We’re much closer to the South Pole here in Buenos Aires than we are to home in Florida, as you can see from this map (you can just make out Florida at the top): Here in Buenos Aires, we’re staying right in the center of the city in the Retiro neighborhood, within walking distance of … Continue reading →

We got a late start today, beginning our walk to the Microcentro neighborhood around noon. First, we passed through the Plaza General San Martin, the location of the Monumento a los Caídos en Malvinas (the memorial to the Argentine veterans of the 1982 Falkland Islands War). Passing the monument, we came upon some sort of … Continue reading →

On our way to the Washington Monument, er…, the Obelisco, we stopped at one of Buenos Aires’ most famous landmarks, the Teatro Colón – the Grand Opera of Buenos Aires. This building was built in 1908 and was only recently reopened following a six year renovation. Its original construction was funded by the wealthy families … Continue reading →

After visiting the Teatro Colón, we walked down Avenida 9 de Julio to Avenido de Mayo (they like to name their streets after important dates here), then west on Avenido de Mayo to the Plaza de Congreso, where the Argentinian Congress meets. We hope that Rodin’s “Thinker” inspires them; maybe we can install one of … Continue reading →

The President of the United States has his residence and office in the White House. Here in Argentina, the President’s office is in the Casa Rosada, the Pink House! Fitting, since Argentina’s President is Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the first elected female President of the country. Here’s Dale admiring the Pink House: We arrived right … Continue reading →

Buenos Aires is the birthplace of the Tango, a dance loosely based on Flamenco that first became popular in the lower class neighborhoods of the city, like San Telmo, sometime in the 1880s. As Dale discovered when she tried to fill a dancer’s shoes, it really does take two to tango. A visit to Buenos … Continue reading →

Ever since landing in Argentina, we have wanted to taste one of those famous steaks, cooked at a parrilla, an Argentinian BBQ restaurant. After spending about an hour researching the internet and asking for a recommendation from people in the hotel, we opted to just walk across the street to Restaurante Las Nazarenas Asador Criollo, … Continue reading →

The Sheraton, where we stayed, is located inside the Parque Nacional Iguazú, the Argentinian national park. By staying inside the park, we were able to get a head start on the crowds because the park is open to hotel guests at 7:30 and the trailhead to the Falls starts right at the hotel. Other visitors … Continue reading →

The Sheraton sits on a bluff overlooking the Rio Iguazú. Leaving the hotel, we headed down toward the river to the Circuito Inferior, the lower walk. Being the first hikers on the path, we found the walkway to be a little slippery, due to the pervasive mist from the waterfalls that covers everything (as you … Continue reading →

Leaving the lower circuit, we followed the second pathway, the Paseo Superior, up to the top of the falls. Although you can’t see it in this photo, the walkway runs right along the edge where the water rushes off the plateau. Every vantage point made for an amazing photograph (I took far too many pictures … Continue reading →

After the upper walkway, we took the tram upriver to the boardwalk on the Argentinian side of the Devil’s Throat. It was around noon and the crowds had now made their way into the park, as you can see, above. At the terminal station, we trudged along with the crowd to the viewing platform perched … Continue reading →

Although we took the tram up to the Devil’s Throat lookout, we returned to the main park by water on a 10-person inflatable. While we were waiting to launch, two unusual butterflies landed on Dale, posing for my camera. As soon as we launched our raft, our helmsman steered us underneath the boardwalk we had … Continue reading →

Other than what we had seen, there was only one more vantage point from which to view Iguazú Falls: from the water at the basin below the waterfalls. We had made reservations for the Aventura Náutica earlier in the morning to do just that, so after our leisurely drift in the inflatable, we walked back … Continue reading →

We arrived in Bariloche in northern Patagonia late this afternoon, picked up our rental car and drove straight to Chiado Restaurant to meet Germán, the owner, who is our home exchange partner. Here’s Germán (left), hard at work… …and here’s Dale enjoying a cup of tea in Chiado. Chiado overlooks a finger of Nahuel Huapi … Continue reading →

We decided to stretch our legs yesterday and hike to the top of Cerro Llao Llao, one of the foothills of the Andes Mountains which separate Argentina from neighboring Chile. This “hill,” as they call it, has a peak elevation of 3,600 feet, rising from the trailhead at 2,500 feet (which is also the approximate … Continue reading →

The Circuito Chico drive ends at the base of another “hill” with a commanding view of the area, Cerro Campanario. This one, however, is on the tour bus circuit and has been made much easier to climb – there’s a chairlift! We had coffee at the observation deck on the summit. There was a great … Continue reading →

There are pros and cons to having a rental car here in Argentina. In this post, I’ll tell you the pros; I’ll save the cons for a later post. We spent the entire day Tuesday driving the road less traveled: the Seven Lake Drive through the northern half of Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi and the … Continue reading →

Our excursion today was to the base of El Tronador, “The Thunderer,” an 11,500 foot high extinct Andean volcano. To get to El Tronador, we had to drive south from Bariloche along the shores of Lago Guitteriez and Lago Mascardi for a distance of about 30 miles, turning east at Villa Mascardi where we entered … Continue reading →

The town of El Bolsón sits in a valley about 75 miles south of Bariloche. The first non-native inhabitants of the area were German immigrants arriving from Chile. In the 1970s, hippies from Buenos Aires settled in the area, resulting in the town gaining a reputation as a crafts center. At least that’s what the … Continue reading →

It’s been nice having our own transportation here in Bariloche. It’s enabled us to see much more of the area than if we had relied on buses, taxis and excursions. Here’s a picture of our rental car, a compact Chevrolet. Everything is manual: transmission; windows; door locks; lights; and, there is no alarm. But I … Continue reading →