Iguazu falls

I think there is something slightly magical about waterfalls, and the Iguazu Falls on the Argentinian and Brazilian border are absolutely no exception. People leave the place grinning like cheshire cats, and even the most tourist-attraction cynical traveller couldn´t help but be enchanted by Iguazu. I was a bit in this category and had very high expectations of these waterfalls, given that everytime they were mentioned you´d just see this glazed look come over people´s faces accompanied by a big sigh and something along the lines of ¨ooooooh Iguazu...¨, followed by glowing praise for how amazing it was.

I hadn´t actually planned on going there so soon, but figured it would actually probably work out better if I did. So, one 17 hr bus ride later (more on that later) I made it to Puerto Iguazu, and into what must be the most amazing hostel I´ve been in a while...if not ever. This place was fantastic, complete with swimming pool, Tango show and the best BBQ buffet and free caparainha cocktails!! And of course lots of nice people!

But back to the main attraction. Well I can definitely see how people end up raving about Iguazu, because it is absolutely an amazing spectacle. No point gushing about it here really, but what really struck me was the power of the water, in both volume and force. First we took a speedboat up the rapids and went under some of the falls (getting completely soaked of course, but it was a stunningly sunny day!). All up the river were eddies, whirlpools and currents and sometimes the boat was fighting to make it (or so it felt like). A little nerve wracking but I figured these guys do hundreds of these trips so must be experienced (unless I had the Learner...??!). What I noticed from here though was how loud it was!

Then from above, where you can walk right out and literally stand on the edge of the falls, you really can get a grasp on just how little chance you´d have if you got caught on the edge (a few kamikaze butterflies found this fate). It really puts the strength of nature into perspective when you can see millions of litres of water crashing down around you, with the spray reaching up into the sky to pretty much join the clouds. But standing there looking at it it really is mesmerizing, and as one of the girls I was with said it ¨puts you in your happy place¨.

So after a big day walking around and avoiding Kuwati attacks (¨no los toches!¨), back at the hostel that night we had a nice chillout by the pool and some more fantastic Argentinian BBQ. And I now know why the meat tastes so damn good. Driving across country I noticed paddocks full of steaks - I mean - cows, happily going about their business in lush, green, waterlogged pastures. No wonder their meet is so juicy tender!

Hasta pronto amigos! (and I will try and find a computer that uploads photos I´m sorry to be getting behind!!)

x Felicity

¨Don´t cry for me...

...Ar-gen-teeeeeee-na¨

Evita. Eva Peron. Wife of former president Juan Peron and an infamous Argentinian much loved by her country for her charity work and her support of women's rights. Even in death, Evita still has something of a celebrity status, and to find out a bit more about this interesting figure I went to a museum that is entirely devoted to her life and times. It even had english translations!, a timeline of her life, and displays of a few of her outfits. I guess she is to Argentina what Princess Di was to Britain.

What most people see of Evita here though, is her gravesite at the Recoletta cemetary, final resting place of the rich, famous and Argentinian elite. And it shows. Some of the "graves" here are more like miniature chapels, some even come close to small houses. A place up for sale will cost you a few hundred thousand dollars at least, depending on location location location (near the entrance is more expensive, near Evita they are having trouble selling)!

So I jumped on an English tour around the cemetary with a fantastically charismatic guide Francesca, who was not only very informative but also gave in insight into Argentinians themselves, such as how they believe that "god made a mistake and instead of putting Argentina in Europe he dropped us in the southern hemisphere accidentally".

The woman could talk, and for 2 and a half hours she took us around and told us a few of the fascinating stories behind some of the tombs, including the one of a young girl who was wrongly pronounced dead after an epileptic fit and buried alive. The family realised when her coffin was found on the floor of the tomb thing 3 days later as she'd obviously tried to get out.....

In comparison to some of the huge graves, Evita's was quite nondescript, in fact pretty understated considering her celebrity. Francesca told us the dirt on Evita and Peron though, so it seems that not all in Argentina "belong to the Evita fan club" as she says. Evita's body was actually missing for 25 years after her death, hidden in a cemetary in Milan. Franscesca said that "only in Argentina could this happen", and I can believe it!

Last fun in BA was the San Telmo market on Sunday. Went with a bunch of people from the hostel and wandered around. They were selling everything there you can imagine, you´ll see in the photos pocket watches, records, jewellery, soda bottles, nick nacks, collectables, cutlery and even gramaphones!! My personal favourite was the Spanish version of Help by ¨Los Beatles¨!

So that's it for now. Next up is the Iguaçu falls , let´s see how they measure up to Niagra!

A culinary tale

From one national obsession to another, let me tell you a bit about Argentinians and their eating habits, which can appear a little bizarre.

First of all, the timing for dining in Argentina is so late. Most restaurants are empty until at least 9 o´clock, and even at 11 you´ll see queues at the door to some places waiting to get a feed. Somehow though, this seems to work ok, and I seem to have adjusted to eating quite late relatively easily... although midnight after the soccer was potentially pushing my limits (I think my stomach was about to eat itself actually!).

One thing about this place is that wherever you go there seems to be the smell of Barbecue, so as an Aussie craving summer it makes me feel quite at home. But this is an important clue to another big part of Argentinian culture:

Meat.

Sorry veggos, but here? Don´t think they even know the meaning of the word. I was ordering pasta, asked if it was vegetarian and he said ¨Si, Si¨. Then explained to me that the ravioles have spinach and cheekin. Cheekin...cheekin...¨you mean chicken? Pollo?¨ (I was pleased that I had to confirm in Spanish!) It was delicious, but not quite vegetarian!

So it´s all about the meat, and in particular, the beef. It´s not uncommon to see women and men alike, sit down to a plate of steak for lunch (with maybe a lettuce leaf on the side if that). These people must have the best iron counts in the world! I saw a woman at the supermarket tonight, buying at least 15 trays of steak, accounting for at least 80% of her basket!

My two encounters with the good stuff have been quite as delicious as the smells would suggest. In La Boca, we had an amazing barbecue and my choice was a simple skewer. WELL! Turns out it was a supersized skewer. Three hunks of melt-in-your-mouth meet with capsicum and onion and delish relishy stuff which I can't pronounce. It was so enticing and I was so starving I didn't even get a photo, so you'll have to believe me!

And when I thought that was good, along came La Cabrera, or what must be the best restaurant in BsAs. This restaurant is in a lovely little neighbourhood called Palermo, which is full of quirky designer stores and lovely oldstyle houses. Had a great day wandering around and looking at all the great shops (a little Brunswick st- ish), and making notes of where to come back to!!

Anyway, the restaurant. I ordered the half portion steak but I´m not sure it made much difference because I swear they served up half a cow! It was so nicely presented on a big wooden board, with about a dozen little dishes of antipastos to accompany it, from pumpkin and mash to mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and whole garlic cloves.

It. Was. Amazing!

I could only get through half though there was so much food. Check out the photos-and the size of the steak knife!! Now having recieved what must be my yearly iron quota, all I need now is a good plate of veggies!

x Felicity

PS A note on photos. I have a link on the side to all the albums in my photobucket. If you go there you can see the pics not in slide show, and hopefully also see the comments under some. But will also keep posting the slideshows on the blog, so you have the choice how you want to view them!!

Palermo and Steak!

La Boca (photos)

La Boca y futbol

Buenos dias!

Another beautiful sunny day in BA, though still a little on the chilly (not Chile) side!! haahaaa

Well as you probably know, soccer is a National obsession here in Argentina. They are absolutely crazy about it, and yesterday I took a trip into the lion's den as it were and visited the neighbourhood of La Boca, home of La Boca Juniors futbol team.

La Boca is one of the poorer neighbourhoods in BsAs, but also one of the most charismatic (assuming you don't mind a bit of a touristy flavour). It means "the mouth" and was settled by Italian immigrants. The reason for its charm is the fact that all the houses are painted in a patchwork of bright colours, with cute little windows and corrugated tin roofs.

The story goes that people living here used to steal the paint from the people painting their boats and use it to paint their houses. So, as you can imagine, the colours weren't usually the same and they just took what they got, resulting in a lovely mismatch that makes for some nice pics on a sunny day! Now though, the government pays for the houses to be maintained to keep the money rolling.

Things are a little touristy, what with the Tango shows and restauranteurs hustling for your business ¨oooooh you from Australia, ACDC!!!¨(well guess it makes a change from kangaroo!!). But it has a nice, fun atmosphere and there are lots of artists set up in the street selling paintings, photos, crafts etc. And football jerseys of course!

At the home of the Boca Juniors, we visited the stadium and museum and got the low down on all the security issues etc. There are big plastic screens with barbs on top and huge wire fences. The supporters are all separated, and the opposition supporters only get one little area of the stadium (2500 seats) in which to sit. Our guide told us how her friend had crushed ribs from being pushed into the bars (standing room only, and very steep!), and how being in the lower stands, beneath the opposition, leaves one vulnerable to flying objects, and, well, ¨liquids¨shall we say.

So with all this in mind, I went along to a game last night... a showdown between La Boca and Velez. Ridiculously enough we had to be there 2 hours before the game, stood the whole time, then had to wait for half an hour after for the opposition to leave to prevent any scirmishes on the way out. But it was great fun, and they really do go nuts! I´m sure that all the chanting is simply to stop a bit of boredom during the game...and to warm up!! But the passion the supporters show I´m sure would rival any die hard Collingwood fan, they are soooo into it and have so many chants etc it is a really great atmosphere.

Meat-lovers stay tuned, I have a steak story to tell and pictures that´ll make you drool!

Hasta luego,

x Felicity

Buenos Aires (photos)

Am I in Paris?

Day 1: Buenos Aires

It´s true what they say that Buenos Aires feels like Europe, because it really does seem like a cousin of Paris, with an Obelisk instead of an Eiffel tower. Wandering around as I like to do, it feels really safe and normal, even at times just feels like being in the city at home. But there are a few things that do remind me of Paris. Por ejemplo:

*Lovely long, wide, tree lined Avenues.
*Dogs. Lots of dogs, and all that goes with them. You see these professional dog-walkers trotting a tangle of about 12 dogs down the streets. What a job!
*Smell. Yep GT, that good old Paris smell, though not everywhere thankfully (maybe the men are more picky here) but it has definitely caught my nose a few times. Though on a more pleasant olfactory note, I have also had to turn my nose to notice more than one good-looking bakery, with windows full of gorgeous looking pastries which might require tasting!
*Architecture, those lovely buildings are SO Marais, and I did see what looked like a Madeleine house, from which I half expected Miss Clavel to come running.


And a few things that don´t quite sit consistently with the glamorous Parisienne image BsAs has going on:
*The cars and buses look like they´ve been caught in a time-warp. I´m no car expert but I´m guessing I´d place them around-about 50´s style. Very cute though!
*Road rules ain´t so strict...Exhibit A was a guy riding in the back of a ute with a kid. Exhibit C was the 10 lanes of traffic on the 8 lanes that were actually marked.
*Street-sleepers. A lot of them. All set up with mattresses etc on the main streets and in parks. Particularly sad was the guy I saw playing with his kid in their cardboard box house (literally, it was a cardboard box) outside the National Congress. Ironic.
*Manual labour/transportation of stuff in bulk sometimes reminds me of asia: eg Man on bike with a basket on the front piled with about 50 loaves of bread. And, this man riding in the back of a truck atop a pile of meat (bones and the like, I´m assuming these weren´t the famous Argentinian steaks).
*The way people dress is quite casj, not to be snobby given that my backpack wardrobe selection ain´t all that great, but BsAs women I haven´t noticed being quite as coiffed and polished as their Parisienne rivals.

But this is a really cool city, I like it a lot. It has a great laid back feel and I love that the people are all so nice and friendly, and apparently quite tolerant of tourists like me that massacre their language! It is really beautiful to look at, and I like the added twist of the unexpected that seems such a contrast to the general image of the place.

Chau for now!

x Felicity

No entiendo?

Hola!

Yes I have arrived safe and (somewhat) well in Buenos Aires. I say somewhat, because despite smooth flying for some reason I was in a complete daze and not feeling too great when we fiiiiinally landed. Convenient how the mind seems to so easily play down the experience of long haul flights--I realised this about 4 hours, 2 movies and one chocolatey snack pack later into the 13 hour trip that mega plane trips actually aren´t all that great, and apart from the (brief) excitement of seeing New Zealand from 35,000 ft, the novelty doesn´t take long to wear pretty thin.... But, hitting the coast of Chile I did temporarily forgot that my head was spinning and I was having trouble getting through my breakfast, because the site was quite spectacular and almost enough to begin the process of once again forgetting the horribleness of the previous 12 hours.

Earth From the Air, 3 things I liked:
1) On the map of SthAm you can see all these dotty bits at the Chilean coast. Flying over explains this, because it really does look like the edge of the continent hasn´t quite worked out if it´s going to sink or float, so instead it´s just half sitting there creating little islands all clustered together and surrounded by water.
2) The part of Chile that looked like elephant skin. No really! It was all textured and weathered and wrinkly and that really was what it reminded me of!
3) The lovely snow capped peaks of I assume the Andes, and then the road which I hope isn´t one of the 20+ hr bus rides I´m considering taking because it was straight and loooooong and definitely something to rival the Nullabor!


So after about a 20 hr sleep, I am feeling much revived, and ready to set out into la ciudad a la mañana. On the drive to the hostel, even in my might-throw-up-any-minute state (no really, I even brought the bag from the plane with me!), I did have time to marvel at the 20 lane highway (20! city-bound that is too), and notice with some confusion that apparently the grass beside said highway makes the perfect picnic spot for many-a family on a sunny Monday afternoon! Interesting folk in BsAs it seems...

Oh, and I nearly forgot the story behind the title! Well, you´ll be pleased to know that I have also had my first Spanish-Spanish interaction. This is how it went down:

Lady: De donde [...]?
Me: Umm....
Lady: [...] chicas de Mexico [...]?
Me: Umm...No entiendo? Lo siento!

Hasta pronto!

x Felicity

Testing testing un, dos, tres...

Hi Everyone, and welcome!

Well it isn't long now until I jet off so I thought I'd write a practice post before I go, just to make sure I've got everything working smoothly given that I'm new to the blogging world.

So the plan is to use this site instead of the group email that I usually do. I'll be putting up posts that you can read, and also will have links to my photobucket site where you can view all the pictures, so it should make things all nice and easy, and much prettier than my traditional emails! I'll also try to update the map as I go so you can follow where I've been.

You can subscribe to the site with the RSS feed (not that I really know what that is, but the option is there if you do!), and you can also become a follower (on the right under "followers") if you have a google account (takes about 2 seconds to create), which is probably the best way to get updates etc. Otherwise, just bookmark it and have a look whenever you like!

I hope you enjoy the blog, I know I'll enjoy writing it and if people enjoy reading it well all the better, I'll be most grateful if you do! And of course, I would love to hear all your comments and news as well so please keep me updated on all the goss back home!

So, until touchdown in Buenos Aires, adios amigos!

Felicity x