The morning B and I arrive on the Andesmar bus back into Buenos Aires, I have a job interview with my new company via Skype.
As soon as we get back to the flat, I jump in the shower, don a smart dress (and flipflops, natch - I only have to look presentable from the waist up) and set to preparing for my interview. B, in contrast, nips into the bedroom and lathers on a load of suncream.
"What time is your interview?" she asks.
"12 o'clock until 2pm," I say, already nervous about the four back-to-back half-hour interviews I'm about to endure.
"Ok, I'm going to sunbathe up on the roof. I promise I won't come back into the flat between 12 and 2," she says.
And off she goes.
So there I am, at 12:28, minding my own business and fully engrossed
in my Skype interview with the HR recruiter all the way over in freezing-cold mid-February Dublin, when
what should happen but I see in my own Skype video no other than my dear
friend B walking behind me, scantily clad in her bikini!
Not only
does she disappear into her room to grab her towel, she then comes out of it again wrapped only in said skimpy towel, crosses back in front of the Skype
video, and does the same again, dripping wet, on exiting the shower!
Fortunately, the recruiter blinks at exactly the right moment
and I am pretty convinced they didn’t see a thing. Either that, or it'll be the flashing incident that gets me the job...
Monday 27 February 2012
The Overnight Bingo Bus to Mendoza
Coach travel in Argentina is simply genius.
After a few days at work after the Uruguay trip, B and I head off on another long weekend bank-holiday trip to wine heaven, aka Mendoza. Instead of getting the plane, we get a coach with Andesmar for about half the price. We opt for the most expensive first class tickets at about £75 return, still much cheaper than flying and well worth it for the dinner, wine (!), breakfast and entertainment.
I've been on overnight buses in Brazil before, but the Argie experience is second to none. You get a fully reclining, huge comfy seat with a curtain for privacy from your neighbours, a full, hot dinner (ours is roast chicken) with a glass of wine and/or champagne, and a very simple breakfast (of mostly biscuits and coffee with disgusting powdered milk). But the best bit is that each coach trip launches off with a game of bingo in which the entire coach participates - simply genius! Our wannabe compere-come-comedian bus entertainer/waiter etc reads out little jokes with every number as B and I try to recognise and scratch off all the numbers on our little card. We don't win, but we do have a hilarious old time in the process and it certainly makes the first half hour of the 13-hour trip go faster!
We just about manage to get a good night's sleep in our comfy coach seats and arrive in Mendoza bus station at 08:45 on the dot - Andesmar coaches are certainly more punctual than BQB Lineas Aereas.
We stay at Hostel Lao, a lovely, friendly little hostel with a fantastic outdoor pool area.
Our double room has a big bathroom and plenty of space and the hostel feels very safe and secure. The owners Mike and Celeste and the rest of the staff are super-helpful with their tourist recommendations, even drawing some directions onto a map for us to follow.
For our first day, we take a bicycle wine tour around some of the main wineries, including the small and friendly Pulmary and the much larger Alta Vista. Lunch is a huge plate of antipasti with wine tasting at Pulmary as we slowly work ourselves into a lunchtime drunken stupor.
We just about manage to ride our bikes after lunch to get ourselves to Chocolateria A La Antigua, where the hostess is hell-bent on making us try every chutney in the shop. The place makes homemade chocolate liqueurs of every single variety, and jars of dulce de leche with whisky and hazelnut. Ordinarily I would jump at the chance to try everything in sight, but we're still so full from lunch that we can only manage a few mouthfuls of dulce de leche, a chocolate-cherry liqueur each and some flavoured artisan dark chocolate. (So, actually, quite a lot, then...)
The hostess is so friendly and insists on us leaving without even paying the full amount for the tasting, despite our total willingness to pay in full.
Finally we go to Alta Vista, the biggest of the wineries, and take a tour of the huge vats of wine and the cellars stocked with hundreds of bottles of Mendozan red.
Our first night in Mendoza, we discover there's a wine festival in the centre, so we spend the evening trying out a few different types. I'm a little surprised to find there are some interesting bright pink bottles with phallic designs made specially for women at the festival - I can't imagine these selling all that well, although you never know, right?
The pink wine bottles aren't the only strange thing about Mendoza. Dotted around the city, there are also fountains with deep red/pink water. I can only assume it's supposed to look like wine, but it ends up looking a lot more like blood and is a little freaky and tacky!
We also try out Malbec and vanilla-flavoured ice cream, which is surprisingly good - creamy and rich like vanilla but with a bitter, alcoholic after-taste. Perfect for enjoying in the shade of the extremely hot sunshine with a mid-afternoon coffee!
We spend Friday and Saturday night at the lovely Hostel Lao and by Sunday evening we're back on the overnight bus, departing Mendoza station at 20:15 on the dot, just like clockwork. I must say, I'm pretty impressed with Andesmar and I will be travelling with them again very soon indeed!
After a few days at work after the Uruguay trip, B and I head off on another long weekend bank-holiday trip to wine heaven, aka Mendoza. Instead of getting the plane, we get a coach with Andesmar for about half the price. We opt for the most expensive first class tickets at about £75 return, still much cheaper than flying and well worth it for the dinner, wine (!), breakfast and entertainment.
I've been on overnight buses in Brazil before, but the Argie experience is second to none. You get a fully reclining, huge comfy seat with a curtain for privacy from your neighbours, a full, hot dinner (ours is roast chicken) with a glass of wine and/or champagne, and a very simple breakfast (of mostly biscuits and coffee with disgusting powdered milk). But the best bit is that each coach trip launches off with a game of bingo in which the entire coach participates - simply genius! Our wannabe compere-come-comedian bus entertainer/waiter etc reads out little jokes with every number as B and I try to recognise and scratch off all the numbers on our little card. We don't win, but we do have a hilarious old time in the process and it certainly makes the first half hour of the 13-hour trip go faster!
We just about manage to get a good night's sleep in our comfy coach seats and arrive in Mendoza bus station at 08:45 on the dot - Andesmar coaches are certainly more punctual than BQB Lineas Aereas.
We stay at Hostel Lao, a lovely, friendly little hostel with a fantastic outdoor pool area.
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| The pool at Hostel Lao |
For our first day, we take a bicycle wine tour around some of the main wineries, including the small and friendly Pulmary and the much larger Alta Vista. Lunch is a huge plate of antipasti with wine tasting at Pulmary as we slowly work ourselves into a lunchtime drunken stupor.
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| Antipasti at Pulmary |
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| Dulce de leche at Chocolateria A La Antigua |
The hostess is so friendly and insists on us leaving without even paying the full amount for the tasting, despite our total willingness to pay in full.
Finally we go to Alta Vista, the biggest of the wineries, and take a tour of the huge vats of wine and the cellars stocked with hundreds of bottles of Mendozan red.
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| Grapes at Alta Vista |
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| Strange Mendoza women's wine |
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| A Mendoza wine fountain by night |
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| Malbec and vanilla ice cream |
Wednesday 22 February 2012
Coffee and Classic Cars in Colonia
On our way back to Buenos Aires from Punta del Este, we make the natural stop in Colonia del Sacramento, a little town on the coast just an hour or so by ferry from Buenos Aires.
It's my second visit to Colonia after visiting in 2008, but it's well worth the trip as it breaks up the return from Punta and it's a pretty little place to spend an afternoon. (You don't need more than a few hours in Colonia).
If Punta del Este was like a step back in time, Colonia is even more so. It's the oldest town in Uruguay, so says Wikipedia, and is renowned for its beautiful, quaint, historic quarter. The place is also full of beat-up classic cars and reminds me a lot of Havana, Cuba - a forgotten, dilapidated old town with so much charm.
The good thing is the historic quarter is reachable via a 10-minute walk from the ferry port and you can walk pretty much everywhere in the town. We spend the afternoon wandering around the old town, taking in the views of the River Plate and stopping for coffee and ice-cream in a quiet café.
Finally we settle into a restaurant with a great riverside view. Unfortunately, because of its location, it's very touristy and the food is terrible, but at least we get to spend our last evening in Uruguay watching the sunset over the River Plate before our 21:30 ferry back to the Argentine capital.
It's my second visit to Colonia after visiting in 2008, but it's well worth the trip as it breaks up the return from Punta and it's a pretty little place to spend an afternoon. (You don't need more than a few hours in Colonia).
If Punta del Este was like a step back in time, Colonia is even more so. It's the oldest town in Uruguay, so says Wikipedia, and is renowned for its beautiful, quaint, historic quarter. The place is also full of beat-up classic cars and reminds me a lot of Havana, Cuba - a forgotten, dilapidated old town with so much charm.
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| Classic cars of Colonia |
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| A rather 'overgrown' automobile... |
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| Rio de la Plata at sunset |
Rain, Roulette and Raving in Punta del Este
The day after I arrive home from the Brazilian surf trip, my friend B arrives from England for her two-week stay, in which we will attempt to see as much of South America as humanly possible whilst still working Monday to Friday.
After a week of work, we're going to Punta del Este in Uruguay for a long bank-holiday weekend of beach-life. We have a flight booked for 22:20 on Friday night to Punta, with Buquebus Lineas Aereas. Big mistake. Do not ever fly BQB Lineas Aereas. They are basically the tiny airline arm of Buquebus, the brilliant company that runs ferries and buses between Argentina and Uruguay.
The problem is no one has ever heard of the airline, and consequently their planes are so tiny they cannot set off in a storm. And there is a storm. So we wait for, ummm, almost three hours in the tiniest, dingiest underground room of the airport, 15 minutes walk away from any shops or even toilets and not to mention freezing cold, with only the most minimal updates from the airline about what's happening with our plane. We can't go in search of food or warmth because they keep telling us we're expecting to fly "any time now". "Any time now," in BQB Lineas Aereas terms, means anything from minutes to hours to days.
Rodrigo, the owner of the hostel we've booked in Punta, has invited us to a party when we arrive just after midnight, but at this rate we'll be lucky if we arrive before Sunday, so we tell him it's unlikely. Eventually, we're shuffled onto a tiny propeller plane and we arrive in Punta some time around 3am.
La Lomita del Chingolo is a small guest-house/hostel about 15 minutes' walk from the beach. It's set back from the main streets and beaches and is out on its own behind a bit of bush - not ideal for walking back late at night. (Get a taxi). The hostel is friendly and popular with international travellers, though, and quite frankly it's one of the cheapest places we could find through Hostelworld.com
Punta del Este is known as one of the most expensive places in the whole of South America and, as such, you don't get a lot of value for your money. Our twin room out the back of the guesthouse is a little like a prison cell, with no natural light and only the tiniest of windows. There's no air conditioning, so it's a good job we don't need it - it's pouring with rain outside for most of our stay. The breakfast is half-decent but nothing to write home about: cheese and ham toasties, some cereal, coffee. Outside the hostel there's a pretty cool chill-out area, which would be ideal in good weather but the rain puts a bit of a dampener on things:
I find Punta del Este to be a bit of a culture shock after Brazil and Argentina. It's a bit like going back in time, and the buildings are a total mishmash of modern stone artiness, old British brickwork and wooden shacks. We're just out of high season (January) when all the celebrities flock to Punta for their holidays, but the place seems a little deserted at times. I expected it to be totally glamorous and brimming with South American beauties and models wearing shades and heels, but it's not. It's just a little, well, curious. The beach is pretty average and it costs a fortune to hire a sunbed.
On Saturday night, we head to the huge Casino at the Conrad Hotel, which seems to be one of the main things to do of a night in Punta. There's a fairly fun vibe, with some dancing and music, but unless you're a hardcore gambler, you'll get bored after a while. Neither of us know the first thing about gambling but we somehow manage to walk away with US$80 of winnings each on the roulette, so we cut our losses and leave!
On Sunday, we take a bus out to a place up the coast from Punta called José Ignacio. It's more beautiful than Punta itself and has a much more exclusive feel. We go for Sunday brunch at a very famous restaurant right on the beach, La Huella.
La Huella is a fairly exclusive, extended-wooden-shack type restaurant full of beautiful, rich people (just like I imagined Punta to be). It serves fresh sushi and seafood as well as enormous grilled fish and grilled vegetables. We've been told it's customary to spend all day chilling at La Huella, but there's an hour and a half wait for a table so we accept a bar seat while we wait, and order cocktails and sushi as we watch the chefs at work.
Accepting a bar seat seems to be a bit of a loophole to the massive waiting list as we don't have to wait long at all for the table at the bar and we're soon scoffing down delicious sushi that's prepared right in front of us. After about an hour and a half, we get an actual table outside with a beach view, and order fish and vegetables. The meal is superb and we while away the rest of the afternoon eating, drinking and people-watching in this very bustling restaurant.
For the rest of our stay in Punta, we enjoy the beach and local restaurants, some shopping in the town, plus a big home-cooked barbecue at La Lomita, courtesy of the owner, Rodrigo, and his wife. One of the nights, we head out to sample some of the cheesy nightlife at beachside bar Moby Dick. It's a British-style pub on a little strip of bars and nightclubs and is packed with young revellers. The music is very cheesy and the crowd in their early 20s. It would have been fun if we'd been a decade younger, but nevertheless we still have a good time and enjoy being amusingly chatted up by some way-too-young Argentines.
After a long weekend in Punta, I've had a great time but the weather has definitely put a dampener on our enjoyment. The place is known as the San Tropez of South America, but it definitely ain't. There are plenty of nicer places in the South of Brazil - Florianópolis and Búzios, to name but two. Nevertheless, I'm glad I've been, and the great food we've had makes it more than worthwhile. That said, if your budget is low, don't even think about going to Punta.
After a week of work, we're going to Punta del Este in Uruguay for a long bank-holiday weekend of beach-life. We have a flight booked for 22:20 on Friday night to Punta, with Buquebus Lineas Aereas. Big mistake. Do not ever fly BQB Lineas Aereas. They are basically the tiny airline arm of Buquebus, the brilliant company that runs ferries and buses between Argentina and Uruguay.
The problem is no one has ever heard of the airline, and consequently their planes are so tiny they cannot set off in a storm. And there is a storm. So we wait for, ummm, almost three hours in the tiniest, dingiest underground room of the airport, 15 minutes walk away from any shops or even toilets and not to mention freezing cold, with only the most minimal updates from the airline about what's happening with our plane. We can't go in search of food or warmth because they keep telling us we're expecting to fly "any time now". "Any time now," in BQB Lineas Aereas terms, means anything from minutes to hours to days.
Rodrigo, the owner of the hostel we've booked in Punta, has invited us to a party when we arrive just after midnight, but at this rate we'll be lucky if we arrive before Sunday, so we tell him it's unlikely. Eventually, we're shuffled onto a tiny propeller plane and we arrive in Punta some time around 3am.
La Lomita del Chingolo is a small guest-house/hostel about 15 minutes' walk from the beach. It's set back from the main streets and beaches and is out on its own behind a bit of bush - not ideal for walking back late at night. (Get a taxi). The hostel is friendly and popular with international travellers, though, and quite frankly it's one of the cheapest places we could find through Hostelworld.com
Punta del Este is known as one of the most expensive places in the whole of South America and, as such, you don't get a lot of value for your money. Our twin room out the back of the guesthouse is a little like a prison cell, with no natural light and only the tiniest of windows. There's no air conditioning, so it's a good job we don't need it - it's pouring with rain outside for most of our stay. The breakfast is half-decent but nothing to write home about: cheese and ham toasties, some cereal, coffee. Outside the hostel there's a pretty cool chill-out area, which would be ideal in good weather but the rain puts a bit of a dampener on things:
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| The chill-out area at La Lomita del Chingolo |
On Saturday night, we head to the huge Casino at the Conrad Hotel, which seems to be one of the main things to do of a night in Punta. There's a fairly fun vibe, with some dancing and music, but unless you're a hardcore gambler, you'll get bored after a while. Neither of us know the first thing about gambling but we somehow manage to walk away with US$80 of winnings each on the roulette, so we cut our losses and leave!
 |
| Winnings at the casino |
La Huella is a fairly exclusive, extended-wooden-shack type restaurant full of beautiful, rich people (just like I imagined Punta to be). It serves fresh sushi and seafood as well as enormous grilled fish and grilled vegetables. We've been told it's customary to spend all day chilling at La Huella, but there's an hour and a half wait for a table so we accept a bar seat while we wait, and order cocktails and sushi as we watch the chefs at work.
 |
| Sushi and cocktails at La Huella |
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| Phallic veg at La Huella |
After a long weekend in Punta, I've had a great time but the weather has definitely put a dampener on our enjoyment. The place is known as the San Tropez of South America, but it definitely ain't. There are plenty of nicer places in the South of Brazil - Florianópolis and Búzios, to name but two. Nevertheless, I'm glad I've been, and the great food we've had makes it more than worthwhile. That said, if your budget is low, don't even think about going to Punta.
Thursday 16 February 2012
A Surfer's Paradise in Itacaré, Brazil
Oh yes, now this is the life...
We choose Itacaré, a surf resort on Brazil's northeast coast, mainly based on the fact that the weather might be a bit more reliable than that of rival surf paradise Florianópolis, in Brazil's South, but still with great waves. We are completely wrong, of course, and it rains pretty much every day of our trip to Itacaré, but only in small amounts that don't affect the holiday too much.
We stay at Pousada Hanalei, a guest house conveniently set just off Praia da Tiririca - the best beach for hard-core surfers in Itacaré. Our room, at the top of the pousada, is split over two levels, with a double and a single bed downstairs and another single mattress on the floor of the mezzanine level. We have a balcony with hammocks, though this is right next to the reception area, so not exactly private, and the view from the balcony and mezzanine look right out onto beautiful beach views.
The atmosphere at Hanalei is as you'd expect from any Bahian pousada - so relaxed it's almost horizontal. No rushing, no dressing up. It's all board shorts and Havaianas and the only rule is that you take your shoes off to walk on the perfectly polished floors of the breakfast area.
Breakfast itself is something to look forward to: two fresh white bread rolls each with the customary Brazilian rolled-up slices of cheese and ham, a plate of fruit (often fresh watermelon, melon and papaya) a plate of packet-baked cake, and a plate of something different each day (which could be pão de queijo, or pancakes). The fruit juice is disappointingly from a packet, as is the cake, but the café com leite is exactly as it should be in Brazil (strong and milky) and this breakfast certainly sets you up for a day of surfing.
We booked our surfing with Local Surf, a school I found through www.itacare.com.br. It's not easy to find out about surf schools in Itacaré on the internet, and we choose Local Surf mainly because it's much cheaper and more relaxed than its main competitor, EasyDrop.
We manage to arrange with Felipe, the helpful chap at Local Surf, to stay for 8 nights at Pousada Hanalei, with 3 days of surfing lessons, board and equipment hire and a transfer to and from Ilhéus airport for the grand total of R$2,700 for two people. It's expensive compared with what it used to be, but you can't do anything for cheap in Brazil these days.
We spend the next few days surfing the beaches of Resende, Pontal, Jeribucaçu and Engenhoca. It's a surfers paradise - great waves, beautiful beaches, a chilled vibe. But, in hindsight, I probably wouldn't have chosen Local Surf. The two instructors are very friendly and they're great people, but they're perhaps just a little too relaxed and they don't push me to try harder. After a couple of falls and a bit of scary water, I could do with a lot more encouragement to improve. They are, however, pretty flexible when it comes to lesson timings and locations, and I get the feeling things at EasyDrop would be the exact opposite. By the last day, though, we find our own instructors on seasoned-surfers beach Tiririca and pay by the hour, which is perfect if you're not a complete beginner.
The nightlife in Itacaré consists of just one main street, lined with restaurants and bars. Most of them are half-empty, even in high season, so I dread to think what it's like in low season. Our favourite place is Espaço Brasil, a funky surf-shack type pizza restaurant that also serves grilled fish and steak. Our waiter is the chattiest guy on earth and uses every opportunity to practice his English.
Be warned, though, Bahia is one of the worst places for bad food hygiene in Brazil. Within days, I find myself projectile vomiting on the street outside a petrol station after eating some dodgy salad and feijoada (Brazilian meat and bean stew). We spend an hour or so waiting in the blistering heat, flies swarming around us, at the tiny local hospital, but at least I am seen eventually and the service is decent and - more importantly - free!
Despite the minor food poisoning incident, Itacaré is an amazing, relaxing place and I'd recommend it to anyone. But by far the highlight of the trip is discovering Jeribucaçu beach. This place really is paradise on earth. It takes a 25-minute drive from Itacaré and then a 25-minute trek through rainforest, but eventually we arrive on the most breathtaking, secluded beach. At lunch time, we break from surfing and tuck into freshly fried fish, tapioca and delicious cocktails.
By the end of the afternoon, the tide comes in, covering the entire beach and making way for the freshwater pool where we bathe until sunset. Now, if only I could stay here forever...
We choose Itacaré, a surf resort on Brazil's northeast coast, mainly based on the fact that the weather might be a bit more reliable than that of rival surf paradise Florianópolis, in Brazil's South, but still with great waves. We are completely wrong, of course, and it rains pretty much every day of our trip to Itacaré, but only in small amounts that don't affect the holiday too much.
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| The view from my hammock at Pousada Hanalei |
We stay at Pousada Hanalei, a guest house conveniently set just off Praia da Tiririca - the best beach for hard-core surfers in Itacaré. Our room, at the top of the pousada, is split over two levels, with a double and a single bed downstairs and another single mattress on the floor of the mezzanine level. We have a balcony with hammocks, though this is right next to the reception area, so not exactly private, and the view from the balcony and mezzanine look right out onto beautiful beach views.
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| The view of Tiririca beach from our penthouse room at Pousada Hanalei |
Breakfast itself is something to look forward to: two fresh white bread rolls each with the customary Brazilian rolled-up slices of cheese and ham, a plate of fruit (often fresh watermelon, melon and papaya) a plate of packet-baked cake, and a plate of something different each day (which could be pão de queijo, or pancakes). The fruit juice is disappointingly from a packet, as is the cake, but the café com leite is exactly as it should be in Brazil (strong and milky) and this breakfast certainly sets you up for a day of surfing.
We booked our surfing with Local Surf, a school I found through www.itacare.com.br. It's not easy to find out about surf schools in Itacaré on the internet, and we choose Local Surf mainly because it's much cheaper and more relaxed than its main competitor, EasyDrop.
We manage to arrange with Felipe, the helpful chap at Local Surf, to stay for 8 nights at Pousada Hanalei, with 3 days of surfing lessons, board and equipment hire and a transfer to and from Ilhéus airport for the grand total of R$2,700 for two people. It's expensive compared with what it used to be, but you can't do anything for cheap in Brazil these days.
We spend the next few days surfing the beaches of Resende, Pontal, Jeribucaçu and Engenhoca. It's a surfers paradise - great waves, beautiful beaches, a chilled vibe. But, in hindsight, I probably wouldn't have chosen Local Surf. The two instructors are very friendly and they're great people, but they're perhaps just a little too relaxed and they don't push me to try harder. After a couple of falls and a bit of scary water, I could do with a lot more encouragement to improve. They are, however, pretty flexible when it comes to lesson timings and locations, and I get the feeling things at EasyDrop would be the exact opposite. By the last day, though, we find our own instructors on seasoned-surfers beach Tiririca and pay by the hour, which is perfect if you're not a complete beginner.
The nightlife in Itacaré consists of just one main street, lined with restaurants and bars. Most of them are half-empty, even in high season, so I dread to think what it's like in low season. Our favourite place is Espaço Brasil, a funky surf-shack type pizza restaurant that also serves grilled fish and steak. Our waiter is the chattiest guy on earth and uses every opportunity to practice his English.
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| Inside Espaço Brasil |
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| Caipirinha on arrival at Espaço Brasil |
Despite the minor food poisoning incident, Itacaré is an amazing, relaxing place and I'd recommend it to anyone. But by far the highlight of the trip is discovering Jeribucaçu beach. This place really is paradise on earth. It takes a 25-minute drive from Itacaré and then a 25-minute trek through rainforest, but eventually we arrive on the most breathtaking, secluded beach. At lunch time, we break from surfing and tuck into freshly fried fish, tapioca and delicious cocktails.
By the end of the afternoon, the tide comes in, covering the entire beach and making way for the freshwater pool where we bathe until sunset. Now, if only I could stay here forever...
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| The sign speaks for itself |
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