Since Becky's still shaking some bug, which may be due to sleep depreviation since we never eat until 10 o'clock or so and often finish afer midnight, we decided to go with another low-adrenaline tour. We took a bus ride to the high Andes, all the way to the border with Chile. Some amazing views of the mountains, took lots and lots of photos, which the idea that yes, this time I will stitch together a shot of all these mountains, print and frame it, and hang it proudly.
But as I look at the photos, I realize again why Ansel Adams was a great photographer and that even with a wide-angle lens you can't just point a camera at a mountain and capture its grandeur.
As part of the trip, we took a ski lift up one mountain, got a bunch of shots from there as well. The border with Chile was quite high, there was some snow and a lot of wind.
We met a very nice Canadian couple, Matt and Emma on the trip, and afterwards went out for a drink and shared travel stories in Latin America and other places. She's a writer/photographer, he's a helicopter pilot, and they travel quite a bit. A nice way to end the tour.
Becky and I then went to the lovely Azafran restaurant, but more about that in the next post.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Mud Bath and Spa
We spent our last full day in South America similar to the first: absolutely certain we were on vacation, basically in the lap of luxury. We went to a small spa located in the foothills of the Andes, glorious views, naturual hot springs, friendy staff. We treated ourselves to a massage, 2 mud baths, and dips in all the pools (varying temperatures). Lunch was a feast (alas, of mostly meats, but Becky enjoyed the other stuff, too). It's hard to imagine doing less. We brought books and postcards and journals, but none of them even got opened.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Mendoza: Trekking and Rapelling
Our first adventure tour was to the foothills of the Andes, for a day of trekking, rapelling and canopying (I like the Spanish word better, "Tiroleza", attaching yourself to a wire and gliding down it at a pretty good speed.
Depending on how this story is told, it will either be a day of fun and adventure, or a day that didn't quite live up to expectations. Becky's version will be the first, since she has largely an pleasant outlook on life, and Tac's will be the latter, since he's demanding and expects a lot from life and every adventure it offers.
But since it's my blog, I'll go with my view. We arrived at a rafting place, and everyone else went over to get their rafting gear. I asked if the bus was continuing on to another place for the other activities, and was told no, this was the adventure base. It turns out that the tour we booked through the agent was really a rafting tour that offered a few side activities, a small rapelling wall and short tiroleza across the river, and a 1/2 hour hike, but basically it was a Class 3 and 4 white water river rafting place. So while everyone else went off, we took a hike (longer than 1/2 hour, gratefully) in the desert. It was quite nice and somewhat interesting, but not the adrenaline rush that rafting would have offered.
When the rafting group returned, 7 of us went to the rapelling wall, and waited patiently for our turn to descend, then over to the tiroleza.
So, each activity was okay in it's own right, but it was like eating appetizers at a steak house, I felt like we missed the main course.
Becky, on the other hand, quite enjoyed all the activities, they were of sufficient length and adrenaline for her, so it was still a good day.
Depending on how this story is told, it will either be a day of fun and adventure, or a day that didn't quite live up to expectations. Becky's version will be the first, since she has largely an pleasant outlook on life, and Tac's will be the latter, since he's demanding and expects a lot from life and every adventure it offers.
But since it's my blog, I'll go with my view. We arrived at a rafting place, and everyone else went over to get their rafting gear. I asked if the bus was continuing on to another place for the other activities, and was told no, this was the adventure base. It turns out that the tour we booked through the agent was really a rafting tour that offered a few side activities, a small rapelling wall and short tiroleza across the river, and a 1/2 hour hike, but basically it was a Class 3 and 4 white water river rafting place. So while everyone else went off, we took a hike (longer than 1/2 hour, gratefully) in the desert. It was quite nice and somewhat interesting, but not the adrenaline rush that rafting would have offered.
When the rafting group returned, 7 of us went to the rapelling wall, and waited patiently for our turn to descend, then over to the tiroleza.
So, each activity was okay in it's own right, but it was like eating appetizers at a steak house, I felt like we missed the main course.
Becky, on the other hand, quite enjoyed all the activities, they were of sufficient length and adrenaline for her, so it was still a good day.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Biking around Mendoza
I thought of Bike and Brunch when I saw this sign (Bike and Wines, which sounds even better than brunch!). Alas, since it was Sunday the wineries were closed, and I had to settle for the zoo and park. Still, it was a nice afternoon to be out while Becky slept and tried to get rid of this bug.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Mendoza: The Wine Capital of Argentina
Mendoza is a lovely city, with a large plaza in the middle that is bustling with life from the early evening until about 1AM. There are 4 smaller plazas, arranged around the main one like the 5 on a die.
Becky's still fighting some bug, so she caught up on sleep while I tooled around the plazas, investing options for what to do while we're here. Dozens of tour agencies offer day trips and longer, this is also an adventure spot, with lots of young people wandering around with backpacks and middle-aged people in business suits discussing wine. (We're middle aged but still carry backpacks.)
As luck would have it, we arrived while the wine festival was going on, and I ran across the contestants for the "Miss Mendoza" or some such thing, all the beauty pageant contestants parading around the plaza and pedestrian zone. Lots of good photo ops. In the evening, I saw a play at at tiny theater, in part to see if my Spanish was sufficient to handle it. I got most of it, but didn't get most of the jokes. Still, I'm feeling pretty confident in my language ability
We also had fresh pure grape juice, which Becky likes quite a bit more than the wine.
Becky's still fighting some bug, so she caught up on sleep while I tooled around the plazas, investing options for what to do while we're here. Dozens of tour agencies offer day trips and longer, this is also an adventure spot, with lots of young people wandering around with backpacks and middle-aged people in business suits discussing wine. (We're middle aged but still carry backpacks.)
As luck would have it, we arrived while the wine festival was going on, and I ran across the contestants for the "Miss Mendoza" or some such thing, all the beauty pageant contestants parading around the plaza and pedestrian zone. Lots of good photo ops. In the evening, I saw a play at at tiny theater, in part to see if my Spanish was sufficient to handle it. I got most of it, but didn't get most of the jokes. Still, I'm feeling pretty confident in my language ability
We also had fresh pure grape juice, which Becky likes quite a bit more than the wine.
Friday, February 16, 2007
BA to Mendoza
Rain. Packed. Walked around and did some shopping, had a lovely (but fast) lunch at Cluny's. I doubt I'll ever get a such a great value again, the combination of wonderful food, great service and a strong dollar made this probably the best $20 meal of my life.
Went to airport to go to Mendoza. Flight delayed due to rain. Captioned photos and chatted with other travellers about their adventures, and eventually arrived in Mendoza, the wine capital of Argentina (think Napa Valley, but affordable).
Went to airport to go to Mendoza. Flight delayed due to rain. Captioned photos and chatted with other travellers about their adventures, and eventually arrived in Mendoza, the wine capital of Argentina (think Napa Valley, but affordable).
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Milonga: A night of Dancing with the locals
Tonight was a real treat: Milonga is a style of tango that's relatively easy, and we went to a dance hall that included a lesson. Lots of fun, not at all touristy (unlike the Tango of last night), fun to participate and to watch.
Alas, I can't dance to save myself. No matter how much my Spanish accent improves, no one will ever mistake me for an Argentine. Still, I danced some, which made Becky happy, although I was actually more content watching. It reminded me of a high school dance, will the gals on one side and the guys on the other. But everyone danced with everyone else, in rapid succession and nice manners -- I can see why people really like this style of dance and getting together.
Dinner afterwards at the very chic "Casa Cruz" was ruined by cigarette smoke -- evidently the owner doesn't agree with the law and has just told people it's okay to smoke after midnight. I spoke with a waiter there who agreed it was illegal, but that the owner decided it was okay. I loved the atmosphere, because I'm easily impressed by fancy, stylish environments. Becky was less impressed (and very tired), but we both agreed the food was quite good.
Alas, I can't dance to save myself. No matter how much my Spanish accent improves, no one will ever mistake me for an Argentine. Still, I danced some, which made Becky happy, although I was actually more content watching. It reminded me of a high school dance, will the gals on one side and the guys on the other. But everyone danced with everyone else, in rapid succession and nice manners -- I can see why people really like this style of dance and getting together.
Dinner afterwards at the very chic "Casa Cruz" was ruined by cigarette smoke -- evidently the owner doesn't agree with the law and has just told people it's okay to smoke after midnight. I spoke with a waiter there who agreed it was illegal, but that the owner decided it was okay. I loved the atmosphere, because I'm easily impressed by fancy, stylish environments. Becky was less impressed (and very tired), but we both agreed the food was quite good.
Spent far too much of the morning dealing with changing flight to leave out of Mendoza instead of Puerto Mont. But went on a great city bike tour that included La Boca, the neighborhood where the championship soccer team is from. As the tour guide said: "Every neighborhood had a church and a futbol team."
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Buenos Aires -- Tango
Valentine's Day: Walked around the neighborhood of San Telmo, checking out the local art and antiques. Great lunch at La Brigada. Checked out a few Tango options for the evening, decided on one. Show was okay, very intimate (at one point, we were the only people in the audience. Still, the performers seemed to enjoy it!)
Monday, February 12, 2007
Hole-In-The-Wall Bar, Uruguay
So we were in the Cuidad Viaja (Old City), getting ready to take our Busquebus (boat) from Montevideo to Buenos Aires, and were killing time walking around the neighborhood (looking for postcards, actually. I bought $10 (US) worth of postcard stamps, and only found postcards at one place, the Torres Garcia Museum.
Anyway, we're about to sit at a place when Becky hears the sound of a guitar and we follow the music to a hole-in-the-wall bar. The place is pretty grimy, but the music sounds good, so we go in and I order a whiskey for 20 pesos (80 cents). As we sit, the music keeps getting better and better, with 2 Brazilian women, also first-time visitors, providing excellent vocals to the guitars and drum.
Later, 2 young police officers walk in. One of them talks to the guitar player, the music begins again, and the cop starts singing a sweet, melodic love song (slow enough that I could understand the Spanish even!)
Even without this blog and the photos, I think this would be one of those permanent memories. 20 years ago when I was travelling in Peru, a handful of musicians came into a bar where I was writing in my journal, and began playing "El Condor Pasa" on the guitar and pipes. There were no foreigners there, in fact, there weren't many people there at all, so it was a pretty genuine performance, and other memory.
Click on the photo for the pictures, or click here for the slideshow.
I even posted a video clip to Google Video to capture this.
Buenos Aires -- Smokefree and even better than expected!
We arrived in BA late last night, and went directly to an "apartamento" we had reserved, recommended by some friends. While it was very functional, it really didn't have much charm, although from the website you'd think it was pretty delux (www.apartsandiego.com). We got up this morning, and I decided I'd rather splurge and stay somewhere with some more character. We grabbed the Lonely Planet Guidebook, found a neighborhood and B&B they recommended, and I'm MUCH happier now. Becky, on the other hand, just wanted to sleep all day, as she's not feeling well, but I'd still prefer she sleep in a more interesting place, especially while I'm just wandering around the very chic neighborhood of Palermo.
PLUS, BA is smokefree! Sometimes the smokefree movement is too harsh with it's definitions of a good law. Yes, the BA law has exceptions, but most places are smokefree, and while I wish it were even stronger, as a tourist I'm absolutely thrilled.
Lots of wifi and cybercafe's here, so I hope to post more.
PLUS, BA is smokefree! Sometimes the smokefree movement is too harsh with it's definitions of a good law. Yes, the BA law has exceptions, but most places are smokefree, and while I wish it were even stronger, as a tourist I'm absolutely thrilled.
Lots of wifi and cybercafe's here, so I hope to post more.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Friday, February 9, 2007
Spanish Class
Our week has a somewhat structured feel to it, given that we´re on vacation. This is primarily because of the Spanish classes, which we have daily from 9 until 1. The basic format is that every hour the teacher changes, 2 hours of grammar and 2 of conversation. The classes are pretty enjoyable, but I think perhaps they´re too easy. That is, it´s easy for me to sit there and feel like I´m understanding and learning, but in reality it´s too passive, there´s not enough forced interactions, so some of the concepts, while understood, aren´t necessarily learned well enough to use.
Part of this is because the classes are a little bigger than expected: 6 people, which doesn´t give much time for talking per hour in a conversation class.
On the plus side, I quite like the people in the class. My class, the intermediate/advanced class, is half Brazillian, 2 brothers and a life-long friend of theirs, who are all in their early 20´s and come to class directly from dancing all night. Still, they´re sometimes more awake than I, and our conversations, both in and out of class, are very engaging.
Hopefully more of this in another post. Although I enjoy journaling/blogging, it´s harder than I´d think to find time. In part, this is because I want to add photos.
Becky´s out shopping, so I figured I´d post for a bit, look up some hotels, etc. Plus, my feet are tired!
Part of this is because the classes are a little bigger than expected: 6 people, which doesn´t give much time for talking per hour in a conversation class.
On the plus side, I quite like the people in the class. My class, the intermediate/advanced class, is half Brazillian, 2 brothers and a life-long friend of theirs, who are all in their early 20´s and come to class directly from dancing all night. Still, they´re sometimes more awake than I, and our conversations, both in and out of class, are very engaging.
Hopefully more of this in another post. Although I enjoy journaling/blogging, it´s harder than I´d think to find time. In part, this is because I want to add photos.
Becky´s out shopping, so I figured I´d post for a bit, look up some hotels, etc. Plus, my feet are tired!
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Old Town Montevideo
Trying my first post from an internet place -- usually I write my posts at home and jump on the slow school internet for a few minutes to upload them, but am having various technical issues, mostly with photos. I keep planning to go back and correct the photos and formatting. In the meantime, many of the photos can be viewed at
http://picasaweb.google.com/tacman/
Second day of class went very well. Every hour the instructor changes, and the variety is good. It´s mostly conversation for me, with some grammar. Becky´s making great progress and really enjoying the rapid learning and remembering her Spanish from 20 years ago.
After classes and lunch, we planned to study and read, so heading toward the old part of the city along the water, before deciding that wasn´t very practical. So we grabbed a bus and eventually made it to the port, a nice area with some shops and restaurants. We were just about to head to the old part of town when a fierce rainstorm hit, we helped the vendor selling us some leather goods put his wares in boxes so they didn´t blow away.
Looking like drowned rats (alas, no photo), we went into the nearest restaurant and snacked on french fries with mushrooms (tasty!) and a fruit licuado (becky) and beer (me). Eventually, we pulled out the books we had been lugging all afternoon and did a bit of study. When the rain stopped, we finally made it to our destination. The outdoor areas really are pretty quiet until about 10 at night, when people start eating. For me, this is great, I love late dinners, but Becky prefers an American schedule. Oh, well, when in Uruguay...
So it´s about 10 15 now as I finish this post, we´re finally starting to get hungry after the earlier snack, so we´re off to one of the many excellent restaurants around here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/tacman/
Second day of class went very well. Every hour the instructor changes, and the variety is good. It´s mostly conversation for me, with some grammar. Becky´s making great progress and really enjoying the rapid learning and remembering her Spanish from 20 years ago.
After classes and lunch, we planned to study and read, so heading toward the old part of the city along the water, before deciding that wasn´t very practical. So we grabbed a bus and eventually made it to the port, a nice area with some shops and restaurants. We were just about to head to the old part of town when a fierce rainstorm hit, we helped the vendor selling us some leather goods put his wares in boxes so they didn´t blow away.
Looking like drowned rats (alas, no photo), we went into the nearest restaurant and snacked on french fries with mushrooms (tasty!) and a fruit licuado (becky) and beer (me). Eventually, we pulled out the books we had been lugging all afternoon and did a bit of study. When the rain stopped, we finally made it to our destination. The outdoor areas really are pretty quiet until about 10 at night, when people start eating. For me, this is great, I love late dinners, but Becky prefers an American schedule. Oh, well, when in Uruguay...
So it´s about 10 15 now as I finish this post, we´re finally starting to get hungry after the earlier snack, so we´re off to one of the many excellent restaurants around here.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Sunday, Windsurfing and back to the capital
As windsurfing was high on my list to do, I went windsurfing this morning. Becky was going to go shopping, but played the role of photographer and befriended some of the folks on the beach. For my part, sometimes the windsurfing was great, and sometimes I got frustrated because I thought I was doing everything right, but the darn thing didn't go. I'd like to come back and take lessons.
We returned the car, then went back to the port where we had seen some restaurants near Punta 33 that we thought looked good for lunch. We tried some pizzas at a small pizzaria, Becky said it was possibly the best cheese-less pizza she'd ever had. Our waitress was an 11-year-old girl, Lucia, who did a great job, enthusiastically explaining the menu and chatting with us. Her mother, Monica, is the owner of the restaurant, and we had a nice time there.
Got on the 6:15 bus at 6:12 to head back to Montevideo.
We returned the car, then went back to the port where we had seen some restaurants near Punta 33 that we thought looked good for lunch. We tried some pizzas at a small pizzaria, Becky said it was possibly the best cheese-less pizza she'd ever had. Our waitress was an 11-year-old girl, Lucia, who did a great job, enthusiastically explaining the menu and chatting with us. Her mother, Monica, is the owner of the restaurant, and we had a nice time there.
Got on the 6:15 bus at 6:12 to head back to Montevideo.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Jose Ignacio
Decided to get to know Punta, and on the way out of the hotel, saw Eugenio having breakfast with another hotel guest. After warm greetings, he re-iterated his opinion that we should go to Jose Ignacio, a small beach town 20 km away, requiring a car. He volunteer to take us to the car renta place with Silvine, who was staying at our hotel. I agreed, in part because I wanted to hear what the two of them had to say about where to visit, since our trip after Spanish school is largely unplanned.
As we drove into Punta del Este, about 15 minutes from La Barra where we are staying, both of them dive into stories of Punta, where they lived, stayed, worked and dined. Eugenio was a personal trainer here many years ago, so knew the place when you could stay for $5/night. Although he was not the best driver on the road, it was fun listening to someone who was so passionate about a place.
We left Eugenio and Silvene and had some lunch at a small Chiveria. The day was quite warm, too hot to actually do anything besides go to the beach, so we rented a car and drove to Jose Ignacio. In order to do something besides eat and sit on the beach all day, our "cultural highlight" of the day was hiking to the top of the lighthouse, where we got some good photos, but decided it was too hot for anything cultural.
The beach was very nice, softer sand than La Barra and quite a bit more crowded. On the way out, we stopped at a beach vendor and I grabbed a photo of a beautiful 16-year-old with a gypsy-like bandana in her hair. I wish I were a better photographer -- I could see in my mind the National Geographic-type picture I wanted, but didn't get exactly that. Still, I was pleased to get the shot I did, and fortunately most people here seem to have e-mail, so I was able to send it to her.
We returned to La Barra and went to Punta for dinner. Very elegant dining at Punta 33, excellent service in a lovely restarant near the port. Chatted with the guitar player, turns out he lived a while in Bethesda. Small world.
Friday, February 2, 2007
Friday night in Punta del Este
For dinner, a local BBQ place was recommended. Actually, it was a convenience store with a grill in the front, with a giant rack of chicken, chorizo and lots of steaks. We ordered some of each, and some salad and vegetables, and ate on tables out in the front. Clearly a very local spot, if I lived there I'd likely have take-out a lot, nice to grab a steak or cooked chicken on the way home. Photo of Juan, the cocinero at the BBQ.
After dinner, we walked around La Barra. We stopped in a very upscale place that looked like a shop, couldn't believe they were open at 11:30 and playing music. In fact, it was a Nike store, and although we weren't in the mood to shop for shoes, we wandered through the different rooms, including one with a spongy floor, probably made of the stuff that's inside of the Nike heels that gives the "bounce". A guy who looked like an aging California surfer chatted us up ("Where you from? What do you think of Uruguay? etc.). Turns out he's an Argentine named Eugenio who has been regularly visiting Punta del Este for 17 years, and loves the place. He spoke great English, and gave us recommendations on where to go, and what we should see.
After dinner, we walked around La Barra. We stopped in a very upscale place that looked like a shop, couldn't believe they were open at 11:30 and playing music. In fact, it was a Nike store, and although we weren't in the mood to shop for shoes, we wandered through the different rooms, including one with a spongy floor, probably made of the stuff that's inside of the Nike heels that gives the "bounce". A guy who looked like an aging California surfer chatted us up ("Where you from? What do you think of Uruguay? etc.). Turns out he's an Argentine named Eugenio who has been regularly visiting Punta del Este for 17 years, and loves the place. He spoke great English, and gave us recommendations on where to go, and what we should see.
Punta Del Este, on the beach
How does one describe one of the arguably laziest days of my life?
I think I was born to live and eat in this lifestyle. We had dinner around 11last night, I had a tasty smoked salmon and brie sandwich, Becky had an omelet. We were sitting on a terrace overlooking the water in downtown "La Barra", a rapidly-growingresort town just north of Punta del Este. After dinner, ice cream at Freddo's.
Late nights = late mornings. I downloaded the photos and wrested with the blog (theinterface is now in German, I'm guessing it's picking up the IP and figuring I'm somewhere else. We finished breakfast at about noon, with a plan to check out the beach, gowindsurfing, and rent bikes to see more of the area. Then we went to the beach,where they were renting large beach umbrellas and comfy beach chairs for $30/day (reasonable, yes, but high for Uruguay. This is probably the most expensive town in the whole country). Of course, since we're on vacation we said yes, and then decidedthat really sitting under the umbrella was a sufficient activity for the day. So wesat, read, commented on the bodies and bathing suits and families and couples thatcame and went throughout the day. The only times we left the comfort of the chairswas to each lunch 25 yards away, and then to take a short hike.
When we returned from the exhausting (sarcasm) day at the beach, we realized we should have been more vigilant about sunscreen. I may have to do some cropping before posting those...
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Punta del Este
Although the trip was long, it went about as smoothly as one could hope, given the frantic last-minute packing both of us experienced. We had time for a bite to eat at National Airport, and then the flight to Miami was uneventful (although somewhat loud, the back of the plane was the screaming kids section, but at least that's better than a smoking section!)The flight from Miami to Montevideo, Uruguay is about 9 hours long. A big gracias to the college student who gave up her window seat so that Becky and I could sit together, a good omen to start the trip. We both even slept some (travel pillow and earplugs were Becky's best friends).
Arrived at the airport, very quick immigration and customs, changed money, bought a bus ticket, and were on our way to Punta del Este within an hour of touching down. I love efficiency. Latin America isn't really known for it, but I'm pretty impressed so far! Despite minimal sleep, we decided to dump our bags at the bus station and walk around the beach area before heading to the hotel. Found a lovely spot for a lunch of fresh local fish and wine. The weather is pretty close to perfect. We went to the beach and put our feet in the water, tomorrow we'll go for the full immersion experience. I'm new to the blog thing, so I still have to figure out formatting and editing. But Becky's gently reminding me that it's time to eat, something I sometimes forget...
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Dupont Circle
Gotta love Dupont Circle, lots of great restaurants and sites. Alas, gotta hate hostik (www.hostik.com), because the pretty much ignore tech support requests.
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