03.18 to 22.08 - Buenos Aires

Beautiful Buenos

After Andrea and I moved from “Hostel Hell” into a more manageable location, the question became, “What’s not to like about Buenos ******* Aires?” (If you’ve been there you’ve seen the t-shirt and can fill in the blank.)

Buenos Aires really is a great city, filled with landmarks, great food, and nightlife. There was a little experience of culture shock, coming from the distances of Tierra del Fuego, but venturing out into the urban-scape was easy cure.

BA is a perfect city for walking, in sections. Having moved from the Palermo district to Monserrat, we were in easy walking distance of several city icons. Walking down Avenue 9 de Julio you can’t miss the defining obelisk in the center of this grand boulevard.



Walking east, towards the waterfront, the city cathedral looks like it belongs in Greece instead of Plaza de Mayo.



Kitty-corner to the cathedral is Cabildo building.

The brevity of description should be a first clue, that despite the design and unique pink stone of the government building, ...

... after a year and a half of travel, "landmark burnout" is in affect.

Only a few blocks away from the Plaza de Mayo lies the historic waterfront, which served as port to the city for centuries.



The distinctive Puente de la Mujer, in the middle of Dique 3, marks the middle of the passage way.



I'm not sure if this bridge is a physical testament to the persistent protests of mothers searching for their abducted sons and husbands during the darker government era of the past, but it is a beautiful addition to the city and serves as a gateway to the burgeoning Puerto Madera district.



Again, I'm not sure what this statue has to to with Holland or its proximity to the Puente de Mujer ...



... but don't you think she needs a hug?

The city of Buenos Aires has done an awesome job in  renovating the docks into a very pleasant tourist walk, filled with accompanying restaurants and the much frequented Helado Tienda.

For the brave of heart and wallet, Calle Florida is five major blocks West of the Northern most dock. This is a fun place to watch "street tango" shows and do some U.S. price equivalent shopping, but watch your purse and wallets, as Calle Florida is the "pick pocket capital" of Buenos.





However, it is home to the best named shop in B.A.



If you walk the length of Calle Florida you will dead-end into Plaza San Martin, with its monument tower, ...



... random cool bird sightings, ...



... and flowering trees. (Just beware of where you sit and look as parks are famous public urination places and you may want to be careful on both counts.)



If you are not ready to watch the evening migrate into an 11:00 pm "early dinner"...



... and staying out till four in the morning, then Buenos Aires may not be your town.



Janne, Lipika, Linda, (Navimag travel buddies) and I met up for a few nights of fun, including Tango lessons, show, and dancing to live music. I now understand why Dan and Julie are big Tango fans. If you haven't been to a local Tango Hall to watch the locals amble around the floor in a web of twisted arms and legs, then the soul of Buenos has been missed.



The other evening activity that is a must is to try some of the great restaurants and bars in the Palermo District. Our hostess and B.A. native for the last year, Janne, proved that vegetarians can have a great spread as well. Later she introduced us to Frenet and Coke... somehow the rest of the evening is a blurr with a slightly bitter aftertaste.



Sorry for the "food shot" but there is an important "beef lesson" to be had in Argentina. Do not order an unspecified "steak" or you will receive a massive portion of vaca, which will only be about 30% edible. So, make sure to order "lomo" and then you will receive a tasty fillet cut that will blow your mind with flavor. Absolutely no steak sauce is required when the proper cut of beef arrives... yum!



With the potential for fundamentally delicious main courses in Argentina, the bread can be a polar opposite. The bread can be literally so bad that pigeons refuse to ingest the bland commodity. We watched pigeons literally land to "check out" the sidewalk bread and then turn their beaks up and fly away without a second peck.



Buenos Aires is known for several other things including their arts and cemetery scenes, both most famously located in the Recoleta District. Along Avenue del Libertador lies the Fine Arts Museum, Malba Modern Art Museum, ...



... and the Floralis Generica Monument. The Floralis Generica Monument is a photo sensitive Titanic stainless steel flower that opens and closes depending on the presence of sunlight.



(It also serves as a pretty good group "photo op" location.)



About a kilometer away and just behind the Buenos Aires Design Center...



... is the Recoleta Cemetery. Even for those who usually get "freaked out" by the cemetery scene, this was a stop well worth an hour or so.



Recoleta is the final resting place of Eva Peron (not pictured) and hundreds of the city's elite.



A stroll through the grounds is an architectural study stretching from turn of the century, through Deco, and beyond.



Even if you are not too keen on the stonework, there are always the very happy cats to pet along the way.



Buenos Aires is not without its interesting oddities, as well. Andrea has enlightened me to the world of "screening", which is basically a single color paper screen negative spray painted on buildings and walls throughout the city. I especially liked this one for its world wide message appeal of "locals only" pride.



The other visual oddity was this Mr. Spock or Mork from Ork meets the Star of David mosaic on a temple wall. Did the Raliens merge with Judaism? Does anyone have a clue on this one?

Of course I had barely touched the city in five days and it would be well worth a return visit to check out the colorful La Boca district, along with catching a Boca Juniors football match. For true Buenos fans, I'm sure there are a million great opportunities missed in this entry, so feel free to send an e-mail with suggestions or post a "must see" comment.

03.17.08 - Ushuaia to Buenos Aires

Parting Ways

The morning light brought a completely different travel scenario than had been experienced in weeks.  I'm going to use a grandmotherly lexicon to describe an incredible couple.  Marijn and Lotte define for me what it means to be "delightful people".  Each is remarkably open to welcoming other people, so collectively they are a "good will" force to be reckoned with.  I'm definitely going to miss their easy going dispositions and litany of good natured humor.  Wishing them "all the best" would be an understatement.  So, a beautiful morning was made just a little more dull by their 6:15 am departure.  Proving their openness to caring for others, Stephie tagged along for the sixteen hour bus ride to Bariloche, Argentina.

So that left Andrea and I to head-off for an evening flight to Buenos Aires.  By the time mid-afternoon rolled around the sky was up to its continually evolving tricks, leading us to wonder about an "on time" departure.

Arriving an hour before the flight, combined with a five minute check-in process, gave us time to wander the grounds of the miniature "International Airport", complete with brand new terminal addition under construction to the right (if you can call it that).  The perpetual wind gust was reflected in the tattered fringe of the Argentine flag.

Having killed about twenty minutes outside, led to indoor time extinguishing tactics like "let's compare passport stamps."  The major surprise was finding the best passport photo I've ever seen.  It still looks like Andrea, but somehow appears to be a German government professional portraiture at the same time... a bureaucratic impossibility, of course.

"In flight entertainment" consisted of this extremely "touchy" family.  We were in awe and a little "creeped out" by the daisy chain of connection.  Ok, here's the total tactile recap:  Dad with head on wife's breast (not shoulder), while caressing adult son's head and hairline, with son and daughter snuggling under the same airplane blanket.  Maybe it was just an unfair reaction from an East German woman and American man with similarly physically sterile upbringings, but in defense our Maori row companion thought it a little bizarre as well. 

Our punishment for judging the in-flight "familial human cluster" was a 1:00 am arrival into the steamy nocturnal heat of Buenos Aires. Even in the middle of the night the city seemed to be on humid "simmer" mode. To add to the fun, our hostel was the worst in a year and a half of travel. Bunk beds were stacked three high, without being bolted to the wall, in stagnant windowless rooms. A dank moistness clung to everything, including the torn prison style mattress, limply draped over minimal wooden cross slats. (I unpacked my Thermo-rest backpacking sleeping pad to cover the nocturnal vileness.) To say that this place smelled like a locker room would have been a compliment. Now add hoards of loud partying Israeli's and locals to the smoke filled scene and there were just too many senses under attack for an eye mask and ear plugs to cover up.

03.16.08 - Ushuaia

Tierra del Fuego National Park

There are a few truly distinct marathons around the world, known for course or location instead of simple popularity, e.g. The Antarctic Marathon, Kilimanjaro Marathon, Great Wall Marathon, etc.  We just happened to be in the right place, at the right time, for the southern most marathon, called “The End of the World Marathon.” It was fun to see the runners, but made our approach to Tierra del Fuego National Park just a little more challenging.



(This next picture is for you Anne.) On the way to the park we drove past the southern most golf course in the world… so if you "hit it long" does the ball fall off the edge of the earth?



The Tierra del Fuego national park offers many differing levels of trekking and climbing. Today, Marijn, Lotte, and I set our sights on the Cerro Guanaco Trail that culminates in a 973 meter summit. Given that we are basically starting at sea level, a 3,000+ ft climb is not a bad day’s effort.  With blue skies and an Acigami lakeside start, we were eager to "turn right" and see what the mountain had to offer.

There were many climates to trek through.  The thickly forested section gave relief from the penetrating warmth of the sun.

River crossings only pointed to the water fun to be had in a only a few kilometers.

Above the tree line, the boggy beginning of an alpine portion of the climb challenged our perceptions of stability.  For the most part, every soggy step eventually met a level of firmness that allowed our steps to continue in "plunger motion" fashion.

This doesn't exactly look like firm enough ground to walk on/through, but even a step in the water covered footfalls provided enough support to keep boot uppers above the liquid seepage line. 

The slow plodding eventually led to a completely different textural path.  We had successfully transitioned from water logged bogs to arid uphill scree.

The only thing to do was attack the incline, which fortunately turned out to be more of a gravel path than actual slip rock trekking.

The trail to the summit and vista point lent itself to more of a "Planet of the Apes" backdrop than the final steps of an Tierra del Fuego summit.

Despite the building breeze and falling temperatures, Marijn, Lotte, and I were happy to soak in the "End of the World" views across the Beagle Channel.

Working our way off the precipice, we decided to eat lunch near the top of the mountain.  Literally moments after sitting down and digging into our bags, the local friendly "Zorro" dropped by for a hopeful treat.  He was actually large enough to surprise and make us question a relocation, but we held a watchful eye and finished a light lunch.

Returning to the now familiar bog lands, it was interesting to notice the naturally seeping oil deposits from millions of years of suspended decomposition activity. 

Relaxed from bog trodding experience, I managed to step deeply into a mud pot, lacking the supportive peat bottom.  This meant grungy water climbed up to the top laces of one of my boots.  Not wanting to meet the same fate, Lotte stepped even wider that my original path with easily twice the outcome.  One of the things that is so awesome about Lotte was that she simply laughed off the misfortune and we shared/compared the muddy damage.  (Lotte's feet pictured because her contrast was simply much better than mine.)

By the time we returned to the lake, the southern hemisphere was cooking up a barometric change, with an obvious result only a few hours away.  Marijn, Lotte, and I had experience, in a single day, most of the environments Tierra del Fuego had to offer.