This is my first blog. I have many friends that have suggested that I start this because of my travels, my interests in theatre, and also my love of photography. I am fortunate that I have a wonderful partner, Bill, who I share many of these adventures with. We both enjoy theatre and traveling, and wherever we go, we thoroughly enjoy many aspects of the places we choose to visit.
Our last major trip was to Buenos Aires and Uruguay in February for a two week trip. We traveled with our friends Fatima and Jeff, Bernd, and Phi and Jim. Our first stop was in Buenos Aires for two days. We have traveled there before so the city was not new to us. We stayed at the Ayres de Recoleta hotel but there other hotel near the Cemetery in Recoleta. We did however return to San Telmo on Sunday for the flea market at the central square. We visited Daniel Fulco, an artist who makes 3 dimensional pictures of scenes in and around San Telmo. We have four major pieces of his work, and three smaller ones. We then headed to La Boca and wandered around the streets of the historic port. In a previous trip to La Boca, we found a small courtyard where one of the most famous artists of Argentina (Benito Quinquela Martin) from the turn of the Century lived. A great many of his paintings are in the local museum named in his honor, which we visited again. Our friend Cortney joined Phil, Jim, Bill and I on this afternoon. That evening we joined Bernd, Fatima and Jeff at a local restaurant named Juana M. for a wonderful dinner. This was our second time there, having enjoyed the restaurant on a previous trip.
The next day we flew to Mendoza from Buenos Aires. During this trip we had to fly back and forth to B.A. because there are no direct flights between most of the destinations. We traveled on Aerolinas Argentinas for most of these flights. The airline was a disaster. Almost every flight we took was late, and Fatima, Jeff, and Bernd were denied access to a flight that they had booked and paid for on one of the legs.
In Mendoza, Phil, Jim, Bill and I stayed in a little town called Chacras De Campo in a bed and breakfast called Casa Glebinias. It was a small compound with a main house, and four guest cottages. The grounds and property was really beautiful, and the proprietors were really amazing. Fatima, Jeff and Bernd stayed in the city of Mendoza.
The next day we all met at Luigi Bosca winery, about 2 miles from where we were staying. This is a boutique winery, and Bernd had arranged for a tour through a friend. Valentina was our hostess and she gave us a great private tour of the winery. We then had a wine tasting of the Luigi Bosca wines which was amazing.
From there, we traveled another 10 or so miles to the Cavas Wine Lodge for lunch. This is a beautiful lodge right in the middle of a vineyard. There are personal lodges that you can stay in. The meal was excellent.
We then drove further south to Catena Zapata winery. On the way there, the skies opened up and there was cloudburst. The area is very dry, almost desert like, and the original natives had built canals to bring the water down from the Andes to this area to make it more fertile. The climate is perfect for growing grapes and the wine producing region is extensive here. We were not as impressed with Catena as we were with Luigi Bosca.
That night we drove into Mendoza to the Escorihuela Winery to eat at the 1884 restaurant. The chef is Francis Mallman who is one of the premier chefs in Argentina. We discovered later in the trip that he also has a couple of restaurants in Uruguay (Phil and Jim dined at one) as well. He prepares food on outdoor grills and in ceramic ovens. I enjoyed the meal here, but the others weren't as keen on the restaurant.
The following day, we drove into Mendoza and met Bernd, Fatima and Jeff and walked around the city. We ate early at a very nice Italian restaurant.
We were then on to Uruguay, which meant flying back to B.A. and on to Punta del Este. This is where Fatima, Jeff and Bernd had to fly to Montevideo and then drive to Jose Ignacio. They were extremely upset with Aerolinas Argentinas because of the mix up with their tickets. But we all arrived in Jose Ignacio to have a wonderful late dinner at Marissmo, which was walking distant from our hotel, the Arenas de Jose Ignacio. The restaurant was outside under canopies and the food was really good.
The day after we were invited to Amalia Rebredo's home for a tour of her garden and for a delightful lunch out of doors. Jim and Amalia had been blogging each other for about a year, and she was gracious enough to invite us to her house for a tour of her beautiful gardens. She lives on a hilltop overlooking the ocean and has designed all of the gardens that surround her home. Later that day she took us to another home with amazing gardens, and at night to Las Piedras for dinner. Las Piedras is near Punta del Este and sits again on top of a mountain. It is stunning. The restaurant and grounds were stunning. We were very fortunate to meet Amalia and enjoy her hospitality.
Next day was taken visiting the town of Jose Ignacio. In the evening Fatima, Jeff and Bernd invited us over for drinks at their hotel, Playa Vik. This is a very contemporary hotel where each suite is designed with a different design. It is stunning with an amazing infinity pool and view of the ocean. We then went to La Huella for dinner. (This is another restaurant that Anthony Bourdain visited on his tv show when he visited Uruguay.
Next on the trip was flying back to B.A. and then on to Iguazu Falls. Once again airline problems, but finally arrived there late the next day. We stayed at the Loi Suites hotel, which was located in the midst of a rain forest about 15 miles from the falls. The grounds are immaculate and bridges connect the different buildings on the property which sits right on the river.
Next 2 days were spent at the falls. They are spectacular and worth the trip. On the first day, we got there late in the afternoon and walked the upper falls to the Devil's Throat, which is one of the most amazing views you could imagine. You literally stand there at the precipice of that part of the falls. The second day we took the Jungle boat trip which takes you to the base of the falls. You get totally soaked and get a real close up of a section of the Falls. A once in a lifetime trip to the Falls. We were very sad to hear that about a month later there was a boat accident in which the boat flipped over and two Americans died. We ate in Puerto Iguazu the first night and at the hotel the second. The Loi Suites were extremely nice.
It was then back to B.A. for two days. Bill and I decided to see the musical Dracula and discovered a wonderful Spanish restaurant Las Robles near the Theatre. It was interesting seeing a Spanish language production by the Argentinian version of Boublil and Schonberg. This was the 20th anniversary production of this musical and the audience loved it!
The final day I had to do some CD/DVD shopping so Cortney and I went off ourselves to do this. We went by the Congress building which I had never seen. We also saw this amazing building that looked like a Windmill near the Congress. The building had been a restaurant for many years, and was in a state of disrepair, but was still beautiful. Cortney took me to a hat store where they make straw hats and showed me pictures in the window of a hat that had been designed for Liza Minnelli. On our way back to the hotel, Cortney stopped an older gentlemen wearing a lovely straw hat and asked him where he had gotten it. It turned out that the hat had been purchased in the same store. Talk about a coincidence. That night all eight of us went to Tequi restaurant in Palermo Viejo. We had read great reviews of this restaurant. The food was great, the wine was great, but the service was terrible. What a disappointment for our last night.
The last day in B.A., Cortney, Phil, Jim, Bill and I went to lunch near our hotels in Recoleta. Since Phil and Jim had not been to the cometary, the rest of us showed them Evita's grave and the rest of the cometary.
We then flew back to NY on TAM (Brazilian Airlines), which was much better than Argentinas Aerolinas.
There were many more experiences on our trip, but these were the highlights of the trip. On retrospect we were in a desert, in a rain forest, at a beach, in the foothills of the Andes, and in a major world city, all in one trip. We are looking forward to our next major trip which will be in Feb. of 2012. On that trip we are planning to go to South Africa to do Johannesburg, Capetown, the wine district and a safari!
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