National Park Visit and MEAT...

The next day, Siobhan and I decided to take the “fancy route” to the National Park. We took a train to get there. It was a scenic, serene, two + hour steam train ride to the park. We were all about the novelty of the train ride. The bus would have been faster, but being on the train seemed like it would be fun, and it was!

When we arrived at the national park, picked a hiking trail along the Beagle Channel and took off. It was about a 3-hour hike with some amazing scenery and good exercise! We jumped on the bus back to Ushuaia and relaxed for a while back at the hostel.

That night, I decided I wanted to try a parrilla. A parrilla is in essence a barbecue grill upon which various meats are cooked. They are generally visible from the dining room; just walking by one on the street gives your eyes a view delicious enough to make your mouth water. This was really my first time having lamb. I honestly cannot remember even trying it before this. We went to a really busy parrilla and I tried the BBQ lamb and chorizo. It was amazing! Patagonian lamb, melt in your mouth delicious! I highly recommend it! I don’t know how this happened – I think we were trying to take pictures of the spit and the roasting lamb…the next think you know, the “BBQ guy” has Siobhan go over and cut the lamb. The hilarious thing about this is that she is a vegetarian! She kept telling him "Yo soy vegetariana” – he just rolled his eyes.

We said good-bye that night…until we meet again! I was scheduled for a 5 a.m. bus to El Calafate.

Buenos Aires to the end of the World...

Ushuaia - the gateway to Antartica, the capital city of Tierra del Fuego provence, the southernmost city in the world - very cool. I arrived at the airport around 3:30 p.m. and met another pair that were going to the main town. We shared a taxi. I had reserved a room at the same Hostel as Siobhan, from London, a fellow traveler who I had met in Chile. There was a mess up with the reservation and I was sent over to their sister Hostel for one night - no big deal. Siobhan and I went out and grabbed some dinner and we had a bottle of wine back at the Hostel while researching our tour for the next day.

The next morning, we were off on our tour. We took a boat trip out into the waters near Tierra del Fuego and the Beagle Channel. We saw penguins, a light house that I am sure has been the subject of many a postcard, and other marine life. I loved it. Back in town we ate lunch and headed out on a hike to Glacier Martial. We started hiking and were a bit lost on the trail. It was muddy in parts and not very well marked, but we made it. The hike was worth the views of the bay/port and the exercise as I can feel the lbs coming on. The glacier itself was kind of wimpy. I wasn't very impressed with it.

We cooked dinner that night at the Hostel with another couple there. Stewart and Julia - ah, love was budding...he wined and dined her with OUR wine...it was hilarious!

Mendoza - more wine tasing...

I high tailed it to Mendoza, Argentina. I splurged ($30) on a nice room with A/C, TV and, the most important thing, a really nice BATHROOM! My goal for Mendoza was to wine taste. I went on a wine tasting tour with two couples from Santa Fe, Argentina and a guy from Brazil. It was an odd group. Our first stop was Cavas de Don Arturo. I enjoyed a couple of the wines - there was a pretty good Malbec, but nothing really notable. The scenery was a little lacking compared to Chile's wine region - there was a huge oil drill on the property next to the winery - not especially esthetically pleasing. Our second stop was Lager Baudron where we partook in Wine and Empanadas - yum! We also stopped at a distillary that specializes in flavored liquors and absenthe! It was a "happy" tour for sure.

The next day, I took my own guided city walking tour from a map in my handy dandy travel boo. All in all it was a nice day. I wish I had more time to explore, maybe I'll come back some day. Rushed for time, it was back to the bus station for another 14 hour (ouch) bus ride to Buenos Aires. The overnight bus rides were kind of rough on my legs - lack of circulation = puffy legs.

Upon arriving in BA, I took a taxi straight to the airport. I booked a flight to Ushuaia - the very tip of South America in the Patagonia region.

Back to Buenos Aires...

Our last day in Montevideo...up early, bus to Colonia, ferry to Buenos Aires and straight to Recoleto, the bus station in Buenos Aires. I bought an overnight bus ticket for that same night to Mendoza. Patty and I went back to the hostel to say good-bye to Michaela and Lewis who were off to work the ski season in Whistler...we will see each other again!

Patty's flight was later that evening so I had to say good-bye and hop on my 14-hour (ouch) bus ride to Mendoza. Bye Patty, my friend - I will see you back in California!

The overnight buses are not bad - transportation AND lodging all in one! The glass is half-full...

Holy Hottness!

It is hot here in Montevideo, not just kinda hot, but hot hot and muggy too.  We spent the day walking to ciudad vieja and to the water.  We at lunch at a cafe in ciudad vieja and asked about getting to the Pocitos neighborhood on the water.  We ended up taking a bus to a large mall that was in the general direction of Pocitos.  I know, I know!  I didn't really want to be spending much time in the mall, but it has A/C and we were dying of heat stroke.  We left the wonderfully air conditioned mall and walked to the beach in the Pocitos area.  The beach is really big and it wasn't too crowded.   From the beach, we headed back to ciudad vieja and bought tickets to a jazz show that was playing at Teatro Solis.  The band playing was the Sergio Fernandez Cabrera trio.  Sergio himself was an extremely talented guitarist and a quiet kind of guy.  He reminded me of an extremely talented genius that wasn't comfortable in the spotlight but loved playing and composing music.  We bought tickets in the upper balcony and ended up sitting in the front row - how that happened, I have no idea.  The show was good, but long and toward the end both Patty and I were dying to use the ladies room.  We snuck out early (it was kind of hard to sneak being in the front row, but nature called!).  

After the show we went to dinner at Bar Hispano where we proceeded to order and eat the world's largest banana split.  I am so going to pay for all this food I am eating -- will pay later!  It was delicious!  Later we went to a bar called "bar fun fun" and guess what, it was fun.  There was a live band and the band and their groupies were entertained by the two girls from the U.S.A.  Patty was hit on by a singing midget (or was it a dwarf...Lewis???) and danced with an overly hyper Uruguayan.  We talked to a couple of guys from Brasil which was interesting and then it was back to the hotel.  Walking back to the hotel was the one and only time on my trip that I felt a little scared.  Some crazy guy followed us for a while...we beelined it for a corner where there were other people hanging out and ditched the crazy guy...eeeoowww!     

Next County...Uruguay!

Patty and I decided that we were going to take a 2 day trip across the Rio de la Plata for a visit to neighboring Uruguay.  The nice thing was that Michaela and Lewis kept our luggage and we packed very light for our trek across the river.  Unfortunately, we missed the early ferry and had to wait for the later one.  We had a couple of hours to kill so we walked the Puerto Madero area of the city.  Puerto Madero reminds me of the SOMA neighborhood in San Francisco.  Yachts, coffee shops restaurants and cafes were abundant.  We did some cafe dwelling and saw the famed Buenos Aires dog walkers.  These dog walkers walk with about 10 dogs on a leash.  We saw one group of big dogs and another with little dogs...enough to put a smile our faces.  

We caught the 11:30 a.m. ferry, complete with a large duty free shop and arrived in Uruguay at 12:30 p.m., just in time for lunch!  When we first arrived, I was having a real issue with the cost of a bus ride from Colonia to Montevideo.  I just couldn't grasp that it would be so expensive...well duh, we are in a different county!  There is different money here, thus a different exchange rate!  Once it dawned on me, I could relax!  We had one of the better meals so far at a place called the Drugstore.  There was live music and it was a great escape from the hot, muggy weather outside.  

Colonia was founded in 1680 by the Portuguese and was a main city for smuggling goods across Rio de la Plata to Buenos Aires.  The Spanish captured and held the city until 1777.  We toured several small museums including the Museo Municipal and Museo de los Azulejos (tiles).  Colonia is definitely a 1/2 day trip, especially in the heat!  We hopped on the bus to Montevideo, the capital city, where we arrived 2 hours later.  

After trudging around, we found a passable hotel with a cost that was within my budget.  Patty has been great about helping me stay in my budget (real meaning - she is tolerating less than fancy places while hanging out with me!).  We decided to go out for a real steak dinner and chose to dine at Los Lenas restaurant, where Patty befriended the waiter, Oscar.  We were having a few glasses of wine (I tried Pinet wine for the first time -- not bad!), enjoying our meal and then asked ourselves..."what are we doing tomorrow"?  and then wait..."why are we here"?  It was a funny revelation that we didn't really have an answer.  We did come up with things to do, but sometimes you just go with the flow!

After dinner, Oscar the waiter, gave us a night tour of the main plaza with some interesting facts about the city.  He was quite a character, not a fan of Buenos Aires.  He has 6 children and 5 baby mamas  - yowza!  Fun and entertaining day!