Yesterday we saw Ushuaia by sea - today we explore the town of Ushuaia by land. But first we prepare some pancakes for ourselves - we are tired of the cereal only breakfasts, so we make ourselves a treat. Then we catch a taxi into town.
Our first stop is the internet cafe - we want to update the website. After that is completed, we do some shopping and wandering before a quick bite to eat. Then it is off to the prison museum (formerly known as the Museo Maritimo). What a place. It was first built in 1911 to house prisoners with the main aim being to reinforce Argentina's territorial claim to the area. Even in summer it was cool in there - hate to think how cold it was in the winter. One of the prison's most famous prisoners was Simon Radowitzky.
The cells have been turned into exhibit rooms, with some of the wings restored, with others left as they have been found (quite run down). We spent hours in there and we could have easily spent a lot more time. The exhibits covered everything from prison life to scale models of ships to the Falklands war to exploration of the Antarctic. Some of the descriptions could have been better, but we got a lot out of it.
Once we left the museum, we spent some more time wandering the streets, window shopping and looking for a good ice cream shop. We never did find one, but we had fun sampling. We tried to get a stamp in our passport at the other museum, but they would not give it to us without paying admission (but we heard it was not worth going to). We shared the town today with thousands of people who came off the two cruise ships that showed up that morning. We were clearly traveling in different styles.
We returned to the campsite just after 6 PM. After a shower, we took it easy and worked on our journals. The camp site prepared an excellent meat dinner for us.