This week, Downtown Norfolk welcomed a very special ship into the Waterside area. The Esmerelda, a tall training ship belonging to the Chilean Navy, came to visit! The Esmerelda has been sailing for the country of Chile since the 1950s. It serves as a training vessel for the Chilean Navy and has visited ports all over the world over the years. It can fit up to 300 sailors and officers onboard for international voyages! This year, Norfolk is actually the only US port that the Esmerelda is stopping at.

Esmerelda visited Norfolk this week, and there were free tours available to the general public! I headed down there on Wednesday afternoon. I was shocked at how many people were there! I am guessing the line that I was in had about 200 people. I finally made it onto the ship and loved getting to explore! You could explore the main deck and a higher up deck. Sailors from the Chilean Navy were everywhere and were very welcoming to all of the US visitors.

I’ve never gotten to see a gigantic ship of this nature up close and personal before, so I’m so glad that I got to visit Esmerelda before it left Norfolk! Here are a few more pictures: