Painting of Juan and Eva Peron in La Casa Rosada La Casa Rosada Anyone who has watched Evita will remember seeing Eva and Juan Peron making impassioned speeches from the balcony of the ‘pink house’ or Casa Rosada – the presidential offices – to thousands of adoring supporters in the Plaza de Mayo. Casa Rosada by night Interested in political history (and having not long re-watched Evita, before our trip began!), I was pleased to learn that there were free tours…
On one of our afternoons in Buenos Aires we went on a Foto Ruta Iphoneography workshop and tour to help us to better use our iPhones for taking street photos. The workshop and tour took us around the Palermo area of Buenos Aires – a leafy middle class area filled with restaurants, bars, parks, museums and night clubs. Leafy … We’d not explored the area much during the day and so this was a good opportunity for us to get…
On our first night in Buenos Aires, we headed to see the Fuerza Bruta show. I’d first heard of this from some fellow travellers in Sucre, who had managed to describe it as a bit like Cirque de Soleil, but crazier. They said they’d seen it on tour in London, but that its home was Buenos Aires and urged us to go, while we were there. We heard about it again as we got closer to BA, but other than…
Argentine National Congress Buenos Aires was fun and interesting city to while away a week. There was so much to see and do there, we could have stayed much longer. Arrival Our arrival into the city felt almost like going home … it was raining! A LOT. The city is also very European looking and apart from the big light up image of Evita on one of the buildings on “the widest avenue in the world”, Avenida 9 de Julio*,…
Straight from the barrel! One of the best ways to enjoy the vineyards around Mendoza is to spend a day in Maipu, hire a bike and cycle from one to the next, sampling the local produce as you go. We liked it so much that we went twice! We hired a bike from Mr Hugo’s bike company, who also gave us a map and some discount vouchers for some of the vineyards. (He also gave us a free bottle of wine…
Parque General, San Martin, Mendoza We went to Mendoza three times while in Argentina! At the border: still smiling as we haven’t realised how long we’ll be here Crossing the Andes from Chile after our stay in Valparaiso, we arrived into the wine-making capital of Argentina on the 5th June (2014) for our first stay with our Argentinian host, Federico, who we found through Air BnB. Bye Chile, hope to see you again soon Air BnB is an online accommodation…
Pretty Valpo Known as ‘Valpo’ to its friends, this bustling, chaotic port town was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 2003, after locals petitioned the international body to try and stop the building of a very modern glass cube on top of an old colonial building in one of the city’s main squares. They failed to stop that particular development, but were successful in achieving world heritage status. This has been a mixed blessing. While it means new developments have…
Cochiguaz Valley Fresh (?) off the bus from our adventures in San Pedro deAtacama, on arrival in La Serena, we decided to head straight into the Elqui Valley – where grapes are grown to make Pisco (mmm … Pisco Sours). Small villages are dotted around the pretty valley and it is a common weekend getaway for locals and foreigners alike. We made straight for the town of Pisco from La Serena bus station. The town changed its name from La Union…
There’s lots to do in San Pedro and the surrounding areas. Here are some top tips for making the most of your time there!For more posts on San Pedro de Atacama, see: Hanging out in San Pedro de Atacama and Trying to escape from San Pedro de Atacama1. For an amazing view into the Valle de la Muerte and over the town, walk or hire a bike and cycle out to the Quitor de Pukuara. Its only 3km out of town and pretty…
Lima: Most visitors to Lima stay in either upmarket Miraflores or slightly bohemian Barranco. The old town is reportedly not very safe for tourists at night, although there are hostels and hotels there too. The Bridge of Sighs in Barranco near Barranco Backpackers We decided to stay in Barranco and loved the colourful buildings and relaxed atmosphere of the area. Miraflores was nice, but walking around the area you feel like you could be anywhere in the world, whereas Barranco felt…