Wednesday was long….

Our Wednesday was longer due to flying across the international date line. The flight was okay… uneventful – just the way I like it.

Watched a few movies: Chef, Still life, The normal heart, and VEEP (b grade american humour, but enjoyable given the location). There was a bit of turbulence a few hours in during the meal service.

Flying over so , much sea it is a delight to see land. But when you finally see the continent… The mountains are really something to behold. Coming into land in Santiago was amazing from the perspective of seeing the mountains appear… and then, go on, and on, and on. It was truly a beautiful sight – no picture can do it justice.

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We spent three hours in the airport in Santiago. While the chairs were uncomfortable, there was a haze surrounding the airport, which was unfortunate as your could just see the outline of mountains hugging the area. The flight from Santiago to Buenos Aires was incredible – just for the views of flying over the Andes. We were on a Boeing 787 (Dreamliner- new), which was quite spacious for a plane, with a lot storage overhead. Once you take off the plan begins it climb up and turns to head over the Andes. Quite soon everyone is required to be in their seat for potential turbulence. The plane climbs to 41,000 feet, and the views are amazing. Unfortunately no photos were taken due to the proximity of both of us and the photo devices, the view of the snow capped mountains seem to go on and on, and are a marvel to behold. You are just going to have to wait until the bus ride – something to look forward too, sort-of.

Viva bici in Buenos Aires

Helen is sound asleep and I am drinking Quilmes. At around $3 from my mini bar, that’s certainly a bargain.

Today was our first full day in Buenos Aires. To get ourself oriented we thought we would ride a bike. Fortunately for us Santi, Ben and Taylor from Biking Buenos Aires were only too happy to show us the ropes…. for the required fee of course!

We toured through San Telmo, La Bocca, Puerto Madero, Recoleta, Retiro and Centro. All up good fun. Lunch was had a permanent “truck” where plenty of porteno office workers had lunch (hopefully Helen will upload her lunch photo shortly). I know I’d be a regular if I worked here.

Some photos for you

Biking Tour around Buenos Aires

Biking Tour around Buenos Aires

Biking Tour around Buenos Aires

Biking Tour around Buenos Aires

To see some more go to Flickr

We’re on our way!

One flight down…. and two to go. These are the segments I enjoy. Once we are on the plane… we are only 3-4 movies, half a book, magazines (thank-you SA public libraries), and a couple of meals before land again.

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Holiday is nearly here…

Our holiday is not far away.  In preparation, my mum bought me the Moai Statues on Easter Island in Nano Blocks.  Thankfully the degree of difficultly was lower than the Tokyo Tower, as it was completed over a couple of evenings.  Based on the reading I’ve done about the Island, the real statues won’t be too hard to find.   Not long now!

Moai in Nano blocks

Nearing the end of the holiday….

Ah… There is always a point when you think about going home. Given how short this break was my current thoughts are “why can’t this be longer!?”

It has been a great trip, we’ve discovered some new places, tried some new food, had great experiences with our Japanese friends (thank you Gaku & Ryoko- so great to see you both again), experienced lovely gardens, and spent time discovering new suburbs. It’s been great fun, but so short. It really feels more than just over a week. However, Mt Fugi continues to elude us…. I guess it just means we will have to return.

More on the other side of the pond….

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Ah… The Japanese breakfast

Last Japanese breakfast today. When we entered the room we were asked if we wanted Japanese breakfast…. YES! Man it was fantastic, the fish was lovely, as was all the accompaniments. We finished it off with a coffee – in the hope of staying awake.

This food will be missed!

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