A beautiful cosmopolitan city with colonial buildings, great parks (including a rose garden) and cute outdoor restaurants...
Photos to come... currently on the cruise to Antarctica, so it's a bit difficult to upload the pics.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Mendoza, Argentina: Feb 6th - 9th
Ahhh... wine and steak country... I was looking forward to Argentina for the wine, while obviously, Mark was looking forward to the steak.
- At the Vines tasting room, trying our first wine tasting... HIGHLY recommend the Perpetuum Cabernet Sauvignon. Mmmm...
- Steak dinner at Don Mario's (apparently, the best in town)... just look at the size of Mark's bife de chorizo (aka rump steak)!!! I was so thankful that I only ordered a half portion.
- The wineries we visited (aka bodegas, which mean wineries not delis as the word is known in NYC) were: La Rural, a chocolate liquor place (not wine, I know), Trapiche, La Cerna, Hacienda del Plata, Carmelo Patti, Belasco de Baquedano and Achaval Ferrer. The photos are from La Rural... of the vines and of a cowhide vat where they would squash the grapes and then drain the juice down the tail.
- We visited a WalMart after the first day of wine tasting... since the next day was Sunday (most wineries and shops are closed), we decided to buy some food for a picnic, including a lovely bottle of Torrontes (a white wine varietal specific to Argentina).
- The park entrance, near where we had the picnic
- Mark about to pass out from overdosing on wine tastings...
- At the Vines tasting room, trying our first wine tasting... HIGHLY recommend the Perpetuum Cabernet Sauvignon. Mmmm...
- Steak dinner at Don Mario's (apparently, the best in town)... just look at the size of Mark's bife de chorizo (aka rump steak)!!! I was so thankful that I only ordered a half portion.
- The wineries we visited (aka bodegas, which mean wineries not delis as the word is known in NYC) were: La Rural, a chocolate liquor place (not wine, I know), Trapiche, La Cerna, Hacienda del Plata, Carmelo Patti, Belasco de Baquedano and Achaval Ferrer. The photos are from La Rural... of the vines and of a cowhide vat where they would squash the grapes and then drain the juice down the tail.
- We visited a WalMart after the first day of wine tasting... since the next day was Sunday (most wineries and shops are closed), we decided to buy some food for a picnic, including a lovely bottle of Torrontes (a white wine varietal specific to Argentina).
- The park entrance, near where we had the picnic
- Mark about to pass out from overdosing on wine tastings...
Santiago, Chile: Feb 3rd - 5th
We LOVE the Casanovas!
- Tomas invited Mark to play soccer with the locals, who were all in their mid-20s!
- After soccer... The amazing BBQ Elisa and Tomas prepared for us on our first night at Casa Casanova
- Elisa and Tomas at the "As" hotdog shop
- Mark eating "As"... it was HUGE!
Many thanks to Manuel for helping us, by contacting his sister Elisa. And a million thanks to Elisa, who took us in (What an amazing home!!! A thousand times better than any 5-star hotel)... and of course, her boyfriend Tomas. They gave us a tour of Santiago - favorite being the outdoor fruit/veggie/meat/dairy/everything market... cooked us a great BBQ, treated us to "As" hotdogs... and gave us plenty of tourist information.
- Tomas invited Mark to play soccer with the locals, who were all in their mid-20s!
- After soccer... The amazing BBQ Elisa and Tomas prepared for us on our first night at Casa Casanova
- Just chilling on the balcony of Casa Casanova... Beautiful views! Me showing all of my scrapes and injuries from the bike accident.
- Elisa and Tomas at the "As" hotdog shop
- Mark eating "As"... it was HUGE!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
San Pedro de Atacama, Chile: Feb 1st - 2nd
We arrived in San Pedro de Atacama with plans to stay one night and then head out to Salta, Argentina. But we soon learned that buses to Salta are few and far between... next one wasn't until 5 days later!!! So we decided to go to Santiago instead... gotta love the flexibility of having nowhere to really be, by a certain time. :)
Anyway, San Pedro de Atacama is nothing special... an oasis town in the middle of the desert. But, we did take a tour of Valle de Luna (aka Moon Valley) with a pit stop at Death Valley. Photos below...
- Road to Death Valley and Moon Valley
- Death Valley: This used to be covered in green vegetation 80 years ago, but changes in climate dried it out!
- More Death Valley
- The moon in Moon Valley... of course this photo had to be taken!
- The "ampitheatre"
- Sunset
- Active volcano in the distance
Anyway, San Pedro de Atacama is nothing special... an oasis town in the middle of the desert. But, we did take a tour of Valle de Luna (aka Moon Valley) with a pit stop at Death Valley. Photos below...
- Road to Death Valley and Moon Valley
- Death Valley: This used to be covered in green vegetation 80 years ago, but changes in climate dried it out!
- More Death Valley
- The moon in Moon Valley... of course this photo had to be taken!
- The "ampitheatre"
- Sunset
- Active volcano in the distance
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia: Jan 29th - 31st
- The 3-day Uyuni tour to Chile (San Pedro de Atacama) began a visit to the Train Cemetary. The train system didn't really take off in Bolivia... so hence why it's a cemetary. Anyway, one of the trains is apparently one that Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid robbed. Huh.
- Here are the actual salt flats where it's just salt for 12,000 sq km! It's about a couple meters deep in some areas, but can be over 20 meters deep in others!
Other photos from the tour, which involved some lakes - like the Laguna Colarado (a red lake) and Laguna Verde (a green lake from the copper) - and the desert... oh and we ran into the same Downhill Madness bike group who were on a similar tour of Uyuni. Rich, the nurse, looked at my stitches to make sure my knee was healing properly.
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