Bernie D
Bernie Joined: January 8th 2007
Logged in: July 18th 2011
Logged in: July 18th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
Gothic church in Cordoba
So it's been about three weeks since my last entry. Since you haven't heard from me you may have wondered what happened. Well, I enjoyed the last two weeks of my trip and got back to the US on August 4th. Since then I've been busy getting my life in order, including my move to Baltimore, and the time is flown by. This will be the last entry about my trip, followed by another entry where I will share with you some concluding thoughts. Since I've been back I've been getting a lot of comments from all you readers about my blog. I appreciate it. I hope it was as fun for you to read it as it was for me to write it. After a tiring 16 hour journey I was in Cordoba. It was ... read more
Sunrise along the ride to the Park
Part 4 of 4 --------------------------------- So there we were, Guadalupe and I, finally on our way to Parque Provincial Payunia. Although our visit to the park had been delayed by three days, I was determined to see it and was glad we had finally made it. Our tour guide, along with a driver, led 10 of us in a van to Payunia early that Thursday morning (this was two weeks ago, I´m really behind!) The ride was bumpy but the beautiful scenery made up for it. After a pit stop for some breakfast along the side of the road, we made our way into the park, 450,000 hectares in size. It took only a few minutes for my breath to be taken away. There were volcanic cones left and right, and instead of brown dirt the ... read more
On the drive to Las Lenas
After all the fun in Mendoza it was time to head to Malargue, a small town about six hours south of Mendoza. On my last trip down here I had heard the Malargue area was very beautiful but because it is so far out of the way I did not go. But again, the main point of this trip was to explore areas off the beaten path. Guadalupe, whom Hernan and I met in Mendoza, also wanted to go to Malargue so she accompanied us on the 6 hour bus ride. We arrived in the late evening but were disappointed to find out that there were no tours leaving the following morning. The town itself is nothing special but there is an amazing natural park that we wanted to see (description coming in Part IV). Malargue ... read more
Bodega Weinert
By the time I got to Mendoza, I was completely and utterly exhausted. At this point, the area around my eyelashes was a crimson red and there was a deep wrinkle under each of my eyes. I had seemingly managed to age several years in only a week. Argentina will do that to you. But there was no time to relax because there was still more to explore. I had already seen most of Mendoza´s main sights, including the spectacular surrounding Andes mountains, so I wanted to familiarize myself more with its famous vineyards. The next day I took a tour of two local wineries. There are over 1000 wineries in the region so choosing which ones to visit is not easy. On this organized tour we first visited Bodega Weinert. Following standard procedure, the tour ... read more
Soldiers leaving their headwear to give thanks to Difunta Correa
After a fun few weeks in Cordoba, it was time to move on. The next two weeks would be two of the most exhilarating, yet exhausting, weeks of my entire life. The experiences I had will carry me for quite some time, and the people I crossed paths with and the things I witnessed are truly unforgettable. Even if my eyes seem to be permanently red now and I literally have wrinkles that were not there before, and all that fun was expensive, I wouldn´t change a thing. Simply Excellent. -------------------------------------- I took an overnight bus to San Juan, a small city 8 hours west of Cordoba. After arriving early in the morning on Monday July 6 (I´m behind I know) I visited the Difunta Correa shrine, about an hour from San Juan. I had read ... read more
Selling goods at Mercardo Norte in Cordoba
After my adventures in skydiving, I had been in Cordoba for almost two weeks. My second week in Cordoba was less action-packed but no less interesting. I walked around the downtown area some more and rediscovered some of my favorite landmarks in Cordoba, including the neo-Gothic church (see pictures below). After taking it easy during the beginning of the week, I packed my schedule towards the end. I hadn´t planned on being in Cordoba past two weeks, but a certain girl named Mica changed things (I´m not complaining!) On Wednesday Mica invited me to an evening Mass. I hadn´t been to church in quite awhile and thought it would be interesting to experience a service in Argentina. Although I´m not Catholic, I could follow along with the Mass pretty well. Following the Mass there was a ... read more
1) A sign in the hostel bathroom tells you to keep the floor dry but there´s no shower curtain 2) You pay $40 US for a hotel, a lot in Argentina, but there´s no shampoo in the bathroom 3) The city buses are so crowded you have to trample poor old ladies just to get out (half kidding) 4) The candidates for Congressional Senator are not trusted by the average local....oh wait, that´s everywhere in the world 5) Paint is so expensive that a local orphanage could only half finish a job, and even then the paint was mixed with water 6) There is two-tiered pricing for foreigners in certain cities and national parks 7) You CAN drink the tap water AND flush toilet paper down the toilet, almost unheard of in Latin America 8) If ... read more
I´m Ready
The roar of the wind was deafening. I seriously thought the door would break off the side of plane. Then again, it also seemed like the wind was capable of tearing my face off. I had felt pretty calm before, but at this point anything seemed possible. I was 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) above the earth and it was a long way down. --------------------------------------------------------- I had always thought it would be cool to go skydiving. I´m not usually an adrenaline seeker (If I can´t control it or I can´t be strapped in, I´m not doing it) but something about jumping from a plane just seemed so badass to me. When I was in Cordoba two years ago I could have gone skydiving. For some reason I didn´t, and now being back again I was not going ... read more
View of the lake in Villa Carlos Paz
After a weekend of staying out pretty late (though pretty typical for Argentinean standards), it was time to explore the Sierras of Cordoba. One of the great things about Cordoba is that if you ever get tired of the city there are several small towns nearby that provide plenty of opportunities for outdoor pursuits, sightseeing and just plain relaxing. Even though it´s winter here and most of these towns don´t come alive until the summertime, when Cordobeses escape the heat of their city, I still wanted to see what they were all about. Last time I was here I saw Alta Gracia, a small town where Che Guevara grew up. On Monday I went to Villa Carlos Paz for the day with my friend Mica. Her experience in tourism certainly helped as she was able to ... read more
La Casa Blanca
An 11 hour layover in Washington, DC. What a great way to start a trip. I arrived in DC at 11am after a short flight from Philadelphia and had to kill 11 hours before my flight to Buenos Aires in the evening. I went downtown and saw the familiar sights along The Mall. It´s always good to refresh your memory of what it all looks like every few years. After meeting up with a friend from undergrad for dinner, it was back to the airport for the 11 hour flight to Buenos Aires. I had barely slept the night before so the whole flight was a blur. I even slept through breakfast, which never happens. After arriving at the Ezeiza International Airport, I took a shuttle straight to Aeroparque, the national airport, to catch my 1 ... read more
