Yesterday we arrived on an all day bus trip from Curritiba, almost 5pm, at the long distance bus terminal in down down Florianopolis. and nothing planned. The girl in the tourist information centre was totally unhelpful and almost needed a cattle prod to move away from her computer and engage with us. We had been in the office for around 10minutes looking at maps, brochures and trying to work out what to do before she spoke and we realised she was an employee. The city itself is the capital of the state of Santa Catarina and is high rises and a mass of people. She suggested to look at the island which is Santa Catarina, either the north, east or south aspects. She recommended east so we walked to the A bus terminal 2 blocks down ... read more

This morning we caught the 8-15am Serra Verde Express which takes you from Curitiba down the mountain to Morretes. This is a train trip for the train enthusiast taking you through 13 tunnels, over viaducts and on top of virgin rainforest. It took 5 years to build in the 1800's, designed to transport freight. It is still used for freight today but Curitiba has made this lovely passenger trip which can be done as a round trip in a day, with different carriage class. The standard one was all booked so we took tourist class which meant we had a snack, drink and guide as well as comfy seats.You can get another 3 classes above this.And we got a terrific guide who made a supreme effort to repeat everything she said in Portuguese to us in ... read more

We arrived in this city early in the morning on an overnight bus from Foz do Iguacu. The combined bus train station in Curitiba is near the centre of town, very safe, with cafes, shops and tourist information. From here it is a short walk to hotels and restaurants. Curitiba is the capital of Parana province in Brazil, home to around 2 million diverse inhabitants such as Japenese, large Arab community, Jewish, Negro population and mixed others.Walking around today what is evident is what you see in much of South America, the haves and have nots. In the large shopping mall we went to; expensive designer labels are evident everywhere, and the food court sells coffee and cake for around 30rials for 2 people. But out in the street we bought a buffet lunch for 10R ... read more

Right near the Brazilian entrance to the Iguazu Falls is a bird park. Very beautifully set in rainforest, immaculate paths, with an emphasis on conservation and bringing back endangered species, it is a pleasant way to spend half a day. Entrance can be paid by credit card and is only 35- Rials. You can get them from the Argentinian side by using any of the tourist buses to the Brazilian side of the falls and doing a one way trip. You must tell the driver you are not returning as you need to have your passport processed both in the Argentinian and Brazilian side of the borders. The staff as well as the signage is in Portuguese, Spanish and English, and the food at the park was realistically priced, 25Rials for a ciabatta with fillet Mignon ... read more

We arrived this morning in Puerto Iguazu after 19 hours of bus travel, and after showering, changing and organising our day bags decided to heat to the Brazilian side of the Iguazu falls. There are numerous ways to get there, you can choose to go by your car, tourist bus, or a local bus. We purchased tickets with the Rio Uruguay company which were 80Arg pesos return each, less than $10- Australian. Beware have pesos, you can't pay for a lot of things with a credit card. So a quick lunch of a savoury flan of half and half spinach and pumpkin, a coffee and we were off on the 12-30pm bus. This takes about 30 minutes to get to the falls main area, you go through a customs area, you all get off and on ... read more

Today's throw me in the deep end of cultural learnings started at 9am with sightreading and learning a Spanish folk song in 2 parts. Based on Argentinian folk rhythms which often include a 6/8 metre against a 3/4 metre Bernardo Latini had composed this piece using a well known folk melody for children choir. (bernardolatini.com) So his challenge was to not only get me to sing one voice against the other with an opposing metre, but also to include syncopation, as well as of course all in Latino Spanish. Success to some degree, today's prevention of dementia done! The park near the house has markets on Friday, inside an organic small market, very grass roots, home made home grown. Outside the park on the footpath were more markets; veges, meat, cheese, eggs, fish, spices, herbs and ... read more

Wednesday was the first of 2 days we spent in Buenos Aires and what better way than to play teaching assistant at the school where my daughter works. We left her house in La Plata at 5-45am on a bus to the La Plata bus terminal, jumped straight onto the commuter bus into Buenos Aires which takes just over and hour. You get off near Retiro and the subway and then we jumped straight onto a train to the suburb of Olivios where Colegio Tarbut is located. This is a 18mths to high school private Jewish school surrounded by a heap of other private schools all around it. To give you an idea of the type of neighbourhood, this is where the Argentinian president lives. He does not live at Casa Rosada in the city, this ... read more