A Day in the Park

Picnic with food and wine from the Mendoza Central Market

Don´t Cry for us Argentina...but we are leaving

We are writing from Puerto Iguazu, Argentina where the weather is similiar to Corpus hot and humid. Today we spent the majority of the day walking around the Argentinian side of the Iguazu Falls. It was amazing to see the length of the falls, the beautiful forest around the falls, monkeys, toucans, a couti and countless other birds. We thought of Karen as we walked over six houndred steps to see the falls from an island in the middle of the falls. This park is different because it puts you at different parts of the falls from the top overlooking a 240 ft waterfall and all the mist to the middle where all around you are waterfalls, below looking up and from the side where you can see just how big they are and just how small you are. No picture could capture the magnitude of these falls, but we will try to include one to give you an idea.

Yesterday we said goodbye to Mona and George after a fabulous time in Mendoza. We greatly enjoyed the ¨country¨ of Argentina more than the city of Buenos Aires. On Sunday, we walked around all morning than had a picnic with goods bought at the Central Market, followed by a bike ride in the park. These were bikes for two but you sit side by side (a hilarious sight and lots of fun), then we walked back to the B&B. Later that afternoon we (Nate and Kristy) took a much needed run and happened upon a fantastic company (The Vines of Mendoza) that arranged wine tours since in Mendoza you need a reservation for a tasting. That night we went to 1884 which was rated the 7th best restaurant in the world. Unfortunately, after an amazing meal in Buenos Aires at Cabana Las Lilas (thanks Lori and Andres Nisimblat) this meal and service did not meet expectations and we left dissappointed in our food and service.

Monday all four of us took a tour into the Andes. It was gorgeous to see the highest peak in the western hemisphere (Aconcagua), the border of Chile and Argentina, the Puente del Inca (a natural bridge found by the Inca´s near a hot spring) and our favorite, we stopped at a ski resort and Nate and I rented sleds to partake in the fun. It was hilarious to see us because the sled is only about 1´x2 rectangle which only fits your butt so we learned to learn back, stick out our legs (also the only brake system) and hold on to the rope in the front of the sled. After 8 runs we were tired from the walk uphill at about 8,000 ft, cold becuase we were not prepared for this activities and had kayak pants and sneakers on and wet from not being able to stop ourselves except to fall off the sled! See attached pictures.

Our last day in Mendoza was spent going to four wineries. Each very different and interesting for different reasons:
La Rural - Maker of Mona´s favorite wine from Mendoza (San Felipe) also housed a wine museum and showed us how they used to crush grapes, used an animal hide turned inside out then stomp the grapes and the juice comes out where the tail used to be located. Thank goodess that has changed!!

La Lagar de Carmelo Patti- Family run boutique winery. The owner Carmelo took us on a tour and speaks no English so we had to translate. He allowed us to taste a Cab Sav from his tanks from 2006 and then 2005 to show the maturation procss then during the tasting we tried the same type from 2002. WOW! It tasted totally different and the 2002 was delicous so we bought a bottle. It may not make it back to the US but at least we can enjoy it again. An aside he sells to a rest. in Phoenix (Hacienda del Sol).

Catena Zapata - the building was modelled after a Mayan Temple and it was gorgeous. The guide was from Brazil and spoke excellent English. We tasted the Alamos line which was decent and can be found in the US. Tried a new type of wine the Barbara, which is similiar to Malbec but slightly fruitier. They use a lot science in their winery and it was interesting to learn different techniques in making wine.

Norton - Started the tour by offering us a glass of their sparkling white called Especial, which was quite tasty, then had a very good tasting in a beautiful room.

Yesterday was a long day of travelling for all the two flights Nate and I took were extremely bumpy and I lost my lunch upon landing in Iquazu. Needless to say yesterday was a relaxing day.

Tomorrow onto Brazil to look at the falls from their side then on to Rio where Danny will meet us. Looking forward to seeing a new country and curious about the culture and language differences.

More Buenos Aires Pictures

Desperate Housewives Argentina Style and Casa Rosada (Pink House = White House in US)

First Impressions and Observations

Disclaimer: This is the opinion of the writers and should be taken as such. Comments on this website are not facts.

OK, our first impression of Buenos Aires is not positive. This city has tons of liter, spray paint everywhere and old, but not in the pretty way, in the falling in disrepair way.

Now after having been here for three days our opinion is alittle better. We have run across some helpful nice people, gotten more used to Argentinian Spanish and enjoyed some very pretty neighborhoods with lots to offer (IE Recoleta and Palmero Viejo).

Some aspects that surprised me were:
- Lack of American influence - I saw few McDonalds, Burger King, starbucks (Yes, one market they have not saturated)
- Lack of Stray dogs - I must be used to Mexico and Costa Rica with their billions of stray dogs. here the dogs are well cared for and each park has a designated area only for them.
- The noise is not much considering the traffic. I am racking my brain to think if I have heard someone beep. Can you imagine THAT in NYC?

I can see why so many people relate BA to Europe because the neighborhoods are set up where each has its own plaza, reputation and feel, the eating habits ( big meals, later in the day used as social occasions, afternoon cafes etc), small evelators, bathrooms et al, age of the building and history associated with each AND how proud they are of the history and who they are as a nation!

Facts you may be interested in:
-There are 14 million people living in Buenos Aires
-The exchange rate is one dollar to 3 pesos
-The climate currently is mid 70´s in the day and drops dramatically at night
-The time change is 1 hour ahead of EST

Pictures from Buenos Aires

2 pictures of Recoleta Cemetary, a picture of a typical tourist with backpack and map in hand, Evita Peron's final resting place and typical, colorful houses in La Boca.

Updates from Argentina

Leaving Costa Rica is never easy, but the thought of truly beginning our adventure eased the pain of saying "hasta pronto Costa Rica!" We flew through Panama City and the flying time was just over 8 hours!

We arrived weary, but excited to experience Argentina. Although we couldn´t see much as we arrived at 4:30 am. We left our bags with the hotel and waited in the lobby until light then took the 20 mintues cab ride to the Chinese Embassy to secure visas (this was not completed prior to leaving for our trip due to India taking a MONTH to complete the visa process). We were pleased it was possible to secure a visa and disgruntled to know that because we are "Americans" we would pay more than twice as much as Argentinians to receive these precious visas.

Mona and George were delayed but knocked on our door around 1:30 (3 hours late leaving DC). We sat in the room deciding what to do with ourselves then decided to walk to the Teatro Colon (theatre) for a tour, we were able to schedule one for the next day, but not today so we walked to the Congress Building (which was built to resemble ours) and had an interesting hour tour. We ate an early dinner and were in bed around 9! Quite the long day for all of us.

Our second day in Argentina started much like the first because we had to go back to the Embassy to pick up our passports with no problems (although there was some concern when the visa stated Kristin Bynes not Kristin Byrnes Baker; we were told that should not be a problem), We walked around Palmero Viejo and shopped at the little boutiques then braved the Subte (subway) which we found relatively clean, cheap and easy to use. Mona and George took a bus tour around the city and met us for the tour which we learned would not include the teatro so we rescheduled again and walked to Recoleta (wealthy area also where Evita is buried). The cemetary is extraordinary. I have never seen so many lavish musolums. We will include a picture. We had a cafe and dessert around 5:30 (really getting into the culture, uh?) and decided to go to a Tango show that night at Cafe Tortoni one of the oldest in Buenos Aires. The tango show was in Spanish and included live music (piano, base, accordian) and singing. It was a fun way to spend an evening in Argentina.

Today Mona and George took a tour to a ranch and Nate and I went to La Boca (colorful houses, tourist area), San Telmo (cobblerstone street, great restraurant, Via Via) and Retiro (great park and shopping). We have walked a ton and are going back to rest so we can eat dinner when true portenos (people from BA) do around 9:00pm.

More pictures from Costa Rica

Pura Vida Mae

There are no words fitting to describe Tabacon. Relaxing, soothing, amazing, a natural oasis do not do it justice. We took full advantage to rest our weary bones (from a long bumpy ride both in the car and on horseback). We had a private yoga class one morning in a hut in the rainforest. It was Nate´s first time and his highlight was a quick nap at the end (just proving how relaxed he was). We spent the days going from hot spring to hot spring and broke up the ¨monatony¨ by eating, laying by the pool or going down the slide. The volcano did not dissappoint as we had numerous sighting of lava during the day and the night! What an amazing natural phemoninon to see. The only surprise at Tabacon (besides a wonderful message from Aunt MAry) was a FLAT TIRE!! We (Nate and Chad) were attempting to change the tire when a friendly Tico (what people from Costa Rica call themselves) with a huge grin asked if he could help. In 5 minutes he was standing up shaking our hands and on his way. We drove into La Fortuna the town close to Tabacon and 5 mintutes and almost one dollar later we were on our way! Nate likes to say we had a tire repaired, spent a half hour on the internet and bought chips and two gatorades all for under $5. Isn´t obvious why I love this country?

We are now in San Jose with the family I lived with when I lived in Costa Rica. They were so excited to see us and us them!! We spent yesterday at my ¨sister´s¨ house in the moutains and cooked out on a fire, played with her four year old (Jose Pablo) then went to a bar to watch Saprissa (soccer team from San Jose) play. Oh I should tell you Nate was in jail yesterday, Jose Pablo locked up Nate in his room and closed the windows, door and turned off all the lights because he was in jail I had to break him out. It was adorable!! It was a relaxing fun way to spend a saturday. Today we are going into San Jose to buy Danny a hammock and have some lunch. Before we come back to the house for a mini fiesta. The spanish is going well although Nate sometimes tunes out altogther. It is great practice for Argentina!

We leave tomorrow afternoon to fly to Buenos Aires with a stop in Panama City. We are to arrive at 5 am so it will be a long day.

Thank you to all who have written to us and are keeping us updated on your lives. We miss you and think of you often. I will now attempt to send a few pictures of the lava, hot springs and Nate and Jose Pablo (age 4).

Sunset in Costa Rica

Pictures from Costa Rica

Wild Times in Costa Rica

We have had lots of firsts on this trip to Costa Rica! We went snorkelling and kayaking at the beach! Our snorkelling guide showed us tons of amazing fish and we held a blow fish (which Karen & I would love to have as pets they were adorable), we saw star fish, held an oyster while fish came up to eat it out of our hands and had a hermit crab race on a private beach.

Today we drove to La Fortuna. While it took around three and 1-2 hours we only went 120 Kilometers. The roads were rough and we are now able to say we went off roading in a¨Geo metro¨. We also took a horseback tour to a waterfall. All I can say is WHOA!!! These horses were not afraid to give you your monies worth. From our hotel tonight we saw the red lava flowing down Volcano Arenal although no pictures were taken as of yet.

Tomorrow we head to Tabacon Resort where we plan to soak in the thermal hot springs til our hearts´ content and muscles no longer ache!

The pictures attached are of a scorpion found on our walk home from dinner, then one of us at the La Fortuna Waterfall after climbing down 488 steps, our first night and only sunset in Playa Hermosa and finally Nate, Chad and Karen mounted.

28 hours of driving and 4 hours of flying and we are back in Texas!

We are currently back in Texas for the night, prior to our departure to Costa Rica. The drive was long, but without incident. We were greeted with a helpful moving crew in York and everything is now in storage or neatly arranged in our "new home". It was great to see everyone Sunday night. We are looking forward to beginning our journey in the morning. Thanks for all the well wishes and postings.