A different Argentina

We left Buenos Aires for Cordoba - in style...We had booked a nightbus without any expectations; after all we did have some pretty bad experiences in Asia, so we were prepared for the worst. When we got to the bus (almost late by just being on time...bus folks are crazy punctual around here), we were welcomed with a glass of champagne and a snack before we could even sit down in our wonderfully comfortable chairs that tilted down all the way to form a nice bed for the night. Factoring in the hot dinner, snacks, movie selection and the cleanliness of the toilet, this busride beat the Aerolinas flight by far. An awesome surprise.

We got to Cordoba early on Sunday morning and had to wait around the hostel for our beds to be ready (got a free breakfast from those nice folks, though. Alvea Hostel staff is the best!) before we could get out there and start exploring. Since it was Sunday, the whole central city was closed, including museums, cafes and restaurants which didn't leave us with lots to do. We wandered around the huge park and visited the Cabildo at the central Plaza San Martin. Leading from there to another smaller plaza is a Pasaje where we could learn more about the military dictatorship and its victims through various sorts of displays. At nightfall, the city centre suddenly became alive with a huge demonstration.




As mentioned in the last post, it was the week of remembrance that culminated in the anniversary of the first mass demonstrations against the regime on the 24th. Many different groups gathered together and demonstrated in remembrance and it was a huge party with lots of shared mate, music, singing and dancing. Families with small children were walking side by side with teenage kids that sang songs with the elderly. We walked with them to gather the atmosphere and had a real blast. The next day we revisited the city centre that was now packed with life and action. We walked around the very extensive pedestrian malls, windowshopped, listened to tons of street musicians, enjoyed great food and coffee at a student pub and visited the old town again. The Iglesia Catedral was especially spectacular.

The next morning we jumped onto a local bus and took a ride to the small mountain town of Alta Gracia. 'El Che' grew up here and we spent the whole morning at the Museo Casa Ernesto 'Che' Guevara that is situated in Villa Beatriz, a house the family lived in. Tons of photographs and exhibits from games over books to the famous cycles (with and without big motor) that he traveled around Latin America with tell the story of Che's live. Especially the letters he wrote to his parents and his children are quite intense and touching. 

After a very nice lunch break we walked around the town centre with its dusty, hilly streets. We visited the Jesuit Iglesia Nuestra Senora de la Merced, beautiful Plaza Manuel Solares, the little watchtower and the last home of Spanish composer Manuel de Falla that has been converted to a museum as well. On our way back to the bus terminal we stumbled over the museum inside the old atelier of Gabriel Dubois and saw some great art work before going back to Cordoba.

 When we arrived back there we got on another nightbus that took us to Salta, 'La Linda' how the Argentinians affectionately call it. When we woke up from another great night bus sleep in very comfy chairs/beds, we had reached a far more mountainous terrain (but not yet Andean heights) and watched a beautiful sunset over the scenic surroundings of the city before arriving in town. It was Wednesday morning during the Semana Santa and every affordable bed in the whole city seemed to be booked out so it took us a long time and lots of help from the tourist information office to finally settle down, get rid of our luggage and get ready for some exploring. Once we started walking around town without our insanely heavy backpacks, we realized very quickly why Salta is called 'The Beautiful'. With its historical buildings and cobbled streets, bustling pedestrian malls, plazas and huge parks and tons of arcades with cafes and restaurants and its beautiful setting in the mountains it is a truly beautiful place.

We gazed at the highest tower in Latin America at the gaudy-esque Iglesia San Fransisco, hung out with the school kids at the Plaza 9 de Julio, visited the Cabildo and spent the whole afternoon at the Museo de Arqueologia de Alta Montana. The museum documents the discovery of three children Inca-mummies and sacred objects that were all perfectly well conserved by the climate at an altitude of 6700m. This first encounter with Incan traditions and lifestyle was very interesting and awoke some apatite for more. We are really looking forward to seeing much more of this in Peru! When we got out of the museum it was already dark and we went to visit the beautifully lit Iglesia Catedral. Just when we got there a service, run by the bishop himself, started and in a matter of seconds the huge church was filled up to the last standing place. Even though we didn't understand much, the whole atmosphere was very solemn. The crowd was singing (or rather chanting) and the candles and all the incense created a warm and welcoming feel. It was another very lucky coincidence, being at the right place at the right time.

We followed the whole Semana Santa–theme the next day when we climbed up the Cerro San Bernado. 1023 stairs lead up to the mountain top at 300 meters above Salta and along these stairs there are paintings of the 14 stations of the cross that attract many pilgrims as well. Up on the mountain we enjoyed brilliant views of Salta and the Lerma valley and had a great picnic in the sun. When we got back into the city in the afternoon and tried to fiend a post office to send some post cards, we found out that in Argentina the following days around Easter are official holidays: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday and even Easter Tuesday. Post offices open again next Wednesday. Well – no postcards from Argentina then...

We spent the afternoon/evening exploring Balcarce street where lots of bars, pubs and restaurants and entertainment venues line the street and a very happening atmosphere is in the air after nightfall. We didn't stay out too long, though, because the next morning we had an early start. We took a bus to Chile and left beautiful Argentina that we feel like we haven't spent enough time in even though we stayed for a whole month. We will definitely come back for Patagonia!

Remember, remember...

It is the ´Week of Remembrance´ in Argentina, and this is what we remembered during the last couple of days:

- Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo:

The last week was all about remembering the Military Rule in Argentina (76 -83). Of course we participated and took an afternoon of history classes about this period, to learn and understand more about what actually happened. It was pretty horrific, especially the fate of the tens of thousands Desaparecidos, the people that disappeared without a trace (and were mostly killed). Since many of them were children that were taken from their families and given to others, many women went on the streets (especially the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires) to openly protest for the investigation of these crimes. These madres de plaza de mayo (and all the people that joined them in their cause since 1977) are still working on reuniting long lost family members. Many amazing, shocking, happy and sad stories can be told. The Cafe de las madres de plaza de mayo is a great place to drink a cheap coffee in a very lefty atmosphere, surrounded by pictures of all the red revolutionaries from around the world (yes, of course, Che was larger than live) with an adjacent little political bookshop and lots of opportunities for polarized discussions.

- Follow the cow if the locals do it too:

When not only other tourists but also all the porteños kept raving about the great food of Siga la Vaca (´Follow the cow¨) we had no choice but to actually go and test it. We met with a couple of friends for dinner - and stayed half the night, eating our way through a massive all you can eat asado, salad buffet and huge desserts a la carte. The fact that one bottle of wine per person was also included just added to the good mood...After all the overindulgence it was no wonder that half of the class in our Spanish School was unable to think one straight thought the next morning...

- The teacher is always right:

No. Teachers aren´t always right. But this one was when she told us about a great place to enjoy our first Submarino. While we always found it strange to find an alcoholic drink like that under the heading "Coffee and Co." in the menu, we learned that an Argentinian ´submarine´ has nothing to do with beer and shots whatsoever. Instead it is a stick of yummie dark chocolate that goes down in a great pot of hot milk. Of course we went to try it. After a quite long search for the right cafe (that included us and a friend crossing the cafe a couple of times without realizing it) we ended up in the right place with the right choice. The submarino was brilliant and we spent the whole afternoon enjoying it with good talks and lots of laughter. Thanks teacher!

- The dead in their castles:

We went on a tour around glitzy Recoleta, a very posh and glamorous part of Buenos Aires. The highlight of the tour was a visit to the famous cemetary. It boasts tons of magnificient (and slightly creepy) mausoleums of the rich and famous of Argentina. Evita lays here and gets all the crowds for obvious reasons. Other graves are much more imposing,though, and yet some others seem to be long forgotten and ooze of sadness. The whole cemetary looks like a city in itself, a grey and cold but very beautiful resting place. You can get lost in its alleyways and keep wandering around it for hours - but it also feels strangely relieving to leave this place again and step back into the loud and restless world of the living.

-To keep travelling:

We spent three weeks in Buenos Aires. We fell in love with the city, the atmosphere of San Telmo, being back to school and having a purposeful task and finally making friends for more than just 2 days. Then we realized that we spent three weeks in just one place. Same sights, same streets, same people, same routine, same everything for three weeks. And we remembered that it´s time for us to move on. So we quit language school, packed our bags and bought our tickets. We´re going to Cordoba.


 -To really keep travelling:
When the ceiling literally starts crushing down on you, you know it's really time to leave - now! (As happened to us during the last night in our homely appartment. We're out of there.) 

Homework

So we're trying to learn Spanish. Turns out it's not that easy to learn a new language. Attending school is a good start, but we all know from experience that there is only one way to  seriously get to know the good stuff: Getting out there and practice it all in real live. So that's what we've been doing after class. And why not combine the practical with the pleasant along the way...

We repeatedly went to see Palermo, a huge barrio north of the microcentro. It's where the glitzy shopping, dining and partying happens. It's where huge parks can be found to stroll through and picnic in on a bench in the sun. It's where buses are slower than pedestrians with all the trafic going through. It's where we found the greatest chocolate tarte in a little corner cafe. It's where we spent a whole afternoon enyoing lunch with a friend. It's where portenos meet to play away there saturday afternoons with incredibly fast games of soccer. It might just be The Place in Buenos Aires.


We went on a great tour of the nontouristic barrio of Barracas where we learnt more about the history of immigration to Argentina (did you know that Buenos Aires was British for a short time?!), the cultural importance of plazas, the best places to get real Italian pizza, the identity of the new pope (it was a normal afternoon in Buenos Aires - until suddenly "Somos Papa"), the history of the lovely art in Lanin Street , the lovestory that gave a church its name and the greatest heladeria in Buenos Aires.

We fought our way through the unbelievably crowded Av. Florida to find an electronics store just to realize that we don't have enough cash to pay for the equally unbelievably expensive electronics we needed. Fought our way back through Av. Florida to get cash, then fought our way back down the street to buy what we needed, then fought our way back down...you get the point. Lots of fighting through the masses and protecting our belongings. Walking up and down Av. Florida for about 500m a couple of times to get our shopping done took the whole day.

We went to an asado, an argentinian BBQ, at Federicos awesome house. He is one of the owners of the Academia Buenos Aires (our language school) and invited the students over for friday night. The meat was fantastic, the salads were plenty, the wine flew like a river and the hours grew long. It was a very memorable night with great company, plenty of laughter and perfect food. The hospitability of Federico and his beautiful wife won't be forgotten in a long long while.

Typical Uruguayan Chivito

Last, but definitely not least, we became adventorous and tryed out our Spanish in a whole new country - Uruguay. We took a ferry to the beautiful old city of Colonia del Sacramento, the oldest city in Urugay. It was founded by the Portuguese that wanted to know more about what was going on in Spanish Buenos Aires and found a small peninsula with natural protection through the very shallow waters of the river only 40 km away from Buenos Aires a perfect place for their new city. Unfortunatelly, the Spanish took the city on their first attempt to capture it. Of course they improved the lines of defense afterwards but still the Portuguese, when they came back to recapture the city, were successful. The Spanish and Portugese kept playing this little game of capturing and recapturing the city for quite a while until it finally fell to the Spanish once and for all (and eventually became Urugayen with the rest of the little country). Today, the Old Town is a Unesco World Heritage Site. With its colonial old cobbled streets, antique houses of Spanish and Portuguese (and often mixed) styles, the restored city wall, tons of museums, little cafes and a lighthouse that affords picturesque views over the city, the river and, in the far distance, Buenos Aires, it will surely make every tourist fall in love with it in an instant. The scenic site of the city on a small peninsula with tons of white city beaches and its absolute calmness (at least after the constant hassle of Buenos Aires) are the icing on the cake that is Colonia. We like.

Habemus papam

 

How to become a happy person

Do you...

...love people watching over a cortado (coffee with milk) on beautiful, tree shaded plazas?
...like losing yourself in a labyrinth of old cobbbled streets that are lined with aging mansions and filled with beautiful people?
...find european architecture and the heat of southamerican culture an appealing mixture?
...enjoy an electrifying big city vibe that carries you dancing  through the night until the wee hours?
...appreciate good company at home, especially when it comes to sharing dinner, wine and life stories?...dream of learning a sexy language in a sexy city while living the tango life?
...feel that eating only one steak is never enough but still don't want your vegetarian friends to starve?
...get crazy about futbol and wish to be surrounded by a whole country full of people like you?
...find colorful houses in cheap neighbourhoods a splendid idea to lighten up everybody's mood on even the darkest of all days?
...understand jumping carefully down the streets to not walk into dog droppings instead of just walking as an excercice to improve your balance?
...wish to be in a place where 8pm is still the afternoon, days start mellow and slowly and a constant fiesta mood makes everyone smile a little more?

If your answer is 'Yes' to one or more of these questions, just follow the instructions below to become a very happy person:

1. Board a plane to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

2. Move into a shared appartment that is home to wonderful, intersting people from around the world. Buy cheap wine, cook lots of Pasta and have it all together with lots of storytelling.
3. Use your first day to stroll around your beautiful quarter, San Telmo. Visit the sunday street market/antiques fair in the main street that runs next to the old mansion that is home to your appartment. Watch a tango show or two at the Plaza Dorrego while sipping on a coffee. To flee the crowds, walk around Parque Lezama and admire the Samba groups that have their party there every sunday night.
4. Enroll in a language school and take great morning classes to learn a beautiful language with a very distinct accent. Try to roll your rs and sh your lls as much as you can to show you're completely in the know. Have fun with your classmates that are travellers like you. Share a great mate and alfajores (cookie sandwiches filled with dulce de leche and covered with chocolate) that your awesome teacher brings in. Talk a bit more to the friendly concierge at the school who doesn't speak English every morning.  Feel good about your improvements in Spanish.

5. Walk around the city after class with your new friends. See the microcentro (citycentre) with its super busy shopping street Av. Florida , the famously phallic Obelisco, the seat of the government in Palacio del Congresso and the beautiful Plaza de Mayo with the pink residential palace Casa Rosada that's home to Evita's favorite stage, the balcony. Take a Spanish tour to La Boca to learn about the history of immigration to Buenos Aires, see where Maradona comes from and wander along the colorful but tiny Caminito with its wildly painted houses and tons of artists that display their work. Watch Tango shows at every other corner. Try the famous argentian beef, at a parilla (grillhouse) or in a park from a picnicing family's asado (BBQ).
6.Go home and do your homework from time to time. If not, step 4 won't be so much fun after some days as you'll get lost. But never forget the second part of step 2. If there is just not enough time for homework and dinner - go with the dinner.
7. When the weekend comes around get ready to paint the town red. But don't try to do so before 1 or 2 am. Put on your dancing shoes, grab a cab to Palermo and start in cafes, move on to bars and end up in a club. Don't come home before, well, early. Then go to bed and sleep in.

8. Surprise. When you get up around noonish and feel like you totally overslept and wasted half a day you'll step out and realize: the day has just started for everyone around you, not just for you. Go to a cafe, sit outside in the shade, be lazy and just watch people while enjoying your cafe con leche (latte) with some medialunas (croissants) and a freshly squeezed orange juice.
9. Go on some trips to the outer barillos (quaters) of Buenos Aires. Take the bus there (about an hour) to find that there are more markets, cafes, restaurants, parks and plazas to explore.
10. Decide to stay for longer.

Don't worry. Be happy.

WonderOZ

This is saying goodbye to a huge, wide country full of wonders. Australia offers exceptional natural beauty, exciting cultural centres and the ability to dwarf all your problems by its sheer grandeur. It is a gigantic playground for outdoor buffs and offers everything from the extremely exciting to the extremely - a traveller's paradise. But the country also showed us a different side when it threw its raging natural powers at us - wind, water and fire have impacted our time and travel here immensely and we learned that even though they are all a common part of Australian life, people never get used to the destruction they bring. In the end we had a great time here in 'Down Under' but from all the countries we've been to on our journey, Australia touched us the least. That's why now we are very excited for the next 14.5 hours that we'll spend on a plane to get to the next exciting place for us to explore: Argentina.