Final Day of a Memorable Adventure

Our final full day in Buenos Aires (Friday) was warm and sunny so we went to the new port development - pristine sky scrapers and rows and rows of trendy restaurants.  We then moved on to San Telmo - an older but charming area of the city that is renowned for its colourful buildings and extensive street market.  It was an interesting area but very busy with tourists so we didn't stay very long.  After that, Gisela  and I went shoe shopping in the neighbourhood where we were staying.  The number of shoe stores within just a few blocks was staggering but we threw ourselves on the sword and we were both successful!  BA is definitely a shoe lover's paradise and the number of purse stores would also more than satisfy any  dedicated shopper.  We ended the day at a beautiful Italian restaurant in Palermo followed by nightcaps on our outdoor terrace.

On Saturday, Gisela and |Roland's flight left much earlier than ours so they caught some rays on the rooftop deck before departing and Tom and I went to a few more street markets and bought a beautiful leather backpack for Tom and a gorgeous pair of high boots for me.

It was a fantastic holiday with wonderful friends - truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience! We would recommend Arentina to anyone who is interested in visiting South America - great people, food, wine, shopping and sightsseeing - what more could anyone ask?  Adios Amigos - thanks for following our blog.

Cindy

Walking in Tunnels Under BA!

Today we went to San Telmo - the scene of my pickpocket debacle - and visited El Zanjon. It is a former mansion in the old city that is the site of the first settlement in Buenos Aires. The mansion has been meticulously restored right down to the underground tunnels that were dug in the early 19th century. We had a fabulous tour guide and we got to walk under the street in the restored tunnels. We then went shopping in the artisan area of San Telmo. Gisela got a fabulous purse, I got some great jewelry, Tom bought an art print and Roland looked for a briefcase but didn't find anything he liked. There is a football match tonight between Argentina and Uruguay so the city is filled with soccer fans from Uruguay in their black and yellow jerseys. We're off to dinner soon so will post again tomorrow. Love to all.

Cindy

Latin American Art and Rain

It was raining today so we shopped in our neighborhood - so many shoes, so little time - and then we went to the Malba. The Malba is a 20th century Latin American art museum. The building is very impressive and the art was memorable, albeit in short supply. They do not have a very large permanent collection and their temproary exhibit area was closed so we were a bit disappointed. The rain let up later in the day and we got a chance to sit on our rooftop deck and relax. We are just finishing happy hour and are about to leave for dinner. Adios Amigos.

Buenos Aires, city of graffiti

It's a small city of masoleums

Relaxing on the roof

Setting off to explore the necropolis

Busy BA

Today, we spent a great day walking in Buenos Aires through the neighbourhoods of Palermo and Recoleta. We visited the famous cemetery in Recoleta - it was very interesting. It is the cemetery where Eva Peron is buried and the sheer number and opulence of the mausoleums is quite amazing. The day was sunny and hot so after exploring we relaxed on the rooftop terrace of our rental apartment. Our apartment is in Palermo so it is well-situated to many stores, shops and restaurants.

BA is almost unbelievably busy - nonstop traffic and thousands of people on the streets. It is very exciting but we have all commented that it would be an exhausting place to live. Tomorrow, it's off to a Latin American art museum and Gisela and I plan to also try to squeeze in some shopping.

Cindy

Buenos Aires At Last

It was a long day but we are finally in BA in our vacation rental. We flew here via Ushuaia which is the southern-most city in South America. We did not get off the plane but landing there provided some amazing scenery. Our vacation rental is in the neighborhood of Palermo and after settling in we just went out for the most delicious pizza I have ever had. Gisele agrees that it was also the most delicious pizza she has ever had. We also went to the local grocery store and stocked up on breakfast food and wine - not to be eaten together of course! Tomorrow we are off to explore the neighborhood and will post photos and more info then.

Cindy

Our Luck Has Run Out

We arrived at the airport this morning for our flight to Buenos Aires only to be told our flight was cancelled due to flooding at the national airport in that city. There was a torrential rainstorm in BA over the past few days and many areas received flash flooding. The water has gone down and the weather has cleared up but flights are still backed up so the airline has put us up in a very nice boutique hotel in El Calafate. It is lovely but it is not where we want to be. We don't know if we will get out of here tomorrow or not. With our limited Spanish, it is difficult to figure out exactly what is going on. Meanwhile, our beautiful vacation rental in BA is sitting empty. We are disappointed but plan to drown our sorrows with some good Argentinian wine this evening while we eat a lovely dinner paid for by the airline.

Cindy

The Crampon Girls

A Day on the Perito Mereno Glacier

The weather today was amazing - clear blue skies and warm temperatures. We set off very early this morning for the glacier. It is quite the spectacle - an absolutely massive ice face that is 5 km across and 30 km deep. We were fitted with crampons and then took a 90 minute hike across the glacier that culminated in a drink of scotch whiskey on the glacier mixed with cold glacier water. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We leave tomorrow for Buenos Aeries. It will be hard to leave Patagonia but we are looking forward to further adventures in Argentina's largest city. We will post more info once we are in BA.

Cindy

Approaching the Perito Moreno Glacier

On the Perito Moreno Glacier

On the Way to Fitzroy

The Big Cahuna

Cerro Torre

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Fwd: Came Across a Llama Train

On the Way to El Cheltan

Patagonia Weather

Forgot to mention the weather in my last post. None of us have ever been anywhere where the weather changes so much in one day. Since we got here, we've had rain (fortunately only on the first day when we weren't hiking), sleet in the mountains, beautiful sunshine one minute and fast-moving clouds the next - and all of it accompanied by a wind so strong and gusty that it can almost knock you off your feet. When it was raining the first evening we arrived, the wind was so strong that the rain was actually going sideways.

Despite all of this, we have been extremely lucky with the weather while we've been hiking. Our guide Diego said we had one of the best windows of clear hiking days that he has ever seen. We are indeed fortunate because it would have been very disappointing to come so far and have the mountains shrouded in clouds.

The actual temperature has ranged from cold enough for sleet to warm enough for shorts so we have learned not to venture out without being prepared for every weather eventuality to occur every day!

Cindy

Amazing Hiking in Patagonia

We just finished three days of hiking in El Chalten. The hikes were challenging but the payoff was outstanding. It was some of the most spectacular scenery we have ever seen. Tom will post some photos shortly. The town is very remote and caters exclusively to hikers but the hotel was lovely and had an excellent chef so we ate very well after our long days on the trail. In addition to hiking to a glacier at the base of Mount Fitz Roy, we also hiked to a lake at the base of Cerro Torre - it was amazing. We have also seen flamingos, condors, llamas, guanacos (small llamas), rheas (small ostriches) as well as South American woodpeckers and foxes.

Today, we travelled to EL Calafate and tomorrow we take an excursion onto the Perito Merino glacier. The town here is quite a bit more touristy but is very nice. We plan to have traditional Argentinian barbecue at a restaurant tonight. Hello to everyone and a special hi to Danielle from me.

Cindy

Out of the Wilderness

Hello all,

Our apologies if you've been looking for posts and not finding any. We've been without Internet acccess for the past three or four days, but will start catching up soon.

Tom and Cindy

Welcome to Buenos Aires

Cindy and I got in this morning and because we don't have another Sunday here, decided to check out the famous market at San Telmos.

Unfortunately, while we were buying a few trinkets, a pickpocket made off with Cindy's Blackberry. Very professional, but I'll bet they were pissed off it wasn't her wallet. Live and learn. This will be the first time in years she'll have to live without one for a couple of weeks.

Otherwise it's terrific here - sunny and hot, and not expensive.

Off to the south tomorrow morning...

Market Photo

Heading South

Heading 2500 km south tomorrow to El Chelten in the Los Glaciares National Park. Four hours of flying followed by a four hour car ride. Good thing we had a day in Buenos Aires to stretch our legs.

Brand New Blog

Just set this up to use when in Argentina, so friends can keep track of what we're up to.