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Just returned from South America - April 20, 2006

 
 
Reply Thu 20 Apr, 2006 02:57 pm
Give me a few days to settle down before I jot down a summary of my trip and to post some pictures. I promise that the pictures from Igacu Falls will be spectacular! (What a come-on heh?) See ya'll later.
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Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 9,398 • Replies: 40
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Walter Hinteler
 
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Reply Thu 20 Apr, 2006 02:59 pm
Wellcome back, c.i.!
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tagged lyricist
 
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Reply Thu 20 Apr, 2006 03:10 pm
hey can't want to see them
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shewolfnm
 
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Reply Thu 20 Apr, 2006 08:01 pm
wow.
yet another trip I can not wait to hear about.

Welcome back. :-)
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cicerone imposter
 
  1  
Reply Fri 21 Apr, 2006 03:09 pm
The Travelogue:

My flight home from Miami to San Francisco went smoothly, followed by an easy exit from the plane even though I sat close to the back of the plane. We landed at 10:40 AM, exited the plane and got my baggage by 11:05 AM, and was on a shuttle for home by 11:10 AM. Unzipped my luggage in our family room before 12-noon. All trips should be so easy!

The 17-day journey to South America started in Santiago, Chile, on April 3, and returned home on April 20. We spent two nights in Santiago at the Marriott Santiago, in the business section of town located adjacent to a rather modern shopping mall. We were provided with a city tour at each new destination, so I'll just mention some of the highlights of those tours.

Before getting into the travelogue, I'd like to describe a little about Chile because it's such a uniquely shaped country that's very long and thin, but with varied climates . It's about 109 miles wide and 2,672 miles long. The climate is temperate; desert in the north, Mediterranean in the center, and cool and damp in the south. Its history before the Spanish-American empire had a varied ancient peoples that included the Incas; the Aymara desert farmers of the north, the Diaguitas in the mountainous east, and the Araucarians of the center and south. Even the southern tip of Chile with its extreme weather were inhabited by groups of hunters and fishers.

Santiago is Chile's largest city with a population of 6 million inhabitants, and 75% of the countries population lives in the central valley. The city doesn't offer too much in the way of attractions for tourists, but we did spend some time in the old downtown section, Plaza de Armas, that included short walks. We visited San Cristobal Hill by rail with its 40-foot statue of the Virgin Mary, and a spectacular view of the city. Four of us went to the Ibis restaurant for dinner and enjoyed a crab stew and some wine.

On the following day, we were bussed to the Andes mountain for a tour of Portillo ski resort, stopping at a fruit stand on the way, and lunch at the resort hotel-restaurant. The only thing notable about this tour was the rock cliffs and winding road up to the resort.

On the following day, we traveled southward towards Santa Cruz, and stopped at truck stops for banos and snacks. Our first stop was at Viu Manent winery to visit the vineyards, winery production plant, and lunch at the winery (wines included). I made a purchase of a baseball cap with their logo on it.

We arrived in Santa Cruz in the late afternoon, and after checking in at the Santa Cruz Plaza Hotel, we visited a very fine private history museum adjacent to our hotel. I'll post some pictures that describes much better what we saw.

Everybody in Chile is a millionaire; US $1.00 equals 500 Pesos.

We bussed back to Santiago the following morning for our 1 hour, 55 minute flight to Buenos Aires where we lodged for five nights at the Marriott Plaza Hotel.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxDchile024.jpg
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cicerone imposter
 
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Reply Fri 21 Apr, 2006 03:15 pm
Virgin Mary on San Cristobal Hill.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaSD387.jpg

Winding road on the Andes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxDchile039.jpg

A delivery truck made from wood at the private museum in Santa Cruz.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxDchile068.jpg
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urs53
 
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Reply Fri 21 Apr, 2006 05:00 pm
Welcome back, c.i. And once again - great pictures and stories! You are truely amazing and I am very happy that I had the chance to meet you in person!
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cicerone imposter
 
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Reply Fri 21 Apr, 2006 05:49 pm
Hi urs, Me too! It was my pleasure to meet you at Walter's home town. Let me know if you ever plan a trip to Northern California.
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urs53
 
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Reply Sat 22 Apr, 2006 02:43 am
I will do that, c.i.! We never made it that far west in the US. I think we should do that - now that we even know a couple of people in California...
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cicerone imposter
 
  1  
Reply Sat 22 Apr, 2006 09:00 pm
Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, must be the meat capital of the world; their steaks are huge, tender and delicious. Even half orders are too big for most diners, and the regular order is just out of the question. Since this was my third visit to Buenos Aires, I knew several good restaurants close to our hotel, the Marriott Plaza, on Florida Street, the pedestrian mall stretching for about one mile long, and invited three others to join in the good food - at reasonable prices.

Buenos Aires is one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities reminiscent of Paris, Madrid and many other major cities of Europe, and is the fifth largest city in the world. The many divergent immigrants who arrived in the last century includes Italians and Spaniards. The "tango" dance and music is a consequence of the cultural diversity. Although most speak Spanish, it's Castilian Spanish, a different brand of Spanish most are not used to, but never fear since most also speak English.

Our city tour included La Boca, the Italian section; Recoleta, the upper class section,
Plaza Mayor (location of the Pink Palace and main cathedral), a museum, the Teatro Colon (a tour that included seeing where they make the sets and costumes, the majors and minors practice rooms, and sitting in a balcony section), and the famous Restaurant Tortoni for lunch. We were also treated to dinner and Tango show at Almacen, one of the popular venues in Buenos Aires. Some even went for a Tango lesson that I purposely missed, because of my two left feet. One full day was spent at a Gaucho Ranch for BBQ and horse riding demonstrations. It was fun.

We made a special one day tour to Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay, by hydrofoil. The ride was so smooth, one couldn't tell we were traveling over water. Colonia is a small but attractive city, declared a UNICEF World Heritage Site. I think you agree when you see some of my pictures.


The architecture in Buenos Aires, Florida Street.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxD1006.jpg

Teatro Colon.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxD1020.jpg

At the Gaucho Ranch.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxDchile102.jpg

A home hosted dinner in Buenos Aires. That's grandpa (worked for IBM before retiring) and grandma (was a teacher for one year before becoming a housewife and mother) with grandson.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxD1013.jpg
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cicerone imposter
 
  1  
Reply Sat 22 Apr, 2006 09:06 pm
The Pink Palace.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxDchile079.jpg

Dinner at Almacen Restaurant, and show at the Almacen.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxDchile096.jpg
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Chumly
 
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Reply Sat 22 Apr, 2006 09:13 pm
Great stuff!
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cicerone imposter
 
  1  
Reply Sat 22 Apr, 2006 09:14 pm
Florida Street early in the morning.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxD1028.jpg

Tortoni Restaurant.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxD1024.jpg

Leather seats on the hydrofoil.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxD1003.jpg

Colonia restaurant on main square.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxD1002.jpg
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cicerone imposter
 
  1  
Reply Sat 22 Apr, 2006 09:35 pm
Our hotel in Santa Cruz, Chile.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxDchile072.jpg

Dolls at the museum in Buenos Aires.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxD1012.jpg

From the Rose Garden in Buenos Aires.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxD1037.jpg

Our cruise in Tigre before our departure for Igacu Falls.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxD1042.jpg
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urs53
 
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Reply Sun 23 Apr, 2006 09:42 am
Great pictures, C.I.! Florida Street could also be in Gothenburg, Sweden - or somewhere in Germany, I guess. Your hotel looks nice :-)
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Letty
 
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Reply Sun 23 Apr, 2006 09:47 am
Watching, C.I. welcome back.
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cicerone imposter
 
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Reply Sun 23 Apr, 2006 10:00 am
Igacu Falls was the highlight of this trip. What can one say about Igacu with words? We saw it from all the angles possible, so please enjoy what I saw during our two day stay.

This is the approach to the falls on the very long bridge system built there, but one must take two trains to reach the entrance to this part of the falls.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxD1051.jpg
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cicerone imposter
 
  1  
Reply Sun 23 Apr, 2006 05:56 pm
Map of the falls.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxD1087.jpg

A view from close to our hotel.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxD1099.jpg

Closer to the falls.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxD1057.jpg

The widest falls in the world.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/imposter222/southamericaxD1104.jpg
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xingu
 
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Reply Sun 23 Apr, 2006 05:58 pm
Nice pictures. Looked like you had a grand time.
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cicerone imposter
 
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Reply Sun 23 Apr, 2006 06:03 pm
I always have a "grand time" on my journeys. Never visited a country I didn't like.
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