Archive
South America Catchup Post #3: Photos from Buenos Aires
The next installment of photos comes from the magical city of Buenos Aires. Of all the cities I visited in South America, Buenos Aires was the only one in which I thought I could conceivably live. La Paz was friendly and cool but manic and slightly broken. Cusco was charming and mysterious, but slightly too “gringo trail” to settle down in. Lima? Well let’s not go there. But B.A. was the essence of cool, even as it was desperately hot at times. The Porteños were all style and attitude, but knew how to let their hair down. The food was ace (as long as you weren’t a vegetarian) and the rambling and crumbling barrios of San Telmo and Palermo just begged for a long series of lazy days’ explorations on foot, with frequent rest stops at the ever-present sidewalk cafés. Even the over-touristed bits like La Boca had a certain style to them. I was fortunate never to come face to face with the infamous criminal elements, and I never felt unsafe – though to be sure I wasn’t brandishing the SLR around willy-nilly…
La Boca
Palermo
San Telmo & Centre
To see all the Argentina photos you can click through on the slideshow below:http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649
South America Catchup Post #2: Iguazu Falls, Argentina
Sure, I may have one little tiny blog post from the day with one measly photo and a Youtube video (albeit exciting) but I never got round to showing off some of the other shots I got at the mighty Iguazu Falls National Park in northern Argentina back in December.
Well, there’s no time like the present:
and lest I forget, this is the hard living we had to do when we weren’t out exploring the falls…
More to come very soon.
Some photos from Buenos Aires
While I am stuck in Santa Cruz airport with no money, telephone or guaranteed escape plan, but still possessing all-important WiFi and a full-ish netbook battery, I thought I would point out a few of the photos I took in Buenos Aires over the last week.
Under pressure
It's 6:45AM. I have just returned to my hotel room. In 45 minutes a car comes to take me to the airport. Is this enough time to shower, finish packing, and check out? It had better be. Bolivia here we come!
A simple plan
As I write this we are on our way from Pierce and Laura’s wedding in Quilmes to the reception at some unknown place 40km away. The reception starts at 10pm. My flight to Bolivia is exactly 12 hours later. I am sure there is a flaw with this plan, but I can’t put my finger on it.
Diet? What diet?
I am just sitting down to lunch at La Brigada, meant to be one of the top parillas (grills) and therefore best steaks in Buenos Aires. Salivating already!
Returning to Buenos Aires
Had a somewhat chilled morning yesterday after my failed attempt to enter Brazil, wherein I decided that paying 150 US was not worth it for a 2 hour visit. Ah, the joys of being a Yank abroad!
So we made do with a bit more poolside lounging at the excellent Iguazu Jungle Lodge before heading into town to catch our bus. A slight detour to the best pizzeria in town, where we ordered large pizzas so we’d have leftovers for the bus. Our previous experience of the onboard dinner (mystery meat, vegetables an abomination of nature) suggested this was a rational course of action. Here followed (and continues) another largely comfortable first class 16 hour bus ride through the night, only this tme punctuated – 5 times – by Gendarmaria Nacional checkpoints, where serious looking men with fatigues and guns would conduct a serious looking but impotent search, one assumes for dodgy drug mules, but why dodgy drugs types would choose to smuggle on the first class bus is a mystery. In any case soon we will be returning to BA and then back to Quilmes for what is sure to be a whirlwind day with Pierce and Laura’s civil ceremony and the attendant festivities.Grand tour of Iguazu Falls
In the lap of (jungle) luxury
All good in Argentina
Just a quick one to say that the temporary trauma of the flight is over (short version: never ever ever fly Iberia long haul) we were welcomed to Quilmes, a suburb of Buenos Aires, by Pierce, the groom-to-be. Driven in past slums and stray dogs to a posh barrio to a house next to a thumping nightclub. Fortunately a few beers in Quilmes at some surprisingly lively and cosmopolitan bars meant that when we got back home we fell asleep instantaneously and I literally slept through the apocalypse. Woke this morning to the clip clop of horse and cart ambling past the house. Chilling day today, maybe go into BA centre later on before catching our 16 hour bus up north to Iguazu. Hopefully post a photo or two when i next have internet access.
Mortal Coil 