Watched two-movies on the flight. They were just okay. The last one I kept falling asleep through, mind drifting all over the trip: Santiago, New Orleans, Igauzo falls – those falls were really something.

Pilot’s thanking us for choosing British Airways, soon I’ll have to switch-off.

So when we land a lot of questions and decisions await us. Have some of them nailed, while others are still circled in question marks.

Looking forward to seeing you all, it’s definitely the negative not being able to see you all for so long, but I think the travelling-bug has been tempered now; we’ve learned the grass really isn’t any greener and there is no place like home:)

Right time to land, see you all very soon. Thanks for following, it’s been really nice knowing you were there.

UPDATE:

We’ll be in Barcelona for the next couple of months, so please get in touch with us there via email, phone, etc.

Rewind to Buenos Aires 6-weeks from now: we’re arriving to an apartment in Colegales just north of Palermo, where we’re about to press the buzzer to our home for the next 6-weeks. We’re looking pretty tired from the 39c heat and the last 2-weeks of travelling from Chile to this door-step.

Forward 1-week and we’re settled in our new home busy preparing dinner, or Adriana is busy preparing dinner while I finish washing the dishes. We’re looking much better now, washed and cool thanks to the flat. Outside you can hear the neighbours laughing and complaining, and all the other noises that go along with life.

Dinner’s ready now and it looks delicious. Fresh filled-pasta from the local shop with fresh tomatoes and olives.  I’ve never tasted better pasta. The wine in my glass is also being devoured quickly, a Malbec from Mendoza*. Once the effect has moved to the back, we’re outside again at another favourite of Argentina’s the helados. My favourite flavoured ice-cream being dulce de leche, which is in almost all sweet things here (I’m bringing some back for you all to try).

Walking back home we walk by our favourite coffee shop Bonafide, where in a weeks time, when we realise we can’t afford another week at the IBL school, I will begin practicing Spanish every morning with my new tutor Miss Bellet.

On the pavement the neighbourhood has begun to recognise us and award us with a smile or “Buen dia”, but my attention is thwarted by the many bookstores running along and I must look as though I have some odd twitch that causes my neck to bop up and down.

Back at the flat and three weeks have passed. The city is calling us out again but this time to a fiesta – it’s Carnival:

All about the families of the districts are chanting and playing while their friends and family dance and sing in front. Up on stage a man with a lyrical tongue narrates and directs the performance.  Children run around with snow cans making sure all their friends are covered in the tin-snow. And not too long after our arrival we too are dancing along trying our best to keep-up with the Porteños.

And then today we said goodbye.  I’m going to miss this place, it felt like home and it’s never easy saying goodbye however many times you do it.

But now there’s tomorrow where the Iguazo falls await.

*Mendoza is how we entered Argentina from Chile. Along the Andes mountains we rode towards a calm city of wonderful people, inc. my favourite waiter Ricardo. Visited the local vineyards and drank some great wines before heading on to Cordoba, etc.

Anyway, as now we are starting a more paced part of the trip, I thought it would be nice to try and recap this past days. So here are some of the moments I loved.

… hem arribat a Buenos Aires, i el mes de gener ja ha desaparegut… es increible lo rapid que passa el temps quan vas d’una banda a l’altra, quasi no em puc creure que ja estiguem a mitat de cami! (tot i que les butxaques si que s’ho creuen, si…)

“A lo que iba”, ara que comença la part mes tranquila del viatge, m’he posat a fer un recompte d’aquests ultims dies. Aqui van ‘los mejores momentos”.

“Blending” in Brazil. This picture always makes me laugh… Amy & Zoë all nice, and Jade & Stanley… well, being Jade and Stanley! :) Fun Times!

Encaixant amb els natius de Brasil. Aquesta foto sempre em fa riure, l’Amy i la Zoë totes mones, i la Jade i en Woody… be, fent de Jade i Woody! :) Fun Times!

The first morning of engagement! :) It was some stupid early hour, like 6.30 (we got up hoping to see the sunrise from the roof terrace, but guess what? Clear as the morning was, the sun did not make an appearance (I hear it was busy pleasing the newly engaged couples from the other side of the mountains…)

El primer mati de promesos! :) Era estupidament d’hora, les 6.30 del mati o aixi (ens haviem llevat ben d’hora esperant veure la sortida de sol des de la terrassa de l’hotel, pero endevineu que? Tot i que no hi havia ni un nuvol, el sol no s’hi va presentar (he sentit veus que estava massa ocupat enlluernant a les parelles recent promeses de l’altra banda de la muntanya… :P)

Snow in Chicago! (& still it wasn’t as cold as Dallas would be! Who would have guessed?!)

Nevada a Chicago! (i tot i aixo no vam passar ni la meitat del fred que vam patir a Dallas! Qui ho hauria dit?!)

Chloé & Joshua. The greatest pair Ever!

Chloé i Joshua. Genials!

Stanley embracing the cowboy culture in Fort Worth. Ha! :)

El Woody vivint la cultura cowboy a Fort Worth! Hahaha! :)

Cakes in Mexico’s stolen morning.

Pastissos de l’inesperat mati a Mexic.

Camera & Me in Valparaiso (Chile). I must have taken hundreds of pictures of the coulorful houses!! (saving them for a soon to come post ;)

Jo i la Camera a Valparaiso (Xile). Vaig fer centenars de fotos de casetes de colors! Haure de possar-ne algunes per aqui ben aviat!

Ha! A little gnome spotted popping his head out of a Jesuit Estancia in Alta Gracia (Argentina)

:) Un gnom fotografiat d’imprevist quan treia el cap per una de les finestres de l’Estancia Jesuita d’ Alta Gracia (Argentina)

Love, Adri

Petons, Adri

A bit late… but better late than never, no? :) ♥

Love, Adri

Driving we were aware that in only 12-hours we’d be flying away again, so we tried to soak-up as much as we could from our 20-minute journey:

Mucho-mucho VW Beatles, many painted for taxi work; broken buildings standing behind 12am-vendors, behind children sitting on pavements lit by fire; no more detached buildings: only 2-hours away, but how different.

Nearing the Historic Centro and the feel becomes European, architecture from the Spanish settlers dominates, but the night kept it mostly hidden and the driver begins talking. He was wondering how Adriana spoke such good Spanish, “Soy Espanola.” but he didn’t understand the reference, for him Spanish related to his language and not a place. “Barcelona, en Espana.” She added. “Ahh, Espana. Barcelona. Que bonita.” There begins a conversation about the two countries that deserves it’s own segment; but I’m about to run out of money in this Internet cafe:)

Entering room 249, we quickly set about planning our route for the morning and were so excited by it that we were only left 3-hours to sleep – but it was worth it.

Firstly, breakfast: a kind of English (fried) breakfast with Mexican substitutions – very good substitutions. We drank Cactus juice, soft and refreshing with a splintered after taste, and too much coffee.

Moving through the busy streets of Mexico City, I found i’d gotten out of the habit of sharing the pavements and kept walking into everyone, but they soon forgave and disappeared into the many other pavements that lead to more, and more, pedestrians. We managed to loop around the historic district vist the beautiful cathedral and Palace, and soak-up enough of the place to want to come back for more.

So it was a brief visit to Mexico City, and I can’t wait for us to return again and see the Aztecs history, volcanoes, etc. that were lying out of reach of a morning visit.

Jazz. Architecture. Food. The People. ”The Big Easy.” The French District. WWII museum.

It’s just a beautiful place to be, and once you learn it’s history you understand why it feels so very different from anywhere else your likely to visit in the States.

Somewhere in Louisiana… Life out there looks tough. Tinned roofs, trailers, the dead neighbours to the living, and lots of hungry crocodiles.

River Walk: nice walk under the city, where restaurants abound.

Menger Hotel: a brilliant hotel that lives next door to the Alamo, and which we were able to afford because it was the off-season. The bar was the meeting ground for Teddy Rousevelts Rider posse, as well as stopping ground for many other famous historic characters like Oscar Wilde, Mae West, and O. Henry. The building and rooms are beautifully decorated and the desk-hop sugared it with stories of ghosts, and historic arguements that had occured since the 1890s.

We were supposed to arrive into this city by train, but that got cancelled because of the snow in Chicago, it’s starting point. So we arrived two-hours late by bus into Austin, where it took us a further hour to find the train station to drop us off at; the GPS devise of the failing bus-driver constantly stating that it was “re-calculating” when not looping us around in a circle of the city.

After what we’d seen so far in Texas, Austin was a nice change of pace. This was a University town, where you were not required to have a car and could get to an eclectic mix of shops and bars just by walking.

First day we were there we visited a lot of great and free museums about President Lynden Johnson and Texas, toured the University, filled in questionnaire about Americanism for some S. Koreans, and went to a cinema that had it’s own DJ; for before and after the main feature.

Next day we saw a few more cultural sites before “hitting” 6th street: a street filled with bars, enteratinament, and boozing alive with some great Delat Blues. We bar-hopped away drinking our concession and listening to some really great music.

I’ll add a sample of some I recorded soon.

Hi there!
On the bus from Dallas to Austin with a train ticket in my bag and writting on the iPhone (I’m loving technology these days! Weird!)
Dallas was nice enough, but I swear I’ve never been this cold! If today while walking down Pacific Avenue a penguin had skidded past me I don’t think I would have been all that surprised!… So when we were told that the train from Chicago wasn’t going to make it on time, I couldn’t but give a resigned sigh… I think it’s quite amusing how our memory of Texas will be one of a cold place!
Anyway, now is dark and there’s not much to see out of the window except from the big neon lights advertising petrol stations, restaurants and motels. And Oh! How great they are! I must admit this is what I love the most about Texas: their hand-painted-colourful-retro-looking signs! Only in America…
Oh! We are getting there! So that’s that for today then!
Adri XOXO

Hola-hola!

Mentres anem cap a Dallas (amb un bitllet de tren) aprofito per escriure des de l’iPhone (increible, pot ser possible que el nou any m’hagi portat aptituds per la tecnologia?!)

Dallas ha estat prou be, pero “que me caiga un rayo” si no havia passat mai tant fred en tota la meva vida! Si mentres passejavem per Pacific Avenue, un pingüi hagues passat patinat pel meu costat, no crec que m’hauria sorpres del tot!… Aixi que quan ens han vingut a informar, ja a l’estacio, de que el tren des de Chicago no arribaria a temps i que ens tocaria anar amb bus, no hem pogut fer mes que resignar-nos! El que em fa mes gracia es que el record que ens enduem de Texas es el d’un indret gelat! :)

Ja es fosc a fora, i no hi ha res mes a veure per la finestra que els cartells de neo anunciant motels, gasolineres i restaurants de carretera. I ben genials que son! M’encanten els senyals  retro, de neo o fets a ma,  que et trobes a cada cantonada! Only in America…

Oh! Ja arribem, aixi que “corto y cambio”!

Petons, Adri