Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Visiting Iguazú
Visiting Iguazú 
Even before I left for Argentina everyone who had been here ensured me I SHOULD visit the falls of Iguazú. The way they spoke about it made me curious, but at the same time I thought well I’ve seen some falls in other countries, so what’s new?
Anyway I decided to follow up their advice and booked a three day stay in a hostel (Iguazú Hostel-Inn) and booked a bus to get me there. This time I travelled with Via Biraloche and it was the best bus ride I had in Argentina. Nice new bus, with superb seats, friendly staff and good food.
Hostel however was disappointing. Room was of a reasonable size but it was noisy and the food was just poor. Cheap, but poor. Breakfast was just good enough to keep you on your feet, but was tasteless. And then there was this loud music almost from 08:00 ‘till 23:00. Now I don’t mind music, but when it is so loud that you need to shout to people when you need to talk to them, then it is not my cup of tea.
The day after my arrival I went to visit the Argentine side of the falls. I just took the local bus to get there and that was just 7,50 pesos. The entrance fee to the falls was 100 pesos, and that was well worth it. The walk around the park is quite amazing and well taken care of. Where there are viewpoints the path has been made wide so there is now crowding of people. And the views of the falls are just breathtaking. The whole walk takes about 5 to 6 hours including a short train ride that brings you to the Devils Gorge.
And that was so great to see I have no words to describe it. Its best just to have a look at the pictures I made or better still, go there!
The next day I went to visit the Brazilian side of the falls, and as we had to cross the border there was the passport control on Argentina’s and Brazilian side. One of the passengers found out he left his passport in the hotel so he had to take the bus back and then return on the next bas. So never forget your passport when you want to cross the border….
Falls on the Brazilian side give you the full view of all the separate falls on the Argentinean side and bring you almost right underneath the biggest fall of them all.
So that’s a trip I’m really pleased I made and I will remember for a long time.
View of the falls of Iguazú on the Brasilian side. I had to wear a raincoat when I was walking on the boardwalk in front of the fall. You can tell by the waterdrops on my camera lens when you watch the pictures they made of me.
Even before I left for Argentina everyone who had been here ensured me I SHOULD visit the falls of Iguazú. The way they spoke about it made me curious, but at the same time I thought well I’ve seen some falls in other countries, so what’s new?
Anyway I decided to follow up their advice and booked a three day stay in a hostel (Iguazú Hostel-Inn) and booked a bus to get me there. This time I travelled with Via Biraloche and it was the best bus ride I had in Argentina. Nice new bus, with superb seats, friendly staff and good food.
Hostel however was disappointing. Room was of a reasonable size but it was noisy and the food was just poor. Cheap, but poor. Breakfast was just good enough to keep you on your feet, but was tasteless. And then there was this loud music almost from 08:00 ‘till 23:00. Now I don’t mind music, but when it is so loud that you need to shout to people when you need to talk to them, then it is not my cup of tea.
The day after my arrival I went to visit the Argentine side of the falls. I just took the local bus to get there and that was just 7,50 pesos. The entrance fee to the falls was 100 pesos, and that was well worth it. The walk around the park is quite amazing and well taken care of. Where there are viewpoints the path has been made wide so there is now crowding of people. And the views of the falls are just breathtaking. The whole walk takes about 5 to 6 hours including a short train ride that brings you to the Devils Gorge.
And that was so great to see I have no words to describe it. Its best just to have a look at the pictures I made or better still, go there!
The next day I went to visit the Brazilian side of the falls, and as we had to cross the border there was the passport control on Argentina’s and Brazilian side. One of the passengers found out he left his passport in the hotel so he had to take the bus back and then return on the next bas. So never forget your passport when you want to cross the border….
Falls on the Brazilian side give you the full view of all the separate falls on the Argentinean side and bring you almost right underneath the biggest fall of them all.
So that’s a trip I’m really pleased I made and I will remember for a long time.
View of the falls of Iguazú on the Brasilian side. I had to wear a raincoat when I was walking on the boardwalk in front of the fall. You can tell by the waterdrops on my camera lens when you watch the pictures they made of me.
Friday, April 01, 2011
Visiting Cerro San Cristóbal
2011-04-01 Visiting Cerro San Cristóbal Today we went for a trip to the summit of Cerro San Cristóbal. Lucky for us we had a more or less clear day, but as it is there always seems to be smog covering over Santiago. Today there even was a smog warning and cars with number plates ending on 1-4-9-or 0 were not allowed to drive. But in spite of that we walked from Matura to mount San Cristóbal. This hill is a spur of the Andes and its peak is at 680 meters. The point is marked by the giant statue of the Virgin de la Immaculate. To get to the top of the hill we took the funicular to Terraza Bellavista, where we had a beautiful view over the city of Santiago. From there we had to climb a steep stairs to the huge white Virgin were we enjoyed an even more pretty view over the city with the suburbs disappearing in the haze and just the summits of the surrounding mountains were clearly seen. In and around the Virgin many tourists making pictures, but also a lot of devoted praying going on. The air was filled with religious music coming out of the speakers at the theatre just below the statue. Unfortunately the teleférico was out of order, so we had to go down using the funicular. Once at the summit we walked all the way back home again which took us well over 45 minutes.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Plaza de Mayo and Placido Domingo at the Obelisk
Today was a day of many emotions. First we went to join the people on the Plaza de mayo to remember that there should never be a dictatorship again. Today it was 35 years ago the military junta led by Jorge Videla over through the government and imposed a dictatorship that lasted 5 years and coasted the lives of 30,000 people missing.
Still every week "The crazy mothers of the Plaza de mayo" come to demonstrate and claim justice for those that were killed by the, military and the government of dictator.
Today’s manifestation was also to either support or disagree with the government of Cristina Krichner
I joined the group of people that carried a banner showing the pictures of the 30,000 people that became "missing' during the junta.
Later that day we went to see the free concert of Placido Domingo. Because of the bad weather yesterday it was moved to today. The concert was great, but I guess the people watching TV at home had a better view than we had.
But at least we can tell our grandchildren we were there that day and we saw Placido Domingo performing at the Obelisk in Buenos Aires
Still every week "The crazy mothers of the Plaza de mayo" come to demonstrate and claim justice for those that were killed by the, military and the government of dictator.
Today’s manifestation was also to either support or disagree with the government of Cristina Krichner
I joined the group of people that carried a banner showing the pictures of the 30,000 people that became "missing' during the junta.
Later that day we went to see the free concert of Placido Domingo. Because of the bad weather yesterday it was moved to today. The concert was great, but I guess the people watching TV at home had a better view than we had.
But at least we can tell our grandchildren we were there that day and we saw Placido Domingo performing at the Obelisk in Buenos Aires
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Bicycle ride in Buenos Aires
This morning I went on a guided bicycle ride through the southern part of Buenos Aires.
Meeting point was Plaza san Martin. I had to get there from Flores by Subte (subway-metro) linea E departing from station Varela. Changed at Independencia to linea C direction Retiro then towards Plaza San Martin.
Just had to wait a few minutes before Jantien, the Dutch tour guide, arrived with 2 bikes. Later she was joined by 2 guides and they brought the 2 bikes for the other visitors, a couple form Kentucky. As it is the end of the tourist season there were just the three of us to make the tour.
We started a downhill ride and plunged into the traffic of Buenos Aires.
They had warned me over and over again how aggressive and dangerous Argentineans drive, but this was beyond my comprehension. They ignore red lights, cut you off when taking a right turn and you go straight ahead, take over leaving just a space of one centimeter and sometimes almost seem to want to run you over just for the fun of it.
So the answer to this is, ride your bike on the footpaths.
Anyway the tour took us through a large part of southern Buenos Aires, not missing the statue and tomb of Eva Perron.
Visiting Buenos Aires by bike gives you the opportunity to cover a bigger distance then walking and giving you a better view then when traveling by bus or taxi... It's the best of two worlds.
We had a stop at the park of xxx and had a drink in the garden of the museum of xxx.
I was struck by this painting and for some stupid reason I forgot to write down the name of the painting as well name of the artist.
We visited the botanical garden and I saw more kinds of roses then I imagined that excited. And the rose, no matter her name, smells sweet. (free after Shakespeare :-) )
At 1 pm we arrived back at our starting point but now we had to pedal up hill which was the hardest part of the tour.
I really enjoyed it and if you even visit Buenos Aires, don't miss the opportunity to see it by bike.
Philip and Jantien at Plaza San Martin
Meeting point was Plaza san Martin. I had to get there from Flores by Subte (subway-metro) linea E departing from station Varela. Changed at Independencia to linea C direction Retiro then towards Plaza San Martin.
Just had to wait a few minutes before Jantien, the Dutch tour guide, arrived with 2 bikes. Later she was joined by 2 guides and they brought the 2 bikes for the other visitors, a couple form Kentucky. As it is the end of the tourist season there were just the three of us to make the tour.
We started a downhill ride and plunged into the traffic of Buenos Aires.
They had warned me over and over again how aggressive and dangerous Argentineans drive, but this was beyond my comprehension. They ignore red lights, cut you off when taking a right turn and you go straight ahead, take over leaving just a space of one centimeter and sometimes almost seem to want to run you over just for the fun of it.
So the answer to this is, ride your bike on the footpaths.
Anyway the tour took us through a large part of southern Buenos Aires, not missing the statue and tomb of Eva Perron.
Visiting Buenos Aires by bike gives you the opportunity to cover a bigger distance then walking and giving you a better view then when traveling by bus or taxi... It's the best of two worlds.
We had a stop at the park of xxx and had a drink in the garden of the museum of xxx.
I was struck by this painting and for some stupid reason I forgot to write down the name of the painting as well name of the artist.
We visited the botanical garden and I saw more kinds of roses then I imagined that excited. And the rose, no matter her name, smells sweet. (free after Shakespeare :-) )
At 1 pm we arrived back at our starting point but now we had to pedal up hill which was the hardest part of the tour.
I really enjoyed it and if you even visit Buenos Aires, don't miss the opportunity to see it by bike.
Philip and Jantien at Plaza San Martin
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wondering through Flores and Bajo Flores
My friends live in upper Flores not far from Avenida Dictorio. However for some reason I decided to go towards lower Flores. Busy main Street with all kind of shops as one saw in the mid '50ies and '60ies in Holland or in Spain in the '70ies.
Unfortunately most of the shops were closed as it was siesta time. I didn’t realize that the siesta closing was for 14:00 'till 17:00 hours although it seemed to vary from shop to shop. It seemed strange to me that there were so many florists opened, but then a passed by the hospital so I thought that was the reason. However as I came to the end of the road I saw the real reason, I was facing a cemetery.
I took a left turn, but then the streets seemed getting the feeling of a bad neighborhood, so I turned back and seeing the time I walked back home. I had been walking for over 1 hour so it should take me at least 30 minutes to find my way back.
Once back with my friend I explained were I had been and she then said she should have warned me not to go there as it is a ruff neighborhood. Well it seems to happen to me all the time. As it did in Beirut, Austin and now in Buenos Aires, I seem to wonder into these places I should avoid...
Unfortunately most of the shops were closed as it was siesta time. I didn’t realize that the siesta closing was for 14:00 'till 17:00 hours although it seemed to vary from shop to shop. It seemed strange to me that there were so many florists opened, but then a passed by the hospital so I thought that was the reason. However as I came to the end of the road I saw the real reason, I was facing a cemetery.
I took a left turn, but then the streets seemed getting the feeling of a bad neighborhood, so I turned back and seeing the time I walked back home. I had been walking for over 1 hour so it should take me at least 30 minutes to find my way back.
Once back with my friend I explained were I had been and she then said she should have warned me not to go there as it is a ruff neighborhood. Well it seems to happen to me all the time. As it did in Beirut, Austin and now in Buenos Aires, I seem to wonder into these places I should avoid...
@ Torquato Tasso with Sexteto Mayor
When Regine and me where walking through San Telmo a few days before, Regine spotted a poster announcing that Sexteto Mayor would be playing at Torquato Tasso.
We decided to go and see them the Thursday evening as this evening would be homage to Astor Piazzola. Invited gust musicians were to be
Horacio Malvicino
Daniel Pipi Piazzolla
Pablo Agri
The invitation on the site of Torquato Tasso read as following:
En este ciclo el Sexteto Mayor -actualmente integrado por Mario Abramovich, Eduardo Walczak (violines),(see picture) Fulvio Giraudo (piano), Enrique Guerra (contrabajo), Lautaro Greco (bandoneón) y Horacio Romo (bandoneón y dirección)- tendrá el honor de contar como invitados a los destacados artistas: Horacio Malvicino, Daniel “Pipi” Piazzolla y Pablo Agri, a quienes sumará su participación Juan Libertella, para también recrear al Quinteto de Astor Piazzolla.
The evening started at 22:00 hours and lasted 'till midnight, nonstop music of Piazzola. all was so well played and the final piece was the famous "Adios Nonino"
The musicians got a well deserved standing ovation.
It was a concert I will not lightly forget.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Wondering through the streets of San Telmo
Picture of me and Mafalda in San Telmo
Monday, March 14, 2011
@ Buenos Aires at last
Had a wonderful flight with British Air and arrived right on time in Buenos Aires, 10 AM Monday 14th March. However it took me almost 2 hours to get past immigration and customs.
Regine was waiting for me and it was wonderful to see her after such a long time and knowing we would be spending more than just 2 hours drinking coffee at de Bijenkorf.
We went straight to her house and we teamed up with her husband Vicente, whom I hadn't seen for 28 years.
It was good to see him again; both a bit older and somewhat grey hear :-) .
We had some lunch together and then Regine and I went down town by the tube and all the way to Plaza de Mayo where I for the 1st time in my life saw this Plaza with its fascinating history and also saw the Casa Rosado, famous by the balcony scenes of Eva Perón
