Buenos Aires, part III

On Friday, following Juan's advices, we went to the zoo of Luján. Almost 2 and a half hours for like 60 km of distance, but anyway.. Right on the entrance there is a place where they have most of the animals, all together, just like Noe's arch: horses, guanacos, a pig, goats, camels, ducks, you name it. Baby lions, f course, were the best, so adorable little Simbas. It is also possible to go inside the place where teenage lions and tigers are, and end the visit with a small ride in a camel.
But the perfect end for this day was the dinner in 'La Cabrera', and here comes the food again :D that has the best 'chorizo beef'. So so true.. We ate way too much, so delicious everything, really eating untill we felt sick and still ordered a dessert. All with a great wine to go with.

The next day, Saturday fair in Palermo. The fairs in BsAs are very good, and I didn't even went to the supposely best one, in San Telmo. Anything you may be looking for can be found here. In the afternoon I went to a museum, that, shame shaaaame on me, was the only one I visited. One week in BsAs and I know more restaurants and ice-cream shops than museums or theatres... And I kind of regret it, this one was increadible, specially the pre-colombian art colection.

As it was the night of the museums, we went to a show of 'Air Tango', meaning people dancing tango hanging on wires. And that was it, no more museums, again the shame, we just went to a hostel to sit talking and drinking beer for the rest of the night.
The next day my bus to Puerto Madryn was only at 8 pm, and still I did nothing all day. I guess being with portuguese people felt too good, I was for the whole week just feeling more like hanging out with them, do nothing and eat all the best things BsAs has to offer. Oh yes, almost forgot, I also tried the best empanadas and juices, the things I has mentioned before were not enough :D

More Buenos Aires

On the next day, waking up early to go to El Tigre, a small town hour away from BsAs. It is a lovelly place in the delta of the Paraná river, has many islands only accessible by boat. It is a cool place for a kind of cruise, seeing the riverfront restaurants and houses, all with their own wooden-port with small benches to wait for the 'public boat' or just to sit there fishing and enjoying the view.
In one of the islands I met a guy from Guatemala and we ended up walking arround together. Also worked for an information exchange: Juan was going to Floripa in week, so I gave him the name and contacts of Portunhol Hostel and other tips about the place, my paradise... and he told me about this zoo close to BsAs were people can touch baby lions and tigers. It was perfect and changed my plans for the day after, I wasn't going to La Plata anymore, baby lions are more important :P
Then back to BsAs it was time to go to the best ice-cream place in town, I couldn't skip it, obviously. Dulce de leche ice-cream is just the best thing ever.

Mi Buenos Aires I

In Buenos Aires I had, once again, a friend of a friend to welcome (and acomodate) me. A portuguese guy this time, that lives with other 3 portuguese guys and that were the 1st portuguese people I was with since I arrived. They were all super nice from the beggining, eventhough I didn't knew them at all.

On the 1st day, the weather was really shitty, raining and very cold, so after a small walk in the center I just gave up and went home. Also, I don't know if from being with portuguese people for the 1st time in 6 weeks or just for being tired, I just wanted to stay home and do nothing, that this of doing intensive turism ends up being a bit exausting.

The day after, Andrè went with me to the center. 1st stop: milka store. You can't skip it if you come to BsAs, I mean, it's not that big, but a whole store just for milka chocolates (with many varieties that don't exist in Pt) it's really amazing! For lunch, the best choripan in town, in San Telmo. Really delicious, and yes, so far I'm only telling about food, but this is just the beggining and actually my staying in BsAs was more a gastronomic experience than anything else.
But anyway, we visited the center, la Casa Rosada, San Telmo and El Caminito in La Boca, we went to the Boca stadium (outside) and to the cemetery in La Recoleta, where Evita's tumb is, and endes up in a comercial center where an India's Festival was taking place. With a small market, a photography exhibition (really good one!) and a dance & music performance from a group from Goa, very similar to the portuguese "corridinho".
On the way home, we stoped watching a tango performance on the street, with some really good dancers, not only from the group itself but also some people from the audience that joined them.

On the 3rd day, I went to the biggest and most beautiful bookshop in BsAs, Ateneo. It is indeed an amazing place, and not only I got lost in there for hours but also ended up spending way more than I had planned... At night we went to a Tango show in one of the oldest cafes in town, Cafe Tortoni. The musicians were amazing, the dancers not so much, but it was totally worth it, and they played "Alfonsina y el Mar" and "Volver", my favorites :)

Crossing the border

From Colonia del Sacramento to Buenos Aires, I took a boat, 3 hours and thats it. Or should be... as I sayed, I was illegal in Uruguay, and after giving my passport hoping the lady wouldn't notice, she asked me for the entrance stamp. And I, all inocent, 'whaaaat? I don't have it, why?'. And then I had to pay, not pretty to see, despite all my Bambi eyes and saying I was a poor turist with no money, in Portugal there is a crisis right now, nothing worked, 600 pesos uruguayos just like that, snif..
The boat trip was really pretty though, to compensate a bit. Its the best to see the sunset, the stars and the lights of Buenos Aires getting closer and closer, looking so much like New York.

Al otro lado del río

Today it would be her 24th birthday.

This is for her, with whom I first saw this movie and started to dream about this trip through South America.

Sara Oliveira
1986-2008

Colonia del Sacramento

Originally a 17th century Portuguese port, Colonia holds a very portuguese feeling about it, again with some resemblance to the south of Portugal. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and an absolutely must see little town, with a range of ochre and honey-colored buildings, palm and orange trees on the sea-side. It has also some of the best restaurants (including the one I had lunch in, between Calle de la Playa and Calle del Comercio, don't remember the name, but with delicious food and nice decoration and music), and that is to say a lot in Uruguay.

Yo tengo pintada en la piel
la lágrima de esta ciudad,
la misma que dá de beber,
la misma te hará naufragar.

(...)

El mar que me trajo hasta aquí,
el puerto en que habré de zarpar,
un día pensando en volver,
un día volviendo a escapar.

Un día cualquiera me iré
dejando su lágrima atrás
la pena que me haga partir
la misma me hará regresar.

Montevideo, Jorge Drexler

At home in Montevideo

So far, as in all big cities I've been staying, there is always someone to welcome me. In Montevideo I didn't know a soul, but there was a guy from Peru (thank you David!) that a friend who knew another guy that lives in Montevideo, so that was it. He went to the bus station to pick me up. As he is both a History and theater teacher, and there was a play with the kids happening that afternoon, we just went home to leave my stuff and went strait to the school, in the surroundings of the city.
That was a cool experience, as this is a program that uses theatre as an intervention method in the society in order to integrate the kids. After the play there was a party with all the groups from Montevideo, in the center.

On the next day, as he couldn't come, his father and 12 year old brother were my tourist guides, taking me to the main points of Montevideo. It is a lovely city, much more to the scale I am used to in Lisboa, with less people and space to walk around. Even the buildings remind me of Portugal, in a strange mixture of Lisboa with some cities in Algarve like Faro and Tavira. I was also lucky with the weather, a beautiful sunny day, that is perfect to go with the colorfull buildings.
And don't forget to eat a Chivito if you go to Uruguay! It is a typical food they have here, kind of like hamburger but with a very soft steak and lots of things inside (your choice), always with fried egg and mozzarella on the top.

The cultural offer is also amazing! In a Saturday night, there were so many plays to choose from, all with late night sessions and invinting prices. We went to a play called "Rescatate", a social critique from an uruguayan author, Gustavo Bouzas, that I absolutely loved. So so good. The text, the actors, all the scenography... really an amazing play.

Punta del Diablo, Uruguay

First stop in Uruguay: Chuy.
Crossing the border, from the Brazilian side, I got my passport stamped, all fast and easy. However, the bus didn't stop in the place I should get into Uruguay legally, so I just got in the country with no visa, no nothing, without even trying to, from Chuy to Punta del Diablo.

Well, whatever, I just continued the trip, the people I asked about (locals!!) it just sayed to relax, "no worries, being illegal here is not the same as in Europe", so va bene (stupid me), so I didn't care.

Punta del Diablo is a very small beach village in a Peninsula, very good for surfing (even though I don't surf, but that's just a detail), surrounded by sand dunes and forests. In fact, after Florianópolis, this beach didn't look that spectacular, and actually very similar to Costa de Caparica in foggy days: big waves and dark sea. But it is the best place to rest, almost desert, peace and quiet.

E caminando, camina, camina (next steps)

On my way to Uruguay...

Gramado, or a taste of Germany in Brazil

Gramado is a small town close to Porto Alegre. I went there with my friend, her cousin, her cousin's son and mom, like a little family weekend trip. I really enjoyed it, not only for the city itself, that is adorable, but for the family feeling with a grandma and a kid thats quite cool for a change. As this town has also italian influence, there are many restaurants with fresh pasta, a really delicious way for a small pause from the turistic walking around.

Very strange was the Xmas decoration all over the city. In here the weather is very summer already, and I didnt even realized yet that Xmas is coming.. no idea, whatever. Good thing about being a Germany/Swiss community: chocolate everywhere!!!! So many chocolate stores, with candies and giving chocolate for the clients to taste, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate od tralalalala. And the ultimate present from a friend: a mate cup full of chocolates! (I repeat, I will leave this continent way too spoiled..)

Porto Alegre

I have two friends in Porto Alegre, that studied with me in Italy for the Italian Language course. However, as both of them were working the day I arrived, a friend of them was my touristical guide for the first day. After lunch, she took me to the center of the city - to see the cathedral, the market and so on - and to a book fair. There, she sayed to this guy I was portuguese, and he was the kindest, offering me Chimarrao (the brazilian mate drink), because "it is tipical and I had to try it" and told me some stories about the South of Brazil. In the end, both as welcome and goodbye gift, he offered me two books from a writer from Rio Grande do Sul.
This is... people here in South America are extremely nice and make everybody (or at least me!) feel soooo welcome, I will end up getting spoiled.

The center of the city is very pretty. So far, from the big cities in Brazil, this was my favorite. Has big avenues, with space to breathe, many trees and the buildings are pretty as well. And as in Sao Paulo and Floripa, street art is everywhere.

The sunset in the river is another beautiful thing about Porto Alegre. Reminded me a little of Istanbul, the colors and some towers that looked like the mosque's towers, the boats.. I don's know why, but it kind of resembles.
After the sunset, time for dinner! And the meat in Rio Grande do Sul is delicious... They took me to this restaurant with an amazing churrasco service with all kinds of meat, salads and so, delicious beer and with a life show of tradicional music, dance and performances, Gaucho style!