Down East for Christmas

I am down east in New Brunswick for Christmas, quite a change from travelling in Argentina. While it is not a frozen winter land yet - today the snow in gently falling and we are all hoping for a white Christmas. My niece Kim, calls it icing sugar snow.  As you can see - not much snow here but it is prettier than it was this morning.   These are some trees near my sister's house in Jardineville, New Brunswick.

I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas full of laughter and joy. 

Cooking in Mendoza

We took a cooking class at Finca Adalgisa - a small winery that produces about 4000 bottles of wine a year.  Christina, the chef led us through a delicious menu of empanadas, chimichurri sauce, baked potatoes, steak, vegetables and baked fruit.  There were 8 'students' in total representing US, Holland and Canada and we all sat around an outdoor kitchen area under a tree.  It was a gorgeous night - full of good food, fun and great wine.

Mendoza, Argentina

We are in wine country and boy are we enjoying the wine!! The Malbec, Sryah, Torrentes, and more...  We stayed at Club Tapiz in the very middle of a vineyard with a view of the Andes in the distance. Our rooms were in Club Zolo - the former Governor's residence - large gracious rooms, our own pool and a lovely airy veranda. 

We toured wineries and tasted wines.  One of the vineyards we visited makes wine in the traditional way in concrete vats while most vineyards use the steel vats.  All use oak barrels - American and French oak though all have a different 'recipe' for each wine including the length of time in the barrels and in which type of barrel.





Jesuit Mission near Iguazu

We took a day trip away from the Falls and visited a couple of sites - the first was the Wanda Mines (though the 'w' sounds like a  'b' - the guide stressed this a couple of times - I am not sure why...) where they mine for amethyst, quartz and citrine - it is a bit of an open mine and tunnels.  There are 11 miners at this mine and it is all manual labour.  They blasted with gun powder in one of the tunnels shortly after we arrived - very strange to hear the muffled blasts and see the dust coming out of the mine tunnel.

 

before

after

We then went to the ruins of a Jesuit Mission - the San Ignacio Mini - a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Between 1609 and 1818 the Jesuit Guarani Missions were developed in the territories of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.  There were 30 settlements which registered 141,182 inhabitants in 1732.  The settlements were run by the Jesuits but the inhabitants were abandoned to their own luck in 1767 after King Carlos III expelled the Jesuits from Spanish territories.  This site fell into ruins and was claimed back by the jungle,  though the centre square remained clear of any trees the soil was packed so hard from the many warriors and horses through out the years. It was fascinating to wander the grounds and we had an excellent guide who has traced his heritage back to the Guarani people. 

There is a centre square - as you can see - still no trees.

entrance to the church

entrance to the priest's area

no cement - the rocks are layered

Iguazu Falls - Argentina

We arrived in Iguazu Falls later in the afternoon but after dropping bags we headed out for a hike to the Falls. They are very amazing and even though I am a proud Canadian and believe Niagara Falls are the best in the world - Iguazu Falls are quite impressive.  There are 3 main trails and we took the Lower Trail - the closest to the hotel (we are lucky to be staying in the park and just a quick walk) as our first adventure.  Iguazu Falls lie on the border of Brazil and Argentina - there is a Brazil side and Argentina side (sounds familiar...) The Falls are a network of more than 275 falls covering many acres - the tallest drop is 82 metres.  Due to the spray and high humidity, the surrounding area is lush rain forest with more than 250 butterflies species and more than 400 types of birds.  Here are a few photos of the Falls...

This was so cool to be so close - we got soaked but as it was so hot it felt wonderful - you could feel the power and thunder of the water.

This is such a beautiful orchid and a bug decided to land just as I took the photo...

Estancia El Ombu de Areco and the horse whisperer...

We headed out early to San Antonio de Areco.  Before we went to the El Ombu de Areco ranch - we visited the Draghi Cultural Centre and Workshop where they explained the silversmith history and skills especially highlighting the buckles, knives, saddles and stirrups of the gauchos. Juan Jose Draghi learnt silversmithing via correspondence courses and he did beautiful work.  His family continues his work and is known nationally and internationally for their silver pieces. The daughter designs and creates beautiful jewelry pieces - yup - you guessed it - we could not resist - I bought some lovely ear rings.
After the shopping we headed out to the ranch where we went horseback riding and had a delicious BBQ lunch on the front veranda. Here are a few photos. The lasts ones are of a gaucho working with a horse - really a horse whisperer - fascinating the trust between horse and rider.

Marc getting ready to ride

Dana

Dana and Marc in the distance taken by me on a horse

My horse kept wanting to trot but managed this one before things got shaky.

This is the gaucho with his horse who he just asked to lay down

then he laid down with the horse and then rolled the horse over and kissed her

this horse stood perfectly still as the gaucho crawled under and between her legs

amazing and then he invited the guest to sit with the horse on the ground

Tango - the dance of passion

Sunday evening we went to dinner and a tango show - very impressive and wow! - those girls could dance.  The show started at about 10:00 and included musicians comprised of piano, bassist, accordian and violin 2 male singers and 1 female singers plus 4 couples that danced.  Through song and dance, they told the history of the Argentine tango.  The dancing and music was very impressive - very passionate and sexy!

Here are some photos courtesy of Marc.

I also found this website that has information on the history of the Argentine tango have a look -
http://www.totango.net/sergio.html

Buenos Aires

We have had a great day touring Buenos Aires. Our guide, Aleandra met us at the hotel and we were off to take in the sights of the city. Our first stop was the Plaza de Mayo, home of the Presidential Palace also called the Casa Rosada due to its colour it originally was painted with a combination of whitewash and ox blood. It is also famous as the location for the former first lady, Eva Peron's speech to her supporters (Madonna played her in the movie Evita).

                                                                         Casa Rosada

this is a demonstration that has been in the Plaza de Mayo for 3 years -

Argentina's Occupy Buenos Aires

We then headed to La Boca area - where we saw the set up for a big football (soccer) game tonight - it is the championship game and the home team Boca Juniors are in contention. Football is very, very important here and all afternoon we have seen and heard fans cheering and singing and the game does not even start until 7:00 p.m.  Nearby the stadium is a unique area full of artist shops and restaurants - La Boca.

Puente de la Mujer (Women's Bridge) in the Puerto Madero area

We then went by the Puerto Madero - an upscale residential and commercial area right on the water.  This is also where we went for dinner last night and had half a cow to eat - lots of beef but it was delicious!  Then we went to Recoleta and visited the cementary there which is fascinating - it is a large necropolise the 'streets' or laneways are public land and the tombs are privately owned and taxes are levied on the private space - so really on those with money are buried here. Some of the tombs are huge and very elaborate.

Dana and Marc in the Recoleta Cementary

We are off to an evening of tango so more later...