Back into Argentina

We had to say good bye to Valparaiso. This it the view from our "look out" point in the morning. 

Our B&B was so accommodating. They made us breakfast "to go" complete with fruit & juice. They called us a taxi and off we went to the bus station. We saw the sunrise over the Pacific Ocean as our bus' first stop was Viña del Mar. 

And then there is the obligatory bus photo that I take on each bus ride. But the great part about this bus ride-for some reason tickets were on sale and we paid 1/2 price! How exciting. Knowing how terrible the ride over was, I took Dramamine early in the journey. Chris and I both slept really well on the journey to the border. 

At the border, we once again had to exit the bus. Our big bags were put through a scanner. Our hand luggage poked through. But I was able to keep my apple!! We discovered this after having eaten 2 bananas and 3 other apples. 

There was snow at the top if the mountain. And we continue to be thankful that Argentine-Chilean border snow is the only snow we've had in our travels (there was ice in Villazon, but I try to block everything Bolivian out). I had to remove my hat and glasses for the passport control guy to identify me. But other than that we were through the border without a hitch and back onto the windy roads. (I could hear the guy behind me vomiting when I was awake-gross.)

We checked back into the Tibet house were thankful for internet and headed our for dinner. Once again, the restaurant we wanted was not open. We headed back to La Florencia for a meal-and bottle if wine-we could count on. I had my first Argentine steak of the trip with a mountain of mashed potatoes. Chris had chicken something. And we had the Alta Vista Malbec. At this point, I'm just frustrated with the price of food. We wouldn't be spending this much $$ on meals in the states-let alone in a foreign country where our dollar has twice the buying power. Rant over. 

A terrible photo of us at dinner, taken by the nice family at the table next to us. At this point, stick a fork in us--we were done with the day. 

And I shall leave you, as always, with a photo that summarizes our day. 

Buenos Aires

Phew. Our 9th and final bus ride brought us into Buenos Aires (BA) this morning. The bus arrived at 9:30am and we took a taxi to our lodgings. Thanks to Travelocity, I was able to find a hotel for around the same price we'd pay for two in a hostel-and this hotel was in Recoleta neighborhood, had carpet, and pictures if the bathroom looked like a piece of heaven. 

For me, this is my 3rd time in BA. I worked on a project here less than three years ago. Since I stayed in Recoleta when I was here last, I wanted to be in the same neighborhood for a reference point. I remember being able to walk to everything and feeling safe. Besides, I know where to get ice cream and when lost, the Recoleta cemetery is a well known reference point. In retrospect, it is also the expensive part of town and thus even with a cheap hotel room, restaurants in the surrounding area are out of our price range. 

Although check in wasn't for another 3 hours, our room was ready and we were allowed to check in. I am so thankful for early check in. Again and again they afford us a full day of sightseeing. This hotel room feels like heaven to me. It is clean-really clean. I can walk around in my socks without my black socks turning white from dust/dirt. I can relax in this space. Now, this is probably only a 3 star hotel but remember, I've been in freezing cold hostels. I should probably mention that the hotel room was nice and warm when we arrived. Check our this bathroom. (Yes, another bidet.)

And Chris says the bed is the biggest he's ever seen. He decided to spread out so you could see the size of it. 

I know. I know. To all you reading the blog, doesn't look like anything special. In fact, the odd placed headboards make you wonder. But there is full water pressure. Maid service. Bath AND hand towels plus one for the floor. Civilization-here we come. 

The Castilian accent is VERY STRONG in BA. I've had trouble understanding folks and I'm familiar with the accent. The language is fast and syllables are swallowed. And the "ll" is more of "zh." For those of you who speak the language. 

We then headed out to see the city-really in search of a place to get laundry done. The past few days had been so chilly (in Chile), that we were both out of layers. We could smell ourselves as we arrived into BA. We walked up the street in search of a lavandería, which we found. $5 for 3 kg. I could get used to this. Chris needed some coffee (which consumption has increased in this "cafe" culture). We stopped in this adorable cafe for the AM coffee/tea special with Medialunas (crossants).

Since the cafe had free wi-Fi, we both read up on BA. We bought & downloaded a kindle guide to the city, hoping it would provide us with up to date information. It's written by the guy who writes the gringo in BA blog. It was not what we were looking for, but alas is what we have. (We are not "night out on the town" type of people and couldn't care less about nightlife.) But we both sat there, Chris on his iPhone, me on my Kindle reading away. Sometimes i wonder what strangers think of us when we both sit together at a cafe, engrossed in our technology. 

Off we headed to Taco Box for lunch. I was hungry hungry. Plus, love me some Mexican and I was flustered with prices. We walked about....25 blocks to Taco Box. And this is the fabulous lunch we had. 

I was so excited. We got a meal for two. It was delicious. And the meal was going to be under $20-a price point we have not been able to hit while in Argentina. Again, we used the internet to upload blog posts. To look at map and to find a place for dinner. The bill came and I was apalled!! Look at this bill (yes, so upset I took a picture).

For those of you who do not read Spanish-we were charged 24 pesos as a sitting fee!! This was not high real estate. And it's not like we didn't order a full meal. We were charged $3 for using a table!!! I did NOT hit my price point. 

Since we were near the Parque 3 de Febrero, we decided to walk around. I told Chris stories about last time I was in BA (we had just started dating long distance and had not yet seen each other in person since starting to date). We walked pass embassy row. Past the MALBA (museum) and up into Recoleta, to the area in front if the cemetery. Quick stop by the tourist office for an up to date map & then I showed him the cafe where I used to sit outside and work. 

And there it was-the ice cream shop on the corner. I'd frequent it most nights to get my dulce de leche ice cream fix. Oh that place was good to me. 

We walked down the street my hotel was on. Some things were the same (the Asian run grocery store across the street) and other things were new (souvenir shops). It was nice to be in a familiar place after the last 3 weeks of unfamiliarity. However, without the corporate credit card, I can no longer afford the familiarity. 

As the sun was going down I needed more layers do we returned to the Wilton. We took a break. Chris watched TV. I read my book and we waited to be hungry to go to dinner. We checked out the hotel's amenities and the 14th story "deck." We also discovered free bottled water in the fitness center and filled up our bottles. 

We ate at Cumana. A local favorite in Recoleta. We were so proud-going to dinner at 9pm with the locals. In the past we've been the first or second couple in a restaurant at 7pm. There was a line but we got right in. The place had ambiance. Wooden tables. A candle. Crayons to color on the butcher block paper table covering. There was a Moscoto on the menu. Chris did the math and said a bottle was cheaper than a glass. He was willing to drink white wine with me, sweet white wine. 

To be truthful, I'm not sure what I ordered. The first thing I ordered had olives in it. I've learned to ask the waiter was we've had olives on strange things. He suggested something else-pointed to the neighbor's food for reference. It looked good. I ordered it. When it came, I was even happier. 

In a clay pot, hunks of steak, sweet potato, spaghetti squash all in a sauce with cheese on top. Chris, however was not so fortunate and had tenderized chicken (flat chicken) breaded with cheese on top. 

I enjoy the long, leisurely meals. The waiter isn't attentive-you flag him down if you need something. A bill is not brought until you ask for it. There is no rush. We had a 2 hour dinner, without appetizers or dessert. 

The best part of the night (besides the appropriately priced dinner) was returning to our hotel room. I'm not sure how to express the joy of returning to a space where we both feel relaxed. Where our belongings can sit on the bathroom counter and we are not afraid of our stuff touching the floor. 

This is me, with new statues in front of Recoleta cemetery. 

Other point of interest: when in Mendoza, Chris was really craving juice. Since we were at the Supermarket, he bought some. I do not do well with juice on a good day, let alone when on public transportation so I never had any. I asked Chris how it was and he said strong. That when we arrived in BA he would probably add some water to it and like it better. In the hotel room in BA, I looked at the label and noticed it said 6L. Ah, the pieces all came together. Chris had been drinking concentrate. We needed that good laugh first thing this morning. 

Valparaiso

(Chris, back from the stomach bug)

Our wake up in Vaparaiso was quite interesting. We heard the rustling of tables and chairs above us as we went to bed the night before. We awoke to the loud chorus of chants from the square below us starting around 5:30 and continuing through our 8 am wake up. Determined singers, if nothing else. We actually slept really well despite the odd sounds. The seven layers of blankets helped. 

We then went up to the restaurant for breakfast where we were the only ones eating. It was the most delicious breakfast we've had our whole trip. Sliced fruit, yogurt, cereal, cheese, pineapple juice, bread, coffee, and tea. 

We had previously reserved our spot with a walking tour company, but we needed a bit more cash for our stay in Chile. So we tracked down an ATM and then headed down to a nearby plaza to meet our tour. 

We were one of the first ones, so we hung out for awhile. Eventually, around 25 people gathered and we set off with Ignacio for our tour. Also, on our tour was a pack of four dogs. The strangest street dogs I've ever seen, they were thick and suddenly LOYAL to our group. They followed us everywhere and even attacked a passing motorcyclist in a territorial claim. 

First, we visited the port and learned of Valparaiso's early shipping importance, as well as the source of many of the housing building materials. 

We made our way to a series of stairs and were explained the importance if the wealth at the bottom and community at the top. However, we did not climb the stairs, we took the elevator. 

Called a funicular, it was a faster (if 100 peso) ride to higher altitudes. (Here, we lost all but one dog who snuck aboard the elevator) Striking up on the cerro was the street art. 

We did make our way to a man selling artisanal alfajores, the delicious sweet cracker sandwich with dulce de leche inside and then the whole bit is dipped in chocolate. We may have bought several. 

Our tour continued back down and around (via bus) to another part of town as we climbed to an open air museum of street art. I really enjoyed the details on these huge canvases. 

Back up for some chicha and a recap of our 3 hour tour and lunch recommendations. Our tour operated only on tips, so we tipped generously because it was so excellent. 

We then found people with similar lunch interests and headed off with an Aussie and a Kiwi (living in Australia) and attempted our first place. Closed. Then another recommendation. Closed. A third option. Closed. So we headed for the market and fish places. Folks fought for our business like the empanadas place in Salta. 

After lunch, we parted company with our group so we could organize our bus back to Mendoza (since we were right by the bus station) and then headed back to our hotel. 

We looked around for some art before deciding on some ice cream, another recommendation from our tour. This one, however, was open. And we chanced upon our lunch mates there as well! So we all sat down again and enjoyed one of the 25 best ice cream shops in the world. 

We sat and talked for a good long time. So long, in fact, it was time for dinner. So we set off for one of the many recommendations we had. Curiously, they were all closed again. We went to around 5 places and they were all shuttered. So we came up with a tip the no books or guides mentioned to us: Many restaurants in Valparaiso are closed on Sundays. We did, however, find a pack of dogs who adopted us again. One of which was the clever one from the morning's tour. 

Eventually, we found a sushi place that was actually open. We went for it. (Dogs waited outside) We ordered some drinks and enough food to pass around and the conversations continued. 

Once it was all said and done, it was nearing midnight. We made plans to meet in the morning by the pier to organize a boat trip if the bay. Apparently, it's one view to be on the hills looking out, but it's intirely different to see the view from the ocean as new immigrants saw it as they approached. Bigger groups meant better negotiating power with the apparently rough speaking sailors. For now, to bed and decent sleep. (And leaving our last dog outside our hotel, as he waited for us to finish dinner and pick up the escort to our place)

Valparaiso-day 2

Started the day with another wonderful breakfast at the B&B. We played cribbage. Chris won, but not by much. And off we were to see the city. 

We could tell from the sounds of our room that today was different. There was traffic and already we could hear the city awake below. But our little terrace (Paseo Atkinson) of a street was all quiet. This is the first city where I've thought, "darn. I wish I had photography skills."  This little row if houses is delightful and I want to capture how much they represent Valparaiso. So I figured I'd get some good shots & try to learn about photoshop when we get home. There was no one on the street. I want to live in the purple house, of course. 

We headed up hill. This morning's mission: to walk around and just enjoy the city. Which I think we did quite successfully. We wandered up a whimsical mega staircase. A dog "adopted us" as his own and followed us on the walk. We also saw the more shabby parts of Valpo. A follower of the blog emailed to inquire about the corrugated metal (alright, I admit, it was my mom). She asked if the area was poor or Eco conscious. Neither. The settlers made homes our of what they knew-adobe. However the humidity and cooler temperatures did not provide an environment favorable for the adobe to harden, thus the settlers needed something more stable and the discarded shipping containers were laying around. Where we are staying tends to be more touristy and thus all the metal is nice & painted and covered with street art. We saw the not so cute area in the distance on our walk. It was a cloudy morning. (Today I'm responsible for the blog post, yet used the camera for photos on the walk. Please forgive the photo quality as they are photos of the back of my camera.)

Before we knew it, it was 11:30 and we needed to meet our friends we made yesterday on the tour at the dock for a boat ride. How fun it was to meet up with them! Even though it had been less than 12 hours we found ourselves a flourish with conversation. And very glad to see one another. It's nice to make new friends and to spend time together. Somehow the city comes more alive when in the company of others. 

Our tour guide yesterday warned us about the sailor speak, that even as a native porteño he could not understand the sailors. He was right. A sailor approached us to take a tour in a lancha with the deepest, most gruff voice I've ever heard. We joked that he ate cigarettes for breakfast. We sent Chris to do the negotiating and rather than 30,000 for 8 people, he took us our 15,000 for 4. On with the life jackets and off our little boat went around the harbor. 

There was a new large ship in the harbor that was not there yesterday along with battleships (Chilean navy). Cargo in large shipping containers was being moved with a massive crane. Monday morning and the port was working. From the boat we were able to see Valparaiso as it would have appeared to immigrants as they arrived. 

We disembarked the boat & did a little tourist shopping. I found my frog. Others purchased post cards and other trinkets. Then off to lunch. Chorillana is a Valparaiso institution (and a cardiologists worst nightmare). Minced beef with onions, hot dog slices, and cheese atop french fries. Thankfully we all split one plate. And it came with the largest pitcher of beer I've ever seen. 

As though we had not just ingested enough food....we went back to the ice cream place. This time I had raspberry mint and the creamy chocolate again (for a non-chocolate ice cream person this chocolate was AMAZING). 

We said good-bye to Kelly who was off to the States for 6 weeks. What better way to part than with ice cream?

The three of us headed to the grocery store (we needed food for the bus ride tomorrow). A foreign country grocery store always provides entertainment. Obviously I was in mission mood, otherwise I would have snapped photos. We parted ways until dinner. Chris and I went back to our "neighborhood" of Cerro Alegre in search of art. Valpo is naturally colorful and I believe there could be beautiful colorful artwork done to represent the city. After two evenings of searching, I found an artist whose style I like and the price was right. However, Chris said it did not remind him of Valpo, which defeats the purpose. We got a quick snapshot of the style. 

We then found a quaint coffee shop for a game of cribbage before meeting Hamish for dinner. 

We went to a place that had been full if locals on previous nights. The boys shared a bottle of wine and I had a pisco sour. Wouldn't you know the restaurant was vegetarian? We didn't figure it out until our meals arrived. At 10:30p we called it a night and headed back up the hill to our quaint room which felt like a safe haven. I turned on the glorious space heater and still snuggled down under 7 blankets. Chris, of course, was already fast asleep. 

We absolutely loved Valparaiso. We're not sure if it took us this long to find our "travel groove" or if it was touring with other people or the eclectic city.

Chile

Rise & shine. Nice and early. The world was dark & quiet when we left at 7:30 to head to the bus station. 

I consider the mountains an unexpected gift. I didn't know we'd be seeing them on this trip and everytime I see them I am surprised by their majesty. I think of the Bible verse where even the rocks will praise God. These rocks are glorifying Him. No doubt. We passed through 3 different types of mountains. 

The green

The red:

And the snowy:

The road through the mountains was windy. Probably the worst motion sickness I've experienced and the best balancing act while in the bathroom. I'm thankful the heat had been turned on in the bus. 

This was our most extensive border crossing. Even the bus was searched & all of our luggage was taken off & scanned. Even our hand luggage was scanned to make sure we were not bringing illegal items (fruit, veg, meat, honey) into Chile. There also were families sledding just pass the border. And the steepest (and longest) chairlift I've ever seen. A ski resort just past the border. Who knew? This chairlift was steeper than 70 degrees as it climbed over the road. 

Our bus had quite the characters. My first thought: please don't let us be trapped with this group of people. Please not this group. I slept the rest of the ride and woke up in beautiful Viña del Mar. I thought I was back in Orange County with the well maintained streets. But we were bound for Valparaiso. We passed the Pacific Ocean (twice in one year). We arrived an hour later than anticipated (another time change). A taxi took us to the Brighton B&B-a splurge of the trip. 

Valpo is an eclectic city. It's the first city since Cuzco that has charm & personality. The streets are lined with colorful houses made from recycled shipping containers but the houses have Victorian style/charm. Our B&B is next to a look out point. Since we arrived just before sunset, we managed to snap a pic. 

Since we hadn't had a true meal all day, we headed out to eat. The streets are windy and hard to decipher. The street we needed to take was a two story staircase up a hill. It was easy to hike without packs on. Tomorrow I'm sure we'll snap many more photos of this charming town. 

Already we've decided to spend more time in this city. It has character which we like. We sat done for dinner at Fauna at 6:15...but they were not serving dinner until 7 pm. Longest 45 minutes. We watched the sun set over the city. Looked at maps. And I had a Chilean pisco sour. 

 

We ordered dinner. Our placemats were placed "upside down" but with the topographical markings (or jet streams) we realized it was placed correctly. Maybe they look at the world differently down here. 

I had the catch if the day-fresh salmon with risotto. Chris had a filet with potatoes. Our tummies are happy. 

I sat through most of dinner with my hat on and a blanket on my lap. Our B&B does not have heat. Why the lower hemisphere doesn't require heat I'll never understand. I'm on the count-down for the 5 star in BA. It would be a bit much to backpack with a space heater. I think I'll restrict our travel to warm months. Chris would like to note the large number of smokers.

And I found a giant slide on the way home from dinner. Just had to try it out. 

Our B&B also has a restaurant which hosts live music starting at 11:00. I forgot to mention our room at the  B&B is underneath the restaurant. Should be interesting. 

 We are very thankful to have made it to Valpo and are looking forward to roaming the streets tomorrow. 

Maipu

We left the Tibet house at 9am. The streets were empty. We passed no more than 10 people on the street. Felt like we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. But then I remembered that when I worked in BA (Buenos Aires), the work day often did big start until 10am. Restaurants often re-open for dinner starting at 8pm, hence this is a late to bed late to rise culture. And it's quite chilly this morning. I am thankful our hostel has old school heaters (the entire hostel reminds me of Ukraine). 

On our walk to catch the bus to Maipu Chris decided he needed breakfast with protein. A typical breakfast in Argentina is coffee/tea and crossants. As we walked passed McDonalds we saw egg, ham, and cheese breakfast sandwiches. And we stopped. Yes. We ate at McDonald's. 

We caught the bus to Maipu, a city southeast of Mendoza, to rent bikes and ride to different wineries. We also discovered that today is a holiday in Mendoza, hence the quiet streets and a number of vineyards will be closed. The bus driver dropped us at Maipu Bikes where we rented bikes & were given a map of vineyards (bodegas) within 10 km and we were off! 

We were surprisingly chilly as we rode into the crisp morning air. We were thankful for our hats under our helmets. We'd read blogs that suggested to go to the farthest out first to not only spare the long ride when tired, but also in case of too much wine. I'd had visions of a romantic, leisurely ride on quiet roads through lush vineyards and taking in beautiful landscapes. This is a more accurate photo of our ride:

 We had a nice bike lane because we rode through town on a main road with traffic whizzing by on bumpy bumpy  "paved" roads. I realized we are in winter. Thus there will be no lush vines. But there are spectacular views of the mountains. 

Our first bodega was Di Tommaso. We both did a tasting. Chris enjoyed all three. And also finished all 2 of mine. I found them rather harsh. The vineyard was cute and the people hospitable. The place was downright charming. 

Next priority: lunch. We rode to Mevi. The view was SPECTACULAR. Everything I had envisioned. We sat outside, in the sunshine on an over-sized couch. We looked out into the vineyards and the mountains. I was actually warm as the sun beat down on us. This, this was what I'd imagined when I wanted to take Chris to Mendoza's wine country!! (The good pictures are in the camera.)

I cannot speak so highly of the wine. I drank one glass. Chris enjoyed it and would not let any go to waste. You do the math. 

Back on our bikes. We'd both had enough wine at this point. So we did a couple of laps around the vineyards. Tried a couple of others that were closed for the holidays. For the first time that I can remember Chris had the hiccups. Eventually the hiccups drove him mad & we decided to call it a day (and we'd been on the bikes for 6 hours). 

We caught the bus back to Mendoza, turned on the hot water at the hostel & washed off the grime of a good day. Finally, something worked out well!! Chris took a nap. I finished book #4 in the series and off we went in search if dinner. Our first place we tried was closed for renovation. The second place we found was a bit expensive. But our bodies were tired from the ride and so we stayed. I'm glad we did. I had one of the most delicious meals I've ever had. Wild boar in a ginger glaze with sweet potatoes (that were not orange). Chris had trout stuffed with Brie cheese. I had a glass of Malbec. Chris had had enough wine with lunch. I remembered a photo of dinner at this charming place. At first when they brought the bill they charged us for 3 wild boar dishes. Our eyes about popped out of our heads when we saw that bill. Glad it was an error. I am now a huge fan if wild boar. 

We walked home stuffed & freezing. Our hope is to take a bus to Chile in the morning. However, other tourists we ran across said the pass was closed today due to weather. I'm really praying the pass is open tomorrow because we have reservations at a darling bed & breakfast. 

At dinner Chris and I discussed ways this trip has been good for our marriage. I was thankful for Chris' wise perspective after the last few "events" of our trip going bust. Today certainly was a day of memories.