B.A. & Rio

Tuesday 24 July

We'll shortly be heading out to the airport to catch our flight home. Unfortunately we're travelling via Santiago, Lima and Los Angeles, due to the current melt down of Aerolineas Argentinas, so we're in for a long trip. Still, a good chance to reflect on a fantastic trip to a truly amazing and - as far as holiday destinations go - completely comprehensive continent.

So, B.A. Big city of 13 million, and about the closest thing you will come to Paris in the Southern hemisphere. Elegant avenues crammed with beautiful and monumental buildings, fine boutiques, a thriving cafe and restaurant scene, and heaps of culture. Our stay made all the more enjoyable by being able to tap into the local knowledge of friends who have been living here for a couple of years.


Congreso de la Nacion	Obelisco & Av 9 de Julio from our hotel	Buildings in La Boca

Tango is a big thing here, being of course where the dance originated. Linda put us on to the Confiteria Ideal, a cafe and tango hall where stepping through the door is like stepping back in time. A gorgeous but somewhat dilapidated cafe featuring geriatric waiters offering appalling service but acceptable food. The barman wiping glasses in front of one of those old wall fridges that consists of lots of little compartments with individual wooden doors. Up a sweeping staircase to the hall above, where couples took to the floor while others looked on, sizing up their next dance partner, and the DJ span more tango music than we could ever have imagined, interspersed with the odd rag time number and an incongruous disco beat. All this at 3 on a Wednesday afternoon.

At the back they had a separate area for beginners with instructors Pablo and Vanessa who took us under their wing and attempted to teach us a few basic steps. No easy task for me in my rather clunky rubber soled shoes and Flick in her brand new emergency purchase BA Tango shoes, from a recommended store specialising in �zapatos para bailar tango�. Part of the purchase involved Flick being whisked off her somewhat unstable feet by the proprietor in an impromptu dance.

Earlier in the week we went to Bar Sur (another Linda recommendation) with several of the group from Peru that had also come with us to BA. The place resembles one of the sets from Moulin Rouge and for a US$15 cover charge featured a variety of performers alternately making music and dancing plus all you can eat pizza. The atmosphere could hardly have been more intimate - it was sometimes hard to avoid getting a dancer's elbow inadvertently in your drink - and the locals in the audience contributed to a sing along of some of the well known numbers. Flick and I were dragged up to pair off with the professionals, an interesting experience in foot shuffling and apologising, though luckily before the place started filling up.

On the first Sunday Linda and Gerhart took us to a colourful market that included a demonstration of gaucho horse riding skills. The aim of the competition was to approach at full gallop an archway from which a ring was dangling (at about head height), while the rider took a dagger from between his (and occasionally her) teeth and attempted to skewer the ring as he went beneath. Very impressive stuff.

Other highlights included a meal at a traditional Parilla (meat barbecue) restaurant with James & Louise (a couple from Sydney), where Mario the owner introduced himself and took us under his wing, ensuring we sampled the best local delicacies while lamenting the state of the Argentinean economy (which he blamed largely on public sector corruption). And of course the piano recital we attended at the magnificent Teatro Colon, one of the theatres that every aspiring opera diva must have performed at before they can say they've made it.

After tens of kilometres of walking (and a few subway rides) we also have a pretty good feel for the city and its important buildings, parks and monuments. There are informative multi-lingual signs on every other corner detailing the sights and suggesting walking routes, making it very easy to get around. One thing we didn't see nearly as much of as we had expected, however, was references to the Peron legacy and Evita. However, with the aid of our guide book we did make it to the Ricoleta Necropolis where we viewed her tomb, tucked off to the side in an amazing complex of elaborate and monolithic family burial chambers. And of course we saw the balcony in the Casa Rosa where she addressed the masses.

Last Tuesday we took a side trip to Colonia in Uruguay, which is 50km across the mouth of the Rio de la Plata from BA and accessed by a comfortable ferry. Colonia is a lovely historic town favoured as a holiday destination by the portenos (what the BA locals call themselves) and by movie makers for its olde world charm and low cost as a location. The old part of town features an interesting hodge-podge of Spanish, Portuguese and colonial architecture including a beautiful little church. There's also a film museum documenting the movies set there.

On Thursday we flew to Rio, and stepped off the plane into 30 degrees and cloudless skies. Our hotel was superbly situated on the beach front road at Copacabana, and thoughtfully provided beach towels and sun umbrellas. Ipanema Beach was a 10 minute walk away. For all its reputation as the South American capital of petty crime we had a completely hassle free and quite fabulous three days. Rio is a city with natural beauty to rival Sydney and a laid back atmosphere that's just right for holiday makers.


Copacabana Beach with Sugar Loaf in background	View from Sugar Loaf - Corcovado with Christ Redeemer

Mornings we spent at the beach swimming and sipping on guaranas (think "V" energy drink). Exploration in the afternoons, including the fantastic cable car ride up Sugar Loaf mountain at sunset, a ferry ride across the harbour, and a walk around the eclectic mix of historic and ultra modern buildings in down town. We visited the H. Stern gem and jewellery museum, where you can see gem stones being cut and jewellery being designed and crafted. I'm sure Flick will be happy to fill you in when we return, but suffice to say the Stern boys haven't managed to build up a network of around 200 stores and �one of the largest vertically integrated jewellery businesses in the world� without some very savvy marketing. Ouch. Oh, and we'll both be sporting Rio swim suits on Manly Beach this summer.

A word to the wise. Despite apparently being one of the best nutritionally balanced meals around, the Brasilian signature meal Feijoada is definitely an acquired taste unless you're into black beans, manioc (a root vegetable that sucks all the moisture out of your mouth as you eat it) and various parts of a pig that you don't often find in our part of the world. However, the beer is cold and cheap, and the local equivalent of Peruvian Pisco is not bad either.

So, on to the Iguacu falls, which straddle the Brasil Argentina border and are the most voluminous in the world (5,500 cubic meters of water per second). Without a word of a lie, it took a good 6 hours to complete the walking tracks around them, and that was only on the Argentinean side.

They're not particularly high (less than 100m) but at the top the river fans out into a lake a couple of kms across and dotted with lots of islands, and the entire lake then simultaneously spills over the edge into the gorge below. Awesome is an understatement. They�re set in a national park and we were lucky enough to stay at a hotel within the park with our room affording a view of the falls. In the morning the huge plume of water vapour from the largest cataract seemed to be forming its own clouds. At another point the force of the water created huge geysers shooting 30-40m into the air. OK, we were impressed.

We flew back to B.A. on Monday afternoon and went out to Linda and Gerhart�s place where we enjoyed a delicious home cooked meal, admired their rambling home and beautiful period furniture and made friends with their pets.

It reminded us that it will be quite nice to get home back to our familiar things and also to be able to catch up with all our correspondents over these last 5 weeks. Thanks for all your messages and we hope you've enjoyed reading about our adventures.