Ushuaia

18th January 2016 part 3
I knew Ushuaia was a city but it's larger than I expected. It is stretched out on a strip of land between a mountain range and the sea, so what's not to like! I say mountains and sea, but there not just any mountains or sea. The mountains are the last of the Andes range and the sea is the Beagle Channel.
The Beagle Channel, the Straits of Magellan and Drake Passage are all things I learnt about in school during history lessons. I never thought then that I would visit these places. I know I'm very lucky to be able to do this.
This afternoon I walked from the hotel to the city centre. The Argentine are passionate about what they call the Islas Malvinas and in Britain we call the Falkland Islands. Down in this part of Argentina they seem to be even more passionate. I have seen a number of signs with the islands coast in outline and the colours of the Argentina flag inside. Down at the docks the Union Flag is painted on a wall in a circle with a red diagonal line through it. Due to the design of the Union Flag you have to look twice to realise what it actually is. I hope it only means no UK ships and not that UK people are not welcome. The General Belgrano, that was sunk by a UK submarine in the Falklands war, had sailed from Ushuaia before it was sunk. 323 men lost their lives on the Belgrano, which was just over half of the total of Argentines killed in the conflict. There is a memorial near the city centre to all the Argentines killed and their names are engraved on a wall next to an eternal flame.
BTW although I can down load photos to the tablet I'm having problems attaching them to the blog (unless taken with the tablet). Once photos are available I'll post a link to them.