We have had a few requests to write another post (I believe one such request
referred to us as "lazy" but I must have misheard...) and I suppose it has been a
while since our last update.
The remainder of our time in Buenos Aires was great and it was nice to have a
couple of weeks in such a beautiful and entertaining city. We went to two different
tango shows during our time there (birthday present from a loving boyfriend). Our first tango show was at
Señor tango and was quite the production with incredibly talented dancers, singers, and even a couple of horses on stage. Our second show was at Taconeando. The show was much more intimate
and also very impressive. We were seated very close to the stage and it was hard to
take our eyes off the dancers for even a second. Again, Paula was pulled up on
stage for a little tango dancing at the end of the show (can't seem to break that
tradition).
We were happy to find that there was a world cup qualifier between Argentina and
Bolivia while we were in town and were immediately on the search for some tickets
and the opportunity to watch Messi play. Bolivia played surprisingly well and tied
the game (to the disappointment of many Argentinean fans in our popular section - we
are now very well rehearsed in some of the less polite Spanish vocabulary).
We did a couple of day trips from Buenos Aires: taking in the cities of Tigre (north of BA), and Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay). Colonia was a beautiful city to stroll around in
but I think one of the highlights of our trip there was the ferry ride. We
were witness to some sort of flash mob choir battle between an Argentinean (maybe?) and Venezuelan choir. The two choirs took turns singing songs before eventually singing
a song together. Another highlight were the tasty chivitos that we had for lunch.
We had a bit of an unfortunate experience on our last day in Buenos Aires on our way
to the bus station that I think would best be described in letter form:
Dear Mr and/or Mrs "mustard-scammer",
I must applaud you on your little stunt the other day. The unidentifiable blackish-green substance that we found splattered all over our pants was the perfect accent
to our outfits. The frangrant vinegar smell that accompanied it was surely
appreciated by the fellow passengers on our 17 hour bus ride. Although you did not
manage to steal anything of ours, your timing was impeccable. Muchas gracias, besos!
Looking (and smelling) our absolute finest, we arrived in Puerto Iguazu ready to chase some waterfalls. We saw the Argentinean side first and were incredibly impressed
with the park. The pictures will do more justice than any description we could possibly offer. On our second day we went to the Brazilian side for a more panoramic view of
the falls. Unfortunately we had a very rainy day at the falls which was followed by a 24 hour bus ride from Foz do Iguazu - Sao Paolo - Paraty leaving us both with a cold.
A highlight from our bus ride was our
absolute confusion when the bus came to a complete stop and random passengers would begin collecting money from everyone to
give to our driver (two seperate times throughout the ride). When money was requested from us
we told them that we didn't understand and they simply laughed at us foreigners and moved along. We later learned that many people buy cheap undeclared goods in Paraguay to sell
in Sao Paolo. When returning to Sao Paolo, bus passengers rally together to collect a bribe large enough
for the police to look the other way when crossing inspection points. Welcome to Brazil!
In all fairness, our first impression of Brazil is that the people are incredibly friendly.
They are very patient with our extremely limited Portuguese and always ready to chat
and have a good time. We hear that Colombians are the most friendly people in South America, but it is hard to
believe they could out-do the Brazilaians. I guess we shall find out in a few weeks
time!
We are now in Paraty and enjoying some beach time accompanied by caipirinhas. I
knew we would like our hostel when they offered us some free cachaca at check-in. We
spent yesterday in Trindade about 40 min from town. It is truly paradise on the
beaches there - turquoise waters, white sand, and lush jungle all around you. I
only wish we had more time in the area, but Rio seems to be calling our names!
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