Worrall Travel R's

Worrall Travel R's
Roz and Russ

Worrall Travel R's - Kicking the Bucket List

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Highlights of Buenos Aires - Day 3

Tango, Tango, Tango
We awoke to another overcast day.  Warm enough for sandals and shorts, but comfortable with no oppressive heat or humidity. Unfortunately, we left our Tango shoes and heels at home.
Yeah for Sandals!
Hugo arrived at 8:15 and gave us a city tour until noon.

First stop was the statue of Eva Peron.

Eva was the first lady of Argentina and a champion for human rights and women's suffrage.  She died at the age of 33 of cervical cancer and is regarded as Argentina's most important woman and has become quite a folk legend.

When Hugo told us he was taking us to a large cemetery Ricoleta, we did not know what to expect.
 It turned out to be a fascinating place...a huge necropolis, city of the dead, 1 square kilometer with walking streets and elaborate side by side tombs - row houses without mail boxes.



From the outside, these tombs look small, but there are stairways that lead to underground tombs, often 4 stories deep.  This is the cemetery for Argentina's presidents, military, dignitaries, and the wealthy.  One of the tombs was of a very rich pirate.  Note the skull and crossbones on the bottom of the door.

There are many stories for all of these tombs.  This young woman died in an avalanche in Europe.  On the same day her dog died in Argentina.  It is forbidden to bury pets in the cemetery, but her father paid a considerable amount of money to reunite his daughter and her pet in this tomb.

A wealthy man and his wife were known for their hostile, opposing viewpoints, and is artistically depicted on the top of this tomb.

Very Quiet!
"Evita" Eva Peron is also in her families tomb here.



Eva's tomb is the only one with flowers.  Most of the tombs because of their age, have few remaining relatives to bring flowers.
Remnant of a single flower

When the entire family dies out, there is no one to care for the tombs and they decay,

but are never reused by other families.  It's a very quiet neighborhood.
We as human beings are so self-important, that we think we need fancy graves, and within only a few generations, nobody really cares.  Looking down from the airplane, we are smaller than grains of sand, but in our minds we are the size of the sun.

We drove though many parts of Buenos Aires taking in the sights and stories. Hugo took us to the La Bocca, the mouth of the river,

and a district known for its colorful immigrant population and the Tango.



 La Bocca feels a bit like New Orleans with its colorful homes and terraced buildings. Fanciful statues of important people look down from the balconies.
"Eva Peron" is in the center.

 Many of the original buildings are made of corrugated tin and colorfully painted, no neutrals here.






In America we have dancing hotdogs and chickens with big arrows advertising restaurants.  In Buenos Aires, Tango dancers, advertise restaurants.








La Bocca is safe during the day, but we were warned it is very unsafe at night. Once Hugo had guided us through La Bocca, he dropped us off at the Sunday Market.  It is a mile long street of vendors and performers.  By l2:30, it started to rain so it was a perfect time to duck into a restaurant for lunch.  We enjoyed a terrific meal of roast pork, garlic spinach, potatoes, and a rich Malbec wine.

It was still drizzling when we paid our bill and headed back outdoors.  Vendors were beginning to uncover there wares and the musicians and buskers came out from under the slim awnings to amuse the street crowds.


Need a feather duster?

Puppeteer

An adult theme of a drunken bum but the kids loved it anyway.
The Garage Band
Pink onyx is the national stone and makes into attractive pieces of jewelry. These stones are a little too big for us to bring back in our duffles.



Many other artists were displaying their work.  Not sure what one does with a flattened bottle.  Personally I like them full!


Our day was complete when on the way back to the apartment,
We take the Green Line back to Palermo
two men got on the subway with a keyboard and portable speaker.  One of the men sat down and began to play a classic concerto.
He received quite an ovation.  Some people gave him a standing ovation...as they exited the train.
It was one of the best and most enjoyable subway rides we have ever taken.

Once we returned to our apartment, we kicked back and relaxed.  Tomorrow, we will see the sights that we can walk to from Palermo and we might even play some golf.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel R's in Buenos Aires.







Saturday, January 09, 2016

Good Morning Buenos Aires - Day 2

After 5,307 miles and 10 + hours flight time from DFW to Buenos Aires, we descended through some large cumulus clouds into the airport.  Russ slept well.  Me...not so much.  I am composing this post on the last of my energy reserves.  Have fallen asleep twice so am making this short.  Reminds me of night watch.

We collected our bags, and a very friendly man, Hugo collected us as the airport.  We had made arrangements with our AirBnB host for the pickup. Hugo was standing outside of customs with a sign for us.  Turns out that being a private taxi is his second job.  He is a dive master instructor.  The ride from the airport to the neighborhood of Palermo in Buenos Aires was about 30 minutes.

We arrived in the early afternoon to our nice little one bedroom apartment,

re-organized our packing a bit, rolled up our pant legs, shed the boots for sandals, took a walk (carefully, lots of broken sidewalks just like Mexico),

 ate dinner at an Argentine/Italian restaurant, bought some breakfast supplies for the morning, came back to the apartment, took showers and are in the process of collapsing.

Hugo is picking us up tomorrow morning to take us to the old section of Argentina and the Sunday Market.  Tuesday, we will be on our own.  Wednesday, we are going to Uruguay via ferry for the Day.  Thursday, we leave for Ushuaia.  Hugo said two of the must dos in Ushuaia is to eat king crab and Patagonia lamb....can hardly wait.

All is well with the Worrall Travel R's, turning out the lights on Day 2.


The Worrall Travel R's, Russ and Roz

Friday, January 08, 2016

Argentina, we are on our way! Day 1



Early Morning Reflections, Friday January 8.

Last night before we went to bed, I thought I was done with the short list, the planning, the packing, the rearranging, and the all the little chores.  Focused on Antarctica, the cold rainy weather at home, and my need to wear some of my bulkier clothes on the plane to lighten up the duffle, It finally occurred to me that I might be a tad warm when we step off the plane at our first destination, Buenos Aires.  The temperature was in the high 80's yesterday and 61 percent humidity.  We will be arriving mid morning after nearly 22 hours of travel, and I'll be wearing my thermal pants, parka and rain jacket, and hiking boots.
Crikey!

So I woke with a start at 4:00 a.m. rethinking my packing and travel wardrobe.  Russ is still sleeping, and I'm breaking into a sweat.  Everything at this time of the morning seems magnified.  Planning for extreme temperatures and weather conditions on this adventure has been a challenge.  I am ready to just get on the plane and to stop thinking!  I know these pre-trip jitters are "normal" for me, and they will eventually subside.

Later in the Day.
4:00 p.m. Almost to Dallas Fort Worth where we will have a 4 hour layover and change planes for Buenos Aires.  It's 6:00 pm in Dallas.  Night lights of Dallas.

Our flight to South America will take us even farther east.  Buenos Aires is farther east than Maine.  I think the total time change for us will be 5  hours. After taking the red eye, we will be in Buenos Aires, tomorrow morning.

No mini-adventures so far, thank goodness.  We are getting ready to land, so I'm stowing the Ipad for now  and will update tomorrow from Buenos Aires.

Quick Update Before Sending:
While having a snack at the airport, a family came up to us and asked if we were going on a hiking trip.  Must have been the pants, the packs, the boots.  They too are on their way to Patagonia.  Jitters are being replaced with excitement.

All is well with the Worrall Travel R's




Saturday, December 19, 2015

Count Down to Antarctica and South America -2016

It's been awhile since our last adventure.  We have spent the last year planning and preparing for the NEXT BIG ADVENTURE, which is a three month journey....first to Antarctica on an expedition boat for two weeks,










then a flight to Patagonia trekking and boating in Argentina and Chili,

Another flight to Easter Island, Chili



















Brazil and the Amazon Jungle and River.






Then we are off to Peru



and sailing in the Galapagos Islands for two weeks on a small catamaran.




We hope to see all of the sights above  (stock photos) and have the opportunity to personally photograph many wonderful experiences.    And it begins in January of 2016, which is summer in Antarctica.    We are excited, a  little anxious about Drake's passage to Antarctica and yellow fever mosquitos in Brazil, but certainly prepared to go.

We are immunized against yellow fever, our visas are ready, our cameras are poised with batteries and empty SD cards , we have our arsenal of travel medications including scopolamine patches for the passage across the often treacherous Drake's Passage,  and our bags are almost packed.

Once again we tried to limit our luggage to just carry ons, but let's be real, it's pretty difficult to pack for the below freezing conditions in Antarctica and the steamy, mosquito infested jungle of the Amazon; boots, thermals, jackets, rain gear, mosquito nets, bathing suits, repellant, sunblock, cameras, binoculars, water purification, snorkel gear, water sandals, and the list goes on.  So it looks like we will have one shared 28" shared rolling duffle bag under 50 lbs. , two 22"  carry ons, and two personal items (small backpacks).  It is certainly more than we would like to lug, but still quite conservative to what most travelers carry for just a weekend.  So I think we are ready....until we get there and discover we have forgotten something.

We hope you will join us from your armchair as we visit these wonderful places on Earth.  Stay Tuned!