Country Bears

After three months of changing locations every three days, Jeff and I thought it would be a good idea to stay put in one place for awhile. Buenos Aires seemed like a great place to sink in a little deeper, get to know a little more than just the whirlwind sightseeing. We rented a nice little apartment in the hip neighborhood of Palermo. Full of cool restaurants, bars and trendy shops and just a short walk to the Bosque de Palermo, we knew we would have loads to keep us busy for our two weeks there.

The Pink House - Presidential Palace

Buenos Aires is caught somewhere between Latin America and Europe. The lifestyle seems very European with lots of time spent lingering over coffee and cigarettes and late night dinners taking you into the wee hours. Steak and red wine are the norm on most menus and they know how to do both very well. Their politics on the other hand seem to fit a little more with recent Latin American history, with the disappearance of tens of thousands of people under their former dictatorship and the economic collapse of the last decade. No longer known as the “dami dos” to the outside world, referring to the fact that they could afford two of everything when they traveled abroad.

Colorful La Boca Neighborhood

Early on in our stay we joined a free walking tour of the city in hopes to get ourselves acquainted with the layout. Sol, our guide was great. Young and enthusiastic, she knew her history and shared lots of information with us. Buenos Aires is such a varied city with the ultra modern Puerto Madero, the colorful La Boca and San Telmo neighborhoods, the super sophisticated Recoletta. Everyone of the 48 “Barrios”, or neighborhoods seem to offer something different.

Two to Tango

San Telmo Street Band

We went to San Telmo for the must-see Sunday market. Tango dancers and musicians fill the cobblestone streets and although it’s a bit overwhelming it’s still super enjoyable. La Boca felt like a bit more of a tourist trap, but the colorful houses and small cafes are very picturesque. One of the highlights of the city is the Bosque de Palermo. An oasis of green in the middle of the city. Not unlike our own Golden Gate Park it’s a great place to escape the city for a bit of peace and quiet. The Japanese garden is supposed to be the largest outside of Japan and we had a nice sushi lunch, although all they seem to have is salmon and white fish.

Japanese Garden in the Park

After two weeks of soaking up the culture and eating more than our share of red meat Jeff and and I are now enjoying some beach time in Ilhabela, Brazil. More to come…

You can view the remainder of our Argentina pictures here

Colonia Pier

Nearly at the end of our two week stay in Buenos Aires, Argentina (we’ll catch you up on this later), Lila and I took a day trip to the peaceful little city of Colonia, Uruguay. One hour on a ferry (catch the “fast” boat) that departs from BA’s Puerto Madero and you’re gliding across South America’s second widest, and most likely brownest, river, the Rio de la Plata. Like a giant chocolate colored sea, the river was originally named “plata”, or silver, because the Spanish thought that there was a treasure of silver to be found here, which they found out later wasn’t really the case at all.

Once on the Uruguayan shore we were greeted by a beautiful river side town seemingly lost in time. More tree lined streets, old churches, a lighthouse, and a multitude of lazy afternoon cafes, and you can see why Colonia is a frequent retreat for busy Portenos (as the Buenos Aires people are known). After two weeks in the BA hustle, we also understood why Colonia makes for the perfect escape.

Colonia Lighthouse

A wonderful day of strolling, eating, more wine, and general lounging, left us wanting to know more about Uruguay, South America’s third smallest country, but alas it was time to re-board the ferry and head back to our temporary home in Argentina.

You can now see our Uruguay pics here. You can click here to see the rest of our photos from our first three months on the road.

In the vineyard

Fourteen hours on a bus, delayed by a bike race and a high altitude border crossing, and we finally said good bye to Chile and hello to Mendoza, a quaint little city in the heart of the Argentinian wine country. As luck would have it, we arrived at the beginning of “Vendemia”, Argentina’s harvest festival. Wine tastings, beauty pageants (Argentinians are crazy about their beauty queens), bands and street fairs make Vendima one of Argentina’s premiere events with festivities lasting for weeks. In addition, the seven dollar bottles of malbec, Argentina’s most famous red wine, helped the time go by even more leisurely.

Mendoza is a relatively quiet city whose tree lined streets, parks, and plazas gave us a chance to slow down and reflect on our first three months on the road. Working our way South from San Salvador had been an adventure, but we were excited to plan the next stage of our trip.

On day three, having walked our way around a good part of the city and having spent far too many hours on the Internet, we took a trip to Cacheuta, an unbelievable natural hot spring and spa where we spent the day relaxing in the multi-tempatured pools bordered by the mountains to the west and a raging little river valley to the east.

Cacheuta Springs

As if we weren’t relaxed enough by now, we rented a very small car and drove (small pause in the relaxation) to Maipu, one of the top wine producing valleys in the country, and checked ourselves into a beautiful little agroturismo, Posada Cavieres. Surrounded by endless vineyards, olive tree groves, and tree canopied, single lane country roads, we made our way from tasting room to tasting room on mountain bikes provided to us by our gratious hosts Hans and Alina.

Biking in Maipu

Back to Mendoza for two more days to sit at our favorite cafe where we sipped cafe cortados and prepared for the next stage of our journey that would take us further east to the vibrant city of Buenos Aires.