Buenos Aires I

I usually start an new blog post by reviewing pictures.  It's a bit overwhelming to think about doing that about Buenos Aires.  We've been there for 6 nights so far--so many impressions, so many sights, so many miles walked, so many glasses of wine...  And so, in no particular order, here goes.  You know what it's like to think of a place  where you never been.  You gather ideas and mental images you know isn't probably all that accurate.  Buenos Aires is what I'd expected, but nothing at all what I'd thought.  Forgive me, if I sound like a complete idiot, but my siblings will know that somewhere in our collective memory banks, Saskatoon is a leafy city where Grandma Hatlelid wears smart hats and walks briskly to visit her interesting friends.  For me, Buenos Aires conjured up images of the tango, passionate people, a divide between wealth and impoverishment, a checkered past of military juntas and 'disappeared' persons.  All of these were confirmed, but I will leave the city with so much more, including mausoleums designed by the world's finest architects, the best beef just shy of the Fitzpatrick ranch, buildings not out of place in Paris's 7th arrondisement, pick pockets, leather shops, broken sidewalks, dog walkers, a friendly relaxed elegance, pride of place.  Whether or not these are a true representation of Buenos Aires, you'll have to see for yourself.  I'm sure you'll be glad that you did.

To start a little geography.  Buenos Aires appears to be on the ocean, but it's actually near the mouth of an enourmous river, La Plata separating Argentina from Montevideo, Uruguay.

Dog walkers hanging out in the park.  They seem to do a lot of it.

Ruthie, does this remind you of anything?  I'm not sure that these are cherry blossoms.

A typical urban corner.

Urban reflection

On a central square in San Telmo

A traditional Argentine grill.

I'm not sure that Matt Groening is getting any royalties from this beer.

Our first feast of meat in Buenos Aires

The traffic on the 9th of July Avenue (Argentina's independence day) is 18 lanes.  Dad, do you think that town council might change Morin Crescent to 9th of July Avenue in Gravelbourg???

The original town hall and rare example of Spanish colonial architecture

Across the square, is the more typical Parisian style

Eva Peron gave her famous speech to the crowd from this balcony--on the left side of the building

Obelisk commemorating the founding of Argentina

The circle wraps around the above obelisk, known as the Grandmothers' path of the Plaza de Mayo.  Following the disappearance of their then young adult children in the 1970's and early 1980's--along with their grandchildren--the grandmothers of Argentina gather to walk this circle in Plaza de Mayo to bring attention to their missing grandchildren, now adopted into other families.

Buenos Aires' Russian church

Stadium home to the Boca Juniors, one of Buenos Aires' favourite junior team...  We had to be content with listening to some of the game on the big screen, as even our guide wouldn't want to go to a game without an experienced insider.

I am coming to the end of our evening together.  I know it feels as if we're in the middle of something, but you'll just have to check back again soon for further posts.  I'm not nearly done yet...

Love to all,

Grace

To the Inca Bridge and Back

This should really be called the Andes part II, the previous installment merely the foothills to the Andes.  Dad, you'd said how much you liked the pictures, to keep them coming, and so this is especially for you.  For the rest of you, welcome to the Frank living room.  Pull up a chair while I share these pictures with my dad.  He's got some beer in the fridge for us, too.  Crack open a cool one.  I think there might be some chips in the pantry cupboard.  Not to worry about getting greasy fingers on the photos.

 

What struck me immediately when the snowy peaks came into view was not so much the height of the mountains--they are like the tall backbone of an old giant.  No, what was so amazing were the colours.  For us Canadians who've travelled through the Rockies, the Kooteneys, the Cascades, the Coastal Mountains--and for others who've driven through the cathedral peaks of the Alps--there is a sameness to those familiar ranges.  The Andes are a riot of colours, red and yellow and green and blue and grey, rocks, drifts and crags running and overlapping each other.  Vegetation, where possible in this barren landscape, adds another depth of complexity of colour.  Yellow grasses on green gravel or red gravel, or green cacti on red rock.  Each turn of the road opened one incredible vista after another.  The pictures don't do it justice.  You'll have to use your imagination, too.

The only valley we drove through where people actually lived.

The traditional roast chicken was delicious.

The scale was enormous.  I felt a little like Bilbo Baggins on his formidible adventure.

Along one valley a enormous river bed had carved out perfectly vertical walls, as though man-made.

The mountain in the background looked almost transluscent.

The concrete power pole is probably a couple of stories high.

At the top of the road the highest peak was obscured in cloud.

This is known as the Inca Bridge, a natural phenomenon. The purpose of the long-disused building in the previous picture wasn't immediately obvious.

It was bleeping cold.  We had to support the hardy vendors stuck outside in the freezing wind.

This is the same 'walled' riverbed.

We're almost back again into the plain near Mendoza, back to the warm temperatures.  It reminds me little of the American southwest, yet unlike anything there.

 Next time...Buenos Aires...

Love to all,

Grace

Into the Andes

With a map in hand, and a Ford from Hertz, we headed off to the Andes...the back way.  The woman at the car rental place cautioned us that the road was very bad, which only added to the excitement of the excursion.  I remember white-knuckling it on the Princeton to Hope highway in the 80s, but that was a pleasure highway in comparison.  Anyway, let me continue with some pictures, okay?

After driving about an hour northwest of Mendoza, we encountered a little teahouse/chalet, but when the door opened I wasn't sure if I'd stepped into the Twilight Zone.  My first thought was wax museum? Except it smelled too good to be fake.

Our half-hour stop and the best ham I ever tasted.

The Chalet/teahouse

Outside the teahouse, this billboard map reassured us that we were on the right track.  We'd invested so much in getting this far that the wiggly part on the map didn't seem too daunting, and so off we went...

It didn't look too bad...just a short 22km jaunt up the mountain

Our "jaunt" took us about an hour and a half.

This was actually on a wide enough part of the road for us the pull over to take pictures.  Can you tell that Julie doesn't like heights?

It's called the "One-Year Road", for the 365 switchbacks

Ta - da!

We weren't the only ones taking in the view near the top. 

Just a little more to go...

The plaque commemorates the anniversary of Charles Darwin, who'd crossed the Andes a hundred and fifty years ago, an amazing feat without roads.

Our plan was to find the petrified forest identified by Darwin, but thin air at our elevation of over 8,000 feet and the slippery incline made it impossible.  So, here's a picture of something that looks like a stump of a petrified tree.

It's pretty desolate at the top.

To the east you see this...

... and to the west, this.

More about our travels on the other side of the mountain, next time.

Love,

Grace