Appetite for Adventure: My South American Odyssey: October 2009

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Two Great Weeks With The Girl Of My Dreams (And how It Wasn't Long Enough...)

Well friends, true to my word, I've returned after a 2 week sojourn (actually, extended travels with the one and truly only Laura North, my wonderful girlfriend). To detail our travels and experiences would take a lot more space than you guys want to read, so I'll try to put up the highlights! (Although every moment w/ Laura was a highlight..)

Colonia del Sacramento and Montevideo, Uruguay - Laura and I headed out on Thursday afternoon to Uruguay via Colonia Express (a ferry that went between BsAs and Colonia). It was a quick hour trip there, and upon arriving we were ready to see if all the excitement surrounding this city was merited. Yeah, it definitely was! The historical district is truly stunning; it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage City in 1995 and is the only one in Uruguay. You can see the picture to get an idea, but only a trip can capture the beauty...

We arrived to Montevideo Saturday afternoon. We spent the day in the city, having a nice picnic, and getting to our Couch Surfing host's house. It happened to be about an hour away, but well worth it (the sunrise the next day was beautiful). We went to Mercado del Puerto on Sunday (a parilla, or steakhouse) and enjoyed some lovely food! We spent half of Monday there before heading back to Colonia for our boat that took us back to Buenos Aires..

Big Times (and a Birthday) in Buenos Aires! - Tuesday and Wednesday Laura and I spent in the beautiful city of Buenos Aires. We enjoyed a lot of good food and exciting places to see. My birthday (Wednesday) was a wonderful day full of great food (Siga la Vaca -- all you can eat steakhouse) and a skype-with-my-parents Birthday party!! Thursday we headed to the third country on tour, Santiago de Chile..

Santiago, Chile and Mendoza, Argentina - We took the 19 hour bus trip from Buenos Aires to Santiago

Chile (sounds daunting, but TRUST me, it's really fun--I prefer it to flying) in the afternoon. Laura was a little worried about the length of the trip, but she now affirms she too loves the terrestrial travel! We got to Santiago on a bleak looking Friday, but we didn't mind! After some showers the day turned out really nice! We had a nice evening in Bellavista, or the bohemian district of the city. We stayed with Cristian, my good CS friend, that evening. Saturday we got up, had breakfast and visited a huge Catholic church with Cristian and Andre (a CS guy living w/ Cristian) and hit up the city!

We visited a lot of cool sites, including Santa Lucia, the local artisan market, and Cerro San Cristóbal + some great sea food at Donde Augustin's! We took the 10:30 bus to Mendoza, Argentina, which arrived at 5:30. When we got to our CS host's house we realized she didn't leave us an apartment number, so we had to find a phone and call. Thankfully she had just returned from a club and was awake and happy to greet us :) We rested and were greeted by 80 degree sunshine!! After lots of exploring and fun (and a poor Belgian guy who got robbed :/) we headed back to the apartment! Monday was a relaxed day with nice restaurants (good food was a staple on this trip!) and Parque San Martín. Some photos help :p

Bye Bye Buenos Aires - We returned to Buenos Aires at 9 a.m. Tuesday (after taking the Mendoza bus, a 14 hour trip) just in time for us to return home and me leave to take my oral exam in Iberoamerican Literature. Needless to say, I passed with flying colors (there you go mom :p) because I read on the bus! We then spent t

he whole afternoon in 75 degree sunshine exploring more sites! (In a city of 12 million you can't seem them all, but can certainly try :p). We made it to Cafe Tortoni, the first and most famous cafe in BA! Laura decided to shop while I went to class (I'm a dedicated student ya know!) and afterwards we met up and headed to dinner at Petutti. Wednesday was, sadly our last :( We got up and explored around some more sites and sounds, and at 5 left to take Laura to the airport. Farewells were said and tears were shed (I cried, Laura was strong) and back home Laura went!

Laura is home safe in PA now, and I am preparing for another journey tomorrow morning (to the tune of 4 a.m.). I am going to spend 4 days in Ushuaia, the "Southernmost City in the World" Friday-Tuesday. Expect another post coming up next week! It's hard to believe I have only 2 weeks left before I leave Buenos Aires and, oh yeah, travel some more! As always, thanks for reading, and ESPECIALLY for commenting :p ~~ Benjamín

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Time Flies (When You're Having the time of your life!)

Hello faithful blog friends (the ones that post and those that are more, "incognito"). Its hard to believe that 2 weeks have flown by since I posted last..i always think I'm on top of the posts when I get behind so quickly!! And hard to believe I'll be in Buenos Aires for only 5 weekends more...such a short time left, but don't worry--I'll enjoy every day! This little post here is going to talk about my last weekend of October 9-12 which included the Argentina Peru WC2010 Qualifier Match and a trip to Rosario, Argentina!

So to start out my weekend the first event of any consequence was the Argentina vs. Peru World Cup 2010 Qualifier Match. Because it was held in Buenos Aires (and because I LOVE futbol--this was my 11th futbol match attended since being in South America) I HAD to go see it!

And of course Leonel Messi being the best player in the world (he's Argentine :p) forced me to attend! I found a great priced ticked on the Argentine version of ebay. The price was about $70, a good amount for a futbol match (more than all the others combined, but at $5 a game its hard for an activity like that to get expensive...).

BUT, the quality of the ticket in a US stadium would be $1000 or more. No joke. As you can see from the photo, I was at midfield on the 12th row--not too shabby! And, Argentina won 2-1 after a goal in the 92th minute (stoppage time, last 30 seconds before the game ended!). Needless to say the crazy storm that ensued after made it an interesting second half..

Sunday I had planned a trip to Rosario, Argentina's second largest city (I know I said it was Córdoba; apparently there is a competition for which one is vying for 2nd largest at 1 million; no one is close to Buenos Aires at 12 million!). I woke up around 8 and headed to the bus station for the 4 hour ride. I arrived to warm 75 degree sunshine in Rosario. So far so good! I touched base with my CS host Ele, and got to her house.

We hung out a while before going to the Monument to the Flag, and explored the area. We decided that we wanted to have an asado, so a small group of 5 of us went to this sweet little "grill" spot to eat and enjoy fine drinks. We stayed there until about 2 before heading home. Boy did I sleep well...

Monday I got up a little later and headed out on my own! Ele had to study for an exam, and I didn't mind. I saw all there was to see in Rosario: Monument to the flag, the Basilica to the Virgin of Rosario (there are so many virgins in Catholicism...I wonder if Muslims try to compete with all their virgins too? Probably not...)

After many hours of exploring I returned back tired! I took a little nap, and around 10 some friends came over. We made empanadas and had some good conversation, before at midnight I headed back to the bus station to come home. Monday was a holiday, as the day that America was established, or rather, discovered by Columbus. I neglected to remember that, so ALL the tickets for the buses were sold out except one at the 1:10 a.m. bus back to BA. I got in at 5:30 and made it home. I took a 1 hour nap before heading back out for an 8 o'clock appointment with immigrations. Needless to say they were missing information for my residency, so I have to wait another week to actually be a resident. Then of course I leave 2 weeks after that, so go figure....

Some rather EXCITING news coming up--my wonderful girlfriend Laura North arrives today (in about 8 hours :o). SO, I can guarantee you I won't be posting for the 2 weeks. But hey, I'll get a free chance after she leaves to keep you guys updated! Some trips Laura and I are going on:

4 days in Uruguay; 2 in Colonia de Sacramento (1 of the most beautiful cities in the world!) and 2 in Montevideo.

4 days in Mendoza and Córdoba (Mendoza=wine capital of S. America; Córdoba=really cool :p)

6 days in Buenos Aires (Botanical Garden, Zoo, Plazas, Restaurants, birthday party--I turn 21 on the 21st!!)

So hopefully you still enjoy my blog and will read later. It should be worth it!! For those faithful readers and posters, thanks a lot, and i hope to hear from you more~~Benjamín

Friday, October 2, 2009

Favorites From My Journeys (Thus far)

I know it's been a while since I've posted--sorry about that! Below is a series of favorite photos from each of the South American countries I have been visiting--Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Some Buenos Aires and Argentina photos will be coming later--this just focuses on the trips outside the country!

To avoid any confusion, if you want to see highlights from ALL the trips, then scroll down and start in Brazil (then Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay). I did them in alphabetical order (with the dates at the top) to make it easy to understand!

As always, thanks for reading and commenting ~~ Benjamín