Patagonia!

Where do I start...?  Patagonia is amazing!  We went on a rafting trip on the Manzo River, we floated through a beautiful rainforest.  Unfortunately we don't have any pics because our camera isn't waterproof, wa wa.  The excursion started with a 1 1/2 hour bus ride to the base camp, then down the river into Chile.  We saw some amazing scenery and I got to raft for my first time.  The initial instructions given by the guide had me shaking in my boots.  We were approaching our first rapid, the name of the rapid was something like "The International," the instructor shouting orders like, "Guys, see that boulder ahead, you must follow my instructions or we will crash into it, if we do just try to protect your head so you don't get knocked unconscious.  But I know you guys will be just fine."  Super reassuring for a first timer.  Yikes!  By the end of the trip I was an old pro!  We went back to the base camp and had a tasty Argentine BBQ.  There was a dope Israeli soldier and a old latin tree hugger who were both obsessed with Matt, one wanted to talk to him about the ecology of patagonia and the other about put him in an Israeli army headlock!  Awesome.  They both wanted to row next to him and sit at his table for dinner.  At one point I thought a jihad for Matt's attention between the three of us might start.  At one point I found Matt hiding in the nasty bus, "What are you doing here?"  His response, "I had to get away!"  It was pretty funny.

We spent a day on the Limay River fly fishing, with our guide Carlos.  Matt was in HEAVEN!  I sat on the back of the boat reading, taking pics, and enjoying the scenery.  Carlos taught us a lot about the Argentine culture.  When Matt had a good cast he would say, "Beautiful my son."  He invited us to dinner and also offered to take us fishing again and give us a ride to the airport.  Most of the people here are so friendly and accepting.  We have met a few older women, they all mother us and try to help us out.  Anyway, Matt caught some cool fish (rainbow trout), we will post some pictures.   Matt was trying to explain to me how much this experience meant to him in terms I could relate to.  He said it would be like me being at a Paris Fashion Week and going to see a Chanel show.  He was seriously beaming all day, it was an unforgettable day.

The next day (Saturday) was a complete cluster *&^%!!!  The plan was to fly from Patagonia to Iguazu Falls and check into our pre-paid hotel, easy breezy.  What really happened I will summarize...  We were leaving the hotel for the airport when Matt decided he would double check our flights, I was in the other room when suddenly all I could hear was Matt shouting profanities in a fit of anger.  Calmly I walked in to the room and said, "We missed our flight?"  I talked him down from the ledge, "It's cool, lets just catch the next flight, no big deal."  We got to the airport and waited in a long line to speak to a ticket agent who explained... The last three days of January are the busiest flight days in Argentina, there wouldn't be an open flight until WEDNESDAY.  He gave us a phone number and said that they could change our flight.  We called the number, they can't make changes to flights over the phone.  We waited in line again, found out that if we could get to Buenos Aires by bus (22 hour bus ride) then we could catch a flight from Buenos Aires to Iguazu.  Perfect, we rushed to the bus station.  The bus station can be described by one word, chaos.  We tried to buy tickets from several different vendors, all buses to Buenos Aires were sold out.  We figured we would go back into town and find the airline's office.  We got there at 1:45, it closed at 12:30.  The office wouldn't be open again until Monday so the only way to change our tickets would be to go back to the airport.  Back to the airport, luckily we got a really helpful ticket agent (I think she could tell we were ready to blow) she arranged flights for us to leave for Iguazu on Wednesday.  So we are here in Patagonia for an extra four days.  I guess there are worse places in the world to be stuck.  So we found this killer hotel on the lake, it is quaint and romantic.  More to come, tomorrow is tango/bingo/beach and pizza party at our hotel and horseback riding through patagonia on Tuesday.  Salud!

Patagonia here we come!

A quick update on the past few days.   Our last night in Buenos Aires was really nice, we had an awesome asado (open flame grill) dinner, then walked along the marina for "un paseo" (casual walk usually after dinner, which is very late here!).  We saw a few funny/amazing things I wanted to share... There is a Peruvian flute band that is always playing in the main tourist area of Buenos Aires, the only song they play is "My Heart Will Go On and On (from Titanic)!  It is so painful, mostly because that damn song gets stuck in my head all day...and they actually own it!  The other amazing thing we saw was a transvestite posing in the streets, not a sophisticated fellow, but working at his new art/gig .  He does a little dance if you give him a Peso.  He and Matt went back and forth bantering for a few minutes, they had the crowd going!  After a rump shaker and a pose with the guitar, he gave a big point at Mateo and said "I like you man, I like you!"(in english, which was a little disturbing, but hey, we did give him a peso!)    I am going to try to post a pic of the dude, who was super awesome, but my internet connection may be too slow, so bare with me while I update the sketchy street "art".

The following day we flew to the Patagonia region of Argentina, the main city is Bariloche (it's in what's known as the Lakes District of Argentina and Chile).  We took a gondola up a crazzzy steep mountain.  I had a mild panic attack in the small inclosed gondola (cue the latin-american generic xanex) but other than that it was great.  At the top of the Mountain they had several "entertainment" options: having your picture taken with a St. Bernard, riding an inflated tube down a dry portion of the mountain covered in tarps, a tour of a really random/replica museum of Michael Angelo's works (apparently you haven't lived until you have seen a latin replica of "David" at 13,000 feet in the Argentine Andes, pictures to follow..), the last entertainment option was to eat at an overpriced rotating restaurant, altitude sickness, jet lag, argentine beef and rotating restaurant are not the best combination in a 12 hour window.  We opted just to hike around and take photos.  The views of the mountains and the lakes were breathtaking.  I learned about the history of the region, there are a lot of people who settled here from Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Spain.  This comes through in the architecture, food, and overall attitude of the people.  Matt filled me in on the fact that several Nazi and Italian war criminals have been hiding out here for decades, which if you know me is awesome because I love me some good shows like Locked up Abroad and History channel.

Anyway....

We ended the day with yummy Italian.  It seemed like the perfect day... Until 2:00 AM when we woke to the thumping of Latin/Techno/Pop, who know our hotel was right next to the biggest, most popular club in the area?...  We put ear plugs in, helped with the sound but not the base.  Needless to say we began our morning around 4 AM.  Had breakfast (green eggs and ham, literally), rented a car and moved hotels!  We had an amazing day driving around Patagonia.  We visited a small Swiss town, stopped at several lakes and rivers, walked around the Llao Llao hotel (ranked one of the top 100 in the world),  again I will try to post some pics of the interior, much like that of the Waldorf in Park City, Utah.  At dinner we met a cute retired couple from the States, it's been hard finding people from the USA.   We chatted for a while sharing stories and travel tips.  Tomorrow we are going rafting from Argentina to Chile.  Will try to post pics soon.  Love.

The ultimate tourist trap!

Today is our last day in Buenos Aires and we spent it on one of those cheesy tour buses. Matt wasn't easily persuaded but after four days of me begging he finally caved. My dad had done the tour and said that even though it is a tourist trap that it was a great way to see the entire city. He was right! Buenos Aires is a VERY spread out city so trying to see the whole city on foot in four days was not happening. There are 48 different neighborhoods in the city, each has such a different feel. All in all I would say the bus tour was a hit! Oh by the way, I have never seen so many beautiful people! These Argentines all look like Giselle and Javier Bardem, aye aye aye!

Hola from Buenos Aires!

We arrived in Buenos Aires on Friday morning after a grueling twelve hour flight. This city is great! People refer to Buenos Aires as the "Paris of South America," this is so true. The architecture is very Euro, the people are proud, and the food is divine! Our hotel is named "The Dazzler," but we call it The Bedazzler. Our first day here we walked around, grabbed lunch on the street, took a siesta, then went to a Parilla (Grill) for dinner. The beef here is incredible! This coming from someone who won't eat beef in the States without A1! They don't season the meat, they cook it right, it's perfection even without A1. Day two we spent in the Recoleta, a old European district. We walked the streets admiring the architecture, foliage, and people. We went to an amazing cemetery where Evita is burried. The gravestones were amazing, they look like small homes lined up one against the next. Each gravestone so different and so intricate. After the cemetery we went the the Design Center. I was in heaven! Most of the looks I saw were VERY minimalist/modern. Matt was a trooper following me around from showroom to showroom. Today we spent the entire day in San Telmo, a old/eclectic/bohemian/tango neighborhood. On Sunday they have one of the largest open air flea markets in South America. You can find anything from antique tiles to knockoff Lacoste. We roamed around all day. I bought an antique tile dating back to England in 1820, it's beautiful. Stopping for lunch, homemade pasta and short ribs. At lunch they served complimentary bread and a random tapanade. Matt tried the tapanade first and referred to it as "a pickled cucumber" I responded "you mean a pickle?," I love that guy! Matt's Espanol is coming back quickly and I am trying hard to learn as much Espanol as possible.