Purpley

Hey! Anyone would be happy to be back in NYC, right? Especially Brooklyn! Well, it's been over a month since my vacation, but i finally added some photos. Unfortunately, I'm missing a few locations like Villa de Levya, but i'll add them soon. to all my friends, use this as a brochure to get your a%$&^ss to South America. Forget South Beach or Disneyland, you'll have more fun eating steaks and pommes frites and gaining weight in Argentina. Love you! Channon... read more

Wow....sometimes there are those moments in life...that you really neeeevver thought would happen. My brother rode a horse! And he was actually better at it then the rest of us! We got to Mendoza, Argentina on Sunday. (im actually in chile now, because im a procastinator and i love it)...but it was a huge mistake, because there are festivals and soccer games in Buenos Aires on Sundays and we missed it to get to Mendoza where all the shops are closed and the people are sleeping or something. But Mendoza was a beautiful stay. VERRRRy dry. I never thought South America could be like that. But they irrigate the millions of acres of grapes with water from the mountains. We stayed at a hostel called Independencia, where my brother and 2 friends shared a room whose ... read more

OKAY! I just had to give you all some advice. Do i give advice? I don´t think so. Well i'm starting today. 1. Never be afraid to go anywhere because people tell you it isn´t safe (this of course, does not apply to Chechnya, Iraq or Antartica). What's the worse that'll happen? You don´t like the place and you spend your vacation in your hotel room. AT LEAST YOUR NOT WORKING (nobody sent this to my boss, right?) 2. Lonely Planet guidebooks are okay but Rough Guides RULE....which i'm realizing after i left mine on my bed at home in New York. It has more details, times, open hours, maps yadda yadda. Oh Rough Guide Rough Guide....why have you left me? 3. You can pay for your trip when you're old. They have BankBoston ATMs here. ... read more

Is my mother reading this? Hola MAMA! We went to this little town called Colonia in Uruguay. It was the original Buenos Aires in the 18th century and the major trade port for South America and Spain. So the entire old part of the city is surrounded by white-painted cement or stucco walls. The trees all bloom bright fuscia or purple flowers and we stayed at this little Bed and Breakfast called Postada de las Naranjos (Hotel of the Oranges-and there really were orange trees) so you can imagine how beautiful the whole place was. there's nothing much to do here. Everyone seriously carries around thermoses full of hot water and little gourds for drinking Mate. Which is this strong tea from Brazil. Seriously...EVERYONE carries this stuff around....like their purse. The old Portuguese Museum I went ... read more

THERe IS after all a direct bus to Bogota from Villa De Levya. Its huge although sans real air conditioning. We took it back for about $10.... Even though we got stopped and had our passports taken at a checkpoint (they gave them back) it was a really nice ride. Elizabeth and I got food to take on the bus. With our bad spanish, we got a corn cake, homemade sausages and little potatoes in a brown paper bag for $2.50US. Liz made a face at the guy for the high price and he gave her an extra corn cake. it was okay except for the serious lack of salsa. Okay, we spent our last hours (we literally had saturday evening and sunday morning left in bogota) hanging with Elizabeth´s friend Daniel and friends. We went ... read more

WOW! Thanks, ali, for the advice about the @ symbol! i don´t know how i would ever get that. I wish i had more time here, Its really not enough to spend only a week in a country, I barely scratched the surface. Yesterday, we met some guys on the plane on their way to peru, that were travelling for over a year. They made it through on $20 a day. Anyway, forgot where i left off in colombia, and i´m actually in argentina right now! backtracking... We ended up going to Villa De Levya about 3 hours (or supposedly 3 hours) from Bogota. Its a small preserved town, complete with gauchos and hard bargaining local artisans. We scoffed at the $120 a driver at the hotel wanted to charge us for a ride there and ... read more

WOAAA!! Its not registering that i don´t have to go into work on monday. Oh....but i think it will hit me soon. I relax very easily. especially since on saturday, i´m getting aN HOUR message for only $20. OK. if i could figure out 3 things, travelling would be simplere 1. how to you get teh (at) symbol on these computers. 2. How do you not have a heart attack everytime you get in a car (already got into a fender bender...no worries though. the driver we hit just gave us a look and kept going). 3. how do you say you´re cute, can i take your picture, and then can you take me dancing. i know how to say the first part: se puesto tener uno photo y..... Bogota is maybe twice the size of ... read more