Getting to Buenos Aires
- For starters Nicole could not put her pants on fast enough and we missed the bus to get to the bus station in puerto iguazu...so we took a shady taxi...which katie freaked out a lil bit. So we decided on a ´´cama´´ style bus which means the seats recline 160º and we get a blanket, pillow, and hot dinner. Dont be foooled. the food was completely suspect...breaded ´´mystery meat´´ and a crustless ham sandwhich...katies fav! we also were served acid wine...and the best were the music videos in the morning (nicole was stoked to wake up to her music video rituals) R. Kelley was the best....we slept well...except for the half a dozen interruptions by the argentinian police who inspected everyones passports except ours. After 20hours we arrived in buenos aires in the afternoon. we finally found the ´´subte´´ subway and then proceded to get ourselves lost for 45minutes within 2 blocks from our destination....apparently we make the immpossible ...possible. we failed to book the hostel in buenos aires because we thought it would be vacant...we were wrong. so we were referred to their sister hostel...Milhouse avenida.
Milhouse was a very spacious clean hostel....although nicole thought she was going to collapse the bunk bed on katie everytime she moved. we got our shit together...ate lunch...nicole had a tortilla espana(fyi it is not what u think...it is egg and potato...frittata) and katie had a chicken sandwhich...with the neck still attached...yum! we visited casa rosada (the pink palace which evita gave her speech on the balcony) and saw many historic buildings. Buenos aires is famous for having the widest street (about 12 lanes) and we never managed to cross it all at once...despite our many attempts.
Our first roommate and the ever continuing roommate: Shay (from holland and interning at a law firm) and Asaf (which nicole always called ahkmad- is Israeli and just got out of the army, he also loved the BUffet)FYI Israelis are all over South America. They took us to our first club in buenos aires...Crobar. We arrived at the club at 2am!!!! We had to borrow our new roommates shoes... nicole only made it until about 5:30am due to pre-gameing and being tired. Katie lasted until 7am and saw daylight as she left the club. RIDICULOUS! Nightlife here is crazy...you could go out till noon everyday pretty much. We went to out of couple of times which killed us the next day...slept till like 2 pm. Nicole was the biggest sweetheart bc Katie never made it to breakfast so she would get it for her...TRUE LOVE RIGHT THERE!!
Since we were in Buenos Aires for 9 days here is what we did accorinding to the neighborhood:
City Center¨: Where our hostel was...we ventured to a tango show one night. It was spectacular...although we could have done without the middleage soloist singers...ONLY DANCING PLZ! There was this amazing routine in which the girl was blindfolded the whole time... the guy was throwing & swinging her all over the place. It was amazing!! So to minimize on cost we made dinner a few times at the hostel. On our way home one night from the grocery store... one guy yelled in broken english to Katie..¨Hey those clothes look good on you...they look even better...on my floor¨...umm best compliment ever but really???? she be breaking hearts....haha One day, there was this crazy protest...we think it was bc of the union or something no one seemed to know. But they were shoot off canons and light fires all over the place.
San Telmo: Sunday we checked out the huge market and paroused the crafts and katie got the sweetest bag ever!!! we had lunch at this amazing restaurant, called vintage bar. Nicole had the best pork ribs! a couple nights later we went back and ate parailla (argentinian bbq) with tons of different cuts of meat, potato medley,salad, wine and a chocolate tower...we were stuffed. and we almost got mugged for our doggy bag on the way home by 2 teenage boys, which katie saved nicole by pushing him well in to next week and told him to get the fuck off....yahhhh katie is one bad mama jama!!!!
Palermo: Super cute posh neighborhood (think soho) it hurt katie´s wallet pretty bad...she bought 2 of the cutest dresses!! and nicole bought pants (bri and josh..yes nicole bought the dump pants!) which she wears all the time! and rocked at a bar. we had coffee and lemonade and an apple tart at a cute cafe...very posh. when nicole went to pay...it turned out the bank in puerto iguazu gave her a fake 100....and now has an expensive souvenir. We also had lunch (very late) at Bio an adorable veggie restaurant we stuffed ourselves silly...it was so delicious. we layed out at the botanical gardens one sunny day and watched a teen photo shoot...haha. they also had some very interesting statues...by interesting i mean a boar tits being suckled by 2 children....whatever argentina.... there was the most adorable cupcake store that we ate red velvet cupcakes at....scrumptious!
Puerto Madero: (think soma) We walked along the docks and envied the cutest family with 3 blond little hippie boys. So....we never really figured out the acceptable eating times in B.A (Buenos Aires) they eat dinner at 10pm and lunch around 2ish....and coffee and cake around 4pm...needless to say we seemed to eat lunch at 4pm....so there were usually vacant resturants when we ate. We ate at Sushi Club...a nice change from eating meat. the next time we went here we were drenched from walking in the rain to the ferry terminal to try to buy tickets to Uruguay....needless to say we didnt get the tickets and walked home in the rain. not a good day to say the least...
Recoleta: The richy-rich area (Pac heights). We travelled to the cemetary where Evita is buried and walked among the beautiful/eerie tombs of BAs elite. On our quest to find evita we encountered 2 older men also in search of evita, they were quite the dynamic duo and very stoked when we finally found her. They had 1 digital and 2 back up disposable cameras for the occasion. they had a 10minute photo shoot with the tomb. CLASSIC. We were freezing so we popped into the design center and then found the huge metal flower sculpture that opens and closes with the sun. Katie passed up on a beautiful pair of boots...shes still bummed.
People we met: We met alot of people in Buenos Aires...some good...some bad..but always great stories. So besides Shay and Asaf. We also had some other great roommates later in the week. Our two favorites hand down were Fabi and Maycal (Micheal), designers from Sao Paulo. They were super welcoming and as Nicole would say we were vibing with them...We really want to go back to Sao Paulo to see them!! There was also a french canadian that stayed with us for a night, he was a odd duck! Then ¨the shitter¨ replaced him...ahhh William.. 32 year old profession French skiier. And yes, he was the typical true to form frenchman..arrogant and self centered..who loved nicole´s butdunkadunk especially in the dump pants! He also liked to clog up the toilet early in morning. Luckily for us we were still asleep...but the handyman had a plunger 12 ft long he was use to the french! Nicole found her edward...although several inches shorter then she hoped but he could definitely keep up with her on the dance floor. She also felt her heart twitter over one of the workers in the hostel, Augustine. Unfortunately he was a man whore and she reminded him of his ex-girlfriend which he actually called her name to Nicole´s face..which killed it! We had a couple of resurface encounters like usually: Mike, the english man from Ilha Grande we saw again for the millionth time at a dance part at the hostel. The paramedic, Simon resurface as well at another dance party. And this guy from Igauzu who we never actually met but definitely remembered us and refered to us as the ¨nerdy girls¨ from Igauzu. Though when Katie tried to call him out on the backhanded compliment, he said no take it as a compliment like ¨hot libraians¨...wtf!!! Though he is the owner of a bar in Austin if we ever want to hit that up. Nicole did threaten a london guy´s life by stating she would bomb his ass...that ended the convo. There was this super weird old asian guy staying at our hostel would just watch tv and make himself dinner.
The last day sucked...it was so rainy and we couldn´t do anything! We were suppose to leave but the ferry was full. After the day from hell...we arrived in Uruguay...fyi very cold...fill u in, in a few!
-Katie and Nicole (looks and personality)
ps - We have been gone 1 month!!! woo hoo!!
Might have malaria from Igauzu bc apparently we were suppose to take the pills...opps! We will find out in 2 weeks! hhahahha nicole is freaking out...
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Don´t Go Chasing Waterfalls
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A VERY LONG POST
abridged version- paraty---sao paulo---foz de iguaçu---argentina. boom.
We left Ilha Grande on Friday to go to Paraty. The bus ride to Paraty was quite interesting...2 hours in a basic local bus. We had a little bit of a mind fuck, half way through the ride these 3 english girls with gigantic rolling suitcases started to cause a ruckus because they thought the young boy sitting next to him was going to rob them. Yes, they should have been worried and cautious but geez what a scene did they create!!! They began to talk to the bus driver and they seemed they wanted action to be done against this young boy. Eventhough they were freaking out the girl sitting next to him still stayed there eventhough there were many open seats. They were worried of their gigantic rolling suitcases....hmmm because those don´t make you a target at all. So basically, we were sittnig behind listening and watching this all happen so this just cause us to be a little scattered brain coming off the bus.
After the bus experience, we arrived really not sure where we were going. So we began to wonder around looking for this hostel. We had a map of the city but it was only of the historic square area which unknown to us was not where we were trying to stay. So after asking directions, being lost and finally a young women took pity on us and helped us out, we arrive at your hostel. It was this cute, funky place that had a sweet courtyard filled with hammocks. We have definitely decided hammocks are where it is at! Paraty main square has the most amazing colonial style buildings with the worst streets. I swear, I was paying more attention to the road then my surroundings for fear of falling from the uneven cobblestone. The place reminded us both of Sausalito, it had amazing art and artisan crafts. I swear if I become rich and want to decorate my house this is where I will come. We walked around the town wondering in and out of shops wishing we had money or space to bring stuff back. We found this cute creperie with the nicest people who worked there. I think we liked them more for the fact that at first they thought we were portuguese....yes tricking the locals! Much like Europe and far from the US, people love PDA!!! Oh especially in parks! It kinda unsettling watching two teenagers with braces making out on benches...those uncomfortable moments where you should look away but just can´t help to stare and make a ongoing commentary like a sports announcement! Paraty is also known to havwe amazing surrounding beaches though we decided that we should move on and that should be kept for an another time. Can´t go everywhere!
The next day, we took a bus to Sao Paulo. And man traveling is a small world! We keep running into people we have seen at previous hostels and such! Brie and J, Slash from Rio and some others were in Ilha Grande staying at the same hostel but unfortunately no ginga! We finally talked to them right as we were departing...slash is from LA and works in PAsadena! small world! Then on the bus to Sao Paulo we ran into the South African and the Englishman. The bus was quite nice... Katie had a row to herself and Nicole had the luxury to sit next to a very large man with roomy elbows. We stayed at this place called LimeTime. We were able to navigate the metro with ease and found the place with no worries...actually katie walked right by and then nicole actually saw the gigantic lime on the side of the building. For my defense, it was dark and I couldn´t tell it was a lime!!! The bus ride was longer then we thought, and we were absolutely exhausted. So we had plan to go out and grab dinner and drinks in this section called Villa Magadalena. Though after getting off the bus, we got lost and we wondering around dark streets going down stairs where streets should be! Nicole swears she had a vision earlier that we might get shanked on the streets especially when the pizza delivery man asked for directions! Luckily enough katie had her clipped on woodcutter, knife and nail filler on hand for protection! Finally we managed to find a restaurant to eat at and it was a mexican restaurant, which surprisily enough the food was really tasty and flavorful. Though the waitress was a bitch and a half. We could figure out if it was because they were about to close, after all it was like 11:30 but then more people came to eat so it wasn´t that. So who knows, but she didn´t like us! After finally eating, we were soo tired and katie was coughing up a lung of green mucus so we decided to go back to the hostel. Nicole proceeded to get harassed by one of workers of the hostel for not going out on a Saturday night in Sao Paulo.
Sunday, we went to the Asian street market. It was amazing!!! Ate delicious food for cheap! We had a bean paste pancake, fresh squeezed jucies, shrimp tempura pancake and a soba noodle thing that wasn´t too hot probably had alot of msg. Nicole once again got harassed by a deaf man as Katie was peeing in MacDonalds. Apparently she is beautiful and asking where her beautiful short hair friend was...Slightly creepy! We wondered around the ¨mall¨ which was filled with everything from phones, watches and shoes that had obviously falled off the back of the truck to japanese anime shops and then a out of place gothic shop where I tried to convince Nicole to by a corset! Unfortunatly she doesn´t listen to me. Load up on MSG, we decided we need to take a nap so we TRIED to find this park which is suppose to be like Central Park. Lets just say, we walked ALOT and went on many detours bc maps do not like to give you all the strees!!! We did find the place and took a nice relaxing break by the pond surrounded once again by spandex filled PDA.
Later that night, we took a overnight bus to Foz de Igaçu. We thought we would have time prior to go to the market and grab some provisions but our time management wasn´t that great. And we had to eat at the bus station, not to bad ate some Bob´s, fast food chain and at this pasta place. Though when we arrived on the bus we were embraced by the smell of salami from our neighbors who had gone to the market prior. The smell of salami and feet is really not pleasent. The 20 hr bus ride was not bad though I think we made some enemies because Nicole was reading with her light on at 9 pm while everyone else was trying to fall asleep or watch the indiana Jones movie dubbed in portuguese.Taking the bus, is always a fun game of ¨do we get off here?¨. Bus stations never seem to say like hey this is Foz de Igaçu, there are no welcome to the cornfield signs here. We opted to take a taxi to our hostel instead of taking three different buses. The hostel was ok though since it is the off season when we arrived it felt alittle like the hotel in the Shining...vacant. We dropped our shit and head the falls on the Brazilian side. Foz de Igaçu are these enormous waterfalls that are located in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The Brazilian side is has the best overall view.. great panoramic shot of the vast size of these water falls. It made Nicole speechless...a nice surprise! haha jk! We were both dumbfound by the beauty, I don´t think either one of us expected it! The pictures we took will probably not even do it justice. Thank god, Katie had her raincoat and Nicole her emgerency pancho because we got a little wet! We had some first hand experience with Coatis basically a cross between a racoon and an anteater. Man, so they enjoy garbage!! They are little scavengers for food so if you had any you better eat it fast or run...THEY ARE KNOWN TO BITE!!
That night we taught a Brazilian to play the card game speed. We have settled on speed for we have not found any other players for spades and also Katie is kicking Nicole´s ass in speed. So we might be sticking with this game for a bit!!! Too fast for her! The next morning, we woke up bright and early to go to the Argentina side fo the falls. We had the most amazing/ hilarious bus driver from Paraguay who would not stop humming the tune from the Beatles, Yellow Submarine...ahh it was great! We were able to past the Brazilian border with no problem..relief considering our falsified documents to obtain our visas. The falls in Argentina are amazing you could literally spend a couple of days going through all the trails and seeing all the waterfalls. The first couple of hours we were there was alittle bit of a cluster fuck... think schools of childrens running around. It kinda took away from the experience at first. BUT THEN, as we broke away from the tours we got to get up close and personal with DOS HERMANAS. You literally stand like 2 ft away from the waterfall, shooting out water with such velocity that you get soaking wet and barely can keep your contacts in. IT IS SUCH A RUSH!! Everyone that comes out of it is insanely happy. Since we still had a couple of hours before heading back, we decided to take this scenic trail which is good for spotting animals. Once again maps lie! It said it was only 3 km to the waterfall but we didn´t even make it (bc of time) to the fall and it was encrouching on like 6 km. Though along the way I think we found a new species...it was a cross between a rabbit and pig. And of course this was the moment our camera decided it was going to die though we do have a picture of its ass. We basically hauled ass and ran back to the bus for fear of being ¨those people¨ who like to hold up everyone by being late..we were really hoping the mexicans wouldn´t be on time but once again stereotypes fail and the Japanese ended up being last. We had planned on staying on the Argentine side so the bus driver was gracious enough to let us off at our hostel.
Our hostel, Hostel Inn is like a resort. And that night they were celebrating there anniversary and having this big shindig. Lets say, caiprinha and cerversas were had, Nicole got DOWN on the dance floor and Katie woke up with a huge bruise on her leg. So of all the nationalities we have met, everyone seems to be living in the Caymans. We have met like 10 people who live there (haha basically the whole island), all of which are accountants from Australia, South Africa or England. The next morning thank god it was raining so it gave us an excuse to not do much and helped Nicole nurse her hang over. We were a bit productive and went to town mainly bc we needed a bank. Though not thinking ahead, we had no clue where the bank was nor did we have a map of the town. Also, we did not realize that in Argentina they take siesta so nothing was really open. We did eat lunch at this restaurant. The main attraction was the crazy Chilian man who keep talking to everyone. At one point, he took Katie´s hat and was taking about how fashionable he was with the hat, his button down shirt, board shorts and socks and sandals. After lunch, we tried to find a marekt but it was closed due to siesta unfortunately not knowing this we let the bus to go home past us...so then we were stuck in the downpour rain for 20 minutes waiting for the next. Since we were unable to go to the market we ate the hostel. They had a giant bbq, I was really proud of Nicole she ate two large piece of beef and throughly enjoyed it! Ahh the beef, more will come! At dinner, Nicole had the pleasure talking to a Irish man about carbon footprints...basically had a gigantic smile on her face the whole convo. Katie volunteered Nicole to perform some dance routines with the man in the flashy shirt and his two samba dancers wearing very little. Then a giant congo line broke out...it was like an aerobics class mixed in with the limbo. Afterwards we both losted a few games of pool and fooseball.
Now, we are taking a break and relaxing a bit. Tomorrow, I think we are going to Buenos Aires!!! We can´t wait we keep hearing amazing things.
- Nicole & Katie ( the personality and the looks)
ps - Nicole actually said this in referring to herself and her quirks: ¨she is an enigma wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a rhymth¨ oh yes!! this is the girl I´m traveling with!
Sickness update: pink eye clearing for Nicole we finally found her eye drops. Katie is no longer hacking up green mucus. So all that is left is lots of itchy bug bites and massive bruises.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS WE GOT LAUNDRY DONE!!! WOO HOO SUCH AN EXCITEMENT!!
abridged version- paraty---sao paulo---foz de iguaçu---argentina. boom.
We left Ilha Grande on Friday to go to Paraty. The bus ride to Paraty was quite interesting...2 hours in a basic local bus. We had a little bit of a mind fuck, half way through the ride these 3 english girls with gigantic rolling suitcases started to cause a ruckus because they thought the young boy sitting next to him was going to rob them. Yes, they should have been worried and cautious but geez what a scene did they create!!! They began to talk to the bus driver and they seemed they wanted action to be done against this young boy. Eventhough they were freaking out the girl sitting next to him still stayed there eventhough there were many open seats. They were worried of their gigantic rolling suitcases....hmmm because those don´t make you a target at all. So basically, we were sittnig behind listening and watching this all happen so this just cause us to be a little scattered brain coming off the bus.
After the bus experience, we arrived really not sure where we were going. So we began to wonder around looking for this hostel. We had a map of the city but it was only of the historic square area which unknown to us was not where we were trying to stay. So after asking directions, being lost and finally a young women took pity on us and helped us out, we arrive at your hostel. It was this cute, funky place that had a sweet courtyard filled with hammocks. We have definitely decided hammocks are where it is at! Paraty main square has the most amazing colonial style buildings with the worst streets. I swear, I was paying more attention to the road then my surroundings for fear of falling from the uneven cobblestone. The place reminded us both of Sausalito, it had amazing art and artisan crafts. I swear if I become rich and want to decorate my house this is where I will come. We walked around the town wondering in and out of shops wishing we had money or space to bring stuff back. We found this cute creperie with the nicest people who worked there. I think we liked them more for the fact that at first they thought we were portuguese....yes tricking the locals! Much like Europe and far from the US, people love PDA!!! Oh especially in parks! It kinda unsettling watching two teenagers with braces making out on benches...those uncomfortable moments where you should look away but just can´t help to stare and make a ongoing commentary like a sports announcement! Paraty is also known to havwe amazing surrounding beaches though we decided that we should move on and that should be kept for an another time. Can´t go everywhere!
The next day, we took a bus to Sao Paulo. And man traveling is a small world! We keep running into people we have seen at previous hostels and such! Brie and J, Slash from Rio and some others were in Ilha Grande staying at the same hostel but unfortunately no ginga! We finally talked to them right as we were departing...slash is from LA and works in PAsadena! small world! Then on the bus to Sao Paulo we ran into the South African and the Englishman. The bus was quite nice... Katie had a row to herself and Nicole had the luxury to sit next to a very large man with roomy elbows. We stayed at this place called LimeTime. We were able to navigate the metro with ease and found the place with no worries...actually katie walked right by and then nicole actually saw the gigantic lime on the side of the building. For my defense, it was dark and I couldn´t tell it was a lime!!! The bus ride was longer then we thought, and we were absolutely exhausted. So we had plan to go out and grab dinner and drinks in this section called Villa Magadalena. Though after getting off the bus, we got lost and we wondering around dark streets going down stairs where streets should be! Nicole swears she had a vision earlier that we might get shanked on the streets especially when the pizza delivery man asked for directions! Luckily enough katie had her clipped on woodcutter, knife and nail filler on hand for protection! Finally we managed to find a restaurant to eat at and it was a mexican restaurant, which surprisily enough the food was really tasty and flavorful. Though the waitress was a bitch and a half. We could figure out if it was because they were about to close, after all it was like 11:30 but then more people came to eat so it wasn´t that. So who knows, but she didn´t like us! After finally eating, we were soo tired and katie was coughing up a lung of green mucus so we decided to go back to the hostel. Nicole proceeded to get harassed by one of workers of the hostel for not going out on a Saturday night in Sao Paulo.
Sunday, we went to the Asian street market. It was amazing!!! Ate delicious food for cheap! We had a bean paste pancake, fresh squeezed jucies, shrimp tempura pancake and a soba noodle thing that wasn´t too hot probably had alot of msg. Nicole once again got harassed by a deaf man as Katie was peeing in MacDonalds. Apparently she is beautiful and asking where her beautiful short hair friend was...Slightly creepy! We wondered around the ¨mall¨ which was filled with everything from phones, watches and shoes that had obviously falled off the back of the truck to japanese anime shops and then a out of place gothic shop where I tried to convince Nicole to by a corset! Unfortunatly she doesn´t listen to me. Load up on MSG, we decided we need to take a nap so we TRIED to find this park which is suppose to be like Central Park. Lets just say, we walked ALOT and went on many detours bc maps do not like to give you all the strees!!! We did find the place and took a nice relaxing break by the pond surrounded once again by spandex filled PDA.
Later that night, we took a overnight bus to Foz de Igaçu. We thought we would have time prior to go to the market and grab some provisions but our time management wasn´t that great. And we had to eat at the bus station, not to bad ate some Bob´s, fast food chain and at this pasta place. Though when we arrived on the bus we were embraced by the smell of salami from our neighbors who had gone to the market prior. The smell of salami and feet is really not pleasent. The 20 hr bus ride was not bad though I think we made some enemies because Nicole was reading with her light on at 9 pm while everyone else was trying to fall asleep or watch the indiana Jones movie dubbed in portuguese.Taking the bus, is always a fun game of ¨do we get off here?¨. Bus stations never seem to say like hey this is Foz de Igaçu, there are no welcome to the cornfield signs here. We opted to take a taxi to our hostel instead of taking three different buses. The hostel was ok though since it is the off season when we arrived it felt alittle like the hotel in the Shining...vacant. We dropped our shit and head the falls on the Brazilian side. Foz de Igaçu are these enormous waterfalls that are located in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The Brazilian side is has the best overall view.. great panoramic shot of the vast size of these water falls. It made Nicole speechless...a nice surprise! haha jk! We were both dumbfound by the beauty, I don´t think either one of us expected it! The pictures we took will probably not even do it justice. Thank god, Katie had her raincoat and Nicole her emgerency pancho because we got a little wet! We had some first hand experience with Coatis basically a cross between a racoon and an anteater. Man, so they enjoy garbage!! They are little scavengers for food so if you had any you better eat it fast or run...THEY ARE KNOWN TO BITE!!
That night we taught a Brazilian to play the card game speed. We have settled on speed for we have not found any other players for spades and also Katie is kicking Nicole´s ass in speed. So we might be sticking with this game for a bit!!! Too fast for her! The next morning, we woke up bright and early to go to the Argentina side fo the falls. We had the most amazing/ hilarious bus driver from Paraguay who would not stop humming the tune from the Beatles, Yellow Submarine...ahh it was great! We were able to past the Brazilian border with no problem..relief considering our falsified documents to obtain our visas. The falls in Argentina are amazing you could literally spend a couple of days going through all the trails and seeing all the waterfalls. The first couple of hours we were there was alittle bit of a cluster fuck... think schools of childrens running around. It kinda took away from the experience at first. BUT THEN, as we broke away from the tours we got to get up close and personal with DOS HERMANAS. You literally stand like 2 ft away from the waterfall, shooting out water with such velocity that you get soaking wet and barely can keep your contacts in. IT IS SUCH A RUSH!! Everyone that comes out of it is insanely happy. Since we still had a couple of hours before heading back, we decided to take this scenic trail which is good for spotting animals. Once again maps lie! It said it was only 3 km to the waterfall but we didn´t even make it (bc of time) to the fall and it was encrouching on like 6 km. Though along the way I think we found a new species...it was a cross between a rabbit and pig. And of course this was the moment our camera decided it was going to die though we do have a picture of its ass. We basically hauled ass and ran back to the bus for fear of being ¨those people¨ who like to hold up everyone by being late..we were really hoping the mexicans wouldn´t be on time but once again stereotypes fail and the Japanese ended up being last. We had planned on staying on the Argentine side so the bus driver was gracious enough to let us off at our hostel.
Our hostel, Hostel Inn is like a resort. And that night they were celebrating there anniversary and having this big shindig. Lets say, caiprinha and cerversas were had, Nicole got DOWN on the dance floor and Katie woke up with a huge bruise on her leg. So of all the nationalities we have met, everyone seems to be living in the Caymans. We have met like 10 people who live there (haha basically the whole island), all of which are accountants from Australia, South Africa or England. The next morning thank god it was raining so it gave us an excuse to not do much and helped Nicole nurse her hang over. We were a bit productive and went to town mainly bc we needed a bank. Though not thinking ahead, we had no clue where the bank was nor did we have a map of the town. Also, we did not realize that in Argentina they take siesta so nothing was really open. We did eat lunch at this restaurant. The main attraction was the crazy Chilian man who keep talking to everyone. At one point, he took Katie´s hat and was taking about how fashionable he was with the hat, his button down shirt, board shorts and socks and sandals. After lunch, we tried to find a marekt but it was closed due to siesta unfortunately not knowing this we let the bus to go home past us...so then we were stuck in the downpour rain for 20 minutes waiting for the next. Since we were unable to go to the market we ate the hostel. They had a giant bbq, I was really proud of Nicole she ate two large piece of beef and throughly enjoyed it! Ahh the beef, more will come! At dinner, Nicole had the pleasure talking to a Irish man about carbon footprints...basically had a gigantic smile on her face the whole convo. Katie volunteered Nicole to perform some dance routines with the man in the flashy shirt and his two samba dancers wearing very little. Then a giant congo line broke out...it was like an aerobics class mixed in with the limbo. Afterwards we both losted a few games of pool and fooseball.
Now, we are taking a break and relaxing a bit. Tomorrow, I think we are going to Buenos Aires!!! We can´t wait we keep hearing amazing things.
- Nicole & Katie ( the personality and the looks)
ps - Nicole actually said this in referring to herself and her quirks: ¨she is an enigma wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a rhymth¨ oh yes!! this is the girl I´m traveling with!
Sickness update: pink eye clearing for Nicole we finally found her eye drops. Katie is no longer hacking up green mucus. So all that is left is lots of itchy bug bites and massive bruises.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS WE GOT LAUNDRY DONE!!! WOO HOO SUCH AN EXCITEMENT!!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Rio and beyond...
So we are still alive and kicking....here is what we have been doing...
In rio...we met Brazilian friends that taught us how to play a brazilian version of kings cup...now we know how to say one duck in a lake in portuguese...we played a lot of spades as well due to the rainy weather....nicole and mr. clean kicked some major ass....while B and katie held their own as well....the game is to be continued....with 'mooseknuckle' atttempting the greatest comeback to 'the great white hope'. The rainy days allowed for wild and beautiful nights...esp. in LApa...which was in the center of rio and was THE PLACE to be on a friday...literally it felt like everyone and their mom was getting down at lapa. we went to a mambo/samba club called democratica....which was absolutely amazing. they had a live 8 piece band playing. it felt like we were in a scene in dirty dancing havana nights [kathryn...]. katie had to fend off several suitors because of her amazing skills....the next day we all took a city tour...starting with JESUS THE REDEEMER. which was breathtaking, huge and had amazing panoramic views of the city. not to mention THE BEST chicken and cheese pastels! (josh...u know what im talking about). we then saw the site of where carnival takes place....the soccer stadium and the cathedral. then we went to sugar loaf (the pictures we posted) and it started to get foggy when we were there ....it felt as if we were entering a mystical abyss....later that night we went to the sports bar next door and watched the argentica vs. brazil game... brazil won 3-1...and im glad for that because i think someone would have died that night in that bar if brazil didnt win. it was quite the experience. the next day it rained...so we kept the spades game going and decided to hit up this whore house at night....no not a real one!!! come on people!!! it was a club bbq place where we enjoyed feijoda...a brazilian bbq with rice, beans, kale, farro, and meat. it was DELICIous. we think we might have eaten an ear as well....we played count the gringos in the club and we counted four...katie,,,nicole...brie and josh...josh was a hit with this one cougar who was about to pounce on him if brie had not have been so cute. once again...suitors were afoot for the looks and the personality and many hearts were broken that night...none of them being ours...lets just say there were some ugos...the night was amazing....samba...samba rock...funk.....lots of sweat...dirty ass feet...and good times. by the way./..when you want to buy a drink from the bar you have to first buy a ticket at a seperate window to get a ticket to give to the bartender...just f.y.i. we then decided to enjoy the beach one last time. which was amazing. more butt and mooseknuckles then needed in a lifetime...we did better with fending off vendors. josh however did not make his sand chair this time....but we befriended a brazilian child...we miss rio but it was time to leave it and josh and brie....
after nearly missing our bus to angra...thanks to a shady taxi driver....we were on our way and to ilha grande....a large island on the coast of southern brazil. as we were waiting for our taxi to the ferry it started to downpour....but we still made it to the ferry on time and to our new hostel which we had the room to ourselves....quite the luxury after being with 10 people/. the hostel sits on the waters edge and we have a view of the bay from our window.....though the mosquitos are vicious as shit and love our feet....the island is a biological reserve [michelle you need to work here] and it has gorgeous white sand beaches. we went to a secluded beach called lopes mendes....which a boat dropped us off and we hiked 20min to the beach which is a mile long and gorgeous. we played in the waves...made a sandcastle in memory of josh and walked along the beach. nicole hoped on the nearby rocks while katie napped. there were also some nice swings nearby that we thoroughly enjoyed... later that night we had a meal at the hostel....coupled with live bob marley band and befriended a south african and english dude...hahah. today we went kayaking bitches!!!! katie had never been...and nicole....well she had been before....but you would never have known....we got a tandem boat which started off problematic...but we found our rhythm and soon were complete pros/.///we conquered that island////well the eastern side.... and stopped off at a couple beaches and enjoyed a suco (juice). we also have been endulging in acai gelato + granola + banana delicious treat thingy. definetly will be missing those when we get back to the US.
we are off to paraty tomorrow///small colonial town...hopefully the weather will improve...it has been cloudy.
hope all is well. miss you!
-Nicole and Katie (the personality and the looks)
p.s.... brie and josh...recharged the pen...works great...katie is even using it!!!
our health is improving minus the bug bites and nicole;s possible pink eye
one liner~ you were right it works better when i put my stick all the way in!!! [in reference to kayak paddle...and nicoles issues using it]
PSS ... We saw demontic flying monkeys...scared the crap out of nicole. the environmental scientist 0, business student 1.
In rio...we met Brazilian friends that taught us how to play a brazilian version of kings cup...now we know how to say one duck in a lake in portuguese...we played a lot of spades as well due to the rainy weather....nicole and mr. clean kicked some major ass....while B and katie held their own as well....the game is to be continued....with 'mooseknuckle' atttempting the greatest comeback to 'the great white hope'. The rainy days allowed for wild and beautiful nights...esp. in LApa...which was in the center of rio and was THE PLACE to be on a friday...literally it felt like everyone and their mom was getting down at lapa. we went to a mambo/samba club called democratica....which was absolutely amazing. they had a live 8 piece band playing. it felt like we were in a scene in dirty dancing havana nights [kathryn...]. katie had to fend off several suitors because of her amazing skills....the next day we all took a city tour...starting with JESUS THE REDEEMER. which was breathtaking, huge and had amazing panoramic views of the city. not to mention THE BEST chicken and cheese pastels! (josh...u know what im talking about). we then saw the site of where carnival takes place....the soccer stadium and the cathedral. then we went to sugar loaf (the pictures we posted) and it started to get foggy when we were there ....it felt as if we were entering a mystical abyss....later that night we went to the sports bar next door and watched the argentica vs. brazil game... brazil won 3-1...and im glad for that because i think someone would have died that night in that bar if brazil didnt win. it was quite the experience. the next day it rained...so we kept the spades game going and decided to hit up this whore house at night....no not a real one!!! come on people!!! it was a club bbq place where we enjoyed feijoda...a brazilian bbq with rice, beans, kale, farro, and meat. it was DELICIous. we think we might have eaten an ear as well....we played count the gringos in the club and we counted four...katie,,,nicole...brie and josh...josh was a hit with this one cougar who was about to pounce on him if brie had not have been so cute. once again...suitors were afoot for the looks and the personality and many hearts were broken that night...none of them being ours...lets just say there were some ugos...the night was amazing....samba...samba rock...funk.....lots of sweat...dirty ass feet...and good times. by the way./..when you want to buy a drink from the bar you have to first buy a ticket at a seperate window to get a ticket to give to the bartender...just f.y.i. we then decided to enjoy the beach one last time. which was amazing. more butt and mooseknuckles then needed in a lifetime...we did better with fending off vendors. josh however did not make his sand chair this time....but we befriended a brazilian child...we miss rio but it was time to leave it and josh and brie....
after nearly missing our bus to angra...thanks to a shady taxi driver....we were on our way and to ilha grande....a large island on the coast of southern brazil. as we were waiting for our taxi to the ferry it started to downpour....but we still made it to the ferry on time and to our new hostel which we had the room to ourselves....quite the luxury after being with 10 people/. the hostel sits on the waters edge and we have a view of the bay from our window.....though the mosquitos are vicious as shit and love our feet....the island is a biological reserve [michelle you need to work here] and it has gorgeous white sand beaches. we went to a secluded beach called lopes mendes....which a boat dropped us off and we hiked 20min to the beach which is a mile long and gorgeous. we played in the waves...made a sandcastle in memory of josh and walked along the beach. nicole hoped on the nearby rocks while katie napped. there were also some nice swings nearby that we thoroughly enjoyed... later that night we had a meal at the hostel....coupled with live bob marley band and befriended a south african and english dude...hahah. today we went kayaking bitches!!!! katie had never been...and nicole....well she had been before....but you would never have known....we got a tandem boat which started off problematic...but we found our rhythm and soon were complete pros/.///we conquered that island////well the eastern side.... and stopped off at a couple beaches and enjoyed a suco (juice). we also have been endulging in acai gelato + granola + banana delicious treat thingy. definetly will be missing those when we get back to the US.
we are off to paraty tomorrow///small colonial town...hopefully the weather will improve...it has been cloudy.
hope all is well. miss you!
-Nicole and Katie (the personality and the looks)
p.s.... brie and josh...recharged the pen...works great...katie is even using it!!!
our health is improving minus the bug bites and nicole;s possible pink eye
one liner~ you were right it works better when i put my stick all the way in!!! [in reference to kayak paddle...and nicoles issues using it]
PSS ... We saw demontic flying monkeys...scared the crap out of nicole. the environmental scientist 0, business student 1.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Whole Lot of Ass....
Basically the main tourist attraction of Rio is the ass...that we have found appealing actually sratch that Mr. Clean has....think thong bikinis and moose knuckle speedos.
Ok really we´ve spent most of our days thus far at the beach and wondering the streets of Ipanema. It is soo fucking gorgeous being surrounded by the water and the lush mountains as Nicole would say. The one very helpful tip we learned that saved our ass well a little bit was how to properly say thanks in portugese to drive away the vendors. Ya, the language barrier is a tad difficult but we are managing some how.
The hostel we are staying at is pretty legit. Though the first night we were there we thought we might die from the heat because someone decided to unplug the air conditioner to charge their phone...seriously not ok. Because of the heat and the long ass walk to our room...we are on the 6 floor...even the elevator doesn´t go there.haha.... we hang out with the bartender from Longbeach...who likes to give free shots...and is quite the character. We have not gotten to know many people at our hostel but from the dance party that took place last night it seemed they were a fun bunch of people.
Nicole is learning to pay more attention and to keep her head out of the clouds because a young boy tried to put his hand in her pocket. Then proceeded to blow her kiss and tell how beautiful she is after she gave him her look of death.
We have not had the best experience trying to find good food. Basically B and Mr. Clean´s guide book lies which leads to a group of frustated hungry people at the mercy of crappy food options. Though today we did have an enjoyable lunch at this place that you purchase by the kilo. It was our first chance to eat some Brazilian food...had a fucking delicious banana cake. The owner was super nice and welcoming.
We will try to post some pics soon.
-Katie and Nicole (the looks and the personality)
Ok really we´ve spent most of our days thus far at the beach and wondering the streets of Ipanema. It is soo fucking gorgeous being surrounded by the water and the lush mountains as Nicole would say. The one very helpful tip we learned that saved our ass well a little bit was how to properly say thanks in portugese to drive away the vendors. Ya, the language barrier is a tad difficult but we are managing some how.
The hostel we are staying at is pretty legit. Though the first night we were there we thought we might die from the heat because someone decided to unplug the air conditioner to charge their phone...seriously not ok. Because of the heat and the long ass walk to our room...we are on the 6 floor...even the elevator doesn´t go there.haha.... we hang out with the bartender from Longbeach...who likes to give free shots...and is quite the character. We have not gotten to know many people at our hostel but from the dance party that took place last night it seemed they were a fun bunch of people.
Nicole is learning to pay more attention and to keep her head out of the clouds because a young boy tried to put his hand in her pocket. Then proceeded to blow her kiss and tell how beautiful she is after she gave him her look of death.
We have not had the best experience trying to find good food. Basically B and Mr. Clean´s guide book lies which leads to a group of frustated hungry people at the mercy of crappy food options. Though today we did have an enjoyable lunch at this place that you purchase by the kilo. It was our first chance to eat some Brazilian food...had a fucking delicious banana cake. The owner was super nice and welcoming.
We will try to post some pics soon.
-Katie and Nicole (the looks and the personality)
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Made it!
After being woken up several times by massive turbulence in which we thought we might die....we have arrived via taxi to our hostel....which we can´t check into for a couple hours so we are going to explore Ipanema. Waiting for B and Mr.Clean to arrive later to get the party started...hahah
We miss you all!!! Peace out for now!
-Nicole and Katie (the personality & the looks)
We miss you all!!! Peace out for now!
-Nicole and Katie (the personality & the looks)
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