Argentina Rocks!

This is Argentina. 

Today , you can join me over at Women Rockin' The Road, where I am talking about being a vegetarian in Argentina, one of the beef capitals of the world.  

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Also, I have a winner to announce for the Back to The Books Giveaway Hop.

Drum roll please....

And the winner is....

Number drawn by random.org.
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River Plate Game!

This was absolutely crazy! We went to the River vs Arsenal game on Sunday and a huge fight broke out in the stands! Luckily it was not near where we were sitting, but it was quite a sight!

Swollen Summer

Chris and I went to Uruguay for about a week and a half. It was a lot of fun! We took the boat over from Buenos Aires to Colonia, which takes about an hour. From there we bussed to Montevideo, where we stayed a couple of nights. It is a nice city, except it seemed to have an unusual amount of beggers. Also, Uruguay loves their Mate. Mate is a tea type thing, except instead of having it in a little bag, you put the actual leaves into a cup and add hot water and then you sip it through a straw which has a filter on it. There is also a ritual to drinking it. In a style which I assume to be similar to a peace pipe, you drink one whole cup and then fill the water back up and pass it to the next person.


After Montevideo, we headed up the coast to Punta del Este. We were there for the Easter weekend, so it was kind of busy. This weekend is kind of like our Labor Day; it signifies the end of the summer for them. So everyone was at the beach, chilling and getting some last minute sun. It really doesnt get very cold, even in the winter, but it still is kind of the end of the summer for them.
Our next stop was La Paloma, which was a very small beach town. We camped at a nice site which was about a 5 minute walk to the beach. It was great, very relaxing and just what we needed after being in the city for the last couple of weeks. We spent some time at the beach and some time just hanging out and playing cards and reading... However, it was here that a crisis was averted.

We went to the beach one day and everything was fine. The next day we got up and were preparing to leave when I started to itch. I had peed in the dark in a bush the night before and thought maybe I had squatted in some poison oak or something, but soon a rash had spread all over my body. Next the rash kind of dissapated and in its place was just swollen redness. We went to the doctor who gave me cortizone and told me to stay out of the sun. Apparently I had used a lotion or soap which in addition to the sun had given me some sort of allergic reaction. Who knew! To the right is a photo of my misfortune.


So, after that we went to a great little town called Punta del Diablo. However, I couldnt go out in the sun, and it was a beach town, so we ended up just hanging out in our little cabina playing cards with a small boy named Santiago. Which of course was fun! He taught us the name for all the shapes, but we found out later that he actually may have given us the wrong names...

Now we are back in Buenos Aires. But I will have more to say about that later....

Rain, Rain Go Away!

We were camping in Uruguay and it rained SO hard. I thought the tent was going to get swept away. By the way, we named all of our accessories.

Backpack = Vicky (Queen Victoria)

Chris' Pack = Elvis (the King)

Tent = Selma

Sleeping Pad = Matt (and Chris' is Maxi)

So, Selma was SOAKED! And Vicky and Elvis were getting wet, so we had to bring them into Selma with us...it was a bit cramped. Then Chris had to go out into the rain and dig a trench around Selma so we would not get carried away or wet. Pictures below:

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Haha, just when you think you are organized....

We had a very interesting Sunday last weekend. First, let me explain a little something. I want to go to a futbol (soccer) game. So, I asked about the schedule while we were at the Sheraton and the concierge told me that River and Boca both played on Sunday, River at 5, Boca at 7. In Buenos Aires. Both stadiums are easy to get to, and he had said that to get tickets we needed to go to the stadium. On Sunday, we were at Mar del Plata, which is about 5 hours from the city, so we planned on leaving early to give us enough time to settle in and then get to the stadium. On Saturday, we bought 7 am tickets for the next day.

On Sunday, we missed our alarm and woke up at 730. I was so pissed off, as I knew that if you missed your bus, you had to re-pay for your ticket. There was no such thing as a refund. So, we hustled to the bus station, becuase we still wanted to get an early bus. We arrived at the station at about 2 mintues until 8. The counter we had bought our ticket from was not open, but one of their partner companies had an open counter. We went and asked the guy what we could do and he said he thought we could get onto a later bus but we would have to enquire at the counter we had bought the tickets at. I asked what time it opened and he said 8. I looked down at my watch; it was 8:02. The counter was still not open. We sat down at a coffeeshop for a quick breakfast, while still continuing to check on the counter, which was still not opening.

Finally at 9, the counter opened. By now I was cursing the Argentines and thinking how the hell could they be an HOUR late in getting open!! We went to the counter and the man said he could get us on the 9 o'clock bus. I looked at my watch; it was 9:15. I said, ahora? (now?) and he said, no, in 45 minutes. I showed him my watch, ÿou mean at 10?" I asked. "No," he said, "in 45 minutes! We set our clocks back last night". Oh MY god! I was suprised. They had JUST set their clocks FORWARD about 2 and a half months ago! So I guess they observe "summer forward" AND "summer back"!

So, we bought another ticket and made it back to Buenos Aires. Next stop, the Boca Jr Stadium to hopefully catch that futbol game. We caught the bus to the stadium about 2 hours before the game and there was nobody there!! I went to ask a guard what time the game started and he said that there was no game today, that is was NEXT Sunday! So, we went to the local bar, which was empty, and sat down to have a beer and figure out what we were going to do. The owner of the bar, Luis, sat down with us and we ended up hanging out with him for the next three hours, just shooting the breeze and learning about Boca and slabs of meat and swords and all kinds of things! He was great! We promised to come back when we got back into town to sample his Sunday Asado (barbeque); he even said he would cook some fish for me!

So, we messed up twice in one day but got to meet Luis, which made it all worth it!

Me Gusta El Mar!

Since my last post, CK and I spent some time in Mendoza, drinking more wine, enjoying the Mendocino life. We went on a wine tour, which is not what I was used to. We only got to taste two types of wine at each place, however, the tour was interesting. It was all in Spanish, so I only understood half of it, but I still feel like I learned something. We stayed in perhaps the worst hostel ever while there. It was so dirty and nasty; I didnt even take a shower for a couple of days because I was so disgusted by the shower. Also, they were supposed to have breakfast included, and there was none. They were supposed to have internet access and there was none. They totally falsly advertised and were so dirty to boot! The worst thing is, it was the wine festival and so we ended up having to stay there regardless. However, in spite of this, our stay was very nice.

After Mendoza, we went to Buenos Aires to apply for our visa to Brazil. S had done this earlier in the year and had had a really bad time of it. He had to stand in line for 6 hours or something. We went early on Monday, thinking we would have the same experience. However, we were in and out in about 15 minutes, leaving us a whole extra day to hang out in the city. We had even brought lunch, thinking we would be stranded in line and not able to leave to get food! It was a welcome surprise.

From Buenos Aires we came to Mar Del Plata, where we are now. It is a beach town about 5 hours south of the city, where all the city dwellers come for the summer months of January and February. However, since we are here in March, it is still warm, but not very busy, which is perfect. So, we are back at the beach again. In Argentina this time though. Yeah, I know, we just cant get enough of Argentina, really. We actually like it so much, we decided to find an apartment in Buenos Aries again. I will take a Spanish class, and we will sit at the cafes and watch all the beautiful people go by.

Back In The Land of Earplugs

I have been spoiled for the last couple of weeks. Mr. L came to visit and he splurged on a few places that were a lot nicer than the ones I have been staying in. Also, I finally used up some of my Sheraton points and splurged for a five star treat in Santiago for a few nights.

In a nutshell, the past few weeks...

1. Valdivia, CH - College town, near a river, famous for its fish market....we only spent a day here before going back to the lake district.

2. Pucon, CH - Lake town, with many National parks, Lakes and Volcanos. We hiked Vocan Villarica, which is about 3000 Meters of steep climb, complete with dust and smoke. It was not a very difficult climb, but it was hot and I did not have enough water and it felt like I was smoking a few packs of cigarettes while hiking up a dusty mountain. We also spent some time at the lake, which was packed with Chileños and their niños and people trying to rent you quitasoles (umbrellas) but was still a refreshing treat.

3. Mendoza, AR - A little unexpected side trip - a sample of the outdoor cafe life, a little bit of wine and lots of relaxing days spent drinking coffee and chilling in the shade. Mendoza is the main wine region of Argentina, known in the US mostly for its Malbec, I believe. There are many others, of course, and try as we may, we did not have time to sample them all.

4. Viña del Mar - Beach town on the W Coast of Chile, this is actually part of the outskirts of Valparaiso, CH. It was nice, very much like Santa Cruz, a little bit foggy in the AM and then around 3, the fog blows off, leaving a very nice day behind. The beaches were packed, the seafood here was delicious, the houses on the hill were very quaint and precariously perched.

5. Easter Island, CH - Oh the heads!! I am so glad that I went here. It is very far out of the way; it was a 5 hour flight each way, but it was totally worth it. The history here is so interesting and captivating. Maybe I can summarize a little. There were two tribes, the long ears and the short ears. Both of them made these statues of the heads, called Moai. They went to war, and many of the heads were tipped over (and still are). However, some have been put back upright, so we can enjoy them. They were huge! Some of them have hats and the hats alone are as tall as me. It was great! This is a beatiful polynesian island which would be great all on its own, but with the history included it was a ten!

6. Santiago, CH - A couple relaxing days spent by the pool at the Sheraton was exactly what we needed after so much moving around. Here I met back up with Chris and we got back on the move again.

So, now I am back in the land of earplugs, cheap hostels, noise and PB&J sandwiches!!! More news later and pictures to boot!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

A while ago, I read about women who were donating their hair in order to make wigs for those who needed them (ie cancer patients etc). I wanted to do that and have been considering it for some time, but have kind of been a little scared... You have to have ten inches, which is basically all my hair. So I have been dragging my feet a little bit. However, last night I finally got up the gumption to do it.

Chris volunteered (he almost peed his pants he was so excited to do it) to cut it off for me. You have to put your hair in a ponytail or braid and then chop it off, stick it in a bag and mail it in. So I put my hair in a ponytail and Chris took up the scissors and 10 seconds later I was minus a foot of hair. I knew it would be short, but I guess I didnt think about the fact that when you cut at the ponytail, the back is shorter than the front...so, I went to the hairdresser today and he fixed Chris´ hack job, but it is still pretty short!! Anyway, some photos are below:

Before:

After:


Click here to see why I did this crazy thing...

Guanaco Hike, Ushuaia

Rapido Por Favor!!

Well, wow, I FINALLY got some photos online!! We are staying at a hostel with not only free internet, but fast enough internet that I can upload pics! Yay! So, enjoy a few photos here...

Brrrr...It´s Chile

No wait, it´s Argentina. Wait, where am I? No, really, we are in Bariloche, Argentina right now. We were travelling up Chile, going north, with no intention of going back in to Argentina for at least three more weeks, but we ended up flying from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt instead of taking the bus, which would have taken us about 30 hours (the flight was about 2) and then missing out on a couple of National Parks that we wanted to hit up, so the bottom line is...we have extra time! So we flagged down a bus (literally flagged down and didn't have a seat and had to negotiate a price with the driver) and headed back into Argentina.

Before this, we have been hanging out in the Lake District of Chile, which has been great. It reminds me of Tahoe a little bit; it is beautiful, but not too hot, only about 70 degrees (sorry, North-easterners!! ONLY 70?!) It has been nice to do some hiking, hanging out at the lake, eating empanadas and seafood and just enjoying the Chilenos and their way of life, which is NOT bad at all! We went to a beach on the Pacific (Maicopue) that was ¨off the gringo grid¨. Nobody spoke English, we mingled with the locals on the beach and ate lots of cheap fried food and swam in the freezing cold Pacific... It was great!!

Next up is... a few more days here in Bariloche (nice to relax and not have to worry about where we are going next) and then its back to Chile for a festival in Valdivia and then onto the Lago Villarica, where there is a nice beach and a massive volcano...activity and relaxation all in one... Then we will contiue our quest north towards Santiago.

Tracking Us...

My brother is doing a google website tracker of our trip. You can get the link to it here On this site you can also see a photo of his wrinkled bald head....

Enjoy!

Chris´ Photo Links

The internet is still slow and I am still not patient, so have not gotten many pics online. I did get a couple of Ushuaia - Literally, like 2... and you can view them here.

Chris has more:

Fitz Roy

Puerto Moreno Glacier

Torres Del Paine

Enjoy!

No Hay Peanut Butter

When I was in France, I was trying to find Peanut Butter in the grocery store. When I asked my flatmates boyfriend to help me because he spoke English, he did not even know what I was talking about. I tried to explain the concept of ground up peanuts and the fact that we put it on bread and he thought I was crazy. Well, the same thing goes for the Argentines. They do not have peanut butter. Our plan for our hike was to eat a lot of PB and Js, but it was not meant to be. We are eating a lot of Js though...

We just got back from one two day hike and one long one day hike in the Fitz Roy Range of the Andes in the Argentina side of Patagonia. They were all quite long and grueling hikes, but totally worth it once we got to the end. The first day we hiked into a valley and ended up at a glacier fed lake (Laguna Toro). The trail was hard - the first hour and a half way all uphill, then there was some flat ground, but much of it was marshy and so then we all had wet feet. Next was a loooooong downhill, which sounds like relief, but really is harder on me than the uphill. When we got to the bottom of the downhill, it began to rain really hard and the wind picked up. We hiked the last hour in the wind driven rain (haha, sounds like I am writing a PW) and finally arrived to camp about 6 hours after we had set out. Then we have to deal with starting the stove in the wind and rain and setting up the tent....but to me the challenge is what is part of the fun. The next day we hiked back, again, it was up, then flat, then down. CK hurt his knee on the downhill section and has been gimping around for the last couple of days.

Yesterday I (without the gimp) hiked up to the Laguna de los Tres, which is a path that affords beautiful views of Cerro (Mt) Fitz Roy, which is a huge craggy peak, and the tallest (at 3500 M) around. There is still snow on the top and the moutain shines kind of a bluish grey color. It really was a sight to behold. I have photos, but somehow they just do not do it justice...

Today we bussed back to El Calafate and tomorrow we will go to the Perito Moreno glacier, which is supposed to be quite a sight. Then Grant leaves us tomorrow afternoon and the rest of us (S, CK and I) go on to Puerto Natales, which is the Chilean side of Patagonia. From there we will tackle the "W" (S) and the "Curcuit" (me and CK) trails (5 and 8 days respectively). This will be the true test of our hiking and camping skills.

We are all so happy to be back in "civilization" where we can get a hot shower and some laundry done (it has been a while, I wont say how long..it is kind of gross - let me just say, I wouldnt touch any of us with a ten foot pole) and get ourselves ready for our next big hike...

I hope to get some photos and videos online soon, but with the internet the way it is here (Calafate is a really small town) I dont see that happening for a while. The next time I will be in a largish town will probably be in a couple of weeks.

P.S. Funny...as I was talking about smelling bad, a guy sat down at the next computer...and he smells worse than I do! I didnt think it was possible! Ciao!

Bella Vista

We arrived in Ushuaia safely yesterday and set right to it. We hopped on a boat and got a tour of the Beagle Channel. Ushuaia is the ¨southernmost point¨in the world. Except for Antarctica. Oh and a few small ports which are south of here...but whatever! It is cold here. After being in Buenos Aires where it was in the high nineties and hundreds, it is strange to be back in 40 degree weather. I guess this is what I have been carrying around all those heavy winter clothes for.

Today we hiked to the top of a mountain and from the top there were the most beautiful views! I have a video, it is on the bottom of the page. Hopefully it works, I haven´t tried to upload videos before. We are all going to be tired pups tomorrow. You can also see some photos on Chris´flickr site: check here. You can also see our Buenos Aires photos at Chris site: here. I will be putting mine online soon, hopefully....

So we are at the end of the world, where it doesn´t get dark until about midnight and it gets light again in the morning around 5ish...It is crazy. I was so tired last night around 11, but it felt like it was about 6, so I felt like I should be wide awake. Then the sun streaming in the window made me think it was about noon, but it was only 6 a.m. It is hard to go to bed when it is light!

Tomorrow we will do some more hiking and then we will hop on a bus for El Calafate, which is the gateway to the Puerto Morena glacier and the Fitz Roy Moutains, which is the Argentine part of Patagonia.

PS I tried to upload the video but the internet is just tooooo slooowww!!! I will have to do it some other time. Until then, ciao!

Ciao for now...

Today was our last day in the big city....Bye, bye Buenos Aires and hello Ushuaia. We had a great time in the city....Renting that apartment for a week was a great idea, becuase it gave us a chance to really explore the city without feeling rushed and to see parts of the city we never would have. A couple interesting things happened today, on our last day.

Number one: the family of the landlord came to inspect the apartment and they were not happy about the door. But, instead of just coming to an agreement, they had to fuss and moan for a while before we could get out of there...It was really a long and drawn out ordeal that could have been taken care of in a much more efficient manner. The only good thing was that they arrived at our meeting on time, which is a lot more than we can say about when they came to meet with us in the first place (they were 2 hours late).

Number two: I ate a piece of blood sausage. And I am alive to tell the tale. I was not planning on eating it. I have not eated red meat in...oh about 15 years or so... But S was being a wimp and he wouldnt try it, so I told him that I would try it if he would. I did not think he would go for it, in fact he said no at first. Until everyone else egged him on, telling him that if a vegetarian can eat it, he better be able to... So he ate a small piece and I ate a small piece... It wasnt that great, and I dont think I ever need to have it again. But my mom always told me to try everything at least once.

That is it. Now we say good bye to Buenos Aires and we head to the End of the World, Ushuaia, for some hiking, beautiful sights and general enjoyment...

Telephono

So I guess there is a reason after all that we have cell phones. I sometimes wonder why. But today when I was waiting - by the way, I HATE waiting - for the boys, I realized, cell phones really have done at least one thing for us. They have allowed us to spend our time more economically.

The situation was this. I needed to get money from AMEX; Grant needed a sleeping bag. I was going to ¨pop in and out¨of the AMEX office... That didn´t happen. I ended up spending about an hour in the office and Grant ended up spending about 2 hours getting a sleeping bag. However, I couldnt get out of line to tell them that I was going to take longer than expected and they didnt know why I was taking so long. So we both ended up waiting longer than expected for each other.

So being here has made us all learn how to plan. Well, I use that phrase lightly...Plan. We have tried to plan, but sometimes it doesn´t work. But it has been interesting...Remember when we didn´t have cell phones (gasp). What did we do!?
I kind of like it. People can get ahold of me, they just have to wait. And the same goes for me...So we learn patience and planning. Maybe. Well we are trying to!

Break Me Off a Piece

Happy New Year everyone! Well, 2008 has already been quite an exciting year here in the big city. Let´s see...First we will start with New Years. The clock struck 12, we had a toast, danced the congo, watched the fireworks and then split into two groups - the early crew and the late crew. You know me, grandma, went with the early crew. We got to our apartment and when we tried to open the door, we couldnt. There are two locks, one on top and one on the bottom, but when the lady gave us the keys she said that we would only need to use the one on the bottom. So, we could turn the key in the bottom and we could hear the lock disengaging, but from what we could tell, the top lock was still locked. We thought that probably Kaylen, who had the other set of keys had maybe locked the top one for some reason. Well, we knew that the late crew was going to be gone for a while, so we went up to the roof to hang out for a while.

When the late crew finally did come home, they tried to open the door and had no luck either. So, we were tired and a bit cranky, so we broke into the apartment. Good times. Luckily we were able to do so. I guess. Hopefully it is not that easy for burglers.

So the next day we decided to go to a cemetary quite like the ones in New Orleans with the above ground graves...after that we wanted to take a new train home, one we had not tried before. However, when we got to the station, there was a barbed wire fence between us and the station we wanted to be at. So, KE and S decided to cross over a train bridge to try and climb down the other side. They got about half way across before a train came. These trains don´t move as slow as cargo trains either. Kaylen made it to the end of the bridge, but S had to climb to the side and crouch down in between two support beams. He made it. He is still alive, but I think he is going to have grey hair soon.

So. Yesterday and today were uneventful. We just explored the city a little more, went to the beach, went to the park... Tomorrow our plan is to go to the Casa Rosa, which means pink house. It is apparently a lot like our White House. And that´s all for now... Let the good times roll!

Naive Tourists Beware

The fun continutes.

This morning S and I were sitting at an outside table at a cafe while the other boys went to run errands. We had all of our bags sitting next to us and we were just relaxing and chatting over the remains of our coffees. A man walked up to us and was asking us directions and while we were trying to help him, his buddy took off with CK's backpack. We didn´t even notice until the people at the next table started shouting and out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the waiters take off around the corner like a shot. Luckily the waiter (god bless him!) caught up to the guy and got the bag back because in that bag was CK's passport and everything else important. So, thank goodness a good end to a bad story, but I think from now on we are all going to be a little bit more careful about our things.

We settled into our apartment in the suburb of Belgrano, went shopping and are planning a marvelous feast and some toasting of the New Year tonight. The Argetines don´t go out until late, so we may go to another party after we ring in the New Year locally.

Now we are six. CK and I are in it for the long haul, S is here for about 2 months, KE and Rafe and Grant are here for approximately 2 weeks each. It is nice to have an apartment, although we had to have a ¨house meeiting¨today to figure out who was going to sleep where and how we were going to split up the grocery bill... it is fun though. We already kicked KE off the island.

Tomorrow we will relax and then probably go to the beach the next day for some fun in the sun. The temperature here today was about 100, so I can´t wait to hit the beach!!

More later. I will probably have limited internet connection while in Patagonia (we will be doing a lot of hiking and camping) but I will do my best to keep up the good news!

Bienvenidos A Buenos Aires

We made it!

Day one: the day of the hostel search. We arrived around 10 this morning after a nice ride in first class, complete with a seemingly 7 course meal (thanks to S's dad!). After finding our luggage and getting money, we found a cabbie who was willing to transport us and our 400 pounds of baggage (seriously, my bag weighs about 40 lbs!) to the city. We got dropped off at the Palermo district, which is supposed to be known for its good eats, night life and is quoted in Lonely Planet as a "seriously chic and hip place to shop". However, it is apparently NOT the place to find a cheap place to stay (or any place to stay!) We looked for a while, but finally bagged an overpriced place with only 3 beds for 4 of us (we will have to take turns sleeping on the floor).

Tonight's plan: experience life the Argentine way...dinner at 9, drinks at midnight and then... who knows. Luckily, we are still on California time, so with Buenos Aires being 5 hours later, that should be about right for me. If I go to bed at 2 here, that is 9 my time. Perfect. Beinvenidos A Argentina!