Ushuaia, Argentina

Just Back From: Ushuaia, Argentina

We went because: We celebrated my husband’s retirement from his 35-plus-year career in pharmacy.

Don’t miss: The End of the World Train (Tren del Fin del Mundo), a vintage rail trip through Tierra del Fuego National Park to a defunct penal colony.

Don’t bother: To plan ahead for any sightseeing. The weather changes from minute to minute. “Make hay while the sun shines.”

Coolest souvenir: Postcards from “the End of the Earth.”

Worth a splurge: The shops on the main street feature numerous local gemstones and minerals and gifts fashioned from them.

We wish we’d packed: Warmer clothing. Our 35-day cruise from San Diego to Rio de Janeiro called on mostly tropical ports, so our wardrobe was geared toward summer activities.

Airport Check-in: Most beautiful airports

From USA TODAY’s Airport Check-in column: Travel & Leisure magazine has named 13 of the world’s most beautiful airports in its January issue. Denver International and New York JFK’s TWA Terminal, used as a portal to the JetBlue terminal, are the only domestic facilities to make the cut.

Denver’s Teflon-coated tensile-fabric roof “looks like a village of giant white tepees. The airport is at its most beautiful when you approach by air from the east and see the glowing man-made peaks silhouetted against the Rockies,” the magazine says.

The Eero Saarinen-designed landmark TWA Terminal evokes a period when “air travel was a glamorous, exciting experience for a relatively small number of people,” the magazine says.

Among foreign airports, Seoul-Incheon, Madrid Barajas’ Terminal 4, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong International, Berlin Tempelhof, Osaka, Japan’s Kansai International and Beijing International’s Terminal 3 are praised for their superior design.

Other lesser-known airports include: Bilbao’s Sondika Airport in Spain; Malvinas Argentinas Airport in Ushuaia, Argentina; Morocco’s Marrakech Menara Airport; and Montevideo Carrasco International in Uruguay.

______________________________________________
SOURCES:

“Just Back From: Ushuaia, Argentina”
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Paula and Rusty Hewitson, Pleasanton
SFgate
http://www.sfgate.com
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/01/TR2A1BAF04.DTL&type=travel

“Airport Check-in: Most beautiful airports”
By Roger Yu
USA Today
19-01-2010
http://www.usatoday.com
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=15619.blog