Argentina Sept 2007

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First time I thought about visiting Argentina

I was in Rhodes -Greece in Oct 2006. After a long and strenous year in the office (switched jobs and house under construction added to extra stress) I was relaxing at the beach in Lindos and planned next holidays to Argentina. World dermathology congress was to be held there in Sept 2007, although I m no dermathologist, my mother is, thus explaining the destination of my next trip.


Fast forward a year


Sept 22 (happy birthday daddy) 2007

we re set to leave for Buenos Aires.
After 12 hours of flight from Madrid to BA plus 2 hours delay of flight waiting in a queque (stupid of me) + 2 hours in Barajas + 4 hours Bucharest Madrid flight we arrived feeling very fresh around 23 local time in BA. '
Dorin, my husband, was bored as in Aerolineas Argentinas they don't have 6 movies to choose from and tv for each seat as in other transatlantic flights..I knew the hotel Golden Tulip Savoy was going to be ugly and worn down and so it was, did not expect too much for a night...though the breakfast was excellent as reviews on expedia and tripadvisor rightfully mentioned.

23 September
our trip to Iguazu starts and we're heading to Ministro Pistarini airport to take our connecting flight. Flew over the subtropical rain forest and landed on a reddish soil in Iguazu. Were lucky to have a very nice, funny guide Ms. Marcela Elias.Stayed at Puerto Iguazu -Hotel Saint George- nice greeting fresh squeezed fruit juices in the lobby, though Dorin was dissapointed to be given a bedroom with 3 beds with spectacular view at the parking lot....
The garden and pool was nice and although the water looked dirty there were people hanging out in the pool.
Opted for a trip on the river to the place called three borders (Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay) and was given a Guarani (indians living in a community 10 km in Paraguay in the middle of the subtropical rainforest) performance.
That night we ate at La Rueda- very nice restaurant close to our hotel were the boys (Dorin and Eugen-my father) as well as my mother (Lili) sampled the famous argentinian bife de chorizo with onion, palmito and fries whyle I served Surubi tropical a local fish with papaya. For desert I took a pancake with tropical fruits that was quite delicious, we had an excellent dinner for four with drinks (whine, whisky) that was less than 60 EUR.

24 September (happy birthday mummy) enjoyed a lavish breakfast with scrambled eggs, fresh papaya juice and avocado sandwiches, which really blew me off literaly -last time I will ever eat such a combination or avocados again.
Luckily when you have two doctors in the family they are well equipped with a lot of medicines.
So we headed to the Iguazu National Park- the wind was blowing and it was a litlle bit chilly for my bare feet in sandals...We walked through the forest a while and embarked on a tourist packed train that lead us closer to the passways towards garganta del diablo After walking and walking and walking to catch up with the group, due to a longer than healthy pit stop at the bagnos, we reached Garganta del Diablo impressive waterfall.
We were lucky to have a beautifull sunny day, unlike the day before as Marcela informed us, and the scenery was breathtaking, especially on the left side of the promotory the falls had lush green grass on the rocks and birds were plumeting in clouds of mist.
The return trip we went by foot, near the train trails, the road was a little bit muddy but we saw beatifull butterflies on the redish soil and the sounds of the birds in the forest were not dimmed this time by the sound of the train.
That day we visited the upper and lower falls, had lunch at a restaurant in the park and went (me and Dorin) on an adventure ride under the falls with a zodiac boat, luckily we had raincoats and put our cameras in bags as we were soaking weat from the spray.
The adventure continued with a 3 km ride downstream and walk through the forest followed by a 6 km truck ride through the forest.
It was a lovely day that ended with some shopping, jewelry was top of the list, we found some rather unexpensive gems.
Arriving at the hotel we had a mate cocido on the terace near the pool, contemplating the gardens while feeling very free and far away from the office burdens back home...

25 September - Return flight to BA and connection to Trelew.
Landed in Trelew around 18 local time and were again very lucky to have a lovely guide, Ms. Marta Ficarra.
From Trelew we drove to Puerto Madryn 67 km north. PM was a very lovely new town, a lot of houses under construction, people are living from fishing, tourism, aluminium production (Aluar), sheep raising.
Were lodged at La Posada de Madryn - similar to an inn -coasy warm, we went for a jogg near the waterfront and it was chilly as the wind strongly blew in our faces.
Were unable to progress as desired, and made an early stop after some 4 km close to the town center, then walked back to the hotel. We had warm ham and cheese sandwiches plus whisky for dinner.

26 September
At 6 AM left with the bus towards Peninsula Valdez.
By the way, the breakfast was rather poor compared to what we were used before. Small selection of everything, bread, cheese, jam, juice.
First stop whale watching, on the way we drove through wast areas with little vegetation, bushes, from time to time we saw guanacos and lots of sheep until we reached Puerto Piramides- Punta Ballenas.
The wind was blowing strongly and the skyes were blue and sunny.
After putting on some orange lifesave vests we embarked on a Jorge Schmid boat pulled in the water by a truck and entered the waters of Golfo Nuevo where the whales and their babies could be seen.
The guide and photographer, author and diving specialist Mr. Stephen Johnson (El Gringo) shared with us some information about these extraordinary animals.
What a lucky guy to have such a job !We also bought the CD with Peninsula Valdez which I highly recommend as it is informative and beautifull.
We did see whales with their babies and it was so beautifull and unique, while filming the creatures i could only say wow
We left then for Faro Punta Delgada where we had an excellent lunch that included mushels, patagonian lamb and fish of the day.
We also had a very tasty tinto wine that got me dizzy in need for a cortado fix before leaving to see the Sea Elefants at Punta Delgada.
Although our guide warned us that no ATM, POS are available I still did not get it, thus bought only small souveniers although the shop near the restaurant had nice things for sale.
The sea elefants were laying in groups on the beach with their babies who had these charming round black eyes and cried for their fat momies that were laying motionless on the sand.
Farther away was a big fat ugly male that had these females 10-15 in his harem.
Marta explained that after 3 weeks or so the babies are left alone by their mothers.
We did not want to leave this lovely beach, but had to see the penguins in Punta Norte.
The trip took a while, we were alert to spot guanacos or other animals on the road.
The penguins were fearless nesting on the sandy hights near the viewing point, we stayed 20 minutes or so and headed back to Puerto Madryn.

All in all this day was amazing for us.

For the evening we wanted to try some seafood at Mar e Mesetas, which was unfortunatelly under refurbishment, and we ended up at a bar and restaurant recommended by Marta, that had excellent pizza with spinach -the best i ever eat -better than in Italy !
We walked our bellies to the hotel some 5 km away.

27 Sept
Early morning 6 AM oh no, not again, this is a holiday right?
We left for Trelew where we flew towards El Calafate at 8 AM.
The landing in El Calafate was a bit bumpy and we had some stress on air due to turbulences, so I thought the pilot was so and so, but after getting outside I realised how good he was actually, wind was blowing sand with 100 km/hours and we barely saw the entry in the airport...Our guide Ms Natalia Renard was also nice, she explained such winds are common here, especially when warmer weather sets in in spring/summer.
We traveled 3 km to El Calafate, the town at the shore of Largo Argentino- Argentinas largest lake.
The lake has this bright light blue colour and the air feels so unpolluted and fresh.
Stayed at the Hosteria Kalken-the rooms looked rusticall and in tone with the town.
Went for a stroll in the centre which consists of a few shops, restaurants and houses.
For lunch we choosed a very nice bibleobar that had books for sale plus a few sandwiches and drinks.
Felt very coasy and bohemian.
Left for Perito Moreno that afternoon, the scenery was serene with the blue lake, small icebergs floating adrift, contourting lenga trees with moss and then we saw the glacier !
Massive and imposing surounded by blue water and the green forest there it stood in front of us a living spectacle.
We watched the small ice cracks from the balconies and wowed at the falling ice sounding like small explosions.
Back in town we visited the Anonima supermarket to prepare lunch boxes for the next day trip.
We had some food also for dinner that evening

28 Sept
7 AM woke up again early to catch a good place on the boat that was sailing on Largo Argentina from Punta Bandera towards the glaciers Upsala, Spegazzini, Onelli.
Natalia managed to board us on the new ship Chonek very pleasant/ modern.
We sailed through Boca del Diablo on Brazo Norte and were supposed to disembark at Onelli Bay but due to the recent major cracks of the Upsala glacier, the route was blocked by floating icebergs and there was no way how we could pass.
So what was thought to be a full-day cruise seemed to become a short trip after all...
The route to Spegazzini glacier was blocked as well so we headed to Upsala glacier- the largest one, the passage was again obstructed and we had to find a passable route.
We finnaly managed and succeded to be close to the glacier where we had some long awaited kodak moments
Returning, we managed to also see Spegazzini glacier, as the wind blew some obstructing icebergs away - always a surprise what you find in an hour or so...
Although the wind was cold on the deck I stayed most of the trip outside and stared at the blue shades of the glaciers
Back in town it was time for a nice dinner at the Casimiro Bigua Parilla (Kirchners fav restaurant when in town) with lamb and beef as well as tinto syrah wine for me.
Even though we did not book we were lucky to find a table for non-smokers, later on the place was full and a queque developed at the entry.
Lili could smoke though at the bar, which was funny, we were waiving to her from our table

29 Sept

Shopping day, bought some nice paintings on carboard with the Calafate plant, tasted the excellent chocolate of Laguna Negra and the local calafate jam
It was time to part from my parents who flew back to BA while we flew to Ushuaia
The plane was late 2-3 hours and we patiently waited in the airport, we even got to see my parents who had the flight two hours later leaving for BA
The flight to Ushuaia was short but with turbulences once we flew over the Andes
The scenery was quite different from El Calafate as the Andes were behind the town prottecting it from the wind
Our Beagle Channel View Room at the Los Cauquenes Resort & Spa was so nice with high ceiling and a huge window from where you could see the shore of the Beagle channel, the cauquenes (gheese) and the mountains in Chile
The bed was huge and confortable and we wished we stayed here 2-3 days more ...
We went straight to the spa and had sauna, jacuzzi and a refreshing bath in the pool that was partially outside on a terace where the air was strong and cold
Relaxed we went in the town with the hotel shutle bus and wanted to sample the famous sea food at Tia Elvira restaurant that was packed with tourists and instead we went to Tante Nina closeby and had a table with a nice view of the port.
The food was excellent too, we tried the famous Centolla (Spider Crab)

30 Sept
After a pleasant breakfast at the hotel, we waited to be picked-up by the guys from Canal Fun for the Lagos Offroad excursion.
Initially we booked the Tierra del Fuego National Park trekking & canoas excursion, which in the end was not offered that day.
We wanted something physical as our late eating in Argentina has taken a toll on our bellies
The excursion started with bread buying for the barbecue we would enjoy later on at a cabin on the shore of Lago Fagnano- the lake that divides Isla Grande del tierra del Fuego in half
In the jeep also joined two pairs of honeymooners from Spain-Barcelona and Japan-Tokyo.
We made our first stop on the Garibaldi Passeo where ingles= pirates and islas malvinas=argentina was written on the walls, we glanced at Lago Escondido (hidden lake) , passed near an accident site(not a pleasant view) and observed that most cars here are old with no airbags and the roads are quite dangerous, a light snow was falling on the road
After passing the Cerro Castor winter resort we entered on a forest trail and tried some muddy roads, took lots of pictures and filmed the entire off-road experience that culminated with a drive-in in the Fagnano lake and a hike through the mesmerising lenga forest to the cabin where we eat a very good beef with red Malbec wine
Back in Ushuaia we returned to the Hotel and went again at the spa where we stayed until closing around 22 pm
We slept like babies that night

1 Oct
Regretfully we packed our bags at 7 AM and left the hotel at 8 for a Beagle Channel Cruise
We were supposed to be at 8,30 in the port to embark the cruise, but the hotel shuttle bus broke and we waited for 30 + minutes for another one to come
When we arrived in the harbour it was too late, all ships had left
It was clouded and rainning so we went shopping for souvenirs and stopped for lunch at the famous Tia Elvira where i tried Merluza Nera a la Tia Elvira with Centolla and Mejillones, super tasty
We returned at the hotel to pick-up our bags and rushed to the airport where we found that our flight was delayed a couple of hours 3-4, so I was understandable a bit upset and very tired, just that I couldnt sleep as the airport was rather small and packed with people
Our flight took off the last at 21 PM so we arrived in BA in the middle of the night
We quequed for a taxi and soon were in Ayres de Recoleta Hotel
Rather an apartment block than a hotel we had a room with fully equipped Kitchen on the 8th floor overlooking the noisy street
It felt pretty chilly in the room and the sheets were not even remotly as warm and cosy as the ones in Ushuaia
Went to sleep around 4 AM

2 Oct
we slept until 10 and rushed to have breakfast on a nearby caffe two blocks away.
Although we were sitting there waiting for over15 minutes, nobody came to serve us and when they did they only brought us the minimum
You could feel the differences between this big city and the intimate towns in Patagonia
Service here was definitely worse than what we experienced in other places
To explore the city we decided to take the BA bike ride from Plaza San Martin departing at 14 PM
We walked there and passed through the largest boulevard 16 lanes Av 9 Julio and reached Plaza San Martin
We visited the offices of Lan&Krammer on Florida Blvd, the main pedestrian shopping street, and booked the bike tour
The guides Rosa and Sylvia (i think) were entertaining and our group consisted of doctors from UK who came at the dermathology congress, some of them were very annoying but we ignored them
We biked through Puerto Madero, on womens bridge, Costanera Sur, La Boca, Casa Rosada, Plaza del Mayo, Belgramo
Although a bit stressfull at first with the traffic and tourists we had to avoid, it was a matter of exercise and a pleasant ride
My front tire was flat and the guide immediatly changed the bike and gave me hers, she stopped on the way to La Boca at a bike center to fix it and met us at a cafe near Caminito afterwards
We decided not to eat in the evenings any longer as we were not pleased with what we had become ... instead we went to a supermarket to buy fruit/ water and something for breakfast
We were overheard in the shop by a fellow romanian who worked as a kinetotherapist in BA and who kissed us and was so moved to see romanians that he invited us to meet him the other day
We were sorry not to be able to respond to his heartfelt invitation as the next day we left for Montevideo and the other day was shopping full-day obviously
We booked a tango show for the last night at the reception and they recommended us Carlos Gardel show that was around 80 Arg dollars/ person and included pick-up.
We were commited not to eat in the evening so we said we only want the show and we want a better place if we forego dinner
That evening we went for a jogg on Avenida Libertador where most Recoleta portenos usually jog and we felt very good after 45 minutes of running
We are big dog lovers, so seeing so many dogs in the park was a delight !

3 Oct
Saddly another very early wake-up at 6 am had breakfast in the room and left to the Buquebus dock to embark for our trip to Montevideo.
It better be good, otherwise we would have preffered to stay in BA
The trip lasted 3 hours and I managed to buy the spanish edition of Runners World magazine and endulged in some half-understood reading. The pictures were nice though
In Montevideo our guide Silvana Guida met us and we went in the town center where the Artigas-country hero -statue is found, we strolled through the old city center and bought some souveniers
We then went to the port area for lunch, very good sea food and sparkling wine
After lunch we went to see the grandeur of old times in the neighbourhoud were the old aristocratic families used to live
Indeed the good times have passed, as all these huge mansions were in badly need of refurbishment and there was no money to make it happen
The guide explained you could buy very cheap property here around 200,000 USD plus you would need at least 100,000 USD to renovate the house
For 200 K USD you could also buy a house in the new residential neighborhoods, which we were to visit and which proved to be very nice, with bricks facades and groomed well designed gardens
We ended our trip with a 30 minutes stop in a mall, I was one of the few who managed to buy something to the surprise of my familly
After another 3 hours return with the Buquebus, I slept most of the time, we took a taxi back to our hotel
Dorin tried to offer the driver a good tip, but he requested instead to be given a larger sum to give more or less exact change
Dorin received 2 * 20 ARG USD papers as change
I was still exhausted but Dorin insisted to run and he went on his own...

4 Oct
We woke up late after 9 30 and went to a cafeteria for a sweet morning treat
Headed to Palermo Viejo with the Metro and after strolling on the streets aimlesly looking for boutique stores we decide we need to go back to Florida as we do not have much time for shopping
Dorin had a backache- supposedly from the off-road in Ushuaia combined with the running, and we went to a drugstore to buy antiinflamatory diclofenac and pain killers
Dorin hands up the 20 ARG dollars received from the taxi driver with which we intend to pay and turns out they are fake !
The paint has run down during Dorin s sweaty run the night before and in daylight we can clearly see they are fake...
We are a little bit upset and realise it is a big city and bad things do happen here
Galerias Pacifico at Florida junction with Cordoba is a little bit disappointing as the shops are small and not so many as we thought, moreover we could not find what we were looking for, a rectangular cow hide rug
Luckily after loosing more than 2 hours searching for that perfect rug, we realise that in our bedroom such a rug would not fit at all and we give up our quest
We eat in the Galeries excellent fast-food type of grills bife de lomo with salad which Dorin says was the best price / quality in the entire Argentina. He likes a good bargain
We end our shopping spree at 19 PM and rush at the hotel to be ready for the Tango show
A car picks us up and we enter in the Carlos Gardel tango hall where we receive places at the balcony
People are still eating and the show beginns after 30 minutes or so
Frankly speaking I m not a huge fan of this touristry shows were everybody applauds when they are supposed to and you feel something is fake
This was the case and the waiter wrote on a small piece of paper a sum which was twice we understod at the hotel we would pay Obviously it was a scamm trying to get as much money as possible from stupid tourists and after the taxi driver experience with the fake money we decided not to be cheated anymore
We spoke with the concierge at the hotel who apparently was to blame as he requested VIP treatment for us... obviously he did not, but the people at Gardel Tango show were crooks
In the end we paid regular tickets of ARG 40 USD each and left disgusted
After all in such a big city it is inevitable that you are left with a bitter taste from time to time !
The entire trip to Argentina was too nice to let it become overshadowed by this nasty experience !

5 Oct We woke up at 9, had breakfast in our room and went to my parents hotel Golden Tulip on Callao Blvd to catch the bus to the airport
We almost didnt make it and arrived mere seconds before the bus left
Happily on the bus, we drove to the airport, the streets were quite crowded and traffic was jammed, arriving we ran to customs for tax free stamps and quequed more than 1 hour to check in, then again 20 minutes to pay airport tax , then again 1 hour for passport controll and when we finnaly arrived at the gate we did not have any time neither for shopping nor to claim our tax free, not even to buy a magazine before boarding the plane that suprisingly was on shedule this time!
So I had to sleep most of the time in order not to be totally bored, I saw a nice film with Meg Ryan who played a mother with cancer, cant remember the name of the film

6 Oct
We arrived at 7 in Madrid Barajas and waited 2 hours till our flight was open for check in and then another 1 hour till the Tarom representative showed up.
Luckily his value added was that he saw that although my parents destination was Bucharest, the luggages were sent to Cluj as some other members of our group flew there
We knew we had to reclaim them in Bucharest
After another four hours flight we arrived in Bucharest were an international auto fair was creating a chaos at the exit from the Airport, overcoming this as well, we arrived home were we enjoyed traditional stuffed cabage rolls (sarmale), ciorba de perisoare, trout in oven and aubergine salad surrounded by the entire family and our Beagle Maddy.

God it feels good to be home again !

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Photos

On the deck
Me and Dorin with my father

On the deck again
Mummy, Daddy and Hubby

Biffe de chorizo
La Rueda Restaurant -Puerto Iguazu

Surubi tropical
La Rueda restaurant- Puerto Iguazu

Quilmes
National Beer

In the park
Iguazu National Park- walking towards Garganta del Diablo

Garganta del Diablo
Before the fall water is collected from a huge area and plumets in Garganta del Diablo

Falls4
My favorite

Falls5
With daddy

JungleTrail
Walking back on the muddy road near the train tracks

UpperFalls2
Really nice one

Embarking
Avistaje de Balenas- Jorge Schmid- Punta Ballenas

El Gringo
Stephen Johnson speaking about Southern Right Whale