Post Game

I've been home for a couple of weeks now. All of my time has been spent doing repatriation tasks. I've purchased a house, a car, a computer, a phone, and new furniture. I got my taxes submitted. I have been to doctors and dentists. We've had family dinners and I've caught up with a few friends. It's been a dizzying few weeks so unlike the first part of my 2012.

As good as it is to come home, inevitably there's a bit of post-travel blues. I like who I am when I travel and I always notice that there's an inner battle when I get back to reality. My wanderlust-fueled self is resisting the idea of signing up for a mortgage and thinks I belong back on the road, preferably near a beach where I can live on a few dollars a day with minimal possessions. My other half is excited to get settled in a house and start the next chapter of my life...and start saving for the next trip!

I've noticed a few things since I've been back. For one thing - for the first time in 4 1/2 years, I can understand almost every conversation around me. My Dutch was hopeless but I've missed not hearing Spanish around me all the time and I'm forgetting a lot of what I learned. I need to try to keep it up.

I've also noticed how awkward Canadians are when they greet each other! In Holland it was 3 kisses, in Europe and Quebec it's 2, in South America it's 1 and here...0, unless you're really good friends. It's so odd to me now. It's funny that a custom I grew up with now seems foreign. Yet this is one of the joys of traveling! It's sad that we don't kiss when we greet each other. It's nice. It's warm. By contrast we appear cold and stuffy!

Taking a step back, I can really reflect on how lucky I am. I am so grateful to have had the time to take this trip. To go and see and do and experience. I am not meant to live out my days putting in 60 hour weeks in the office. I work to live and there are so many fun things to do to make the living part more exciting. I really believe that contrast is the essence of appreciation and by traveling around you can appreciate differences, open your eyes to new ways of thinking and doing things, and recognize what you love so much about Home.

And there really is no place like it!

Lo Bueno Dura Poco

Lo Bueno Dura Poco is the equivalent expression to 'All good things must come to an end'. Damn. I guess it had to happen some time. I suppose I was ready to go home, ready to start the next chapter of my life. Still, I had to remind Mom and Dad that the reluctance I had in leaving Argentina wasn't because I didn't want to come home but rather that I didn't want to leave there.

And so my last day in Buenos Aires was spent breaking a sweat trying to stuff my two suitcases full of things I'd accumulated over four months. I don't know what I would have done if Guille hadn't taken a bag back to Canada with her a few weeks ago!

Then it was off to Palermo and Mama Racha's for Guille's birthday lunch. There were a lot of familiar faces with all of Guille's friends and family that I'd met during my time with her here. Last count I think there were 18 'big kids' and 8 little kids, it was a big crowd!

The afternoon was almost like a final exam in my Spanish class! How well would I do in a large group understanding and speaking spanish? Well enough to get by and surprise one of her friends that I'd really only been learning for the last four months. That was the highest compliment I could have received. Of course now I'm worried about forgetting it all!

My last day in BA was a beautiful, sunny warm fall day. The leaves were turning yellow. Everyone was out in the park playing and drinking mate. The street vendors were doing good business around Plaza Armenia. That's the way I'll remember it until I get the chance to go back and make new memories there. And I'll definitely go back!

Mop Up

With little time left, it was time to 'mop up' those few outstanding items on the list of things I wanted to see before I left Buenos Aires. Off I went today to the Plaza de Mayo to check out El Cabildo and the Casa Rosada.

The Cabildo in BA was a much bigger production than in Montevideo. So much so that I could only digest a portion of the information they presented. It being solely in Spanish didn't help either.

The view of the Plaza de Mayo from the balcony of El Cabildo.

The view of El Cabildo from the Plaza de Mayo (white building on the left).

I took a free 45 minute tour of the Casa Rosada which was really impressive!

Aside from being a spectacularly beautiful building, I particularly liked the press room with black and white posters of influential women in Argentina's history.

An art gallery decorated in the colours of the Argentinian flag inside the Casa Rosada.

President Cristina's desk in Casa Rosada.

I met my friend Mariano in the afternoon to go down to The neighbourhood of Boca to check out the infamous Caminito.

For 'la ultima cena', my last supper in BA, Guille, Alé and I went over to Puerto Madero to an Italian restaurant. It was a great excuse to take out my new, fabulously beautiful green heels (zapatos con tacos altos). Needless to say that after wearing flip flops and sneakers for four months I had to move slowly!!! ;o)

Montevideo

Today was site-seeing day. Javier and I started the day at the Solis Theatre.

There was a photography exhibit that was worth checking out before moving on to see Palacio Slavo, the city's tallest building.

Then we hopped on a bus to Parque Rodo which was a little oasis in the city. It has a lake with paddle boats and lots of green space which I always love.

After we stopped for lunch we headed down to the Costanera, the seaside boardwalk. While there are lots of apartment buildings along the main road, the area has a really nice vibe to it. It's not obnoxious like Cancun or anything. It didn't hurt that it was a glorious day! Summer-like in Montevideo. Winter-like in Colonia. What a difference a week makes!

Our final stop, before heading back to the ferry terminal, was the 'El Cabildo', the old town hall. I enjoyed seeing old photos of Plaza Constitucion and the some ancient artifacts, but I admit I expected more. From what Javier said, Uruguayans don't dwell too much on the past. Many don't know much about their own history so perhaps it's not surprising the Cabildo was a bit lean on history and memorabilia.

While it was a long way for a short amount of time, it was nice to see more of Uruguay and hang out with Javier. Besides, I really wanted to take advantage of my time here. I can't believe it, but Operation Penguin ends in 48 hours when I get on a plane bound for North America. How strange it will be to be Home again!

Tienes que ir

The words from the lady in the tourist centre in Colonia were stuck in my mind. You have to go, tienes que ir, to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. I didn't make the time to go when I was in Colonia last week. It was a challenge enough to get there that I wanted to stay put, thanks very much. That said, my 'FOMO' still kept me wondering about the city.

While I'd originally planned on spending the full week in BA, I opted to 'pop over' to Montevideo for a couple of days mid-week to satisfy my curiosity. Javier is from Montevideo so I knew I'd have a guide and wouldn't be stuck in the touristy spots. It's so much easier to get a feel for a place with local guides.

It's 'only' three hours by boat but the Buquebus company makes the check-in and customs fairly painless. Besides, there's wifi on board. I could easily waste that time in an Internet cafe! Sad but true. Might as well be en-route somewhere.

Montevideo is a capital city but it's a fairly small one. It felt like a town compared to Buenos Aires which was actually refreshing. There were only eight attractions listed in the Frommer's online guide but there's so much more to the city!

The hotel,

and the view from the balcony.

I met Javier for dinner at this funky pub called Matteo (after some famous Uruguayan singer) in his neighborhood. Good food and great music. All good.

The old city gate by night.

I've been meaning to...

...do a lot of things in Buenos Aires. I've always had plenty of time...until now. Gulp. I hear the clock ticking so it was time to make the time to see the things I'd been meaning to.

I was on my own today to zig and zag in the general direction of the green part of the city north of Avenida Del Libertador. The bus dropped me at the Plaza Italia and I headed up to the Parque 3 De Febrero as the first destination.

There were tons of runners, bladers, and cyclists out enjoying the sunshine. The rose park, El Rosedal, was unfortunately closed up for some reason but I enjoyed my wander around the lake and popped in to the Museo Sivori. The museum was a manageable size and was full of funky modern art some of which I really liked.

The next stops were the Japanese Garden...

....and MALBA. MALBA is the museum of latin american art in Buenos Aires. The building is sleek and modern with three floors to explore. I didn't linger too long any any one piece and am certain I didn't give some pieces more than a passing glance. There were some fascinating pieces which really caught my eye. Then there were many others that were just plain weird or disturbing confirming that I'm not a huge contemporary art fan. Just like with opera, I'm optimistic it'll grow on me or I'll have some epiphany about it! One day...

I opted to have lunch in the MALBA restaurant. It was very tasty, but on the expensive side. I needed the energy as I still had much ground to cover. The Floralis Generica, a gigantic steel flower which open in the morning and close at night, was next.

Once I'd seen all of the above, it was time to switch gears and get into shopping mode to pick up a few things before I head home.

By the time I got home at 19h, I was shattered! It's just as well that Guille's birthday dinner was going to be homemade instead of going out to a restaurant. We had malfatis and pankekes con dulce. Yum yum. While I still got to bed earlier than I would have if we'd gone out to a restaurant, 2AM was still late, especially since I was catching a ferry to Montevideo early the next morning.

Sunnies and coffee needed!

We asked for a late checkout. We needed it. We were moving pretty slowly once the alarm went off just before noon. Good thing today was a chill day with no real plans other than meeting up with Guille's mom and cousin and his family in San Isidro at Bike&Coffee, our favourite little restaurant.

While I'd planned on sitting quietly at the table caffeinating, the twins, Lara and Camila, had other plans for me. I got an earful from the munchkins about this and that and everything else! They talked a mile a minute and I kept having to ask them to slow down. It was cute to see them so excitable. Inevitably their energy was contagious and I had a great time playing with them. As always, I do my best to encourage mischievous behaviour in all little people!

After lunch we all hopped on board the Tren de la Costa to Tigre.

We checked out a different part of town where they had more boat rides, playgrounds, boardwalks and parks. It was really pretty but Guille and I were both lugging around our overnight bags on little sleep and we were pooped. Plus I talked in Spanish about 90% of the time so my brain hurt too!

Playing with our food! Copo de azucar=barbe-à-papa=cotton candy...or in this case, a decent moustache!

Los disfrazes

Today was all about the party in San Isidro.

Julían's email mentioned 'customs'. Hmmm? Ah! Costumes! Love it! 'Disfrazes' in spanish. But what to wear? What to wear? Looking at the clothes I already had, I figured going as a hippie would be the easiest to pull together without too much effort. Guille had an outfit ready to go too, so it was perfect.

The party was in San Isidro, in another town about 25km from where we are in BA. I got an invitation from Julían, from the Antarctic Dream. He and his friends were putting it on at the clubhouse for the social club they founded. When I asked him what time the party started, he said to come anytime after 12. That's when all Argentinian parties get started. Even after all this time, I still haven't adjusted to the nocturnal nature of South Americans!

By the time we caught a taxi from the hotel in Vicente Lopez (the closest hotel we could get at the best price) it was 01:30. Julían met us at the door, though I hardly recognised him as a black basketball player!

Both Guille and I were amazed at all of the costumes. There was some serious effort put into these costumes. What a fun group! It's way more fun to go to a party trying to look silly that it is to get all glammed up, in my opinion.

We went straight to the dance floor after getting our first beer. We started out dancing on our own but everyone was so inclusive that it didn't take long to meet some people, including Patricia, who went to the party on her own, brave girl.

The dance floor seemed dominated by inebriated men in drag and I got bumped several times, usually as I was taking a sip of my drink. They do say beer is a good hair conditioner!

My trick of not wearing a watch helped immensely but I was ready to go at what turned out to be 5AM. I thought I'd done so well but I got poo-poo'ed by everyone saying it was too early to go. I tried to rally and ignore my head cold coming on. In the end, we caught a cab around 6:30 and we were back at the hotel at 6:45. We managed to sneak a few items from the breakfast buffet before it opened at 7 and we confirmed that we could have a late check out. It took us about two seconds to fall asleep once our heads hit the pillows.

What a great night!!!

The country-mouse in the big city

Well, it happened before when I came back to BA after being in the peace and quiet of nature. The shock to the system being in a city with 14 million people and concrete everywhere is proving tough to deal with. To make matters worse today is a cold day and I went shopping...along with everyone else. Oops!

I needed warm clothes. I foolishly sent most of my warm clothes back to Calgary with Guille. I amaze myself at my optimism at times. It was 40'C when I landed in January. Today's high is 13'C and I need a toque and mitts.

In any case malls packed with people is never a good thing for me. I lose it when people stop at the end of escalators. I get frustrated when people walk ten abreast. It annoys me when people wander, change directions and stop. And the icing on the cake today is that apparently my size of jeans is the 'largest we carry'. Ouch! And seriously...what IS the deal with skinny jeans?

In any case, it seemed that I wasn't fit for an unsupervised public outing so I took myself home out of harm's way before anyone got hurt. To be fair, it's not Buenos Aires, it just big cities in general. I'm so much more of a "country mouse".

I ended up having a lovely evening with Guille and Sergio. We ordered empanadas and had them delivered to the apartment. Perfect. There were so many flavours to choose from and my initial concern about knowing which was which was apparently not an issue!

Back to Buenos Aires

I squeezed out every minute at the hotel that I could. In the end I never left the property. I was so wonderfully content there that I saw no reason to leave. As it was, I stayed until the very last minute until it was time to take a taxi to the port.

Too bad I hurried! The boat was an hour late showing up.

Ah well, I had time to finish the final book of The Hunger Games trilogy. Phew! Those books consumed me. All I wanted to do was read...which is actually a great feeling that I didn't dare challenge.

Now it's time to start working on my verbs again. Time spent with Carlos and Javier who don't speak English reinforced that, although I did quite well. I also want to start into the kids' book Tales of Beedle the Bard, in Spanish. That's my goal for this week, my last week (gulp!) in BA in addition to checking out the museums I haven't made time for yet, getting down to Boca, hitting a few milongas, chilling with Guille and savouring my last few days of this amazing trip I'm on.

So tonight was my big night out at Teatro Colón. I was so excited to go see a show in the newly remodelled, famous city landmark. The building was stunning. It was a real treat to get to see the inside of it and experience a little culture along the way.

But...I'm just going to say it...I found the experience of sitting through an opera to be more like an endurance test.

It was too warm in the balconies, the seats were too close together, the quarter of the stage the singers spent most of their time on was obscured because of the seating arrangement, the girls beside me seemed clueless that every time they leaned forward they blocked my view of the stage and the subtitles (even in Spanish they're a big help) and I kept falling asleep. Every time I snapped out of a mini nap it seemed that the subtitles always read the same - god have mercy, save me from my pitiful life. Oh, and there was a whole song on how great war is. They were definitely different times when Verdi wrote "La forza del destino"!

And I paid good money to come here tonight to see a show. I think it's fair to say it was mostly for the architecture!

I began to wonder what key element about appreciating the show I was missing since the crowd seemed to be going wild -even those standing through the whole performance, poor things! Loud bursts of 'bravos' came at the end of each song. The place was packed and this was just one of a dozen nights this show runs for. Porteños like their arts. I guess I'm not as cultured as they are! ;o)

Sadly, this photo represents my favourite part of the show!

De nada!

Didn't do anything today. It was great. Laziness is a skill I need a bit more practice with but holing myself up in this fabulous hotel has its advantages!

Where I spent most of my day:

Operation Flake-Out

I am excited to start my two day escape at the Unique Luxury Hotel today. After three nights in a hostel that felt more like a refrigerator and wasn't super 'gezellig', I was eager to check-in and begin Operation Flake-Out.

Before shipping out though, I accepted Javier's invitation to accompany him to pick up his son, Thobías, at school. I'm really glad I did.

It was neat to see all the kids let out from school in their (unfortunate) uniforms chatting to friends or eager to tell their parents about their day. Thobías greeted me with a beso on the cheek, which is such a wonderful part of the culture here. Canadians take note!

He's adorable and I can see why Javier makes such an effort to see him when he's not out on the boat. It was heart-warming to watch them walk down the street holding hands. Most ten year olds I know wouldn't be caught dead doing that! ;o)

I had a lovely time with them walking around town and having a bite to eat. They stopped to play football at the playground next to the hostel. Before I said goodbye to them, Thobías took this picture of Javier and me.

The Unique Luxury Hotel is FABULOUS and I'd be surprised if I leave the property before 11AM on Saturday when I go catch my boat back to BA. Then again, the beach is about 200m down the road and when it's sunny here it's so nice out. We'll see. No plans, other than a massage. That's the deal!

The common areas here are fabulous and I came up to the Sunset Lounge to watch the sunset. It's so cool that I can see BA's skyscrapers across the river today!

And a little while later the sky went orange as the sun set.

Toro!

I couldn't resist going back the historical centre this morning.

The museums were open today so I paid the 50$ (~$2.50) and went to see four of the eight available to me on the same ticket. They were all pretty small but interesting nonetheless. The Museo Casa Nacarello was a Portuguese house done up as it would have been in the 18th century. The Museo Municipal Dr. Bautista Rebuffo had old artifacts from natives and imperialists and old maps which I love.

The town changed hands between the original Portuguese settlers and the Spanish ruling Argentina on the other side of the river. It's not surprising, therefore, to see original Portuguese homes with their slopes roofs next to Spanish homes with flat roofs.

My wandering today took me to the same places as yesterday only because the light was different, I managed to get some more interesting photos. This place is a photographer's paradise.

My favourite home on the Plaza Mayor:

Where's Waldo?

As I looked up from my camera's viewfinder I noticed Carlos wandering down the street. Yesterday he offered to take a picture of me with my camera. Today he offered to escort me out to the Real de San Carlos bull fighting ring this afternoon. Wow.

From Wikipedia:
Plaza de Toros Real de San Carlos is a bull ring in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. It is currently a derelict building that is crumbling down. It is forbidden for safety reasons to access the bull ring.

Bah!!! As a local Carlos, knew where the hole in the fence was so in we went. It reminded me a lot of the Colesseum in Rome (minus thousands of tourists). We went up into the stands at first and then down into the middle of the field where Carlos watched for the expression on my face when he clapped his hands. The acoustics were simply amazing! I never would have known to do that without him showing me the trick.

We then wandered over to the Train Museum (it was just across the road so why not?) and walked along the Costanera before catching the omnibus back. He was so sweet and I was grateful that he was willing to spend an afternoon playing tour guide.

When I got back to the hostel Javier was there and we ended up cooking up a pasta to share along with some good Uruguayan wine. It was a nice night but the wine combined with all the fresh air made me super sleepy! Just as well, I was sleeping in the dorm room tonight and the place was SO cold. Nothing like a little wine induced stupor to ward off the elements...and three blankets.

Colonial Colonia

Colonia is as amazing as everyone said it is. I'm so pleased I made the effort to come here and I'm also pleased that I'm not just day-tripping here. I want to soak it all in slowly. However...

...coming at the end of April means its mid-Autumn here and it's cold! My wardrobe seems so inappropriate, especially now that I took half of it to the laundromat.

Coming mid-Autumn also means that there are fewer tourists. I wandered around the streets of the old-town today and could really appreciate the town for itself. I can imagine the zoo this town would be in the summer but now it's so peaceful and chill. Lucky me.

Other than aimless wandering, I went up the lighthouse, into the cathedral, the old port door, a few shops and around the squares and the riverfront.

During my wanderings, a local I bumped into, Carlos, offered to take a picture of me. This is the picture he took right outside his front door. What a neighbourhood!

I also stumbled upon a FABULOUS photography-antique shop where I bought a kid's book on Canada in Spanish. That should be interesting! I also picked up some inspiration for photos of Colonia. The brazilian photographer is a genius!

While reading in my room at the hostel tonight I could have sworn I heard a brass band. I needed to go check it out. Maybe there was a fair going on at the plaza. Instead, it appeared to be a figment of my imagination or I was too late. Either way, I walked up and down the street looking puzzled only to discover that Javier from the hostel had witnessed my deranged little outing.

I'm not imagining it, I protested in spanish because Javier from Montevideo speaks no English. No importa, he said and then added that he was bored at the hostel and did I want to grab a drink. Well...I had my coat on already. Why not?!

We wandered over to the historical town to share a bottle of wine. We took the long way back, weaving through the streets of colonial Colonia. It was such a treat to see it at night. There were no cars so we walked in the middle of the road, although that's hazardous because it's so uneven. The street lamps give off a warm yellow glow making all the buildings look even more special. It was magical.

What a wonderful first day in Colonia. Warm fuzzies! ;o)

Surprise! A feriado in Salto!

Summer's over! Everyone was bundled up in coats, scarves and toques (gorros!) with their matés in one hand and their thermoses tucked under the same arm. I joined them at the bus station this morning to catch the 7:05 bus to Salto. Baby steps as I inch forward towards Colonia.

The first real evidence of progress today came when I got a new stamp in my passport! I was a little apprehensive since I didn't have an explicit visa but apparently I didn't need one. Then again, that information was from the same source that said I didn't need for for Brazil! In any case, it was a piece of cake and I've finally made it to Uruguay. Hurrah!

I arrived at the Salto bus terminal at 08:15 and my heart sank when I was told that the next bus to Colonia was at 15:55. I am not having much luck with the bus schedules. I was even more sad to discover that it's an 8 hour journey. Oh man am I ever earning a night at a fancy hotel!

Salto turned out to be a charming little town.

The national holiday in Uruguay is the 19th of April which they make into a nice long weekend so today was a 'feriado', or public holiday. Fortunately some stores were open in the morning so I poked around.

I often wonder what kind of chaos would ensue if there was ever a maté shortage!!

Everyone seemed really friendly and I left with the feeling that I'm glad for the 'gift of time' in which I got to see a little more of Uruguay. Lovely though it will be, Colonia will have the feel of a tourist town. Salto felt anything but. Again, I was something of a curiosity today to most! It's actually quite a rare and special feeling.

Finally - the bus I'd been searching for for nearly two days!!!

Good thing I brought movies on my iTouch. It sure seems that I've seem a full range of buses on this trip. The one from Mendoza to BA was like business class on an airplane. Now I'm on one that's...well...it's kind of clean.

The journey was fine for the first six hours or so but the last two were almost unbearable and I desperately wanted OFF! When I finally arrived in Colonia at midnight I kitted up in my backpack and other bags and walked the six blocks to my hostel with only a cursory study of a map ahead of time. Any other city and that might have been asking for trouble but there was something so peaceful about Colonia del Sacramento and I felt completely safe. Yep. I'm going to like it here.