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Argentina
It did not begin well, Argentina and I.
Claud, Grace and I failed to realise the time difference and missed our bus from the border of Bolivia into Argentina. They shoved us on another one promptly - sucking another US$20 out of each of us. This bus however, must have been full of Argentinians because it did NOT stop at argentinian immigration... Resulting in 3 illegal residents, non existent ghosts, for our 3 week stay. Quite thrilling really, once we stopped freaking out and resigned ourselves to paying the 300 peso fine when leaving for Brasil.
This bus also kicked us off in a random town on the way to Cordoba - conveniently called Jujuy, providing hours of struggle and giggling fits attempting to pronounce the name. Turns out it's "hu-hu-wee" pretty much.
And then of course the bus from that splendid town breaks down in the morning. Leaving us to hitch-hike and luckily jump on another bus that does eventually get us to Cordoba.
A cool uni town, where they have proper bars with outside areas packed with young people. I swear we haven't seen locals our age going out at all on the trip so far, so that was nice. Of course we three had to have a celebratory drink after our ordeal, which was done grace-fully indeed.
And then, a bus and Mendoza! A beautiful town, with big trees and parks and bicycle lanes. We went horse riding the first night - dazzled by Daniel the horseman's beautiful green/blue eyes - galloping through the desert under the mountains at sunset. What more could you want? I'll tell you what - a nice swim and the most succulent BBQ steak I've tasted since home. Another magical night for the list.
We also went on the bike and wine tour, cycling to the Olive Oil factory first. Tasting olive pastes and jam and to our surprise: liqueur. Three shots each to be precise and it was about 11 in the morning. And we were riding bikes.
But all was well - we had a hearty lunch before heading to the wineries. We tasted all kinds and ages of Malbec, Merlot, Cab Sav and a few sparkling wines. We learnt how wine is made, saw the cellar and the barrels. We actually went as far as smelling the wood of the barrels to see the difference between French and american oak. But I think that was going too far... But it was a splendid day I daresay and no one fell off their bike - only grace had a bug in the eye incident.
And so our time as three ended as we arrived in the big BA. We met Pip, Bella, and Annabel Cook who was going back home in a night but would offload her 3 months of BA experience, and her English friend Jack, onto us. The city was amazing, it was pretty much Sydney in my eyes, only cooler. We moved into our flat in Palermo - the Paddington of BA.
The five of us, six if u include regular visits from Jack, living in Palermo was the nicest part of my trip. Having a place to ourselves for the first time in months!
We basically started preparations for Christmas straight away. We did plan to find a leg of ham, roast vegetables and make a pavlova but... The ham was never found and our oven was impossible to work. Sooo we made do with a delicious potato and pumpkin mash, grilled vegetables and brownies with ice-cream. As well as hummus, guacamole, garlic bread, sausages, rib eye steak and Greek salad. I think we did okay. In good Christmas spirit we even adopted young Jack who had no where to go. Oh and we mustn't forget the 3 bottles of Chandon, cider, beer and Rose (the vodka came out later). Strange to be drinking on Christmas I thought, but someone had to be the parent.
Secret Santa was beautifully executed - all received at least one present that wasn't from themselves. And then the games began. Entertaining ourselves with charades, spoons and the coin game until the other apartment arrived. This was the cusco gang - all six of them squished into a one bedroom apartment. No surprises why we hosted the party. And then the night escalated, a high amount of games, dancing, cutting henrys hair, kisses all round and much merriment before heading out to the clubs (as one naturally does in Buenos Aires).
A wide grin and a slow shake of the head in disbelief is about the best way to describe how strange and hilarious our Christmas was. Not the usual family BBQ...
New Years after that was a bit of a repeat only with the addition of fireworks in the streets. That we ourselves set off...
Safe to say that after seeing Tori, Ruby, Holly, Myles and Henry having a wizards battle (shooting red and green flashes at each other) in the middle of the intersection, I now fully understand why fireworks are banned in Australia. Bella and Mackenzie would confirm this after being hit in the legs by fireworks gone astray, while the rest of us ran for our lives mostly unscathed.
So BA was a raging success - we did explore the city in the daytime as well, visiting the markets, cemetery, art gallery, San telmo markets, rollerblading, vintage shopping and a s***load of ice-cream eating. Pippi reins champion as icecream queen with her daily half a liter routine. (which most of us nearly kept pace with...)
Going to an actual CINEMA was a highlight - seeing The Hobbit was a dream come true for most of us die-hard fans. Popcorn buckets were taken home to be used as helmets. And Jack learnt the first few lines of the dwarves song.
And then Grace, Claud and I had to leave the nest, very unwillingly and with absolutely no sleep, to catch our flight to Iguazu on New Years Day. Absolutely crashed for the afternoon and slept till the next day, more or less ready for Iguazu.
Yes it was definitely worth going. Huge volumes of water falling down. If nothing else it was jaw droppingly amazing. From afar it was like arriving in Panama - I had an intense craving to be an avatar and fly on my dragon/bird thing. Or maybe look up and see the Elf Queen Galadriel smiling down from the balcony at Rivendell, perfectly perched between the waterfalls.
I won't go on but yeah, it was cray. The same goes for the rest of Argentina - nothing disappointed and everything impressed. I felt truly at home thanks to our freaky little family, the streets and the food and though there is sooo much more to see of the city I'm happy with our version this time round.
The move to Brasil was a scary prospect - not to mention another border crossing which we three don't seem to be good at. But we thought it would be all well and good - we knew we just had to pay our fine and get to our bus within 4 hours.
This was not as flawless as we hoped...
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Ella Ans i'm so jealous! Tell me more! Big hugs to all of you