As you can probably tell from the title of this blog, we have reached the promise land and it´s called Cordoba--finally. Because it´s Semana Santa, in addition to all of the backpackers traveling, it seems like everyone in Argentina is on vacation. This makes getting buses at rooms at the hostels all the more difficult. But let me back up a bit...
Sophie and I decided to leave Buenos Aires once and for all and continue our journey north. Our next stop was Puerto Iguazu home of the incredibly Iguazu falls. It was an 18 hour bus ride to get there and both our chairs were broken, plus the air conditioning was on full blast the entire time, but we made it. As I said before it is beautiful and tropical looking without all the humidity. And the falls are incredible. You can spend days visiting them, there´s just so much to see. But we only stayed one day. We met up with our friend Aviv at the falls and had a good time exploring the area and swimming in the water. I would hav liked to stay another day tovisit the falls form the Brazilian side, but we needed to get going, plus we couldn´t get visas to enter Brazil anyway. But we´ve heard that the Argentinian side is better anyway.
The next day we left to go to Cordoba, but when we got to the bus station, they informed us that there were no direct busses and they could only get us to a town near by called Santa Fe. They promised that we would find a bus from there to Cordoba. WRONG. When we got to Santa Fe the next morning at 6 am we found out that they didn´t have any buses to Cordoba available until the next day. We scrambled to get a hostel for the night and then wandered about Santa Fe a bit. Not much to see there and we were happy to leave. After checking out we still had to wait 3 hours in the bus station before our bus left. So we did. Finally we made it to Cordoba-5 hours later and made our way to the hostel. When we got there they informed us that they had only one bed left. They offered to call other hostels around town but they were all full. Just as we were beginning to panic the hostel told us that in fact they actually did have some beds available, I didn´t really understand what changed. So we luckily got some beds with our own private bathroom for pretty cheap, so that was really, really lucky. Our Israeli friends, who had arrived early that morning could only find a hostel that would let them set up their tents on the roof. And last night there was a thunder storm in Cordoba, so that sucks. Today it´s still raining so i didn´t really feel much like going outside. Basically just been hanging out in the hostel. Tomorrow, hopefully it will get nicer. At least it´s not hot. Very Seattle like.
Alright, people are waiting for the computer.
love,
Gabi
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Shout Out
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL!!!!! I KNOW ITS LATE BUT I DIDNT HAVE ACCESS TO E-MAIL BEFORE THIS DAY AND I COULDN{T FIND YOUR E-MAIL SO I HOPE YOU READ THIS.
in other news....Sophie and I are up in the north of Argentina in a small town called Puerto Iguazu. It{s a major tourist spot becuase it{s the nearest town to the famous Iguazu falls. You can definitely tell that we{re in the tropics now. The scenery is radically different and it{s HOTT. I{m typing on a weirdo keyboard, so that{s why I{m using the brackets instead of an apostrophe. I can{t seem to find the apostrophe anywhere and it{s driving me NUTS. Anyway. Went to go see Bob Dylan in Buenos Aires two nights ago. It was pretty sweet. What was even sweeter is that we were escorted by a pack of Israelis. And we should be meeting up with one of them here at the falls and maybe the rest of them later on in our trip.
And Happy St. Patricks day for all you Irish folk...basically just Taylor.
Of course we{re in the one town that has no bars, but Im sure we{ll find a way to celebrate.
And Stanley. If you{re reading this, you are a snitch because we were in Buenos Aires for the longest time hoping that you would e-mail us so that we could meet up. But now it{s too late. And we{ll never see you again.
Bye.
in other news....Sophie and I are up in the north of Argentina in a small town called Puerto Iguazu. It{s a major tourist spot becuase it{s the nearest town to the famous Iguazu falls. You can definitely tell that we{re in the tropics now. The scenery is radically different and it{s HOTT. I{m typing on a weirdo keyboard, so that{s why I{m using the brackets instead of an apostrophe. I can{t seem to find the apostrophe anywhere and it{s driving me NUTS. Anyway. Went to go see Bob Dylan in Buenos Aires two nights ago. It was pretty sweet. What was even sweeter is that we were escorted by a pack of Israelis. And we should be meeting up with one of them here at the falls and maybe the rest of them later on in our trip.
And Happy St. Patricks day for all you Irish folk...basically just Taylor.
Of course we{re in the one town that has no bars, but Im sure we{ll find a way to celebrate.
And Stanley. If you{re reading this, you are a snitch because we were in Buenos Aires for the longest time hoping that you would e-mail us so that we could meet up. But now it{s too late. And we{ll never see you again.
Bye.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Ten Minute Limit
Here we sit, in Rosario: Birthplace to Che Guevarra. Just got here, and the three hostels we tried to get rooms in were all booked up because its Semana Santa, when everyone else takes vacation time. Since our last post, we have taken a weekend trip to Uruguay via boat. Buquebus. We landed in Colonia which was just the cutest little place. Gabi thinks its a combination of Kirkland and downtown Edmonds. But with more mosquitoes. From there we bussed it to Montevideo. When we got there it was dark and loony. The hostel we stayed in was in a seemingly bad part of town and the music from the birthday party going on downstairs kept us up until the wee hours of the morning. We left the next day before we even got to explore the nice parts of the city or enjoy anything about it. Punta del Este was our next destination. Oh man, we hit the beach and soaked up some sun rays and some sun burns. We pranced in the waters of the Atlantic ocean. It was a ritzy resort town. Ofc ourse we met some fun people yada yada yada. At weekend´s end we went back to B.A. and holed up in a cool hostel called Alkemista. Our visa getting attempts were thwarted and now weré in Rosario. Gotta go! One minute left! Bye guys! We love you. Soph and Gab.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
atttagirl!
Since yesterday a few things have changed. The Israelis left us, but they were quickly replaced by a girl from Munich and a boy from South Carolina. Caro and Stanley, respectively. Seeing as how dinner and night life don´t really get going until 12ish, we hit the town with those two english speakers and didnt retire until 5 in the morning. Chickachickayah! We are getting alot better at whistling.
Oh yea, we visited Casa Rosada for a sec, and scuttled around the city microcentro. Today was spent with Caro on a walking tour of the richest part of town Recoleta. We went to the nicest ice cream shop ever and got cones... delicious cones. The cemetery there was all old rustic, yet highly decorated, mausoleums. Evita Peron´s body is there but we never found it. It rained and we were worn out from the long walk so we took a cab to a cutie little neighborhood called Palermo. it was about 6:30 and none of the restaurants were open. But we were starving so we stumbled across a new classy looking joint. It was very nice inside and the owner let us come in and sit for a spell while they got ready to open. Gabi had the first fish of the trip and Sophie had the first steak. All said, it was an authentic sort of dining experience.
We took the subway back to the hostel, which, even though we had only ridden it once, came naturally to us. We are pros. And now we are very very tired pros. Our plan is to take a boat to Colonia early tomorrow, then hop a bus to Montevideo and hit the beach.
sorry there aren´t more pictures, but it takes FOREVER to upload them onto the computer. we´ll try to put up as many as we can.
Oh yea, we visited Casa Rosada for a sec, and scuttled around the city microcentro. Today was spent with Caro on a walking tour of the richest part of town Recoleta. We went to the nicest ice cream shop ever and got cones... delicious cones. The cemetery there was all old rustic, yet highly decorated, mausoleums. Evita Peron´s body is there but we never found it. It rained and we were worn out from the long walk so we took a cab to a cutie little neighborhood called Palermo. it was about 6:30 and none of the restaurants were open. But we were starving so we stumbled across a new classy looking joint. It was very nice inside and the owner let us come in and sit for a spell while they got ready to open. Gabi had the first fish of the trip and Sophie had the first steak. All said, it was an authentic sort of dining experience.
We took the subway back to the hostel, which, even though we had only ridden it once, came naturally to us. We are pros. And now we are very very tired pros. Our plan is to take a boat to Colonia early tomorrow, then hop a bus to Montevideo and hit the beach.
sorry there aren´t more pictures, but it takes FOREVER to upload them onto the computer. we´ll try to put up as many as we can.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Numero Uno
Here We Are.
After a brief separation, Soph and Gab were reunited in Buenos Aires. Our hostel, BA Stop seemed like an oasis of sorts amidst a whirlwind of confusion. Basically, our first day was spent wandering about in search of nourishment and a sense of direction. Luckily, we found both. Our hostel is located in the middle of BA, surrounded by cafe/bar/restaurant units. Pretty central and easily accessible from the main street, Avenida 9 de Julio. The weather has been...diverse. From overcast to clear skies, drizzles to downpours, we never seem to be prepared. The one constant is the level of humidity (high). But we´re surviving. In fact, we´re doing swell.
First Night: we come to discover that out of the 10 beds in our dormitory room, 4 are occupied by Israeli men. Score. Gabi let´s it slip that she knows some Hebrew and they´re hooked. Like babies to their pacifiers. The next day (day 2) they invite us to join them on an excursion. They tell us that it is a hugely popular, very famous zoo where the animals are drugged to the point that humans are able to climb in their cage and have actual physical contact. At first we felt conflicted about joining them in what seemed to be a very unethical interaction between man and beast, but ultimately their Israeli charm won out. After three hours of walking/riding the wood-panelled subway/bussing we arrived at what appeared to be nothing more than an abandoned farm. Our first impression of the zoo suggested we would be venturing into a cageless pasture with a smorgasbord of animals from all walks of life mingling together. Ducks ran rampant, as did little dogs. But we were not alarmed. As we ventured further, the Israelis spotted the cages with the lions and tigers, which we were free to enter if we so desired. Soph and Gab decided to sit this one out--watch and learn, if you may. At first they were apprehensive about getting too close, but once the cameras came out, they were more than willing to strike a pose. It wasn´t until Soph and Gab came across a pen of baby tigers that their apprehension yielded to a girly kind of soft spot for cuddly furry creatures with playfulness in their hearts. Gabi even spewed a bottle of milk into her hand and allowed the baby tigers to lap at her fingertips. Upon questioning, she learned that the milk was not, in fact, full of drugs to keep the animals tame, but that they had been trained from an early age to respond to their trainers´ commands and to not harm a human being. The zoo was a hit. Afterwards, hopping onto an elephant or petting a grown lion, reminiscent of Mufasa, seemed like a piece of cake-- dirt of ya shouldas. After noticing that the only other zoo patrons were Israelis asking about the drug content of the milk, we came to realize that this "zoo" was most likely known amongst them as a place for great picture opportunities with wild animals, nothing more. Needless to say, the day had worn us down. After returning home in the same manner we had gone, food and drink were in order. We thought the day was through.. but we were mistaken. At around 1 AM, the same Israelis we had befriended and ventured with, invited us to join them in going to an exclusively Israeli club with a few of their friends. We danced until four in the morning, completely out of place with our Western moves. WHAT A DAY.
Things that we learned:
-Two heads are better than one.
-Half the people you´ll meet speak Hebrew.
-Don´t eat the mozzarella, or¨muzzarella¨. It ain´t the same...
-The bill doesn´t come until you signal for it
-Don´t go to bed before 1 AM
- Carry change!
Love you, miss you!
-S & G
After a brief separation, Soph and Gab were reunited in Buenos Aires. Our hostel, BA Stop seemed like an oasis of sorts amidst a whirlwind of confusion. Basically, our first day was spent wandering about in search of nourishment and a sense of direction. Luckily, we found both. Our hostel is located in the middle of BA, surrounded by cafe/bar/restaurant units. Pretty central and easily accessible from the main street, Avenida 9 de Julio. The weather has been...diverse. From overcast to clear skies, drizzles to downpours, we never seem to be prepared. The one constant is the level of humidity (high). But we´re surviving. In fact, we´re doing swell.
First Night: we come to discover that out of the 10 beds in our dormitory room, 4 are occupied by Israeli men. Score. Gabi let´s it slip that she knows some Hebrew and they´re hooked. Like babies to their pacifiers. The next day (day 2) they invite us to join them on an excursion. They tell us that it is a hugely popular, very famous zoo where the animals are drugged to the point that humans are able to climb in their cage and have actual physical contact. At first we felt conflicted about joining them in what seemed to be a very unethical interaction between man and beast, but ultimately their Israeli charm won out. After three hours of walking/riding the wood-panelled subway/bussing we arrived at what appeared to be nothing more than an abandoned farm. Our first impression of the zoo suggested we would be venturing into a cageless pasture with a smorgasbord of animals from all walks of life mingling together. Ducks ran rampant, as did little dogs. But we were not alarmed. As we ventured further, the Israelis spotted the cages with the lions and tigers, which we were free to enter if we so desired. Soph and Gab decided to sit this one out--watch and learn, if you may. At first they were apprehensive about getting too close, but once the cameras came out, they were more than willing to strike a pose. It wasn´t until Soph and Gab came across a pen of baby tigers that their apprehension yielded to a girly kind of soft spot for cuddly furry creatures with playfulness in their hearts. Gabi even spewed a bottle of milk into her hand and allowed the baby tigers to lap at her fingertips. Upon questioning, she learned that the milk was not, in fact, full of drugs to keep the animals tame, but that they had been trained from an early age to respond to their trainers´ commands and to not harm a human being. The zoo was a hit. Afterwards, hopping onto an elephant or petting a grown lion, reminiscent of Mufasa, seemed like a piece of cake-- dirt of ya shouldas. After noticing that the only other zoo patrons were Israelis asking about the drug content of the milk, we came to realize that this "zoo" was most likely known amongst them as a place for great picture opportunities with wild animals, nothing more. Needless to say, the day had worn us down. After returning home in the same manner we had gone, food and drink were in order. We thought the day was through.. but we were mistaken. At around 1 AM, the same Israelis we had befriended and ventured with, invited us to join them in going to an exclusively Israeli club with a few of their friends. We danced until four in the morning, completely out of place with our Western moves. WHAT A DAY.
Things that we learned:
-Two heads are better than one.
-Half the people you´ll meet speak Hebrew.
-Don´t eat the mozzarella, or¨muzzarella¨. It ain´t the same...
-The bill doesn´t come until you signal for it
-Don´t go to bed before 1 AM
- Carry change!
Love you, miss you!
-S & G
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