Backpacking South America

Leaving Buenos Airess after our second stay wasn’t an easy task – but it was again time to move on.  Colonia, our first stop in Uruguay, was delightful.  Set peacefully along the banks of Rio Plata directly across from Buenos Aires (don’t underestimate the distance – it’s 3 hours on the ferry and 1.25 hours on the catamaran).

View set in FLICKR

Colonia has a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish colonial houses and buildings, a storied history and a nice lighthouse.  We spent the afternoon wandering the cobbled streets of the old city.   Interesting sidenote, if the rooftop of the house is slanted, it was built by the Portuguese.  If it’s flat, it was built by the Spanish.

At the end of the day, we found a nice bench to watch the sun set over the distant Buenos Aires’ skyscrapers.

The following day, we caught the local bus to visit a winery a few kilometers outside of town.  While the wine was not particularly interesting or even enjoyable – the bodega itself had a rich family tradition and history.

So close!!! It was the first race we were betting on.  We had watched the process and felt like we understood the race program well enough to at least put down a wager.  Based on our limited experience at the tracks in Boston, we knew we wanted an Exacta Box with 3 horses.

We picked our horses, but got a bit confused at the window and felt the pressure of the line behind us.  It turns out, we were betting a straight Trifecta.  Oh well, maybe we’ll get lucky.

The horses set off and we couldn’t believe it when we saw our three horses pulling away on the approach to the finish.  They crossed the line in a group – could we possibly have just gotten our Trifecta! We waited in suspense to see the final finishing order.

As they posted the results, we looked at each other in disbelief. We had the 2nd and 3rd place horses’ order reversed.  Had we boxed them in, that one bet could have paid for a meal!  We turned around dejected, but hopeful that we could actually make money in the evening… but it wasn’t in the cards.

Despite learning the lingo, and making our bets correctly, we just didn’t have the knowledge.

That’s what we heard at the Boca Jrs game – perhaps the most famous futbol club in Argentina and the former team of Argentine’s most loved and second most hated personality (behind Kristina Kirschner) in Argentina – Diego Maradona*.

We were fortunate enough to make it to a Boca Jrs home game recently to experience the energy and passion firsthand.  We went with a group instead of finding our own way into the game, dealing with scalpers and navigating the slightly dangerous streets of La Boca.  So, we piled into the bus and made our way towards the stadium.  There must have been more than 60 other people (we just kept picking up more and more people…the seats were full and there was no more room in the aisles with all the people standing.

Prior to the game, we made a stop at a bar in La Boca where they fed us as much pizza and beer as they could, probably to encourage us to sing louder and have a good time.  They desperately tried to get us to sing the team songs, but that is a bit tricky when there are 12 songs/chants.  After consuming more beer than pizza, everybody was corralled back onto the bus and shuttled a few blocks to the game.

One of the amazing things we’ve encountered throughout our journey is the hospitality of Argentines. Whether it’s a free ride, tips and advice, dinners or even free nights in an apartment, we’ve been spoiled by the generosity of this country.

One such example was our recent stopover in Rosario. While in Mendoza, we met Alejandro and Andrea. After talking to them for a while, they offered us a room in their apartment if we ever passed through Rosario. A few weeks later, they dropped us an email reaffirming their offer. They weren’t just being nice, they actually were nice.

So, on our way back to Buenos Aires, we made a stop in Rosario, which wasn’t in our original itinerary, but how could we refuse?

Rosario is the second largest city in Argentina, but is overshadowed by Buenos Aires, a quick 4 hour bus ride away. However, the peace of the city cannot be overstated. With wide walkways through town and along the river, lots of green space and an impressive plaza – Rosario was the calm before the storm that is Buenos Aires.

Our friends Alejandro and Andrea were very gracious and opened their apartment to us, giving us our own room.

While in Cordoba for a short layover, we decided to take a day trip to the nearby (1.5 hour bus ride) Villa Belgrano – a town founded in the 1920’s by some entrepreneurial Germans.  My main interest in visiting the town was to find some good microbrews in Argentina.

As soon as we pulled into town, it was clear that we had arrived at our destination.  The homes and businesses were all built in the alpine tudor style.  Of all the towns built to resemble a foreign place, Villa Belgrano seemed to do it with at least some tact.  While not feeling totally natural, it also didn’t feel overly contrived.   Sure, Main Street survives on tourists, but it didn’t feel hokey.  The only knock was that it was hard to find what I felt was a traditional German sausage…

After casually browsing the city, we grabbed a bite to eat and decided to climb a nearby hill/mountain while the town slipped into the afternoon siesta.  It was an enjoyable hike, but we were a bit amazed by the decision to have the trail go straight up the face of the first hill.  Once on the hill, we walked along the crest to the top of Cerro de la Virgen.