Stanley, Falklands

Dropped anchor this morning at 7.30 and prepared for a nice sunny day.  Another ship, the Aurora and carrying in excess of 2500 people, was just behind us.  Our ship was able to be closer to the shore due to it’s size, the Aurora was quite a distance out.  So with the temperature predicted to be around 19C it was appropriate to dress accordingly - started with a t-shirt then a light polar fleece and finally the very nice outer jacket issued by Silversea.  Put our head out the door to step down to the Zodiac and nearly got blown to pieces!  Boy, was it ever windy!!!  On the shore it was even windier and I gather that is pretty much par for the course during the summer.  I doubt it reached 19C though.  

We were taken on a 3 hour bus trip right around the area, saw all the points of interest and ended up at an excellent museum.  Stanley is a very pretty Town/city of 13,000 people. Our guide told us there are 42 different nations represented, some  working in such specialised areas as fisheries and geology.  There are four pubs, 10 hotels and guest houses, a fish & chip shop, several cafes and souvenir shops.  Along, of course, with a couple of supermarkets and the usual other amenities.  

Our tour included a complimentary hot beverage at a particular cafe so we (or rather I) decided to have some lunch there.  I had calamari and I could honestly say it was about the best I’ve ever tasted!  Just a small serve but really delicious.  

The town was full of tourists, most of the Silversea people were wearing the red jacket and I was asked several times but the Aurora passengers where we were  headed!  One man even asked if I spoke English!  George returned to the ship before me, I hung back to look at the goodies in the shops!  The ride back on the Zodiac was exhilarating - quite rough and they promised we’d get sprayed and we did!   The expedition staff are amazing, gorgeous young men and women from all over the world with a wealth of knowledge.  The ship staff are fantastic, too, at dinner they come to the table and ask ‘Maureen, what would you like to order’. They know us all by our first name after 3 days!  We sail around 3.30 pm today and head for South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, arriving after a day at sea.  Would have liked to spend some time on the internet in Stanley but there was no free wifi, sadly!