A New Adventure - to the East

We have been home now for over six months and it seems like South America is both far in the past and also just in the recent past.  We had experiences there which we refer to often and think about regularly...and in some ways we feel that our experiences were not so long ago.  However, the last six months have been full of the adventures of every day life, and when we remember all of these, we realize that our South American experiences were indeed six months ago!  Time goes by quickly!

In any case, after a spring season reconnecting with our friends and family and a summer full of cottage experiences and renovations we decided to take on a new and very different type of adventure.  The first step for us was to return Lucy (the dog who had been living with us for three years while her owners were on assignment overseas) back to her owners.  Although we had become quite attached to Lucy, we were happy knowing that she would be back with her family.  In planning for her departure from us, we took her to the cottage and captured her last weekend with us enjoying her as she joined us in the water chasing her ball.

We decided that, as we were no longer obliged to take care of pets, we would start another adventure...but this one to be very different.  In contrast to South America, we decided to forego the extensive planning and to jump in the car and drive east, with no specific itinerary, and -gasp- no reservations!  Our goal in general...visit Gaspé; visit a friend in PEI; see a bit of Northern New Brunswick.

We left Ottawa without incident...and made our way to Montreal, where construction forced an unexpected detour which was handled without a problem.  Then we headed toward Quebec City.  We had intended to stop at Riviere-du-Loup, but a torrential downpour forced us off the road in Montmagny, Quebec.  We had no trouble getting a room in a local hotel and marked ourselves fortunate to have the flexibility to stop where we need to rather than where we have to.  What a lovely diversion this turned out to be - in a picturesque little town.  After a lovely meal we made our way down to the St. Lawrence River`s edge and were treated to an idyllic view of waterfalls and a wonderful sunset. 

Tomorrow we expect to be on the Gaspé Peninsula enjoying the new sights presented to us along our, as yet undetermined route.

Chile

At the crack of dawn we bid farewell to Katie and Manuel and to Bariloche as well.  We had arranged to take a trip through the lakes of the lake district and to enter Chile.  It was an exciting opportunity to see the lakes we had admired from various high vantage points on the previous days...but from a different perspective.   We were not disappointed as the scenery was again gorgeous.

We cleared immigration and customs in the middle of the trip in a small village with a population of less than 150.  Once done we transited a lake with emerald green waters and with tremendous views of surrounding volcanoes.

Finally...before we arrived in Puerto Montt (our final destination) we stopped to view waterfalls...some of the most unusual we have ever seen because of the unique rock formations around them...large smooth lava formations.

Saying Goodbye to Argentina

It is hard to believe that this final leg of our adventure is over.  We leave Buenos Aires today after our fourth and final week culminates in an incredible visit to Teatro Colon and a concert by the Simon Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela.

Our fourth week has been filled with visits to sights in the city, although it was quieter than previous weeks as it was holy week and thanks to the combination of holiday days and religious celebrations the city became relatively quiet as the residents took advantage of some down time.  Nevertheless we continued our explorations.

We visited the Palacio Borolo.  This building was built in the 1930's and is filled with symbology related to Dante's Divine Comedy.  At the top of its 22 floors there is a lighthouse...which feels so bizzare as it is in the middle of such a huge city.  We climbed to the top and took advantage of the height to snap some photos.

The building is 22 stories high, so it gives a great view of the city and the River Plate

The staircase

This amusing sign warns against spitting on the floor by order of municipal laws

The exterior of the building is truly palace-like

Next we took a walk through the Plaza Congesso where there are a number of very lovely statues, with the congess building dominating the view.

A replica of "The Thinker"

Congress in the background

The Plaza is used to walk and exercise dogs

We also took advantage of a couple of museums including the bicentennial museum and the National History Museum, both giving a retrospective of the very early days of Buenos Aires and of Argentina itself.  We topped off our visits with a trip to Palacio Aguas Corrientes.  This building houses the water tower which served the city for 20 years.  The interior of the building is unremarkable, but the exterior is incredible.  It is clad with tiles produced by Royal Doulton and overall it looks like a palace.  We learned that this is the case because the building was intended to be a showpiece and, as it sits in an upscale neighbourhood, it was made to "blend in" and to reduce the fears of leakage.  In the end it is a huge metal building clad with a beautiful facade.

One of the Doulton Tiles used to decorate the exterior of the building

The tiles were beautiful.  Some were glazed but most are not.  The entire facade is covered with tiles all of which were imported from Britain.

The museum of history is housed in an old home on beautiful grounds which have been turned into the park at the end of our street

We continued our efforts to visit interesting restaurants...

We stopped for a coffee at a "bar notable" called 36 Billiards, so we shouldn't have been surprised to find an old fashioned and very active billiards room in the basement!

Los Violetas was one of the cafes we tried this week

Katie, framed by one of the wonderful stained-glass windows

We also visited the places nearby which have become our regular haunts.

Add Our local market...the oldest in San Telmo

One of the cafes we regularly visited on the corner just down the street from our apartment

We topped off the week with our visit to the symphony in Teatro Colon.  This theatre is enormous, with room for more than 3,000 spectators and we were on the fifth balcony looking down at a huge stage which accommodated more than 150 musicians under the direction of G. Dudamel.  The orchestra consisted of Venezuelan youths between the ages of 18 and 28 and they were wonderful.  At the end the applause was thunderous and they played 4 encores to everyones delight.

So, after a trip of over 100 days, all that remains is the packing and the flight home.  This will be arduous as we must get all of our stuff together, say goodbye to Katie and Manuel and take three flights, including one overnight flight back to Ottawa.  In many ways we are looking forward to the familiarity of home, but in others we are sad that our big adventure has come to an end.   However, the next adventure can't begin until this one ends...

Third Week-Buenos Aries

Our third week in BA has been packed full of activities.  We have made it our goal to visit different areas of the city and also to do some shopping.  This is a great place to buy leather goods, so many of us have bought leather jackets and/or purses.  Janice continued to enjoy the very active night life and she and her friend took a side trip to Montevideo and Colonia in Uruguay.  They left part way through the week after many adventures.

We are now coming to the end of our trip...the last week.   The time has flown and we can hardly believe that it is almost over.   We are both looking forward to coming home, more than we had expected to.  Our last week will be spent taking in some last minute sightseeing and preparing for the trip home.

One night we were treated to a spectacular lightening show from our balconies

Calle Florida...the shopping district is full of people, restaurants, leather shops and souvenir  shops

On Calle Florida there are many talented buskers

Galarias Pacifico is a fantastic and very upscale shopping mall.  In one part of it the ceiling is decorated with incredible paintings.

The mall was once an arcade of shops which have been converted.  This makes the archetecture very interesting inside the mall.

We took a day to go and visit the Japanese Gardens where, in addition to the gardens themselves there was a special orchid show.

The scenery in the gardens is lovely...but not so tranquil as this picture suggests...there were people everywhere

The Koi were huge

The orchids were lovely

On our way out we saw lovely birds with scarlet heads on the ground and in the trees.

On another excursion we went to see a professional tango show.  

We went for a lovely meal the day that Janice left

We topped off the week with a visit to the El Zanjon which is a restored colonial home which is used for corporate events.  This home is notable because during the renovations tunnels were discovered below it.  These tunnels were built as a means to control water in a creek and to prevent flooding.  They date back to the very beginnings of the city in the 18th century.  These have also been excavated and now form a type of museum with a number of exhibits showing life in Buenos Aires at the time of the building of the brick tunnels.

The original staircase has been restored

A view of the colonial home, which has now been restored and reinforced to permit for use

The once open courtyard is now covered with a glass roof, allowing sunshine to pour in

Just up the street from this building is the narrowest home in Buenos Aires.  This is only 2 meters wide and was part of an old colonial home which was given to slaves who were freed when their owners fled to the country to avoid a yellow-fever outbreak.  This building has also been restored, but is not yet open to the public.

The narrowest home in Buenos Aires