Advertisement
Published: January 26th 2009
039 - Uruguay - La Paloma
12/24/08 - 01/08/08
Bienvenidos a las Americas
Arriving in Argentina after spending over a month in the Middle East is a like relaxing to an ice cold beer in your apartment after a journey across the desert. Your couch and the Corona are familiar enough, but the fact that they come after such toil makes your apartment feel like the Ritz Carlton and the beer taste like liquid gold snowflakes pouring into your mouth! Such was the contrast for us: leisurely strolling the boardwalks of Puerto Madero without getting hassled by taxi drivers, eating fantastic meals at hole-in-the-wall
parillas (restaurant grills) without having to haggle for the price of food (when's the last time you had to negotiate the price of a cup of coffee from a restaurant back in the States?), and sunbathing around hordes of bikini clad women with men that could care less about all the girls that look like Giselle. Ahhh, back in the Americas, it's good to be home... or at least somewhere just like home!
We landed in to Buenos Aires after a long flight from Cairo that had us connect through Rome. It was
Christmas Eve so I'm sure the Italian luggage carriers at Fiumicino Airport had better things to do than work that night. Needless to say, our check-in luggage was 'lost' for about 10 days and we made due with the clothes we carried on the plane with us.
After a few days trying to (unsuccessfully) sort out the luggage situation in Buenos Aires, we decided to head to the sleepy surf town of La Paloma (in Uruguay) for a chance to get some waves. I hadn't surfed in months (the last time was in Indonesia) so I was psyched to get wet. Unfortunately, the swell didn't cooperate and only sent ankle-biters my way, reminding me oh-so-dearly of my Tourmaline waves back home. Still, we really enjoyed the vibe of La Paloma and even stuck around for New Year's Eve; Hannah and I having a toast of
media-media (half wine, half champagne) on the beach while watching the sun set into the horizon of a year spent almost entirely traveling the world. Here's to many more where that came from!
Next, we headed to the cobblestone streets of Colonia del Sacramento, also in Uruguay and located directly across the river
from Buenos Aires. We visited a great museum documenting the indigenous population of Uruguay. We also found our favorite parilla bar that, save for us, had exactly zero tourists (and as much English) present. The owners and patrons were friendly, the
chorizo (sausage) was second to none, and the Uruguayan whiskey (Dunbar) flowed like water, making us fall in love with this place, and with Uruguay in general.
Finally, we headed back to Buenos Aires to pick up our now-found luggage, visit the astounding Recoleta Cemetery (Evita is buried there), catch some Tango action in San Telmo, and visit the colorful barrio of La Boca.
Next, we switch gears a bit and opt for some hiking and mountain scenery in Argentina's northern Patagonias before making our way across the Andes into Chile. Next stop, Bariloche, Argentina!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.09s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 13; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0445s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Terri Smiley
non-member comment
Post-surgery tango!!
Great pics from Argentina and Uruguay. I wasn't in Argentina long enough to see some Tango, so I'm glad you guys showed me what it's about. Only I'm too old for that kind of surgery! I toast YOU TWO and the new year ahead for my favorite global citizens. Love, Mom