January 20, 2025

VALPARAISO, CHILE - Vino del Mar Neighborhood

Day 2 in Valparaiso I spent with Whitney exploring the Vino del Mar Neighborhood. We took the train from the port to this beachside area North of the city center. We walked the streets in this bustling part of town and was warned, by a young lady walking her dog, to keep our alerts up and be mindful of how we hold our phones. The area is known for snatch and grabs. We had gotten the same warning the day before. Luckily, we witnessed none of this.   

Museo de Arqueologia e Historia Francisco Fonck - large Easter Island collection with their own Moai statue out front.

We had lunch at this cute bistro Romeo sin Juliet - owner Romeo, who is camera shy, says his patrons are the Julietas! Lunch was so fresh and yummy, had a great salad with falafel and he had the best music playing - Loved it - total indulgence!

After lunch we walked along the beach front, admired the remains of Wulff Castle ( German built) and finally saw the "cruise ship shaped" building we had heard about the day before and never really saw anything that measured up. Looks like a run down restaurant these days, especially from the back side. Lastly, we saw the famous flower clock and then we got an uber back to Ship.

SOMEWHERE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA .....

By Pat Patrick • June 1, 2026
Somewhere in the South China Sea, i n a galaxy far, far away ... was the Odyssey and a bunch of fun loving travelers....who had an idea for a fun cocktail party!

CORON, PHILIPPINES

By Pat Patrick • May 30, 2026
Yesterday we joined in with many of our fellow residents to take in some of the many water spots around Coron . We signed up through Get Your Guide, others used Trip Advisor and they both contracted with Psalms Travel Services in Coron. As I've explained before, figuring out our excursions in each port, is a big time suck for me. We prefer to find local venders without having to go through the big agencies (because you usually can get better service, pricing and customization) but sometimes it is just easier to stick with the big guys, when the excursion is super popular. Psalms turned out to be an excellent operator and I laughed when I saw they had used the below images on their Facebook page today. Didn't realize my pink dry bag stood out so much!

CORON, PHILIPPINES

By Pat Patrick • May 30, 2026
We are currently docked at the port of CORON , in the Palawan archipelago islands, of the Philippines . While the port itself is nothing special, and the surrounding town is hardly thriving, the people here are amazingly friendly, joyful and so happy to be around! You can see from below, they have a ton of hotels and restaurants but mostly it's their water actives that attract a fair number of tourist. Known for their crystal clear water, dramatic limestone cliffs and powdery white sand beaches. June is the start of the rainy season, but so far the weather has been good.