Wrapping up the S.A. Adventure.....

Heartfelt apologies for not updating my blog earlier. I was just reminded by Michelle that some would think I am still "out there" so thanks, Michelle, for the nudge to close out this segment and plan the next. We did arrive home safe and mostly sound 2 weeks ago and immediately I was busy with everything gearing up and the fun of house-sitting with my two favourite canines, Lady and Tripp, while their humans are in Portugal and Spain. I would be totally remiss if I weren't to share the experience of our last few days in Buenos Aires, particularly our last day. Most of our last couple of days we spent doing last minute shopping, mailing (I mailed home 5kg of stuff I didn't want to weigh down my suitcase(s)and it actually arrived in a week) and ensuring that my final purchase in Buenos Aires was another piece of leather in the form of a great carry-on bag. This was much needed as original carry-on bag had to be checked!! It was our last night and day, however, that presented the most challenge. Having spent the afternoon before our travel day packing, organizing and otherwise 'puttering' our respective ways around the apartment we had discussed where to have our last night's dinner and all agreed that we should go to our little family-run restaurant downstairs from our apartment. We had been out for many great meals in Buenos Aires and might have chosen to try a new restaurant but thought that we would like to go to this spot where we had cultivated a rapport with the owner and our server and an incredible taste for their dulce de leche ice cream and flan. We all got to that packing point one reaches where nothing else can be done until morning and giggled once again through our very rickety, very old elevator ride to the street at about 8:30 p.m. This meant that the restaurant was still virtually empty, with the exception of a few folks on the upper level. Downstairs, we sat in our usual table mostly alone except for our server and the chef. At some point, Denise and I, who were facing the door and windows, noticed a young couple enter the restaurant and not far from us, sit at a low-slung couch and coffee table. The owner usually sat there drinking wine with his friends and it struck me as a peculiar spot to sit down for a meal and went back to our conversation. The couple left rather quickly apparently but no one noticed their departure. Not until much later when we went to pay our bill and Maggie, reaching for her bag, discovered it to be gone!! We looked everywhere around the table and it took some seconds for it to sink in that this couple must have lifted it and made their hasty exit. We had been uber-conscious everywhere we went of being vigilant about how we carried our bags, what we carried and so on. We had read the books, we'd heeded the warnings of locals and we had done it all right. But here we were in a place that felt like 'home' to us by this time and learned that the guard can't be let down, among other things. Actually that was just one of many lessons in this exercise. We had emptied our safe before going downstairs for dinner and had organized our handbags so we were ready to travel. That meant, for Maggie, that every credit card, government-issue cards (including passport), substantial cash $ in several currencies and various "other" cards (Aeroplan, etc) were all in this bag. Under every other circumstance she had kept this bag around her neck/shoulder as we knew this was best but being in the comfort of our own 'local' she slung it over her chairback. Actually, Denise had done the same but given her seat it was not as opportune for the thief to choose that one as we would have all seen him. Maggie had done everything as we are supposed to so she had copies of every credit card and her ID in her suitcase. Owing to this, she was able to get on my Skype and get them cancelled within about 15 mins and be on to the 24 hour emergency # at the Canadian Embassy who assured her she could get travel documents in time for our flight the next evening. What could have been a horrific nightmare ended up being only a pain in the butt because she had all of her vital information with her in a safe place. Everybody repeat after me I WILL KEEP A PHOTOCOPY OF ALL CREDIT CARDS AND IDENTIFICATION IN A SAFE PLACE WHEN I TRAVEL. Maggie actually dealt with it better than the rest of us and we spent an interesting next day with she and I making an early, rainy visit to the local constabulary to file an incident report as this was necessary to get new travel documents. They told us this happens all the time and what was a trauma for us was absolutely a daily occurrence for them. The English speaking attorney who helped Maggie with translation and walked us to a place to get passport pictures said it happened ALL the time. The afternoon was spent with the nice folks at the Canadian Consulate and, as promised, travel documents were in hand by 4:00, just in time to head to the airport. We had an absolutely fabulous trip! Chile is a country full of spectacular natural beauty, Uruguay was a place to return to and Argentina will definitely find me going back. I can see now how easy it is to travel to South America, how wonderfully friendly (for the most part :-) the locals are and will be looking forward to seeing the northern part of the continent as soon as it can be planned. I also want to be able to speak better Spanish when I go back there or anywhere (would even help in Arizona :-). Thank you for sharing all of this with me. The entire adventure was a blessing for me and I hope you have enjoyed it. BE VIGILANT wherever you are. Lots of love, Sally xoxo

Tango

In the words of the Bellamy Brothers "it's just a vertical expression of horizontal desire". It would seem that those who are not Portenos (natives of Buenos Aires) want us to believe that tango started as a men only event initiated on the ranches with the gauchos. Here in Buenos Aires it goes that the tango and modern Buenos Aires were born in the same place: the conventillos (tenement houses) of the port neighbourhood of La Boca in the late 19th century and eventually swept from the brothels and cabarets to the rest of the city. By the 1920s the dance had become respectable enough to fill the salons of the upper class in Argentina and abroad. Carlos Gardel made tango music popular in its own right in the 1930s and it is his legacy that we experienced last night La Esquinas Carlos Gardel. It was a dinner and show and none of us had very high expectations for dinner but we were excited to see the show. It far exceeded our expectations. Dinner was outstanding and we are still shaking our heads over how they managed to have a very good selection for 3 courses for dinner with about 500 people in the theatre. The dinner was as good as any we have had and we've had some great ones! We enjoyed every aspect of the show! The music and its two-four beat beg the body to MOVE and I believe that anyone who can sit quietly through a tango show must not possess a rhythmic gene. Today we will head back up to the Recoleta Artisanal Market in case there is something we have forgotten.....lol.....and head to Tortoni, another tango cafe for a late lunch and some more tango music before having a night at home for the Oscars. We are dismayed to think we have only a few days left for this amazing visit and plan to make the most of it. Trivia for you -- Tango so horrified Kaiser Wilhelm and Pope Pius X that they banned the dance...hmmmmm, maybe not so surprising ......xoxo

take 2

I just wanted to add a couple of still pictures if I can........

Iguazu Falls-good things can come from earthquakes

We have just returned from an overnight trip to Iguazu National Park which is a 12 hour drive and 1 1/2 hour flight (our mode) and I need to report that it is absolutely spectacular. Niagara Falls and Victoria Falls have their own beauty but this is a collection of approximately 275 separate waterfalls - in the rainy season there are as many as 350 - that plunge, with a deafening roar, more than 200 feet at a bend in the Iguazu River where the borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet. They stretch along 2.7 km of cliff-face. Dense, lush jungle surrounds the falls. Apparently, a pine tree here, with the tropical sun and omnipresent moisture, can grow at a rate that produces a towering tree in two decades instead of the seven it would take, say, at home. By the falls and along the roadside, rainbows and butterflies are everywhere set off against walls of red earth. The falls and the lands around them are protected by the National Parks of each country. Iguazu means "big water" and was the name given to it by the indigenous Guarani people but 'big' doesn't come close to describing this wall of water. Taller than Niagara, wider than Victoria, it truly is one of the most awe-inspiring sights I have ever seen. Everywhere, there are falls ranging from picturesque cascades to immense cataracts and this is what makes it so incredibly special. The flora and fauna that surround them are amazing and know no fear of humans so authorities are adamant that none be fed, of course, but they also are intrigued with humans, it seems. We would have small mammals following us along the catwalks, butterflies landing on our arms and even faces and birds flying to land right beside us, including some most beautiful specimens. What an experience! The four of us walked about a 5km, fairly flat route as soon as we arrived in order to see the "Devil's Throat", one of the most dramatic of the falls and did a train ride through the jungle to get to the trail. It was 35 degrees and of course, very humid so we were all tired but Denise and I decided that we must do the boat ride that goes under the falls as we had read in every guide book and first-hand that it was not to be missed. We bought our ticket at a central point in the park and I have no idea what we were thinking but when we asked the ticket seller "ok, what now?" we must have thought a car and driver would be arriving to take us to the dock.....who knows? His answer was "well, just follow the trail down to the lower circuit and follow the signs to the boat, it will take about an hour". To capture the image, you have to remember that I mentioned the 200 foot drop of the falls and that we were at the top needing to get to the bottom to get the boat. Well, we succeeded in doing that and had an absolutely amazing time in the boat. We actually have it all on a video the guys made for tourists to buy and it is quite something to see ourselves. THEN, we had to get back to the top in order to get back to the hotel!!!! Well, I am writing this so you know we survived and Denise is thinking it might have been tougher than surviving the Chilean earthquake last weekend. lol... Our first clue that it was going to be a tough go should have been the fact that the rest of the people in the boat were under 35!! It was glorious and we are proud of ourselves! We both agree that it's not something we need to do again tomorrow, however. We got up this morning and walked the rest of the upper circuit that we'd missed yesterday but that was only a leisurely couple of kms return albeit with higher temperature than yesterday. I am going to try to upload a short video and a picture and if I've picked the right video I think you will be able to see how close they let people get to the falls and also how low the railings are that separate people from water. Not anything like what we would see at home but it makes for a very dramatic experience. We will just have another movie night tonight in Buenos Aires and re-adjust. lol.............love to all, Sally xoxo

Buenos Aires Birthday..........

Thank you to everyone who has sent birthday greetings! I haven't been very good about keeping up my blog since we arrived in Buenos Aires as the routine has changed and I just don't seem to have found the 'sweet spot' for sitting down to it the way I had on the ship. The earthquake excitement had me somewhat discombobulated, as well. I shall try to make amends and will work on pictures tomorrow. Denise, Emily, Maggie and I did the hop on/hop off tour yesterday so with that and the other tour we took, we have seen each neighbourhood or 'barrio' of Buenos Aires and I reiterate, it is a most amazing city. Each neighbourhood has such a distinctively different flavour from the next so that whether riding or walking you seem to actually feel yourself transitioning to the next. In some cases it is obvious, such as in San Telmo, home of the tango (which originated with the gauchos, only men danced it) or in La Boca, where there will be tango dancers on the street inviting people to come to their milonga to tango or watch a show. In others, it is less dramatic such as the old European architectural influences of Recoleta (where we are) meeting the stunning embassy circles of Palermo. We had a funny experience today. If you recall, when I was last in Buenos Aires, I told the story of leather shopping in La Boca and how excited Maggie and I were to be coming back after watching Margaret's fun while purse shopping. Well, we have had a few days to do a lot of comparison shopping (more price comparison as the serious shopping hadn't begun yet)so when we went to La Boca this morning to show Denise and Emily all the leather wares you can imagine how disappointed we were to take a look and discover that not only were these bags over-priced but they weren't nearly the quality of some of the stores we'd already checked out. It was a fabulous area to experience and the girls treated me to an AMAZING birthday lunch at a restaurant called Patagonia Sur, one of the top 10 in Argentina but other than that, we decided La Boca was vastly over-rated and went downtown to Florida St. to do our shopping. Florida St. is a pedestrian only street full of leather/silver/clothing/restaurants and lots of people. It is very lively, to say the least. It is full of all of the typical North American chain stores but the Argentinian stores are the place to be. Because of the weakness of the peso against our $ all of the Argentinian products are fabulous value. Leather and silver are where it's at. So.....always one to help out any host country, we have begun the quest. Denise bought me the most amazing handbag today for my birthday. I hope to be carrying it around for my birthday trip for my 83rd! Maggie gave me a beautiful turtle pin that she had bought for me while we were in Chile. Emily gave me a lovely box of what we all thought was truffles but before anyone could take a bite she pointed out that they are candles. Very cute! They will all be lovely birthday mementos along with the incredible birthday memories. Best part of all is that this birthday marks 6 years cancer-free.........YAYYYYYYYY! We are all so tired from all of the walking (the heat has turned on again after several balmy days) and still full from lunch so we are sitting down to giggle through "It's Complicated" again and will pass on dinner...........hope everyone is well and safe.....love, Sally xoxo

In Argentina, not Chile today

I won't be posting much today except to let you all know that Maggie and I arrived in Buenos Aires on Wed. and it is a most amazing city and no quakes here. I expected Denise to arrive to join us today but unfortunately she is still in Santiago where she was to spend a day and a half and the earthquake struck! Last night at 4 a.m. she was wakened by the quake and evacuated from the hotel (Radisson Plaza where we had stayed overnight on Tuesday. We are trying to get her here but airport is closed, likely until Thursday, they tell her, so we are trying to find wheeled transport. Unfortunately,Santiago is 780 miles from Buenos Aires. Anyhow, she is safe although shaken and I am terribly worried but hope she is united with us soon. She and I, on our travels, are always planning for "grand adventures". I could have done with her not having this one without me. Sorry, don't mean to say I am missing her excitement but I am missing her and hope she is here soon. Although we have seen lots here, I'm just not in th mood to report on anything else at the moment. On the good news side, Maggie's cousin Emily arrived safely from Florida this morning and it is good to have her with us. Hopefully better news tomorrow..........lots of love, Sally

The Lake District, Chile

I have definitely fallen in love with Chile. From its incredible natural beauty to the open friendliness of its people it exceeds every thought I ever had of the country. I know I have gone on at length about the beauty of cruising in the Chilean archipelago but today I saw more of the countryside and it just keeps on getting lovelier. Pastoral scenes of rolling farmland, much of it dedicated to dairy cattle but also a lot of cash crops, put me in mind of the County. However, no sooner had I sat back to enjoy this scenery than we were climbing into the mountains to see the 2 volcanoes that are nearby, Osorno and Calbuco. As the morning was very overcast were were driving through cloud cover as we ascended and didn’t actually get to see the volcanoes until we were back on the ship in the late afternoon when the sun broke through. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful trip and our stop at Petrohue, the gateway to Rosales National Park which abuts Argentina, was beautiful with plenty of well-maintained trails and the time to do some exploring of the falls and rapids. Many of us chose to do some white water rafting but yours truly was more inclined towards enjoying the roar and the photo opportunities . This port, Puerto Montt, is the terminus for the continental portion of the Pan American highway that I mentioned earlier in the week. It stretches 16,000 miles from Alaska to the southern tip of Chiloe Island (right beside Puerto Montt). From here it crosses the Andes into Argentina ending finally in Ushuaia, Argentina which is where we travelled to the end of it last week. I was thinking today that even if one drove it in its entirety, through this Chilean portion, one would never be able to capture completely the beauty of this country. So much of the southern part of the country is taken up with the archipelago and the only way to experience it is by boat. I am blessed, blessed, blessed. Tomorrow is at sea, last day before our arrival in Valparaiso on Tuesday. From there we will go to spend the night in Santiago before heading to Buenos Aires on Wednesday. I will check in from Buenos Aires as we begin the Argentinean adventures……..and will be hoping the rains there have ended!! Love to all, Sally xoxo