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Bolivia From Cusco, Peru, we took a train to Lake Titicaca. Straddling the border between Peru and Bolivia, Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world (12,506 ft). By luck, we arrived in the lovely lakeside town of Copacabana, Bolivia during the Fiesta de la Cruz. We have seen many festivals during this trip, but the sheer endurance of the revelers made this party stand out. Hundreds of musicians and dancers paraded through the streets from 5 a.m. to midnight for days on end, commemorating the crucifix and celebrating the constellation of the Southern Cross.
This mixture of catholicism with indigenous cultures underscores the influence of the Aymara, the people that have lived in this part of Bolivia for thousands of years. They were among the last groups to be conquered by the Incas and continue to speak Aymara, rather than Quechua (the official language of the Incas.) Bolivia also has the distinction of electing the first indigenous president in Latin America: Evo Morales.
From the highest (navigable) lake in the world, we traveled to the highest capital in the world. La Paz sits at 11,942 feet in a valley of the great altiplano. We
Fiesta de la Cruz
The women are twirling noise-makers in the shape of toy trucks as marching bands blared the same tune for hours on end. only spent a few days in La Paz, but the experience was dizzying. Perhaps it was the altitude or the juxtaposition of harried businessmen darting past traditionally dressed Aymara women in the crowded streets, but La Paz felt like the most foreign place we have visited on this trip.
Buenos Aires (or why this is my 2nd favorite city in the world) After a few all-day bus trips and a flight, we arrived in Buenos Aires and settled into our apartment in the posh Recoleta neighborhood. After traveling through some pretty rough places, we felt like we had arrived in Paris. In fact, Buenos Aires is often called the Paris of South America - stately buildings, tree-lined avenues, night-owl culture and an uber fashionable population support the comparison. But, with all due respect to the Francophiles, BA stands alone when it comes to its steaks and its wine. They serve some of the best we've ever tasted at remarkably low prices.
Our first night in town, we ate at a restaurant we loved when we visited BA 4 years ago. The amazing steaks lived up to our memories and as a bonus, the restaurant was celebrating its
Bowler hats are a very popular accessory
As far as the dress, our guide told us that the Spanish forced their fashion on the locals in the 16th century and it sort of stuck among the women. 40th anniversary with a tango show.
The next day, we met up with our friend Natalie, who was visiting her friend Jen. Natalie is responsible for starting our trip off right by recommending Guanajuato, Mexico as our first stop. Though we hadn’t met Jen before, we had been following her around the world adventure and picked up many travel tips from her
website. Buenos Aires was actually her last stop of her tour before she headed back to SF. With 9 p.m. dinner reservations, we arrived to an empty restaurant, but got into the late night swing of things by staying til 2 a.m. In addition to the great conversation, part of the fun was watching people stroll in for 1 a.m. reservations.
Our friends Steve and Meredith arrived the next day - more reason to celebrate with a huge steak dinner! Catching up, we got pretty animated. As Dave was in the midst of telling Steve and Meredith about these loud, obnoxious Texans we had met in the Lima airport, we got shushed by the waiter! Presumably for being loud, obnoxious Texans. Ah, the irony.
The next day, Steve whisked Meredith off to Patagonia for a
What once was ours and will be again
Bolivia is completely landlocked - they lost their coastline following a war with Peru. They still maintain a Navy in the hopes of getting their coastline back. tour of the glaciers. There, at the end of the world, he popped the question! So romantic. AND, even more reason to celebrate! Back in Buenos Aires, we toasted the newly engaged couple over a fabulous - you guessed it - steak dinner. Congratulations, Steve and Mere!
Between the carnivorous diet, we manged to visit the horse races, take advantage of the amazing shopping and attend a futbol game and a tango show.
The Hipodromo, Buenos Aires’ horse track, is an elegant structure reminding me more of My Fair Lady than Bay Meadows. We bet on about 5 races before Meredith and I broke our collective losing streak with good ole Juan Value. The winnings covered the cab ride to our next steak dinner in Palermo.
While there is fantastic shopping to be had throughout BA, Palermo offers the most charming option. Dozens of boutiques and cafes line the shady streets of this hip neighborhood.
There are two futbol teams in Buenos Aires: Boca Jr. and River Plate. Boca is known as the team of the people while River has a more elitist reputation. The teams have committed fans and an intense rivalry. We were unable
View of La Paz from our hotel
It was a harried place - protests, markets in the street, pedestrians and cars sharing the roads, people in business suits in full sprint, dozens of shoe shine men wearing ski masks and police wearing catcher's shin guards. to see a head to head match, but attended a River game and got a sense of how deep futbol passions run in Argentina. A maze of barricades extended for blocks around the stadium and police separated River fans from the fans of their opponent, Estudiantes. The Estudiantes' fans were all seated together, contained by a barb-wired fence. I don’t think anyone in that section sat down or stopped cheering once during the game. It was a tough loss for River, with the winning goal coming in the last minute of the second period. After the game, River fans waited for about 45 minutes as the rival fans left the stadium and presumably the area. Even with all the precautions, River fans rioted late into the night, calling for the resignation of the club's president.
Four years ago, Dave and I attended a glitzy, Vegas-stlye tango show called Senor Tango, which combined the worst parts of cirque du soleil with the best parts of airline food. The dancers, however, were great and we had a good time. This time around, we wanted to try something a bit more intimate so we went to a small club in San Telmo
called Bar Sur. Though the vibe was different, it was still a tourist trap with bad food and even worse champagne. Again, the dancers transcended the venue and put on a great show. And when I say dancers, I am specifically talking about Dave and Meredith who were each selected to show off their tango skills on stage. Bravo!
Mendoza We had one last steak dinner along the waterfront in Buenos Aires (perhaps the best yet) before hopping a flight to Mendoza, Argentine wine country. Set at the base of the snow-capped Andes, Mendoza is a thriving college town full of trees and plazas. Our visit coincided with Flag Day (much like the 4th of July) and a visit from Argentina’s president, Nester Kirchner. Most of our time, however, was spent outside the city exploring the vineyards.
The wine industry is growing quickly in Argentina and the tourism industry is trying to keep up. While vineyards welcome visitors, most require reservations and “visiting hours” are set by the whim of the vineyard guides. Armed with no reservations, a map and a couple of crazy drivers, we visited beautiful wineries and tasted some excellent wines. A few of
Rat pack BA style
This was shortly after being shushed at dinner. my favorites: Familia Zuccardi, where our delicious wine-tasting lunch had us practically rolling out of the vineyard; Bodega la Rural, where we learned about old school wine making tools such as the cow hide as pressing sieve and were served our wine by a Gael Garcia Bernal look alike; and, best of all, Achaval Ferrer, a small vineyard that is passionate about producing unique red wines.
We had such a great time with Steve and Meredith, it was sad to see them go back to SF. Dave and I have another week in Buenos Aires before we head to Patagonia in hopes of snowboarding!
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anonymous
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i laughed out loud several times reading this!!! too funny. i can just imagine dave saying "el ruso" to everyone that met steve and laughing then laughing hysterically.