An addendum ... Mate, An Obsession

Everywhere we have been on this journey through Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, people are gathered in a circle passing a single gourd with leather wrapping with a silver straw. It is a ritual! Morning, noon, afternoon and night.
People carry around a thermos of hot water with their mate vessel. If they are riding a scooter or motorcycle they carry a special leather case designed especially for the thermos, cup and silver straw, la bombilla.
Sitting on the stoop, sitting in lawn chairs in front of their homes or on the beach, waiting for the bus or plane, at work or a play, everyone is sipping their mate!
WHAT'S UP?
I have asked a couple of people, Mariel in Buenos Aires, the cute ladies in Valdavia, and the woman who we stayed with in Castro, Chiloe, what's in this special drink that is so appealing that people cannot be without and they insisted that it isn't filled with caffeine or a hidden drug. I find this hard to believe!!
This is truly a social phenomenon!!
After passing up an opportunity to try mate with Mariel I purchased my own bombilla. I think it will make a wonderful ‘straw’ for consuming fresh ginger tea or perhaps cinnamon sticks mixed with orange zest & whole cloves.
Here is some information I found online to explain more. I only wish I had collected pictures of people we saw EVERYWHERE with their own special mate set-up!
Mate is a traditional South American infused drink. It is prepared from steeping dried leaves of yerba matein hot water.
Mate is served with a metal straw from a shared hollow gourd. The straw is called a bombilla in some Latin American countries, a bomba in Portuguese, and a bombilla, type of straw. The straw is traditionally made of silver.. Even if the water comes in a very modern thermos, the infusion is traditionally drunk from mates or cuias.
As with other brewed herbs, yerba mate leaves are dried, chopped, and ground into a powdery mixture called yerba. The bombilla acts as both a straw and a sieve. The submerged end is flared, with small holes or slots that allow the brewed liquid in, but block the chunky matter that makes up much of the mixture.

A Sad Time...An Additional Stop Planned

Christmas Day started with horrible news from home. Keith's dear sister, Teresa, passed away during the night, luckily in her sleep. She has experienced nearly annual bouts with obstructions in her digestive system, very painful and serious, and it seemed to be intensified by stress. We lost her this season and our family will never be the same.
Thank goodness for SKYPE! We were able to talk face to face with Keith's dad, Stan, and our daughter, Lyndz Spring, along with my mom who lended support to all. But we still know we need to head home for a bit to be close to our family including Teresa's daughter, Emily & her young family, as well as Teresa's husband, Tom Hess.
We have appreciated the support of friends through emails over the past couple of days. The world is made closer through technology, we are not grieving alone. And what would we have done without the computer to reschedule everything, cancellations and new flights.
We are heading home on Monday night, a red-eye flight. We will be heading back out on the journey after about three weeks. Brazil isn't in the picture this go-around.



Our last two days in Colonia were mostly spent in our hotel room watching the computer to see if anyone was there to chat, but we did get out for some long walks around the riverside. We dreamed of taking some of the sailboats out for a spin but stayed on shore looking longingly.






We took a bus for 2 1/2 hours today from Colonia south to the city of Montevideo. We went out for a nice dinner and snapped a few pictures of the fancy buildings around the hotel. Tomorrow we will have all day to check the Old Town here before flying out. I'll add a few pictures from tomorrow's tour if we get internet access during our various airport stops tomorrow & Tuesday morning.




This will be the last blog entry for South America 2010, part 1. Look for part 2 in mid-January 2011.
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Greetings From The Top of the Lighthouse

Buena Noche Buena!
Today was a comfortable day for relaxing here in Colonia. We spent over an hour sitting on the top of the lighthouse in the historical center. The wind was blowing gently which made the temperature perfect for watching sailboats go by in the river. We spent another hour siting on the shore on the other side of the peninsula reading under a tree while mothers tried to convince their young swimmers to come in closer to the shore. The muddy water certainly didn't entice us to get even our toes wet, but the kids were having a great time.



We have purchased sandwich making ingredients and a ham & cheese torta for tomorrow along with fresh fruit including Keith's favorite, watermelon, so we don't have to worry about finding another open on Christmas. We plan to ride an Urban bus just a few kilometers down the road to another scenic village.
We are enjoying the slow lifestyle here, resting up for our upcoming travels.

Colonia Del Sacramento, Uruguay~A Step Back In Time

Life is slow here in Colonia, especially after spending a week in the bustling city of Buenos Aires. Keith & I are moving super slowly due to the high temperature and elevated UV levels! Luckily we have a comfortable, air-conditioned room to return to when I am feeling like I'm sweating to death. These days here are meant for relaxing and it's a great spot to do just that! The high today is expected to be 97 degrees with high humidity so I'm not exaggerating too much to say it's really hot!
It is, however, a very lovely place built on a small penisula back in the 1700s as a port for the Portuguese to smuggle in goods for distribution in Buenos Aires. The architecture has been conserved and restored, flowers are in bloom and there are many benches in the shade of trees to stop and enjoy the beauty of the town and river views.
Enjoy some pictures while we take an afternoon siesta!

Our Farewell Celebration...'Practically Perfect In Every Way!'

What a wonderful time we had at Mariel's in Buenos Aires the past week. She took such good care of us especially in the preparation of delicious dinners each night where we loved speaking Spanish with her and her other guests and friends! We hated to leave but the city is so large and world bigger still, so we had to leave the cozy nest and cross the huge River Del Plata for Uruguay. Thank you Mariel for allowing us to join you in your home, it was the highlight of our trip so far!

Last night it was a fiesta with gaspacho, homemade swiss chard ravioli, fresh fruit salad and wine. Keith taught our new friend from Brazil, Val, how to respond when people ask if she speaks English with "Of course, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!" Once we had a sing-a-long, she could pronounce it nearly perfectly. We had a great evening, just one of many interesting meals at Mariel's table. Muchas gracias!

Monday we took a bus to the giant train station in Buenos Aires. From there we took one commuter train to another more touristy train, Tren de la costa. Our destination was the town of Tigre up river from BA. We walked for miles watching boats and barges and pausing for breaks in the shade provided by the trees in the gardens lining the sidewalks along the riverfront.





When we returned to Buenos Aires we were amazed by the number of buses that begin their circuits at the train station, WOW! To drive around Buenos Aires you must need nerves of steel! Seriously crazy roads between the thousands of buses, taxis, motorcycles swerving in and out, trucks... They speed from light to light paying little attention to the lane markings.

Tuesday, our last day in the gigantic city, we visited the Palacia of Agua Corrientes built in the late 1800s to house the huge tanks that stored the purified water supply for the city, the first in Latin America to have systems to deliver potable water to homes and businesses. It was built during the hey day of Argentina when the economy was one of the five strongest in the world. Many of the incredible buildings come from those glorious days of plenty. Mariel and her friend, Mateus, told us during dinners how the city has changed in their lifetimes, many colonial and classic buildings have been destroyed for new development and others have not been maintained in a sufficient manner, but we have loved walking and riding the buses pointing out the beauty to each other. It's hard to imagine how lovely this city must have been back in the day!


I had planned a tour of a couple of art museums using the subway on Tuesday but as we descended into the D line the subway was closed because of some interruption, we never found out why. That forced us back out into the heat of the day to figure out how to take various buses to our desired destinations. We walked through the Botanical Gardens located in Plaza Italia filled with replicas of sculptures found in Italy past the Zoo to the Evita Museum. Here a one-side story of Eva Peron is told with many of her personal artifacts and many videos of her life as an actress and presidential partner.

The museum is housed in one of her many social projects, a transitional home for women and their children in need. At dinner we were able to ask Mariel more about Evita which was interesting. Although her parents were anti-Peronists, Eva Person came to the school where Mariel's mother was principal when Mariel was very young. She remembers clearly how charismatic young Mrs. Peron was. She agreed that many good projects were started for poor & working people of Argentina during the Peron's time in power, but those social works were not continued by the leaders who took over, unfortunately, as many people were helped with the ample funds of the country in those days.

It was so hot yesterday that we were melted by the time we returned to the apartment. After a short rest we enjoyed the rest of the evening with new friends!

We are pleased to have air conditioning in our room, summer is here!

Fin De Semana En BA, Argentina

Warning...some of the images shown below may be too creepy for you! They are for me, but Keith chose the pics for today's first story because the Cementerio de Recoleta was one of his favorite spots so far.


This cemetery is one of the most expensive real estate in Buenos Aires. Some of these memorials are much more expensive than a home or flat in the city! Just when you think you have seen the largest and most fancy you turn the corner and are WOWed by another. Keith got a little too upclose and personal when he discovered you could see the caskets inside. The sculptures, marble from Italy, stained glass, tile & wood work was incredible; you really can take it with you



with unlimited funds as many of these notable dead folks have demonstrated! The biggest crowd gathered around the crypt of Eva Peron and famiy.

After touring around the cemetery for a couple of hours we walked down one of the most elegant streets in this city overfilled with beautiful buildings.



Note the fancy necklace we picked out in the Cartier's window; Keith is 'gifting' me a picture of it for Christmas, isn't he sweet?!

We passed the Embassies of various countries including France & Brazil before hopping on a bus for La Boca, the entry way for many immigrants from the early 1900's. It was a colorful tourist zone with music and tango dancers willing to have their picture taken with you for a couple of pesos. Being the peso conscious travelers that we are we skipped the posed picture and the many invitation to eat at the ample supply of street cafes and bought delicious empanadas and a coke at the bakery.


Our trip back to Mariel's apartment was much larger than we had anticipated, actually we were lost and practically off the map before we jumped off, crossed the street and headed back where we got off the bus at the right spot! A city tour through a shopping mecca, everyone was out shopping for the upcoming holiday. The streets were packed! We were happy to ride through and then back through the mobs comfortably seated in the bus!
Saturday, outside of the commercial shopping areas, was much quieter than we would have imagined, the traffic was much lighter than weekdays. Of course when things really get hopping around this city, we are putting our heads on our pillows for the night. Mariel went out to a party at her daughter's house for a family birthday at 9 pm and didn't get back until 3:30 this morning! If my family has a later dinner it starts at 5:30 or 6 pm! Different, huh?

Today we walked a long ways to San Telmo's Sunday antique market and street fair. We had a great time wandering around the indoor and outdoor markets filled with real valuable antiques and touristy trinkets. There were several street performers including a talented orchestra playing passionate tango music with four squeeze box players, a good vocalist, stringed instruments and even an upright piano playing right on the cobblestoned street across from a lovely church where we enjoyed a moment of peaceful relaxation.

Another of my favorite street artists was a puppeteer dressed in an an identical outfit as his string puppet. The puppet was a drunk singing ballads as he took big swigs from his bottle and staggered about, very creative & funny!
We saw a real drunk being hauled away by the police and the crowd was insisting it was police abuse, who knows the full story, not I!
Sitting in Mariel's living room with the french doors opened to the street the bakery on the corner is sending wonderful smells my way. This trip is taking it's toll on my figure even being careful. I'm not sure I could live in a big city where everything is so readily available including ice cream, baked delights and pizza! I'm now going to concentrate on thinking and eating more veggies!