Tennessee

A long time since our last update.

Just checking in to say we are back in TN.

Our journey took us up the east coast of Uruguay, then west to Rosario, Argentina. From there were went up to Iguazu Falls, back down the narrow strip of Argentina, and then west to Tucuman. We spent some time in northern Argentina, got engaged in Tafi del Valle, and then headed west into north Chile.  We had to cut out Bolivia, as we didn't have enough time, and didn't want to pay the $135 visa fee.  So instead we got to see some incredible places in north Chile, and spend more time in Peru.  If you want to trace the route from Chile, we crossed from Arica into Tacna, Peru; went into the mountains to Puno; then to Cusco; from there we toured the Sacred Valley, stopping in Pisaq, Ollantaytambo, and Chinchero; then back to Cusco for a night bus down to Nasca; from Nasca to the oasis of Huacachina, and finally north to Lima, where we flew home from.

All in all, we were gone 4 months and 6 days, saw much of 4 countries, revisited a couple beloved places (Cusco and Ollantaytambo), spent around $11,000, and had the best time of our lives. I lost 1/3 of my clothes, nearly broke my thumb and tore all the ligaments in it, and chipped my tooth.  We also picked up a little Spanish along the way. I highly recommend it to anyone willing to try.

Highlights of the trip: the Lakes District of Chile; Bariloche and El Bolson in Argentina; Punto del Diablo, Uruguay; Iguazu Falls; Tafi del Valle and Cafayate, Argentina; San Pedro de Atacama in north Chile; Pisaq and Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley, Peru.  Definitely see these places if you ever have the opportunity.

Now it's time to look for an apartment, look for more work, and figure out what to do with ourselves until the next grand adventure.  Until then,

Be safe, do good work, and Happy Travels.

Good Airs

We leave Buenos Aires on Monday morning aboard a ferry to the Uruguayan town of Colonia.

We haven't updated anything in a long while, which implies a certain amount of business on our part--we're on vacation, after all.  This is partly true.  There have been periods of travel with little time to gather our thoughts.  There was an amazing bus-ferry-bus-ferry-bus-ferry-bus trek from Puerto Montt, Chile up through Patagonia and to Bariloche, Argentina. It was a truly spellbinding journey.  There was our time in Bariloche, which we loved, and then a couple days in El Bolson, which is now on our shortlist of favorite places on the planet. Then there was the 22 hour bus ride to BA--which, surprisingly, was very nice.  There were several meal services, the chairs folded into completely flat beds, and there was tons of room.  The best bus ride, ever.

 - Our cabin in El Bolson, Argentina

We have had the past 4 weeks in Buenos Aires, some of the time which we have spent taking in the sights and walking the streets and eating the food.  A lot of it we spent working, or writing, or cooking, or sleeping, or any of the other things we do when there is time to spare in a foreign city.  We got to know BA a little bit; we had high expectations, which were met and exceeded, and were pleasantly surprised in addition.  BA is a great city, and has much to admire, and much to return to.

 - A public tango show we stumbled upon one Saturday

We've done a lot of walking across BA, and we've had some excellent food.  Here's one example of that food, from an amazing pizza place just around the corner from us in the San Telmo neighborhood:

 - a Galician pie, which includes such things as onions, tuna, olives, and delicious spices.

There were also some really great sights, such as Palermo where we found a rose garden, a duck pond, and a Japonese garden.  Then there is the other side of town, the poor part of town, where can be found such things as this:

 - La Boca.  It's a little touristy, but once you get away from the sweating American and European tourists, you get to see another remarkable part of this great city.

There's history here in BA, as well.  For example, I had a coffee con leche and sweet croissants (medialunas) at the oldest cafe in Argentina, Cafe Tortoni:

We're sad to be leaving this great city, and our wonderful apartment.  But there's Uruguay, Bolivia, and Peru to come; there's many new wonders and experiences, and hopefully a few well-known and fondly remembered ones to re-visit as well.

It's difficult to say when we'll be able to update again, but know that our journey is incomplete, our travels continue, and we're following the whiff of experience and the call of wonder wherever it leads us.

I hope this finds you healthy and hale, wherever you are.

Happy travels.

New Years Day

despite what one may hope for, life is not quite a U2 song. for one, the world i inhabit is not white. for another, to say that nothing changes is not quite accurate (nora and i are now the owners of our very own car, for example).  perhaps some other parts of that song still ring true.

after a particularly nerve-wracking flight to pennsylvania in december, we decided not to wait until may to purchase a car, and instead bought one there and drove it back. we're very pleased with the results.

in 4 days we have to be at the airport shortly before 7 am and will start the long journey to santiago.  there is one connection, in bogota, colombia, in which we have 45 minutes to pass through security and board our next flight, or else we will have to stay the night in the airport.  hopefully we'll make the window, because there are a lot of places i'd prefer not to spend the night, and the bogota airport is one of them. if all things go as planned, we'll be in santiago, chile early in the morning on the 6th, where we've rented a lovely apartment for a month.

from chile we have a week to meander our way to buenos aires, where we are renting an apartment for another month.  we haven't chosen that one quite yet, but we've narrowed down the list of possibilities from thousands to hundreds to dozens to a handful.  i feel confident in our ability to make the last step.

when our time is up in buenos aires it will be halfway through march. we don't plan on being home until the first or second week of may, and are hoping to be able to poke around uruguay, paraguay, bolivia, and peru in the remaining 7 or 8 weeks.  we'll see what happens.

enjoy the new year, everyone, wherever you are.