Valpo y Viña

Valparaíso at night

Ascensor 

After our hopes of seeing the finish of the Dakar rally in Santiago were dashed we bolted for the coast. We landed in Valpaíriso and checked into Hostel Mariposa up in the hills. One of the famous funiculars was located outside our bedroom window. It was no longer in service but many others continue to function on a daily basis. 

Our view in Valparaiso

The hills are so steep in Valpo that everyone seems to get a pretty good view. Our balcony served as a crows nest and lounge area.   

Pasillos de Valpo

During our stay, we explored several of the passageways that twist down to the city below. The steep stairs and dog cigars require your full attention at all times for the descent. The return trips were maybe more challenging for the same reasons under the cover of darkness and occasionally after a terremoto, which is a strong drink that leaves some with shaky legs. The beverage contains one scoop of pineapple ice-cream covered in pisco and white wine and is served in a 1 L glass. 

ValpoBier 2013

As luck would have it we arrived on the weekend and in time for the annual beer festival. In addition to this bit of good fortune, we were happy to discover that they were serving more than just Chilean brews. While Chile has plenty of great wine, it lacks a quality selection of readily available beer.  

Festival de la Cerveza

We managed to get tickets to a beer tasting hosted by a local Irish pub. Despite a long delay in getting started we had a good time tasting some unique brews and hearing about them from a true Irishman.  

Tipping them back in Valpo

Shortly after our tasting, the concert ended and the event came to a close. All in attendance staggered back down the waterfront and into the night. 

Castillo de Viña

Not far from Valparaíso is Viña del Mar. We used the metro that links the two cities to make a day trip to Viña. We quickly found some exotic empanadas that didn´t disappoint. We spent a chunk of our day walking around the main streets and along the beach. The water was not warm but that didn´t seem to deter the majority of visitors from enjoying the water.  

Chorrillana

We continued the assault on our Chilean cuisine to do list. Chorriana is not the most delicious option but a weak moment led to our first and last plate for three.      

Viña del Mar

Santiago de Chile

View of Santiago from San Cristóbal Hill

Mendigo, bronce. Bellas artes

We spent our first three days in Santiago living in the Bella Vista district. Our hostel was just steps away from the San Cristóbal Hill. We explored the nearby hill, a few of the surrounding neighborhoods and of course made a stop at Bellas Artes. An early positive was adjusting to the new currency and forgetting about the filthy Argentine peso. The bills in Argentina had a similar feel to a well used kleenex.

Bike & Wine. Viña Cousiño Macul

We bid farewell to Bella Vista and crossed the chocolaty Mapocho River in search of new digs in the downtown. We were upgrading for the arrival of big brother Jeremy. Neither of us was a bit upset about ending our string of dorm stays and our apartment set-up turned out to be perfect for three.

Cabernet Sauvignon grapes

Jeremy arrived without incident and a day later we were pedalling through the Cousiño Macul Vinyard, examining the vines and tasting the wine along the way. We had arrived via metro and taxi and bicicleta verde had our slick single speeds ready to go. 

After parking the bikes we headed down to the underground cellar for our second tasting. The picture shows only half of the impressive structure that was constructed around 1877. After completing the subterranean component of our tour we ascended the stone stairway back into daylight. Our final stop was back in the wine shop where we enjoyed the final tasting and the best of  what Cousiño Macul had to offer.

Menu

We were all eager to see some sights so we elected to take part in a city walking tour of Santiago. Our guide, Franco was phenomenal due to his sense of humor and his brutal honesty regarding the way of life in Santiago. We got a good look around at our starting point, Plaza de Armas and many of the important monuments and buildings that surround it. We stopped frequently and learned a little bit about the strange history and tough times during the recent and controversial dictatorship. After getting our fill of heavy Chilean history we made our way to Lastarria which is the main bohemian neighborhood and the cultural hub in Santiago.  

Living the destination!

Jeremy wanted to "live the destination" so after our lengthy tour we made our way to Gallindo in an effort to dismiss our hunger. We all selected a different typical dish to get a taste of what Chile had to offer. We agreed that Cindy had selected the most delicious but they were all worthy of eating. A mountainous portion of pastel de choclo or corn pie was the last to fall. Pisco sour and beer where the beverages of choice.   

Cañón del Atuel

Cañón del Atuel

Los burros

Our day started with a brief tour of San Rafael and a refreshing swim in the Atuel River. After those planned activities we made an unexpected stop.  Our progress towards the canyon was thwarted by a group of donkeys that appeared in the middle of the road. They efficiently stopped the flow of traffic and approached the windows. The trio made short work of any treat that was offered up and took a particular liking to crackers.

Las Gemelas

We weaved along the narrow road and enjoyed the view along the way. A mixture of interesting terrain and vegetation kept our minds off the scorching heat as we made our way into the canyon. 

Formations

We descended into the Atuel Canyon to witness some stunning formations and amazing color variation. Our guide was a little overzealous in  pointing out what he saw in any average rock. 

 

Desert skies

The last leg of our longer than expected, fifteen hour tour was spent speeding across the plains of Mendoza.        

San Huberto Vinyard

We spent our final day making our obligatory rounds to a few of the vinyards in the world famous region. These impressive barrels were the highlight and the free for all wine tasting that followed was the lowlight. 

Mendoza

Wine country

Potrerillos

After careful deliberation we decided to make Mendoza our next stop. We traversed Argentina by bus in about fifteen hours, two of which were spent making a milk run around the capital before finally leaving. The city of Mendoza is quite nice on its own with wide avenues and an abundance of plazas that are laid out symmetrically around the downtown core. However, it is the surrounding area that truly makes this place special.

Puente del Inca

We chose to embark on a high mountain adventure along the river. The excursion took us out of the city, past the sprawling vineyards and into the Andes mountains. Along the way we visited the Incas Bridge, which is an arch that formed naturally and extends across the Vacas River.

Aconcagua

Aconcagua can be seen from the highway pass that links Mendoza and Santiago. It is the highest mountain in the Americas. At 6,961 meters it is second only to Everest amongst the seven summits. We stopped at the park gates for a distant look at Argentina's most famous mountain.

Rio Mendoza

Where is the water? It was a little startling at first to see a dry river bed of this magnitude but apparently water is scarce in Mendoza. A lot of the water is diverted by a series of dams and canals that are located throughout the province. Irrigation is necessary to feed the vast number of vineyards and olive farms in the ultra dry climate. A narrow plain divides the riverbanks from the mountains.

Republica de Chile

Finally, we made an unexpected, early visit to Chilean territory. The trip can only be made in favorable conditions and we were fortunate to have them. After more hairpin switchbacks than I cared enough to count we were atop one of the many mountains that divide Argentina and Chile. The border is not patrolled here, but the unforgiving terrain seems to do a good enough job of that. There are some high altitude trails for hiking around the summit but the road ends here.

Summit

At 4,200 meters, the alpine air was brisk but quite enjoyable after enduring stifling heat in the valley below. Snow could still be found in a few areas and the wind was chilly enough to numb our fingers as we be battled strong gusts of wind to take a few photos. Horn blasts from our bus meant it was time to go. Apparently we were enjoying our time in the thin air more than the rest. 

Cordillera de los Andes

Cindy captured this scenic shot of the Andes during our visit to the summit. A strong gust of wind nearly dislodged her from her perch on the ledge so enjoy the view.  

Buenos Aires

Avenida de Mayo

Mural de Evita Perón

As the sun rose, our bus slowly rolled into Buenos Aires. So slowly that I think the conductors might get reprimanded if a bus arrives too early. It did give us a chance to awake from our slumber that was the ten hour overnight bus ride from Córdoba and to have a look around. Sprawling, yet densely populated is the metropolitan area, with more than 13 million inhabitants. After arriving at the Retiro bus terminal, we headed for the metro to get closer to our hostel downtown. We quickly found out that Retiro is situated in a less than desirable area of town and actually borders the notorious shanty town known as "villa miseria" or misery village. Sticking out like a couple of sore thumbs we made quick time getting to the metro. It was a no photos if you want to keep your camera zone.       

Obelisco de Buenos Aires

Avenida 9 de Julio is one of the major arteries that runs through the heart of the downtown. Its width consumes an entire city block making it the largest avenue in the world. It links many of the cities major landmarks, including the national historic monument and popular icon of Buenos Aires, the Obelisk. 

Downtown B.A.

Nothing motivates a person to get out and survey the situation like a filthy hostel. We covered Monserrat and San Nicolás on foot and used the metro to help us get over to San Telmo. The scummy and poorly ventilated "subte" or metro stop called Diagonal Norte is where I caught a crook attempting to unzip a pocket on my day pack as we were making our transfer. The would be thief quickly fled after his brazen but unsuccessful attempt.   

Buenos Aires Cathedral New Year´s Eve

New Year´s Eve mass at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral was a big deal. Our appearance wasn´t planned but the doors were open so we let ourselves in.     

Carlos Gardel

In an effort to learn more about the world of tango we headed for  the museum of Carlos Gardel and the district where the king of tango lived most of his life. Unfortunately the museum was randomly closed so we wandered around some of the shops and visited the nearby Abasto market. The Abasto was the central wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Buenos Aires for more than a century until being converted into a modern shopping mall in recent years. We did manage to get tickets to a big tango show later in the week. Tango Porteño put on a Las Vegas style show with some of the best tango dancers in the world, a phenomenal orchestra and plenty of high kicks. 

Buenos Aires Bus

Cindy, myself and our friend Eduardo from Sao Paulo took a day to check out some of the points of interest around the city by bus. The hop on, hop off system with twenty-five stops is an excellent way of getting around a place as big as Buenos Aires.   

La Boca Barrio

One of our many stops was La Boca. This unique and colorful barrio is full of art, tango, authentic barbecues and tourists by day, but not the best place to linger after sundown. It is a no go area at night. We visited La Bombonera, the stadium of the famous Boca Juniors football club, many interesting boutiques and watched tango in the streets. El Paraiso served us a "parrilla completo" which was awful. The intestines even had Eduardo turning up his nose and wagging his finger to inform us of his displeasure, as if gagging and spitting up in his napkin wasn´t enough of an indicator.      

La Recoleta Cemetery

The Recoleta Cemetery holds the remains of many famous Argentinians. Numerous former presidents, generals, scientists, actors, actresses, poets and writers rest here but the main attraction is the tomb of Eva Perón. We spent more than an hour strolling around the fourteen acre maze of vaults. Each mausoleum is different from the next, with a unique architectural style or constructed from a different material. Sadly, several have fallen into disrepair and are littered with broken glass and rubbish. While packs of dogs are common on some streets, the aisles of Recoleta contained a surprising number of cats. Eerie.            

Floralis Genérica

The space age sculpture Floralis Genérica makes the Plaza de las Naciones Unidas a popular destination. Incredibly, the petals close at night and reopen each morning, stretching to a diameter of 32 metres. After seeing the impressive sculpture we wrapped up our time in B.A. with a visit to Bellas Artes. In one afternoon we viewed more than 500 years of art history. The permanent exhibit included many of the masters. Degas, Gauguin, Goya, Monet, Manet, Rembrandt, Rubens, Rodin, Toulouse-Lautrec, Velázquez and van Gogh. Cindy was excited to have the opportunity to see such a large assortment of originals.            

Las Sierras de Córdoba

Playa de los Hippies. Cuesta Blanca

After a thorough look around the city of Córdoba we were looking forward to exploring some of the surrounding area. We were forced to select a few places from a seemingly endless supply of interesting options that were available. Our first pick was Cuesta Blanca via Carlos Paz. The town is nice enough but didn´t grab our attention for long. Instead we headed out in search of a place known as Hippie Beach. We followed our guide, which was a stray dog that at some point had volunteered herself to lead us up the winding village roads to the trail head. Soon we were smack dab in the middle of the Sierras and we began choosing our steps more carefully. The usual mountain trail hazards were present but we were keeping our eyes peeled for pit vipers and rattlesnakes that also call the mountain range their home. With the assistance of our K-9 escort we arrived at the beach without incident. We can also verify that there is at least one real hippie that resides there.

La Cumbrecita

La Cumbrecita is an isolated hamlet in the heart of the Grand Sierras of Córdoba. It was founded by a crew from Germany and continues to be a German commune that promotes eco-tourism. "The Pedestrian Town" forces visitors to park their vehicles in a lot before the entrance and to walk the stone pathways.

La Cascada Grande

We spent the day walking the trails, touring an activity park and relaxing by one of the many streams. After concluding our tour we sat down to the "super plato aleman" for two, which was an abundance of delicious traditional German cuisine. Of course we washed  it down with the local micro brew called Brau.     

Dique Los Molinos

Our trip to Villa General Belgrano took us past Los Molinos Dam. It was a scenic trip on a nice section of road that skirts a portion of the beautiful lake. We remained wide awake after our driver attempted a suicide pass and forced an oncoming vehicle off the road.     

Córdoba, Argentina

Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, Padres Capuchinos

Córdoba

We arrived in Córdoba in time to endure an intense heat wave that had locals and tourists alike seeking refuge from the sun. 38°C with a thermal sensation of more than 50°C was extreme for the area and  made exploring the large city under those conditions a daunting task. 

       

Palacio Ferreyra, Museo de las Bellas Artes

After a few hours of being stuck out in the miserable conditions we were lured into back to back air conditioned museums. Cindy marvelled at the diverse collection of paintings and sculptures while I marvelled at the interior of the palace that housed them. We both examined each art work with additional care and attention before reluctantly returning outdoors to the staggering heat.   

Paseo del Buen Pastor

Located in the heart of Nueva Córdoba is Paseo del Buen Pastor. Until recently it served as a prison for woman. The impressive church in the background is the same as the one pictured above. We met a Paisano Norteño from Chihuahua and exchanged a few anecdotes from our respective travels as we waited for the doors to open. After looking around the inside, we spent the balance of our time admiring the incredible structure and detail of the numerous gargoyles and statues that adorned it on all sides.     

Che Salguero Hostel

The Che Salguero Hostel served as the accommodation during our stay in Córdoba and area. We enjoyed the company of a real Porteño, a few of the long term guests and the friendly staff.   Bruno, who is one of the owners was responsible for cooking the best asado that Argentina has served up for us to date.