Hola,
Just sitting here eating cheese and onion empanadas and watching Portlandia in our apartment in Bariloche, Argentina! A typical slow down Sunday.
Lets see where did we leave off from... oh yes the Football game. The next day we slept in as we knew we had a long day before our bus to Mendoza that left at 9:30pm that night. I woke up still with a headcold so I wanted a pretty easy day. We went for breakfast at our favorite place and again ejoyed the delicious coffee. We walked around our neighbourhood checking out a couple parks and just chilling out. We were getting little hungry and knew we should eat some lunch as before the bus as the bus food is not that great (although you do get wine!!!). We stopped for a late lunch at this Italian restaurant hoping for some good pizza as it looked legit Italain. Ian had a good idea to get two large pizzas to share with the group. Tyson knowing that we stay clear of meat on pizzas while travelling ordered a simple Nepolitana (basil, mozza, tomatos and olives), while Ian is a meat-a-tarian wanted the proschittuo pizza. The pizzas came.. and they were very large. One would have fed us all, and the "proschitto" pizza looked super sketchy! It looked disgusting, it had egg, ham, artichoke (we think), and some weird sauce on top! Tyson took a peice but took one bite and put it down.. refusing to eat it. Peter and Ian managed to eat one piece but that was it. Poor Ian took a lot of flack for ordering that pizza and has lost all privelages in what to order when sharing with the group! After our not so great lunch, we went back to the hotel and waited till we had to depart to the bus depot. It was a pretty long wait.
The bus we took to Mendoza was the highest luxoury bus you could take in Argentina. It was "preimum cama" which meant the bus seats folded all the way down into a bed so you could lay down fully! The food was still gross, but 12 hours is way better then 22 hours. We woke up and we were basically in Mendoza! Perfecto!
Mendoza is the epi-center of the wine industry in Argentina. They produce all the grape varieties, however Malbec is their speciality. We got off the bus and made our way by taxi to our "Bodega" (vineyard) where we were staying for two nights. It was pretty hot in Mendoza (plus 30) and very dry! Our bed and breakfast was pretty basic almost rustic but it was still situated right in the middle of wine country which was prefect for us as we went all this way to do some wine touring and tasting. That day, I (Sara) recupperated from my headcold by sleeping it off and just taking it really easy. That evening we went into Mendoza the city (as our hotel and all the other majority of vineyards are in a little town call Maipu). We took the local bus in, and managed to find our way to check out two plazas (Esponola Plaza, and Plaza de Indepencia (Independence)). After people watching we were all pretty starving from not eating very much on the bus, or during the day as Mapiu is a very small place with limited eating options. We ate at the fantastic Italian restauarnt that was recommended in our guidebook (it got a running man!.. which means that it is supposede to be very , very good! so far the running mans have not steered us wrong!). The place was delicious! I had pesto sphagetti and it was the best darn pesto i have ever had! I ate it all (which is rare for me!) and we even shared Taramisu for dessert which was also very good and a bottle of wine!
The next day we had arranged Julienne the man who owned the vineyard that we were staying at to find us a place where we could rent bikes to do our own vineyard tours around Maipu. We were told that the bikes were going to be arriving at our place at 1030 am , however what arrived was a man with a great mustache and asked us to pile into his car to go and get the bikes. That was fine, as we all piled into the car a great song was playing with the chorus of the song being "Last night.. I lost my underwear, I lost my underwear, last night" and thump thump thump for the base sound! It was pretty halarious.
We arrived at the bike store with no problems and got our sweet mountain bikes, helmets and water and a map of all the vineyards that we could go and visit. Tyson of course wanted to bike to the furthest vineyard as he heard it was supposed to be good. It was about 10km away from the bike store. So we all managed to saddle up and peddle our way sober to the first winery. We got a tour of the place, with an English tour guide (bonus) and we learned more about how the wine is produced, how much Oak barrels cost (Approx. 1000 Euros.. and you can only use the barrel 3 times.. and that my friends is why wine can be very pricey!) We discovered the difference between young wines, and aged wines, and all in all the first place was a good base to star our tour. We tasted 3 wines, and then paid for an extra tasting of a more expensive wine to try so we knew the difference.. we ended up buying that bottle!
From there on in we hit one more Bodega before we needed to eat some lunch. Peter was biking DD as he gets really bad headahces from too much alcohol. It was so hot out that we were sweating buckets, a little tipsy, and getty hungry. The next wine spot had a restaurant that I had read about as being good. It was on a balcony over looking a vineyard. The food was pretty good , we all had steak, and a nice big glass of wine. We enjoyed our lunch and took our time to soak up the views and the sun. After lunch, Peter was ready for a siesta time, but Tyson and Marilyn wanted to do one more wine tasting. So we made our way to Mevi. Before I forget, Tyson fell off his bike in front of a bunch of French tourists.. he was not hurt, just scraped his knee haha. I probably didn't need to go to the last Bodega as I was pretty much done with the heat and the alcohol, but I managed to drink the four tastings anyways. It was long bike ride home, total for 22 kms for the day. When we got home we all went straight to the outdoor pool for a swim. That night, we got the pleasure of trying the vineyards wines from the place we were staying at. As in the lonely planet guide said that these were the best wines for a good price, and they were right the wine was very tasty. We all bought bottles!
So now we are all lugging muliple bottles of wine for the rest of the trip , hoping not in temptation to drink them all before we get home. The next day we had another long day before getting on another bus (a 17 hour bus) to Bariloche. This is the bus that we were not looking forward to as it was long, and we only had semi cama seats and after those luxury class seats to Mendoza it was hard to go back. So we took our time packing up, did some reading, and then managed to go visit a wine museum and one more wine taste testing. The wine was nice, and with our museum entrance fee of 50 pesos we were allowed to use that as a reimbursement for a bottle of wine. So we pooled all our tickets together and managed to get a very great expensive bottle of wine for Marilyn's birthday which was the next day. We managed to lounge the day away, reading, playing yahtzee and eventually making our way into Mendoza to go for dinner before the long bus ride.
The bus ride was long, boring, and a lot of stops. Poor Marilyn has to spend the majority of her birthday on the bus and Peter had to sit in a seat that had no recline (but he said it was not too bad). It was raining pretty hard when we woke up and for the majority of the way until we were about an hour from Bariloche. The scenary was boring until we started seeing the lakes and mountains. We got into Bariloche around 5:30pm and managed to get two taxis and found our apartment. We all showered, and had a lovely dinner out for Marilyns birthday and enjoyed two bottles of wine and a game of Yahatzee not to mention some chocolates. Bariloche has like 20 chocolate shops as the town thinks they are the Switzerland of Argentina.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Football.. an Argentinian Experience
Hello,
Yesterday we slept in, had a late brunch back at our Mozzarella and Dulce de leche bar; La Salamandra. The food is darn good there. Sara has developed a bit of a head cold and didn't feel like working to hard prior the football game. So while Tyson and Sara had a short stroll around Palamero Soho for a bit, Marilyn, Peter, and Ian headed downtown to the outdoor market in San Telmo. So while Tyson and Sara rested, napped, and watched some television, the others enjoyed a quiet subway ride downtown. I am led to believe, however there are no pictures to prove it, that there was numerous street performers out, and that they were good. The highlight we were told was a mime who was caught in a wind storm. They did some shopping and returned back to the hotel with time to rest up prior to the game.
The game started at 8:30pm, but we were told to be there at least an hour prior to the game starting, so we left the hotel at 6:30pm, as the stadium was on the other side of town. The taxis dropped us off a couple of blocks from the stadium entrance, and we were immediately greeted by the sound of cheering fans driving by on a bus. After trying the wrong entrance at first we eventually got into the grounds. The stadium entrances are by where you are seated, so if you are seated in say section 17 like we where, you have to enter by gate 17 because only those seats accessible through that gate. We were patted down by police in full riot gear, with mounted police patrolling the grounds. Section 17 we entered through a one way turnstyle that went from floor to ceiling.
When we arrived in the stadium, it was mostly empty, but still loud. The junior team was on the pitch and it was alright football. They finished up around an hour before the real game was to start. There was a group of guys hanging banners all over the stadium. Even within the stadium the sections are completely separated, with riot police with shields and 20 foot high fences topped with barbed wire separating the sections. In addition to a fence there was a moat that separated the playing field from the stands. The visitor fans were segregated into a small section of the stands and had even more fences and more riot police then the other sections. The visitor fans would sing there songs which would be drowned out by home town supporters.
By the time the game started, the lower bowl was 80% full with the standing sections at either end of the stadium 100% packed. These sections would jump, sing, and throw there hands in the air as if they were a single organism. It was crazy the noise they could make. Whenever they thought the ref made a bad call they would whistle. On one particularly bad call the volume in the stadium had to be over 100 decibels.
The game itself was entertaining with the home team Racing controlling probably 60% of the play but both teams had good chances to score. Racing scored twice, but both time they were deemed to be offside, the fans only agreed with one of those calls. Unfortunately the game ended as a 0-0 tie. We were hoping to see a goal, especially a home team goal, but it never came.
As soon as the game was over we rushed out of the stadium hoping to get ahead of the crowds. However the gates outside the stadium that let you onto the street were closed and guarded by riot police. If someone is familiar with Argentinian football, maybe they can explain this to us, as it baffled us. So we stood in front of the gates for probably 30 minutes until it seemed that the entire stadium was empty. There was no pushing or anything while the gates were closed, but once opened all those people surged forward. We moved with the crowd almost lost our shoes and after a few squished moments were out on the street. We quickly moved to the far side of the road, got our shoes back around our heels and made our way to the taxi driver who had dropped us off. For an increased fare he had waited for us and not accepted other fares, which was nice as the road was busy and cabs were not easy to come by.
We made it back to the hotel exhilarated by the experience. Sporting events in North America, including the NFL or NHL do not come close to the atmosphere in a Argentinian football match.
We are a little behind on our posts as we have already travelled through Mendoza to Bariloche, but we will catch up over the next day or so.
Tyson and Sara
Yesterday we slept in, had a late brunch back at our Mozzarella and Dulce de leche bar; La Salamandra. The food is darn good there. Sara has developed a bit of a head cold and didn't feel like working to hard prior the football game. So while Tyson and Sara had a short stroll around Palamero Soho for a bit, Marilyn, Peter, and Ian headed downtown to the outdoor market in San Telmo. So while Tyson and Sara rested, napped, and watched some television, the others enjoyed a quiet subway ride downtown. I am led to believe, however there are no pictures to prove it, that there was numerous street performers out, and that they were good. The highlight we were told was a mime who was caught in a wind storm. They did some shopping and returned back to the hotel with time to rest up prior to the game.
The game started at 8:30pm, but we were told to be there at least an hour prior to the game starting, so we left the hotel at 6:30pm, as the stadium was on the other side of town. The taxis dropped us off a couple of blocks from the stadium entrance, and we were immediately greeted by the sound of cheering fans driving by on a bus. After trying the wrong entrance at first we eventually got into the grounds. The stadium entrances are by where you are seated, so if you are seated in say section 17 like we where, you have to enter by gate 17 because only those seats accessible through that gate. We were patted down by police in full riot gear, with mounted police patrolling the grounds. Section 17 we entered through a one way turnstyle that went from floor to ceiling.
When we arrived in the stadium, it was mostly empty, but still loud. The junior team was on the pitch and it was alright football. They finished up around an hour before the real game was to start. There was a group of guys hanging banners all over the stadium. Even within the stadium the sections are completely separated, with riot police with shields and 20 foot high fences topped with barbed wire separating the sections. In addition to a fence there was a moat that separated the playing field from the stands. The visitor fans were segregated into a small section of the stands and had even more fences and more riot police then the other sections. The visitor fans would sing there songs which would be drowned out by home town supporters.
By the time the game started, the lower bowl was 80% full with the standing sections at either end of the stadium 100% packed. These sections would jump, sing, and throw there hands in the air as if they were a single organism. It was crazy the noise they could make. Whenever they thought the ref made a bad call they would whistle. On one particularly bad call the volume in the stadium had to be over 100 decibels.
The game itself was entertaining with the home team Racing controlling probably 60% of the play but both teams had good chances to score. Racing scored twice, but both time they were deemed to be offside, the fans only agreed with one of those calls. Unfortunately the game ended as a 0-0 tie. We were hoping to see a goal, especially a home team goal, but it never came.
As soon as the game was over we rushed out of the stadium hoping to get ahead of the crowds. However the gates outside the stadium that let you onto the street were closed and guarded by riot police. If someone is familiar with Argentinian football, maybe they can explain this to us, as it baffled us. So we stood in front of the gates for probably 30 minutes until it seemed that the entire stadium was empty. There was no pushing or anything while the gates were closed, but once opened all those people surged forward. We moved with the crowd almost lost our shoes and after a few squished moments were out on the street. We quickly moved to the far side of the road, got our shoes back around our heels and made our way to the taxi driver who had dropped us off. For an increased fare he had waited for us and not accepted other fares, which was nice as the road was busy and cabs were not easy to come by.
We made it back to the hotel exhilarated by the experience. Sporting events in North America, including the NFL or NHL do not come close to the atmosphere in a Argentinian football match.
We are a little behind on our posts as we have already travelled through Mendoza to Bariloche, but we will catch up over the next day or so.
Tyson and Sara
Monday, November 12, 2012
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Back in the big city of BA
Buenos Naches (spelling?!) That's Spanglish for you.
So we last left off talking about the Brazilian side of Iguazu falls. Also before I continue I wanted to point out that the computer screen we are using is like super tiny and it is hard to type and read so our spelling is not that great and also sometimes our historical accusations are not correct so don't hold us accountable.. just read for pure enjoyment.
In the afternoon we had some time to kill before flying back to BA so we decided to go for a walk to the three rivers (basically where the river from three boarding countries come together) the three countries being Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. We were all hungry but Tyson has said there was a restaurant that over looks the river so we thought that would be ok. First we got turned around and went the wrong way up a hill, and then finally got oriented and made our way in the right direction which happened to be down a hill and then back up a hill, not great when hangry (angry out of hunger). We walked up the hill to find the restaurant and lone behold when we got there it was closed. I guess they only do dinner service not lunch. So we all had a good laugh.. I might have shot daggers in Tyson's direction.. but we managed to take a bus back to the city centre and find a place to have pizza to share. The first pizza of the trip.. that's pretty good for me as its almost been two weeks in!
After lunch, we waited in the hotel lobby for like 2 hours before getting Argentinian Tom Cruise back to take us to the airport. I miss that taxi driver he was just so kind.. and the Taxi drivers in BA are a little bit crazy. The flight to BA was packed with tourists.. I am not sure if there was even one local on the plane. We met a Canadian couple who were from Edmonton doing a 9 week (I think) trip of South America but were envious that we were doing it as a family since they had two kids but couldn't all do it together. I wish Bodhi could have came as I miss him a lot and so does Tyson. When we landed in BA there was a shortage of taxis and we waited there for what seemed like eternity. The prices had gone up which maid Marilyn unhappy, but we were tired and hot that at this point we just wanted to get to our hotel and shower and sleep. We managed to get a taxi eventually and made our long way (45 minutes) from the airport into the city.
The next day we slept in, and waited for Ian to arrive. Tyson and I dropped our laundry off to get washed (best 5 dollars i ever spent) as now it seems like i have new clothes again.. you get pretty tired of wearing the same thing all the time. But now we will smell good for a couple of days. Marilyn and Peter still do there laundry old school style in the bathtub with soap and hang dry.... I am far to lazy for that sort of thing. Especially when someone else can do it with fabric softener, and press, and fold its a beautiful thing.
While Peter and Marilyn anxiously waited for Ian, Tyson and I went to find some breakfast, last time we were in BA we had stumbled upon this nice little Dulce de leche & Mozzarella bar which had great foccacia sandwich and coffee so we went on an adventure to find it again. We ended up missing it by about a block (known since we goggled it later). We walked around for about an hour before we were both hangry and ended up in coffee bar. It served the purpose, but not much else. Sara thought it looked like rain outside, but you can never be sure. After breakfast we started walking home in a zigzag fashion, hoping to find the Dulce de leche & Mozzarella bar when the skies opened up. We hid under an doorway hoping it would slow down after the initial dump, but it just kept raining harder. This was a true tropical dump, with the rainfall coming down so hard it was wetter than having a bucket of water dumped onto you every second. We we decided that it wasn't going to let up anytime soon, we hailed a passing cab and jumped in. We didn't know the exact address of the hotel, but made it ok. It took 30 seconds to cross the road due to track after getting out of the cab, and by that time we were soaked through our underwear.
After waiting an agonizing length of time, Ian final arrived safe and sound at the hotel. Marilyn was finally able to relax a little now that Ian was with us. Since they hadn't eaten in anticipation of Ian's arrival, which was a couple of hours later then our own arrival, people were a little hungry. Since the downpour had lightened, we googled the Dulche de leche & Mozzarella bar location, (5 blocks away) and enjoyed a very nice lunch. After lunch we all relaxed away (via siesta) the afternoon. It was a truely refresh and reset kind of day.
Sieske and Leo had invited us all over for dinner that evening at their place. Sieske had cooked up a large number of empanadas, some delicious chicken, as well as a salad. We had the ever difficult task of bringing the wine (very easy) and finding their apartment via subway (relatively easy). We all enjoyed a lovely evening together of good food and conversation.
Sieske had offered to take us around the city again the next day, which we immediately and eagerly agreed to. So after what seemed like a very short sleep, we got up at 8 am and made our way for a very Argentinian breakfast which is cafe con leche (coffe with hot milk) , croissants, and toast with dulce de leche to spread on top of it. Breakfast is my favorite part of the day :).
We met Sieske (spelling?) at the Obeilsco which is a tall Egyptian looking structure from which all roads in Argentina (except route 40) are zeroed from . From there we enjoyed a full day of touring the city. The highlites were , Palacio de Justicia (which is the courtroom), then we went over to the Congreso Nacional which was a big statue and where we say another doggy park where we saw a very large dog that looked like a Leonberger breed but he was humongous and so cute. From there we wandered around to the Cafe Tortoni which is the oldest bar in Argentina (has been operating for over 150 years). It was pretty neat, but we didn't order anything as the line up was way to long. From there we went to the Plaza de mayo hoping to catch the bus to La Boca which is this really strange/cool part of the city that is where the biggest Argentina premier league team football club is based they are called "La Boca Jr.s". We couldn't seem to catch the bus as it was not coming forever, so we decided to head to San Telmo where Sieke and Leo live to try to catch a different bus, and on route we stopped by the Saturday market where Leo was working as he is an Artisan where he makes jewelry out of different South American rock/gems, mostly necklaces and pendants. They were very pretty.
We stopped for lunch and had pizza (easy thing to share), we then caught the bus to La Boca. There is two block of La Boca which is a heavy tourist area where you can't basically take a photo without asking to pay. There were staged tango dancers, footballers, celebrity look alikes.. it was sort of like being in the circus. So La Boca is a residential neighbourhood by the docks where all the immigrants from Italy first settled in Bueno Aries. They would make their homes out of left over ship scraps and paint them with left over paint colours which were random and bright. The neighbourhood itself is still quite a poorer area of the city, however , the two blocks is actually a muesum where nobody lives its just a tourist trap. What I (Sara) was interested in was seeing the football stadium (soccer) called the chocolate box were the club team La Boca Jr.s play. They had a museum there and we got to see the soccer pitch which wasn't as big as we thought it would be, but the stadium is quite old, and the fans are right against the pitch. With thirty foot high fence with barbwire at the top, as the fans get just a little rowdy when a goal is scored, the rush to the fence and climb it (Don't worry we don't have seats in that section for tomorrow nights game and we aren't seeing the big rival of La Boca vs. River Plate. We are seeing Racing vs. Arsenal.) After the museum everyone was pretty tired so we made our way back to our hotel. The subway was packed as usual in the afternoon and I quite honestly think that they could have more trains coming as its probably one the most packed subways I have ever ridden and I have ridden a lot in really big cities.
We had a little siesta , as we had booked a Tango show to go to tonight. So we ate awkwardly early (8pm) as when we got to the restaurant the doors were not even open yet, and the chefs were still prepping the veggies in the back, but they were kind enough to let us in to eat. When we got back to our hotel the attendant told us that in fact no one was coming to pick us up to go to the show and that we were going to have to get a taxi but this was like 15 minutes till the show.. and we knew we wouldn't be able to get two taxis in that span of time. Tyson was not happy. So we had to cancel and will go when we arrive back in BA on December 2nd as our last thing to do in BA before heading home. Tyson is ok now that he found some wine at the 24 hour convenience store.
Well time to go to bed as tomorrow show be a quieter day but a long one with the football game being in the evening. This Argentinian lifestyle is catching up to me quickly as being a night owl is hard work.
Ciao,
Sara & Tyson
So we last left off talking about the Brazilian side of Iguazu falls. Also before I continue I wanted to point out that the computer screen we are using is like super tiny and it is hard to type and read so our spelling is not that great and also sometimes our historical accusations are not correct so don't hold us accountable.. just read for pure enjoyment.
In the afternoon we had some time to kill before flying back to BA so we decided to go for a walk to the three rivers (basically where the river from three boarding countries come together) the three countries being Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. We were all hungry but Tyson has said there was a restaurant that over looks the river so we thought that would be ok. First we got turned around and went the wrong way up a hill, and then finally got oriented and made our way in the right direction which happened to be down a hill and then back up a hill, not great when hangry (angry out of hunger). We walked up the hill to find the restaurant and lone behold when we got there it was closed. I guess they only do dinner service not lunch. So we all had a good laugh.. I might have shot daggers in Tyson's direction.. but we managed to take a bus back to the city centre and find a place to have pizza to share. The first pizza of the trip.. that's pretty good for me as its almost been two weeks in!
After lunch, we waited in the hotel lobby for like 2 hours before getting Argentinian Tom Cruise back to take us to the airport. I miss that taxi driver he was just so kind.. and the Taxi drivers in BA are a little bit crazy. The flight to BA was packed with tourists.. I am not sure if there was even one local on the plane. We met a Canadian couple who were from Edmonton doing a 9 week (I think) trip of South America but were envious that we were doing it as a family since they had two kids but couldn't all do it together. I wish Bodhi could have came as I miss him a lot and so does Tyson. When we landed in BA there was a shortage of taxis and we waited there for what seemed like eternity. The prices had gone up which maid Marilyn unhappy, but we were tired and hot that at this point we just wanted to get to our hotel and shower and sleep. We managed to get a taxi eventually and made our long way (45 minutes) from the airport into the city.
The next day we slept in, and waited for Ian to arrive. Tyson and I dropped our laundry off to get washed (best 5 dollars i ever spent) as now it seems like i have new clothes again.. you get pretty tired of wearing the same thing all the time. But now we will smell good for a couple of days. Marilyn and Peter still do there laundry old school style in the bathtub with soap and hang dry.... I am far to lazy for that sort of thing. Especially when someone else can do it with fabric softener, and press, and fold its a beautiful thing.
While Peter and Marilyn anxiously waited for Ian, Tyson and I went to find some breakfast, last time we were in BA we had stumbled upon this nice little Dulce de leche & Mozzarella bar which had great foccacia sandwich and coffee so we went on an adventure to find it again. We ended up missing it by about a block (known since we goggled it later). We walked around for about an hour before we were both hangry and ended up in coffee bar. It served the purpose, but not much else. Sara thought it looked like rain outside, but you can never be sure. After breakfast we started walking home in a zigzag fashion, hoping to find the Dulce de leche & Mozzarella bar when the skies opened up. We hid under an doorway hoping it would slow down after the initial dump, but it just kept raining harder. This was a true tropical dump, with the rainfall coming down so hard it was wetter than having a bucket of water dumped onto you every second. We we decided that it wasn't going to let up anytime soon, we hailed a passing cab and jumped in. We didn't know the exact address of the hotel, but made it ok. It took 30 seconds to cross the road due to track after getting out of the cab, and by that time we were soaked through our underwear.
After waiting an agonizing length of time, Ian final arrived safe and sound at the hotel. Marilyn was finally able to relax a little now that Ian was with us. Since they hadn't eaten in anticipation of Ian's arrival, which was a couple of hours later then our own arrival, people were a little hungry. Since the downpour had lightened, we googled the Dulche de leche & Mozzarella bar location, (5 blocks away) and enjoyed a very nice lunch. After lunch we all relaxed away (via siesta) the afternoon. It was a truely refresh and reset kind of day.
Sieske and Leo had invited us all over for dinner that evening at their place. Sieske had cooked up a large number of empanadas, some delicious chicken, as well as a salad. We had the ever difficult task of bringing the wine (very easy) and finding their apartment via subway (relatively easy). We all enjoyed a lovely evening together of good food and conversation.
Sieske had offered to take us around the city again the next day, which we immediately and eagerly agreed to. So after what seemed like a very short sleep, we got up at 8 am and made our way for a very Argentinian breakfast which is cafe con leche (coffe with hot milk) , croissants, and toast with dulce de leche to spread on top of it. Breakfast is my favorite part of the day :).
We met Sieske (spelling?) at the Obeilsco which is a tall Egyptian looking structure from which all roads in Argentina (except route 40) are zeroed from . From there we enjoyed a full day of touring the city. The highlites were , Palacio de Justicia (which is the courtroom), then we went over to the Congreso Nacional which was a big statue and where we say another doggy park where we saw a very large dog that looked like a Leonberger breed but he was humongous and so cute. From there we wandered around to the Cafe Tortoni which is the oldest bar in Argentina (has been operating for over 150 years). It was pretty neat, but we didn't order anything as the line up was way to long. From there we went to the Plaza de mayo hoping to catch the bus to La Boca which is this really strange/cool part of the city that is where the biggest Argentina premier league team football club is based they are called "La Boca Jr.s". We couldn't seem to catch the bus as it was not coming forever, so we decided to head to San Telmo where Sieke and Leo live to try to catch a different bus, and on route we stopped by the Saturday market where Leo was working as he is an Artisan where he makes jewelry out of different South American rock/gems, mostly necklaces and pendants. They were very pretty.
We stopped for lunch and had pizza (easy thing to share), we then caught the bus to La Boca. There is two block of La Boca which is a heavy tourist area where you can't basically take a photo without asking to pay. There were staged tango dancers, footballers, celebrity look alikes.. it was sort of like being in the circus. So La Boca is a residential neighbourhood by the docks where all the immigrants from Italy first settled in Bueno Aries. They would make their homes out of left over ship scraps and paint them with left over paint colours which were random and bright. The neighbourhood itself is still quite a poorer area of the city, however , the two blocks is actually a muesum where nobody lives its just a tourist trap. What I (Sara) was interested in was seeing the football stadium (soccer) called the chocolate box were the club team La Boca Jr.s play. They had a museum there and we got to see the soccer pitch which wasn't as big as we thought it would be, but the stadium is quite old, and the fans are right against the pitch. With thirty foot high fence with barbwire at the top, as the fans get just a little rowdy when a goal is scored, the rush to the fence and climb it (Don't worry we don't have seats in that section for tomorrow nights game and we aren't seeing the big rival of La Boca vs. River Plate. We are seeing Racing vs. Arsenal.) After the museum everyone was pretty tired so we made our way back to our hotel. The subway was packed as usual in the afternoon and I quite honestly think that they could have more trains coming as its probably one the most packed subways I have ever ridden and I have ridden a lot in really big cities.
We had a little siesta , as we had booked a Tango show to go to tonight. So we ate awkwardly early (8pm) as when we got to the restaurant the doors were not even open yet, and the chefs were still prepping the veggies in the back, but they were kind enough to let us in to eat. When we got back to our hotel the attendant told us that in fact no one was coming to pick us up to go to the show and that we were going to have to get a taxi but this was like 15 minutes till the show.. and we knew we wouldn't be able to get two taxis in that span of time. Tyson was not happy. So we had to cancel and will go when we arrive back in BA on December 2nd as our last thing to do in BA before heading home. Tyson is ok now that he found some wine at the 24 hour convenience store.
Well time to go to bed as tomorrow show be a quieter day but a long one with the football game being in the evening. This Argentinian lifestyle is catching up to me quickly as being a night owl is hard work.
Ciao,
Sara & Tyson
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Check that off the country visited list !
Beunos Tardes (Good Afternoon),
This morning we had another early wake up call , which when we looked out the window we saw that it was jungle pouring outside!!! I (Sara) was a little sad that it was raining as I am like a cat and do not like getting wet! We managed to pack up our bags and get sorted out to make it downstairs for breakfast. I was super tired and was having a hard time waking up but managed to drink my cafe con leche and eat a bowl of fruit loops, some cheese buns, a alfajor (dulce de leche in a cookie format), and a mini croissant.
Our faithful driver the Argentinian Tom Cruise was waiting for us at at 730 am to take us to the Brazilian side to see the falls from that angle. We got through Argentinian customs with no problems and we were not even stopped on the Brazilian side which means no passport stamp , sad face.
The falls from the Brazilian side are way less busy and we had no issues getting on the bus to take us to the walking paths. It did end up getting busier about an hour later so we were happy to be there early again. The walk was less intensive, not as long as the trails on the Argentinian side, but you get a great perspective of the depth and the overall magnitude of the falls from the Brazil side. If you had the option of doing one or the other we would recommend the Argentinian side, however the best single viewpoint is from the Brazilian side, but the falls are much more dramatic on the Argentinian side.. so really just do both. Unfortunately, we did not see another Toucan and that made us sad. I offered to buy Tyson the Toucan stuffed animal in the gift shop but he declined. I guess we will have to go to Belize to see more of them. Just follow your nose to the fruits of the jungle.
We only spent three hours as it was raining and i think we are all still tired and dehydrated from yesterdays plus 40. Today it is rainy, cloudy, and only 22.. but humid. We now just have a couple of hours to relax, get some lunch (which means keeping Peter well fed because he has not learned the Sara trick of keeping a big bag full of snacks on you at all times! ) . We will be getting into Buenos Airies around 830´pm and we will be seeing Ian tomorrow morning at our hotel where we will probably have another relaxing day as I am sure he will be exhausted from travelling plus 24 hours. That is all for now. See you in BA.
Aidos,
PS we hear there is a lot of snow... whats the deal!
Sara & Tyson & Toucan Sam
This morning we had another early wake up call , which when we looked out the window we saw that it was jungle pouring outside!!! I (Sara) was a little sad that it was raining as I am like a cat and do not like getting wet! We managed to pack up our bags and get sorted out to make it downstairs for breakfast. I was super tired and was having a hard time waking up but managed to drink my cafe con leche and eat a bowl of fruit loops, some cheese buns, a alfajor (dulce de leche in a cookie format), and a mini croissant.
Our faithful driver the Argentinian Tom Cruise was waiting for us at at 730 am to take us to the Brazilian side to see the falls from that angle. We got through Argentinian customs with no problems and we were not even stopped on the Brazilian side which means no passport stamp , sad face.
The falls from the Brazilian side are way less busy and we had no issues getting on the bus to take us to the walking paths. It did end up getting busier about an hour later so we were happy to be there early again. The walk was less intensive, not as long as the trails on the Argentinian side, but you get a great perspective of the depth and the overall magnitude of the falls from the Brazil side. If you had the option of doing one or the other we would recommend the Argentinian side, however the best single viewpoint is from the Brazilian side, but the falls are much more dramatic on the Argentinian side.. so really just do both. Unfortunately, we did not see another Toucan and that made us sad. I offered to buy Tyson the Toucan stuffed animal in the gift shop but he declined. I guess we will have to go to Belize to see more of them. Just follow your nose to the fruits of the jungle.
We only spent three hours as it was raining and i think we are all still tired and dehydrated from yesterdays plus 40. Today it is rainy, cloudy, and only 22.. but humid. We now just have a couple of hours to relax, get some lunch (which means keeping Peter well fed because he has not learned the Sara trick of keeping a big bag full of snacks on you at all times! ) . We will be getting into Buenos Airies around 830´pm and we will be seeing Ian tomorrow morning at our hotel where we will probably have another relaxing day as I am sure he will be exhausted from travelling plus 24 hours. That is all for now. See you in BA.
Aidos,
PS we hear there is a lot of snow... whats the deal!
Sara & Tyson & Toucan Sam
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
A whole lot of Cacti
Hello,
We left off prior to heading out for the day in Cafayate. Since we had had time to write a blog that mornng, it was by far the most relaxed day of the trip to date. The first thing upon leaving the hostel Rusty K, was to go have lunch down at the square. All the towns here are set up in the spanish style, of being situated around a central square which typically includes the church and a good number of resturants with patio seating. Sara and Peter enjoyed some coffee, while we all ate empanatas. After lunch, which in typical Argentinian style for all meals can take a while, since no waiter is ever in a rush, which while taking some time to get use to, isn't such a bad thing, we inquired about renting bikes for a trip to a number of wineries. The hostel was out of usable bikes, so we decided to walk. This was after we found and enjoyed a Torrintio sorbet. Tyson had read in the Rough Guides that there was an artisian who made lovely boxes aprox. 2km south of town, and since a number of wineries where in that direction we headed out of town. Just after leaving the town behind we picked up a very friendly stray dog who joined us on the walk. He loved to chase rocks, bird, etc. He dilgently walked with us all the way out and back. The first couple wineries we passed were closed, since it was a Sunday. Tyson wanted to keep walking in search of this box maker, but we were definetly more than a couple of kilometers outside of town, and saw nothing but vinyards for as far as the eye could see. So we headed back a little disappointed. No wine, no boxes.
Back in town we stopped but didn't visit the wine museum. The museum had english speaking tourist information which pointed us to both the box maker and the three wineries that were open on a Sunday. Two blocks from the wine museum, well within town was the box maker's house, however the door was locked, but the workshop window was open, repeated "hola" were not answered, so we headed to two of the wineries that were also within the city limits. We enjoyed several glasses at each. Nino made organic wines, which tasted alright, while the second winery, El Transito was more to our liking. While they both produced a variety of wines, they both excelled at Torrintio, which is a white, slightly sweet, somewhat dry wine, whose grape is only grown in this very high region. We'll have to go south for the reds.
After the wineries we stopped off at a sweets store, and enjoyed a number of things that included dulche de leche, we walked back to the box maker, who was home this time. We also picked up our stray dog again, who joined us in the shop. The boxes were very nice with increcate silver inlay and clever hidden opening mechanisms, however the price matched the quality, and we don't have many practical uses for little boxes, so we passed up the opportunity.
We continued our relaxing day by resting before heading to dinner. This was the first and so far only day that Peter was not starving and ready to eat at 7pm. (In Argentina, you should not show up at a resturant before 9pm). We had finally looked up the name for well done, which while not pink remained tender and juicy.
The next day we arose early to start our trip with Emae our Argentinian Irish tour guide/driver/informational resource. After another typical breakfast of tea or coffee, bread, and a cup of orange juice, with the bonus of frosted flakes, we piled in the car and headed north.
5 minutes out of town we stopped and lit our candel for Gauchito Gil and then continued on. 15 minutes passed that, the pavement ran out and we started the long dirt road section. After driving through a number of small villages which where centered around tributaries and the main river we started to get into some interested scenary. While the valley floor was green, the hills were barren, and as we drove north the hills became more and more spectacular. The ground was a sedimentary but not all that compacted, as it would break apart in your hand. As we drove the angle of the sediment layers shifted until they were perpendicular to the ground. Slight the rock was so easily eroded, this made for dramatic formations. We couldn't seem to let Emae drive more than 5 minutes before hollering to pull over and take another look. Sara found this boring after awhile and would enjoy the same view from the air conditioned car, as the temperature outside was a dry mid thirties. These rock formations continued for a couple hours before we reached a small picturesch town whose name escapes me. Our next stop was the town of Molinos, which had been the center of power for the region of Salta in the past, but now was little more than a dusty stop by the side of the road. The church was worth a couple of photos, as was the old manor (now expensive hotel), but really it was an good excuse to stretch the legs. From there it was only another 50 km or so to Cachi, so it took us about 2 hours (and we didn't stop much).
We stopped in Cachi for lunch. To be quite honest, the food in Cachi was not that good. Sara just had the empanatas, while Tyson who was hungrier thought he would be safe with ravillio, because previoulsy it had been served vegetarian. Well this ended up being not so tasty pollo ravillio. I felt a little quessy afterwards, but no harm came of it, so I guess no foul. The church had an beautiful confessional made out of cacti, which we had been starting to see on the side of the road.
Back on the now paved road we headed up into the national park that was set up to protect the cacti. We climbed and climbed passed thousands of cacti, some with no arms, some with many arms, some with etc. etc. Not being from a dessert area they were quite interesting. We also kept a keen eye out for wild lama, but all we saw were some wild asses (donkeys). Just as we reached the mountain pass at approx. 3500m the clouds rolled in. We had difficulty seeing more than 5 feet in front of the car, which made the decent down the 20 plus switchbacks in the road a little nerve racking. As well it obviously ruined all our potential views.
After our carful decent, the clouds were not so thick in the valley floor and we raced back to Salta, where we arrived some 11 hours since starting our journey that morning. The whole day feeling like a bit of a wirlwind.
Once we arrived in Salta we all had a shower and then went for a nice meal where they give you free champane with dinner. I (Sara) was pretty tired and a bit headachy from the altitude of the andes.. but managed to eat four cheese pasta and bruchetta. While Tyson had a steak dinner. I have loss count at the amount of steak we have eaten. The next day we slept in and made our way to breakfast. Marilyn was happy because they had herbal tea (most of the time it is black tea). Tyson had told me that there was a cafe that served one of the best coffees in Salta so we headed there after breakfast so Peter and I could try it. The cafe was called "Van Gogh" and it did serve up a delcious cafe con leche (basically a latte). Very smooth, I rated it a 9/10. After we drank our coffee we headed to the museum where you can see Inca children that were mummified, Tyson had been looking forward to visiting this muesum for quite some time and as we got there we found out that the museum was closed till the 10 of November. Tyson was sad and disappointed. We then walked around Salta for a while, looking at other museums , one that had a wierd exhibit of Latin hairstyles. We sat in the sqauare for a bit people watching, but it was pretty hot out so we deciced to go under some shade at a restaurant to eat some lunch. Lunch for Tyson and I consisted of empandas and fries and a large beer, while Peter and Marilyn had empanadas and a pizza. Marilyn and Peter then went back to the hotel to wait for the taxi to take us to the airport while Tyson and I did a little shopping and looking at the shops.
I can tell you that flying for 1.5 hours to Iguazu , was much , much, much better than taking a 20hr bus. Unfortuently we still do have two more long bus trips coming up but none are as long as 22 hrs. We arrived to our hotel which is a lovely little place that has a swimming pool and air conditioning (thank goodness as it is plus 34 here and jungle hot!). Marilyn and Peter were full from the airplane food (I am not sure how that is possible as all they gave us were crackers, some chocolates and a juice box) but Tyson and I went for dinner and enjoyed a cold glass of white wine as we sweated just sitting at the table.
The next morning we headed to Iguazu Falls. Now I can't really explain to you the beauty of these falls nor will pictures suffice! You really have to go see them for yourselves as it is truly one of the most spectacualr thing I have ever seen in my life. Ranks right up there with Galapagos Islands. I mean really just sheer beauty! We arrived right when the park opened with all the other hundered and some tourists and got on the first tain that took us to Garganta del Diablo which is the powerhouse of the falls it was spectacular and we watched the falls for a good 30 minutes or so just enough time to get off pace with all the tours happening around us so that we had some of the falls to ourselves. That was the theme of the day "how to avoid all the tour groups" I think we did pretty well. We managed to do almost all of the trails except the nature walk. Oh before I forget.. in the morning for breakfast they had fruit loops as one of the cereals you could choose to eat and I had a big bowl of them in hopes of having luck seeing Toucan Sam in the jungle... well guess what we saw TWO of them. Well I (Sara) only saw one of them and Tyson saw another one but he was beautiful! So tomorrow when we go again i am going to eat another bowl of fruit loops in hopes of seeing one closer. Back to the falls. Peter said that these falls beat our Niagra and Victoria falls by a long shot. I am happy we got to see them as it was so peaceful and calming and just really amazing. Google them to take a look for yourselves you will be in AWE! We spent 6.5 hours there walking around in the plus 35 degree weather looking for shade, and guzzling water, and enjoying the water spray off the falls to cool us down. When we got back to our hotel we were all pretty exhausted! Tyson found us some gatorade to drink and we all went for a quick swim and a siesta before dinner.
After dinner, we managed to buy our bus tickets to Mendoza and Bariloche.The bus to Bariloche did not have a lot of options as there was only one bus running that day , but we will make it work. Tomorrow we are up early again to go to the Brazilain side of the falls and then back to the Argentinan side to get one last impressive view of the Garganta del Diablo before catching our flight back to Buenos Airies.
See you then!
Sara & Tyson
We left off prior to heading out for the day in Cafayate. Since we had had time to write a blog that mornng, it was by far the most relaxed day of the trip to date. The first thing upon leaving the hostel Rusty K, was to go have lunch down at the square. All the towns here are set up in the spanish style, of being situated around a central square which typically includes the church and a good number of resturants with patio seating. Sara and Peter enjoyed some coffee, while we all ate empanatas. After lunch, which in typical Argentinian style for all meals can take a while, since no waiter is ever in a rush, which while taking some time to get use to, isn't such a bad thing, we inquired about renting bikes for a trip to a number of wineries. The hostel was out of usable bikes, so we decided to walk. This was after we found and enjoyed a Torrintio sorbet. Tyson had read in the Rough Guides that there was an artisian who made lovely boxes aprox. 2km south of town, and since a number of wineries where in that direction we headed out of town. Just after leaving the town behind we picked up a very friendly stray dog who joined us on the walk. He loved to chase rocks, bird, etc. He dilgently walked with us all the way out and back. The first couple wineries we passed were closed, since it was a Sunday. Tyson wanted to keep walking in search of this box maker, but we were definetly more than a couple of kilometers outside of town, and saw nothing but vinyards for as far as the eye could see. So we headed back a little disappointed. No wine, no boxes.
Back in town we stopped but didn't visit the wine museum. The museum had english speaking tourist information which pointed us to both the box maker and the three wineries that were open on a Sunday. Two blocks from the wine museum, well within town was the box maker's house, however the door was locked, but the workshop window was open, repeated "hola" were not answered, so we headed to two of the wineries that were also within the city limits. We enjoyed several glasses at each. Nino made organic wines, which tasted alright, while the second winery, El Transito was more to our liking. While they both produced a variety of wines, they both excelled at Torrintio, which is a white, slightly sweet, somewhat dry wine, whose grape is only grown in this very high region. We'll have to go south for the reds.
After the wineries we stopped off at a sweets store, and enjoyed a number of things that included dulche de leche, we walked back to the box maker, who was home this time. We also picked up our stray dog again, who joined us in the shop. The boxes were very nice with increcate silver inlay and clever hidden opening mechanisms, however the price matched the quality, and we don't have many practical uses for little boxes, so we passed up the opportunity.
We continued our relaxing day by resting before heading to dinner. This was the first and so far only day that Peter was not starving and ready to eat at 7pm. (In Argentina, you should not show up at a resturant before 9pm). We had finally looked up the name for well done, which while not pink remained tender and juicy.
The next day we arose early to start our trip with Emae our Argentinian Irish tour guide/driver/informational resource. After another typical breakfast of tea or coffee, bread, and a cup of orange juice, with the bonus of frosted flakes, we piled in the car and headed north.
5 minutes out of town we stopped and lit our candel for Gauchito Gil and then continued on. 15 minutes passed that, the pavement ran out and we started the long dirt road section. After driving through a number of small villages which where centered around tributaries and the main river we started to get into some interested scenary. While the valley floor was green, the hills were barren, and as we drove north the hills became more and more spectacular. The ground was a sedimentary but not all that compacted, as it would break apart in your hand. As we drove the angle of the sediment layers shifted until they were perpendicular to the ground. Slight the rock was so easily eroded, this made for dramatic formations. We couldn't seem to let Emae drive more than 5 minutes before hollering to pull over and take another look. Sara found this boring after awhile and would enjoy the same view from the air conditioned car, as the temperature outside was a dry mid thirties. These rock formations continued for a couple hours before we reached a small picturesch town whose name escapes me. Our next stop was the town of Molinos, which had been the center of power for the region of Salta in the past, but now was little more than a dusty stop by the side of the road. The church was worth a couple of photos, as was the old manor (now expensive hotel), but really it was an good excuse to stretch the legs. From there it was only another 50 km or so to Cachi, so it took us about 2 hours (and we didn't stop much).
We stopped in Cachi for lunch. To be quite honest, the food in Cachi was not that good. Sara just had the empanatas, while Tyson who was hungrier thought he would be safe with ravillio, because previoulsy it had been served vegetarian. Well this ended up being not so tasty pollo ravillio. I felt a little quessy afterwards, but no harm came of it, so I guess no foul. The church had an beautiful confessional made out of cacti, which we had been starting to see on the side of the road.
Back on the now paved road we headed up into the national park that was set up to protect the cacti. We climbed and climbed passed thousands of cacti, some with no arms, some with many arms, some with etc. etc. Not being from a dessert area they were quite interesting. We also kept a keen eye out for wild lama, but all we saw were some wild asses (donkeys). Just as we reached the mountain pass at approx. 3500m the clouds rolled in. We had difficulty seeing more than 5 feet in front of the car, which made the decent down the 20 plus switchbacks in the road a little nerve racking. As well it obviously ruined all our potential views.
After our carful decent, the clouds were not so thick in the valley floor and we raced back to Salta, where we arrived some 11 hours since starting our journey that morning. The whole day feeling like a bit of a wirlwind.
Once we arrived in Salta we all had a shower and then went for a nice meal where they give you free champane with dinner. I (Sara) was pretty tired and a bit headachy from the altitude of the andes.. but managed to eat four cheese pasta and bruchetta. While Tyson had a steak dinner. I have loss count at the amount of steak we have eaten. The next day we slept in and made our way to breakfast. Marilyn was happy because they had herbal tea (most of the time it is black tea). Tyson had told me that there was a cafe that served one of the best coffees in Salta so we headed there after breakfast so Peter and I could try it. The cafe was called "Van Gogh" and it did serve up a delcious cafe con leche (basically a latte). Very smooth, I rated it a 9/10. After we drank our coffee we headed to the museum where you can see Inca children that were mummified, Tyson had been looking forward to visiting this muesum for quite some time and as we got there we found out that the museum was closed till the 10 of November. Tyson was sad and disappointed. We then walked around Salta for a while, looking at other museums , one that had a wierd exhibit of Latin hairstyles. We sat in the sqauare for a bit people watching, but it was pretty hot out so we deciced to go under some shade at a restaurant to eat some lunch. Lunch for Tyson and I consisted of empandas and fries and a large beer, while Peter and Marilyn had empanadas and a pizza. Marilyn and Peter then went back to the hotel to wait for the taxi to take us to the airport while Tyson and I did a little shopping and looking at the shops.
I can tell you that flying for 1.5 hours to Iguazu , was much , much, much better than taking a 20hr bus. Unfortuently we still do have two more long bus trips coming up but none are as long as 22 hrs. We arrived to our hotel which is a lovely little place that has a swimming pool and air conditioning (thank goodness as it is plus 34 here and jungle hot!). Marilyn and Peter were full from the airplane food (I am not sure how that is possible as all they gave us were crackers, some chocolates and a juice box) but Tyson and I went for dinner and enjoyed a cold glass of white wine as we sweated just sitting at the table.
The next morning we headed to Iguazu Falls. Now I can't really explain to you the beauty of these falls nor will pictures suffice! You really have to go see them for yourselves as it is truly one of the most spectacualr thing I have ever seen in my life. Ranks right up there with Galapagos Islands. I mean really just sheer beauty! We arrived right when the park opened with all the other hundered and some tourists and got on the first tain that took us to Garganta del Diablo which is the powerhouse of the falls it was spectacular and we watched the falls for a good 30 minutes or so just enough time to get off pace with all the tours happening around us so that we had some of the falls to ourselves. That was the theme of the day "how to avoid all the tour groups" I think we did pretty well. We managed to do almost all of the trails except the nature walk. Oh before I forget.. in the morning for breakfast they had fruit loops as one of the cereals you could choose to eat and I had a big bowl of them in hopes of having luck seeing Toucan Sam in the jungle... well guess what we saw TWO of them. Well I (Sara) only saw one of them and Tyson saw another one but he was beautiful! So tomorrow when we go again i am going to eat another bowl of fruit loops in hopes of seeing one closer. Back to the falls. Peter said that these falls beat our Niagra and Victoria falls by a long shot. I am happy we got to see them as it was so peaceful and calming and just really amazing. Google them to take a look for yourselves you will be in AWE! We spent 6.5 hours there walking around in the plus 35 degree weather looking for shade, and guzzling water, and enjoying the water spray off the falls to cool us down. When we got back to our hotel we were all pretty exhausted! Tyson found us some gatorade to drink and we all went for a quick swim and a siesta before dinner.
After dinner, we managed to buy our bus tickets to Mendoza and Bariloche.The bus to Bariloche did not have a lot of options as there was only one bus running that day , but we will make it work. Tomorrow we are up early again to go to the Brazilain side of the falls and then back to the Argentinan side to get one last impressive view of the Garganta del Diablo before catching our flight back to Buenos Airies.
See you then!
Sara & Tyson
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