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In an attempt to catch up, this post summarizes our travel in Argentina. As Argentina is a fairly modern country, there is not much interesting to document on a day to day basis.
Our trip unfolds as follows;
1. Salta to Buenos Aires
2. Buenos Aires to Uruguay (Colonia del Sacramento & Montevideo)
3. Back to Buenos Aires, with Dad arriving
4. Puerto Iguazu, and the famous Iguazu Falls National Park
5. Lake District of Northern Patagonia; Bariloche, Villa de La Angostura, San Martin de los Andes, and the Seven Lakes Drive
6. Mendoza wine region, with Dad leaving
Highlight experiences as follows;
- Discovering smooth, easy drinking young Argentina Malbec. In Argentina, it’s what’s for dinner!
- Incredible steaks and pizza at the America del Sur Hostel
- Signing up for a futbol game, finding out it is a crucial match between Argentina and Peru for 2010 World Cup qualifying, and observing the crowd and weather compete for intensity. Results; 2-1 Argentina, 0-1 our rain gear!
- Relaxing in Colonial del Sacramento, with its Monterrey, California like vibe
- Delicious grass fed steaks at a parrilla restaurant in the Mercado del Puerto, Montevideo; equally delicious tomatoes, lightly salted
- Dad arrives!
- Tango show in Buenos Aires
- Getting soaked at the Iguazu Falls; first by boat, and then by the afternoon rain and hail
- A break in the weather opens the Seven Lakes drive in Northern Patagonia
- Dad changes his Aerolineas Argentina flight itinerary to return from Mendoza, and gets a $50 refund!
- First class tour of boutique wineries Mendoza; fancy smelling premium vintage is fun to taste, but where’s the smooth, easy drinking stuff?
- Getting use to eating after 9PM, and going to sleep with a wine buzz every night
- Columbus day holiday rush to Uruguay delays our weekend plan, and Vana misses out on Spanish classes in Buenos Aires
- Parking ticket in San Martin causes an hour delay, resolved by Kevin’s limited Spanish; ”We don’t have time. Can Alamo use the post office to pay the fine?”
- Needing reservations for many hostels and hotels
tango in Buenos Aires. see more
futbol match in Buenos Aires. see more
relaxing in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. see more
30 comments:
Vana & Kevin,
Great pictures. I am glad I got mine out first. Otherwise I might have been inhibited because they are nowhere as good.
Thanks for the great time.
Dad
Hi Vana,
Tom and I are off to Thailand in a few days...we bought a netbook to check emails and find hotels, sites... I've been having so much fun watching your blog grow that I decided to make one for our trip too. Our blog is http://thomandpai.blogspot.com/ It will not be as fancy or detailed as yours...but we are hoping to keep our families/friends entertained and aware of our travels.
Argentina sounds lovely.
Take care,
Patty
Oct 8 Buenos Aires
We arrive in the morning and taxi to the micro-center, staying at the Hotel Goya. Vana is interested to take Spanish classes next week, so we visit and sign up for classes at the Academia Buenos Aires. They offer half price for an extra person, so I also sign up for classes. After a quick oral and written test, my three years of high school Spanish places me seven days ahead of Vana.
We spend the rest of the day sourcing hotels near the school for next week. We see some real dumpy crash pads which need to be torched.
Dear Robertsons
What a blog--what fantastic pictures and experiences! To be doing it so thoroughly the way you are is amazing. I am so glad Ernie has joined you. I know Chris' wedding is in Costa Rica this month. I sure hope you all have a wonderful time. Continue to enjoy--I am so happy to be receiving these. I have wanted to comment. For some reason, my computer does not let me in. So I am just replying on how much I enjoy hearing and seeing what you send. Thanks so much.
Love,
Barbara Rabke
Hi friends,
I just returned from visiting Kevin and Vana on the Argentina leg of their South American trip.
I posted some of the pictures I took on a shutterfly web site.
If you want to view them the url is
http://ernierobertson.shutterfly.com
Just enter this address in your browser
This is my first attempt at a web site. There are too many ads on the shutterfly site, but they made it easy so I tried it.
You can view the Argentina album as a slide show or you can click on the first picture in the album and then go thru the pictures by hand. This way is faster.
Let me know if it does not work
Ernie
Vana&Kevin,
I am having a great time reading your blog. How do you guys keep up with the weather changes? I see you in winter clothes than in shorts, than winter cloths again? Is your body adjusting ok? and do you have like 10 backpacks to carry all the clothes?
Take care!!
Jana
as usual, gorgeous photos. We had dinner with Ernie last nite. He was brimming over with details about the trip. He really had a wonderful time. So glad things worked out. Can't wait til you get back to CA. Ernie says you'll be here before Xmas. Hope you make it happen.
love,
harriet
Oct 9, Buenos Aires
Today, Buenos Aires chews us up, and almost spits us out.
Our plan is to spend the weekend in Uruguay, but apparently we are not the only ones during the Columbus holiday weekend. I’ve never had any such paid holiday!
We leave our luggage at the hotel in Buenos Aires. After some running around, we find all the boats to Uruguay are full. We take the train to Tigre (a small tourist down an hour away from the city), and find all the hotels are full, all the boats today are full, all the boats tomorrow are full, and all return boats on Monday are full.
For the first time in our travels, we are forced to U-turn, and nix the weekend plan. Determined to visit Uruguay, we also have to cancel Spanish classes for next week (Vana: not happy about it, but it’s an opportunity cost). Perhaps it’s not a big loss, because Argentines speak Spanish in a quick blurry mess.
Back at the hotel, we retrieve our luggage, but the hotel is now full. After going reservation-free for several weeks now, Buenos Aires is a drag. We taxi to another part of town, but the driver boots us out. I think he said it’s too close and we should walk. An hour and 15 blocks later, we consult the guide book stay at Hostal Ostinatto in the San Telmo “Tango” neighborhood. Its several notches above the garbage budget hotels, but we have to play musical rooms every day since they are also booked.
Oct 10, Buenos Aires
When we checked in to the hostel, they asked us if we wanted to see a futbol match. The price seemed expensive, but a trip to South America seems incomplete without some live futbol action.
A tourist bus picks us up and takes us for some beer and pizza. We find out that tonight’s game is Argentina vs. Peru in World Cup 2010 qualifying. Wow, we are surprised! Apparently, the Peru team is not very good, but it’s an important match for Argentina, because they are closed to getting knocked out.
The stadium is nothing fancy, but the atmosphere is electric. When the players come out on the field, it’s raining ticket stubs. The crowd is jumping up and down, singing chants, and waving flags.
The first half is completely dominated by Argentina, with at least ten shots on goal, but no score. The Peru team knows its beat; playing defensively, waiting for Argentina to get tired.
The second half starts with more of the same, including an early goal by Argentina. However, the lightning in the distance signals a change. As the weather grows in intensity, the Peru team starts to come alive. It starts with a downpour, followed by wind which turns the pristine field into a sea of stadium trash. While the crowd is on its feet in competition with the weather, the rain penetrates our ponchos, soaking us to the bone. In these moments of distraction, the Peru team scores a surprise goal tying the score with only ten minutes left. The crowd is stunned, but undeterred. In the final minutes, Argentina scores again, keeping hopes of 2010 qualifying alive.
With Ecuador’s loss to Columbia, you can beat we’ll be watching fourth place Argentina against fifth place Uruguay next week!
Oct 11, Buenos Aires
Today, we visit the Sunday street march in San Telmo. It’s a festive but mellow street fair spread out all the way back to the micro-center, with street musicians, and all the antique junk you could ever hope to see.
For dinner, it’s another delicious steak dinner. I can’t decide which is more delicious, the thick cut prairie beef steak, or the thick cut juicy tomatoes. Also, we find the house wines are really smooth and mellow, with an almost oily texture. We like them much better than typical American table wine, which tastes like vinegar to me.
Oct 12 Buenos Aires to Colonial Del Sacramento, Uruguay
Today we take the massive Barquebus ferry to Colonia del Sacramento in Uraguay. The boat is very pleasant and comfortable. To our surprise, Uruguay has no passport control or immigration.
Colonial is one of the most pleasant little towns we’ve ever visited. It’s kind of like a miniature version of Monterey, California. We enjoy the sunshine, and some tasty eats. One day is just enough.
Oct 13 Montevideo, Uruguay
In these days we are getting late starts. Restaurants do not open for dinner until 8PM. Most are empty until 9PM, and then packed by 10PM. We do as the locals and eat our lunch around 3 or 4 PM.
Today, after lunch, we take the bus to Montevideo. Montevideo is probably the most pleasant capital city that we’ve ever visited. The downtown is compact and everything is easily walk-able.
Kevin helps Vana pick out a stylin new outfit. Then, after a bottle of the local stout in the park, we enjoy some tasty paella at XXX.
Oct 14 Montevideo, Uruguay
For lunch, we head to the Mercado del Puerto, famous for parrella grill restaurants. We grab a seat at the bar in prime view of the parrella grill. We enjoy one of the tastiest grilled meals I’ve ever had; thick cut prairie beef steak, grilled red bell pepper, grilled provolone, chorizo, and salad. We enjoy these meals the most, where we can see all the food prep and cooking during the meal. For dessert I ask the guy why he forgot to grill the tiramisu!
In the evening, we watch Argentina secure the 4th qualifying spot against 5th place Urauguay for the 2010 world cup. Needless to say, the bar patrons are not so happy with the results.
Oct 15 Montevideo to Buenos Aires by bus and boat
We take the Barquebus bus and boat combo back to Colonia, and then to Buenos Aires. We really enjoyed the short trip to Uruguay. It’s a modern, safe, and pleasant country. Everyone is really cool. It’s cool to hang out for a few days, but they don’t have much worth traveling out of your way for.
We check into Hostel Sur America in San Telmo, just around the corner from the previous hostel. The chef at the hotel cooks some of the tastiest food in South America. While finishing another chart topping steak dinner, we smell the pizza coming out of the oven. The chef gives us a sample and we are just floored. Aside from the perfect crust, the mozzarella cheese is in a different class. He finds out that I use to work in a pizza place, and sets me up in the kitchen to make a pie.
Everyone in the hostel is really cool, but it’s quite noisy with all the action on the first floor echoing in the building. Earplugs or a few extra glasses of wine are required.
Oct 16 Buenos Aires
Dad arrives to Buenos Aires! We take it easy, and then head out to the restaurant “El Pobre Luis” for dinner. The owner of this famous parrella restaurant worked with my brother in San Palo, Brazil for a special food event.
The restaurant dining room with its futbol paraphernalia and photos was very cool. But in terms of food and atmosphere, the restaurant prices fell way short of delivering.
Oct 17 Buenos Aires
Today, we take a walking tour of the Recoleta neighborhood. The famous Recoleta cemetery is like a miniature city with walkways and plazas. There are no normal graves. Caskets lay to rest in small dedicated buildings with bronze doors and stone sculptures. In the plaza outside the cemetery, street performers do the tango for tips.
In the evening, we visit Tango Complejo, which includes a tango lesson, dinner, and Tango show. The dance instructor demonstrates proper technique for choosing a dance partner. The men approach slowly with wild open eyes, lowered eyebrows, and a quick head nod to the side. Filled with intense anticipation, the women respond with a shrug of indifference. We learn three new step, which don’t fit anywhere in the vocabulary of steps that we’ve learned in the US.
The dinner is so-so, but the show is excellent. The live band includes violin, accordion, piano, and cello. The dancers perform several routines cataloging the history of tango from 1900 to the present. We really enjoy Tango more than any other dance. Aside from the sexy cuts, and classic lines, the footwork interaction is incredible. Some dances seem like martial arts with a war for floor space.
Oct 19 Buenos Aires to Puerto Igauzu
After checking out, we visit the colorful, but very touristy La Boca neighborhood. We are turned off by all the touts, and leave before lunch. After changing some traveler’s checks downtown, we have some very tasty and spicy vegetarian Indian food.
While getting our bags back at the hostel, the chef calls us over to demonstrate how to make Chimichurry sauce; garlic, salt, parsley, jalapeno, hot water, oil, vinegar, fine and course chili powder, red pepper, (optional: oregano). Mix it up, got meat and bread? It’s good.
At last, it’s time to leave Buenos Aires. We certainly enjoyed the food, and a few of the tourist sites. But the city does not top any of our lists. At the Retiro bus station, it time again for the seats of death. This time, try the first class bus with the super-cama seats, which recline 85 deg to almost completely flat. It’s almost a real bed, and quite a shame they don’t recline just another 5 degrees.
Oct 20 Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
Our overnight bus arrives on time, and we taxi to Hostel Inn, just outside of Puerto Iguazu. The hostel is kind of like a cheap club-med for young people, including a pool with theme parties every few days. Fortunately, it’s not too loud in the rooms.
Oct 21 Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
Today, we visit Parque Nationale Igauzu. It’s a really nice park, with incredible walks both above and below the falls. Except for the paved areas around the train stations, all the walks are on elevated metal walkways. We see almost the entire park, including the Devil’s Throat, the upper trails, and the lower trail returning from the boat ride. The slightly expensive “Great Adventure” boat ride is quite a thrill, and soaks you to the bone, directly under the falls.
Unfortunately, recent rains closed the San Martin Island part of the park, because of the high river.
After the boat ride, dark clouds and thunder signal trouble. On the way back to the park entrance, we get torrential downpour, with wind and then hail! Our rain ponchos are no match for jungle weather.
In the evening, the hostel has a Brazilian show. The Brazilian dancer has more material in her headdress than in the rest of her clothing. The meaning of Brazilian wax is now completely clear. I’ve never seen a butt shake so violently!
Oct 22 Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
Today, we head back to the park take advantage of the half price second day visit. We visit the lower trails, taking our time to look for wildlife. The lizard and iguanas are out taking advantage of the sun after yesterday’s soaking. We also spot a tapir, which is like a small wild pig.
Oct 23 Puerto Iguazu to Bariloche, Argentina by plane
Since Baraloche is two 20 hours bus rides from here, we decide to fly. Bariloche is the main hub for the Lakes District area of northern Patagonia. The area is like a blend of Utah, Colorado, California, and Arizona.
It’s cold and snowing when we arrive in Bariloche. We stay at the Hostel Inn just up the hill from downtown. It’s a nice place with a view, and includes breakfast and dinner (served at 9PM).
Oct 24 Bariloche, Argentina
Today, we do a few errands downtown, while trying to stay dry in the cold rain. The forecast is not looking good, and tourist information reports that the seven lakes road is closed because of snow.
Our fellow travelers in the hostel are rebooting their plans, buying bus tickets to other parts of the country. Our timing seems bad because it’s too late for skiing, but still pretty cold and wet for outdoor activities.
The towns in the Lake District area have a chocolate shop on every corner. We enjoy a delicious and thick hot chocolate, while sampling their “artesian” white and dark chocolates. The chocolates are ok if you like butter, cream, and sugar. Kevin gives them too thumbs down.
At dinner in the hostel, we meet some interesting fellows from New Zealand, who work for a large US Dairy producer in Missouri, but are currently on assignment in Chile. Apparently these fellows were recruited from New Zealand to help the American company convert their operations to grass farming, because their corn feeding operation is too expensive for today’s low milk prices. I guess high tech and banking are not the only sectors importing talent!
Oct 25 Bariloche to La Villa de Angstrong, Argentina
We wake up to a sunny, but cold and windy day. We decide to stick to our plan, and rent a car. We spend the afternoon driving the little circuit just east of Bariloche. We take a short hike in the park, in the melting snow. In the late afternoon, we drive to La Villa Angstrong and stay at Hosteria Verrana; a cute bed and breakfast place. At the hostel we meet Mr. Political from Iowa who lives in Mexico because US politics have gotten “too crazy”. He is so interested in politics that we think he should really move to Washington DC.
Oct 26 La Villa de Angstrong to San Martin de los Andes
We wake up to light rain, but find out from the tourist information that the seven lakes road is open. It seems that road information changes daily, and might depend more on who you ask. That said, the drive to San Martin de los Andes is a blast. The gravel road passes through several lake valleys, with snow capped mountains above.
Oct 27 San Martin de los Andes to Mendoza
With the weather forecast deterioting, and the first half of the seven lakes loop complete, we drive back to Bariloche and board a night bus for Mendoza. With our Lake’s District schedule cut in half, Dad changes his return plane ticket to fly back from Mendoza. He is in pleasured disbelief to find that he’s getting a small refund from the airline. We’ve heard lots of complaints about Aerolineas Argentina, but so far they’ve been dreamboat.
With only a few buses operating directly to Mendoza, only third class bus tickets are available, but we still score the seats of death!
Oct 28 Mendoza, Argentina
We arrive and stay at the Hotel Crillon. Mendoza is Argentina’s principle wine growing region, so we sign up for a wine tour.
Oct 29 Mendoza, Argentina
Today we take a tour to visit the Clos de Charas, Pulenta Estate, Ruca Malen, and Alta Vista wineries. The tour is first class, including a look around the facilities, and private tastings. Argentina’s wine industry started by producing mass quantities of cheap wine to meet the drinking needs of the large immigrant population. They fermented the wine in large square concrete tanks. The wine was so bad that people would mix it with water and ice.
Bodega Clos de Charas still uses the original tanks, whose inside are now lined with epoxy. The building is naturally cooled with thick adobe walls and cane roof. The wine is aged in oak barrels in the cellar. It’s a hot day, but the cellar is 35 degrees cooler.
Over the course of the day we taste about 16 wines. Trouble is, these are artesian wineries, producing fancy smelling wines that are fun to taste, but we don’t like them for drinking. For us, these wines are right on par with California wines; we don’t like them.
Vana and I didn’t like wine at all until we came to Argentina. But, in the restaurants, we found that we really like their house wines by the glass. Later we found people in the restaurant are drinking young, mass produced Malbecs from Mendoza. They are easy drinking, exceptionally smooth wines with really low tannin.
At dinner, we are all wined out, but take note of the large case filled with identical bottles of 2008 and 2009 Trapiche Malbec, ,located in the back of the restaurant.
Oct 30
Today, we take the Alta Montana tour up route 7 into the Andes towards Chile. At a viewpoint, we can see Aconcawa; at 22,000 feet, it’s the highest mountain peak in the world outside of the Himalayas. In the summer, climbers from around the world come to do their stuff.
Oct 31
Dad leaves for home. We take Rapido International bus to Santiago, Chile
笑笑呀，看到你们玩得这么开心，真为你们感到高兴呀！你说要打电话来，也没见打来，可能时间不对。现在你们到哪里了？和中国的时差是多少？今天是周一，我晚上8点钟肯定回家了，明天周二，上午9点半前我都在家，周三应该在家，但是你爸爸要回美国，我也不知他走的具体的时间，可能我和罗叔叔会去送他，你们啥时回美国呢？
小娘娘
10月7-31日，阿根廷（和乌拉圭几天）摘要
我们在智利北部的一个小镇停留了几天，为了等去阿根廷的巴士。接下来我们游了阿根廷和乌拉圭。这一集我们总结了在这两国的行程，因两国都很现代化，没有太多有趣的事件。
我们的行程如下;
1。智利到阿根廷首都 - 布宜诺斯艾利斯 （Buenos Aires）
2。布宜诺斯艾利斯 到乌拉圭（Uruguay）
3。从乌拉圭回到布宜诺斯艾利斯，凯文的爸爸来看我们
4。从布宜诺斯艾利斯到伊瓜苏港看著名的伊瓜苏瀑布国家公园
5。从伊瓜苏飞到巴塔哥尼亚以及七湖区径
6。从巴塔哥尼亚坐长途巴士到门多萨的葡萄酒产区，凯文爸爸回美
突出的经验如下;
*爱上阿根廷的葡萄酒Malbec。在阿根廷，它就是饭！
*阿根廷牛排和比萨好吃极了！
*足球赛：阿根廷比秘鲁。2010年世界杯足球赛预选赛的关键。球队，人群，天气竞争激烈。结果; 2比1阿根廷赢！0比1我们的雨衣不行！
*发现乌拉圭很像美国加州
*凯文爱上阿根廷的美味美味的番茄。（平时他最不喜欢番茄）
*凯文爸爸到达！
*看阿根廷出名的Tango show（探戈）
*乘船浸泡在热带雨林的伊瓜苏瀑布，然后又被下午大雨和冰雹打湿。
*天气变化无穷的巴塔哥尼亚北部七湖区
*爸爸改变阿根廷飞行行程，并得到50美元的退款！ （这对美国公民来说很稀奇，因为美国航空公司很差劲！）
*采访门多萨的高级葡萄酒庄。
一般的经验包括：
*每晚9点以后才吃完晚饭，所有的餐厅8点才开门。 （妈妈，这里饮食习惯和意大利一样）
*哥伦布日假期拖延我们的周末计划，害得我错过一周的西班牙课。不高兴！
*在巴塔哥尼亚拿到停车罚单延误一小时的行程计划，由凯文有限的西班牙解决，“我们没有时间。可以使用邮局支付罚款吗？“
我们当然喜欢阿根廷和乌拉圭。可风景，天气，地理与美国西部差不多，没有独特性。我们超级高兴凯文的爸爸能加入我们阿根廷行程，三人行必有我师。
阿根廷首都 - 布宜诺斯艾利斯跳探戈。. 看更多照片
精彩的足球比赛。看更多照片
乌拉圭周末游. 看更多照片
在乌拉圭首都吃出名的牛排，俩位满意的顾客
看更多照片
湿透在伊瓜苏瀑布里 看更多照片
巴塔哥尼七湖游 看更多照片
在阿根廷门多萨品酒. 看更多照片
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