Argentina: A Quick Stop in Palermo, Then on to Iguazu Falls

After a memorable stint in Mendoza, we swung through Buenos Aires once again before moving on to further regions of Argentina. (In Argentina, no travel is direct; everything runs through Buenos Aires.) This time around, we stayed in the quieter, chic and downright lovely section of Buenos Aires called Palermo. The highlight included an epic meat-fest of a dinner at a busy restaurant in Palermo called La Cabrera, a recommended stop of the highest order for all fellow travelers to this fair city. The lowlight, however, was saying goodbye to Sister Danielle as she headed back to - what we have been referring to as - “The Real World.”

With Cousin Nicole’s vacation still in full swing, the three of us anxiously headed northward, waaaaaaay northward, to view the Iguazu Falls, one of the world’s largest and widest water falls. (Even a candidate for the New Seven Wonders of the World.) The falls dramatically mark the boundary between Argentina and Brazil, and Paraguay is just a short ways down river, also allowing access to the falls. The Iguazy waterfall system consists of 275 falls in total, which is an epic indeed. Some of these 275 falls drop 269 feet, or 82 meters for our metric-based friends. Anyway, it’s an immensely impressive sight, so as soon as we arrived in the nearby town of Puerto Iguazu, where we would spend the next several nights, we took off to get a closer look at this legendary, natural wonder. With the temperature hovering somewhere between wicked hot and sweltering, we were also hoping this waterfall would bless us with a cooling mist.

We spent our first day at Iguazu Falls checking out Devil’s Throat, the largest of the 275 falls, which, thanks to a precariously positioned platform, we felt we were right on top of, and the Upper Circuit, a walkway that offered an up-close look at the higher regions of the falls. With much more to see in Iguazu Nactional Park, and with Rangers kicking us out in not-the-kindest Spanish we‘ve heard thus far, we saved the rest of our exploration for Day 2. Details on that and the rest of our stay in Iguazu soon.

Argentina: Mendoza and The Grape Harvest Festival

Due to the great distances between places in Argentina and the country’s (safe but) unreliable domestic air travel, Argentineans have perfected the art of long-distance bus travel. Traveling on a “Suite Class” bus is like flying first class on a plane. The service includes 180-degree reclining leather chairs in your own private pod, plenty of food, alcoholic drinks, movies, etc. Therefore, to immerse ourselves in the Argentinean culture, our group of four boarded an overnight bus from Buenos Aires to Mendoza, the heart of Argentina’s wine country. We had a blast on the bus and all slept like babies. We arrived to the metropolis of Mendoza ready to rock, and just in time for the annual Grape Harvest Festival, also known as Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia, a passionate and elaborate string of cultural activities to celebrate the end of a year’s work in the vineyards.

After getting a lay of the land in Mendoza, including a stroll around the markets in Plaza Independencia and dinner on the trendy Aristides Villanueve, we headed 15km southeast on Friday to do some wine tasting in Maipu. We rented bikes, of course (!), and navigated the sometimes-dusty, sometimes-tree-shaded and mostly-hazardous streets of Maipu to visit a variety of wineries that are spread throughout the high plains in the area. With the lovely Andes towering to the west of us, we toured several different wineries, ate lunch next to grape vines, and, needless to say, tasted the delicious goods along the way. Some of our favorite wineries included Familia Di Tomasso and Bodega Carinae.

As for The Grape Harvest Festival, the action heated up on Friday night with “Via Blanca”, a colorful parade with spectacular floats, each presenting a beauty queen from the a nearby town. Beauty queens are an extremely big deal, and, in fact, are the main focal point of Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia. There are 17 queens in total and the competition is fierce. We bet 5 pesos each on an eventual queen, and the winner among us was required to wear a tiara (regardless of gender). Anyway, back to the parade, the floats threw out random (and sizeable) things, like melons, bunches of grapes, apples, and even steak sandwiches that were cooked ON THE FLOAT. The following morning, Saturday, another parade called “Carousel” took to the streets of Mendoza, featuring old-time carriages, musical bands and groups of “gouchos” (Argentinean cowboys). To cap of the weekend’s festivities, we made our way to a huge amphitheatre in Mendoza’s Parque General San Martin with 40,000 others to witness “Acto Central”, or the main act. This spectacular, unforgettable production reflected the history of wine in Mendoza and featured large-scale dancing, dozens of costume changes, live music and singing and a fireworks finale. Perhaps most importantly, however, (not kidding about this) The Grape Harvest National Queen is elected. Miss Santa Rosa took the coveted prize this year, making the crowd go wild and making Krista 15 pesos richer.

All-in-all, the Festival provided some great entertainment, tasty wine and plenty of memorable moments. We spent Sunday relaxing pool-side and deciding where to go next. Then, with a great four days in Mendoza, Argentina behind us, we headed back to Buenos Aires.

Argentina: More Buenos Aires

After our time in Puento Del Este, we headed back to Buenos Aires via a 3-hour ferry from Montevideo, Uruguay. Saturday, a bright, sunny, summer day, we strolled through Reserva Ecologica, a large area of reclaimed green land east of the city center. Along the Rio de la Plata, Reserva Ecologica is home to wide, flat walking and biking trails and seems to be a haven for birdwatchers, mountain bikers and those out for a break from BA‘s thickly polluted air. Afterwards, we headed to the suburb La Boca, home to the one of Argentina’s most famous football teams, the Boca Juniors, and their crazy, passionate fans. The Caminito, where we spent a couple of hours wandering, watching tango performers and shopping at the small open-air market, is a small area in La Boca of brightly colored buildings on a the Riachuelo River. A tourist trap for certain, but entertaining and colorful nonetheless.

That night, we bid a sad farewell to Leslie, and began a short, two-day wait for our next visitors, Scott’s sister Danielle and cousin Nicole. We spent these two days exploring Buenos Aires further, including catching some rays in nice parks in the residential Palermo area, and strolling along the main streets of hip Palermo Hollywood.

Danielle and Nicole arrived from Boston to much fanfare on Tuesday morning, and thus began our whirlwind tour of Buenos Aires with them. Highlights include a visit to one of the city’s most famous attractions, Recoleta Cemetery, an amazing city block of huge mausoleums where some of Argentina’s most famous people rest, including the cemetery’s most visited resident, Evita Peron. Recoleta Cemetary, in a nice, quieter neighborhood in the city, is quite a site, and not nearly as creepy as it sounds. We also sipped the famous caffeinated drink of Argentina, mate, at a mate bar, and dined on delicious empanadas in a friendly restaurant in the cool Palermo Soho neighborhood.

While our touring of Buenos Aires was sunny and busy, the four of us had important matters to attend to inland, waaaaay inland. Specifically, we were off to Mendoza, the heart of Argentina’s wine country and site of the country’s biggest wine festival, Fiesta de la Vendimia. Details on that next.

All Clear from Argentina

Hola from Buenos Aires. After the big earthquake in central Chile early this morning, we have received some worried emails, texts, etc. Thanks to all for your kind concern. We are safe and sound. We are spending the weekend in Buenos Aires and did not feel the quake. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and pray for the affected Chileans.

Uruguay: Colonia Del Sacramento and Punta Del Este

On Monday, we boarded a ferry in Buenos Aires and crossed the Rio de la Plata to Uruguay, a laid-back gem of a country nestled between neighboring giants Brazil and Argentina. After peacefully replacing the military rule with democratic leadership at the turn of this century, Uruguay has been significantly impacted by the economic instability of Argentina and by a rash of agricultural foot-and-mouth disease. Despite all this, Uruguay is a safe and cheerful country boasting a nice coastline and an interior rolling with green hills and small towns.

We arrived at our first stop in Uruguay, Colonia Del Sacramento, just an hour or so after leaving Buenos Aires. Originally a seventeenth-century Portuguese smuggling port intended to disrupt trade to the Spanish trading base in Buenos Aires, Colonia is now a picturesque and charming town with an old quarter called Barrio Historico. This old quarter is like a glimpse of the past, with cobblestone streets, an old lighthouse, tiny museums and a host of outdoor cafes and restaurants. Barrio Historico is a UNESCO World Heritage site and it‘s pretty awesome for an late-afternoon stroll. After exploring this area, we waited out a rainstorm by sipping on Uruguayan wine and sampling some apps. Later, we took in a late dinner overlooking the ocean. The following day, we set out to explore the nearby beaches north of the peninsula along a long, coastal walkway, stopping for rests on the sand and also for cold beverages at a couple of sunny bars overlooking the water.

The following morning, we caught an early bus to Eastern Uruguay and the beachside, resort town of Punta Del Este, some 140 km north of Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital city. Situated on a narrow peninsula, Punta Del Este is full of high rise hotels, shops and expensive restaurants dishing out seafood and steak. The peninsula is surrounded by some of Uruguay’s most famous beaches, which allow this beach town to serve as a premier South American getaway spot during the summer. It’s apparently a ghost town in winter. We spent our days in Punta Del Este relaxing on the various beaches, walking around the peninsula for exercise and drinking tasty wine on the sand before hitting the down for dinner.

Argentina: Buenos Aires

From Madrid, we flew overnight to our first South American destination, Buenos Aires, the buzzing capital of Argentina. Dubbed by some as the “Paris of the South” for its eclectic mix of architecture, Buenos Aires is teeming with design, food and language influences from its heavily European immigrant population. Upon arrival to Argentina, we met up with Krista’s sister, Leslie, who flew down the same day from San Diego for a week of vacation. To fight the inevitable jet lag awaiting all of us, we set out aggressively to explore Buenos Aires from our accommodations in the heart of the city. This included a stop for coffee at the famous landmark, Café Tortoni, a stroll around Plaza de Mayo, a busy square that is overlooked by the President’s and executive branch’s offices, and a walk down Calle Florida, a pedestrian area full of shops, restaurants and endless people-watching opportunities.

To close our first day out, we went to a hip area of the city called Palermo Soho for large and tasty drinks outside. We followed this up with a stop at a milonga we had read about called La Virtua. A milonga is like a regular dance club, but offers tango lessons at the beginning of the night. (The beginning of the night in Argentina, by the way, is 11pm.) Predictably, Krista and Leslie gracefully tangoed the night away like pros, while Scott was left leaving footprints on strangers’ shoes.

Still reeling from our evening of tango, we set out the next day, Sunday, to a sprawling, open-air market in the San Telmo area. The market featured everything under the sun, from jewelry to cooked meat to street performers, and it was a great place to wander for a couple of hours. Next, we attended an exciting football match between home team RiverPlate and rival Arsenal. The crowd, as is customary for Argentinian football matches, was wild, passionate and singing chants constantly. Security was at a premium. In the end, the teams were knotted in a 1-1 tie.

On Monday, we boarded a ferry from Buenos Aires to Uruguay, where we would spend the next 5 days. More on that soon.