In Search of Iguacu

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So its been a while. As i type i´m in Rio, second day here after tour finished this morning. And what a tour it was, the fact i haven´t been able to get any blogging done is mainly because of the fact that all 17 days were packed with action, amazing sights, great laughs with new friends and recovering with any sleep that was available. So I´m going to do a quick recap of the tour now, not sure whether i´ll get it all done now or have to come back for a second part. Anyway here goes....

Day 1 Saturday 28/11 (Buenos Aires)
After checking out of our nice apartment we headed down to the Hotel we would be meeting our tour group and staying for 2 nights the Hotel Carsson. As we had got there fairly early at 12 we dumped the bags and went exploring the Galerias Pacifico which is a huge shopping centre not unlike the ones at home with a food court and all expensive fairly standard shops. We then headed down avenida Florida, the big touristy market stall street all the way down to Plaza de Mayo where the famous Casa Rosada and other old buildings are. After getting some good photos we went into Casa Rosada (office of President and balcony made famous by Eva Speeches) and managed to get involved in a tour with some fancilly dressed offices. A really amazing building with some great architecture, sights and history. Got to stand on famous balcony like Evita and got to enter current presidents office which was pretty cool. On the walk back went via Puerto Madero which is the port area, its been done up nicely with all nice places to eat and would be a pretty cool place to dine one night.
Eventually met up with all of group at a meeting that night. Seems like a good group, mainly young around our age, 8 english and 7 aussies with a domination of females 11 to 4. After meeting most of us went out to a big argentinian steakhouse for dinner and to get to know each other.

Day 2 Sunday 29/11 (BA)
Today was raining again but we (thomas and i) decided to push through and headed out in the direction of the San Telmo market. When we got there via subway it had just stopped raining and all the stalls were coming back out which was good, pretty cool little market with lots of mate mugs and other argentinian things. From there we subwayed it out to La Boca, the home of the famous La Boca Juniors soccer team and Caminito (all the colourful houses). Started raining a bit again but walked around stadium, checked out team store and then when we eventually found the colourful house streeets (which are surrounded by dodgy, really quite dangerous streets which makes it a challange to find) we had a look around there for a short time. Would have been better in nicer weather but still a lot of interesting things and tango shows happening as ppl ate lunch etc.
Headed back home via taxi because I was heading to a proper Tango show and Dinner night with a few of the other group members, it even included an hour long Tango class first. We got picked up around 7 and were taken out to the place. There were quite a few ppl taking part in the lesson on not a huge L shaped dance floor but through the embarassment and laughs it was quite a good time and i was doing a decent basic tango by the end of it. Then came the Tango show and dinner, which was amazing. All the tables are surrounding the stage and they put on a pretty big production of tango throughout the last few decades, all very dramatic and to live music and singing and dinner was also great, a set 3 course meal with a few options for each, had a medditerian salad, a beautiful steak and a great brownie plus free beer and wine all night. The whole thing went for 4 or 5 hours and was a really fantastic exerience. After getting back to hotel the 2 other guys on the tour Nick (aussie) and Dom (English) were keen to head to the pub for a few more beers, which we did returning around 3am. A fantastic night.

Day 3 Monday 30/11 (BA- Colonia)
Today we checked out to leave BA. Took a quick taxi down to the Ferry terminal to catch a big ferry across to Uruguay and the nice little town of Colonia. Our hotel here was a gorgeous little place centered around a courtyard with a fountain and had a great small old town feel. Us 4 boys then decided to see the town as fast as possible by hiring a golf buggie thing and tearing around the cobblestoned streets, and a highway with it. Good Fun. After returning it we headed up the lighthouse for a great view of the city. We all went out to tea together at a great little place on the cobblestone streets, with an amazing backdrop of the sun setting straight down a cobblestoned alley which was very picturesc.

Day 4 Tuesday 1/12 (Colonia- Montevideo)
Spent the morning wondering around town minus nick who was really sick last night and still isnt great before catching a 3 hour bus to the capital Montevideo. After arriving thomas and i took a quick cruise around town before all the group minus nick went out to dinner next door at a nice italian place. After tea a small group of us went out for some drinks in the old town but didnt really kick on and headed back to the hotel not too late. Had a bad nights sleep as the main street right outside our window means it sounds like we have trucks and yelling ppl in our room all night.

Day 5 Wednesday 2/12 (Montevideo)
Had city tour planned for the arvo so we all split into various groups to have a stroll round in the morning. Thomas, Nick and I were walking back to hotel and around 3 blocks from hotel we witnessed a local middle aged man getting pick pocketed, which although we had been hearing lots of stories was a bit shocking to see up close. That arvo a few of us went on a city tour which afer a slow start turned out to be really great and informative. Saw the stadium that hosted first world cup, the home of the president who lives in the normal person house he did before he was elected and still practices being a doctor 1 day a week even though he is president. Saw some great views of the beaches around the city on way back too. Tonight we caught cabs (paid by the restuarant) to this fantastic restuarant down by the port where i had the best steak sauce ever. Fantastic eating.

Day 6 Thursday 3/12 (Montevideo-Salto)
Checked out and headed to bus terminal for 6 hour bus trip to the Uruguayian town of Salto. Had been a bit of an issue regarding this possibility because of massive flooding in Salto the last few days but it was clearing up by the time we got there although there were a number of flooded streets and parks that showed how bad it was. Hotel was very average and all 4 of us guys are in one room, which with Dom´s horrendous snoring is quite annoying. Not a great deal to do in this town so other then going to dinner we just stayed in listening to Canucks play which i was happy with.

So gotta head off for tea now, which means this tour catch up may take at least 2 if not 3 parts. I may come back later tonight to get some more done. Going to eat tea out on balcony of our amazing hotel with view over Copa and of Cristo Redentor. Hope everyone is well.

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