Saturday, January 26, 2008
Friday, December 28, 2007
diciembre; vamos buscando el verano
I feel as if this month has been longer than usual; on the other hand the past four months have flown by and I can't believe tomorrow starts us off in 2008. I left Argentina on December 2 for Chile, though I stayed in the same cold patagonia weather. Cassidy and I are working our way north, but for all the 5000 miles chile covers in length, it doesn't have a very populated south. By December 8 we had made our way over a third of the country and started what was our Christmas present and our one massive luxury for this entire South American experience.
The Skorpios cruise was a 6-day adventure through what is the most picturesque of Chilean Patagonia. Our first stop was the San Rafael Glaciar and and lagoon. The experience was completely different from the glaciar we saw in Argentina, which was somehow continuing to grow in spite of global warming. San Rafael is a "dying" glaciar, and the national park services have even marked on the surrounding with where the ice field used to reach in earlier decades. We were able to get super close to it as well, floating in among the broken iceberg "chips" where the crew hacked off ice to chill our ceremonial whiskey (which tasted awful). Seeing the glaciar crumble into the water was more of a funerary moment than awe-inspiring, and even scary when at one point we had to out-run a massive wave that came rushing towards us after a particularly large section broke off. For the next 5 days we sailed through the archipelagos of southern chile, stopping to check out some local seals, relax in waterfront hot springs, tour the second largest island in South America, Chiloe, and more than anything, taking frequent eating breaks. The service was all inclusive...which Cassidy and I thought we would surely dominate, but in the end could not eat 4 meals a day, or really drink as much as the bartenders were sliding our way. We made an effort though, of course.
Once back on mainland Chile we headed north, into warmer weather (thank goodness!). Valdivia was the perfect welcome to springtime, and while we were there we spent plenty of time lounging on the riverfront park grass. We also managed to get ourselves out to a national park where we spent the day hiking through at once tropical and alpine forests up to the highest lookout point which afforded an endless view of what is Chile's Lakes District, with all of its...volcanoes. And lakes too. Chile has over 500 volcanoes of which at least 60 are currently active. We next stopped in Pucón at the base of Volcan Villarrica, a volcano that apparently erupts every 8 to 10 years or so, and we were pretty glad that all we saw was some thick smoking! We spent close to a week in Pucón, at a hostel run by a very nice couple, Hostal Donde Egidio. I was surprised to see how strong an influence German immigrants had on Southern Chile, and Pucón was the same, with it's ski chalet architecture and plenty of German chocolate shops. While we spent most of our days laying on what was admittedly not the most comfortable of lakefront beaches (the "sand" is sharp volcanic pebbles that boiled in the midday sun), we did manage to get in one big excursion.
Somehow Cassidy convinced me to go white water rafting. And as if that weren't enough, she said class 3 rapids were boring and we should go for the class 4/5. I believe 2 for 1 happy hour Pisco Sours were involved at the time of decision making...Anyhow, we signed ourselves up and were taken out to the River Trancura where after shimmying into wetsuits and taking a whopping 5 minute course in rapids rafting, we set off. We spent about an hour in the water, went through 5 rapids (which seemed more like baby waterfalls to me), and then we had the "opportunity" to throw ourselves into the freezing cold water and be carried down stream for a while. That was really the only scary part. The rest was fun!
Now I am in Santiago, Chile, where the temperature ranges between 70-90F and the view that surrounds the whole city is that of the Andes mountains, only an hour and a half drive away. Santiago itself is huge, Paris huge, with wide ambling boulevards, lots of trees, and really well maintained streets. As far as architecture and entertainment i haven't found anything completely different, but the cosmopolitan selection of restaurants and shopping is fantastic. It also doesn't hurt that the beach is an hour a way by metro, and there are vineyards just outlying the city center. Oh, and Chile is one of the foremost exporters of fruit and vegetables, so i am in a vegetarian's paradise with all the juicy peaches, plums, cherries, canteloupes, grapes, tomatoes, and avocados...oh the avocados. And then there's the wine!
The other benefit of the city is that it houses my rather large, and largely unknown Giarda family. I am staying with my aunt Andrea and my grandmother for the holidays, and have already had the chance to meet a lot of people whose names I am sure I don't have straight. I will be here for at least a month before I head north which will be a nice opportunity to spend time with everyone.
I do hope you are having a fun holiday season, that you received all sorts of fun presents and that you have exciting plans for tonight. As for me and Cassidy, we have a date with is a large quantity of shrimp to be eaten tonight on my aunt's balcony while we watch fireworks go off around the city.
The Skorpios cruise was a 6-day adventure through what is the most picturesque of Chilean Patagonia. Our first stop was the San Rafael Glaciar and and lagoon. The experience was completely different from the glaciar we saw in Argentina, which was somehow continuing to grow in spite of global warming. San Rafael is a "dying" glaciar, and the national park services have even marked on the surrounding with where the ice field used to reach in earlier decades. We were able to get super close to it as well, floating in among the broken iceberg "chips" where the crew hacked off ice to chill our ceremonial whiskey (which tasted awful). Seeing the glaciar crumble into the water was more of a funerary moment than awe-inspiring, and even scary when at one point we had to out-run a massive wave that came rushing towards us after a particularly large section broke off. For the next 5 days we sailed through the archipelagos of southern chile, stopping to check out some local seals, relax in waterfront hot springs, tour the second largest island in South America, Chiloe, and more than anything, taking frequent eating breaks. The service was all inclusive...which Cassidy and I thought we would surely dominate, but in the end could not eat 4 meals a day, or really drink as much as the bartenders were sliding our way. We made an effort though, of course.
Once back on mainland Chile we headed north, into warmer weather (thank goodness!). Valdivia was the perfect welcome to springtime, and while we were there we spent plenty of time lounging on the riverfront park grass. We also managed to get ourselves out to a national park where we spent the day hiking through at once tropical and alpine forests up to the highest lookout point which afforded an endless view of what is Chile's Lakes District, with all of its...volcanoes. And lakes too. Chile has over 500 volcanoes of which at least 60 are currently active. We next stopped in Pucón at the base of Volcan Villarrica, a volcano that apparently erupts every 8 to 10 years or so, and we were pretty glad that all we saw was some thick smoking! We spent close to a week in Pucón, at a hostel run by a very nice couple, Hostal Donde Egidio. I was surprised to see how strong an influence German immigrants had on Southern Chile, and Pucón was the same, with it's ski chalet architecture and plenty of German chocolate shops. While we spent most of our days laying on what was admittedly not the most comfortable of lakefront beaches (the "sand" is sharp volcanic pebbles that boiled in the midday sun), we did manage to get in one big excursion.
Somehow Cassidy convinced me to go white water rafting. And as if that weren't enough, she said class 3 rapids were boring and we should go for the class 4/5. I believe 2 for 1 happy hour Pisco Sours were involved at the time of decision making...Anyhow, we signed ourselves up and were taken out to the River Trancura where after shimmying into wetsuits and taking a whopping 5 minute course in rapids rafting, we set off. We spent about an hour in the water, went through 5 rapids (which seemed more like baby waterfalls to me), and then we had the "opportunity" to throw ourselves into the freezing cold water and be carried down stream for a while. That was really the only scary part. The rest was fun!
Now I am in Santiago, Chile, where the temperature ranges between 70-90F and the view that surrounds the whole city is that of the Andes mountains, only an hour and a half drive away. Santiago itself is huge, Paris huge, with wide ambling boulevards, lots of trees, and really well maintained streets. As far as architecture and entertainment i haven't found anything completely different, but the cosmopolitan selection of restaurants and shopping is fantastic. It also doesn't hurt that the beach is an hour a way by metro, and there are vineyards just outlying the city center. Oh, and Chile is one of the foremost exporters of fruit and vegetables, so i am in a vegetarian's paradise with all the juicy peaches, plums, cherries, canteloupes, grapes, tomatoes, and avocados...oh the avocados. And then there's the wine!
The other benefit of the city is that it houses my rather large, and largely unknown Giarda family. I am staying with my aunt Andrea and my grandmother for the holidays, and have already had the chance to meet a lot of people whose names I am sure I don't have straight. I will be here for at least a month before I head north which will be a nice opportunity to spend time with everyone.
I do hope you are having a fun holiday season, that you received all sorts of fun presents and that you have exciting plans for tonight. As for me and Cassidy, we have a date with is a large quantity of shrimp to be eaten tonight on my aunt's balcony while we watch fireworks go off around the city.
1 - chile's national dance, la cuenca, in punta arenas. all i know is that it involves a lot of handkerchief waving 
2 - the cruise ship anchored in front of the San Rafael Glaciar
3 - me at the glaciar!
4 - Cassidy and me all dressed up for our last eating marathon on the skorpios cruise. many crabs died for me that night. and oysters, and mussels, and salmons...and avocados...
5 - The Giarda women (and Cassidy) on Christmas Eve.Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Mi última mes en Argentina
I really can't believe how fast the last three months have passed, and that I haven't seen you in that amount of time or longer. I hope to hear about how you are doing back in your respective hometowns.
November started off well, when my mum arrived in Buenos Aires on the first, her first time in Argentina. We spent four whirlwind days in the capital city seeing all the most important sites and spending some time with the rest of the BA family. On the fifth we set out for Puerto Iguazu, a border town on the edge of Parque Nacional de Iguazu, the second largest waterfalls in the world. We spent two days hiking through jungles and treetop walkways seeing the multiple waterfalls and a little of the local wildlife. It was really a one of a kind experience, and a truly unique piece of argentina. I, the girl who can eat anything, actually got sick in Iguazu and after we lost two days of travel, we headed straight for Cordoba, which I was happy to visit again.
On the 13th we arrived in Mendoza, Argentina's wine capital. We actually stayed in a suburb called Chacras de Coria, because it was closer to the vineyards, and the next morning we took a really special tour with a company called Adventure Wines to four wineries. Over the course of the day we sampled 20 wines and at one of the wineries we enjoyed an over the top FIVE course lunch amidst chardonnay and malbec vines, and in the shadow of the Andes. The next morning we headed out on our own for our last wine tour...mum was getting too accustomed to drinking at 9:30AM. We also went on a mountain tour that winded and weaved across narrow mountain highways and included a light hiking excursion to a viewpoint of America's highest mountain peak, Aconcagua.
After Mendoza we stopped in Neuquen, a sort of obscure state capital of Rio Negro...it would be like a tourist visiting Pierre, South Dakota. It was a nice place to relax before meeting up with Cassidy in Puerto Madryn and starting a whole new set of adventures. We did meet up on the 20th and spent the next whole day on Peninsula Valdez seeing penguins, southern right whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, armadillos, foxes, and plenty of birds. It was beautiful.
The next day was Thanksgiving, so we went for a traditional Argentian barbeque dinner, with mashed squash, beef and plenty of wine. Then we moved on to Trelew which is a small coastal town that became a launch point for us to visit a traditional Welsh town...yes, in the middle of Argentina...called Gaiman, where we admired rose gardens and partook in a traditional welsh tea. Then on south to Punta Tombo, which is home to thousands of penguins during their mating season. At the beginning of our walk it was a novelty to see them on the side of the desert-like paths amongst the shrubbery, but after an hour we were literally stepping over them as the ran across our paths and wondered at our long legs.
Now Cassidy and I are deep in Patagonia, spending a few days in El Calafate to see the world's only growing glaciar (the rest, of course, are melting because of global warming) Perito Moreno, and then we will continue on to "the end of the world" Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, the closest city to Antarctica. By December we will be on our way to Chile's Patagonia, and then to a week long cruise through its glaciars and fjords.
1 - me and mum at las cataratas de iguazú
5 - the Perito Moreno glaciar, growing strong!
November started off well, when my mum arrived in Buenos Aires on the first, her first time in Argentina. We spent four whirlwind days in the capital city seeing all the most important sites and spending some time with the rest of the BA family. On the fifth we set out for Puerto Iguazu, a border town on the edge of Parque Nacional de Iguazu, the second largest waterfalls in the world. We spent two days hiking through jungles and treetop walkways seeing the multiple waterfalls and a little of the local wildlife. It was really a one of a kind experience, and a truly unique piece of argentina. I, the girl who can eat anything, actually got sick in Iguazu and after we lost two days of travel, we headed straight for Cordoba, which I was happy to visit again.
On the 13th we arrived in Mendoza, Argentina's wine capital. We actually stayed in a suburb called Chacras de Coria, because it was closer to the vineyards, and the next morning we took a really special tour with a company called Adventure Wines to four wineries. Over the course of the day we sampled 20 wines and at one of the wineries we enjoyed an over the top FIVE course lunch amidst chardonnay and malbec vines, and in the shadow of the Andes. The next morning we headed out on our own for our last wine tour...mum was getting too accustomed to drinking at 9:30AM. We also went on a mountain tour that winded and weaved across narrow mountain highways and included a light hiking excursion to a viewpoint of America's highest mountain peak, Aconcagua.
After Mendoza we stopped in Neuquen, a sort of obscure state capital of Rio Negro...it would be like a tourist visiting Pierre, South Dakota. It was a nice place to relax before meeting up with Cassidy in Puerto Madryn and starting a whole new set of adventures. We did meet up on the 20th and spent the next whole day on Peninsula Valdez seeing penguins, southern right whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, armadillos, foxes, and plenty of birds. It was beautiful.
The next day was Thanksgiving, so we went for a traditional Argentian barbeque dinner, with mashed squash, beef and plenty of wine. Then we moved on to Trelew which is a small coastal town that became a launch point for us to visit a traditional Welsh town...yes, in the middle of Argentina...called Gaiman, where we admired rose gardens and partook in a traditional welsh tea. Then on south to Punta Tombo, which is home to thousands of penguins during their mating season. At the beginning of our walk it was a novelty to see them on the side of the desert-like paths amongst the shrubbery, but after an hour we were literally stepping over them as the ran across our paths and wondered at our long legs.
Now Cassidy and I are deep in Patagonia, spending a few days in El Calafate to see the world's only growing glaciar (the rest, of course, are melting because of global warming) Perito Moreno, and then we will continue on to "the end of the world" Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, the closest city to Antarctica. By December we will be on our way to Chile's Patagonia, and then to a week long cruise through its glaciars and fjords.
1 - me and mum at las cataratas de iguazú
2 - me and mum outside of the Catena Zapata winery at the foothills of the Andes in Mendoza
3 - a shot from our whale watching trip on the península valdez
4 - the adorable penguins i wanted to steal from punta tombo
5 - the Perito Moreno glaciar, growing strong!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Mes numero dos!
Before I left on my month-long journey I had a really nice farewell dinner with my great aunt Franca, Isabel and Jorge.
My first destination was Uruguay...I spent really the most beautiful week there, in spite of some crazy torrential downpours that ruined a beach weekend. Uruguay is just amazing, I have probably emailed all of you individually to suggest you vacation there immediately, so I won't repeat myself. I saw pretty much everything the country has to offer from the aptly named Colonia's colonial spanish and portugese feel, Montevideo's busy urban and yet singularly latin feel, to Salto's hot, yet lush green farmland and it's spectacular hot springs that are supposedly the hottest on the continent (44ºC or 111ºF!).
I returned to Argentina and started a northwestern route. First I went to Rosario, which is considered "Little Buenos Aires"...and it really was, so I didn't stay long. I spent Colombus day in Paraná. I heard about a really cool anti-colombus street celebration, that honored both indigenous roots as well as the african heritage that was transplanted here. My next stop was Córdoba, which is a jewel of a city, I just loved everything about it. It is home to 7 universities, so it has that great vibrant feel to it. I stayed for 6 days, visiting museums and crypts, watching free "water dances" in a central plaza, seeing a play and seeking out the vegetarian restaurants.
I also went on a full day horse-back riding trip through the foothills of Córdoba, that ended with a sunny afternoon barbeque, where I did eat meat, again! I have no idea what it was but it was tasty. so I didn't ask. I also went hiking one day through the national park Condor Canyon. It was a long 18km trip but well worth it, even though it started hailing out of the blue on the way back! From Córdoba I traveled north to Salta, which is another beautiful city! I got really lucky in picking a hostel that was very homey and I met two girls, each traveling alone herself, and the three of us spent the next few days touring the city, eating out, and going to a tiny wine town called Cafayate, to sample both the local wines, and the local sorbet's made with wine. That was a treat!
Now I've returned to Buenos Aires, just to relax for a little while before my mom joins me on November 1 (tomorrow!). I have planned another busy month for us including Brazil and Argentina's shared Iguazú falls, Argentina's wine country, and some penguin and whale watching on the Atlantic coast where we will also be joined by my friend Cassidy!
1 - perpetual dampness in colonia del sacramento, uruguay
2 - the sunshiny beach pocitos on montevideo's southern coast
3 - me and jacob touring the cordobes country-side
4 - me at the end of the trek out to condor canyon
5 - me in the natural ampitheatre in salta's canyon regionSunday, September 30, 2007
Primer mes en Argentina
I arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina on September 5, and the same day I met my sister Isabel for the first time. I have had a great time with her this month, though it has been hard for me to keep up with "porteño" life. Super late lunches (2PM), even later dinners (11:30PM) and bar or club hopping that only begins at 2AM is quite a change for me, and the first two weeks I was just worn out. Add on top of that the all day celebration of Chile's national birth on September 18, and my introduction to the pisco sour. Once I managed to wake up before 11AM (that would be, oh, 12 days ago), I really started to enjoy Buenos Aires for it's more cultural aspect. I've toured all over, museums, theatres, the extensive parks, and some seriously cheap shopping. The currency exchange is 3+ pesos to every dollar, so meals average $4 and clothing about $15.
I've also taken a few trips out of Buenos Aires, to a small ranch near San Antonio de Areco, where I toured pastures on horseback, watched gaucho (cowboy) shows, and even...yes, ate the country's famous "parrilla" aka beef. i thought it tasted a lot like the fake meats i enjoy at home. Yesterday I went to Tigre, right on the river's delta. It was a beautiful small town where the island homes are right on the water with private docks, and even some communal campgrounds where people played volleyball, sunbathed and waded in the water. After a ferry tour, I managed to do some shopping in the open air market there too.
Three weeks ago I moved out of my hostel and in with my great-aunt Franca, who at 89 is living on her own, active and super fiesty. She plays bridge incessantly with dozens of old ladies who are equally as entertaining. She's also been able to tell me so much about the Giarda family, and has wonderful photos from the 1800´s when my family moved to South America from Italy. She also has plenty of opinions, on just about everything...so I guess we know where I got that from.
Tonight is my last night in Buenos Aires; tomorrow I head across the world's widest river to Uruguay, where I will tour around some small colonial towns, the country's capital Montevideo, and some beach towns. And since it's spring here and the weather is about 73 with lots of sun, I'm pretty excited about relaxing on a beach. you know, since the past month has been so stressful...Anyway, then I come back to Argentina and will be traveling around the northwest part of the country, to the mountains and northernmost part of wine country. I have a hiking excursion planned, and hopefully another horseback riding tour.
1 - me and my sister Isabel outside the recoleta cemetery and church
2 - me over looking la boca's caminito from a balcony
3 - la casa rosada, the famous presidential home of Evita
4 - me in the tower of the palacio barolo overlooking greater buenos aires
5 - jorge, isabel, franca and me, at franca's apartment in la recoleta
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