Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Typical conversation between two chics who are backpacking....

"What are you wearing today?"
"Not the same shorts I've worn for the last four days."
"Good. Can I borrow them?"
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"Does all this walking make my ass look good in these jeans?"

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"Do you think they are going to cook that before they serve it?"
"That that doesn't kill us only makes us go to the bathroom for 24 hours"

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"What do you want for breakfast (lunch or dinner)?"
"Ice cream"

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"Isn't this exactly where they told us the bar (or restaurant) would be?"
"Yep."
"So where is it?"
"God only knows."

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"Want to head over to the [fill in the blank] museum?"
"It's closed for siesta right now."
"Oh, then why don't we just go tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow is a holiday, it's closed."
"Hmmm.... well then we will just have to go on Monday."
"The museums are closed on Mondays."
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"I'm not looking forward to going to the bus station."
"I know, this is such a great city I hate to leave too."

"No, it's not that, it's just that I'm sick of the bus."

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About any interesting topic we discuss......

"Wow, that's a good question. We should look that up when we get home."

This of course never happens.


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At the bus station purchasing our tickets for the next destination.....

"This line sucks."

"We are next, thank goodness."

"Give me our passports." "I thought you had them!" "Damn it!"

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When trying to call a cell phone in another country it is not helpful to ask a local......

In Santiago....

"How do I dial a cell phone here?"

"Dial 09 then the number."

"That didn't work."

"Did you dial 99?"

"You said 09."

"Try 99."

"That didn't work."

"099?"

"You didn't say 099!!"

In Buenos Aires....

"How do I call a local cell phone?"

"Dial 15 then 3."

"That didn't work."

"Oh, well then just dial 11."

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And finally, about this spacing issue I'm having with Blogspot.....

"Why are all my posts spacing funny?"
"Did you try the help menu?"
"Yes, it wasn't very helpful."

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Bicicletas y vino!

Jenna and I arrived (via bus, duh) in Mendoza, Argentina early Saturday morning. We decided to stay at La Cava Hostel as it was listed on our wonderful new hostel discount card. Upon arriving, the hostel owner showed us straight to our room where we could immediately get ready for our adventures in wine tasting! Mendoza is, after all, the Napa Valley of the southern hemisphere.

After consulting with Juan, the kind face that greeted us at the door, we decided on Mr. Hugo's bike rentals for a day of bicicletas y vino!! We got on our bikes and toured the wine museum first. Then to the olive and chocolate factory where we tasted olives and olive spreads, marmelades, cordials, port wines, and chocolates! Then off to several vineyards where we tasted Malbec, Cabernet, and Sauvignon and ate a delicious lunch of cheese plate and spinach and cheese cannelloni. Once back to our hostel, we took a much needed nap. We woke up (at 10 PM) to the smell of parrilla out back. We joined our new "roommates" from New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, the UK, and Argentina for a wonderful dinner of steak, Argentina's other claim to fame. I also tasted blood sausage, which was good, but I couldn't get beyond the texture and the knowledge of what it was for a second bite. To forget my folly I had to drink more wine!!

Sunday Juan any his furry "mijo" Luca escorted us around Mendoza to the park and market. Because he is from Buenos Aires he gave us many suggestions for our next stop. Juan went above and beyond his hostel duties to quickly become our friend. He and Luca truly made our stay in Mendoza more memorable.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

The hills of Valpariso and beaches of Vina Del Mar.

The bus ride to Valpariso is definitely the easiest trip to date. I was really looking forward to at least a two hour siesta in my semi-cama seat, but merely minutes into my drooling sleep I was awakened by our arrival into the bus station.

"Valpo", as the locals call it, is a beautiful port city on the hills of the coast of Chile. There are many pull cars that you can ride to the tops of the hills. Jenna was a little worried about these contraptions, but I reminded her that it beat the heck out of hoofing up those hills. Which we did for a day causing our behinds hurt for several days after we left the hilly city. She quickly came around to my way of thinking.

Vina Del Mar is just a five minute metro ride north along the port. We checked into the Che Lagarto Hostel which is in a great location. We were in walking distance to the beach! The water was freezing but the sun was warm, so we just spent time on the beach reading and working on our tan.

My friend from Pueblo, Tyffanie put us in touch with some of her friends who live in Vina. So on Thursday night Hugo, Ricardo, and Nicolas picked us up from our hostel. They took us to a restaurant named Entre Masas that has wonderful empanadas! Jenna and I ordered pino, manjar y nuez, queso y alcachofa, and queso con camerones y espinacas. Our new friends ordered two bottles of vino tinto de Chile and we talked about food and friends. After dinner we went to a local bar and then after a few drinks there the boys took us dancing!

Jenna and I truly enjoyed Chile. The people that we met along the way were extremely nice and the country is beautiful. The snow-capped Andes surrounding Santiago remind me of my beloved Denver and the beaches of Vina Del Mar are wonderful.

Ahora, vamos a Argentina!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Learning Hebrew in Santiago

Fifty-two hours is a long time on a bus. Especially when they are serving mystery meat and playing movies with the volume ridiculously loud. Jenna and I were in a BIG hurry to get off the Pullman bus in Santiago. Our first impression of the city was how clean it is and how friendly the people are. We immediatley attached ourselves to the only Asian in sight. I assured Jenna for the first time on this trip that they are resourceful people. Saiji is a delightful Japaneese man who shared a cab with us to Barrio Brasil and boldly ran around the city block with map in hand to find our hostel. We got the last three beds at Casa Roja, clearly it was meant to be our home for the next five days.

Casa Roja is a very clean and well equipt hostel. There is a large kitchen, many bathrooms, free internet, and a great pool and outdoor bar out back. We were so glad we decided to follow Saiji! This hostel, the city of Santiago, and the people we met quickly became favorites from our trip.

Friday night we shared some beers with Saiji and Andy from Australia at the hostel and then at a few smokey bars. Saturday Jenna was violently ill (better to get this out of the way early in the trip) so I wandered around the city in search of drugs to cure her. She was feeling better that evening and we managed to meet her friend Barbara, who is from Santiago, for dinner. We went to Barrio Bellevista where we happened upon cool street theater "Un Niño Soldado" and strolled past bars with live music and street vendors selling jewelry.

Sunday was election day therefore the entire country closed down! We were left to wander empy streets and lie out by the very busy pool. This suited us just fine because that is where we met Tamir and Asaf who quickly became our BFF's. Since all the restaurants were closed we decided to make dinner a group effort in the hostel kitchen. Lucky for us the Israeli boys know their way around a kitchen. We were pushed to the side and amazed at their stir fry skills. Dinner is so much better when cooked by your new BFF's! We were sad to see them off after ice cream that very evening.

Monday we did some more sight seeing around the city and then we went back to the pool. To our delight we met two more domesticated Israeli men, Itzik and Liran, and we also met Jen from Castle Rock, Colorado! The five of us spent the evening into the wee hours of the morning drinking beer and speaking three languages at a neighborhood cafe.

Tuesday the boys accompanied Jenna and I to Pablo Neruda's house for a tour and then back to the pool, where they proposed to make us dinner. Our luck could not get any better. That evening Jenna and I met Barbara out for live Cuban salsa music and dancing.

Wednesday morning we said our goodbyes to Itzik and Liran and promised to practice our Hebrew for our visit to Israel. Shalom! Time for another bus ride to the next cities..... Valpariso and Viña Del Mar!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Peru

I arrived at the Lima airport at 8:30 PM Sunday night. Jenna is not scheduled to arrive until 11:30. I find myself again waiting patiently at the airport relying on an airline schedule and faith that my South America travel companion will make it here too. My friends meet Jenna, mi amiga rubia con ojos azul. And very fluent in Spanish. We are staying at the San Francisco Hostel in El Centro. This is a quiet night drive past beautifully lit cathedrals and government buildings.

Monday morning we set out to find the bus station to purchase our tickets to Quito. After walking for MILES we realize the bus station is far and we are the hottest chicas to walk these streets. Deliciosa! Que rica! Belleza perfecta! Day one, already a change in plans. Tomorrow, Tuesday, is a holiday so the buses aren't running. The good news is this means tomorrow we get to watch the Virgin Mary carried around town while having confetti tossed at her like she just won both showcases on the Price is Right. The bad new is this delay only allows us two days in Quito. So instead we buy tickets for Santiago and pinky swear to sub another country later in the trip for Equador. That evening we decide to try our hand at the city bus and make our way to Mira Flores which is the wealthy party of town. We have dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant, are begged to enter every bar with a promise of "free drink" (don't believe them), and meet Henry the local surfer who wants his picture taken with us and would like to give us surf lessons (Every Day).

Tuesday we check out St. Francis cathedral and catacombs. All I can think is "Man the Catholics really think about the dead a lot." We wandered around aimlessly and found ourselves back in Mira Flores where we ran into Henry again and were invited to a party in "his room." Aw! Silly Henry!

Wednesday we cab it to the bus station because we learned our lesson. We hop on the double decker bus with loud movies, rice and mystery meat, and fine people watching. We will be in Santiago in just two long days!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Random events in Central America.....

I have found myself partaking in some random things while on this trip. I have made a list to share with you and to record them for my grandchildren.

1) Drinking at a construction expo in Guadalajara Mexico where they use packing tape to "secure" their booths at the end of the day. I should propose this to G.E. as a way to save some capital at medical expos. Honestly, drunk people don't believe they can breech the packing tape barrier.

2) Standing on an active volcano and watching the lava send hot molten rocks tumbling down the mountain. Toward me.

3) Changing the diaper of a spider monkey that I was babysitting in Guatemala City.

4) Took a 16 year old girl who aspires to be a designer to meet a real fashion designer at his studio in Guatemala City!

5) Blow drying my hair with a space heater.

6) Three words ya'll, Guatemalan Strip Club. (Ken and Greg, I know you're beaming with pride for your girl)

7) Watching the Ticos sweep the DIRT road.

8) Shoe shopping in Mexico with three men (who are not gay).

Monday, December 7, 2009

Crazy is as crazy does!

This is my first ever retraction statement. Since I´ve never had experience writing one of these you will have to bare with me.

On a trip like this one expects to meet all kinds of people. My attitude toward travel and the people I meet along the way has always been that there are far more good people in the world than there are bad. But every once in a while you are reminded that there are a whole nother group of people, the crazy ones. Good people we all love, right? Bad people you can usually identify as they are running off with your purse that they just snatched out of your hand. But the crazy ones, well, they offer you a place to stay, talk about themselves non stop, have very little else to say to ANYONE other than "las olas grandes mañana!", then they "borrow" your camera. And right about the time dinner arrives to the table at a nice restaurant they decide to start telling you what a loser you are. What? Me? Loser?

So my retraction goes like this, I was helping to promote someone on my last blog. I have since pulled that information because I would never send the people I care so much about (this is you) to someone who is less than worthy of your time and support.

By the way, Sonny and Miguel at Gumbo Limbo are still way cool!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Pura Vida!

My flight did not land until after midnight and by the time I’m out of customs it is 1 AM Monday morning. We check into a hostel next to the bus station, nap for three hours, and sleepwalk to the 6 AM bus that will bring us to Santa Teresa. This is a six hour trip that will take me to the Pacific coast of the Nicoya Peninsula. The bus ride is beautiful. It takes me out of the city and onto windy roads through hills of beautiful canopies. In Puntarenas I ferry across the Gulf of Nicoya which is breathtaking! Arriving in Santa Teresa at noon we immediately grab some Pilsner beers and hit the beach. For dinner we go to this cool little restaurant in Mal Pais called Piedra del Mar. I ate arroz con camerones sitting twenty feet from the waves breaking on the rocks. And then reggae night at Day and Night beach club.

Tuesday was more beach time. I’m still building my energy and my courage to surf. I’m also nursing a little headache from the night before. That evening we rode the quad to Gumbo Limbo hotel and restaurant. This hotel is beautiful! It is more of a boutique as it sits high on a hill with only four rooms all of which over look the small town and ocean below. We sat in the infinity pool and watched the sun set with one of the owners, Sonny, who happens to be a Virginia Beach local! After sun set we all make our way to the restaurant where we share cocktails and stories. Miguel, Sonny’s business partner, joins us and makes some wonderful rosemary potatoes. I know this is just a taste of the wonderful food they serve here. I’m looking forward to going back for dinner before I leave.

Wednesday morning I’m wishing Erica was here to encourage and distract me with her crazy antics. I face the 7’4” Al Merrick surfboard with surf wax in hand. It’s been a year and a half since I’ve been on a board. I am definitely a beginner, but I love going out and getting tossed and tumbled. Unfortunately it is something I only get to enjoy few and far between. I spend an hour in the water getting surf lesson. I’m up and on my own from here on out!

More surfing on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday! And a sunset quad ride through the “country” to Manzanillo. Awesome!

I leave Costa Rica tomorrow. It has been eight years since I was here last, and I am now reminded of why so many people from all over the world come here to make this beautiful country their home. It truly is the Pura Vida.


For information about Gumbo Limbo Hotel and Restaurant please visit www.gumbolimbocr.com