Words can’t adequately describe Antarctica. It is our favorite place of the whole trip (but New Zealand is not far behind). We had a really rough 2 days at sea after leaving South Georgia Island, but after that the weather was amazingly beautiful. The water was so calm that we made landings in spots where our expedition leader had not been able to go ashore in over 7 years. We spent New Year’s eve taking a dip in the 30 degree water and the ship’s tradition is that the youngest person on board (Frances) rings the ship’s bell at midnight to celebrate the New Year (she took a nap and woke up for that). It was a smooth ride back to Ushuaia through the dreaded Drake Passage, which is said to have the roughest seas in the world. While we were in the Drake Passage it looked more like Smith Mountain Lake. We had enough rough seas from South Georgia to Antarctica that we were happy to have the calm seas (except Thomas – he wanted more). We’re home now and it’s colder here than when we were in Antarctica – go figure.