Our Time Is Short...

In less than a week we will be heading back to Washington, DC and the feeling is very bittersweet. It's amazing how quickly the months pass and we're trying our best to continue to take it slow and easy and savor everything around us. We've seen glaciers, penguins, whales, wine country, lots of tango, Brazil, Uruguay and more. We both agree that we spent our time here well and we're very happy with how everything turned out. Argentina just has so much to offer.

Sunday was my birthday so we hung out at the Four Seasons brunch for hours and hours. We had grappled with how to celebrate because I really don't like parties as much as Don does and so a lazy, food-filled Sunday turned out to be a perfect compromise. I feel like we're really part of the city here when we run into people we've met over time, which we did at brunch. It's funny how quickly strangers turn into familiar faces. It was such a beautiful day doing one of our favorite things here and soaking up the Buenos Aires weather. We have our fingers crossed that the DC climate warms up to welcome us back or it's going to be quite a shock! Not to mention it could take a while figuring out where all our winter stuff is packed away in storage...

So, I'm about to sit on the terrace and watch the water and read a book. Nothing more, nothing less.

Our new digs in Puerto Madero

So for our last 2 weeks in Buenos Aires we decided to switch apartments and try our hand at living in Puerto Madero. Our new building is directly across from the entrance to the Faena Hotel on a nice, quiet street. While we loved the charm of our previous neighborhood on the Palermo/Villa Crespo border, we were looking to change things up a bit. There's an ecological reserve nearby to this new apartment with a path for running and we have a beautiful view of the river from our terrace. One of the other major perks: we have a real, fancy adult pool on the rooftop with a fantastic view--not our kiddie pool for those who know. Here's how it looks:It was also a pleasant surprise when we went out today and saw a big Sunday fair like they have in Palermo Recoleta. There was the typical Argentine arts and crafts, singing, dancing, and junk food. It didn't even feel like we were in Puerto Madero, which is considered more sterile than other areas and principally filled with business people. Everyone was laying around the park talking and having picnics or roller blading or jogging. Sundays are a great day to get out and enjoy the fresh air and people watch. Puerto Madero is already growing on us.

Our Last Asado on Loyola

We put our parrilla to use and made our version of an asado on the rooftop in this apartment on Loyola for the last time last night. We check out on Saturday and move on to another place for about 2 more weeks before coming home. So, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather outside considering one of the top things we fell in love with about Buenos Aires is the way they grill just about everything. Tonight we made chicken with lemon, green zucchini, red bell pepper, corn on the cob, sweet onions...yum. Typically, we'd put a bunch of steak on there but Don had eaten that for dinner for the past two nights in a row so we went a little lighter and healthier. It was somewhat nostalgic being on the terrace snapping tons of pictures of Don and everything around us as I tend to do. We've had a lot of good times in this apartment---omelette and champagne parties at midnight, swimming in a kiddie pool on the rooftop, blasting Lil' Wayne until our neighbor below yelled at us that people don't do that on Sundays...But, alas, it's time to move on.

Getting a Glimpse of Uruguay

We just spent a very peaceful and relaxing four days in Carmelo, Uruguay at the Four Seasons resort on the Rio (River) de la Plata. While we had been wanting to visit for a while we held out until the bungalow we wanted was available and as it turns out, patience really is a virtue. The bungalow had a beautiful sunset view and it was nestled in the trees and very quiet. And, I was able to fill up on fish and shrimp! We took a short 15-minute private plane from Buenos Aires to the resort and they had loads of seafood and fish other than salmon. Why can't I get that from more than a handful of places in Buenos Aires I keep asking myself?

Our mistake was hitting the spa immediately upon arriving for a few hours even though it was a bright and sunny day. Wouldn't you know it, the next two days were full of rain and dark skies. We did get a tennis match in that was just too funny. Neither of us has played tennis in years and so we happily had the courts to ourselves until some couple showed up. Of course they played like they were semi-professional. Our tennis balls were going everywhere...into their court, over the fence. Good times.

Our one adventure for nightlife was quite hilarious when we showed up at the casino next door to the resort and we were the ONLY people there. I saw about 20 workers just standing around bored out of their minds in this bright, tiny wood cabin casino. Well, they opened up the BlackJack table for Don and I kicked back listening to the Best of the 80s that is quite popular in Uruguay it seems. We won a tiny bit of cash and it turned out to be a good night.

I don't think I've ever mentioned Don's fear of lizards on this blog. The way I feel about creepy, crawly nasty things like spiders is how he feels about lizards... He had a seen a "big" one--so he claimed--one day as we were heading to the bungalow but it got away before I could see it. I wasn't too worried about as we've been to many places with roaming lizard life. Well, on our way to check out on the last day, guess who was hanging out by our bungalow? This massive lizard who then promptly ran away from us right into the direction of our outdoor shower! Good thing we were checking out.

A Lesson in Tango Fusion

Tango is one of the true treasures of Buenos Aires and it's everywhere you turn. The other night we decided to try a "tango fusion" show, which purported to meld pure tango music and steps with modern dance and original compositions. The show was called Quintaesencia and performed by a new company under the direction of Leonardo Cuello. We had never been to the Centro Cultural Borges so we decided to give it a shot. From the start we were taken aback by the sophistication and skill of the dance moves. It really opened our eyes to the difference between a professional dance company and watching a dinner and tango show at the other places we've been. The show is divided into four short works that are the result of three years of development. We even recognized one of the dancers from a previous show we had seen and the choreography just made her appear more advanced by lightyears. It was fantastic and cost us about a quarter of the price of some fancy place.

Not to mention, the photography displays in the Cultural Center were excellent. There was one showcase on daily life in India that was full of vibrant colors and candid portrait shots. Another captured the faces and places of people going through abuse recovery, mental hospitalization, and illnesses. It sounds depressing but the photographs spoke volumes.

Here's Don posing outside the auditorium:

Art in the City

The Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires is a treasure trove of the region's artistic culture and we recently immersed ourselves in it. The Constantini collection was a favorite and it includes all mediums from paintings and sculptures to photograhps and engravings. I was itching to take pictures of the art but I respected the rules and resisted. So, naturally, I was so jealous when I saw a lady taking up close and personal shots of the Frida Kahlo self-portrait. Good old me, always following the rules. In any case, this here picture is just a photograph of the exhibit's brochure cover. We also particularly enjoyed the abstract and optical art pieces where you could hit a switch and lights and pieces on the art would move around as the artist intended. There was just so much to see and the museum has a nice little french cafe to rejuvinate you.

We definitely recommend this experience to anyone visiting Buenos Aires.

Valentine's Day

We hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Ours was spent relaxing at the Faena Hotel pool and spa. We had foot rubs by the pool, massages in the spa, manicures, pedicures and lots of champagne. The weather held up beautifully and it was a perfect day. Ain't love grand?

Temaiken Bioparque

We had been hearing for a while about this amazing zoo in greater Buenos Aires that was even better than the one we'd been to twice closer to our house. Yesterday we decided to try it out and we were not disappointed. Temaiken is a bio-park about 35 kilometers outside of the federal capital lines and the landscaping and layout of the animal exhibits are exquisite. They say that a bio-park is a zoo, aquarium, museum, and botanical garden that focuses on endangered species. We got really lucky with such a beautiful day with almost no humidity following a really horrendous thunderstorm the day before. A saleslady sold us on an aquarium event so we went in with a huge crowd of kids to watch the divers feed sharks, who, oddly enough, had to be essentially force fed because they weren't even hungry. They told us that these sharks eat about every 15 days in their natural habitat but that Temaiken feeds them 3 times a week. Go figure. The pictures in the aquarium didn't turn out well since we couldn't use flash. The park was so tranquil and the birds chirping and soft music playing reminded us of the spa! We definitely recommend this day trip to anyone visiting here.

This picture below shows two bats wrapped up together, a mom and baby we suppose. It was surprising to find that the bats were one of our favorite exhibits; they were so large and watching them fly around was creepy and interesting.

Oh, Natal!

Natal, Brazil turned out to be a wonderful way to spend two relaxing weeks. Natal, City of the Sun, is the capital city of the State of Rio Grande do Norte and we managed to achieve a nice balance between kicking back and relaxing and pulling ourselves away from the beach house for excursions and activities. Our friend Butch had been nice enough to give us two thriller books in English and I hadn't had my hands on a book in English since we got here. So my plan was to completely veg and read by the pool or on the beach. Don convinced me to leave the house and have some fun so our first adventure was to the sand dunes. Natal is full of sand dunes in the hills overlooking the beaches and we took a dune buggy tour that was amazing. We went up and down the slopes of sand at top speed in this cute little red buggy.

We also went sand boarding, which was fun but a complete disaster! Don didn't bother trying to understand the instructions from the Brazilian guy so we were covered in sand and falling everywhere instead of gliding down the hill smoothly. But, it was hilarious.

The much more successful activity was a simple zip wire that Don did where you end up plunged in the river. If only there had been bungee jumping or diving off a cliff he would have done that too, for sure.I have to admit that I was nervous about the next adventure, our ATV trip along the hills and to see lagoons and rivers. I had never been on an ATV and I was sure that I'd be left behind. My hand was almost crippled from gripping the handles so hard! Well, no major mishaps occurred and so I settled down and even sped up pretty fast a few times. All I will say is that it's a good thing no one had their camera out when I accidentally drove into the river! Yes, that's right. Instead of following the path along the river, my ATV went crazy and I went right in. Oh, well. I guess it was pretty funny.

One of Don's favorite things to do, as I've mentioned before, is to take private boat tours whenever we're on vacation. I've struggled with sea sickness but gotten better over the years much to his happiness. Somehow, of course, whenever we take a boat on the ocean it happens to be during the roughest periods! On our way to Anguilla from Saint Martin, for example, we were caught in the most outrageous swells that only happen 1 or 2 times a year. Brazil turned out to be no different. We woke up at the crack of dawn to have a "calm" sea and we were caught in the biggest waves and violent rain storm ever. I felt bad because after 2 1/2 hours on that boat I just could not wait for rain to stop so that we could snorkel in the natural pool in the ocean. I may be smiling in this picture, but I'm screaming inside! Not to mention a big wave knocked Don off the boat while he was climbing on. I'll stick with relaxing by the pool with a book and a drink any day.

We already miss Brazil. The people and sights were amazing and we'd love to return one day.

Tastes and Sights of Rio de Janeiro

Our journey recently led us to the colorful, eclectic country of Brazil and our first stop was Rio de Janeiro to see Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. The sun was blazing and people were loud, friendly, and vibrant. Personally, I was looking forward to finally getting a really good selection of seafood and seeing the Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado mountain. Well neither one of those disappointed me! The massive statue of Jesus Christ with his armed outstretched is just as impressive as we'd expected. We kind of went picture crazy and also bought a small replica of it for memories sake. And I promptly began stuffing myself with sole, shrimp and other stuff from the sea.

Another treat was seeing Sugar Loaf with its amazing views and the excitement of riding so high above the ground in cable cars. We were hot as anything in those cable cars in the jungle weather but it was really fun. When you find shade up on the hilltop it brings a nice breeze along.

Oh, and Ipanema Beach...what a busy, crazy mix of locals, tourists, and salespeople everywhere. You can basically lay on the beach all day and at the same time be fed caipirinhas and shrimp skewers, buy a whole new wardrobe, and get amazing shiatsu massages where they make your joints crack in places you never expected. Who doesn't love the beach?

We're now in Natal up in northern Brazil for 2 weeks and we spent most of yesterday watching Inauguration Day at our beach house! More about Natal later...for now, take a look at our Rio slideshow.

A Day in Tigre on the River

Welcome to Tigre!

One of the primary reasons that we love Argentina is because the country is full of interesting and beautiful places to visit and to see new things. Just when we think we've hit a good chunk of the most raved about spots, someone is sure to start talking about some other place that they've been to that sounds amazing. Well, today we hit yet another of the destinations on our list, a place in the northern province of Buenos Aires called Tigre. The main draw is to take a boat tour of the delta and inlets and see the various islands. A couple we met who owns a nearby restaurant had recommended that we visit a particular island that houses a delicious restaurant named Gato Blanco. We were lucky enough to arrive and just look around until we found a boat company that would offer us a private tour, drop us off at lunch, and then take us boat to the main port. It was a fantastic day on the water. People were kayaking, jet skiing, taking motor boats, and even floating in the water on plastic recliners. We had a spectular lunch...the grilled black hake was the best I've had here in Buenos Aires. All in all, a successful trip, a beautiful day, and another destination checked off of our list!

On the boat ride traveling along the delta:

Our fantastic lunch spot:

Watching visitors lounge at a resort on the river:

Happy New Year!

It's 2009! Don and I brought in the new year with a few friends and we are so happy to have Butch visiting from DC. He's been our Buenos Aires companion for the past week and we've been wining, dining, and dancing all over. One of the best parts about having a visitor is that you get a great excuse to make reservations at all of your favorite restaurants and so far they have not disappointed. Last night we were at the Faeno Hotel dinner and tango show because you just can't come down here and not see a tango show. So that's one major thing checked off the list but now we're on to shopping for leather and visiting Tigre in the north to sail through the Delta...

Here are Butch and Don at Asia de Cuba in Puerto Madero having a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon:
The boys leaving brunch at Olsen's: