Who would you rather be?

December 8th, 2010

Bariloche, Argentina

After an incredible Bife de Chorizo and Malbec dinner last night, we woke up this morning, (well, late morning) to clear skies and ripping winds. Our goal for the day was to complete the Circuito Chico, the circuit around the seven lakes in Bariloche.

We jumped in our rental car (we'll get back to that in a few minutes) and headed out on the road. Our Casita is just off the circuit, so it made it easy to get going. Our first stop was Llao Llao an amazing state built hotel with panoramic views of the lakes and mountains -we were already impressed. However, as the day went on, every stop we made was more beautiful than the last. The best looking back toward Llao Llao, seeing the beautiful hotel from afar AND all of the panoramic views.

We stopped in Colonial Suiza, or Little Suzy to us, a place we visited on our Big Trip... now almost 4 years ago. The small little town, discovered by Swiss immigrants has grown a lot since our last visit, it now has 4-5 restaurants along the one and only dirt road and even a microbrewery. We visited the campground where we spent two nights and reminisced a little before heading back to the main 'stree't for lunch.

Over lunch we talked about how we never go back to places and do it all over again, we prefer to make new memories. That's true with a few exceptions. Little Suzy isn't a place we want to rush back to, but overall Bariloche has been beautiful and we are happy to experience it in a different season, Spring.

Back to the car, yes we rented a car. This is a true luxury and something we definitely couldn't do on $100/day. We keep finding ourselves going back to that point in time, the time of the trip, when we had to decide to do something or not. Do we pay $20 to ride to the top of the mountain, do we have the nice bottle of wine with dinner? Do we eat Clif bars or grab a real meal? When we were travelers we didn't do any of the extras, but now we are on vacation and can splurge a little more. Who would we rather be?

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!

Geeking-Out on a Stormy Day...

Buenos Aires (Palermo District), Argentina

March 30, 2007
S 34°35.045
W 058°24.500

Today was the beginning of Fin de Semana largo, the first of two long weekends in a row, most people only worked a half day. Monday is Malvinas Day, similar to Veteran’s Day in the States, and honors those who fought in the Falklands Islands War which broke out April 2, 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom. The UK defeated Argentina in a mere 73 days; ultimately resulting in the expulsion of Argentina’s military government.

Next weekend is Fin de Semana mas largo which starts on Thursday to celebrate Semana Santa, or Easter week. Friday is an official holiday for Good Friday, but of course most people take the entire week off.

Man... if we had this many holiday’s in the States we wouldn’t need to take a year off to travel around the world!

It was a perfect start to Fin de Semana largo, since we awoke to massive thunderstorms in the middle of the night. The storms continued throughout the day, making a trip outside a drenching experience even with a rain coat and umbrella. The rain didn’t let up all day. It seemed you could collect a gallon of rain in less than ten minutes at any point of the day. Needless to say, we didn’t head to the racetrack to see the ponies run. We figured we’d go to the track on Monday when it’s supposed to be clear and sunny.

Since we were trapped inside all day, we took the opportunity to geek out a little bit and keep some of our techno skills in tune. We signed up for Google Analytics to see how many people really review our blog every day, where page views originate and other really cool and geeky statistical information. We also analyzed our daily budget and determined our Budget vs. Actual expenses.

I haven’t mentioned this, but I religiously track our expenses every day in my little travel notebook. Each night, after we finish our story for the blog, I update a spreadsheet that tracks, sums, forecasts and applies all of our expenses into pivot tables by category. The three main categories (Big 3), lodging, food and entertainment, have a forecast of $100 per day. In addition, we have two other categories, transportation and miscellaneous, that have a forecast of $25 and $10 a day, respectively. Today we graphed everything to make sure we are on track. The big three came in under budget, as expected; however, the other two categories are slightly over budget right now… but nothing to worry about.

We thought $25 per day for transportation was pretty generous, but after all the bus trips we have taken, not to mention two extra flights, we are a little over budget. We expect these numbers to average out over time and we’ll be back on track.

After I geeked out on the budget tracking, Marc took his turn analyzing all of the available information in Google Analytics. It’s a really slick tool, especially since the entire package is free!

We did step out briefly to take a quick walk, get some fresh air and pick up a few necessities (Latitud33 and beer). As soon as we got back in we started studying the Boca Juniors fight-song for the match tomorrow. We decided not to buy an over-priced jersey, so we figured we better know the words to the anthem! We’ll let you know how the match goes... hopefully we’ll see a Boca win!

Settling down and relaxing...

Buenos Aires (Palermo District), Argentina

March 29, 2007
S 34°35.045
W 058°24.500

We made coffee and breakfast in our apartment today; it was a very nice change. After breakfast we made tracks… we wanted to pay the remaining balance from the apartment fiasco as soon as possible and bring closure to the whole saga. We strolled out into the familiar warm, humid, drizzle, we’ve grown accustomed to; the weather is supposed to improve by this weekend. Luckily we found a “Link” ATM a few blocks from our apartment and withdrew the required cash to settle our debt. I hate owing people money!

We walked about 2 KM to the property management office, taking the opportunity to check out our new little neighborhood. I located the closest carneceria (meat), paneria (bread) and pescaderia (fish) markets and filed it away in the “database” so I could come back later for one of our home cooked meals.

We spent a good portion of our day ducking in and out of shops and cafes attempting to stay dry. It was a perfect opportunity to scope out the cute little boutiques and hot restaurants in the hip areas of Palermo SOHO and Palermo Hollywood. We picked two places for Marc’s big birthday dinner in one week—now I need to make reservations for one of them! We felt very comfortable in our new neighborhood, but don’t get me wrong… we’ll still be on the lookout for the lotion throwing scammers.

The weather is supposed to clear up a little tomorrow and we’re off to the races; literally, we’re headed to the local horse races. We’ll let you know how it goes.

BTW... if you want to see Laura cooking up a storm in her new "gourmet" kitchen just click here: Take 1, Take 2.

A little hand-lotion, a hard move, and home cookin'!

Buenos Aires (Palermo District), Argentina

March 28, 2007
S 34°35.045
W 058°24.500

My plan today was to discuss the wonderful meal we had last night at a cute little restaurant we found by chance. Café Cumana, was totally packed, and just doors down the street from the Mexican restaurant we tried a couple days prior. I wanted to tell everyone about the great empanadas and the chic lesbian chit-chat that took place at the table next to us which ended in the two feeding each other—until the events from today unfolded.

We were really looking forward to today; moving into our apartment and having a home cooked meal, but nothing is as easy as it seems, right? That was definitely the case for us today.

We woke up this morning and quickly packed up our stuff for the last time for awhile, went downstairs to checkout and checked our backpacks with the doorman. We headed out into the humid and overcast Congreso district with our daypack (and computer), in search of coffee, free Wi-Fi, and the goal of burning a few hours before getting the keys to our apartment.

After 2 ½ hours of web surfing we headed back to our hotel to grab our backpacks; about 45 minutes prior to our appointment with the apartment agent. As we walked down a side-street, about a half block from the hotel, someone started yelling at us, “you, you, you!...” I didn’t really pay much attention to the yelling, but a young woman came up behind me and pointed at Marc’s back. Marc was wearing the daypack with our computer and his infamous camera bag and it looked like a bird pooped on the backpack. At least that was my initial thought, until I saw the mess was all down his pants too. The woman started pointing at the back of my legs as well and “conveniently” had a towel available, signaling she was willing to help wipe it off.

I was immediately alarmed by the fact that she had the towel readily available. Marc and I only momentarily broke stride and quickly walked back to the hotel covered in what turned out to be hand-lotion. We wiped the lotion of our clothes and our daypack, grabbed our backpacks and jumped in a cab to our new neighborhood… successfully avoiding one of the most popular robbery ploys, see outline below:
1) Foreign substance (mustard, paint, or hand-lotion) is tossed on an unsuspecting tourist
2) Tourist stops to review the damage
3) “Friendly” local(s) approaches tourist to help clean up the mess (and close the gap)
4) “Friendly” local(s) then pickpockets or mugs unsuspecting tourist

The day can only get better, right?

We were scheduled to meet the owner and the associate, Gabrielle, from the property management company at 3:00 PM. We immediately liked the apartment; I checked out the kitchen equipment and came up with a rough dinner menu in my head. We sat down with the owner and Gabrielle and reviewed the contract (all in Spanish, of course). There was a statement on the second page regarding payment that immediately caught my eye.

The statement said we had to pay the entire amount of the rent (16 days) plus a $300 USD deposit in cash. The Property Management Company never told us anything about a cash payment of almost $1000 USD, and actually took our credit card information when we made the reservation. The understanding, at least on our side, was they would charge the card the entire amount today.

We’ve been out of US dollars for sometime now except for $200 we hid in the bottom of Marc’s sleeping bag, but we were still VERY short. If we knew about the cash payment, we would have had cash, and were very perplexed as to how this important detail wasn’t explained before our meeting.

Gabrielle suggested we head to a bank down the street to withdrawal some cash. We were concerned about the daily maximum for withdrawals but since we had two ATM cards—we should be fine, no problemo. We all headed out to the bank—yes, all of us, the owner, Gabrielle, Marc and I. We figured we would be done in no time and our next stop would be the Super Mercado to buy groceries for our first home-cooked meal in months.

Our first stop was a Citibank a stone’s throw away from the apartment only to be denied; not because we didn’t have money, but because the ATM didn’t have money. Gabrielle talked to a bank representative and they were working to refill the ATM machine (yes, they only had one ATM!) We headed across the plaza to another bank with only one ATM that was out of service. Both of the ATMs we tried were part of the Banelco network; Banelco limits the amount you can take out regardless of what your bank allows (discovered through trial and error). We told Gabrielle and the owner we really needed a bank that is part of the Link network… again, through trial and error we found Link ATM’s allow you to withdraw close to your daily limit.

Now we headed to a third bank to withdrawal the required money, it was part of the Link network, and we thought we were in luck. We were wrong. The ATM was completely out of service and money. Marc and I were both completely frustrated at this point and didn’t know what to do. We were happy they came with us to witness the bank inefficiencies in their country—I don’t think this was a new problem for them… they didn’t seem surprised at all.

After one last failed attempt at Citibank, and swearing under our breath about the unbelievable inefficiencies of South America, Marc told Gabrielle we could amend the apartment contract to start tomorrow. This is when I started tearing up—I was so looking forward to being in our apartment tonight. I didn’t want to trudge my luggage around trying to find somewhere else to stay—I only wanted to get in the kitchen and cook us a nice dinner and not stress about where we were going to eat, how far we had to walk, etc.

Gabrielle saw my tears and frustration and quickly came over to console me. She knew first hand about the banking inefficiencies after her ATM card failed to work for four months. She actually moved all of her money out of Argentina and now uses a bank in Brazil—I can’t say I blame her.

The owner and Gabrielle agreed to take the little cash we had and alter the contract to show the remaining payment—due by Monday. We were able to stay the night and cook our first meal in over two months—roasted chicken and potatoes, tomato and fresh mozzarella salad, bread and a bottle of Latitud33.

Other notes: We shouldn’t have been surprised at the inability or unwillingness to take credit cards… we’ve had many such stories, even with major corporations like American Airlines. When we were in Puerto Natales we called American Airlines to change a flight. There was a small fare difference ($27 USD), and since they couldn’t charge my credit card over the phone, they advised me to go to Santander Santiago and make a bank deposit and then call them back with the wire number. I threw a fit and told the American Airlines person (who was based in Chile) that this was the most ridiculous process I had ever heard. It turns out it isn’t ridiculous to them, but normal practice. Another example… we were told to go to Western Union and wire money to a company to pay for our Boca Junior tickets. We opted to go to the office instead and pay in person.

After Argentina's economic crash in 2001, several of the banks closed down, and their president put a daily limit on bank withdrawals to protect the banks still open. People could only withdrawal approximately $100 USD/day. The country still suffers from the crisis and this is apparent when we try to get money, like today. Forget trying to get money on a Sunday, all ATMs are completely out of cash! Since the country operates largely in cash, most people go to the bank during the very limited bank hours (10:00 AM to 3:00 PM) and complete any transactions necessary. The lines at banks on Monday mornings stretch out the door and down the street.

This is very hard for us to comprehend (and frustrating) since we do everything electronically. It’s days like this that make us appreciate the technology we’ve become accustomed to. It makes us question how countries like this will be able to compete on a global scale.

Another spicy day in BA...

Buenos Aires (Congreso District), Argentina

March 27, 2007
S 34°36.583
W 058°23.472

Last night, still having a serious craving for spicy food, we reviewed the list of international cuisine at our fingertips and decided to give the Korean restaurant, Biwon, a try. We shared a nice, spicy soup and bibimbap. The soup put a little sweat on our brow, while the bibimbap was definitely tamed down by the Korean owners; they obviously thought we couldn’t take the heat.

There was a business dinner taking place at a semi-private table next to us with a great deal of soju, wine and beer. I knew the majority of Koreans doing business in South America were probably involved in telecommunications, specifically wireless devices. After thirty minutes or so my instinct was confirmed when they mentioned Samsung and the celebration was for the engineers who just finished a device implementation. I felt their excitement—briefly—but, I gradually let it go… now reveling in my new life as a traveler.

As we walked out, three more liters of beer and two more bottles of soju were brought to the engineers. We weren’t sure how these guys were going to make it to work in the morning, we guessed they weren’t!

We woke up this morning to pouring rain and spent the first three hours in a cafe with free Wifi trying to take care of a few things. Coincidentally, as our battery was close to dead, the rain turned to a drizzle and we quickly headed out to see more of the city. We explored the antique barrio of San Telmo; mostly window shopping, and thinking of my youth when my parents dragged me to antique shows—even on my birthday! If you like antiques, this is the place to go shopping. Sundays are an antique lover’s paradise when the antique festival is held in the Plaza de Dorrego.

We enjoyed wandering the streets to see what the day would bring us; luckily it didn’t bring anymore rain. We were able to wander for several more hours before the drops started coming down again and we scrambled back to our hotel.

A few more things about Buenos Aires… they don’t observe siesta in the capitol city! Finally, we don’t have to worry about things being closed from 1PM-4PM. Tomorrow we move into our apartment for the next 16 days and finally get a home cooked meal. We can’t wait!

Don't cry for me Argentina...

Buenos Aires (Congreso District), Argentina

March 26, 2007
S 34°36.583
W 058°23.472

Well, we’re in Buenos Aires, an international city with various cuisines and we are definitely ready for a change. Don’t get me wrong, the beef is really damn good. However, everyone knows you can’t eat beef and ice cream every night if you want to live to be 40. Marc wants to see this milestone; now only ten days away.

We took a bit of a risk on dinner and tried a Mexican restaurant we spotted earlier in the day as we strolled through the local streets. We haven’t had Mexican food since Quito, Ecuador, but we haven’t had “real” Mexican since we left San Francisco. I can’t say this was authentic, it was good, but a little overpriced and not as tasty as Nick’s Crispy Tacos or La Taqueria at home. We were pleasantly surprised when the salsa actually had a little kick to it. Spicy food is uncommon in most of South America; in fact pepper doesn’t even accompany the salt shaker on the table. We drenched our little tacos in the tasty sauce, probably shocking the staff when we used the whole bowl. We were happy we tried the Mexican place, it should hold us over until we get back to San Francisco in a few weeks.

We went to bed our first night in Buenos Aires to heavy thunderstorms that caused a black-out as far as we could see from our seventh floor window. (Thank goodness our place had back-up generators in place.) The view of the dark streets and silhouettes of the park and government buildings were surreal against the black night skies. The occasional lightening bolt provided a flash of light through the buildings before turning everything dark again. The cars on the street in front of our hotel kept moving through the dark traffic lights; barely slowing to see if anyone was coming from the other direction.

Luckily, the skies were clear when we woke up this morning, at least for awhile. Our main goal for the day was to find the ticket office to purchase our Boca Juniors tickets. We wanted to see some of the main sights along the way, so we planned our path accordingly. We started from the Plaza de Congreso, which is practically in front of our hotel, and headed down towards the Plaza de Mayo. Along the way we crossed the largest intersection in the world—10 lanes in each direction (20 lanes total)!

From the intersection, we wandered towards the beautiful rose building, Casa Rosada, which we were pleased to see is currently being renovated. The back of the building opens up to the Plaza de Mayo where many of Argentina’s heated protests take place. A balcony overlooks Plaza de Mayo where Argentine leaders (including Juan and Eva Peron; also known as Evita) have addressed massive crowds. In fact, Madonna filmed the movie “Evita” from the historical balcony.

Over the weekend, Plaza de Mayo was the site of a huge protest in remembrance of 30,000 people who went “missing” in what is termed the Dirty War; during the years of the Argentinean government being ruled by a military regime. Demonstrators, known as Madres de la Plaza Mayo, meet in Plaza de Mayo religiously on Thursdays at 3:30 PM to encourage a full account of the atrocities from the war.

We made our way towards the “shopping mecca” of Florida Street to find the Boca Juniors ticket office. The mass of people, tourists and locals, is somewhat reminiscent of New York’s Times Square on a slightly smaller scale. After swimming through the crowds for 10 blocks we finally found the ticket office and secured two tix for Saturday’s match. We still need to buy a jersey—we don’t want to get mobbed for wearing the wrong color… imagine going to an Oakland Raider game wearing a John Elway jersey.

Wandering through the city, we were pleased to see the City of Buenos Aires and the Country of Argentina is putting money into restoring several of their historical monuments. This is a good first step since graffiti currently plagues many of their national monuments, and by restoring the monuments one would hope it gives those in the city a sense of civic pride to protect these gorgeous buildings.

It’s shocking to see so many stunning landmarks riddled with political scribbles and garbage. These buildings would be equivalent to the Lincoln Memorial or The Washington Monument, yet they are spray-painted and defaced. Unfortunately this seems to be socially accepted; with no sense of urgency to remove the offending graffiti.

The construction may also give hope to the people of Argentina that their economy is on the road to recovery. It is easy to forget, in the hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires, that Argentina’s unemployment rate hovers between 17-23% and 51% of the country’s population lives below the poverty line. However, you’re quickly reminded of the troubles as you make your way out of the financial district, back towards the Congreso building. There are people sleeping in doorways and cardboard boxes — there’s a small shantytown of blue plastic tarpaulin and shopping carts right in the middle of Plaza de Congreso.

Overall, we had a great day meandering through the city streets, enjoying the European feel of Buenos Aires. The city not only houses some incredible European architecture, but the culture of the people in the city has a European feel—tables line the streets of the city, dinners tend to be late and are truly for the experience, their love for dance/theater, and their pride of being Argentinean.

Other quick notes: If you want hardcore porn, not a problem… they sell it right at the newsstands on the streets of Buenos Aires. Watch your step… you’ll find huge piles of dog poop on the street; apparently picking up your dog’s poop is too big of a hassle. Lastly, Marc hasn’t received a haircut in at least three weeks. His hair is longer than it has been since I met him.