Buenos Aires and Montevideo

So I've spent the past week and a half in Buenos Aires and then Montevideo, Uruguay. Buenos Aires is crazy.....massive city but surprisingly not many sights to see. I'm getting a little tired of the city. I'm still amazed as to how all of the Argentinean people aren't morbidly obese, because all they eat is pizza, pasta, bread, fried "mileta" or some sort of beef, and  PAPAS FRITAS. "Papas fritas" are french fries that come with literally everything you order. I cannot touch another papas frita for about a week. Besides that...while I've been here I've seen a part of town called La Boca..which is full of colorful old buildings. I've also been to the Recoleta, which is an old and really cool cemetary in Buenos Aires. On the way to the Recoleta, we ran into a huge celebration in the streets for the anniversary of the Revolution? Still trying to figure out if it was a protest or a celebration...or both? That's the great part of South America...you never know what's really going on!! I'm glad to have met some really great people  here, and I'm glad that I got to meet up with my favorite Aussies, Tess and Adrian here and in Montevideo. I dragged my newly found Canadian friend, Josh, on the ferry over to Montevideo on Monday. Montevideo was freezing, and super windy, but we managed to have fun. The Uruguayan people are really nice....but they walk super slow....just an observation. Not a whole lot to see or do in Montevideo, but I'm glad I got to go. Back in BA today and taking a 17 hour bus to Iguazu falls tonight....yay! I hope my IPod keeps its charge! Coming soon: awesome waterfall pics.

La Boca

Cool painted horse also in La Boca.

Buenos Aires city center...start of the crazy parade/people in the streets.

BA

The celebration!

La Recoleta Cemetary

A cool grave in the cemetary...former first lady of Argentina.

Another cool grave.

We had a guide in the cemetary who was very informative...this woman fell into a coma and they believed she was dead. She was actually buried alive, so they say she is the only woman in the world to "die more than once". Cool story.

Some important man..

Montevideo

This was a really cool fountain in Montevideo. You carve your initials and the initials of the one you love into a lock and then lock it onto the gates of this fountain. The legend says that one day the two lovers will return to the fountain again.

Fountain in Plaza Independencia in Montevideo.

Josh my little Canadian.

Freezing by the coast....the wind almost knocked me in!!

Valpo, Ritoque, and Mendoza

After Santiago I headed to Valparaiso with Nelson, my couchsurfing host. Stayed with a nice girl named Maria who didn't speak English...good practice. Met a woman named Denise who was deathly afraid of cats. I watched her periodically dash around Maria's apartment to escape the cat for about 3 hours...very amusing. Valparaiso has the same food as Santiago...completos. Hot dogs covered with tomatoes, mayo, and this watery avocado paste. SO AWFUL. I never want to look at a completo again for the rest of my life. After Valpo it was straight to Playa de Ritoque, a tiny beach town 15 minutes by colectivo from Quintero. Ritoque was a beach with absolutely nothing else. It was nice to just do nothing for 4 days but lay on the beach. After Ritoque, I spent a night at Nelson's in Santiago, and then it was off to Argentina. Got a "semi-cama" bus...6 hours and the seats go almost all the way back. Took an amazing trip through the Andes mountains, which I got great pictures of. Got to Argentina and immediately went to a hostel BBQ. FINALLY I ate the first real food I've had in 2 weeks, because Chile's food is awful. Unlimited steak, chicken, salad, etc. It was awesome. Since then I've been hanging in Mendoza with a bunch of crazy South Africans, and a Swedish girl named Elsa. Celebrated St. Patty's at an Irish pub...the Argentinean's were more festive than I was! Yesterday I did a bike tour around the wineries of Maipu...about 17 km south of Mendoza. I showed up to Mr. Hugo's bike rental and got adopted by a nice couple from Ireland on their honeymoon. Biked for so long with them...on the main roads with huge trucks whizzing by....probably not safe. When you turn in your bike, Mr. Hugo gives you free wine...so needless to say there were tons of people congregated there. Also went bowling last night....very interesting. The balls were tiny, and there was a man standing behind the pins picking them up when you knocked them down. Pretty funny. Tonight I leave for Buenos Aires to possibly meet up with my Australian friends that I met in Ritoque. So to sum it up...Argentina is awesome.

Couchsurfers in Chile!

Valpo

Dogs are everywhere in Chile! Most are nice and will follow you/lead you home if you get lost. I owe my life to the dogs.

The back porch of my hostel room in Ritoque.

Playa de Ritoque

View from the bus window crossing from Santiago to Mendoza.

Wine at the "bodega" or vineyard.

ME

Me and my trusty bike!

Picture taking while bike riding got a little dangerous..

Grapes.

St. Patty's Day street party!

Bowling: Argentinean Style

Santiago

 Day 3 of the trip in Chile and I have already learned many things. I've learned that my Spanish is awful and that Chileans eat a lot of hot dogs. Luckily my couchsurfer host Nelson has been a huge help. My Spanish is now around a 2nd grade level thanks to him! Santiago is great! A big city with a small city feel. My first day of the trip me and Nelson hiked up a huge hill to see Cerro San Cristobal (which is pretty much a huge statue of Mary). It was a pretty intense hour long hike especially after being on a series of planes for an entire day...and after a mishap with my backpack in the airport that I won't go into. We took the "shorter and mas dificil" path. The view from the top was amazing! After about the hour and a half descent to the bottom, Nelson and I went to a cool restaurant where he introduced me to a "terramoda". This literally translates into "earthquake" and it's a mixture of white wine and pisco (national drink of chile), and is topped with two huge scoops of pineapple ice cream. Delicioso! Tomorrow when Nelson gets off work we are headed to Valparaiso, which is on the coast of Chile. So far I have really enjoyed my time in Santiago and I will be sad to leave Nelson and his mom, Anita.

Nelson!

Cerro San Cristobal

Terramoda

View from Cerro San Cristobal

Downtown Santiago

View from an old fort in the middle of the city

Another view from the fort..this time with me!

 

View from Cerro San Cristobal

View from the way down Cerro San Cristobal

 

These are graves. In Chile people are buried in the ground in cemetaries, and also sort of....in these buildings? Me and Nelson walked through this cemetary that was about 10 blocks or more. It was a really cool area.