Days 36-37: Lima - Cuzco

Hi again!

So, I am currently sitting in an internet cafe in a tiny town (pop. approx. 3,900 though it feels like far fewer!). It is so ironic that you can be in the middle of the Peruvian hills, amongst people that are still so rooted in their heritage, and yet be sitting next to 9 and 10 year olds on facebook..). While this town is considered to be a heritage site because of all the Incan architecture still in place, the restaurants and stores take Visa. Oh, how the world works..

Anyways, here is a summary of the last few days - which have been a whirlwind! I will be posting for today, and the Inca Trail, in 3 to 4 days time.

LIMA (Population approx. 9 million)









The past few days have been a whirlwind! On day 1 of our tour, we all met and spent the afternoon wandering around downtown Lima with the ¨Lima¨ tour guide. We got to see the official changing of the guard ceremony, and learned a lot about the history and current political situation of this very unique country. It is certainly complex and quite tragic in terms of what the native Peruvians have had to live through and fight for.

The group is 15 in total (guess who´s the odd number? Haha ...). There are 2 other Canadians (from Toronto), quite a few from the U.S, two couples from Australia, and one couple from England. It´s a good mix and so far things have been going well. After downtown Lima we took cabs to Barranco, which is the Bohemian district of Lima. It was pretty artsy and quite beautiful, with restaurants and ¨summer houses¨ nestled into the hills and over-looking the ocean. We didn´t make it in time for sunset, so headed back to Miraflores to have a big group dinner near the Plaza. We got to try Pisco sours (their signature drink), which I thought tasted like a melted Margarita .. and had some seafood. Given we were heading to Cuzco the next morning, it was not recommended that we drink (i.e aclimatizing to such a high altitude can be difficult and alcohol intake/heavy food does not help!)We also tried the churros here, which are similar to those I´ve had in Vancouver (we really are lucky with the variety of international foods available to us).. the difference was they were filled with caramel! Delicioso! Bed after that as we were getting up at 5am to catch a flight from Lima to Cuzco.

CUZCO (Population approx. 400,000; elevation 3326 m)






We arrived in Cuzco by 10am and were picked up by our tour guide (born and raised in Cuzco) Maritza. After arriving at our hotel and settling in a bit, we were taken around for a city tour. I could tell right away that the air was thinner, and all of us noted how much more difficult it was to get adequate air in our lungs. It feels like you are short of breath and somewhat out of shape, breathing heavily after a few stairs up! This did go away by our second day, but for me the first evening was ridden with indigestion and feeling like my food was not going down! They say you are supposed to eat lightly for the first few days, even on the trek (though by the sounds of it there will be 3 hot amazing meals plus snacks), because heavier food will utilize precious energy that your body needs to work.

Our city tour was really amazing! Cuzco- the ancient capital of the Incas - is not as small as I had imagined it. There were ATMs, an Irish Pub, and quite a bit of traffic. On the other hand, the people here look very indigenous and still speak Quechua as a first language (though the younger generations are apparently losing this .. :( ). The architecture is a mix of traditional Incan, and European (the Spanish conquest being responsible for the latter). I will post pictures in a few days. We completely lucked out in our timing - we arrived on a Sunday, and were fortunate enough to see a celebration in the streets, with locals dressed in masks and costumes .. Our tour guide explained this was a sort of ritualistic mockery of the Spaniards, who have been a somewhat bitter memory in the Incan history, since their conquest. Ever since the ‘rediscovery’ of Machu Picchu in 1911, Cuzco has changed from a provincial backwater into Peru’s foremost tourist hub.

When we thought the festivities were over we turned the corner to find huge masses of people in even brighter dress! Sunday happened to be the 1 year anniversary of one of Cuzco´s largest markets, so there was a parade that lasted for hours and filled the streets for blocks! Everyone was involved: children, women, men ... Everyone was adorned in the brightest costumes, and music rang in the streets. We had lunch in a restaurant by the main Plaza and got to enjoy the festivities as well as tour the local markets after (both food and other goods, such as silver and leather). I was able to use my Spanish in the markets, but many of the vendors also spoke English. The people are lovely and not too pushy at all. We will definitely come back when we return from our trek in 4 days.

This morning we headed by bus to Sacred Valley and Ollantayambo for some local interactions, and will spend the night here before we begin the trek in the morning. My pictures and updates from yesterday, today, and the trek will arrive in about 4 days, as there will obviously be no internet access on the trail.

Thanks for staying posted and I look forward to sharing more in a few days!

Daniela

Day 36: Miraflores & Downtown Lima (to begin Day 1 of Tour)

Hey all,

So today will be the first day of my tour. I am supposed to meet the group at 2pm and have already scouted out the meeting point to make sure it exists ;) Such a ¨me¨thing to do. Anyways, I started with the medications for altitude sickness this morning and HOLY .. feeling more than a little woozy. Hope it passes!

Yesterday I ended up getting a few more things done, but decided to wait on looking for a sleeping bag as I will try to rent one in Cuzco. Same goes for a wool sweater .. though I will be buying - not renting - that :). Yesterday afternoon I ended up going to El Parque del Amor (with a sensual looking statue of intertwined lovers) and enjoyed my first fruity thing in a while! We hadn´t had much fruit other than juice in B.A, as I was too scared to buy it and get sick. I didn´t want to risk such a short stay in Argentina so figured I could manage 9 days without fruit. It was a toughie! That said, a Mango smoothie never tasted so good. For lunch, I tried to find a place recommended by my parents and also by Lonely Planet .. however, LP let me down and totally mislabelled the location on the map. I ended up just wandering back to the LarcoMar shopping centre (underground shops with walkways nestled into the hills) and went into a lovely place with a great view. Turns out, by default, I´d sat myself down at Vista al Mar - the place I was looking for. Haha, go figure. Although the ceviche is supposed to be incredible here, I wanted to be careful and figured I´d have it closer to the end of my trip. Instead, I ordered a sole stew on recommendation of my server. It came in a tomato, onion, orange and lime sauce, and had a few peices of boiled yucca mixed in. Yucca plants, which I had tried mashed in Brazil (sooo yummy), taste quite similar to potatoes. As a root vegetable they go by the name Casava. We ate lots of Casava (boiled, fried, etc.) in Uganda .. which explains my feelings of familiarity when ¨trying¨ Yucca.

The people in Lima so far have been incredibly friendly - moreso, in a sense, than in Argentina. Every police officer, security guard, store clerk and server says ¨Buenos Dias¨ with a smile. Everyone is also very helpful and tries to assist with any questions you may have. In fact, I left my two grocery bags in the money exchange and someone ran after me for 2 blocks until I realized they were calling my name! I am really interested to see if this continues throughout central Lima, as Miraflores is more touristy and well-off.

Anyways, back to today. After I checked out and before the group´s first meeting, I got to try a Peruvian specialty (the name escapes me) that had gorgeous eye appeal! It was yellow mashed potato, layered with chicken and mayo, avocado, tomato, another layer of chicken, another of avocado, and then more potato to top it off. I have to say the food here is so varied, moreso than in Argentina and Brazil, in terms of the variety of veggies (yayyy), fruits, grains, and - of course - seafood and meat, available.

keep you posted as the tour begins!

Ciao

D

Day 35: First full day in PERU (Miraflores, Lima)

I arrived late last night at 1030pm Lima time (1230am Buenos Aires time), and after a stomach-wrenching cab ride through downtown Lima .. and discussions with a friendly cab driver in broken English and Spanish .. I arrived to my hotel in Miraflores. There was a lot of construction through downtown Lima and at a few points the cab driver locked my door and my window, when we were stopped at lights with sketchy looking characters. The area I am in now, however, feels safe! This morning after I had some breakfast at the Hostel, I took a map and started wandering. It´s pretty clear this is a haven for tourists (though not in a negative sense!). There are banks and money exchanges everywhere, pharamacies with everything you need - from water purification pills to bug spray - and a nice shopping mall built into the hills and overlooking the ocean.

I will update more tomorrow, as I have done my banking and pharmacy tasks .. and plan to spend the rest of the afternoon exploring. I am also hoping to try some local specialties, such as Ceviche (citrus marinated seafood). I may take a more mild and trusty route today, however, as my stomache has not been friendly with me for the past 24 hours and I am hoping to be ready to go tomorrow for my Intrepid tour. We meet at 2pm at a hostel in Miraflores and from there begins our 11 night endeavour. We will be hitting Lima, Cuzco, Sacred Valley and Ollantaytambo, the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu for 3 nights, Jungle trek in the Amazon, and finish off in Cuzco and finally, Lima again. We will be taking a bus, airplane, and a canoe throughout our journey!

Thanks for keeping up with my blogging. I will likely be uploading pictures and updating somewhere in the middle of our trek, when we return to civilization!

Cheers,

D

Days 31-34: finishing Buenos Aires (Estancia Tour, Futbol Match, etc)

Hey again!

So .. here goes the blogging for our last few days in Buenos Aires ... sigh. Please note that the majority of these pictures are the product of Ryan´s photography :) (I believe in credit where credit is due). Please also note that the sign Ryan is holding up in one of the pictures is related to some very exciting news - he is now an UNCLE!! We celebrated with some champagne at our little spot near the River Plate stadium the morning after we found out!

Alright, so here we go:

ESTANCIA TOUR aka GAUCHO FIESTA (April 5th)

On the morning of April 5th, we ventured out for our Tangol tour. We were supposed to meet at some vague point near an 8 or 9 lane highway, in an area we had not yet explored! Luckily, we did find the meeting point .. and were successfully picked up! We left the city of Buenos Aires, and headed to the state of Buenos Aires and into the countryside. It was about a 50 minute ride and our guide explained a bit about a day in the life of a Gaucho aka Argentina´s version of a cowboy. We also got to taste Yerba Mate on the bus, without sugar. It was really strong this time around, and apparently you can get up to 10 cups of tea from one portion of the Mate (which fills up almost the whole cup!). It is common to have only 2 cups per household, one with sugar and one without. There is usually someone in charge of making the Mate and then it is passed around. You finish you cup and pass the cup onto the next person, after it has been refilled with hot water. Apparently children drink it too, with milk .. and it can be mixed with anything from cold water, to orange juice, to coffee! Talk about an ongoing caffeine buzz! We wondered whether there was Mate withdrawal in Argentina ... lol. You never know.

Anyways, when we arrived to Don Silvanos Estancia (I think that was the name, and I remember it sounded more Italian than Spanish!) we were treated to red wine and fresh empanadas. These were literally the most phenomenal ones we had ever tasted .. they were more deep-fried than the others and perfectly spiced. We then got to horseback ride a bit, play some bocce, wander around the farm, etc. After about an hour or so, we were called in to a ¨barn¨equipped with Air Conditioning for lunch ;).

The meal was ridiculous! Honestly. We got a bottle of wine to share (and free beer/pop which we did not go for, oddly enough), salad and potatoes and bread with garlic butter. The wine was from the Mendoza region, which is apparently the best region for red wine in Argentina. Twas delicious. What a suprising thing to come from my mouth, eh? Then came the meat. Oh the meat. Let me tell you, if you are a vegetarian, Argentina may not be the place for you. First came the choripan sausage (kind of like spicy breakfast sausage), and blood sausage. This was followed up by the barbequed chicken. But wait. Then came the steak. And just when we thought we would burst .. along came more steak. Ryan and I could not even take the 2nd type.. which says a lot! It seems they save the best for last (similar to the Rodizio we went to in Brazil) and perhaps it is cost effective because you eat far less of the expensive cuts of meat - if any at all! Dulce de Leche ice cream and espresso were the final nails in the coffin of fullness. Nap time would have been appropriate at this time!

After the gluttony came the entertainment - authentic guitar, flute type instruments, singing .. and dancing. The entertainers showed us using the map, the regions from which the various songs and dances originated. The gaucho also showed us his talents with an instrument typically used for hunting .. it is essentially a rope that splits into two and attaches to two balls, made of either bone or stone, and wrapped in leather. Audience members were called up to volunteer for various things (i.e poncho throwing dance, drumming, dancing) and thank goodness Ryan had the wherewithall to ask me to dance before we could be embarrassed by someone else! We did a bit of two-stepping and tried our best. Twas lots of fun and our guide definitely enjoyed the enthusiasm!

One of the funniest parts of the entertainment was when the singer, who looked like Dom deLuise, sang songs to ¨represent¨ the various countries from which the tourists came. There were about 100 people from various tours present - from Australia, England, U.S, Aruba, France, Spain .. and of course, us two from Canada! Well the song he chose to sing - while staring at us to join him - was ¨This land is your land..¨and let me tell you .. we did NOT know the lyrics. It was pretty hilarious, given we could sing along to Australia and the U.S far more easily.

After the entertainment we headed out to watch some gaucho competitions. They raced their horses, they showed their ability to hook a ring with a stick (hanging from a horizontal pole) while galloping at incredible speeds.. It was all quite entertaining, really.

We were so full but had to have more pastries and Mate tea, then headed back to B.A and were dropped off at the Estadio River Plate to try and buy tickets again. No luck this time as it was closed! We instead went the next morning (Tuesday)and lucked out! Tickets for $30 CAD or so. We sure know our way around this ´hood now!











FUTBOL MATCH: NEWELL OLD BOYS vs. RIVER PLATE (Apil 7th)

We decided to subway to the game on Wednesday evening. We caught a cab to the stadium, though, after realizing we had been wandering for longer than we thought! The cab driver was efficient, if a little crazy, and there were a ton of people in red and white or black and white, still on the streets and making their way to the stadium. I have to say that, given the long weekend had just finished and this was not a competitive game, there were a lot of people! Roads closer to the stadium were totally closed off to traffic and there were police everywhere! Honestly, I think Ryan and I went through 3 or 4 different check points. Girls lined up separately and - though they seemed to think I looked innocent - most had their bags rifled through. I liked the police presence, though it made you wonder what happens at La Boca v. River Plate games or cup finals. Yikes. There were german shepherds lining the various gate entrances (and also at either end of the soccer field, along with riot police carrying shields). After some confusion and a bit of running around, we made our way up to our Platea seats to find the stadium half full and yet bursting at the seems with energy! We sat down with 30 seconds to kick off.

All in all, I have to say I enjoyed the crowd, the singing and the drums and the passionate screaming .. moer than I enjoyed the quality of the soccer. I am not sure if River Plate was having an off day, but I have certainly seen better ball skills, precision and team-play on T.V and even at times at the Whitecaps games (gasp!). I would be interested to see where they are in the standings .. and where Boca is situated also. In any case, I can´t make sweeping generalizations and I am sure Argentian soccer is up there with English and Brazilian levels of play! Tonight was just not up to their usual standards .. and the fans certainly made their feelings known. It is interesting, though, because even when River was not playing well the cheering was loud and passionate .. as opposed to derogatory. The derogatory words came when referees seemed to be favouring Newell .. I have never heard a certain word starting with a P (in Spanish) yelled so many times, with as much spit flying and as much arm waiving!

At the end of the game (River Plate lost) we could not leave the stadium for about 20minutes. I´m still not sure the rationale as to why police would line the stadium exits, because you would think hordes of angry and impatient fans might be better off trailing out rather than pounding down the steps at the same time. Although, Ryan made a good point - it may be because they are letting the opposition leave first, and want to be sure there is sufficient police presence in the parking lots and streets to avoid any issues after the game is finished.

The next day was our last day in Buenos Aires, and we made sure to have our 3 breakfast empanadas each and enjoy a beer at our favorite dinner spot Nostalgia. We went to Centro once more to look for water purification pills and I was advised they could be purchased in Peru (indeed, they have been purchased as of today!) We also bought a Mate cup and 2 metal filter straws. We also found a store that had mini futbol outfits and Ryan picked up something adorable for his new nephew =)

We had the good fortune of getting to the airport in time to have one last meal together and some red wine ... my flight left at 7pm and Ryan´s at 9pm. I hate goodbyes ... but it was a wonderful trip!

Some final thoughts:

(1) Ryan and I calculated that we spent, on average, $60 CAD per day ($30 each on the apartment per night, and about $30 for all food and drinks, plus whatever else we chose to do). That is pretty phenomenal considering we stayed in a 400 sq foot apartment with AC and 24 hour security, and never ever chinced on food or drinks (as you can probably see from the pictures)!
(2) The sidewalks here lack organization and can be quite frenetic, especially on Ave Sante Fe where there are street vendors and people handing out coupons etc. In that sense, B.A does not feel European or organized! It is an interesting mix because the architecture that crops up every few blocks will leave you feeling like you are in Italy or France, whereas the haphazard nature of driving and getting around on foot definitely gives a different impression
(3) Easter weekend was a fantastic time to come and start our time here. I was worried things would either be too busy, or everything would be closed. Instead, the streets were far easier to navigate as many people went to the coast for their vacations. We realize now that we were spoiled for those few days! Now we prefer not to dodge window shoppers (i.e walk blockers, as I like to call them) and take side streets when possible.
(4) People seem to think we could pass as locals .. given the amount of times we have been asked for directions!
(5) The countryside is beautiful, though our tour definitely did not take us too far out into the rural farmlands. In fact, the irony of seeing a gaucho show - complete with indigenous dances and songs - where a laptop was being used for itunes backup music, will stay forever engrained in my memory. This is the world we live in, i guess!
(6) The passion for futbol here, and in Brazil, is phenomenal. Honestly, I have never been in a stadium with so much energy for a relatively unimportant game on a Wednesday night. I have also never seen young men´s eyes burn with as much intensity, while screaming and fist-pumping! The 100 to 1 ratio of men to women was also an experience I am glad I experienced con mi novio (with my boyfriend).

All in all, this has been a fantastic trip and I think we both agreed there was not too much more we would have done. We had plans to perhaps venture to Colonia in Uruguay for the day, and also had hoped to visit one particular museum.. but over all I am not sure I would call those regrets. We never wasted a day indoors, and almost always left by 930am for a full day of wandering not to come back until 5 or 6pm. At the end of our stay, there was hardly a street name we did not recognize!

The people here have been helpful, although I know I would have found the lack of clear answers a lot more frustrating had I been alone. I went to 17 pharmacies in total looking for water purification pills and probably could have hiked the Inca Trail in the time it took to translate directions, only to be let down! It is an experience nonetheless, and when you are sharing it with someone else ... You can easily talk your frustrations through, laugh them off, and move on to the next adventure.

To anyone thinking of going to Argentina, my advice is as follows:

EAT THE LOMO OR MINIBIFE AT NOSTALGIA CAFE IN PALERMO
GO TO A FUTBOL MATCH AND AN ESTANCIA TOUR
WALK AS MUCH AS YOU CAN
VISIT THE PONDS NEAR ESTADIO RIVER PLATE
DRINK CHAMPAGNE AND WINE AND BEER
CHECK OUT THE PARKS
EAT A CHORIPAN SANDWICH
TAKE THE SUBWAY
TASTE MATTE TEA WITH AND WITHOUT SUGAR
DO A LITTLE TANGO IF THE MOMENT MOVES YOU
TRY YOUR SPANISH OUT .. OR AT LEAST LEARN HOW TO SAY THANK YOU, WHERE ARE THE BATHROOMS, AND CAN I HAVE A LITRE OF BEER!

Ciao for now .. and stay posted for my updates in Peru. I will be heading off on my 12 day trek as of April 10th. Volunteering did not work out time-wise, but I am glad the Inca Trail is open again for the purposes of the Intrepid tour!

Thanks again for following,

Daniela

Day 30: B.A cont. (Estadio Riverplate, Palermo Soho/Hollywood, etc.)

Good morning!

What do you know, I am again writing from a week ago! It is April 9th and I am in Miraflores (Peru) and flew out of Buenos Aires yesterday night. Ryan is on his way back to Van as we speak, via a number of connecting flights in the U.S! Looking back on our time in Buenos Aires, I am really glad we saw so much of the city on foot. I could not have asked for better weather, company, food, wine, and overall variety in terms of sight seeing (sorry for my poor punctuation, the keys on this keyboard do not correspond with the symbols!)

So, back to Buenos Aires!

We decided, after somewhat of a wild goose chase (on the internet and via interactions with locals) that we would just head to the Estadio River Plate, the stadium home to arguably the second most popular futbol team in Argentina. We knew they were playing on Weds and we figured we´d make our way down there anyways. Given it was a Sunday, we figured worse comes to worse we will just wander around a NEW part of B.A and enjoy the sun in a local park. Well, after speaking with 3 security guards and waiting at a closed boleteria (ticket booth) for a short while .. we found out that tickets would go on sale tomorrow and could be purchased up until Weds. Noone could give us a clear answer of if there would be any left, though! Given we had booked a Gaucho Fiesta aka Estancia Tour for Monday (i.e a trip to the countryside to see the Argentinian cowboys in all of their glory) we decided to try again on Tuesday .. and if they were sold out, to bring a sign and pesos on Weds eve in hopes of honest scalpers (insert smile here).

The afternoon turned out to be splendid, as per usual, and we enjoyed beer and chips .. and walked all the way back through parts of Palermo we had not yet discovered. It was Easter Sunday so not too much was open, but we DID of course find a restaurant where we stopped for a delicious bottle of Malbec (I think..) and a Fugazzeta (sweet grilled onion and to die for cheese) Pizza. Mmmmm. Honestly, we are eating so much BUT also walking on average 4 hours per day. We literally have taken the subway maybe 3x and otherwise walk. It is my kind of holiday and as I have found out, Ryan´s too!

A few more things from today
(1)Palm hearts are almost as popular here as they are in Brazil, as a garnish in sandwiches and Pizza (I have noticed on the menus here but we haven´t tried them in Argentina) and eggs (fried, hard boiled, etc) seem to be a common addition to steaks, pizzas, salads.
(2) While McDonalds, Burger King, etc are still reasonable here .. for $10 CAD more than the cost of 2 combos, you can upgrade to 2 humongous steak meals and a bottle of good quality wine.
(3) People do not speak as much English as I had expected .. though Ryan and I are still debating whether that is because I attempt Spanish, and they may or may not be self conscious about their English. I think if you presented yourself as a total gringo the people working with the public would have no choice but to speak in English... !
(4) The subway is ridiculously cheap. $1.10 pesos (around $0.30 CAD) for one way all across town.

The pictures above are mostly the talent of Ryan¡ he has a knack for architecture shots especially. The others are either mine or some friendly server!

Stay posted for the next bit detailing our Estancia tour and River Plate v. Newell Old Boys futbol match!

D

Days 24- 29: Buenos Aires (Palermo, Recoleta, Centro, La Boca, Monserrat, etc.)

Hey all!

So, I haven't yet finished my blogging for Brazil (the city of Foz do Iguacu) .. but since I am currently in Buenos Aires, I'll just forward it a bit and go back to Brazil tomorrow :)

I arrived in B.A from Brazil via Bus. It was actually an easy process: free ride with the hostel van (other people were going to the Argentinian side of the falls for the day), get off at the Brazil border, get your exit stamps, bus over to the Argentinian side, change money over (and mentally switch from Portuguese to Spanish), cab to the airport in Iguazu falls then fly to Buenos Aires. It turned out well!

Buenos Aires, as far as I could tell, was immediately colonial in terms of statues, plazas, parks, etc. I arrived at a hotel I'd booked to 'treat' myself for my first night in Argentina alone .. and was blown away by what you could get for less than $100. I would say the hotels, beer/food, and the clothing are about 50% less than in Canada, and the shoes are about 30% less. I pretty much spent my evening doing laundry in the sink (backpacking style ;) and sleeping. The next morning I moved hotels - still in the Palermo area - and got a bit of a sense of the neighborhood.

Buenos Aires is divided into several neighborhoods, including Palermo, Santa Telmo, Recoleta, Centro (Central). The second hotel (and the one I am staying in for my 8 nights with Ryan in B.A) is in the heart of Palermo, but not on the main drag. I am really happy with our choice, as it is an apartment - and is therefor independent in nature, with a fridge etc - but has helpful (albeit non-english speaking) staff at the front desk :)

Ryan was to arrive on the 31st at around 10am and I was anxious to see if he made his connections in Washington! I was also equally worried about the massive bug bites/allergic reaction I got on my head the night before. The irony is that it was (and will be) the most expensive hotel I have stayed in and I awoke with a narwhale/Navi/Avatar forehead that later swelled into my right eyeball. Ryan arrive on time and kindly told me I looked "great" despite later references to creatures in scary movies. Haha ... no but seriously. So far, we have had 3 nights in B.A and the city is lovely! I think part of it has to do with the fact that you can get the following for $25: 3 medallions of steak, another 10 oz steak (best quality ever), fries and salad, a bottle of good red wine. In other words -- cheapest, most amazing meals EVER! Well... in terms of steak. :)

When you go to a cafe in the morning, they will give you FREE (haha can you tell I like this?) brownies, scones or whatever other mini delicious thing they have in the bakery. This is included in the price of an americano. We typically get a few empanadas each (chicken/pollo, carne/beef, queso/cheese) etc., and breakfast is about $5 total for two people - that includes the coffees, the freebie sweets and the mains! AMAZING! Lunches and dinners have been phenomenal. I am certainly NOT a vegetarian. Ribs, steak, chicken, are all so incredibly prepared and cost you so little. I have to say that unlike Brazil, the Argentinians know how to get you with their "snacks" served with the beer (a bottle or a litre). You will typically get a little plate of chips, peanuts, and bread sticks. If you go for lunch, you will often get free empanadas to start the meal off. Heaven.

Ryan and I have walked the majority of Buenos Aires in 3 days, and one of the days we were both a little under the weather! Living in Palermo, I have to say I feel very safe wandering. People have been friendly - though I would say that thus far, the males have been friendlier (and more helpful) than the females (even when Ryan is with me!). On the first day, we got oriented around Palermo - which is further subdivided into the districts of Soho, Hollywood, and Viejo. The first FULL day we had, we wandered through the rest of Palermo, then Recoleta - where you will find Evita Peron's tomb - and Centro (the downtown hub).

We were feeling a little under the weather so we stayed local, but still managed to walk for upwards of 4 hours and visited the local zoo - complete with polar bears (?in this climate?), tigers and chimps. There was one animal that looked like a cross between a rabbit and deer .. and definitely part marsupial .. it wasn't in any cage and seemed to wander freely throughout the zoo.

On day 4, we really felt like we had our bearings, and walked back up to Centro in hopes of figuring out how to get to La Boca (neighborhood, also home of the most famous Argentinian soccer team). Despite me losing the map that we had carefully marked, we managed to get to this apparently "dangerous" neighborhood via cab. Unfortunately, after all of the research we had done on the internet as well as question/answer periods I'd had with locals in broken spanish - turns out you could not buy tickets for the game until "maybe tomorrow". It really was frustrating because the upcharge with tour companies to get a guided tour and tickets to the game (with transportation) is really high - about 300%! We swallowed our frustrations (and a beer or two) and began our journey around La Boca. We felt safer than in parts of Italy or Vancouver .. though it was mid-day and we stayed on the colored-street strip with other tourists. People were friendly and it had an energy that was contagious! Everything was so lively, tango dancers were rehearsing or performing in the streets, and we saw kids practicing their futbol skills in local parks. There literally was not a building without a splash of colour!

Some thoughts on Argentina so far:

(1) If you chose to drink only coffee and beer, you would still be somewhat nourished with food for less than $8-10 per day (given the free goodies!)
(2) The maps that are given to tourists are not only incongruent with one another - even if you flip one to match another, you have to get it at a certain angle and may not have all of the street names provided. It is a slight nightmare .. but we have managed wih Ryan's map-reading skills and my broken spanish.

Many thanks for following ..

Daniela