Uruguay

Terri and I traveled to Uruguay this weekend and visited two separate places: Colonia and Montevideo.

Colonia: This is an old fort town that is very quiet. The first night we were there, Terri and I were afraid to walk down the street because we are so accustomed to living in big cities that we thought quiet = "we are going to get hacked into tiny pieces by maniacs."

Of course, we were wrong. This town has an near zero crime rate and turns out to be a fantastic place to live. While there we saw ruins of an old fort that occupies one of the central sections of the town. Also, we visited a farm were we saw the Guinness World Record collection of pencils, pins, key chains, and other knick knackery. Pretty exciting stuff!! If you ever wanted find a guy who really knows his purpose in life, then look no further than the knick knack man living on a farm in Colonia, Uruguay.

Montevideo: Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, is a very pretty city with great beaches along the mouth of the Rio De La Plata.

We spent one day hanging out on the beach and another day touring the sites and monuments around the city. We both really enjoyed the "Ciudad Vieja" or Old Town area. There was an incredible mausoleum built for a General Jose Artigas (basically the George Washington of Uruguay) located at the entrance to the Ciudad Vieja. This was a "must-see" site, however, the changing of the guard was a bit anticlimactic. You can see Terri way in the background of that picture walking around the mausoleum.

Teatro Solis - Gorgeous Theater in the heart of Ciudad Vieja










Terri didn't want me browsing the merchandise at this local Montevideo shop

Carnaval in Gualeguaychu

Throughout the months of January and February, Carnaval takes place all throughout South America. Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and, of course, Brazil are home to many celebrations, and a lot of half-clothed (más or menos) people.

When we arrived down in Argentina, Chuck and I both signed up to several Expat groups to get involved in different activities in the city. Through a Meetup group, we found out about Carnaval in Gualeguaychu.

Gualeguaychu is in the province of Entre Rios, about 230 km north of Buenos Aires. One of the main sources of income for the city is tourism. Unfortunately, Argentina has received above normal amounts of rain this year, so the river on which the city is situated, was flooded so much that the river had totally engulfed the beach. That must have been why everyone was so excited for Carnaval this year!

So believe it or not there is a point, and even a competition, involved in Carnaval. There are three teams who compete. I’m not sure exactly what they compete for other than the name of winner of Carnaval 2010, but it adds a certain element of competition to the event. The three themes and team names are listed below. I’ve included snapshots of each to see if they convey the theme they were trying to create.

Team O’Bahia
Comparsa del Club de Pescadores (Fisherman Club)

Team Ara Yevi
Espiritu de Naturaleza (Spirit of Nature)

Team Papelitos
Pan Y Circo(Literal translation: Bread and Circus. However, it is an expression used to describe the current practice of a government to keep people quiet or hide facts in issue.)




See below a few videos from the event. It’s hard to fully describe the enthusiasm during each “show” but the music is contagious and everyone is singing it…even though we didn’t know what words we were saying. Needless to say, we had a wonderful time and met a lot of fun people. We arrived back in Buenos Aires at 7:30am on Sunday.

Chile Earthquake

I just wanted to post a message to our blog to let everyone know that we are safe and sound here in Buenos Aires. Believe it or not, we felt none of the effects of the massive earthquake that hit southwest Chili in the cities of Talca, Valparaiso, Concepcion, and spread all the way to Santiago.

I have not yet heard if other parts of Argentina were affected but will be listening to the news (to the best of my ability) this evening for more updates. I know this is a short post, but just wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes and concerns. We pray for those in Chile that lost love ones and are faced with rebuilding their lives.

More to come soon – now that we have moved apartments and solidified our travel plans.

The Cranberries Concert

When we first arrived in Buenos Aires, the first advertisements we saw in the parks were for concerts. For anyone that has met me, you will know that I really don’t know squat about music. Chuck on the other hand, could give a dissertation on why the Rolling Stones are the best band of all time. As luck would have it there were really only three concerts to choose from, and Chuck was nice enough to allow us to go to the “Chick Rock” concert to see The Cranberries.

I was really just excited to see a concert and visit one of the stadiums in Buenos Aires, but I was really impressed by the performance. Charles and I combine probably knew about one-third to a half of the songs played. Regardless, we enjoyed the show. We were very fortunate that it had rained the entire day before, and remained cool on Saturday, because the stadium had no AC. I don’t care how many fans you have blowing air around…if it’s not cold…it doesn’t help! As you can see from the picture, we were glowing not only because we were so excited and happy…but also because it was a little toasty in the stadium.

The show was great, and the Argentine crowd was very enthusiastic. I guess it’s from all the practice at soccer matches; there were many chants started before the concert to get the crowd ready. And that was only the warm-up for what followed as the fans begged for an encore. These people know how to make some noise.

For those of you who know and like The Cranberries, we’ve included a few snipets of the concert for your listening pleasure. Wish we could have seen Coldplay, but it was Coldplay or Carnaval. We opted for party in the street, instead of Coldplay. Maybe next time…

Weekend Whirlwind

Under the guise of getting to know the city, Chuck and I took advantage of our first weekend in Buenos Aires to do all the touristy things that this city has to offer. One of the Buenos Aires “must sees” is a Tango show. The traditional show offers dinner and “spectacular” (aka people dancing tango). So, I investigated our options and settled on a little place called El Querandí. I felt more confident about my decision after reading that Frommer’s also recommended this place. The show took you through the history of the Tango. The dance sprouted its roots in the late 19th century in Argentina brothels on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Carlos Gardel, an Argentine singer, helped to turn the music of Tango from a lewd, ruffian’s dance to a dance with meaning and emotion. By the mid 1950’s the Tango was an accepted part of Argentine culture.

In a 180 degree turn, we decided on Saturday to go to the zoo to visit the animals. I’m sure by now you have seen and heard enough about this experience, so there is little left for me to say.

To finish off our weekend of pure tourism, we took the inevitable double-decker bus tour. While waiting for the bus to take us on our magical ride, we meandered into Plaza de Mayo and right into the Presidential Palace or Casa Rosada. From a balcony of this building, which looks out over the Plaza, Eva Perón (Evita) addressed adoring crowds of Argentines. The building was as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside. After this visit, we wandered down to Puerto Madero. This once active port, is now the up and coming neighborhood in Buenos Aires. There are many fancy condos/apartments and the majority of the best steak restaurants reside in this area.

After this, we made our way back up towards Plaza de Mayo to hop on the bus. Our first stop was in San Telmo. This is area is known for its Tango and its antique markets. Our next stop was Palermo where we found another outdoor market with all kinds of shopping fun. Another reason to love BA, every day has Happy Hour and it lasts for three hours instead of two. So, we capped off our Sunday with happy hour on the terrace overlooking Plaza Francia in Palermo. It was a perfect end to a fantastic day!

Zoo Trip

Terri and I went on Saturday to visit the Jardin Zooilogical in Buenos Aires. Instead of writing about our Zoo Trip, I figured I'd just post the videos. It was kind of like the biggest petting zoo we've ever seen because you can pretty much feed everything. We had fun with it. Enjoy!

Zoo Trip: Male Peacock