Hasta Luego, South America

We hit the highlights of Patagonia during the second week of our two-week tour. Unfortunately, we had to skip the majestic FitzRoy mountains and could only stay for a short time in El Calafate, El Bolson, and Bariloche. But when Jared's sister Rachel got us two free tickets back to the states, we jumped at the chance to head home for a bit. (I was becoming more homesick by the day. When Jared vetoed Domino's pizza in Rio, I almost burst into tears.) Besides, after five months in South America, we were both ready for something new.

After leaving Torres del Paine, we crossed into Argentina for the fourth and final time. Just outside the Argentine border office was a huge sign that said "Las Malvinas son Argentinas," or "The Falkland Islands belong to Argentina." I had learned about the Falkland Islands War in school, but I was surprised to learn that Argentina still claims the tiny islands off the coast of Tierra del Fuego. The islands even grace the back of Argentina's brand new two peso coin. Apparently Great Britain is well aware of Argentina's claim on the islands, but it was certainly news to us.




No trip to Patagonia (even a whirlwind one) is complete without a visit to the majestic Perito Moreno glacier. At 180 feet tall, the glacier is a field of jagged blue ice that reminded me of planet Krypton in the Superman movies. Jared has hiked across several glaciers, but even he kept saying he'd never seen anything like this. Even small pebbles of ice echoed as they fell into the lake below. Imagine the thundering crash that sounded when a giant sheet of ice plunged from the glacier; the awesome noise sounded like an avalanche. The crash happened too quickly for us to get it on film; we could only stand and stare, completely in awe of the power of nature. Check out our video and photos of the glacier.



Aside from the glacier, there is not much going on in El Calafate, so we soon moved on to the tranquil town of El Bolson. In a rare treat, we flew from El Calafate to the city of Esquel, and then took a bus two hours from Esquel to El Bolson. (Interestingly, we flew on LADE, the airline of Argentina's air force.)

El Bolson is a sleepy little town in the shadow of the Andes. We met a cool American guy named Michael in our hostel; he and Jared went biking in the foothills of the mountains. We skipped the surprisingly pricey restaurants in town and instead Jared cooked us a feast of fresh trout. If you are in the area, don't miss El Bolson's artisan market, one of the best in the country. I gorged on homemade alfajores (like Argentine moon pies... yum) and Jared bought some microbrews while we stocked up on handmade gifts for our families.

From El Bolson we moved onto Bariloche in the Lakes District. I had heard so much about Bariloche, but I must say I was underwhelmed. We only had 24 hours in town, so maybe we just needed more time to take advantage of the national park that surrounds the city. Instead we went to the tiny Swiss Colony (Colonia Suiza), an hour outside of town. The trip to the Swiss Colony was worth it for the stunning lake views we saw on the bus, plus I scored a gorgeous pair of handmade earrings for $1 at the craft market. Before we left Bariloche, we made a pilgrimage to one of the town's most famous chocolate shops.



Next on our agenda was Mendoza, the capital of the Argentine wine industry. Several of our friends told us we would love Mendoza, and they were right. We instantly started plotting a way to move there. Maybe it was the leafy trees that shielded us from the desert sun. Maybe it was the proximity to the famous vineyards. Maybe it was that Mendoza was a smaller, cleaner, more manageable version of Buenos Aires. Whatever it was that made us love Mendoza, we wished we could have stayed longer than four days. Take a look at our photos of Bariloche and Mendoza.

Fortunately, we made the most of our brief time in Mendoza. Jared and I both took the plunge and went paragliding. We even managed to get our flights on video.





Once Jared and I were back on solid ground, we rented bikes to explore Mendoza's wineries. Though we had a great time riding crookedly from one winery to the next, we both agreed that we prefer the wineries of Cafayate. (Cafayate, we both agree, is one of our favorite places in South America.) Whereas Mendoza's bodegas are an hour out of town, there are several within walking distance of Cafayate's quaint town square. If you are going to be in the Northwest part of Argentina, take a bus three hours from Salta to Cafayate and sip on their famous Torrontes wine.

We took our last overnight bus from Mendoza to Buenos Aires and caught an overnight flight from Buenos Aires to Houston. More details on our North American leg are coming up soon. Until then, safe travels.

Patagonia in Two Weeks: Chapter 1

Two weeks is the usual amount of vacation time that we get in North America, and we generally only get to take a week at a time. With one week, or two weeks if we are lucky, most people like to either relax in one spot, or try and cram so much in that you need an additional recovery period when you get home. I tend to travel too much in a given time, but our Patagonia trip was cut short by about a month, so we had no choice but to move quickly. Our reason is that we are coming back to the US for a quick stopover en route to New Zealand. Here is our guide on how to travel through Patagonia if you only have two weeks.

We started the trip on February 29th with a LAN Argentina flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. If you are looking to travel through patagonia, avoid January and Feburuary as this is the high season, and transportation and lodging is expensive. If you book ahead, flights are also a good option and sometimes only a little more than buses which can take you several days!


The city of Ushuaia, nestled on the side of the Beagle Channel (named after Darwin and FitzRoy's boat that charted these waters), is the largest city in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. It is the gateway for all the package cruises to Antarctica, and this is the main reason people visit the area (aside from bragging rights on getting to the southernmost city in the world). Belive me, we really wanted to go to Antarctica, but the 10 day cruise runs about $4500 per head, and is a little too steep for our around the world budget. To put it in perspective, that same amount of money for 10 days could last us 6 months in India!

We stayed at our favorite hostel to date, called La Posta, on the outskirts of town. The location wasn't the best, but to be honest, the downtown of Ushuaia is only one main drag filled with overpriced tourist shops and restaurants, and La Posta made up for everything with their large homely hostel. La Posta is family-run, and their son Lucas is a climbing and snowboarding fanatic with great tips on the area.


The first day we walked around town. The second day was spent hiking around lakes in the National Park of Tierra del Fuego, and on our last day we hiked up to the mountain and glacier behind the city that gave us a good overview of the area with stunning views. Both of us were glad to have visited Ushuaia, but if you aren't going on a cruise, and don't care about traveler bragging rights, then I would skip this city on your tour of Patagonia. The National Park is nice hiking, but it reminded me of southern Ontario where I grew up, so nothing really new.


From Ushuaia we traveled 12 hours northwest by bus into Punta Arenas, Chile, the main southern city and place you would most likely fly into, if coming from Santiago. It was a beautiful journey that included a ferry crossing over the Straight of Magellan where we saw some river dolphins! We liked Punta Arenas much more than Ushuaia, but only had two nights, and one full day to explore. The main reason we were there was to visit the Penguin colony on the Isla de Magdelena. There are times traveling when you spend a little more and realize that your experience was priceless. This was one of these times. The tour with Comapa took about 5 hours. Two hours each way by boat, and one hour on the island to walk around and watch about 100,000 penguins. Yes, that is correct, 100,000 penguins. It was one of the highlights of the trip for us, and well worth the $40 per person that we spent. As the crowd of about eighty people moved along with a tour operator, we hung back and sat down watching the penguins waddle about. You can get to about a foot from them if you are quiet. Here are my photos of Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, and the Penguins.


After Punta Arenas, we took another bus three hours northwest to the town of Puerto Natales, the gateway to the famous Torres del Paine National Park. Most people are familiar with the park from the iconic pictures of the three towers (or torres in Spanish). Our first encounter with the image was ironically enough in the Patagonia store in New York City. The main reason that people come to Puerto Natales is to visit the park, and hike the famous trekking circuit called the 'W'. The hike takes four days and three nights, but if you are like us, and only have a short time, you can see a fair amount in two days and one night. The first day we took an organized 'full-day' tour that shuttles you around to the main sights. Not my preferred method of sightseeing as you are hearded around like sheep, but it was the only way to get an overview in a day. The route follows the south part of park, and gives you views of Glacier Grey, the French Valley, and the Torres. I should mention that the wind in Patagonia is ferocious, and we spent a good part of the day fighting to walk short distances. At five o'clock, when the tour headed back to Puerto Natales, we got off on the edge of the eastern part of the park, and hiked uphill for about 4 hours to the campground of Campamento Torres. I should note that in Patagonia the sun doesn't set until about 10pm in summer, so we had plenty of daylight hours to hike. At 5:30 am the next day, I woke and hiked (or really scrambled) up the trail for one hour to the see the sunrise over the Torres. A mystical experience, you see these huge granite towers change colors from pink and purple to fire red. One of the best sunrises I have seen to date. Here are my photos from Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine.


If you come to Puerto Natales and want to hike the 'W', or the 'Q' (which is the backside of the park as well), I would recommend staying at either Backpackers Kawashkar or Erratic Rock. You can easily find a trekking partner, both give great advice on what to bring and how to trek, and Erratic Rock even holds a daily seminar at 3pm and rents gear. Word of warning, gear is twice as much as it costs in the US and Canada, so bring it with you or rent.

Rio de Janeiro and back home to B.A.

After our tour of Southern Brazil´s beach towns, it was time to visit the biggest beach town of all, Rio de Janeiro. My expectations for Rio were so low that it was easy for me to be pleasantly surprised.

The best part about Rio was that our good friend Maria flew down from New York and met us there. We miss all of our friends and family more than we can say, so it was such a treat to spend a few days with Maria. She even came bearing gifts--real New York City bagels! Jared and I ate those bagels with cream cheese and huge smiles.



Rio de Janeiro is quite possibly the most naturally beautiful city I´ve ever visited. Set in a bay and surrounded by sloping granite hills, Rio is much more than its famed beaches. Although those beaches are pretty nice too. While we didn´t run into any trouble in Rio, we didn´t have to look far to see Rio´s notorious favelas, or slums. On the hill below the Christ the Redeemer statue, only a small highway separated the favelas from guarded mansions.

All in all, we did Rio right. The three of us made the mandatory stops at Pao de Azucar (Sugarloaf mountain), Christ the Redeemer, and Ipanema beach. We snacked on coconut water straight from the coconuts and a sorbet made of a tangy fruit called acaí. At a samba club in Lapa, we happened onto a concert by an amazing band called Loroza. Lapa was a sight in itself, with a party in the streets and stands selling every snack and cocktail imaginable.



Without a doubt, the highlight for all of us was the soccer game we went to at Maracana Stadium. We splurged on tickets for the Rio championship between Flamengo and Botafogo. Getting into the stadium was one of the scariest moments of our trip, as our petite guide raced to the entrance with our tickets. Fortunately we got in fine and found ourselves with ridiculously good seats--twenty rows behind the teams´ benches.

The game was the Rio city final, but you would have thought it was the World Cup Final. These fans were INSANE. Both sides flew flags, chanted taunts, and even set off firecrackers in the stadium. American sports fans are just a bunch of pansies compared to Brazilian futebol fanatics. We didn´t shoot this video, but it gives you a good idea of the energy at the game. In the end, Flamengo beat Botafogo, 2-1, to repeat as Rio champs.



I had heard many firsthand accounts of muggings in Rio, but we got lucky. The three of us never carried purses, backpacks, or even wallets. All of our jewelry, even my $7 earrings from Bolivia, stayed in our hotel. When we went to the beach and had to carry bags, we used plastic grocery bags. To minimize any potential losses, we only carried the smallest amount of cash necessary, and I hid credit cards in the secret stash of my Reef flip-flops. Our hotel, Hostel Copa Praia, was in a very safe part of Copacabana and we highly recommend it. Jared and I didn´t bring our cameras out much, so take a look at Maria´s photos of Rio.

After saying goodbye to Maria, it was time to board a 38-hour bus back to Buenos Aires. Flights were $360 each, and the bus was $120 each, so it was a no-brainer. Our seats were like Lazy-Boy recliners, so the ride wasn´t that bad, though I am not itching to do it again anytime soon. Thanks to those of you who contributed to Jared´s birthday gift. Your generous gift paid for our bus tickets to and from Brazil.

Both Jared and I were thrilled to be back in Buenos Aires. After more than four months on the road, B.A. is the closest thing to home. It was great to catch up with our friends and indulge in as much ice cream from Freddo as I possibly could. We retrieved our cold-weather gear and boarded a flight to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world.

If you´re reading this via email, take a look at all the improvements we´ve made to our site. Thanks to Tal for all your help!

Iguazu Falls and Carnaval, our Introduction to Brazil

Hello, friends and family. As I write this post, Jared and I are celebrating four months on the road. Over the past four months, we have spent countless hours on buses because we would rather save the plane fare. Then again, an 18-hour bus trip isn´t so bad when you have an attendant serving you champagne and a seat that folds down into a flat bed. We traveled to Puerto Iguazú on the holy grail of buses, one with genuine flat beds.

Before we visited the famous waterfalls, Jared and I stopped at Triple Frontier landmark. As we stood across on Argentine soil, we could see Paraguay to the left and Brazil to the right, just across the river. Each country´s territory was marked with an obelisk in their national colors. Most likely, that is the closest we will get to Paraguay.


How can I describe Iguazú Falls? Only a poet could do it justice. Iguazú Falls are a series of 275 waterfalls along 1.7 miles of the Iguazú river. The cataratas, as they are called in Spanish, are mostly 210 feet tall, though some are as tall as 269 feet. (Niagara Falls, for the record, are 167 feet tall.) Separating Brazil from Argentina, the falls should be seen from both sides to be properly appreciated. Argentina has the closer look--we took a boat into the base of some of the falls--while Brazil has the panoramic view. And, oh what a view. Take a look at Jared´s photos and try to imagine the roar of Iguazú Falls.


We finally got our Brazilian visas in Puerto Iguazú. The small consulate in the Argentine border town didn´t want to see any bank statements or proof of onward travel, they only wanted cold, hard cash. My visa cost $147, and Jared´s cost $70, almost 50% more than we were expecting. (Sometimes it pays to be Canadian.) And for some strange reason, my visa has a big stamp on it that says "FREE." If only that were true.

From beautiful Iguazú Falls, it was another overnight bus to Florianópolis, Brazil, where we would spend Carnaval. We stayed on the Ilha de Santa Caterina, at the Armaçao beach. In the small village of Armaçao, the Carnaval party was centered right outside our hostel. Music blared from a lone parade float, hundreds of people danced in the streets. As soon as the Super Bowl was over (congratulations, New York Giants!), Jared and I grabbed our caiprinhas and joined the party. Check out our photos of Carnaval and Florianopolis.

Honestly, up until Carnaval, I wasn´t so sure I wanted to visit Brazil. The language barrier, higher costs, and crime stories made me nervous. All my fears disappeared when a group of Brazilian women grabbed me by the hips during the party and showed me how to samba. Even though I can´t understand their language, the warmth of the Brazilian people is infectious.

Now that Carnaval is over, Jared and I are still having a fantastic time in Brazil. We are currently in Paraty, a small town with the best examples of colonial Portuguese architecture. You´ll hear more about Paraty in our next post.

Remember the volcano we saw back in October in Banos, Ecuador? Now it is erupting, though currently Banos isn´t at risk.

Why we love life: part 1

We thought it would be fun to add a new video installment titled Why we love life. We´ve been taking some great footage of places, and our experiences, that we want to share with you. Here are some highlights of Argentina. If you are receiving this as an email subscription without the videos, go to our web page.

Quebrada de Cafayate (Canyon of Cafayate): This was taken in a beautiful canyon outside the wine region of Cafayate. There was a guy playing music, and it was completely surreal. We could have spent hours here.


Tango in Buenos Aires: This video is from the club La Viruta, where instructors are showing off their moves before the lessons begin. We had so much fun, and will try and continue lessons when we can.


My First Polo Lesson: Here I am at the La Tuna Polo ranch, about 40 minutes outside of Buenos Aires. I was in pain the next day, and now I know why cowboys strut the way they do. Mom and Dad, thanks for the horse riding lessons when I was young, I guess they paid off.


We just left Buenos Aires, and arrived today at Iguazu Falls. Tomorrow we will tour the famous falls that rival those of Niagara, and then head across the border to Brazil for a three week tour. Hopefully we´ll have some new videos to post shortly, but we wish you could be here to see it in person.

Our house is a very very very fine house.

As most of you know, Julie and I have been in Buenos Aires for several weeks now. We thought it would be a good time to fill you in on our living situation, and how we´ve been spending our days in the city.

When we arrived in Buenos Aires at the end of December, we quickly found a room in a nice house, in the Monserrat neighborhood, near the city center and the famous tango and antique district of San Telmo. We are living in what New Yorkers would refer to as a brownstone house with 9 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a communal kitchen and living area, and one amazing roof deck with a parilla/bbq. We thought about getting our own place, but it was important for us to meet other people. We couldn´t have found a better place for this.

Our roommates are a mix of nationalities. There is Eduardo, a local from Buenos Aires who manages the house share. Arnaut (or Papillon as he´s called), Herve, Sophie, and Stephan, all from france. Hugh is from Ireland, and Jess is from the US. On top of this we´ve had a couple of people stay for a week or two, including a guy from the Netherlands, and a girl from Quebec. If you end up coming to BA for a week or more, and are looking for a good place, contact Eduardo by email (eduardo07aldana@yahoo.com.ar) to see if there is space. Just in case you are wondering about rent in BA, we are paying approximately USD $330/month for our room, and we also found furinished one bedroom apartments for about USD $600/month on Craigslist. Kind of makes you want to move to Buenos Aires doesn´t it? Here are photos of our house and my birthday party last week.

Our neighborhood is pretty good for what we want. We are within walking distance to all the famous sites in the city center, such as the Plaza de Mayo, the Congreso (Congress building), La Casa Rosada (Presidential palace), and we are one street away from Avenida 9 de Julio (the worlds widest avenue at 140 m). The shopping district of La Florida is a close walk. San Telmo is close by as well. Plus, we have all the good cheap eats within a block in every direction.

So, what have we been doing with ourselves. Well, we´ve checked out other neighborhoods such as Palermo (both Palermo Hollywood and Soho), with all the fancy shops, restaurants, and clubs. We visited Belgrano and their Chinatown, as well as Recoleta and the famous cemetery (above ground tombs where Evita is buried). Partied until dawn in the up and coming wharf district of Puerto Madero. Walked through the old Jewish neighborhood of Once, and of course visited San Telmo for their famous street fair and antique market every sunday.

When we´re not out walking the different neighborhoods, we are usually taking bike rides or lounging in the big Parque 3 de Febrero, with the zoo, Japanese and botanical gardens close by. Last night we took our first tango class, and tonight we´re trying salsa dancing. We´ve gone out to eat with our ex-pat friends Kareem and Noah at some great restaurants, and visited some of the city´s famous nightlife, although, the bars and clubs here aren´t as good as people claim. Maybe it´s because everyone is away this month on summer vacation, but so far, this place is no New York, London, or Madrid.

Here are Buenos Aires photos part 2.

In any case, we are happy to stay put for a little bit and recharge our batteries. We only have a week or so left to enjoy the city, then it´s off to Brazil for February.

Buenos Aires and the Beach

¡Feliz año nuevo! When last we spoke, Jared and I were headed to Buenos Aires, eager to finally meet this city we´d heard so much about. After an auspicious introduction (the cab into town was unexpectedly expensive, and our hotel tried to charge us 30% more than the published rate), we began to enjoy the bustling metropolis with the tango beat. With European architecture, unending nightlife, and more steak than we can eat, what´s not to love about Buenos Aires?

We did more apartment hunting than sightseeing in the three days we were in Buenos Aires. After almost three months on the road (you should see our list of cities--it´s coming soon), Jared and I are weary from moving every three days. We rented a room in the Monserrat neighborhood near the city center, and we are looking forward to having a home to call our own for the rest of January. By New York standards, our room in a nine-bedroom row house is a steal: $350 gets us a furnished, sunny room, a functioning kitchen, a spacious rooftop deck, and several friendly housemates. Our house is a mix of international students and a few locals, so we´ll be practicing our Spanish. If you´re going to be in the area this month, please let us know.


We did get a chance to go out until dawn, to sprint across the world´s widest street, and to pose for photos in front of the presidential palace. (Check out our photos of Buenos Aires.) But really, our exploration of Buenos Aires didn´t scratch the surface.


To ring in the new year, Jared and I headed to Punta del Este, Uruguay, the swankiest resort town in all of South America. (Take a look at our photos of Punta.) Our good friends Christina and Pablo Lema were going to be there, and Pablo´s parents graciously hosted us while we were in town. We lived a tough life in Punta del Este: sailing in the morning, sunbathing on the beach in the afternoon, caiprinhas at sunset. On New Year´s Eve, the entire city shot off fireworks for an hour, and we had a perfect view from the Lemas´ terrace. We watched as thousands of Brazilian visitors, all dressed in white, walked down to the water to pay homage to the sea god by walking backwards into the water. At 3am (that´s when the night starts here), we found a party where the champagne was flowing freely. Just as the sun was starting to color the sky pink, Pablo, Christina, Jared, and I called it a night. All in all, it was a perfect (and warm!) New Year´s Eve.



Truth be told, Punta del Este isn´t really our kind of town. It´s full of jetsetters, not backpackers. But it was one of the highlights of our trip. After months away from our friends, seeing Pablo and Christina was like going home for a bit. Pablo´s parents, Alvaro and Susana, made us feel welcome even though they had never met us before. As we left, they sent us with a care package of fruit, a huge ham and cheese torte, and a bottle of wine from land that used to be in Alvaro´s family. Like true parents, they wanted to make sure we had enough food for dinner. We were sincerely touched by their generosity. Alvaro and Susana, muchísimas gracias.


By the way, Uruguay marks the sixth country we´ve visited. Their coast faces the Atlantic Ocean, meaning we have officially crossed South America. Take a look at the map of our travels, which is also visible on our blog.

From Northwest to Southeast Argentina: Our trip to Buenos Aires

After a quick two days in San Pedro de Atacama, we decided it was time to leave Chile and head for our garden of eden...Argentina. After all the stories we´ve read of New Yorkers moving to Argentina, we both had high hopes for the country, and wanted to get there as quickly as possible.

From San Pedro, we took a bus across the Northwest of Argentina, to the provincial capital city of Salta. The drive was absolutely stunning. The scenery changed from a high dry desert, to mountains with cacti everywhere. It was straight out of a John Wayne Western movie. Salta was a nice introduction to the country. We basically spent two days eating all of our favorite foods. It´s funny the things you miss when traveling. We miss peanut butter, sushi, and a good slice of NYC pizza, but I really missed some good cheese, chorizo, and wine. Thank goodness Argentina has such an European influence. The food here is amazing.



We had almost passed up visiting Cafayate, and I´m glad we decided to extend our trip South by a couple of days. Cafayate is about 3 hours south of Salta, and is the other famous wine producing region in Argentina after Mendoza. Cafayate is a small little town, with a main square, and everything shuts for siesta from 1-6pm. The town is surrounded by vineyards, and we spent 3 amazing days riding bikes from winery to winery, getting tours and a little tipsy at the same time. My father would be so proud. When I am old, and I want to live a simple life, this is where I am going to come. I should also mention that Cafayate is surrounded by the Quebrada de Cafayate, which is a beautiful canyon, similar to what you would see in the Southwest of Utah. We did a day tour visiting unbelievable rock formations. I think pictures are the only thing that can do this place justice. Here are our photos of Cafayate and the Quebrada.



With our of fill of wine in Cafayate, we took a bus south to the city of Cordoba. Cordoba is situated in the Central Sierras, and is sometimes referred to as the heart of Argentina, since it´s in the center of the country. We spent four days in Cordoba, walking the colonial streets and enjoying the culture. The city reminded me a lot of Montreal or Boston, since it has the highest number of university students in the country, it´s a party city, and the architecture was old and beautiful. We also did a day trip to Alta Gracia and went to the Che Guevara museum in his childhood home. Alta Gracia is worth checking out if you make it to Cordoba.



I should mention that I had my first experience with an Argentine hospital in Cordoba, and I´m happy to report that it was clean, safe, and more efficient that the U.S. or Canada. Unfortunately, I had an allergic reaction to something, and ended up in the emergency room at 1 am on a Saturday night. After a quick 30 minute wait, an injection of medicine, and a bill for $30 I was on my way. This would never be so easy back home, or so cheap! The only downside was that was my Saturday night, while everyone else was out on the town.



After Cordoba, we made our way to Rosario on the shores of the Rio Parana, where we are right now. Rosario is another small city, with a good student population, and it´s only four hours from Buenos Aires, where we are headed tomorrow morning. Similar to Cordoba, Rosario has great pedestrian streets with shops and restaurants. Although, Rosario actually has a beach. The beach is small, and it´s on the river, but there is sand and water, and we enjoyed sunning ourselves after about a month in the mountains and desert. Here are our photos of Cordoba and Rosario.



Well, I´m happy to say that after a couple of weeks in Argentina, we couldn´t be happier. I´ve stuffed myself with more steak and red wine than I probably should have, and Julie is eating too much dulce de leche ice cream. The life here is like Europe, but cheaper. I wouldn´t be surprised if we end up moving here some day. Tomorrow we go to Buenos Aires for a couple days, then it´s off to the beaches of Punta del Este of Uruguay for New Years, to spend the 31st with our friends Pablo and Christina.

Wishing you all a great New Years wherever you are, and the best for 2008.