Oct 13, 2018 - Tigre

Today we are going on an all day tour to Tigre an hour out of Buenos Aires. First we need to get to the Estacion Sturla which is at Puerto Madero. We board the boat and our guide is Eduardo and there are 9 of us. Five from Peru, two from Buenos Aires and us. Eduardo's grandmother came from Adelaide. Hard to beleive but his grandfather originally from Scotland married an Adelaide girl and worked in the mining industry so they live in Kalgoorlie for a while before moving to Argentina and then eventually the USA. Amazing!! The boat trip takes...

Oct 12, 2018 - Hipodromo Palermo - horse racing

Today is 'day of the race' or Columbus Day, in remembrance of when Christopher Columbus came to the Americas. We are not sure what is going to be open. Some say the public holiday is on Monday, some say today. The day is a bit gray although there is no rain. First thing we go and do some shopping. My sunglasses broke and I am out of some makeup so I head off to find those and Phil changes some money. We meet up at 12noon and have a coffee and then back to the Hotel to drop of some things we don’t need and we are off to the races at the...

Oct 11, 2018 - Colonia de Sacramento back to Buenos Aires

Today we pack up and leave our bags in Reception as we have the ferry back at 5pm. We are going to walk around to Plaza del Toro which is 5kms walk along the rambla. The area is nice with parks, playgrounds, exercise equipment etc between the rambla and the sea and lots of sandy beaches. We turn off the rambla and only 300 metres further on is the Plaza. Built in 1908 the Moorish style bull ring or “Plaza de Toros” opened for locals in 1910, with bulls and bullfighters shipped all the way from Spain to perform the in the bloody...

Oct 6, 2018 - Feria, Evita Museum, Botanical Gardens and a huge dinner

First of all today we are going to the Feria de Artasanos en Plaza Francia. We catch at taxi to the park but as the stallholders are still setting up we stop and have a coffee first. This market has stalls that wind their way in and around the park. There are maybe 50 or more. Most are selling hand made items like jewellery, clothing, scarves, kids toys, mate cups, knives, and more. Everything is good quality and it is a good market. No junk! We buy some booties for Tessa's baby and a trapeze artist doll that can hang in Madi's new room...

Oct 5, 2018 - Santiago to Buenos Aires

We have to leave our apartment this morning at 7am. Sad to leave but we have a lot to look forward to. We call an Uber at 7am to get us to the airport. He accepts the job and we go downstairs, We see him driving past our street on Monjitas and we have to go chasing him. We get to the car, suitcases in tow and he advises he can’t take us to the airport, Uber is not allowed. Oh okay, so we hail a cab. We are flying with Aerolinas Argentina for the first time. The flight leaves on and time and immigration’s very easy at the Argentinian end. We...

Jul 15, 2018 - Day 3, 4 & 5

Left Santiago nice and early on 12th July. Flying over the Andes was amazing, the views from the plane were fantastic. Checked in to our hotel then went for lunch. It was a long one, nachos and wine. Next day had a half day tour, we talked about the French influence of the architecture, some of the English influence because they came to build the railway. Saw the soccer Stadium La Boca then visited the La Boca area which is very colourful. This evening we have dinner with the Argentinian Experience crew. Made empanadas, had steak and gaucho...

Jul 14, 2018 - El Parque Nacional Iguazú, Argentina

Hola hola hola! La próxima semana Ted y yo viajaremos al Parque Nacional Iguazú. Localiza en la frontera de Argentina y Brasil. Las Cataratas del Iguazú consisten de 275 cataratas. La catarata más famosa es la Garganta de Diablo. Lo es dos veces más alto que Las cataratas Niágara. Se quedaremos en el Hotel Cataratas y dormiremos allí por una semana. Comeremos al hotel por toda la comida excepto dos noches. El parque tiene paseos de helicópteros y paseos de barcos. Mi esposo y yo vamos a pasar tiempo en un paseo de helicóptero. No hay museos...

Jul 11, 2018 - Mendoza, Argentina

Hola hola hola! Ted y yo estamos en Mendoza, Argentina. Localiza al este de los Cordilleras de los Andes. Continuamos el viaje de Argentina. Esta mañana, hemos comido tostado, fruta, y yerba mate por desayuno. Durante nuestra visita se quedamos a la Huentala Hotel Boutique que localiza en centro de la ciudad. También, vamos a la Bodega Caelum por la cena. Estoy emocionada por la bodega y muchas otras bodegas. Luego, visitamos al Museo Fundacional para Ted. Me encanta esta ciudad y las personas amables. El vino de Mendoza es el mejor del...

Jul 9, 2018 - Buenos Aires, Argentina

Hola hola hola! La semana pasada, mi esposo, Ted, y yo viajamos a Buenos Aires para nuestra luna de miel. Queríamos viajar a Buenos Aires debido a la diversidad. Por la primera vez, volamos a Buenos Aires y se quedamos en un hotel inmediatamente. Durante toda la semana, comíamos comidas diferentes y excelentes. Por ejemplo, comimos al Café Tortoni en Avenida de Mayo 825. Probamos bife a caballo con huevos. Estuvo bien  También, Ted le gusta museos y arte y íbamos a muchos museos. Fuimos al Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, el Museo de Arte...

Apr 19, 2018 - Across The Amazing Andes

With a recently completed new tunnel, the route up over the Andes from Mendoza, Argentina to Santiago, Chile is a smooth seven-hour bus ride with great views. I say it ranks right up there with the Cabot Trail and The Columbia Icefields highway, tops in the North America, If not the world. The constantly changing views of the colorful mountains meant no napping on the bus. Folks in Mendoza enjoy cross-boarding shopping because they are closer to Santiago than to the metropolises of Argentina. That said, the descent from the highest point...

Apr 17, 2018 - Patroness Saint of the Vineyards

Returning to Mendoza from our vineyard tour included a stop at pretty Carrodilla Church, built in 1840, where the Virgin Mary is worshipped as the Patroness Saint of the Vineyards As with so many churches, this one has a tale to tell. Mendoza is 2nd oldest city in Argentina, and It was destroyed by an earthquake mag 7.7 back in 1861. Carrodilla was the only church in Mendoza to survive the 1861 earthquake and this particular Virgin statue (& part of the house) were left intact. Thus, Virgin de la Carrodilla (virgin of the farm wagons) -...

Apr 15, 2018 - Malbec and More

Argentina is the 5th largest grape producer in the world. In the Mendoza area 163,000 acres create 67% of Argentina production via 880 active wineries of which 600+ in the Maipu region, 30 km SE of Mendoza. Back in 1993 Argentina’s President Sariemento established a winemaker’s school and brought many new varieties of grapes to Maipu. Malbec especially took off because of climate & terroir and today the wine industry includes the production of bottles, labels, corks, crates... In total Mendoza region there are 12000 kms of irrigation...