We're Leaving our Hearts...

San Francisco, CA USA

April 20, 2007
N 37°48.049
W 122°24.580

The past few days in San Francisco have gone by very quickly as we visited with family and friends, ran errands for the next phase of our trip and hit as many of our favorite haunts as possible. Due to a ticketing snafu we pushed our flight out one day, reluctantly at first, but it was really a blessing in disguise giving us more time to take care of our necessary tasks.

It was wonderful to see our family after being gone for a few months, and we were able to catch up on all of the family gossip. The biggest news is Joel’s wedding in November. We plan to return home briefly for the big event.

In between visiting with family and friends we ticked off the tasks on the list we created prior to leaving Argentina; the list keeps us on track and ensures we complete all of the tasks without rushing around on the final day to complete everything. I’m sure we’ll still be rushing around on the last day though—making the extra day even more vital.

We stayed with our friend Angela on Russian Hill. When we woke up the first morning to diffuse sunlight filling her living room, we looked out her bay windows and had to admit the views were definitely better than any other place we had stayed on our trip. Angela’s apartment has sweeping views of the bay from Alcatraz all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. The spotlight from Alcatraz makes a pass of her front room every 30 seconds; not enough to light up the apartment, but just enough to catch your attention now and then, reminding you it’s out there. A hotel with views like this is not in our budget going forward, so we’re enjoying wvery minute!

We definitely didn’t go hungry during our visit. We hit all the places we have been talking about for the past few weeks including Nick’s Crispy Tacos, Giordano Brothers, House, Slanted Door and Little Thai. We even managed to have a Sheboygan Brautwurst at AT&T Park during the Giants big win over the Cards.

We truly enjoyed our time in San Francisco, but are looking forward to New Zealand. The time spent with friends and family was worth it, but at the same time the most stressful part of our vacation to date. We wouldn’t change any of it though!

24x7x365:
We have managed to spend some time apart during our visit to San Francisco. I had a few appointments during the visit, as did Marc, allowing a few hours by ourselves here and there. The funny thing is I think we actually missed each other when we weren’t together. I am sure we will be back on overload in just a few days and Marc will just sit there and listen to me talk all day long!

Other Notes:
We want to pay special tribute to Paul, a North Beach local. Paul was one of the characters in “our” neighborhood who spent plenty of time drinking up and down Columbus Avenue. Paul appeared to be in his late 50’s or early 60’s, always wore a beret, a leather vest and seemed to always have a glass of wine or beer in his hand. He was a common fixture at the outside tables at Franchino’s and occasionally at Giordano Brothers. We sat on the patio at Giordano Brothers last year and talk to Paul for hours as we celebrated Paul’s last birthday. We bought him a couple beers while he told us about his art-work, odd jobs he lined up to meet his rent, and how the FBI was renting the third floor apartment that over looks the corner of Columbus and Grant. He explained we were probably being observed by Big Brother at that very moment.

We aren’t 100% sure what happened to Paul. The story we heard is some young, drunk guy (most likely part of the “bridge and tunnel” crowd) threw Paul into a table in front of Franchino’s. The young kid was arrested and Paul was sent to the hospital. Paul was later released, but those who knew him said he felt pretty horrible the next few days. Paul ended up dying three days later from the injuries he endured during the confrontation. He bled internally and the hospital didn’t catch it.

The person taking care of Paul’s estate came into Giordano Brothers Friday night to settle Paul's debt. It was explained Paul always paid off his tabs and his buddy was making sure he held good to Paul’s honesty. The service will be held on Sunday. We will be on our way to New Zealand, but we hope Paul rests in peace and looks us up in his next life. The neighborhood was more colorful with Paul in it—he will be missed.

South America Wrap-up...

Summary:

South America is a true gem that still seems to be discounted by US travelers due to political unrest and rumored violence in several countries. Yes, some countries are not as safe as others; however, you are just as safe exploring Chile and Argentina as you are walking through the streets of New York City, Los Angeles or San Francisco.

Flights to Buenos Aires or Santiago are the same price as to Europe and the flight time is nearly equal. But don’t forget, when you head south, the prices are more reasonable especially with the very weak dollar. If you’re coming from the Pacific Time Zone there’s only a four or five hour time differential; thus, making the adjustment to local time much easier. Also, going south of the equator is a perfect way to escape the cold winter days and find a little sun since it is summertime in the Southern Hemisphere.

The National Parks in South America are pristine and rival the National Parks in the States. The majority of the parks are well organized and cater to the tourists—especially those who want to trek.

This trip, combined with our past positive experiences to Central America, ranks as one of our favorite destinations. We’re positive we’ll be back and have more adventures to South America in the future.

Top Sites in South America:

Torres del Paine National Park, Chile—spectacular scenery throughout the park reminiscent of Yosemite National Park and Emigrant Wilderness. However, Torres brings sites such as the Paines and Glaciers that top anything in California, including Half Dome. Puerto Natales, the staging town for the park, is a great place to let your body recover after the beating it takes after trekking and the food is better than anywhere else in Chile, especially the pizza at Mesita’s.

Iguazu Falls National Park, Argentina—mind blowing waterfalls stretching for over 2 ½ miles between Argentina and Brazil. We visited the pristine Argentina portion of the falls and did not walk away disappointed!

Nahuel Huapi National Park/Lakes District, Argentina—near Bariloche, this area parallels Lake Tahoe for natural beauty. The town of Bariloche itself overlooks the beautiful, crystal blue lake. The town has two seasons—one for skiers, one for sun seekers.

Isla Magdalena, Chile—the island, in the Straight of Magellan, where humans are visitors and the penguins are the residents. It is well worth the one hour trip across the Strait (each way) to see the 60,000 pairs of penguins.

Top Meals in South America:

Montanita, Ecuador. Ceviche on the beach from one of the beach vendors.

Montanita, Ecuador. Restaurant next door to Casa del Sol. Peruvian chef cooking up tasty dishes like trout stuffed with shrimp and crab, fresh Dorado, and other South America inspired dishes with fresh ingredients.

Guayquil, Ecuador. El Toro Asado. Serving up plates of local specialties such as grilled chicken, beef, or pork with menestra which includes lentils or beans and rice. We shared a plate at lunch that was so good; we came back for dinner.

Punta Arenas, Chile. Masitas Sandwiches and Bakery had the best empanadas in Chile; possibly the best we had in South America. A single empanada in Chile can be a meal especially with the chunks of beef, egg and green olives like those at Masitas. Watch out for the pits!

Puerto Natales, Chile. Mesita Grande Pizzeria. Superb pizza with fresh, local ingredients cooked in a brick oven with a crispy thin-crust with a consistency similar to A16 or Pizzeria Delfina.

Bariloche, Argentina. El Boliche de Alberto is possibly the best parrilla in all of Argentina. If you think you have had a good steak, think again…

Bariloche & El Bolson, Argentina. Jauja. (Ice Cream) This is unarguably the best ice cream in Argentina with a large selection of flavors including our favorites such as Banana Split, Dulce de Leche, Almendras and Coco.

El Bolson, Argentina. Cerro Lindo. This place serves excellent Patagonian fare with the freshest ingredients possible. We tried the beef and the lamb, both delicate, tasty and worth ordering.

Mar del Plata, Argentina. Dena-Ona. A small and out of the way asador. The fresh meat includes lamb, pork and, of course, beef which are slowly grilled before your eyes. We had the pork and it flaked off the bone—really top-notch.

Buenos Aires, Argentina. Biwon. The place was full of Korean locals on a Monday night and is a welcome break from typical Argentinean food.

Buenos Aires, Argentina. Green Bamboo. Reservations are required at this quirky Vietnamese restaurant. Perfectly situated on a corner in trendy Palermo SOHO, it’s decorated with bobble head tigers, cats with moving arms and Asian lava lamps.

Buenos Aires, Argentina. Sudestada. The cuisine at this Asian fusion restaurant stretches from Vietnamese, Thai and Indian. Don’t hesitate to ask the chef in the open kitchen to “spice it up”—they know what to do with chili peppers.

Best Experience:

Torres del Paine goes down as the single best experience in South America. The park, with all of its elements (snow, rain, sleet, high winds and hail) was truly challenging mentally and physically, but the beauty of the park and the spectacular sites made every single ache and pain worth it during the 8 days we spent in the park.


Don’t Miss these Towns:

Montanita, Ecuador—lather up with sunscreen before hitting the beach of this cool little hippy/surf town on the coast of Ecuador. The waves are killer during the day for surfing and the town is perfect for partying at night. The white sand beach is very comfortable to lounge around during the day with bathtub warm, water only a few feet away. Numerous vendors on the beach are always there for anything you might need—umbrella, beer, ceviche, and, of course, helado.

Puerto Natales, Chile—low-key town where trekking enthusiasts prepare for, or recover from, Torres del Paine National Park. This little town has some of the best food in Chile (which isn’t saying much) including some vegetarian options.

Mendoza, Argentina—a relaxing small town where you can sample numerous Malbec wines while in perfect proximity to explore the Andes. Mendoza has some descent restaurants to grab a steak and toss back a bottle of Malbec.

El Bolson, Argentina—this quaint little town is nestled in a canyon surrounded by magnificent mountains in the Lake District. It has some great microbrews that are a nice break from Malbec. The proximity to the mountains allows for day hikes and other natural activities. Best of all, there’s a Jauja ice-cream shop!

Buenos Aires, Argentina—yes, this is a large international, growing metropolitan city, but it is really a great place to get acquainted with Argentinean culture. It is rich with history and Argentinean tradition such as Tango. The buildings, many of which are currently being renovated, have a noticeable European influence. Some people say Buenos Aires is a European city that just happens to be in South America.

Not Worth the Stop :

Guayquil, Ecuador—do not stop here unless absolutely necessary. The poverty stricken city is not very safe to walk around at night; the city center doesn’t have any real attractions, except for pollution mixed with humidity. If you do stop here, go to El Toro Asado listed above for an authentic Ecuadorian meal.

Valparaiso, Chile—this is Chile’s most important seaport, and it is just that, a seaport, comparable to Oakland, CA. The ascensors, or hillside train carts, are worth a ride if you make it to this city for a day. Valparaiso is located 120 KM northwest of the capital city of Santiago.

Puerto Montt, Chile—As you walk around this small port town you can feel an element of crime, it’s not scary, but it always keeps you on your toes. There aren’t a lot of attractions in Puerto Montt itself, but the surrounding areas are nice especially Puerto Varas. It is a great stop off point to see Chiloe Island for a day or two.

Bahia Blanca, Argentina—the only reason for stopping at this mid-sized town, slightly inland in the Southern Pampas region of Argentina, is to break up the bus ride from Bariloche.

Best Cervecerias (Beer):

El Bolson, Argentina. Cerveceria El Bolson. Several excellent microbrews on tap; a sampler platter is available if you can’t decide which one to order.

El Bolson, Argentina. Cerveceria Kelly. Located at the opposite side of the trail-head for Camp Hue Nain, just over the bridge. Kelly sells the beer out of his house in returnable bottles—you just have to hope he's home.

Colonial Suiza, Argentina. Cerveceria Gilbert. Freshly brewed beer with a three month shelf life is sold throughout the little town of “Little Suzy.”

Mar del Plata & Buenos Aires, Argentina. Antares. We preferred the low-key, relaxed location in Mar del Plata to the one in hopping Buenos Aires, but regardless of which one you go to… get there early, they are packed by 8:30 PM.

Best Lodging:
Note: These are places we personally stayed. All prices are estimates at the time of our visit and are displayed in USD.

Quito, Ecuador. Hostal Charles Darwin. We absolutely loved this comfortable place in Quito, our first stop on our South America journey. The rooms were clean with a private bath, a book exchange, and a breakfast with either fresh fruit or eggs. The owner speaks English. Price: Around $35/night, includes breakfast.

Puerto Natales, Chile. Erratic Rock 2. There are two Erratic Rocks in Puerto Natales. The original one, Erratic Rock, focuses on backpackers and hosts nightly events to prepare trekkers for the brutal conditions in Torres del Paine. Erratic Rock 2 is more of a couple’s joint with private bathrooms and double beds. The owners are very accommodating due to their clientele—backpackers/couples. They will even serve breakfast in your room if you think you might not be up in time (just let them know the night before). Both locations have English speaking staff. Price: $50/night, includes breakfast.

El Bolson, Argentina. La Posada de Hamelin. This charming little, four room, place in El Bolson has very comfortable rooms with all kinds of little shelves and storage places. The warm and accommodating owners make you feel like their house is yours. Price: $33/night, no breakfast.

Buenos Aires, Argentina. One Bedroom Apartment from Alberto Sona. We were delighted to have a place to cook after being on the road for 2 months. Alberto and his wife Sonia have a few places they rent out short term to travelers. The rates are very reasonable, the places are clean and the experience of being in an apartment makes you feel more like a local than a tourist. The average price per night is around $40, excellent for Buenos Aires. Interested? Contact Sonia at sonia0426@yahoo.com.ar.

Bahia Blanca, Argentina. Hotel Argos. If you do stop in Bahia Blanca, this is a great place to stay. The staff is very friendly and really goes above and beyond to make your stay comfortable. Price: $60/night, includes breakfast. This is listed as a four star hotel.

Things We Take for Granted:

1. Flushing toilet paper down the toilet
2. Paper napkins instead of waxed-paper
3. Stop signs and other means of traffic control
4. Ice
5. Tap water—not only for drinking, but for brushing your teeth too.
6. Black pepper. This is completely non-existent in Chile. It is hard to come by in Argentina, but some places do have it if you ask.
7. Newspapers, especially the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle!
8. Enjoying the scenery while walking down sidewalks instead of dodging the various piles of dog poop!
9. Wearing perfume instead of DEET!
10. Bandwidth! You don't understand how painful it is having navigate with only 124k/sec.

Miscellaneous Items:

Ecuador uses the US Dollar as their currency since their economy was near collapse a few years ago. It really helps to have bills of all denominations, especially $20 and below. We brought $300 in fives and tens and it saved us a few headaches.

Any time you visit another country it’s important to learn at least a few words in the local language to prepare yourself for arrival. They speak Spanish in South America and many don’t speak any English. Dust off your high school or college Spanish book and do a quick review—it will be worth it!

Most of the grocery stores in Chile and Argentina don’t have scales at the checkout counters for fruits, vegetables and bread. To avoid confusion during checkout make sure to get these items weighed before heading to the front to pay for your goods. There is typically someone near a scale in the produce section and the bakery, but sometimes you have to hunt them down.

Argentina’s ATMs were a big challenge for us on several occasions. To avoid frustration, look for banks with the “Link” network and get the maximum out every time, $1050 pesos. This maximum has nothing to do with the limit placed by your bank, but the limit the “Link” network puts on its users. Avoid getting money on the weekends when ATMs are typically out of currency all together. Don’t plan on paying with plastic, not everyone takes it, especially outside of Buenos Aires.

Women—there’s a very limited selection of tampons, if any, in South America. If you like a special brand besides OB, bring them from home.

Siesta is a very real concept in most areas outside of the capital cities. Retail businesses close between 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM and restaurants usually close at 3:00 PM and re-open for dinner. It takes a few days to get use to this concept, but after you understand and plan around it…it isn’t a big deal.

Water purification: We bought Pristine water purification treatment to treat our entire water supply. This proved invaluable for both economical and environmental reasons. We saved several hundred dollars by not buying plastic bottles of water everywhere we went and, at the same time, we prevented hundreds of plastic bottles from going into landfills to sit forever.

We mentioned Nalgene bottles in the Torres del Paine wrap-up, but I want to discuss how invaluable these bottles were during our trip. We brought four bottles that we used daily; treating local water with Pristine for potable drinking water, storage for breakable items such as sunglasses, storage for treats such as trail mix and a warm-up to our sleeping bag at night by placing boiling hot water in our bottles. These bottles are well worth the investment!

"Home" Sweet "Home"...

San Francisco, CA USA

April 16, 2007

N 37°48.049
W 122°24.580

We popped out of the Montgomery Street BART station in San Francisco right around 10:00 AM local time after being on a flight for close to 16 hours. Luckily, we lived in luxury for budget travelers on the trip home; we were able to upgrade to business class where the seats lean back almost 135 degrees allowing us to get some much needed sleep during the long flight. We even grabbed a few more hours on the way from Dallas to San Francisco.

Feeling as fresh as possible we exited BART, knowing our way without the guidance of a map, and made our way directly to Kearny Street to grab a bus. The 30 Stockton, my “favorite” bus line in San Francisco, pulled up and was headed in our direction. As are all 30 Stocktons, it was standing-room-only with people headed to Chinatown to do their daily shopping—at least in this direction we didn’t have the smell of hot Chinese food and live fish, we were only left with the fragrance of mothballs, halitosis and sweat permeating the bus.

We stood on the very crowded bus with our big packs on our back; willing to move towards the back of the bus that was practically empty, but unable to get there since others weren’t cooperating. Oh well, we thought… this was the last thing standing between us and our first cup of coffee at Café Trieste.

Café Trieste was actually our second stop after dropping off our backpacks in the garage of our building. Since our place is being rented right now, we weren’t able to actually go into the unit. We felt homeless as we hid in the back of the garage, quickly putting on fresh clothes and a new layer of deodorant before making our familiar walk down the hill to Trieste.

We were instantly greeted with big hugs by our friend Paul as soon as we walked in the door of Trieste. Moments later our buddy Mike T. walked in the door. We called Mike as we got off the bus and he knew exactly where to meet us. Since the weather in the City was perfect, we sat outside and drank our first Africano (a double shot of espresso with steamed milk) in over 80 days, and watched the people outside—some familiar faces, others new. We didn’t see any of the known characters from “All Over Coffee” like Earl, Mo or Mark with the dogs, but there was plenty of neighborhood personality to keep us entertained for a few hours while we sipped our drinks.

The group at the table on the sidewalk next to us must have had a “prescription” for marijuana. One of the guys had a very convenient crochet necklace for his pipe and a separate necklace for his lighter. At one point they pulled out some bud so strong, we could smell it from 10 feet away—they weren’t passing any our way though!

After we finished our first Africano a man wearing a white, filthy, tattered dress shirt, a pair of shorts, a thick black leather dog collar on his ankle, and a grimy pair of socks that only covered his toes staggered by us. He was mumbling incoherently under his breath, and had obviously been “enjoying” a substance much stronger than the green-bud being shared at the table next to us. We saw our “new friend” a bit later, having a conversation with the leaves as he wandered through Washington Square. He appeared a bit more haggard and was without his fashionable leather anklet—who knows what happend to it in such a short time.

Marc, Mike and I smiled and looked at each other and almost in unison said… “Welcome home!”

Good-bye South America...

Buenos Aires, Argentina

April 15, 2007
S 34°35.045
W 058°24.500

Goodbye South America. We’re only hours away from boarding our flight to Dallas where we transfer for our flight to San Francisco. Our final day was spent checking out the antiques in San Telmo, grabbing brunch and seeing a great Tango show—another "must-do" in Buenos Aires.

South America was chocked full of fun and exciting adventures. We had a wonderful time and will remember it fondly.

Please look for the widely anticipated South American wrap-up in the next few days. The SA wrap-up will feature some of the best meals, lodging, sites, cities, things we take for granted, and other interesting tidbits of information.

Our time in San Francisco will go by very quickly before we head to New Zealand; so if we don’t get a chance to see you please understand. We’re excited about the time we’ll be spending in NZ since Shelby and Dustin Finch are meeting us there. They’ll be traveling with us for about 3 weeks, so we will give us a little break from each other and allow Shelby and me to talk and talk and talk and talk (in Marc’s words).

What a Difference a Day Makes...

Buenos Aires, Argentina

April 12, 2007
S 34°35.045
W 058°24.500

The clap of thunder and brilliant flashes from lightening woke us in the middle of the night. The beautiful day we had at Iguazu Falls was now being washed away by a tropical thunderstorm. It continued to rain as we headed out to find our morning coffee and never ceased as we boarded our flight back to Buenos Aires. What a difference a day can make…

Iguazu Falls wouldn’t have been the same in the rain—no butterflies fluttering through the forest, no iridescent rainbows in the mist, no brilliantly intense sun, and definitely not as many photo opportunities. We felt very fortunate for the great day we had; having timed our visit perfectly with the weather, unlike our visit to Torres del Paine… we deserved a break!

Safely back in our apartment in Buenos Aires, we’re preparing for our trip back through San Francisco. We’ll spend the majority of Friday cleaning our apartment and packing. We meet the owner of the apartment on Saturday morning at 10 AM for a final inspection, and head out for one free night at the swanky Buenos Aires Marriott (thank goodness for Marriott Rewards) before our long flight home.

Other notes: I have officially grown tired of Argentinean food. I can not bare another piece of grilled meat, dish of pasta, or pancetta pizza with canned mushrooms. Buenos Aires does offer more variety than many of the small towns we’ve passed through, but even the nice restaurants have a menu primarily of meat. Our favorite meals have been at the Asian restaurants—Green Bamboo (Vietnamese), Sudestada (Asian fusion) and Biwon (Korean); however, most of these places are pretty pricey and out of our budget for nightly meals. As Marc said, “we’re just spoiled by the diversity of food living in San Francisco, none of the restaurants we’ve visited would even make Michael Bauer’s Top 100”… I don’t necessarily agree with him since the above mentioned restaurants were top notch. I think Michael would balk at the décor in Green Bamboo, for example, or criticize the place settings, but overall he would rate the food for what it is… excellent.

We created a list of restaurants to visit during our quick visit “home.” I’m not sure we’ll hit them all, but we’ll try. The list includes: Little Thai, Giordano Brothers, Nick’s Crispy Tacos and a few others (none of these are on the Top 100 though). One thing is for sure…we will not be going to a steak house on our visit to SF!

Shock and Awe...

Iguazu Falls, Argentina

April 11, 2007
S 25°41.250
W 054°26.700

We took the 9:00 AM bus from Puerto Iguazu to Iguazu National Park. We wanted to maximize our time in the park to ensure we saw all of the great sites including the Garganta del Diablo, or Devil’s Throat, which we saved for the grand finale. The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky and the temperature at departure was a balmy 80F.

We entered the lush, green park, in the middle of the rainforest we saw from the plane yesterday, and made our way down a well marked trail (appropriately named Green Trail). At the end of the Green Trail two routes lead tourists down different paths (Upper & Lower Circuits) to see the main show, THE WATERFALLS. We opted to hit the Upper Circuit first since it was closer and we were anxious to catch our first glimpse of the falls.

First, I should mention we have heard a lot of mind blowing stories about the glory of Iguazu Falls from other travelers during our travels, and everyone describes them as a “must-do” in South America. We always planned to visit the Falls on this trip, but kept our expectations low to avoid potential disappointment… and to make the overall experience of seeing The Falls truly our own. We’re not waterfall “experts” by any respect; we’ve never seen Niagara Falls or any of the other “big boys.” Our only real experiences are the summers we’ve spent in Yosemite where numerous falls are calming to the soul and spectacular in their own right.

With that said, our first views of Iguazu can be described as Shock and Awe. It is very difficult to express the gargantuan beauty that stood before us at our first lookout point. Yes, we expected a big, beautiful waterfall; however, nothing could have prepared us for the massive amount of water aggressively pouring over the numerous cliffs stretching across the horizon for at least a mile. The greenery of the rainforest intertwined with the white water created a perfect marriage; symbolized by the rainbows arching across the emerald pools at the base of the falls.

As we moved from viewpoint to viewpoint we were able to see more falls from different angles and even peer across to the Brazilian side—which didn’t look nearly as exciting. We continued to weave our way along the catwalks set-up through the forest for several hours, passing small swarms of butterflies soaking up the sunny weather and even catching a glimpse of a toucan quietly eating his lunch above our heads.

We jumped on a small train, specially built for transporting tourists through the national park, and took a twenty minute ride along the rails to the staging area for the grand finale, Garganta del Diablo. The entire park had already far exceeded our expectations, what could possibly be next?

At the “train depot” we could see approximately 400 M of catwalk stretching across Rio Iguazu towards the falls. As we made our way across the river, we could see the current quickly being drawn to one spot, the Devil’s Throat. The immense volume of water poured down with such force it looked like a massive caldron of boiling water; mist and steam filling the air. There were rainbows everywhere; you literally needed to turn in a circle, wiping mist from your eyes, to take in the phenomenal site! The sheer drop-off, the intensity and violence, has been compared to what the early European sailors imagined the edge of the flat earth to be like—a perfect assessment.

Overall, the day was absolutely perfect in terms of weather, scenery and, of course, company. Iguazu Falls should be on any South America itinerary and rates number two on our list of favorite sites in South America. (Look for the entire list coming out with the South America Wrap-up next week.)

A Welcomed Change of Scenery...

Iguazu Falls, Argentina

April 10, 2007
S 25°41.250
W 054°26.700

The plane touched down at Iguazu International Airport right around noon. As we were landing we looked out the window and all we could see was rainforest for miles—we were out of the city! As we stepped off the plane we could see thousands of butterflies fluttering outside on the tarmac; their colors so vividly fluorescent. The airport was surrounded by lush trees; the terminal itself constructed of red bricks, perfectly blending with the red-clay soil and the beautiful surroundings.

We made tracks straight through the terminal, bypassing the luggage carousel since we didn’t check anything, and waited for the bus to town. The weather outside was a little humid and in the high 80’s, warmer than BA, but a welcome change from the low 70’s over the last few days. As we waited for the bus we got a much closer look at the different butterflies; the colors were even more brilliant close-up, fluorescent blue, green, yellow and red. We took a deep breath of fresh, steamy, air, pleased to be out of Buenos Aires for a few days and closer to nature.

The bus finally arrived (really a minivan) and we were the only two passengers. The route from the airport was a paved road lined on both sides with green, luscious trees. We saw more butterflies as we made the trip; unfortunately several of them saw their ultimate demise as they crashed into the windshield of the van. After several kilometers we turned off of the paved road onto a cobblestone street in the town of Iguazu. The van made a few more turns before dropping us off right in front of Hotel Lilian.

We quickly headed out into the streets of our new town; ready to explore something new. We simply wandered for awhile, trying to get our bearings before finding a little road that twisted down to Rio Iguazu and the port. Iguazu Falls is located in the North-East corner of Argentina and borders Paraguay and Brazil. There are different attractions associated with the falls in each country, but the serious debates occur between those who visit the Argentina side versus the Brazil side. We will only visit the Argentina side since the Brazilian government makes US citizens pay $100 USD for a Visa—not really worth it for a day.

We relaxed at a little Hamburguesería overlooking the river, simply enjoying the scenery of the Rio Iguazu. An occasional motor boat would zip by heading back from Paraguay. The customs office was a stones throw from where we were sitting, monitoring the boats going in and out of the port, ensuring no laws were being broken. The forest surrounded us as we shared a hamburger and enjoyed a couple 750ml bottles of ice-cold, of all things, Budweiser.

As we talked at our table, over looking the river, we agreed this was a perfect way to end our time in South America. The natural beauty and the numerous parks are the main attractions down here—the great cities such as BA and Bariloche are just an added bonus!

Just a Few More Must-Dos...

Buenos Aires (Palermo District), Argentina

April 9, 2007
S 34°35.045
W 058°24.500

Since we only have a few more days left in Buenos Aires, we’re trying to get through our “list of must-dos.” Today we hit a “must-do” on the list, the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, or MALBA for short. The museum houses modern art in Buenos Aires, showcasing a few special shows and even has a cinema which shows art-house films.

We were lucky enough to see two special features at the museum. The first one, David LaChapelle, made a name for himself at a young age working with Andy Warhol. Mr. LaChapelle has photographed numerous famous people, some of which were on display in his exhibit Heaven to Hell, including Angelina Jolie, Madonna, Drew Barrymore, Pamela Anderson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Courtney Love. The exhibit was definitely our favorite in the museum.

The other special exhibit was Marta Minujin, Los meses del ano, or months of the year. These were large (12-15 ft tall) metal sculptures, depicting different human forms; one for each month of the year. Six forms were on display outdoors on a shady, brick balcony on the second floor of the museum; illustrating they can endure the weather of any month too. I immediately thought of my Uncle Del, an artist that works in metal, as soon as I saw the sculptures. I knew Uncle Del would really appreciate Minujin’s work as well as the LaChapelle’s pictures of Pamela Anderson… and of course the rest of the art in the museum!

We have a few more things to check-off on our list of “must-dos” in Buenos Aires, but the remainder will have to wait a few days. We leave for Iguazu Falls on Tuesday morning and return on Thursday. It’s crazy how quickly the past 2 ½ months have gone by for us. We’ll be back in San Francisco this time next week preparing for our next phase of the ATW trip—New Zealand.

Happy Easter!

Buenos Aires (Palermo District), Argentina

April 8, 2007
S 34°35.045
W 058°24.500

Happy Easter! We had a nice little Easter brunch in our apartment before heading out to explore more of the city. During the weekends many of the public squares in Buenos Aires are filled with merchants selling all kinds of jewelry, leather goods, mate gourds, and other trinkets.

Well, I should tell the whole story…we decided to go to Recoleta after taking a detour on our way to the San Telmo district. San Telmo hosts an antique fair every weekend with Tango in the square; we thought we could get a twofer. San Telmo is at the complete opposite side of the city from the Palermo and we planned on walking there—that is how we get everywhere, not because we don’t want to take public transportation or a cab, but because it helps us get our exercise and allows us to really see the city at the same time.

We walked for about an hour when we found a cute little park and decided to take a quick break. We walked through the gates and quickly realized it was the same cute park we were in yesterday; a park that is really only fifteen minutes from our apartment. I decided to take a different road, not realizing it took us out of the way before it looped back. We were still at least 6 KM away from San Telmo. That is when we altered our plan and decided to go to Recoleta instead. We’ll go to San Telmo next weekend before we fly home and when we are staying closer to the area; our original plan before I tried to deviate today.

The Recoleta fair was happening even though it was Easter Sunday. There were plenty of tourists outside in the sidewalk cafes, in the park and walking through the art faire. The Hare Krishnas were out dancing; working up a sweat before sneaking off to get some ice cream at Freddos, one of the famous local ice cream joints. We sat on the lawn of the square, enjoyed the sun, and shared some mate before wandering back to our place—no shortcuts this time!

We missed coloring and hiding Easter eggs with all the kids in Hughson America, being with family, and playing the traditional Armenian egg-cracking game, but we had a nice day wandering around BA and enjoying the sun.

24x7x365: We haven’t given an update about us for a week or so… things are still going well. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to enroll in Spanish classes due to the numerous Argentinean holidays last week. I figured four classes wouldn’t really improve my Spanish, especially since I won’t use the language again until Spain. We plan on getting an apartment in Barcelona in October/November and I’ll definitely enroll in classes in advance. Needless to say, Marc and I have been together continuously for the entire trip, except for the fifteen minutes I went out today to buy a phone card! Yes, it was really the first time one of us has gone out without the other. We still love each other, so that is good and I am sure we’ll get a small (and welcome) break in San Francisco next week.

Other Notes: The City of Buenos Aires seems to be doing a great job renovating their parks; however, they decided to renovate nearly all of their parks at one time. We like seeing the money going into the city. But from a tourist’s (and Project Manager’s) perspective they should try finishing one project before starting another and develop a repeatable process.

Also, we’re not convinced there’s enough money budgeted for all of these public works projects. There are signs at each park, or building renovation, stating the allocated funds for the project, but some of the dollars and the ambitions of the project seem a little out of whack. We’re not sure how the local government can accurately estimate the cost of these projects when it appears it has been at least 30 years since a renovation of this scale has occurred. We just hope they have enough money to complete all of these projects. I guess we’ll find out during our next visit to BA.

Google Analytics Update: We’re continuing to monitor Google Analytics on a regular basis. We are happy to announce we have had visitors from across Europe, China, Australia and, or course, the United States. The majority of our hits this week, 33 out of 206, came from Madera, CA. We believe some of these hits are coming from Grandma Heckman who lives near-by in Selma, but we want to give a shout-out to the rest of our fans in Madera, CA! Another interesting note, which is to be expected, 66% of our hits are from people returning visitors. We hope you are enjoying our trip as much as us. Thanks for checking in and please let us know your thoughts.

Running with the Ponies!

Buenos Aires (Palermo District), Argentina

April 7, 2007
S 34°35.045
W 058°24.500

After a few failed attempts to watch the ponies run at the local horse track, today we were finally successful. The horse track, Hipodromo Argentino, is located in our neighborhood, Palermo, about 3 KM from our apartment. Both of us really enjoy watching the ponies, something we do every year on Thanksgiving which also happens to be our anniversary… according to Marc. For the record, we got married on 28 November 2002 which was Thanksgiving Day that year. Thus, Marc considers Thanksgiving to be our anniversary… I like to celebrate both. J

We arrived at the track a little over an hour before the first race, grabbed a race program and started studying like crazy before we placed our first bet. Deciphering the program was our first challenge especially since programs in English don’t always make sense, but we had the extra challenge of translating the program from Spanish. The first few races were a little tough since we didn’t know the jockeys (Russell Baze doesn’t have any relatives in Argentina) or the feel of the track, so needless to say we lost our first few races.

We hit a low on race three…we decided to go for the long-shot with 20:1 odds when we placed the bet. However, at post-time the odds on our long-shot increased to 110:1. The horse didn’t totally suck based on past performance, but at this point we were just hoping he’d finish. On the bright side, since we bet $6 to win, we figured we would clean up on this one race and head out to a really nice dinner giving. Our horse, XIXALIZCO, had a different plan and seemingly decided to stop for a meal before sauntering to the finish line—he finished dead last and at least 30 cuerpos, or body lengths, behind the winner.

We decided this was our last attempt at a quick win and hit the racing form hard to make realistic picks. We got into the swing of things by the fourth race where we hit the First Place and Second Place horses. And we just kept rolling… at times picking the horses based on their names, like Strong Princess, who came in second for us; other times based upon the winning jockey.

The premier race of the afternoon, Race 7, had twelve horses to choose from. We went back and forth and we each finally picked one horse. When our horses crossed the finish line we had a 1st Place and 3rd Place showing. Thank goodness we had money across the board (Win, Place & Show). Our winnings paid for our next race and even allowed us to pocket $17.

The whole day was a lot of fun, sitting outside enjoying the sun, mixing in with the locals and doing something we really enjoy, watching the ponies. The 2400 meter racetrack was absolutely beautiful. Umbrella covered wooden tables were placed “track side” on a lush green lawn, backed by a shady grandstand and a beautiful clubhouse. The only disappointing feature of the track, which we got over as soon as the ponies started to run, was they didn’t sell beer. An ice-cold beer on a hot day while watching the ponies just makes sense, crazy… oh well, I am sure we will have plenty of other opportunities for beer.

Other notes: Since it is now April, baseball season is in full swing in the United States. We are lucky enough to catch a few games on ESPN in our apartment, but we haven’t been able to see our beloved San Francisco Giants play a single game. We had high hopes for the Giants this year since they paid some ridiculous amount ($10M/year) for their new star pitcher, Barry Zito. We attempt to follow the Giants online by getting scores and stats from each game and downloading the daily KNBR Podcasts when we can poach some free Wi-Fi.

Things are not looking good so far this year, but it’s a long season. Bonds does have a home run on the year and is one step closer to breaking Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record. However, only a few games into the season it appears the Giants already need a boost (and some middle and late relief pitching). We’ll be home in a couple weeks and hopefully attend a game before heading off to New Zealand and more soccer, rugby and cricket.

Just a Quiet Day in BA...

Buenos Aires (Palermo District), Argentina

April 6, 2007
S 34°35.045
W 058°24.500

It was around 12:15 PM when we woke up this morning, the day after Marc’s birthday celebration. We had a wonderful dinner at Rio Alba last night, whose specialty is Ojo de Bife, or rib eye. Marc ordered the specialty, the full portion, figuring he’d bring home leftovers for a nice breakfast of steak and eggs. I ordered the pork tenderloin which looked like a giant penis and tasted wonderful, and we shared a nice bottle of Luigi Bosca Malbec Reserve. We’ve been following our friend Angela’s motto, and enjoying at least a bottle of wine every night since we’ve been in BA… a bottle of wine on any given night!

It didn’t matter that we woke up after noon today since it was Good Friday. The majority of businesses were closed to honor the holiday. We suspected this may be the case and spent the majority of the day strolling through quiet streets, pausing at parks, and occasionally stopping to pick up bread, wine, cheese and other staples so we could cook dinner in our apartment tonight.

Not much else to say… it was a quiet day in BA and we’re just chillin’.

Happy 40th Birthday, Marc!

Today is the day Marc writes the entire blog describing what it feels like to turn 40 since, well, today is his 40th birthday. We will celebrate in Buenos Aires with a nice steak dinner (Yes, Marc requested steak for the first time in at least eight years) and a trip to the Japanese Tea Garden in Parque 3 de Febrero.

----------------------------------------

Buenos Aires (Palermo District), Argentina

April 5, 2007
S 34°35.045
W 058°24.500

Laura says I have to write the blog update for 5 April 2007. First, let’s get a few things straight. Since I’m the Editor in Chief for our blog my job actually includes editing, adding “color commentary”, inserting hyperlinks, and uploading photos and quick-time movies to all of our updates. I admit Laura is responsible for > 95% of the content in every update and our blog would be nowhere near as slick without her dedication and prose. At the same time, it’s not like I’ve never written for our blog.

So… per Laura’s request I need to write the blog today and explain what it feels like to turn 40 years old. I’ve decided to approach the answer to this question from a Time Perspective and from a Physical and Spiritual Perspective.

Time Perspective:
Laura seems much more excited about my 40th birthday than me. This isn’t surprising since I rarely give much thought to my birthday, and probably wouldn’t even remember my birthday unless she reminded me each year. Plus, I usually get a call from the four sets of parents singing “Happy Birthday” in my ear or on my voicemail. I really stopped thinking about my birthday after my 21st… not that my 21st was that special, but at least I didn’t need to use my roommate’s ID to buy a twelver of Keystone Light anymore.

So… what does 40 feel like?

Well, the reason I don’t give it much thought is because in the overall picture of time; infinite and without a beginning or and end, 40 years is simply… well nothing. Think about it… Earth is nearly 4.6 billion years old and Man has only been scurrying around for about 30-40,000 years. So, I haven’t even been around for 0.1% of the time Man has inhabited our planet and only 0.0000009% of the time our planet has existed. Can we say insignificant?

So, to ask what it feels like to be 40 is sorta like asking a grain of sand in the Sahara desert what it feels like to be part of the world’s largest desert. I guess it would feel like a grain of sand.

I realize 40 is a major milestone to many people, but to me it’s just another moment in time. Don’t get me wrong… I’ve enjoyed nearly every moment, and those I haven’t enjoyed have been valuable learning experiences. I sincerely look forward to spending many more moments navigating my way through this universe, but living for 14,600 days feels about the same as 13,778 days.

Physically and Spiritually:
Chronologically my physical body is now 40 years old. I tend to view my body as a vessel; like a boat, truck or plane carrying “who I am” through this universe. Physically, I feel like I’m in pretty good shape for a “40 year old man”. At the same time, in the past few years, I’ve discovered my vessel isn’t as resilient as it used to be and I’ve had to make compensations. There are parts that need adjusting and other parts I wish I could simply replace, but from an overall perspective I think this vessel should last a few more years. Keeping my vessel in working-order is very important since it is currently the only means I know to navigate “who I am” through time.

This of course leads to questions… “Who am I?” and “What happens when I no longer have a functional vessel?” I sincerely believe these are the questions that cause people so much stress and anxiety about aging.

Personally, I’m comfortable not knowing the answers to these questions.

I realize there are countless questions that will never be answered and things I will never understand; hey, I’m just a 40 year old man. Rather than worrying about these questions I’ll continue to take advantage of the limited and unknown time I have at my disposal. For me it’s all about being happy… I’ll continue to explore life with my loved ones and hopefully help as many people along my path as possible.

So, in my opinion, that’s what it feels like to be 40.

Another Cemetery and a Big Pile of Dookie...

Buenos Aires (Palermo District), Argentina

April 4, 2007
S 34°35.045
W 058°24.500

Even though we have plenty of time in Buenos Aires, we want to make sure we see all the great sites. So, we decided to put a rough timeline together outlining everything we want to see while we’re here in BA. Of course this includes all of the restaurants too.

Tuesday was the first day of the plan and we decided to check-out the Recoleta neighborhood including the infamous cemetery. We were greeted by sunny skies and temperatures in the 80’s as we headed out the door; making for perfect photo opportunities in the cemetery.

We walked about 5 KM to the Recoleta district… again stopping at several ATM’s along the way, many with very long lines; we finally succeeded after five attempts. After wandering through several small parks and little neighborhoods we found ourselves at the cemetery where famous Argentineans such as Evita, Sarmiento, military heroes and past presidents are buried. The crypts are extremely impressive; made of marble with very intricate designs. It appeared some of the burial chambers had fallen victim to grave robbers; with only broken windows and dried flowers remaining. I was a little freaked-out as I peered into the vandalized tombs. I imagined the deceased, who were supposed to lay in peace, angry and seeking revenge. Luckily, I didn’t sense any of this anger, and spent the day pleasantly strolling around snapping pictures.

When we left the cemetery we tried to hit one of Jorge Luis Borges old haunts, but it is closed on Tuesdays—damn! Instead we headed to one of the little parks in the area to see what it had to offer. We went to Parque Thays that didn’t really compare to Parque 3 de Febrero, but it was a nice open space where kids played on the jungle gyms while their older brothers’ practiced futbol.

We strolled through a few more parks on our way to the Jardin Botanico Carlos Thays near our apartment. We walked through the garden the other day, but the rain and gray skies prevented us from getting any photos, not to mention the giant mud puddles. As we cut through the park, hundreds of feral cats were lounging in the grass, soaking up the sun and sideling up against locals that were feeding them kibble and snacks.

Marc is responsible for writing the blog tomorrow since it is his 40th birthday… stay tuned!

Other notes: Google Analytics is really cool! It’s fun to see where people who check out our blog live. Right now someone in Beijing, China is the furthest away. We aren’t sure if this is Kevin Dieker, who recently took a trip to China, or someone in China who’s simply taken an interest in our blog. The majority of the people are in California, as expected, but we do have visits from several states, including Hawaii, Wisconsin and Kentucky, to name a few.

Also of note… as we’ve explained previously, dog poop is a big problem in Buenos Aires. You must constantly watch your step as you stroll along the sidewalks, through parks and basically anywhere you go outside of the house. Obviously, Portenos think leaving their dog’s big, steamy piles of fecal matter is perfectly fine behavior. Due to the abundance of dog shit, we can only assume they take pride in the size, consistency and enjoy sharing it with their fellow citizens. See example below, Laura’s foot provides scale to the prized mass!

Car Talk and a Little Macking...

Buenos Aires (Palermo District), Argentina

April 3, 2007
S 34°35.045
W 058°24.500

Fin de Semana Largo continued into Monday, making Sunday another perfect night to go out and hit the town. The Monday holiday, combined with the first day of sunshine in eight days, was also perfect to get outside and enjoy the weather. We did both.

We had reservation for 11:30 PM (we’re so cool) at a chic Vietnamese restaurant, Green Bamboo, recommended to us by a lady I worked with, Joanne. We arrived “fashionably” early and had to wait outside until the hostess let us in through the locked door. We walked into the dimly light room and made our way to the bar until our table was ready. Asian trinkets were scattered across the top of the bar with little room to place a drink; the bar obviously isn’t used very often. We played with the bobble-head tigers and admired the Asian lava lamps while we polished-off a couple beers prior to being seated.

We shared another great bottle of Malbec, a delicious shaking lamb, spring rolls, and a spicy, lightly breaded, white fish with cherry tomatoes. The restaurant didn’t compare to the top Vietnamese places at home; however, the cuisine was as authentic as I would expect and we welcomed a reprieve from the numerous parillas. There are still a few more Asian fusion places we hope to visit before we head back to San Francisco in a couple weeks.

We jumped in a cab to avoid the thunderstorms and made it back to our apartment by 1:00 AM and watched a little late-night Argentinean TV (which we have found to be quite liberal) before heading to bed.

We were lucky enough to catch an automotive comparison show on one of the local stations. The show compared the Mini-Cooper, the Chevy Spark and the Fiat Nuevo 500—all sub-compact models, approximately the size of the Mini. All cars were rated in four different categories: comfort, suspension, safety and durability. The best part about the show, and why it’s worth mentioning, is that it was based on having sexual intercourse in the vehicle. So… comfort, suspension, and of course safety and durability were all rated during coitus. The program actually showed a couple vigorously testing out each sub-compact car before giving their rating. The show explained the importance of cars to young couples in South America. Most children live with their parents until they’re married and thus the car is their only safe refuge for getting intimate. The program also outlined the importance of putting newspaper in your window to avoid being interrupted during the act.

I won’t hold you in suspense any longer… the winner was the Mini-Cooper; the Cooper’s safety and reliability put it on top of the Spark and Nuevo 500 (pun intended).

As you can guess, we had to watch the whole show to find out the winner before turning off the lights. This means we had a late start on Monday morning—good thing it was a holiday and we didn’t have anywhere to go!

Our plan was to spend the day at the racetrack watching the ponies run, but we first needed to make a “quick” detour to the ATM to get some cash. As expected our trip to the bank wasn’t easy, nor was it quick. What more do I need to say… after attempting to get cash from at least five different ATM’s we gave up and altered our plan.

We opted to head to one of our neighborhood parks instead. We went to Parque 3 de Febrero. The park reminded us of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park—complete with a Japanese Tea Garden and planetarium. There were plenty of in-line skaters, bicyclists and runners; all taking advantage of the vacant streets that were closed to the holiday traffic. We found a patch of sunny grass after walking a few miles through the park. As soon as we sat down, a flock of wild parrots landed in a tree next to us, squawking above our heads and making us feel right at home. The ground was a little damp after the severe thunderstorms the night before, but this didn’t stop the teenagers and those in their early 20's from making-out (macking) and rolling around the lawn.

As the sun started to set, we decided to head back to our apartment and leave the love-birds to mack away the rest of the evening in the park.

The best part… another Fin de Semana Largo (long weekend) starts again on Thursday!

Bocas Win, Bocas Win!

Buenos Aires (Palermo District), Argentina

April 1, 2007
S 34°35.045
W 058°24.500

We woke up Saturday morning to what were supposed to be clear skies; they were, at first, but on our way to morning coffee it started to sprinkle. We didn’t let the sprinkles put a damper on our day though.

It was our first morning trip to a café since we’ve been in our apartment; we’ve been taking advantage of our kitchen and having breakfast at home the past couple days. After getting our caffeine “fix” we were headed to see the Boca Juniors play futbol. What more could you want for a Saturday, especially our first Saturday in BA?

As the rain started coming down, we opted to sit inside rather than outside, but the cool café vibe was still there. We sat there, drank our coffee and brushed up on the key words of the Boca Juniors fight song—“Boca Juniors, Boca Juniors.” We got a few strange stares, but nothing to convince us to stop. As the rain came down outside, we hoped for a break in the weather before game time, still thankful it was a warm rain.

Our ride arrived at 2:00 PM and our tour guide was outfitted in Boca gear, obviously a big fan, and seemed very excited to share the experience of seeing a match with us. We jumped in the van and headed off to the match, picking up nine others along the way. When we arrived at the stadium, our guide went over the rules: don’t take pictures outside the stadium or even take you camera out, stay together, and whatever you do… don’t root for the opposing team! The skies were gray, but no rain in site!

The Boca Junior’s stadium is in a sketchy barrio of Buenos Aires called La Boca. There are warnings to stay away from certain rough sections of La Boca even in the middle of the day and this was part of the reason for the guided escort. Plus, it’s almost impossible to get Boca Juniors tickets if you don’t go through one of the approved ticket agencies that have rights to the majority of season tickets.

We climbed the stairs to our seats, looked down and saw a sea of blue and gold; everyone was wearing Boca colors. Fans hung-up their signs to show support for their team including several blue and gold streamers that formed the section holding the “12th man,” a large cheering section for the most devoted Boca fans. At the opposite end of the field, in the very top section, a small contingent of Nueva Chicago fans proudly displayed their colors (green and black). There were at least two-dozen police officers surrounding the section, even though barbed wire fence separated the rabid fans from the Boca Junior loyalists.

Fans were tearing up newspapers, programs, advertisements, anything they could get their hands on, and tossing it into the swirling winds. The winds quickly carried the confetti to all corners of the field; creating small eddies of debris throughout the match. As soon as the Boca Juniors starting line-up was announced the fans went nuts… screaming the Boca Juniors fight-song, throwing confetti, wildly waving their arms, whistling, and essentially working themselves into a frenzy.

From kickoff, until the game ended in a 2-0 Boca Juniors win, the section of fans making up the “12th man” never stopped chanting and screaming. The BJ’s controlled the ball for the majority of the game, but held us in suspense by not scoring until the second half. They quickly added a second goal, to the hysterical delight of the fans.

Before we could leave, our guide made us wait until the fans from Nueva Chicago were escorted out of the stadium. We sat in our seats cheering, for the now 1st place Boca Juniors, for another 45 minutes before filing out to the safety of our waiting van.

After getting back to our apartment it took us a few hours to unwind before heading out to dinner. Dinner at 8:00 PM in BA, is like catching the “early bird special” and you’re still geeky if you go to dinner before 10:00 PM.

We were hip enough to get seated at our restaurant of choice at 10:30 PM and followed dinner with a few beers at a local bar. We left the bar around 2:30 AM; still early since the majority of hipsters don’t even head out until 3:00 AM.

As we walked into our building a group of four girls, dressed to kill, were heading out to the clubs—better them than us. This is definitely why the streets of BA are totally deserted until 5:00 on Sunday afternoon.

We had a truly Argentinean day, all the way down to the late(r) dinner. We didn’t hit the clubs, but remember we’re now only four days away from Marc’s 40th. Is Marc’s vessel too old for all night discotheques? (Find out when Marc writes the blog on his birthday, April 5th.)

Other notes: We attempted to make a reservation for accommodations in Iguazu Falls. The hotel actually requested we give them a deposit for one of the two nights by going to Western Union and wiring money to a designated account. Luckily, we were able to find another place that didn’t require such a ridiculous request.

Also of note… Marc thwarted another pickpocket attempt today. This time it was a group of four people. One lady bumped him and fiddled at his left pocket, while another other lady attempted to unzip his bag. Marc heard the zipper and quickly turned around, made eye contact with the lady and gave her a stiff shoulder to her chest. Without a word or comment, the group quickly turned around and walked away empty handed!