After our 3 nights in the very simple Residencial Luna in Puerto Iguazu (10$ per person per night but loud and dusty), we enjoyed our two nights in another great Hilton in Buenos Aires, located directly in the modern harbour district of Puerto Madero with a fresh breeze from Rio de la Plata and a great view of the city. While the concierge recommended an Argentinian steak dinner at San Telmo's "La Brigada Parilla" followed by a Tango show at La Ventana, our taxi driver convinced us to go all the way to Viyetes to see an authenic big musical style Tango show at Senor Tango which was really spectacular.
The next day we visited colorful La Boca, founded by Italian immigrants where we met Guillermo Alio, a renowned Tango dancer and famous artist (known for his collages of tango dancers) who taught in Los Angeles in the late 90's. He gave us a short lesson on the spot. We would have loved to take a real lesson with him if only time would have allowed. Don't miss Caminito-La Boca and Tango Multiple Gallery during your visit to Buenos Aires.
San Telmo's Plaza Dorrego is the place to see Portenos (nick name for people from Buenos Aires) dance Tango live on a Sunday afternoon right in front of Cafe Mundo Tango (best is view from their first floor balcony). Sunday is also the day for the arts fair at Plaza Francia in Recoleta, right next to the cementary where you can pay homage at the famous Argentinian mausoleums (like Evita and Julio Borges).
The oldest coffee house in Argentina is the elegant Cafe Tortoni where all important Portenos used to socialize. It is located just down the Ave de Mayo from the Casa Rosada, serves exotic salads and features daily tango shows in a very intimate atmosphere. As you can see, the performers where even asking Bettina on stage. Unfortunately she was not prepared or trained to dance in her Havaianas.
This experience convinced Tony and Bettina not to leave Buenos Aires without taking at least one tango lesson at Confiteria Ideal (near Corrientes). Confiteria Ideal offers a group tango lesson from 09:15 p.m. to 11:15 p.m. each day followed by a Milonga with a little show and live music.
We could have stayed in Buenos Aires much longer but our travel plans called for Patagonia. We flew via Argentinia's little Switzerland (Bariloche) to El Calafate to visit the still growing Perito Moreno glacier in the Las Glaciares National Park. El Calafate has the nearest airport to the National Park which is still 80 km away from this really overpriced town. We can recommend the Kosten Aike hotel in El Calafate from our own experience (after staying two nights in the simple and loud Hostel America del Sur) but we heard good reviews about Los Alamoas and the only hotel located in the National park called Los Notros. We did not have time to experience it ourselves but heard also that the Big Ice Trekking by Hielo y Aventuras and Cerro Feria's horse back tours are worth the time and money. We enjoyed the Safari Nautico along Perito Moreno's wall and the views from the balconies (pasarelas).
Due to overbooked tours to El Chalten to see the climber's dream Fitz Roy or to participate at Minitrekking (we were there at peak season) we decided to add another country to our trip and took a strenious day tour to the Chilenian side of Patagonia to visit Chile's famous Torres Del paine National Park with its chocolate dipped croissant shaped Cuernos de Paine and the landmark Torres Del Paine.
Our curiousity kept us going and we continued our trip around the Southern Hemisphere with a visit to Uruguay. We flew directly with Pluna from Buenos Aires to the upscale summer resort Punta Del Este (summer retreat for the high society from Buenos Aires and Montevideo) which resembles Monte Carlo and the French Cote Azur and Italian Riviera. Thanks to Muaro (Padi dive instructor, fluent in English and born in Punta del Este) we were able to complete our Open Water dive certificate in the rather cold and windy waters at the Peninsula of Punta Del Este where the Rio de la Plata meets the Atlantic. We were lucky enough to stay at the only Casino and Spa resort (Conrad) where we enjoyed great views of Playas Mansa and Brava.
After two days we had to move on to explore the wilder coast line Northeast of Punte Del Este. We visited the alternative beach towns of La Paloma (surf beaches) and La Pedrera as well as Punta Del Diabolo which we found overcrowded during peak season. We finally found a little paradise in Uruguay when visting Cabo Polonio which is not even mentioned by Lonely Planet. In order to access the National Nature Monument of Cabo Polonio you have to hire a 6x6 Jeep van that takes you on a 20 minute ride through pine trees and sand dunes until you finally see the lighthouse and a peninsula with little fisher houses at the end of a wide beach. There are only two guest houses in Cabo Polonia and we can recommend La Perla. Bring more time with you and rent a little cabin and enjoy serenity, tranquility, wild nature, laid back hippie life with live music, candle light and fresh fish. Take a boat ride to the large see lion colonies and a horse back ride over the dunes and just forget the hectic of our daily lives for a little while!Cabo Polonio - hidden paradies in the dunes!
Now we are in Sao Paulo and almost on our flight back to the US. Once we will have landed in Los Angeles we will have completed 40 flights and visited 12 countries in 12 weeks.
We are looking forward to sharing more of our pictures with all of you soon!
Hasta la vista familia y amigos! Life is a beach.
