13th – 18th February

After arriving back from Uruguay we checked into the Own Hotel in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires (BA) (for 5 nights! We actually unpacked!!!) and had our first welcome night in since starting our trip 45 days ago. Happily ensconced in our ‘apartment-style’ room, we settled back to watch a fairly rubbish Mission Impossible movie and raided the mini-bar for a little bottle of Sauvignon blanc.

On the Friday, we straight away got around to the business of exploring BA. We quickly worked out the pretty simple subway system and jumped on a train downtown to start a 6 hour self-styled tour of the city on foot taking in:
– The Plaza de Mayo and the Piramide de Mayo, the scene of the Madres de Mayo weekly demonstrations for those who disappeared during the 1976-83 dictatorship
– Casa Rosado – the presidential palace where Eva Peron addressed the crowds from the balcony (for anyone thinking of going, it was the one to the left not the middle one)
– Avenida de Mayo which took us to Plaza de Congreso and all the parliament buildings
– Plaza Lavalle and the impressive looking law courts, Palacio de Justicia
– Teatro Colon, the impressive looking opera house
– Obelisco – the iconic 67m tall centrepiece of BA intersecting Corrientes and Avenida 9 de Julio

Needing a rest, we found a table for a light lunch at Coffee Haus which was full of the local Portenos (the name for local people from Buenos Aires). We’d intended to replace roses for rosado wine in a nod to it being valentine’s day, but with none on the menu it was another bottle of sav blanc which then led to our lovely waiter giving us a free flan (creme caramel with dulce de leche) and two spoons!

Feeling suitably refreshed we then headed to the Recoleta area of the city where the rich people live and where Eva Peron is buried. The cemetery was like nothing we had ever seen before, more like a small city with its streets and several hundred large mausoleums.

To top off our day, we did the ‘must do’ BA activity and went to the Casa del Los Angelitos for a steak dinner and a live Tango show which featured 10 dancers, all with arms and legs everywhere and a bit of a blur given the speed at which they moved (Len from Strictly Come Dancing couldn’t have put that better!)

Another early start on Saturday saw us in San Telmo for a city bike tour with tour leader Stephen (backed up by crazy Ray) and a group of 7 Americans. Jumping on our bikes – Bazza and B – we embarked on a 7 hour ride stopping at many destinations, the new places we hadn’t already visited on foot being:
– Parque Lezama and the statue of General Mendoza (plus a dog so big it really could have been a horse!)
– La Bombonera (the chocolate box), the Bocas Juniors’ football stadium – which used to be a shared stadium until it was won by the Bocas after a big showdown with arch rivals River Plate (who now have a bigger stadium to the north of the city)
– The La Boca district which was the original port to the city and Caminato where the original inhabitants procured the paint to decorate this colourful neighbourhood (and where Jase desperately wanted his picture taken with a Maradona lookalike but he charged too much!)
– A monument under a bridge to the lost people who disappeared during the 1970s
– The vast ecological reserve in the middle of the city, created when the river was reclaimed by nature after a landfill project was abandoned
– Riverside street stalls where we had massive lomo and bondiola (pork) sandwiches for lunch
– Puerto Madero, an eerily quiet area of town, upmarket but largely uninhibited and the Puerte de la Mujer (the Woman’s Bridge) where everything on one side is named after women
– The university, the oldest and biggest in the country (as we said before, all for free!)
– Torre Monumental (formerly the English Tower until the 1982 conflict caused the Argentines to fall out with us re. Malvinas)
– Catedral Metropolitana – Papa Francis’s church before he became Pope

Returning to our hotel that evening we had a quick turnaround as we had a table booked at ‘closed door’ restaurant I-Latina (you have to book as they don’t allow people to walk in from the street) to start celebrating Charlie’s birthday 2 days early (no 1 restaurant in BA no less!). We were lucky that we had worked up a monster appetite because the only thing on the menu was a 7 course dinner. Each plate and ingredient was explained to us by the chef’s sister and each came with a wine to perfectly complement the food – delicious! At the end of the evening, there was another little surprise for Charlie as the chef came to our table, signed the menu, wished her happy birthday and introduced her to one of the waiters, Freddy, who proceeded to serenade her (at which point all the other tables stopped their conversations to listen and applaud!) A very lovely unexpected surprise to end the day.

Day 3, a Sunday, in BA and still no time for a rest as we headed out to our second tour of the weekend, a day with the Gauchos at an estancia outside of the city called Don Silvanos, a Christmas present from Noddy, Suzi and the family. Hitting downtown via subway for 9am we ran to the pick up point, only to find it all closed up. After 20 minutes anxiously wondering if we should in fact be at the other address on the itinerary (despite the fact our hotel had called to confirm) Jase headed off to find taxi drivers / hotel concierges who could help us check. 20 minutes later though and just as we were wondering how to break the news to the Holder family we hadn’t actually made it, our guide casually strolled up! We’d never been more relieved to sit in another bus seat.

Having picked up the last of the group, we headed out of town and into the Pampas region. After about an hour we arrived at our destination and were greeted with an empanada (delicious) and a glass of wine (pre midday again but we weren’t complaining). We then had free time to look round the grounds – our favourite sight was some stunted cows! – and to do some activities. We opted for the horse riding. Hoisted safely onto our slightly tired looking steeds, we set off on a 10 minute round route of the ranch…only Charlie’s horse finally decided it was all a bit much and just before the end put its front legs down followed by its back and proceeded to try and roll over! Needed to say, there was a fairly rapid, if slightly inelegant, dismount.

Not long after a bell rang loudly and all the guests (about 150) gathered inside for lunch. We were on a table with a lady from Australia/Canada (she couldn’t make up her mind), a guy from Atlanta, a German couple and two Austrians. This proved interesting during the entertainment as the singer tried to sing a song to represent every nationality in the room (we Brits got ‘Let it Be’ if you’re interested) although in the end he had to hand over the mike to the Indian and Syrian contingent and let them sing their own! Then, while we were being served up blood sausage, chicken and steak, there was singing and dancing from different regions of Argentina as well as more tango. This all culminated in a short tango lesson for selected members of the audience – including Jase!

After dessert (traditional flan and very sweet coffee) and a short-lived attempt to minesweep some wine from the numerous tables who’d left theirs (?), we were herded over to the Horse Show. Sat in the shade by the side of a field, we watched as two gauchos aimed to show off their skills – including how to catch an ostrich, choose a good horse (slalom and race), get your horse to trust you (to the point you can lie on it) and get a kiss from a lady (collect a small hook at speed). Luckily Charlie didn’t have to kiss one of them otherwise Jase, as her husband, would have had to have kissed the horse.

We then had a final pastry and sweet tea before heading back into town on the bus. As it was Sunday, the only day of the week when the famous antiques fair is on, we got dropped off in the San Telmo area. All down Calle Defensa, there was a huge market, the biggest we’ve ever seen, finally opening out into a square with all the antiques stalls. Apparently this is a legacy from when the area was evacuated by the rich that originally lived there because of a yellow fever outbreak; they just upped and moved to Recoleta, leaving all their furniture behind! Our favourite bit though was the little, free tango ‘shows’ that were going on – professional dances interspersed with the locals getting involved. So good to watch and was a great end to another long day.

Our final full day in BA – and Argentina – was Charlie’s birthday. And our real treat was our first proper lie in!! Utter bliss not to have to be up early for travel, a tour or to hotfoot it round a city. We eventually rocked up to breakfast at 11am (very pleased with our choice of hotel that served until midday) and were instantly greeted with rendition of happy birthday from the two staff and presented with a small millionaire shortbread cake and candle alongside our croissants!

After some birthday admin (including the opening of surprise cards that Jase had faithfully carried for the last 7 weeks!) and a minor kurfuffle (over laundry of all things), we set off on a deliberately leisurely day out. We walked down to Plaza Italia and then headed to look round the Japanese Garden before visiting the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA). It had lots of really cool modern and contemporary paintings and sculptures in it and we spent a good couple of hours looking round.

To reward ourselves for our cultural efforts, we decided to walk past the Floralis Generica (a newer steel sculpture symbolising Hope) and into Recoleta to treat ourselves to some afternoon wine at THE bar to be seen (read: expensive hence the lack of lunch to go with it). We spent a very pleasant hour there before realising we had some walking to do to get back to the subway and that we were running out of time before dinner. Having dashed across town, we arrived back at our room to find a bottle of fizz awaiting us (courtesy of Daddy Holder!) plus a half bottle of red wine from the hotel to apologise for that morning’s laundry ‘misunderstanding’ (it was worth almost having no clean pants for Rio!) We drank the fizz whilst chatting and getting ready for our evening out – dinner at La Cabrera, our wedding present from Nay and Jimmy Dare!

Proving its immense popularity, the queue for the restaurant snaked all the way down the street – and that was for the people who had already booked! We eventually got seated and were introduced to our waiter – a man with not a word of English and quite a few years on him but who was super friendly and thankfully warned us by waving his arms around that the starters were big enough for two! We started with grilled provolone cheese and ham (broadly speaking Charlie ate the cheese and Jase the ham), followed by two big Ojo de Bife and Papas Fritas which came surrounded with lots of little pots containing garlic, red pepper sauce etc. Of course all accompanied by the obligatory bottle of Malbec. Good job there was a little walk back!

11th February

We woke on our final morning in Iguazu a little heavy headed. Having had a meal the previous evening we decided to visit the hostel across from our hotel as the loud music had been keeping us awake for the previous 2 evenings. A totally different crowd (young travellers) sat outside nursing their drinks so we finished our stay listening to reggie music until 2am. With it being a hostel the wine list was limited so Charlie accepted a free pint of red served from a box (classy girl), free because the bar man decided it was too nasty (and was possibly too drunk on the stuff himself) to charge for it!

So leaving Iguazu and having enough of long bus journeys we took a flight to Buenos Aires (BA) arriving in disappointingly rainy weather, immediately putting paid to our plans to spend an afternoon enjoying park life. This time it was just a short stopover in the Palermo ‘Hollywood’ district of the city, so called because of the number of media companies in the area. In this respect, and with the maze of (somewhat dirty) streets, it was similar to London’s Soho area with lots of media types eating in the cafés and bars (rather than being at work – yes exactly the same as London). So with time to spare and under the steer of the excellent and informative Eddy at the Be Hollywood hotel where we stayed the night, we spent a few hours exploring the area before settling into a bar for happy hour of 2-for-1 G&Ts and cuba libras.

Now the food bit…

Keen for a change from red wine and steak we asked Eddy where was good to eat nearby as we were spoilt for choice. Eddy had the answer straight away and booked us a table at Osaka restaurant nearby informing us it was the best place for Sushi where we ate a eclectic mix of a spicy Ceviche, Two-Salmon rolls and ‘Evil scollops’ washed down with a surprisingly nice Argentinian Sauvignon Blanc.

All in all, a short taster of BA before we headed to Uruguay for a couple days.

30th January – 3rd February

We haven’t written the blog in a few days, mainly because not a huge amount of note has happened! However, there have been a few key milestones and observations which we’ve summarised and shared below:

1) The beard is gone.

Fans of Jason’s facial growth (it seems there were many who were following its progress) will be gutted to hear of its demise. It took almost an hour to remove the brown/ginger/grey mass. Charlie is happy to have her smoother, younger-looking husband back. Jason is working on even-ing out his tan.

2) Bariloche in summer is a fair weather town.

We had one final day there following our trip to El Calafate and before heading to Mendoza and it was a bit of a washout. Our grand plan was an early bus out to Cerro Catedral to do a trek / cable car up the mountain for what was supposed to be magnificent views. We made it there in good time, briefly surveyed the ski-resort-with-no-snow scenery (one big giant car park), queued for the cable car…only to find it had just closed because of wind! With the rain starting and clouds looking increasingly ominous, we decided against a 4 hr (each way) trek in ponchos and promptly took the bus back into town for some sandwich/beer/steak therapy.

3) Andesmar is a party bus service.

Boarding at lunchtime and arriving in Mendoza early the next day we settled into our seats expecting the regular eat, siesta, read, eat, sleep pattern. But we were in for a whole new experience. It started with The Shawshank Redemption blaring above our heads (odd choice we thought for a family bus), swiftly followed by lunch and a chick flick. After that it was time for bingo! Winner got a bottle of wine (we like to think we lucked out rather than that we missed half the numbers being read in Spanish at breakneck speed). Then at 11pm, just as we were kicking back for a sleep, the lights went on, dinner was served and the Hangover Part 2 was aired until 1am!!

4) Mendoza (city) lives for a late night.

We arrived at 8am and knackered on Saturday morning, walked to our hostel where we met the completely bonkers Alicia who managed the hostel and whose past time was trying to have long rambling English-Spanish chats at every opportunity we showed our faces. We had a quick shower then set straight out into the sunshine to explore. We should perhaps have heeded Alicia’s gun-to-the-head description of what there was to do in Mendoza during the day. We found several pretty-ish plazas (Independencia, Espana, Italian and more…), went for a walk round the lake in closest part of the massive Parque de San Martin and passed some time with a big, late Milanesa lunch.

But during the day everything was closed and it was a ghost city with few people about. However, fast forward several hours to 10pm and we were sitting in a street side bar having a drink and a calamari snack (lunch had taken its toll) and things began to wake up on the busy Avenida Villanueva where the young and trendy Mendozians had come out of their slumber to party. So much so we broke our (non-bus-related) bedtime record staying out until 2.30am!!! The night for many was only just beginning…

5) Don’t go for the long walk in the Parque General San Martin.

On Sunday, following a quick visit to the bus station to get tickets to our next city, we thought we’d spend the day in true Spanish style at the park. Our first stop was to check out the ‘best views of the city’ from the Monumento al Ejercito Liberatador viewpoint at its far end. From the map and guide books it sounded like a pleasant stroll through green spaces. To cut a long story short, the next two hours and probably about 4 miles was spent walking through wasteland (flip flops weren’t the best choice of footwear) and past 6ft fences of what could easily have been animal/nuclear testing plants. So much so, we didn’t even bother walking up the scrubland hill for the view at the end of it…

To make up for our park error, after a brief lakeside bench rest of the legs, we did what we should have given into from the beginning and had a long lunch accompanied by a bottle (and a bit) of Malbec. Reaching our hostel around 6pm, an impromptu chat about our lack of any major evening plans with Alicia saw her booking us a table (without asking!) at Anna Bistro. It was lovely. Al fresco dining on a very pretty, plant-filled patio, another bottle of Malbec and a duo of steaks, all topped off by a cheeky Cuba libre meant we headed back at 1.30am fat and happy.

5) Be nice…

…you never know when you’ll bump into someone again. On one late night walk back, Jase stopped to say hi to an unexpected familiar face. It was Cyril, the French host of our Bariloche hostel. We were surprised to see him out having beers in Mendoza. Not least because his wife had told us he was in Santiago! Ha ha!

6) Mendoza wineries are definitely worth the wait.

It’s probably a good job our ill-timed weekend arrival (when many vineyards are closed) meant we couldn’t visit more. But we spent a very wonderful Monday making the most of the day we had! On the recommendation of The Dares (thanks guys!), we were picked up at 8.45am for our Trout & Wine tour. After meeting our slightly mad young guide called Lorena and the rest of group (Thomas, Chris and Hannah from Manchester, Doug and Janet from Austin, Texas and Catherine and Bill from Colorado) we headed 30 mins out to the Lujan de Cuyo region and stopped for a liquid breakfast at a tiny, old winery called Mendel.

The in-house guide there was brilliant, describing how the previous owners had hit hard times and just upped and left so they were trying to bring the old vines and place back to life. She showed us the large VATs, crammed us into the tiny store hole of barrels (French oak but with it costing over a $1000 per barrel and in short supply they need to increasingly look to other sources) and finally the tasting room. We tried three (healthy portions) of Malbec, all before 10.30am. All delicious. Sadly due to small production we can’t buy any in the UK…

Just after 11am we arrived at stop number 2, the Renacer winery. After a tour of the vines, the concrete tanks and an explanation of the different soils of each of the three main Mendoza wine regions, we headed to the tasting room to not only compare a wine from each place but to also try creating our own blend! Unfortunately the only place you can due these wines in the UK is in Liberty so I don’t think we will be stocking up anytime soon.

Lunch was at La Tapiz. A little removed from its vineyards, it’s a restaurant and lodge owned by a very wealthy family, evident from the chandelier adorned tapestry room where we had an olive oil tasting.

We then headed up to our private dining room overlooking the vineyards where we indulged in a delicious four course feast (gazpacho, salad, steak and crunchy fruit dessert), each course accompanied by a different wine. It’s a very, very tough life.

Our final visit of the day (as if we needed one) was to Luigi Bosco, a medium sized winery. After a visit to their art gallery (each wine-related piece inspired by the bible) and a look at their impressive barrel rooms (where we were also told how they were experimenting with Chinese and Russian oak – not successful to date – and acacia on their chardonnay to better results), we hopped up to the bar.

We tried 3 of their premium wines (Reisling, Pinot noir and Malbec) and a dessert wine. Then reluctantly but full to the brim, we dropped off our new friends (we have an open invitation to Doug the jazz musicians condo in Texas anytime we like – he might regret that) and piled into our hostel for a nap. After all that, our goodbyes to Mendoza took the somewhat shorter form of a light dinner and beer and a early (midnight) finish…

27th – 29th January

Looking forward to our return trip to El Calafate, we bundled our clothes into one rucksack and left one to safe-keeping by Cyril. On arrival by taxi at the modern Bariloche airport it looked so deadly quiet we questioned if it was closed but two minutes later, we had checked in and already taken a turn around the airport. Following another sugar rush of coke and cakes on the 1.45hr flight, we took a collectivo to our hostel…the first to be dropped off on a dirt track in what looked like the back of beyond. Luckily, first impressions proved deceptive as we opened the door to family-run Rukehue and were warmly greeted by son Santiago who showed us to our clean, cosy room (though jase had to renege on his vow to always ask for a room with a view) and told us it was just a short walk into town.

Not long later we were walking down the rough track, across the little bridge and onto the single main road through the little tourist town, full of restaurants and souvenir shops. Straight away we hit Hielo y Aventura to book our glacier trip for the next day. No room on the Big Ice Trek, we settled for a Mini-trekking excursion before spending the next 15-20 mins looking for some sights. We found Casablanca resto-bar and settled in for a few hours, sampling the ‘healthiest sandwich in South America’ (turned out to be tomatoes and a tin of tuna on one side and hot spinach, mushrooms and onions on the other…surprisingly tasty…) plus some local Chopin beers (negro for Jase and rubia for Charlie). We then picked up our packed lunch for the next day and had an early (but very disappointing) Patagonian lamb dinner before a breezy walk back up the hill and a chilled out evening with our books and a glass of red in the lounge of the hostel.

Next day, we were picked up for our ice adventure having been stuffed to the brim by our host Ariana’s lovely homemade breakfast of toasts and jams, croissants and cake (yes, we’re fully aware this blog talks a lot about food but it’s very important while travelling!). The bus took us along the magnificent stretch of lake before we got our first sight of the world’s third largest ice field (Antarctica being first, Greenland second) called Perito Moreno in the Los Glaciares National Park. We had a couple of hours to freely roam the numerous balconies which overlooked one edge (not a bad spot for our empanada lunch), listen to the creaks and crashes of the glacier and take a million pictures of the picture postcard view before heading down to the boat where we were to get a lot closer.

Donning our crampons, our group of around 15, led by Gisele, set off on our mini trek on the glacier itself. For the next hour and a half we walked up, down and over crevices, learning all the while about how it was formed and moves (yet remains the most stable) and Charlie even became group leader for a while!

Shortly before the end, we were welcomed to the ‘ice bar’ where they popped glacier into glasses and gave us a shot of whiskey before sending us back to base…though perhaps a moment premature as no sooner had we set off, we heard a crack as the older guy in front of us stumbled and broke his ankle!! After a short stop (and a chat with a Danish guy who sounded so like Eddie Izzard) the injured man was loaded on the ferry on a stretcher and, after all the excitement, most of the group slept the bus ride back to town. Arriving back around 8.30, there was just time for a quick pizza (of course) before retreating back to our hostel.

After more of Ariana’s cakes on our final morning and with 4 hours until we were due to be picked up to go the airport, we set off into town and found ourselves a rather bizarre park amongst the shops which we had missed on our previous visit. Around each corner and hidden by trees were various scenes celebrating the life of a famous Argentine explorer Señor Moreno and one including Charles Darwin. At first it all seemed a bit naff but with nothing else to do we kept walking wondering what eccentric scene we would see next and finally enjoyed the park so much we just had to join in…

25th – 26th January

A 12 hour coach journey over the Chile / Argentina border (much more impressive looking set up complete with guards but chaos ensued as seemed anyone who did anything had gone to lunch) high up in the Andes took us through some stunning rugged scenery before arriving in San Carlos de Bariloche late in the afternoon.

Bariloche is situated by Lago Nahuel Huapi and boasts both the summer trekking season and a ski destination in the winter (apparently our friend Nick did a ski season here but given the amount of bars we are dubious he saw the snow).

Rather than search trip advisor for somewhere to stay in Bariloche we put our trust in Matt and Mon’s blog and booked into the same place they stayed during their round the world trip in 2011. And Matt / Mon if you are reading this we are pleased to say we are glad we did as La Barraca Suites (more of a boutique b&b rather than a hostel) and it’s owners were an excellent choice with a 10 minute walk into centro and great views over the lake from both the bedroom and when sat on the toilet!

Heading into town and on the recommendation of Cyril and his wife (the hostel owners) we headed straight for El Boliche de Alberto for our first taste of steak and Malbec on home soil and we weren’t disappointed by having to queue before 8pm as we enjoyed good wine and large portions of steak at very cheap prices (less than £30 for 2 people).

We were hardly able to move afterwards but had just enough energy to move to a bar for the first of many locally brewed beers (appears there is more to Argentina than just steak and wine!)

Up early on the Sunday, we went to catch a bus out of town – a simple task after we had been to the tourist information to find out where we could buy a bus ticket (not on the bus apparently) only to swap this for another ticket when we got on (a bit of a faff really). Finally on the bus, we headed 18km out of town to hire some pretty shoddy bikes to cycle the 35km around Circuito Chico. We set out on our leisurely ride around several deep blue lakes against stunning mountain backdrops and breathed in it.

But we were soon out of breath as the flip side to this scenic cycle were the various long inclines we had to get up (living in Surbiton doesn’t prepare you for this) but at least we got to freewheel down the other side. 3 hours later and exhausted we arrived at a cafe that was the drop point if you wanted to finish the remainder of the Circuito Chico on the bus. With full intention of ‘bailing’ we stopped for empanadas and a coke and decided not to be so soft and got back in the saddle for the last 7km to the hire shop before getting the bus into town a little saddle sore. Next time we are renting a car…

To recoup in the evening we found a pub that was almost a micro-brewery and sat at the bar drinking different IPAs and eating tapas. Beats sat in the saddle.