Just Another Travel Blog
I want to send a very special shout out to our nieces and nephews (and our buddy Hudson) who are tracking our travels from Ann Arbor, Eureka, St. Louis and Chicago! We miss you all so much and we hope you keep following along! After two weeks of cities, trees and waterfalls, hopefully we’ll have some pictures of cool animals soon! Spoiler: they’re coming really, really soon!
Currency!! Get ready for a post about how hard money is! We came to South America with credit cards and debit cards and checks (a ridiculous just in case) and paypal and venmo and cold hard cash. We had read online that having hundred dollar bills (US Dollars) could solve a lot of problems, so we brought some and that theory has been proven correct. A few anecdotes so far:
-Sometimes it’s hard to use ATMs. While in Iguazu, there was no cambio (money changer) in the airport and the ATMs would not give us money. Just us. Everyone else had no issues withdrawing. Since this was our first stop in Argentina, we had zero pesos and had to figure out how to pay for a bus ride into town to get to our AirBNB. In comes our trusty USD – no problem. They take 20’s. We ended up at a cambio in town the next morning to get ourselves settled. Super easy – no reason to fret.
-Sometimes it’s hard to keep your currencies straight. On our stop into the farmers market in Montevideo, we were hoping to buy some fruit. We had money. We knew we had money. We just couldn’t get the money out of my purse/Michael’s pocket. Everything we pulled out was wrong. Finally I thrust some cash at Michael who handed it off to the man to be laughed at. We tried to pay for Uruguayan fruit with Paraguayan money. He was patient and nice and we were embarrassed. It took us another 2-3 minutes to make the exchange happen.
-Sometimes it’s hard to not get scammed by money changers if you haven’t done your research. Upon entering Paraguay, 12 hours of our trip that we did not do enough research on, we were told by money changers a few things: the Jesuit Missions don’t take credit card (false) and the rate they were giving was reasonable (false). It took us about 2 minutes after making the deal to realize we got taken for a ride, but it was a good reminder that we should be much better prepared when changing money. Hopefully that is a mistake we won’t make again.
-Sometimes it’s hard to get the courage to deal with a shady money changer on the street. In Buenos Aires, there are money changers who give substantially better rates than banks provided you come to the table with crisp hundred dollar bills. We approached a guy on the street in BA, he took us to the back room of a clothing shop and gave us a rate that was slightly better than banks. Perhaps we could have negotiated for even better but we took it and walked away. What was interesting is that we changed the rest of our hundreds and then we had some 20s that we also wanted to exchange. The rate for the hundreds: 17.5. The rate for the twenties: 17.2. We have no clue why – but needless to say we exchanged our 100s and walked away with all of our 20s.
-Sometimes it’s hard to remember the exchange rate when you’re buying things. This is not one moment. This is all the time. Phone calculators have been pulled out a few times and a lot of rough mental math has occurred. Often the cash is just handed over and we assume it’s reasonable.
-Sometimes it’s hard to understand what numbers they are saying. Michael has become our expert number guy. He consistently better understands what numbers people are saying. I have become an expert at looking at their screen or saying “puedes escribir, por favor?”
No major issues yet – although just by typing this I’m probably jinxing us 😁. Maybe this will be the last of our “money stories”, but I doubt it.
Our final day in Buenos Aires, we packed up our trusty backpacks again and headed to the national airport. Michael’s parents (Mom B and Dad B) flew overnight from Michigan to meet up with us for the next leg of our journey. They arrived in the international airport this morning and grabbed a ride with our favorite Argentinian driver, Oscar, to meet up with us at the Aeroparque. The meetup was seamless and after checking some luggage we were ready to settle in to our travel. We’re on the flight now, and when we land we’ll take a cab to the AirBNB we’ve reserved. Then my guess is that Mom B and Dad B will be ready to sleep after 35ish hours of travel and Michael and I will start scouting out the scene. Tomorrow is a big day for us. We are going to spend the day trying to get on a boat!
oops – didn’t I mention? We don’t have a cruise lined up yet. Michael and I read online that a person can get really great deals on cruises to Antarctica from Ushuaia if you take the risk and fly down there without arrangements. The idea is that the boats want every cabin filled and with a few boats leaving each week, once down in Ushuaia, we should be able to get competing bids from different ships that can be discounted 50-75%. These trips are no small expense, so the discount is great if you are will to be flexible and have the stomach for uncertainty. Mom B and Dad B worked 20 days into this trip which helps us with flexibility if we have to wait a few days to get on a boat. As we wait, we also have the good fortune of having Tierra del Fuego very close to Ushuaia for day trips into the Chilean archipelago where Magellan arrived about 500 years ago. We are very excited for this leg of our trip – please send good vibes and prayers that we get on a boat!!
For our last full day in Buenos Aires we had no plans. We started our day slow with runs and just hanging out in the AirBNB. We knew there were a few great museums in the city that we could check out, but we needed some food first. Michael found a parrilla called La Brigada that touts having meat so tender that they cut through it with a spoon. It’s a heavy way to start a day, but it was almost 1pm and we were super hungry, so we went for it. We split a mozzarella app, steak and a young boar sausage, and added in a salad for good measure. And true to their word, when they brought out the steak and the sausage, they split each in two with a spoon to serve to the two of us. I thought this was probably going to be hokey, but it was super impressive. The entire place was great – reminded Michael of a Smith and Wolenskis – a little bit boys clubby – they had us sitting in the area with all of the sports memorabilia.
After the meal, we took a little time to walk it off and then followed that up with naps. Later that evening, we had a wine tasting at El Querandi a tango restaurant. It was supposed to be in English, so I was a little nervous when the sommelier started projecting something on a screen. Leandro, the sommelier, then broke into incredible English and spent an hour and a half talking about the three wine regions in Argentina, the history of wine in Argentina and some very detailed explanations of the science of wine and wine making. It was incredible. We have done a bunch of wine tasting and this was by far the best presentation we’ve ever been a part of. He talked varieties, he talked skin thickness, he talked about the Jesuits that brought the vines to the area, he talked in great detaile about his time spent in the US and his time spent in South Africa where he first got involved in wins. I found that especially interesting that Leandro would grow up in Argentina but not get interested in wines until going to Africa.
I was bummed to have missed the Tango show – although I did get to see some of the dancers as they were coming on and off stage. Something for next time!
Warning: out of order post 😒. I have been trying to get this to publish for almost 36 hours. Definitely still getting use to this whole blog thing. But here it is now (hopefully):
We spent our Saturday in Buenos Aires doing “normal things”. One of the reasons that we are taking this trip is that we needed to get away from normal. A reminder of what “normal” looked like before leaving Chicago: Monday through Friday was up at 5 to head into work until 6 or 7 or 8 at night. Two or three times a week, Michael would have work events in the evenings, and we had soccer on Monday nights and I had Spanish class on Tuesdays. The weekends were then either spent recovering from the week or traveling to visit family/friends. We did a lot of things that we really loved and got to spend a lot of time with people who we love, but it was exhausting.
So to say that we are going to have a normal Saturday, what I’m really saying is that I wanted to have a normal Saturday as I’d like to believe other 30 somethings who don’t have kids spend their Saturdays. So we did that. We woke up and went for runs. Michael did 13.1 miles and I ran and walked for about 2.5 hours through a beautiful nature reserve right in downtown BA. A lot of other people were out and about, running, biking, walking and bird watching. Lots of bird watchers.
After our leisurely morning, we decided to go out and explore the city. We spent the majority of our day in the neighborhood of Recoleta. There, we went to Cementerio de la Recolata. Michael and I took a tour of St. Louis cemetery in New Orleans and they are really incredible. But this put that cemetery to shame. Elaborate mausoleums are lined up – some with beautiful statues, some with detailed stained glass windows, and most with altars inside.
Conveniently, Buller Brewery was across the street from the cemetery, so we popped over there for a few beers and lunch. After this, we hung out in an expat bar for a few hours watching the Georgia/Auburn football game and the Ireland/Denmark World Cup qualifier.
We ended our normal Saturday. with an incredible meal at La Carniceria, a parrilla that is delicious but casual and popular with locals. Thanks to Idania for help making reservations!
Just a nice little Saturday.
When researching masses for this past Sunday, I came across the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires. One look and I thought “meh” – we should visit a more beautiful church. Then a small amount of googling reminded me that this was Pope Francis’s parish when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires and we had no choice. We were attending mass here.
The mass itself was as good as a mass can be for one person who speaks some Spanish and another person who speaks a little less. The homily felt long since we couldn’t understand it, but the majority of the mass parts were easy to follow. The kneelers were especially hard and wooden – a reminder how spoiled we are in most US churches with our cushioned kneelers. A few things to note about the mass: it was full. Yes – I’m sure a good portion was tourists, but there seemed to be a lot of locals as well. And those locals were young. This parish has not been hit with the predicament in many US parishes where mostly older people come and typically more women then men. I am not a Catholic scholar, so Mom B, Uncle Dan, Fir or Fr. Frank can add their two cents in the comment section, but my anecdotal evidence would support that a lot of pew presence is from older women. There are always exceptions. St. Teresa’s, for example, our home parish in Chicago, has a strong showing from the younger crowd. That youth and energy was one thing (of many) that we loved about the parish.
But back to BA… walking into the Cathedral was like you were transported to a completely different church as compared to the outside structure. I’ll let the pictures do the talking:
There were many side altars and beautiful statues to explore. Another shout out to St. Teresa, a Carmelite, mystic and Doctor of the Church:
St. Michael the Archangel – I tried to google whose head St. Michael is standing on and couldn’t get a clear answer – Satan of some sort, but not clear who is being depicted as Satan here. Possibly Licinius who was slayed by Constantine in 324 AD at the Battle of Adrianople. I’m not sure – again if my religious scholars in the crowd could chime in, that would be helpful.
This was the coolest part of the church, in my opinion. They had two armed soldiers guarding the tomb of José de San Miguel. Michael and I were mostly confused about what was going on and who this person was, but a little research on the line provided a ton of insight into this guy and why Argentinians love him so much. José de San Miguel was a military leader who led a revolution against the Spanish in 1812 in Argentina. After successfully leading his country to independence, José de San Miguel then helped Chile and Peru gain their independence from Spanish colonial rule.
There was surprisingly little fanfare for Pope Francis. It was really just this one bulletin board. But I guess it is keeping in his spirit of being a very humble, low key person.
After mass we spent a few hours wandering around Buenos Aires trying to find a grocery store that was open. Hours. Then Michael cooked us dinner in the AirBNB and we enjoyed it while watching a few amazing movies we found on the tv (in English!!): Snatch, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt2, about 3 minutes of Frozen, Iron Man 2 and 5 terrible minutes of the Hangover part 3.
After our short stint in Montevideo, we were looking forward to sitting still for a few days on the coast of Uruguay. On our drive out, we stopped in at two wineries, Alto de la Bellana and Viña Eden, to taste a handful of wines. Uruguay’s temperate climate, gravelly soil and slopes create a great environment for growing wine. They produce a range of varieties (we tried a Chardonnay, a Merlot, a Pinot Nior), but their speciality is Tannat. Tannat is a French variety that is usually blended with other grapes, but in Uruguay, the climate and soil creates the perfect balance to allow the Tannat to stand alone (shout out to the owner of Alto de la Bellana, Paula, who talked through all of this with us).
We stayed at Laguna Garzon Lodge which literally sits on the Laguna Garzon – our room was one of 12 huts that sat on the water, each connected to the main lodge with wooden walkways.
Our front porch had a hammock and a chair to sit and enjoy the sunset (also perfect for any other time of the day).
During the days, we drove along Ruta 10, Uruguay’s coastal highway, to other beach towns including:
~Garzon: home to chef Francis Mallmann’s restaurant and winery known to us because of Netflix’s Chef’s Table. We enjoyed an incredible meal on our last night in town.
~Paloma: a quiet surf town. We had a confusing lunch where I unsuccessfully ordered some meat dish that I had originally believed to be cheese pizza and then hung out on the beach for awhile.
~Jose Ignacio: famous for A-list celebrity guests, including Shakira, Jose Ignacio was largely shuttered when we wandered around.
~Punta del Este: the largest (maybe making that fact up) of Uruguay’s beach towns. We popped in to eat these guys:
Since we arrived before the season started, the weather was still a little cool but the beaches were beautiful and empty. Consistent with Montevideo, we’d definitely come back to visit – perhaps when Shakira is here.
We got into Buenos Aires last night after another bus/ferry combo. We’ll be hunkered down in a downtown AirBNB for five days, so we’re looking forward to doing some more routine stuff – running errands, grocery shopping, laundry, cooking dinner in the apartment (well Michael cooking). And hopefully check out a museum or two and see some tango! Adios!
We spent just 18ish hours in Montevideo and loved every minute.
The city reminds us a lot of the trendy La Condesa neighborhood in Mexico City. There were a lot of twenty/thirty somethings wandering around, dressed better than us. Tons of bars and restaurants and plenty of charming tree-lined streets.
After dropping off bags and taking much needed showers, we headed to Montevideo Brewing Company for a few beers before dinner.
Afterwards, we headed to La Otra Parrilla for dinner. Parrillas are Uruguayan restaurants that cook meat over wood that has burned down to charcoal. Chorizo, steak and potatoes, along with our first bottle of Uruguayan wine. Everything was delicious.
On the way home, we ran into an impromptu something:
We loved Montevideo and hope to spend some more time here soon.
Leading up to our trip, I became increasingly interested in the Jesuit missions in Paraguay. I had done some research and found that they were 1. Incredible and 2. Worth the visit. That said, they are difficult to get to and the visas for Paraguay are expensive. So we had mostly talked ourselves out of the visit until spending a few hours with a good friend who adamantly argued in defense of a visit. This one is for you, Fir:
After having the water turned off in the entire city of Puerto Iguazu due to sewer issues resulting from too much rain, we arrived from a five hour bus ride into Posadas, Argentina. With no showers and a 4am bus ride, we were tired and dirty. There are a few ways to get to the missions:
1. Bus to Encarnacion, Paraguay and then a bus to the first mission. After arriving at the first mission, to get to the second, you can take a bus (except for Sundays), sit at a gas station and hope for a tax, walk 15km, or hitch hike.
2. Bus to Encarnaction, Paraguay and then taxi to the missions.
3. Taxi from Posadas to the missions.
After a lot of hemming and hawing and some questionable spanglish to Spanish conversations, we found a guy in Posadas who would take us for a reasonable amount, round trip. Next hurdle was getting across the border. It was unclear from googling how to get a Paraguay visa, so we were hoping that we’d just be able to cross the border w/o paying for one. Hahaha. Not the case. However, it was a pretty painless experience and less expensive than originally expected.
Then it was smooth sailing. About an hour drive from Posadas, we stopped at the first mission: La Santisima Trinidad de Parana. The Jesuits began evangelization of Paraguay around 1590 by forming towns, studying the native language (Guarani) and formed a writing structure for the Guarani people who didn’t previously write their language. The Jesuits founded about 30 missions in Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia. The mission complexes were attached to reducciones (settlements, Fir) and are evidence of an urban plan. The goal of the Jesuits was to Christianize the indigenous population, as well as to protect them from the colonial labor system, encomienda, which just sounds to me like straight up slavery, but articles on the line speak less harshly of it.
The mission of Santisima Trinidad is the best preserved of the missions. Founded in 1706, it had two churches (one of which had ornate stone carvings), houses for the indigenous people, a separate house for widows and orphans, a school, an orchard, cloister, a cemetery and workshops. The baptismal font was my favorite part.
The altar::
The baptismal font:
The church:
The road leading to Trinidad had intricately carved stations of the cross every block or two:
Next we went to the Jesus de Tavarangue – which was being built when the Jesuits were expelled from the province. Much smaller than Trinidad, the interesting thing about this mission is the Moorish design which was unique to this mission. It can be seen in the picture I’ve included of the trefoil arch (google taught me that).
In general, the missions were a great way to spend our first Sunday of travels. Paraguay was incredibly beautiful, what we saw of it.
We’re now on an overnight bus ride to Montevideo on the most luxurious bus either of us have seen. Michael and i have our own space, the chairs recline all the way flat, and we’re not sure yet, but I think they may serve us a hot meal! That said… still in bad need of a shower.
“Poor Niagra” – Eleanor Roosevelt upon seeing Iguazu Falls
The name Iguazu comes from the Guarani or Tupi words “y” meaning “water”and “uasu” meaning “big”. Legend has it that a diety planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipi who fled with her mortal lover, Taroba, in a canoe. In a rage, the deity sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall.
We spent Saturday on the Argentinian side of the waterfalls. We had the chance to test out some of our waterproof gear (and my not so waterproof jacket that needs to be switched out). It rained all day which did not take away from the beauty of the falls. It was about six hours of being amazed over and over again. Just when I was sure it could not get more incredible/beautiful, the path would turn and we’d get another awe inspiring view. We hiked all of the paths to see the various views. I’m not sure these pictures do the falls justice, but after having taken a few photos for another couple, I would like to shout out to Denny and Jackson for the iPhone 7 plus help – our pictures were a million times better than the phone this other couple was using.
No need to say much. I’ll just leave you with the pictures:
