Gaudi and Natasha travelling

Cama Suite

8 February 2010

We've been travelling on all sorts of buses. Many smelly ones, some leaning to one side, some with misbehaving passengers, some hot and without A/C, some stuck in the mud. For our trip from Viedma to Buenos Aires, 10 hours through the Pampas, the night bus is our only choice - so we go with the cama (bed) suite: first class in bus travel. We get seats that are huge, comfy and recline...all the way until we have a perfect flat bed. We get served a nice meal, including Argentinian wine, see a funny movie and sleep until we wake up at 6am and have breakfast and coffee as we enter Buenos Aires. Ah...that's the sort of bus we like!

Go with the flow in Viedma

5 February 2010, Viedma (Argentina)

Viedma is set on tranquil Rio Negro. Its green riverbanks are a welcome change from the dry Patagonian desert. Across the river is a historic town: Carmen de Patagones with pretty colonial buildings. During our stay there is an international Open Water Swimming competition: 10 Km of swimming in the river. Some of the athletes competing are olympic athletes (there is even a women from Switzerland). Many stay in our hotel and we see them at breakfast. During the race, the river bank is filled with spectators supporting the swimmers.
We like this relaxed riverside town a lot: great climate, good food, and buckets of cheap ice cream! We hang out by the river and even take a refreshing dip.

Nearby is one of the biggest parrot colonies in the world: 35,000 Burrowing Parrots nest in cliffs along a beach. But when we visit, most of them seem to have left - the nesting season ended a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, we spot dozens of these pretty birds.

Viedma pictures here.

Que quiere desayunar?

January and February 2010

"What would you like for breakfast?", we are asked in Argentina. The first time we heard the question we thought this was the beginning to a great breakfast, imagining fruit, yoghurt, cereal and pancakes. But soon we learn that what this means really is "Would you like Tea or Coffee? With milk?". Yes, that's the choice offered in most hotels, accompanied by stale bread and sometimes tiny croissants. Maybe the breakfast is a reflection of the massive Italian immigration into Argentina. But what speaks against this theory, is the often low quality of the "coffee".

Would you mind taking a picture of us?

19 January 2010

On any touristy spot, we can count on being approached by a couple or sometimes a group of people trusting us with their camera to take a picture of them - we always comply.
At a popular waterfall near El Chalten, Natasha is asked by a big family to take their group picture. No Problem - the family of three generations poses and Natasha takes takes aim. Unexpectedly, a very helpful lady approaches and offers to take the picture instead, and suggests that Natasha join the group photo.
Gaudi regrets that Natasha declind, he would have liked to see the faces of the family, with one extra person in the photo...