Travel

by

Sunday Market

Today, a friend of our hostess picked us up in the morning and took us to the Sunday Farmers’ Market. It was quite small — this is not Punta, but a smaller suburb — but had a great variety of lovely stuff.

It’s obviously also a social gathering place. We met some other friends of our hostess, and were told they all met one another here on Sunday mornings.

These photos show the lovely variety of food available, and I particularly enjoyed watching this wee boy enjoying his apple!

Natural healing products. I bought some cannabis based cream — let’s see if it relieves the pain in my leg muscle. Maybe it will still be painful but I won’t care!

Yummy baked goods!

What’s better than fresh baked bread, still warm from the oven?

Our hostess’s friend, Pamela (in the middle), introduced us to other friends shopping the market.

We got a taste of delicious olive oil on fresh bread — unfortunately not practical to carry it back to Buenos Aires.

That apple must have been delicious because he ignored everyone around him as he concentrated on it.

by

A Day in Punta del Este

We had a great day on Saturday in Punta. First, the sun was shining and the sky was cerulean blue and the temperature was definitely summer, so that was a large part of it.

While I had a Skype call with a client in the morning, Venetia went into Punta. After my call, I made us some sandwiches and took them with me, meeting her at the lighthouse. It’s a lovely spot, although you can’t get inside. We watched parrots flying around us — a sight that always makes me feel happy!

After having coffee in a place down by the port, we went for a wander by ourselves, and then hooked up with German, a tour guide who would take us around and give us some history and insights about Punta. It was great — and he even shared his mate with me as we walked around.

Finally, we went to a restaurant place at night to listen to candombe music, which was fun but VERY loud. We also met up with Alicia, a friend of our friend Montserrat who was here last week. She is a tango enthusiast, and she and some of her friends are taking us to a milonga on Tuesday, our last night here — glad I brought my tango shoes!

Here are some photos from yesterday.

The lighthouse at Punta del Este

The first hotel ever built in Punta del Este — now sadly abandoned with nobody willing to invest in it.

Lovely little church in Punta del Este — simple, much less ornate than most Catholic churches in South America

Wait for the candombe show to begin.

Sharing mate with our charming guide, German

In Cornelio, where the candombe show was

A glimpse of Canada in Uruguay!

Too bad I don’t have a Scotiabank credit card — I could have had a discount!

by

Update — Kind Of

Well, for those who have written to ask why I haven’t been posting to the blog, as I haven’t done anything since the couch was out on the street, a lot has been going on. This will not be a full update, but just to let you know why I haven’t been posting.

Taken by Cecilia from the balcony

 

These bottles of champagne dressed for the occasion!

Anyway, the couch is now in situ and I love it! A couple of weeks after I moved in, I had a few of my best women friends over for a house warming — champagne and picadas. (Picadas are cold cuts, cheese and other nibblies that go down well with champagne — as what doesn’t?) We had a fun night. Cecilia stepped out onto the balcony and took this photo, which shows the girls as well as the living/dining room with the open kitchen in the background. Cecilia brought the lovely red roses. I think I’ll be having lots of parties here!

Internet

I moved in mid-March, but was told by the company I couldn’t get internet installed until Monday, April 1. Cecilia called them then and they said it would be installed on Thursday. When she called Wednesday night to confirm, they said no, it would be Monday between 8 am and 2 pm. So I figured a few more days using the cafe internet would be ok.

Monday morning, I asked Cecilia to call them to confirm — they had absolutely no record of me, my installation or anything else. She argued with them on the phone and got nowhere, so she got on two buses and went to one of the company’s agencies in the next town to hers. After she made a big noise, they finally agreed. She called me from there and told me to stay home as they were coming. Within an hour, the guy was here and installed it in ten minutes! It was painful, but I’m now online and the world looks sunnier!

My tango teacher, Alejandro — who is Argentine — told me his theory. Everybody makes everything so difficult and puts you through so many hoops that when things are finally done you feel so happy you think you’ve been given a gift — welcome to Argentina!! Never mind, I love it and I can put up with all the stuff — it’s fodder for the blog!

Punta del Este

Punta del Este is a very posh, upscale vacation resort in Uruguay, just across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires. Venetia met a woman who has an American friend who has a house here and two dogs. She was looking for someone to house-sit and look after the dogs for a week, and we jumped at the chance.

The season is over now, so everything is very quiet (except the dogs!) and many places are closed now as the summer people have gone. But it’s still fun being here. I’ve been put in touch with a woman who is going to take me to a milonga next Tuesday, the night before we leave, so I’m looking forward to that.

I have a business Skype call in about ten minutes, and Venetia has gone ahead into Punta itself. After my call I will put the dogs in the living room and join her there. We are going on a walking tour of Punta, which will also give us ideas for things we might want to do the rest of our time here. I’ll post some photos and sketches soon.

La Barra

Yesterday we went to a place called La Barra, half an hour from here by bus. There is a beach where the Atlantic meets the Rio de la Plata, and it’s quite fascinating as you can almost see the dividing line. I couldn’t take photos as my iPhone is acting up and keeps running out of juice, but Venetia took some. I’ll ask her for copies and post here tomorrow.

I must go now to get ready for my client call. Thanks for continuing to be interested in my doings here, and I’ll get back to regular posting soon.

Ciao!

by

Argentina in “Solo Traveler” Top 10 Budget Travel Destinations for 2019

I subscribe to a travel blog called “Solo Traveler”, published by a Canadian woman called Janice Waugh. Every year, they compile and publish a list of the ten best budget destinations for solo travelers that year. When I looked at this week’s issue, I was delighted to find that Argentina is listed as the Best Budget Destination in South America!

Here are the criteria used to compile the list:

  • Affordability. Naturally, how affordable a destination is depends on your home currency. I’m in Canada and our currency is low against just about every other western currency right now. However, I’m giving most of the information below in US dollars unless it says otherwise as most of us know our exchange rates to the US dollar.
  • Cost to get there. If the trip is short, the cost to get there is very important. If you’re planning a month or two in a destination, that cost is less significant for it is prorated over a longer period of time.
  • Safety. I’ve checked the US and Canadian government advisories on all these suggestions. Many top budget destinations lists I’ve checked have included places that are rated on the Canadian Advisory as “exercise a high degree of caution.” This year I’ve chosen not to include any with that standing. All of the recommendations below are rated “exercise normal security precautions.”
  • Will it be interesting and fun? A great destination offers access to a new culture, fun things to do, or both. I’ve given you a very brief overview of both for each recommendation.

Here is what Solo Traveler said about Argentina:

Best Budget Destination in South America: Argentina

Argentina has spectacular natural wonders including Glaciers National Park, El Chalten, and Iguazu Falls, all bucket list destinations for the adventure travelers. But, of course, there’s Buenos Aires and the tango! And then there are gauchos, Argentinian cowboys. Yes, there’s much to make Argentina an exciting destination for any traveler, budget or otherwise. While other countries in South America may be cheaper, Argentina is one that has the safety rating I was looking for.

Affordability: 1 Argentinian peso is about 2.5 US cents. That’s an estimate. So, in managing your money on the ground, divide a price by forty and you’ll know the approximate price in US$. Buenos Aires is 59% less expensive than Toronto and 71% less than New York City. There are many options in affordable hotels in Buenos Aires. Here’s a centrally located guest house on Booking.com with an overall rating of 8.9 for US$89 including breakfast..Here’s a hostel with a rating of 8.4 for US$13.50 for a single bed in a four-bed, female dorm. And that includes breakfast. If you’d like an apartment I found this fabulous, 5-star unit on VRBO for US$78/night.

Cost to get there: From Toronto, return flights start at CAN$1095 non-stop. From New York City, return flights start at US$627 non-stop.

Safety:

  • US Government: Exercise normal precautions in Argentina.
  • Canadian Government: Exercise normal precautions in Argentina.

Interesting and fun: There are lots of free and cheap things to do in Buenos Aires. There are, of course, free tours to enjoy but plenty more. Go to the Mataderos Fair, a Gaucho market on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, and see the gauchos show off their skills; take a walk through the 80 hectare woods at the Bosques de Palermo; or explore the graffiti in the northern suburbs. If you’re in the neighborhood of Belgrano on a Sunday, go to the bandstand at Barrancas de Belgrano park for the free tango lessons from 7 pm. You can then watch the experts perform for a fee.

I have often talked about the amazing free cultural events here, so I was pleased to see she mentioned some of them.

But what pleased me most was the safety rating. I hear so many people talking about Buenos Aires not being safe, so now I can simply point to the Canadian and US Government recommendation: Exercise normal precautions in Argentina. Yes, I know people are usually talking about Buenos Aires more than other parts of the country, but Buenos Aires is a huge city, so pay attention to where you are and what you are doing. Don’t go into dodgy areas at night (most people can tell you where they are). In other words, keep your wits about you as you would in any other big city and you’ll be just fine!

Thank you, Janice, for telling the world about Argentina — although I sometimes selfishly wish I could keep it all to myself!

If you’d like to subscribe to “Solo Traveler”, you can find the website here.

by

Last Few Photos from Miramar Trip

The Miramar trip is just a memory now, but Venetia sent me these few photos she took while we were there. The weather will be obvious from the clothes we are wearing! It was a relief to find warm weather waiting for us back home!

Roast suckling pig on the asado — I know, I tried not to think about it!

Carlitos, our genial host and master of the asado.

At the ‘M’ for Miramar sign. Like my new shoes? I bought them because my feet were frozen in sandals!

The household: seven here, Venetia taking the photo, and the two children elsewhere.

Not sure why there was a statue of Johnnie Walker at this restaurant, but isn’t it elegant?

Outside a sweet shop in the shopping area.

by

Home from Miramar — a Day Early

We were supposed to come home from Miramar on Thursday, but unfortunately the weather was not at all kind to us and we decided to come back on Wednesday instead. I managed to get my usual holiday cold, which is now entering bronchitisland, so I didn’t mind leaving early.

The drive back was horrendous, with thunderstorms that turned the sky black as night and torrential rain for a large part of the time. Only when we got to within about 90 minutes of Buenos Aires did it clear up, and by the time we arrived home it was lovely. Of course we got reports that the weather in Buenos Aires had been beautiful all week!

We did enjoy the company though. Cecilia’s cousin Carlitos was a wonderful host, and he cooked a mean asado! And when he left he gave us all a bag of apples and wonderful tomatoes from his garden in Neuquen. One day I’d like to go down there and visit him. Maybe the weather is better there!

 

by

Miramar Beach

Yesterday we spent some time on the beach. The sea was quite rough, and even I wasn’t daft enough to go in the water — just an ankle dip. But it was lovely breathing in the sea air and lying on the sand. Here are a couple of sketches I did to capture the feel of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back at the house preparing dinner. Everybody was buzzing around in the kitchen doing the work, while Claudine and I decided to stay out from under everybody’s feet and quaff a glass of red wine!

by

Miramar — finally!

Well we finally arrived in Miramar in the middle of the afternoon yesterday, after a longer trip than we had expected.

There was an accident on the highway, but at first we didn’t know that. All we knew was that we were moving v-e-r-y slowly. There were two lanes on our half of the highway, but as only Argentines do, they gradually expanded that to three lanes by everyone moving onto the shoulder. I told Cecilia that if she did that in Canada nobody would let her back in, which she thought very strange!

As we sat on the shoulder, at a stop, we suddenly realized another lane was forming on the right, as people drove on the grass! So of course Cecilia, being Argentine, thought it was a good idea and joined them. I thought the next stage was going to be into the farmer’s field with the cows, but fortunately it didn’t come to that!

Unfortunately, in the end we found it was a double decker bus that had gone off the road, but there was no sign of any passengers so we think they all got off.

 

 

 

 

Anway, Cecilia’s family were waiting for us and we had a long-awaited lunch. The house we have is great, and personally I think it’s great fun being in a house with ten people! We all went out to explore a little last night, and this morning we went to the beach. Venetia did a lovely video of the ocean, which I will try to upload via YouTube and post here.

Apparently tonight we are all going to watch the Oscars. I’m having fun in Miramar!

 

by

Venetia’s Video from Chile

I still haven’t had time to put together my remaining photos from Chile, but this is a video Venetia made of a lovely Mexican restaurant in Santiago. It’s called Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate — like the movie). We had a lovely meal there, although the waiter was a pill.

It’s an advantage travelling with a friend who is a professional photographer, so I can show you lovely things like this instead of always my own “point and click” efforts! Gracias Venetia!