Chile

Loved Buenos Aires! Found a cute hostal in San Telmo, the old section of town where Tango was born. Walked all around town the first day...mostly to situate myself. I've been here a few times for work so the streets look familiar...just needed to get the lay of the land again.

On Saturday, Ben arrived around midday. What a treat to spend a week with him. We're both starting new chapters in our lives> he just quit his job the day before flying over and will moving to Paris too in about a month. So a week to relax in Argentina was exactly was the dr. ordered! Although 'relax' might not be the right word...we packed so many things in a week, I think we both need another whole week to recover!

Day 1, we had lunch in San Telmo and then toured BA from the main square (with the casa rosa, the pink house = the white house, first pic) to Recoleta (that's where the famous cemetery is, but also the best ice cream spot) to Puerto Madero (the converted hangars on the harbor where fancy restaurants have taken over) to dinner in Palermo, the chic residential area where boutique stores, bars and restaurants have popped up in the last few years (=soho-like).

Day 2, we went for a day trip to Tigre up in the delta, where the city people hang out on the weekends to escape the heat and pollution (see pics 2 and 3). The delta is a maze of rivers lined with houses and country clubs, from modest to rich complexes. The water is brown so no swimming, thank you very much, although it didn't stop some people from jumping in. Instead we took one of the numerous taxi boats, like the ones in Venice almost!, to ride around the delta. We stopped for coffee to people watch and then headed back to the harbor. There's a famous puerto de frutos, so we were excited to go explore. Unfortunately the name has nothing to do with the real thing....we were expecting mountains of pineapples, mangos, strawberries, and the like, but instead found ourselves in the middle of arts and crafts from China and popcorn machines everywhere....yuk!! Needless to say we turned around and headed back to the city for a steak dinner. With the current farmers' strikes though, the lomo steak is hard to find. Milk, meat and veggies are not getting in the cities...so we settled for a flank steak instead. After dinner, we headed over to Bar Sur for a tango show. We negotiated our way in (prices tend to be an aberration...for tourists) and ended up with only 10 other people in this tiny bar with a 4 person band and 2 tango couples dancing. Such an intimate setting...great show. Late night.

Day 3, we went to El Ombu estancia 2hrs north of the city, in the pampa. Two german girls from the hostal joined us...good fun. A day at the estancia consists of chilling around the garden and pool, eating a delicious asado served under the trees in the garden, and going horseriding as much as you want or can! The setting was spectacular...an old colonial house surrounded by huge trees with hanging branches to provide shade...and stables not even 100yards from the house. Ben and I chilled around the pool for a bit, overlooking the pampa, enjoyed lunch and the house Malbec, and then went riding for a couple hours. My first horse was a treat...listened to me...padded saddle...great fun... Ben's horse was a bit temperamental so we switched for the second ride. Yikes that horse was dynamite. We went galloping full speed across the fields with those black angus cows looking at us, probably laughing, except being cows they just gave us blank stares...meanwhile I"m holding tight for my life...the horse wouldn't stop until it got to the next gate...plus 2 french guys riding with us who thought they were new-born cowboys kept inciting the horses to gallop further along. My legs hurt for 3 days. Ben's too. In the bus, we sat like 2 cowboys, very sad sight!
That night, we spent in San Antonio de Areco, the gaucho capital, a small village really...known for its silver carvings and souvenirs. We ended up chilling in that town for day 4 as there were no buses out until the pm.

Day 4, we got a bus to Mendoza at around 6pm...supposed to be a 12hr bus ride, but due to the farmers on strike blocking the roads, it took us 20hrs. Poor Ben!! He got a bad sore throat from the AC on top of it. The movies were ok, but the screen kept jumping so even the little entertainment we had gave us a headache! At 11pm, we stopped in the middle of nowhere at this tiny terminal for some food. Probably they weren't able to get the usual dinner boxes to the bus, so they improvised dinner at the bus stop in this little cafeteria....ravioli....of who knows what. Probably should've passed.

Day 5, we arrived in Mendoza around 1pm...dropped our bags at the hostal...and headed to Alta Vista bodega in Chacras, 20min south of the city. Great tour. It's the same bodega I went to with Charlotte, except then we had missed the last tour and only had done the tasting. This time I did both. The place was in full action, with the harvest just ending. Perfect timing. That evening, Ben and I went to a tango show near our hostal. A little over the top...too showy...and obnoxious english tourist who laughed too loud and too often. But other than that, it was good to see the difference with the Bar Sur experience in BA.

Day 6, we headed to Maipu for some bike and wine tour. Again, same as I had done before...this time we hit different bodegas...which thus made it fun for me! In any case, it was good chilling time with Ben, my priority of course!...we got to tour a small family run bodega and a huge industrial one....what a contrast...and how interesting to compare quality control and wine level expectation. I don't even understand why a bodega would be ok to produce medium quality wines. Why wouldn't you only want to produce the best wine. Why bother drink the so/so stuff is what i'm really asking!!! That night, we treated ourselves to a delicious dinner.. steak for Ben and steak tartare for me. It's still impossible to find a real lomo steak, the kind that melts in your mouth so I guess it means Ben will have to come back to visit another time. BTW, we did fit in an ice cream from my favorite shop before dinner. Yet it didn't stop us from trying some deserts, including a coco tart with dulce de leche. I know, i know. I said i would never eat that thing again...but i did...and i truly enjoyed it!!

Day 7, we got on a short bus ride to Upsallata, at the foot of the Andes. The idea was to hike around the parks there, but they all closed last weekend. We did end up going for a nice hike in a gorge near our hostal, but it wasn't the big hike to Aconcagua (highest peak in south america). That's ok though, 2 hrs hiking plus 1 hour walk to town was plenty of exercise. The town was the equivalent of those deserted run down towns in the middle of Alabama or Texas somewhere, like you see in movies. Except this is Argentina at the bottom of the mountains. Not sure of the analogy is working...but hopefully you get the feeling we got when we walked into town. Had a beer, yes a novelty for me....like I said, i'm trying new things for my 30th year... and grabbed a bite in this desolate restaurant. We were the only ones there (at first) and the only ones staying at the hostal too. It's like they opened it up just for us. The fridge in the kitchen was defrosting...the place is about to shut down for the season. So for once it was quiet!!! hehe. We had the room for ourselves...2 triple bunk beds...yes, 3 beds on top of each other, a first!!! not sure how you get to the top one. No fun sleeping up there, nor on the floor one...so we picked the middle ones! I guess you had to be there.

Day 8, we got a 10am bus to Santiago. The ride through the Andes is spectacular...great rock formations and incredible colors all over. The sky was clear which made for an even more impressive contrast. Our driver was a bit of a Schumacher and we got to Santiago 1 hr early! Actually, the border crossing was probably faster than expected, only 1hr, so the trip ended up being shorter. That left us with a full afternoon in Santiago, which I toured with Ben, for the 4th time!

That evening we ended up bumping into 2 dutch friends I had made in La Cumbre. We caught up over pisco sours and empanadas...and celebrated Ben's last night!

Day 9, Ben and I had just enough time to grab a fruit juice on the main square and a few last minute sunrays, before he had to leave. So sad!!! I ended up chilling at the hostal, the infamous Casa Roja (hostal where I started my trip 5 months ago), which has grown on me and that I actually enjoy now (my room is on the 2nd floor, far from the bar...so that helps!). I also bumped into a german friend from Valparaiso, so we hung out together and went to an improv show....very cool....good laughs...even if I didn't understand everything.

So there you have it....Ben's 8 days in South America...good he has a week to recover when he gets back!! hehe. Now it's time for me to prep my return!!! yikes!!!