided to stop and wait (wisely retreating to the forest line for a little bit of protection) while Jo, Matt, and Matias went to the summit. It was a steep section of rocky switchbacks with strong winds, but we crushed it. At the summit, the winds were even stronger. We braced ourselves with our hiking poles to keep from being knocked over. We spent a few minutes at the top enjoying the view.

Hello, Mica!

Wind surfing

Looking down from the top

When we were ready, we headed down the same trail and met up with Jen and Jon to continue together. The sun was shining for most of the descent, and the weather was quite pleasant.

Back in the shelter of the trees

When we arrived at the van, we celebrated with a drink and food.

Post-hike celebratory cerveza

We drove about two hours further south to Estancia Fagnano where we will spend the rest of our time on Tierra del Fuego. The drive traversed Patience Valley which meant many switchbacks on the way down, many switchbacks on the way up, and many GREAT views.

Patience Valley

Worth the wait

See Norway… It’s not that hard!!!

The estancia has three cabins, and we were shown our cozy accommodations. Our cabin has a small kitchen, dining room and three bedrooms. The dining/living room area has a wood burning furnace that provides heat. We had some time to settle in, shower, and relax before having a delicious steak dinner.

Cozy cabin stove

Today’s turndown note… Pampa and Wind: “The tragedy and celebration simultaneously experienced in the Magellanic region is the wind. My memory of Magallanes is primarily auditory: that of an immense wind. The wind is like an old gentleman of the region who has followed its whims and has been sacred and master of the plains”. — Gabriela Mistral

Day 3: Punta Areas to Las Lengas

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Updated: March 28, 2025

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The alarms went off at 6:00 am this morning – for breakfast at 7:00 am and boarding our ferry to Tierra del Fuego at 8:30 am. We were waking/packing up when Matias informed us the ferry was delayed by 30 minutes. Bonus half-hour of sleep!!! Plus a few extra moments to enjoy the sunrise from our balcony.

Morninghawks

We headed downstairs and the music playing in the restaurant reminded us that Chile is the land of (typically) well-produced cover songs — typically pop songs with a genre twist. This morning we got some female acoustic Coldplay followed by big band Dua Lipa. It’s a bit like the Celebrity Jeopardy clues where Johnny reads the lyrics and you try to figure out the song. Anyways, we ate our breakfast, drank our cappuccinos, and loaded into the van for the ferry.

All aboard!

Matias Guide (who also does the driving for the guest van) dropped us off and waited in line as the rest of us walked onto the boat. While getting settled, expedition coordinator Roberto arrived. Roberto was one of our guides in Torres del Paine in 2019, and is now Explora’s Director of Explorations. We caught each other up on the last six years while we waited for the ferry to depart!

Hi, Mica!!

Once we were on our way, we went outside to enjoy the sunshine and cool breeze on the deck. We even spotted some whales off in the distance. The entire team of staff and guests got together to introduce ourselves. In addition to the five guests and the two guides, we now have with us: Ema – hospitality and server, Alexandra – housekeeping, Alberto – driver, Alexis – chef, Sebastian – manager, and Roberto who is filling in for Sebastian when he leaves for the birth of his child tomorrow. I guess that’s a good enough reason to leave.

So long, mainland Chile!

The weather was beautiful, so we spent the rest of the two-hour ferry ride outside on the deck. We docked in Porvenir which has a population of about 6,900 people. Matias Guide took us on a driving tour of the town, which only took about 10 minutes. On the way out, we stopped at an overlook with a monument to the native Selk’nam people and the Hain ceremony where the boys became men.

Indigenous spirit power rankings as explained by Matias Guide

Our drive continued south along the coast, circling an area they call Useless Bay, named because it is too shallow for boats. However, it is also too shallow for large marine animals, making it perfect for penguins!!!

A colony of penguins lives in an area along the bay. Back in the day, before a conservation area was established to protect the penguins, the guides said some people would pull dumb pranks like grabbing a penguin and driving off with it until the penguin started causing understandable trouble, prompting said morons to leave the penguins on the side of the road. This was obviously bad, hence a reserve was established to protect them.

When in Pinguino Bay…

Found the colony! About 100 strong

Penguin scoping penguins

Close up

The reserve is home to King penguins (and apparently one crested penguin from New Zealand named Hugo that somehow made his way here). Adult King penguins have orange around their heads and on their chests, while juveniles (5-6 years and younger) are all black and white, and the babies are brown and fuzzy. We spent about thirty minutes observing the penguins from the lookout hut before having a traditional Explora lunch (soup!).

Penguin park lunch

Bye penguin friends!

Next stop was Estancia Cameron, a 100,000-hectare ranch with three sectors. We visited the first sector, known for its sheep bearding and shearing. They raise the sheep, shear them, and sell the raw wool. We learned a bit about the process and different types of wool that the sheep have. Most importantly, we met Pillio, the four-year-old border collie. Pillio means naughty boy in Spanish, but that’s preposterous, he was clearly a very good boy.

Thoughts on wool economics, hunting politics, and the best sheep-herding dogs

Good boy!!!

Finally, we drove to our lodging for the night, Estancia Las Lengas. The drive took about an hour and a half, most of it through the other two sectors of Estancia Cameron. We crossed into the Guanaco Pampa area, which is in the Selk’nam territory, in the district Timaukel (no longer in the Porvenir district). The population here is only 300. Everything is very spread out and we didn’t see many other people. Perfect!

We followed a windy dirt road for 11 kilometers off the main dirt road, through a lenga forest until we arrived at the lodge. We settled into our room, and Matt walked to the nearby Lake Blanco.

Our cabins for the night

What’s up, dock?

Tierra del Fuego vibes

Windswept coastline

The group met up at 7:30 pm for the briefing and appetizers (and wine, obviously) before heading to dinner. With the lodge in such a remote area, electricity is provided via a generator, and lights (and internet) are only promised until ~11:00 pm. Looks like the camping lantern we brought will come in handy!

Briefing for tomorrow’s plan

Tomorrow we leave Estancia Lengas and head to Estancia Fagnano with a 11km hike along the way.

Day 2: Santiago to Punta Arenas

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Updated: March 28, 2025

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First order of the day — early wake up and walk across the street back to SCL. We arrived by 6:30 am and checked our bags. The airport is currently undergoing construction to improve the domestic terminal (much needed!), so we followed a long meandering path from Terminal 1 security to reach our gate in Terminal 2. Once we made it, we found our trusty Pacific Club lounge from previous visits and grabbed some espresso and breakfast before the flight.

Long walk from our hotel room window to the airport

On this flight, we did not have fancy first class seats. After the sweet taste of first class life on yesterday’s fight to Santiago, we attempted to use LATAM’s “make a bid to upgrade option” and get our fix. Alas, despite placing a bid and winning, it turns out there were actually no upgrades available. Thanks for the bidding practice, LATAM! The good news is our lowly peasant seats were exit row seats in Row 11, so we lived for the three-and-a-half-hour flight to Punta Arenas — which included a nice view of Torres del Paine along the way (we were there in 2019).

Torres del Paine “W”

Waiting for us at PUQ on arrival were our main guides for this trip – a trip leader/lead guide, and an assistant guide. They are both named Matias, the leader is Matias Alamo and the guide is called Matias Weber —- who we will refer to as Matias Guide in this blog. And Matt, well, is still Matt. Matias met us in the airport and we waited for the other couple who arrived on the same flight – Jen and Johnathon from Australia. We went to the car where Matias Guide was waiting to drive us to the hotel.

The ride was about 30 minutes to La Yegua Loca hotel. We checked in and met the fifth and final guest, Ann, who arrived the day before. We had the afternoon free and decided to first have lunch at the hotel restaurant before exploring the town. We shared salmon ceviche, traditional empanadas and a flight of pisco sours. We already knew about the deliciousness of Calafate Sours, but now have a close second with the Carmenere Sour – a wine based pisco sour.

Hello again Punta Arenas!

Why you gotta call the Lady Horse crazy???

All the sours are delicious

After lunch, we took an afternoon stroll across town and stopped at a couple shops. No dice on the perfect magnet yet, but we did get a lapis lazuli stone penguin to continue Jo’s new tradition of stone animals from travels (see malachite lion from Tanzania and amethyst parrot from Brazil). Sure, we haven’t actually seen any penguins yet, but they’re on the agenda for tomorrow.

Picking a penguin

From there, we continued to the town square and revisited our favorite Magellan statue — this time reading the plaque dedication and roman numerals like champions (thanks Rocky!).

Still Gellan! Dr. Scholl’s 4 life.

After that, we headed east toward the city cemetery per Matis Guide’s recommendation. The trees on the grounds are the main attraction (aside from the headstones), because they have been trimmed over the years to resemble very large bushes (aka. large round gumdrops). We walked around for a bit before wandering back to the hotel. We stopped in a few shops along the way back, including Patagonia Moda, a combo Target, Party City, Homegoods store.

Wild dogs of Punta Arenas

Double-take on this fence-painting guy’s water bottle

Back to La Yegua Loca on the hill

Horsing-around is tolerated here

Back at the hotel at 5:30 pm, we met with the group for our first Explora briefing. The Matias duo gave us an overview of the history of Punta Arenas/Tierra del Fuego and told us what to expect on this trip. Even though this is not an Explora lodge, there was no shortage of appetizers and Calafate Sours all around.

Cheers, team! (L to R: Matias, Matias, Jen, Jon, Ann)

The weather forecast looks great, fingers crossed

After the briefing, we moved into the dinning room for dinner all together. We ate and drank while we chatted and got to know each other. Eventually, we had eaten as much as we could and went back up to our rooms for the night. Tomorrow, we leave early to hop a ferry to the island of Tierra del Fuego.

Dinner time

Day 1: Chicago to Santiago

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Updated: March 28, 2025

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We’re off again on another spring break adventure. This time, we are embarking on Explora’s ‘Expedition’ to Tierra del Fuego — which will involve traveling between remote areas with rural accommodations. First step… getting there!

Dodging severe thunderstorms out of Chicago

During the planning phase, we decided to repeat the flight strategy we used last time we came to Chile: take a direct flight from O’Hare to São Paulo, then take LATAM to Santiago. Our flight out of Chicago was not until 10:00 pm on Wednesday, so we were not in a huge rush. Jo is close to the blue line at work, so we left around 4:30 pm. The timing worked out great as we got on the L a few minutes before the skies turned dark and started pouring again.

Pointing… rain or shine

The airport was relatively quiet, and we made it through security quickly. But, as the storms caused delays, certain areas started to get crowded — mainly the lounges. This time, we were flying United and so were leaving from Terminal 1. With no Priority Pass lounges to reject us, we opted to use the two United one-time lounge passes we get each year. In typical fashion, the United Lounge was not accepting one-time pass holders when we arrived. However, that was a temporary restriction and after camping out across from the entrance for an hour, we were graciously granted access.

Both the weather and United Club availability

We lounged it up with some food and drinks until it was time to board. Luckily, our flight was not delayed and was conveniently located right next to the lounge. We’re sitting in the center section of three seats. As the plane starts to fill up, we notice our third seat is still empty. It looks like boarding is complete, until an announcement states that we are waiting for passengers from a late connecting flight. Somehow most of the seats around us are taken, but ours was not. A little extra room on a 10 hour flight is pretty nice.

Clubbing! (What’s with the paper thin chocolate chip cookies?)

Night mode to Sao Paulo

Since the flight was overnight, we slept (or attempted to sleep) for pretty much the entire time. Despite leaving a few minutes late, we arrived on time. We went through customs and waited for our bags. Last time we arrived at GRU (with the same luggage), our bags never came out of the carousel. We found them in the Lost Luggage area where apparently they place over-sized bags, backpacks, and duffels. Knowing this, we were on the lookout at both the carousel and the lost bag counters. This time, there were actual announcements saying where to find basically any type of bag other than the rectangle roller-boards. We listened and found our luggage waiting for us.

São Paulo is still on top of the clandestine transportation

The next step was our flight to Santiago. We went upstairs to the check-in counters to re-check our bags for the LATAM flight. When Matt was buying the tickets, there was a minimal cost difference between basic economy (where you have to pay extra to check a bag) and premium economy (where bags are included) and splurged on the premium. We checked our bags in the basic economy line, completely forgetting we could go in the priority line. It was OK though. There wasn’t actually anyone there and they still gave us the special priority bag tags.

We went though a very empty security line (pro tip: Sao Paulo airport is not so crowded at 11:00 am on a Thursday) and had time to go back to our favorite lounge before the flight. We relaxed with a couple of cappuccinos to counteract the lack of good sleep.

A Brazil Nut in a Brazil Lounge

World’s longest jetway???

We accidentally purchased the fanciest tickets for this flight

From there we boarded our flight to Santiago. As previously mentioned, we had premium economy seats – 1A and 1C to be exact. Not gonna lie, it was pretty comfy. They served lunch and drinks and we relaxed with books and movies.

My foot is basically in the cockpit

Finally, we made it to Santiago. Since we were pretty much the first people off the plane, and because Santiago had more than one customs officer working this time, we got through in just a few minutes. Plus, that handy Priority bag tag meant our luggage came out in the first batch. Before we knew it, we were on the way to the hotel.

Welcome to Chile!!! (fyi, we have police)

Guy holding Machu Picchu sign in the taxi line is gonna be disappointed

After checking-in and putting our bags down, we went to the patio section of the restaurant. We enjoyed the 73 degree weather before heading inside for a snack before bed.

Found our table

Tomorrow, we take an 8:00 am flight to Punta Arenas and start the adventure in Tierra del Fuego.

Day 10: Thessaloniki to Chicago

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Updated: December 15, 2024

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It did not stop raining last night and it was super windy. Gusts up to 50 mph went into the morning, Our flight from Thessaloniki to Zurich was originally scheduled for about 11am, so we got ready, had breakfast as usual, and had a car scheduled to pick us up at 8am. Before we finished breakfast, we got the notice that our flight was delayed until 12:30pm. And that was an issue because we had a 45-minute connection in Zurich if everything was on time. So, that connection was not happening! Cordwood and Belinda’s flight was still scheduled to depart at about 12:30pm, so we all went to the airport at 8am anyway.

Yup, still raining

Matt and Jo had to wait a few minutes before being able to check in, and in the meantime, we received notice that we had been re-booked on a United flight direct from Zurich to Chicago tomorrow (Monday) morning. Since we had looked at other flight options when buying this ticket, we knew that would be the best plan. We were also glad to keep the Greece to Zurich flight since Zurich seemed like it has many more options to get back to Chicago — compared to the relatively small Thessaloniki airport. Cordwood and Belinda had to wait until closer to their flight time before they could check in, so we hung out and explored the shops. We found a card game called OMG (AKA “Oh My Gods”), which is basically a Greek Gods version of Uno. Small, quick, easy to learn, good art, Greece-related, and cheap. We were in!

Pretty Greek Christmas tree in the airport

Fellow beleaguered travelers!

Yogurt, salad, gods, etc.

Once everyone was checked-in, we went through security and found a lounge. We had some breakfast snacks and played a couple of rounds of OMG. Instant classic. Eventually, we had to say goodbye. Cordwood and Belinda left for their gate and we followed shortly thereafter.

Well, there’s your problem!

Once on the plane, they confirmed that the delay was due to needing a bigger plane to handle the strong crosswinds. The flight was pretty comfortable and when we landed in Zurich a couple of hours later. We went straight to the transit counter. Since we already had the rebooked flight, we just needed some food vouchers and a place to stay. They booked us at the nearby Mövenpick Airport Hotel and gave us vouchers for lunch.

Oh sure, now it stops raining in Thessaloniki

On the way to Zurich

Last week’s snow in Zurich apparently melted

One of the places in the airport that accepts the vouchers was a sports bar and grill. We split a burger and sausage. When we were done, we attempted to find the United counter so we could officially check-in and get seats assigned, but no luck. We think there were no United flights out for the rest of the afternoon/evening and so there was no United counter open. The Zurich airport has proven difficult to navigate, but we finally figured out how to first, exit, and second, locate the shuttle to the hotel. It was already early evening so we decided not to go anywhere and relaxed for the rest of the day. We made a quick stop at the lonely hotel buffet for dinner, then back to the room to get ready for our flight home tomorrow.

Zurich airport free lunch

Oh yeah, first week of Advent starts today!

Our alarms went off at 5:30am. We made sure we had everything and went downstairs to the breakfast buffet. Since it was so early and because we wanted to catch the shuttle to the airport, we just grabbed a quick bite. The shuttle left promptly at 6:20am. When we got to the airport, we found the United line (which definitely wasn’t there yesterday) and got our seats. Our seats were both aisle seats, one behind the other. Technically not sitting together but close enough!

We navigated our way through security and found a lounge. The person checking us in very kindly told us that we were quite far from our gate and might want to go to a lounge closer to our gate in the International Terminal. We took her advice and ventured our way across the airport. We had to go through a passport check and take the tram (which we probably should have remembered). We found a different lounge a few steps from the gate. Now ready for breakfast, we got some food and relaxed before the flight.

Priority Pass still useful if you’re not in the US!

Bring on that negative nine degrees Celsius, hell yeah!!!

Since we were now on a United flight, we got the perks of being card holders, such as priority boarding. We got on and settled in for the ten hour flight. The seats were pretty comfortable and roomy. The time went by quickly with a few movies and a crochet project. When we landed, it was time for the super-awesome combo of Global Entry and carry-on luggage only. After stepping off the plane, we were in a cab about five minutes later.

Direct shot back to Chicago

Had time to crochet a cowl in time for the cold weather

We settled back in to our regular routines and tried to stay awake long enough to sleep through the night. We had a great time on the trip!

Day 9: Kalabaka

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Updated: December 9, 2024

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We woke up early this morning to get ready for our full-day tour of the Meteora Monestaries. Originally, we were going to walk to Lily’s hotel where we would meet the driver. But the rain continued, so we decided to take the bus instead — and then the driver said he would pick us up from our hotel. Even better! We were able to relax and enjoy the rest of our hotel breakfast. Yesterday we learned that espressos are included, so with that level unlocked we had our morning cappuccino. At 8am, we met Yanis who was our driver for the day. We went to pick up Lily and were on our way. The monasteries are located in Kalabaka in central Greece, which is about a three-hour drive from Thessaloniki.

Driving out of the city

Yanis is technically a driver, but acted as our tour guide as well. He told us about the city walls that still have segments standing from centuries ago and the metro line that was supposedly opening today after 30-some years in the works. He also mentioned that the industrial area with multiple factories is called the “Mordor of Greece.” We are going to get along great with Yanis!

As we got close to Kalabaka, Yanis stopped at a cafe for a quick break. Matt and Jo were eyeing the sandwiches in the fridge and Yanis suggested to have the owner make one of the sandwiches in the “special” format. He added tomatoes, pickles, mayo, and an egg and toasted it. Add two cappuccinos and boom — perfect elevensies.

Still raining

The name Meteora means suspended between the earth and sky. Thousands of years ago, the area was huge lake with tall sedimentary towers. The tectonic plates pulled apart and lake dried up, leaving the towers.

From the cafe, it was a few minutes to the first stop, the lower caves. When hermits arrived in the 1200s, the found caves to live in. They then moved to upper caves, higher up the towers. In the 1400s, they started building the Monastaries on top of the towers, because the higher you are, the closer to god, obviously.

After viewing the ground level cave, we went to see the upper caves and one of the monestaries built into the wall.

Cave houses in the cliffside

In the mid 1400s monks built 25 monasteries on the towers. Each of the large ones took about 200 years to complete. There are only six remaining, but they are still functional and “active.” The first monetary we saw has one person living in it. Another has two.

Monasteries on towers

Second-largest Varlaam Monastery

The leaves in this part of Greece are surprisingly large

In theory, a new monk can come live here. There are a total of 17-18 monks in the six monasteries and about 45 nuns. As long as anyone lives there, they stay open.

Holy Monastery of Saint Barbara

Check out that monastery

The road to Meteora

The first monastery we went into was Varlaam, which is one of the two largest. We were able to explore for about an hour. The art, architecture, and views were incredible.

Including the geography into the art

The “Yo, Listen up, God’s talking” Meteora team

One interesting part of the monk life was using the pulley system to get materials. Since the Monastaries were purposely hard to access, it meant they also had to get creative to get food and supplies. They build a “net” to lower to the ground below and would pull it up with new materials, and sometimes, new monks.

Pulley system to get materials from below

View from the top

Exploring the museum in Varlaam

We then went to a much smaller monastery that is currently a nunnery. We were lucky to be running about 30 minutes ahead of a couple tour busses full of people who were entering when we were on the way out. Yanis then drove us to a few additional lookouts where we could see the other monasteries and the ruins of some others. We stopped at an overlook for pictures and then drove down back into Kalabaka for lunch.

Group shot in the rain

Crossing the bridge

Bird’s eye view of the nunnery

Still rainy weather setting the mood

Beat the crowds

At our lunch spot, Yanis explained the menu and warned us that they serve large portions. He recommended we order a few main dishes and share. And that’s exactly what we did. One order of pork chops, black pig steaks, mousaka, lamb baked in a pot, and baked feta later we were fed and happy. Everything was amazing. We were full, and ready to go, but then they brought out dessert, which seemed to be a honey walnut cake and ice cream with chocolate sauce. Again, delicious.

Since we finished lunch (call it supper) at 4pm, we agreed that we did not need a sit down dinner later today. Yanis suggested some local, seasonal pastries to try later. We drove the three hours back to Thessaloniki. On the way, a herd of black pigs crossed the road in front of us. It was still raining when we got back. We all went to Lily’s hotel so she can give Cordwood and Belinda some clothes to take home. We then ventured out and took the bus to Aristotle Square in search of the chestnut pastries Yanis mentioned.

There is a pastry store right on the corner that we’ve passed multiple times. We tried there first and found a Christmas chestnut pastry covered in white chocolate. At the time, we were not 100% sure it was exactly what Yannis was talking about, but it was delicious. After some googling, we think we found the right treat. We also got a giant chocolate brownie because, why not?

Picking pastries

The rain wasn’t too heavy, but there were high winds so even the awnings outside of the stores were not coverage enough for us as we walked back to the hotel to eat our treats. We played a round of Stone Soup, a cooperate game Cordwood got for free from the Chick-fil-a kids meal. We won, but it was close. Phew!

City dogs trying to stay warm and dry outside the hotel

Today was our last day, so we went back to our room to pack and get ready to go. We leave early tomorrow for the airport. Hopefully the rain stops by then. Spoiler alert: It’s won’t!

Day 8: Thessaloniki

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Posted: December 9, 2024

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As usual, we started the day at the hotel breakfast buffet. Today is family day at Anatolia College Thessaloniki (ACT) where Lily attends (via Northeastern University). We left hotel at 8:15am and walked along the boardwalk to the Queen Olga hotel where Lily and many other students are staying and where the shuttle picked us up to take us to ACT. Belinda signed up in advance and didn’t need to include Lily in the count since “your student is accounted for.” Apparently that meant “not with you” since she had class and exams all day.

Walking along the boardwalk in the morning

Walking past the White Tower

We all started with a welcome speech and some general information about the program. We learned that the campus actually houses students in Pre-K through college with the upper campus buildings almost exclusively for Pre-K thru 12 and the lower campus’ three buildings for the college.

Anatolia College

Welcome speeches

After the speeches, we had a tour of the campus including the soccer field, gym, a few buildings, and bunkers which the Nazis built when they occupied the campus during World War II. Nobody cares about that hilly land in the outskirts of the city until ya need a fortified military location!

In the lower campus, we started with a tour of the library, but ditched the tour group and found Lily studying with her friends instead. We walked her to class and regrouped with the tour — which was really just coffee/pastries, the cafeteria, and the building we had just walked to with Lily.

Heading into the bunker

In the bunker

Finding Lily in the library

When we officially completed the tour, there was a couple of hours for lunch. The campus is in a pretty “industrial/car repair” part of town and away from the city center, so there aren’t really any notable areas to go for a walk. We bought some salad and sandwiches from the cafe and hung out until the next item on the agenda — a city tour.

Lunch spot on campus

Found Lily between her classes

We got the first coach bus and were started back towards the city. We started at an old fort where some of the northern walls were still standing. You could look south and view the city towards the water.

Starting the tour

Highest part of the city walls of the old Upper town

Looking out from the Upper Town

Greek Orthodox Church

Next stop on the tour was a Greek Orthodox Church called the Holy Church of Saint Demetrius, who is the patron saint of Thessaloniki. We spent some time inside as our guide explained the history and architecture.

Holy Church of Saint Demetrius

Inside the church

The “Yo, Listen up, God’s talking” Thessaloniki team

By this point, it was getting late in the afternoon and traffic was picking up. We spent some time driving a short distance to the White Tower. Another structure with historical significance from the 12th century. It’s located back on the waterfront and was the end of the tour.

Statue of Alexander the Great

We walked back to hotel from white tower for a quick break before going out to meet Lily at Aristotle Square for gelato and dinner. Not surprisingly, it took her longer than originally expected due to traffic. We wandered the square as we waited.

When Lily arrived, she joined us at our table for our new tradition of dessert before dinner. Cordwood and Belinda got gelato, Lily got a chocolate shake, and Matt and Jo split a stack of Oreo Cereal pancakes.

Cordwood and Lily

The server said, “good luck.”

We didn’t need luck.

From there, we went to dinner at Ikigai, an Asian restaurant with the tagline “the dumpling experience.” We got an order of dumplings featuring one of each flavor they offer, as well as Tom Yum soup. Quite tasty and actually the right amount of food.

Lily “One Piece” anime pose

Dumpling sampler plate

By the time dinner was done, we were pretty tired (except Lily who was going out with her friends later) and went back to the hotel to sleep.

Tomorrow we have an early morning start to visit the Monestaries at Meteora. It started raining today and is expected to continue tomorrow, so we will see if we get a good view. It should still be a memorable experience.

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