Santiago de Chile

Andes

So when I originally booked this trip I really just thought of Santiago as a quick stopover on my way back home, but I was pleasantly surprised by how awesome it was and the weather was PERFECT. From Punta del Este, I flew to BA and then on to Santiago. I only had about 48 hours in Santiago, but like other spots I made the most of my time and really got to see a lot and enjoy the city, though I definitely could have spent a lot more time there. Most of the photos below give a taste of the different places that I visited in Santiago. The weather was in the 80s, food was amazing, many of the museums were open and much like the other cities it was extremely easy to get around on foot and see as much as possible. The last morning of my trip was spent walking to the top of Cerro San Cristobal, which provided a great view from the top. That was definitely one of the highlights of the city, but there were plenty more too.

Plaza de Armas

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

Broncos?!

piano spider! Museo de Artes Visuales

Cerro Santa Lucia

view from Cerro Santa Lucia

Barrio Lastarria

Catedral Metropolitana

Cementerio (yes another cemetery)

random CO love at the produce market!

completo! aka hot dog will all the things

lomo a la pobre (steak, eggs and fries!)

Cerro San Cristobal

view from Cerro San Cristobal (smog anyone?!)

London y Paris!?

Uruguay

tree or car?

Colonia

faro en Colonia

I was on this trip!

There is a bit of blue sky in these photos... yes it was summer in South America and I was very happy to be missing some cold weather happening in Colorado during this time... From BA I hopped on a ferry to Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay. This is was a quick trip across the Rio de la Plata. Colonia is a tiny, quiet town, but also a hot spot for travelers to drop by on their way to the rest of Uruguay. I spent one night relaxing in this beautiful town before moving along to Montevideo the next morning. The climbable lighthouse and cobblestone streets were probably the highlight of Colonia. I also had some sunset/river view beers, a tasty chivito (local steak sandwich with everything), an awesome burger, dropped some money at the casino and visited the picturesque squares around town. Let me tell you it was a world away from BA, even though you could see the faint outline of skyscrapers across the Rio.

From Colonia a quick 2 hour bus landed me in Montevideo. The city was much more chill than BA, but obviously much crazier than Colonia. The city was gorgeous and much like BA I really spent a lot of time wandering the streets and seeing as much and I could. Carnival runs for a long time in MVD, so I did get to catch a little of that action. The night I was there the neighborhood that I was staying in had a celebration. and it was very fun to experience. A parade of drums, huge flags, costumes, dancing, singing, fireworks, local bbqs, beer and colorful costumes. Definitely glad I stumbled upon the party that took over the neighborhood.

The next morning I took another short bus from MVD to Punta del Este. PDE was my beach stop on this journey and with all the exploring and walking around cities I was due for a few days at the beach. I found a place to stay a few minutes walk from the beach and really enjoyed the sun and hanging on the beach. PDE was a surprisingly busy resort town in Uruguay, but because it was summer, lots of local families were there on vacation. The beaches were beautiful and they also had a very cool "hand on the sand" sculpture that is relatively famous.  

MVD Rambla

street band MVD

delicious gnocchi

carnival en ciudad vieja

MVD

MVD

la mano en la arena

beach clothing vendors cracked me up!

MVD from the airplane

last morning on the beach

BA

Recoleta

Evita family mausoleum

empanadas y cerveza!

La Boca

street fair

Obelisco

Does this blog even still exist??? Apparently so... here we go... I finally made a return trip to South America! A couple things fell in line to make that possible... 60k airline miles, a desire to take some time off work and of course new places to explore. The new places did not disappoint! My first stop was Buenos Aires. I had been to a few places in Argentina before, but not BA, so I considered it a must as part of this trip. During my three days in BA I probably walked 30-40 miles. Big city, lotsa territory to cover and lots to see! Luckily I found a place to stay that was right in the middle of the city to make walking easy. I was just blocks from the Obelisco (mini Washington Monument) and Teatro Colon (famous theater). Some of the museums that I planned to visit while I was in BA were closed but there was still plenty to see. Some of the highlights were the Cementerio de la Recoleta (a cemetery where many famous Argentinians are buried), the La Boca neighborhood (touristy but colorful hood and home to Boca Juniors a soccer team), Plaza de Mayo (the central plaza in BA also home to Casa Rosada - Evita balcony), the San Telmo street fair (endless artisan crafts and junk to look at!), plus a bunch of other random places along the way. Of course while I was in Argentina I did also eat plenty of beef... it is everywhere! And I also sampled some national beer, local craft beer and a bit of vino. Dinner time in BA is very late, usually like around 11pm or midnight, give or take an hour. I couldn't help think that my dad would starve there! Overall the city was clean, huge, easy to navigate, lively, pedestrian-friendly and colorful.

tango anyone?

Pope Francis love all over

fake ottomans for sitting all over

Casa Rosada