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The Beara Penninsula drive

Posted on June 29, 2024 by julieallen36

We woke up the next morning to wind and rain and so naturally this was the day to set off on another huge drive (80miles) around the wild and untamed Beara Penninsula. This involved getting back to the start point at Kenmare which, using the faster roads is still and hour and 15 mins away.

There is a handy leaflet describing the best places to stop but we were keen to do it at a slightly more relaxed pace today as there was no rush to get back for football.

We started near Bonane at the heritage centre which has been created by the locals. This involved a slog up a steep path until we reached the hill fort and stone circle. There were lots of wild flowers and ferns around and the views would have been nice if it hadn’t been so murky. One of the main attractions of the site was a huge, monolith standing stone at a jaunty angle. It turned out that this was just a trick of perspective in the promotional photos as it was actually only just above my knee. It was easy to image the little Stone Age village living up here but Jane wasn’t impressed by the site and rather wished she’d stayed in the car. At least they had a very modern portaloo with a very acceptable seat above the long drop!

Next stop proved very popular with all the cats. It was a boutique chocolate maker called Lorge Choclatier. They sold individual handmade chocolates and they tasted fab so we each bought a little selection for later.

Now we drove over the Cana Pass which was steep and narrow and at one point involved driving through 3 rock tunnels which was fun. We drove on down to Glengarriff which was busy with tourists and cyclists doing the Ring of Beara cycle ride. We all seemed to head to the one coffee stop, The Sugarloaf Cafe. Another splendid place where Jane and I shared a toasted sandwich and a cup of tea. I notice that the girls here had lovely Irish accents and were definitely enjoying the ‘craic’ as they worked.

After refreshments we walked down to the Blue Pool and the swimming spot but it wasn’t very blue today. The cute little boat that takes you over to the Italian gardens on Garnish Island. However, despite our ‘more relaxed approach’ , time was pressing on and so we gave this a miss instead starting our drive down the coast past pretty villages and beaches to Castletownbere. The pictures of this had promised pretty little fishing boats but actually the ones in the harbour were huge ocean going vessels , this is after all the centre of Ireland’s white fishing fleet. We had a look round the pretty coloured shops of the village and then were off again.

Now we headed along to the far end of the Penninsula at Dursley Head. It was a mad drive along tiny lanes across a patchwork of green fields with views over the, by now, sparkling sea! Yes the sun had once again come out. At Dursey Point there is a cable car over to Dursey Island which is a Heath Robinson affair. It was very windy and I had to give Jane strict instructions not to go on it.

By now it was 5-30 and people were getting rather jaded. Now we just needed to drive back along the north/west side of the Penninsula! This was an amazing drive winding through huge elephant rocks along the real Wild Atlantic Way! The waves below us were crashing away and sometimes with no barrier at the roadside to stop us from falling off! I absolutely LOVED it!

However, we were still along way from home and our thoughts turned to food. We sped through the colourful villages of Allihies and Eyries (their artists would have to wait for another day!). Stress levels were rising as we didn’t really want to return to Kenmare to eat.

Joyce googled a place called Helen’s Bar in a village called Kilmacklloge. We got there by driving along a narrow road which felt as if we’d be driving into a posh hotel. At the end we emerged by the sea and a pier and there was Helen’s Bar. It was very busy in the car park and in the bar itself. The chance of 6 of us just rolling up to eat seemed highly unlikely. However, the wonderful Helen herself soon found us 2 tables to join together and the food was absolutely amazing. Fish n Chips, Scallops in batter and chips and yummy homemade apple pie. All was well with the world once more. What a really special place.

Now only an hour and a half to get home and Joyce’s turn to drive!

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Beara, Cork, Ireland, Kerry | Leave a comment

Herding cats in Killarney National Park

Posted on June 27, 2024 by julieallen36

After a very good nights sleep I still woke up early and was busy blogging by 7am. It was a beautiful day and today we’d be retracing some of our steps into Killarney National Park. Jane and I were a little late getting ready, making plans with John for our trip to Dingle on Friday, and when we came downstairs everyone else was already sitting in the cars tapping their fingers. I asked if we had a plan but non emerged. The term ‘herding cats’ often comes to mind when travelling with 6 adults and trying to decide how to spend a day. Levels of research , ideas of what makes an interesting way to spend time and ability to make an actual decision all vary. Pam’s spreadsheet had already gone slightly to the wind so it was all a bit vague. We knew we didn’t really fancy Killarney town itself so in the end we set off heading towards Mucklow Lake Boat Trips because Jane had mentioned that she fancied a nice trip up the lake to admire the views.

It took over an hour to get here and we drove into the grounds of Mucklow House but then diverted following the signs saying ‘Boat Trips’. It was only 100metres down from the car park to the boathouse where the man sat in a tiny rowing boat like vessel. Hm…this wasn’t quite what we’d imagined and Pam would definitely not be happy sitting in this in her life vest tossing about on the slightly choppy waters! No one else really fancied it either. Luckily, we had sneaked via the back gate into the grounds of the house so we took the opportunity to have a little mooch about along the lake shore. We walked along a peninsula getting sunny views through the pine trees and up the Lake Mucklow. At the end we came out onto a lovely rocky beach and the scene was an oil painting waiting to happen.

After about an hour we walked back to the car, the place was starting to get busier and we had to dodge the ‘Jaunty’ Horse Traps prancing along the paths.

Next the cars split up again as Jane and I wanted to see Torc Waterfall which the others had stopped at the day before. It only took us 5 mins and it was a pretty waterfall for an easy walk. We then drove up the windy road to Ladies View cafe where we met the others and had coffee and cake on the terrace overlooking the splendid view. We then walked out into the rocks (shaped like elephants back with beautiful striations) for photos. It wasn’t busy and it was a fabulous spot overlooking the lakes and valley below, with mountains all around.

Then we carried on up to Molls Gap but the views today weren’t so spectacular and we were very glad we’d stopped the evening before. We then headed straight down to Kenmare which we’d all bypassed the day before in our speed to get home.

Kenmare is a busy little town with lots of colourful shops and pubs with the most amazing hanging baskets. We didn’t really have a plan of attack so the cats just wandered about for a while. I then took us down to the harbour where the tide was out and it wasn’t particularly pretty. I am really missing the ability to look at my OS maps app on the phone. The maps I can access don’t have footpaths or contours and I find it impossible to picture what we’re going to find.

We had to retrace our steps into the village and now it was time to visit the oldest pub in Kenmare – PF McCarthy. Well , it all looked very old and traditional on the outside but inside it was more like a canteen. Very disappointing and we decided that we would not eat here later but did have a Guinness and ales and enjoyed their toilets.

Next we found our way to the Kenmare Stone Circle where we were presented with some tags on which to write a prayer and tie it to the Fairy Hawthorn trees. It was interesting to look at others peoples tags which prayed for health and happiness for family and friends whilst others prayed for World Peace. My particular favourites were these two:

Abundant Cheese for all

Well, I suppose I’m meant to write on here ‘World Peace’ . So ‘World Peace’.

Jane added her own little prayer , a very poignant ‘England to win Euros 2024‘ and mine may have mentioned a budgie!!

Meanwhile, Pam was wandering round stroking the rocks in the stone circle and getting a tingle in her fingers tips. It was indeed a very magical place.

A little bit further on we found Cromwell’s Bridge over the stream. It’s a very steep side old bridge but has nothing to do with Cromwell at all. Adrian and I couldn’t resist the challenge of climbing up it and sitting like leprechaun’s with our feet dangling over the top.

By now it had started to rain and Pam decided that she needed Colcannon and she needed it NOW! Unfortunately the best place in Kenmare for colcannon was only serving ‘Lite Bites and pizza’ today so we didn’t stop there. Instead we opted for the pub with the best floral display ‘Foley’s’ where people ate Irish Stew or Beef and Guinness pie with a flaky hat on it! Jane wasn’t impressed. I had pizza.

By the time we came out it was pouring with rain and it was time to hack it all the way back to our house. It was chaos in Killarney as the Jaunty’s were all going home, there was a shinty match at the stadium and a funfair all going on at the same time.

Safely home (just) – it was time to chillax and enjoy the hot tub in the light drizzle. Perfect!

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Ireland, Kenmare, Killarney | 3 Comments

The Ring of Kerry

Posted on June 26, 2024 by julieallen36

After an evening BBQ and a session in the hot tub in the sunshine we went to bed excited about our trip the next day. Unfortunately, whilst the new unbobbly sheet was an improvement, I still couldn’t sleep very well. It was very hot in this modern house and I woke up with the dawn chorus at about 4-30am…

We had decided to do the The Ring of Kerry in a day despite the fact that my guide book says the slower you do it the better. In fact I’d definitely read somewhere that it was best to take 4 days. Slightly concerned about this I’d plotted how long it would take to drive between the different stopping points and it added up to roughly 4 hours. We would have plenty of daylight and the only time limit that we were on was that Jane and I needed to be back for the England Euros game at 8pm.

We set off at 9am and the weather was very poor. No rain was forecast but it appeared to be one of those days when we were just sat in the middle of the cloud with constant drizzle. Our first stop was about an hour away, The Kerry Bog Village. We had wondered whether we’d need extra time here and the line of about 10 coaches indicated that it was indeed very popular. The reception staff were very Irish and friendly and we were soon inside this authentic 18th/19th century Irish village. However, it is literally a collection of cottages with old tut inside. There is no explanation of anything and we came away feeling very uneducated. There was a random collection of animals and Pam is going to report them to the ISPCA for the conditions in which their sad looking bog ponies and bored Irish wolfhounds were being kept. There was, of course, the obligatory shop full of green souvenir tat which I’m sure was very popular with the American college kids.

Onwards…..next stop was Rossbeigh Strand which is a finger of pebbles that sticks out into Dingle Bay with magnificent views. It was nice but although we had emerged from the cloud it was still fairly murky. Pam and I managed to find 5 tiny pieces of sea glass between us so we were happy!

On the way to our next destination we stopped at Mountain Stage Viewpoint -still cloudy but with glimmers of sunshine on the Dingle Peninsula. We arrived at Cahershiveen at about midday and went down to the marina which was quite pretty with the lovely green waters. It was around about now that certain members of the group had a sudden and urgent requirement for a cup of tea and maybe…something to eat. Like NOW! So we went back out to the town where we found the rather marvelous Lazy Cat Cafe. This was a trendy Ukrainian Cafe with fabulous scones and cakes and a decent flat white. Hurrah. Pam’s Napoleon cake in particular was very good!

After refreshments we went back across the bridge in search of Ballycarbery Castle down by WhiteStrand Beach. By now the sun was fully out along with the water in the estuary. It was very lovely even though we couldn’t actually visit the ruined castle. Apparently it once belonged to the McCarthy clan and is still privately owned. We also found the Cahergall Ring Fort which a nice lady at the marina had said was a ‘must’. It was built around 600AD with walls 6m high and 3 m wide! Of course we had to climb up it although it was rather scary, the views from the top were fantastic!! The other highlight here was the man sitting on the back of his van showing passersby his lamb. Presumably the idea is that you take an interest , have your photo taken with the lamb for which he charges you a few Euros and if you don’t pay he bundles you into the back of the van and holds you for ransom. We didn’t fall for his Irish tricks.

By now it was starting to feel like we weren’t making progress fast enough…but we still wanted to visit Valentia Island. It was a lovely drive down the narrow lane to the harbour at Reenard Point where we caught the car ferry the short distance (5mins) to Knightstown on the island. It was a very pretty harbour with great views all the way back to the mountains in the mainland.

But crack on we must as we sped directly along to Portmagee where a bridge takes you back across to the mainland. I didn’t even stop at the farm offering their own ice cream and Pam didn’t spend long in the Skellig Experience visitor centre as it’s displays focused on puffins and not Star Wars (which had partly been filmed on the Skellig Islands). We took a few photos of the colourful harbour at Portmagee and then drove through on our way upto Kerry Cliffs.

Now there were a lot of people parked up here and the signs suggested that it took just 10mins to walk up to the cliffs but that you needed to spend an hour here. Hm…..did we have time to do this……..? Well I’m very glad we did because the cliffs were an easy walk and it was spectacular with views over the 1000ft cliffs and the wild Atlantic below as well as the pointy Skellig Islands.

By now time was pressing on as it was about 3-30pm. We needed a new plan…..those of us who wanted to watch football (Jane and Julie) would need to really start to hack it, whilst everyone else could go at a more leisurely pace. So we split up in the cars, Jane and I still determined to complete the Ring of Kerry route which according to my calculations would still take nearly 3 hours!!!

The rest of the driving went by in a bit of a blur but it was spectacular with climbs up giant mountains and cliffs at Coomanispic, beautiful turquoise bays at Derrynane and long, long stretches of road all the way to Sneem where we finally decided to stop for tea. We went into D Oshea’s Bar which is a colourful pinky purple colour and it was very smart inside with views out the back over the estuary. Jane enjoyed her first pint of Guinness and Colcannon and Ham whilst I had a little half of red ale and sausage and mash! Perfect and after making friends with the American locals at the next table we felt ready for the final stretch of our journey. Meanwhile Pam, Adrian, Joyce and Enid had also arrived in Sneem and were eating a seafood platter at The Stone House.

It was a beautiful evening as we continued miles along by the sea to Kenmare and then up into the mountains of the Killarney National Park. By now the roads were relatively quiet and we couldn’t resist stopping at various viewpoints of Moll’s Gap and Ladies View. We were due to come back here the next day…but what if it was raining?!! It was truly beautiful and a shame to be driving past it all at rally driving speeds. Hey ho…looking forward to doing it at a slower pace tomorrow.

We drove through Killarney itself, bypassing the town centre. It seemed to be a very big town and very ‘corporate’ looking. I’m glad we are not staying there….

Now we were back on the familiar N22 and I drove at 120kmph all the way back to Tralee, only slowing down for white vans parked at the roadside in case they were doing speed checks. I swerved into the drive at 8-07pm. We hadn’t missed much and naturally England went onto have a dismal 0-0 draw with Slovenia. Thank goodness we’d taken the opportunity to stop and look at the views in the way home!

The others arrived back at half time having stopped at all of the viewpoints along the way as they’d recovered from their earlier scenic overload!

My recommendation….don’t try and do the Ring of Kerry in a day. At least plan to stop one night somewhere half way along…Derrynane Beach would probably be top of my list.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Ireland, Kerry, Ring of Kerry | Leave a comment

Tralee, West Ireland

Posted on June 24, 2024 by julieallen36

We set off on our trip to the Emerald Isle on Sunday 23rd June. Flying from Birmingham Airport takes a mere 50 mins but unfortunately, due to building works at the airport you currently have to arrive 3 hours before your flight. Ridiculous. It was very busy and we felt very happy that we’d booked our Fast Track Security pass and sailed past the winding queues like smug things. It’s terribly chaotic and there’s no air conditioning so it was deeply unpleasant sitting in Wetherspoons feeling like we were trapped in an over-crowded, tropical glasshouse.

We met up with our fellow travel companions here..Pam and Adrian and Joyce and Enid. After a short delay, our Ryan Air flight set off across the Irish Sea. We landed at Cork Airport which was shiny and modern, calm and quiet and very European feeling. We picked up our 2 smart hire cars and then drove the 1.5 hours to Tralee. It’s very easy , straight along the N22 all the way! The road was very quiet and the scenery green and pastoral. Towards Killarney it became a little wilder with impressive mountains and lakes all around.

When we arrive in Tralee it was about 6-30pm and we went straight to buy some supplies from Lidl whilst Jane, Adrian and Joyce went to collect Fish n Chips from Quinlan’s fish bar!

We arrived at our fabulous Airbnb just outside Tralee and ate our tea and then unpacked. As we settled in, it became apparent that we had some First World problems: no WiFi code, no bedside lamps, no plugs next to mirrors to do our hair. With the help of lovely Jessica, the owner of our Airbnb,we solved as many of these as we could and settled down to watch Scotland play Euros football on the big telly with a glass of red wine. Unfortunately, nobody could help Scotland win their vital match against Hungary.

When we went to bed another problem emerged…we had a bobbly bed sheet which was very irritating and would need dealing with.

In the morning Jessica and her little girl, Alex, came to show us the ropes and by about 10-30 we were ready to start our first day here in Tralee.

Pam had put together an itinerary on a spreadsheet (good girl) and today we’d be off to do our big shop and also to visit a windmill. However, in a radical move we decided to mix it up and so off we set for Blennerville Windmill. This is only 1.5miles down the road and is a most excellent tourist attraction. Before we were able to go into the windmill we had to watch an audio visual presentation on the history of the place. It was an interesting introduction and we learned about how the English discovered how easy it was to grow corn here for exporting to Britain where there was huge demand brought about by the Industrial Revolution. The Irish peasants, who did all the work, lived a very poor life on tiny plots of land and eating a diet of potatoes and bread. But then the 1845 Potato famine made things even worse and 1 million people died as well as 1 million emigrating to ‘The New World’ on so called Coffin Ships. No wonder we aren’t very popular although to be fair , everyone so far has been very friendly.

Next we had to visit an exhibition which didn’t do much to uplift the spirits. The windmill fell into ruin but was rebuilt in the 1990s and people learned the skills they needed to build all the lovely houses we see around here today.

We climbed up the windmill itself using the steep ladder stairs and learned all about its workings. It’s the tallest windmill in the UK and Ireland and has huge sails but at the moment they’re not turning.

Next we visited the Model Railways exhibition and then walked along the canal which runs all the way into Tralee and it was lovely to be out in the sunshine and fresh air. There was some good bird life including egrets, herons, oystercatchers and a Godwit!!

Some of the graffiti on the footpath didn’t seem terribly friendly, however the little tea shop and gallery was very sweet and we had a nice cup of tea and fruit cake.

Our final stop of the day was a trip into Dunnes in the town centre. We were very excited to go here as we’d had a very good visit to a Dunnes when we were in Belfast. It didn’t disappoint and it had a particularly splendid Ladies Department. The food section was also very upmarket , like Booths, and we stocked up on supplies for our BBQ tonight. I don’t think we can bear the thought of doing a ‘big shop’ after that so we will be eating out a lot!

We even bought a new bedsheet to replace the bobbly one. Thank goodness!

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Ireland, Tralee, Wild Atlantic Way | 1 Comment

Adios Buenos Aires

Posted on September 30, 2023 by julieallen36

I’m writing this sitting waiting for our flight home, at Buenos Aires International airport.

So let me tell you about our last day in the city. We didn’t have a definite plan for today so I kind of made one up, piecing together the final bits we wanted to see. It would be a day of taxi rides as we went from one neighbourhood to another. My plan was first of all to go back to La Boca….they’d played a match last night but as it was a draw, hopefully all would be calm. Our hotel receptionist gave us the same old warning not to wander off track….and off we went. However, today was Friday and we got stuck in very bad traffic almost from the offset. The taxi meter was clocking up the pesos and we were just sat still. Eventually, the driver told us there was a ‘Manifestacion’. Fascinating….but luckily I knew from our visit to MALBA that this meant that there was a demonstration. He said we wouldn’t be able to get to Boca today! Apparently, this is a bit of a thing on Friday’s and when I looked at Google maps lots of the streets and big junctions had turned red.

We needed a new plan and luckily I had one. I asked the driver if he could take us to Puerto Madeiro, the dockside trendy area as we hadn’t really explored there yet. We were nearby so that was easy. He dropped us off next to the Punta de La Mujer which is an elegant white bridge opened in 2001. Apparently, it’s meant to be a homage to tango. The area was very nice and there were quite a lot of tourists wandering about next to the water and all of the warehouse restaurants. It is also the home of the Hard Rock Cafe in Buenos Aires and so obviously we had to go there for Jane to get her shot glass. We’d read reviews that this was the worst Hard Rock Cafe in the world so that had to be worth a visit. Very disappointingly they had no shot glasses…but we sat down and had a beer which was very welcome even though it was only just midday. The nice young waiter saw that Jane was interested in the rock memorabilia and proudly gave her a private tour of some of the highlights such as the Kiss guitar and the AC/DC worn out trainers!

After this we walked back through the business district to our hotel which wasn’t too far away. Everyone was on lunch break and relaxing in the sunshine or grabbing a bite to eat.

We had a quick stop at the hotel and then made our way out again in another taxi to Palermo. This afternoon we’d booked to go on a ‘free’ graffiti tour which cost US$ 10. The taxi took ages to cover the 5 miles to get there and the driver was very excited to have 2 English ‘chiccas’ in his car. He talked incessantly and whilst he was very pleasant, my ears were bleeding by the time we arrived for our tour. A little late, we met our Group and the lovely guide Vito who was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about his subject. This part of Palermo seems really lovely with low-rise shops, bars and restaurants. Much more relaxed than other parts of this city. We really liked it and thought this would have been a nicer area to stay in. The graffiti tour was fun and took us a couple of hours to complete. I now know all about tags, blocks, throw-ups and the difference between vandalism and art in the world of graffiti. We also learned a little more about the history of the city as sometimes the graffiti is making a political statement, such as marking a house where two people went missing during the military dictatorship 1974 to 1983. Just two of what are thought to be 30,000 people who just went missing.

When the tour finished we sat and had a beer outside at the Chopperia and then caught another taxi back to the hotel. After a quick bit of packing we went out for out last meal, revisiting the cosy place down the road , correctly named Vincin. We resisted the gorgeous empanadas today and went for …..pizza!

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Argentina, Buenos Aires, graffiti, Palermo | 1 Comment

Avenida 9 de Julio

Posted on September 30, 2023 by julieallen36

After our Tango night, the next day it was time to explore again. Once more, we were on our own and after a slight diversion to a lovely scrap-booking shop in Esmeralda, our first stop proper was a guided tour of the Teatro Colon. This is the fantastic opera house which was completed in 1908 and it was an atmospheric visit where we could imagine that we were part of the very grand audience taking tea or champagne in the Golden Salon! The acoustics in this place are said to be near perfect and the likes of Maria Callas and Pavarotti have all performed here. In fact, the acoustics are so perfect that performers are in fear of getting something wrong , as they won’t get away with it here. I was especially impressed with the place as my friend Sue, had actually performed here which must have been amazing.

After this we continued along Avenida 9 de Julio. This is the big 12 lane Avenue that kind of divides the city. It’s wide and noisy and a little bit seedy and unlike elsewhere, the architecture is big and brash and really rather ugly. Still , we walked down here until we got to the big city landmark of the Obelisk. This monument commemorates the 400th anniversary of the founding of the capital and is visible from all around the city.

We made our way onto Avenida Mayo, which crosses A. 9 de J , and was much more pleasant and definitely has a Parisian feel to it. Here we were heading to another of the cities famous coffee house , Cafe Tortoni, which is the oldest in the city. We had to queue to get in here but inside it was v nice with Tiffany lamps and pictures all over the walls. We ordered a coffee and some churros but were a bit disappointed when no chocolate was served with them.

Next we started walking up the long pedestrian street called ‘Florida’. It’s full of uninteresting shops and unsavoury characters. The whole street seemed to be lined with unsavouries shouting ‘Cambio, Cambio’. These are the unofficial currency dealers who seem to want to swap your dollars for pesos. They didn’t seem to be particularly targeting us as tourists and we just couldn’t work out why there were so many of them. Anyway, we didn’t engage.

We did a short diversion to find the Guimes Gallerias shopping mall. I’d read that there was a terrific view of the city from the 14th floor here but we struggled to find a lift that went further than the 6th floor. Eventually, a nice janitor complete with bucket and mop helped us find the correct lift and up we went. Sure enough on the 14th floor there was a chap selling tickets and then we climbed a spiral staircase 2 floors until we reached the viewing platform. Here the views were indeed splendid …not as pretty as some cities but good to see it all from a different perspective. we could see as far as the River Plate Delta and Uruguay.

By now we were well on our way to 10,000 steps and were pretty exhausted. We made it back to the hotel and after a quick cup of tea , headed out for an early dinner. We’d chosen a place recommended by Laura our guide. Recova de Posadas, which was only a 9 minute walk away. However, as it appeared that we needed to go under an underpass to get there we decided to get an Uber. It took literally 3 minutes and it turned out that the restaurants here were all under the underpass! The recommendation was actually for one called El Mirasol, one of the famous steak houses of Buenos Aires. It was completely empty at 6pm which was lucky as communication was somewhat difficult. Jane chose a sirloin and I chose a breaded chicken breast just to be controversial! But before it arrived we had another controversy with the wine. We tried to order a £30 bottle of Malbec but when it arrived it was cold, fridge cold. Via Google translate we discussed this with the waiter who said ALL of the red wine was cold and no they couldn’t warm it up for us! He pointed us at the only bottle that was at room temperature and that cost only £7. Reluctantly Jane agreed…but the funny thing was it actually tasted ok. What a result!

Jane’s steak was very good but I have to say my squashed whole chicken was a bit dry and definitely a bit much. The French fries were fab and the ice cream pudding with Dulce de Leche and nuts was delicious. It wasn’t quite the culinary experience we’d expected although after all the waiters had finished eating their tea with us, the place did start to get busy as all the local olds came in for their supper!

To round off the evening we ended up needing to get a taxi back to the hotel as Uber suddenly didn’t want to accept our credit card. The restaurant weren’t interested in helping these two old birds and so we were out on the street corner trying to hail a cab. I waved at everything as there seemed to be no logic to which cabs were free. I turned out to be quite skilled at this and we were soon whizzing along dodging through the traffic on the way back to our hotel.

So….that left one more day …and a few different options for how to spend it.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Argentina, Buenos Aires, Teatro Colon | 3 Comments

A day of culture in Buenos Aires

Posted on September 29, 2023 by julieallen36

Today we would be on own and after all the warnings yesterday about places we should and shouldn’t go, it was nice to spend a day taking in the cultural side of this city.

We woke up to blue skies and a beautiful, fresh Spring day. After breakfast we set off, deciding to get an Uber to our first stop. Everyone else was still wearing coats and we stood out like proper tourists in our t-shirts. It was really nice to be out in the sunshine without being covered in suntan lotion and DEET and constantly worrying about being bitten!

Our first stop was the Museo de Arte Latinamericano de Buenos Aires, or MALBA for short. Buenos Aires has several reputable art galleries but I’d decided that this was the one to visit. It houses a considerable collection of Latin American art by artists I’d never heard of. Generally, they’re from the 20th century and very vibrant in colour.

The collection is housed in this white, modern building on the edge of posh Palermo which was built in 2001. We were there before they opened at 11am and it felt like visiting a smart London gallery.

As I say, most of the artists are unknown to me , with one notable exception. They have two paintings by Frieda Kahlo which are housed in a separate and guarded area.

On the top floor there was a solo exhibition for a guy from the 60s and 70s who obviously had a bit of a sense of humour, with his monkey paintings and sculptures, his playful ‘human’ nest and mad hatters bunny in a cup! His name is Edgardo Gimenez and his exhibition was very busy. His stuff is all a bit barmy but it made us smile. As we left, there was an old man being fussed over by several staff. We think it was probably Edgardo himself.

After this we then made our way on foot the short distance to our next stop -the Japanese Gardens. These are reported to be the biggest Japanese Gardens outside of Japan. They are very beautiful with lovely azaleas and cloud trees in particular, at this time of year. They’re also very popular but it was a relaxing way to spend some time on this sunny day.

Now we needed some sustenance so we walked all along Avenida de Libertador back to Recoleta and near to the cemetry. We revisited the La Biela coffee house which has always been a favourite haunt of locals wanting a gossip. Here we had a tostado (cheese and ham toastie) and Jane ordered a Grand Beer and I had a nice cup of tea. It was a particularly good meeting point for the old boys of the area and has historic connections and memorabilia, to racing drivers who used to meet up here.

At night we went on our big night out in Buenos Aires. We were collected at 8pm (ridiculously late) in a mini bus which then proceeded to collect a variety of folk from different hotels. We were taken to Cafe de Los Angelitos for our evening of Argentine Tango. The cafe is very old and historic and we were given a top table right at the front! We had a very good meal after which the entertainment began. I think they tried to tell the story of the development of the tango and it was fabulous watching these terrific dancers right in front of us. There was a huge variety of different dances from more traditional to very funky, modern day. The music was from a live band and there was absolutely no participation required. This was a bit of a shame as the previous evening, after our 2 glasses of Malbec, Jane and I had been practising in our hotel room and thought we were rather good.

At the end of the evening it all wrapped up promptly and we were back on the minibus to our hotel and in bed by 12-30am. What a lovely day of culture we had had.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Argentina, Buenos Aires, MALBA, Tango | 4 Comments

A Whistle-stop Tour of Buenos Aires

Posted on September 27, 2023 by julieallen36

It was a really easy flight to Buenos Aires, just under two hours and we were being collected by our guide, Laura and a driver. The first thing we noticed as we landed was that everyone on the plane started putting on their jumpers, coats and scarves! When we got outside we realised why, it was cold and windy….just 10 degrees. Oops…we probably hadn’t prepared for this as neither of us have a coat and we only have one pair of jeans each.

We went straight to our hotel in Retiro and had a friendly greeting from the reception staff. We found our room and went off to bed.

The next day we were up early for our half day tour with Laura of the city. This turned out to be a real whistle-stop trip, by car, around this vibrant, European styled city. Unfortunately, the weather was grey and still rather chilly. Laura is a teacher and she was very keen to show us as much as possible by visiting the different neighbourhoods , each of which has it’s own character. Sometimes we just drove past in the car, for example posh Palermo where all the embassies are based, but elsewhere we’d stop and have a more detailed visit. We learned quite a bit about the history of Argentina, well, I did. Jane glazed over rather early on and I distracted Laura by asking lots of questions so that Jane could take her photos!

I learned about the period of independence from Spain (1816) and how the period between 1860 and 1930 was a time of great prosperity when Argentina became one of the richest countries in the world, thanks to waves of European immigration. During this time the city of Buenos Aires was almost completely rebuilt as the old Spanish style buildings were largely replaced with today’s beautiful Neoclassical and Beaux Arts styles imported from France and Italy.

We also heard about Eva Peron ‘Evita’ who was a champion of the people but who now seems to get blamed for the Argentine inclination to depend on state benefits….it was all very interesting. We visited the mini-city of ‘Recoleta cemetery’ (No 2 in the world…..I don’t know what the scoring basis is but Pere Lachaise in Paris beats it!) where the architecture of the tombs is as flamboyant and ostentatious as the real city outside.

Laura also tells us about the appalling state of the Argentine economy. They currently have inflation of 70% , predicted to go as high as 120% by the end of the year. There is a very confusing situation with the currency whereby if you go to a bank you’ll get only, say 350 pesos for a dollar, whereas on the street you can get 760 pesos. We can’t really get our heads around this but it means that quite often things aren’t priced because they can’t keep up!

It also means that in turn there is a huge amount of poverty in Argentina with 40% of the population living below the poverty line and we see plenty of homeless people which Laura says ‘is the real Argentina’. There is an election coming up in October so I think they’re hoping for someone different to get the country ‘organised’ , as Laura put it.

Poverty also means that Buenos Aires isn’t quite the really safe city we thought we were coming to. We got plenty of warnings about areas not to go to and generally not to be out on the streets after dark. We visited some of the more dodgy areas of Boca and St Telmo. At Boca we drove past the blue and yellow football stadium where Maradona and Carlos Teves used to play. The shops all around here are all devoted to football and it’s quite a sight. But we don’t stop there, we carry on to the two streets where it’s safe to walk called Caminito. Here there are some really colourful old style buildings where the influx of immigrants used to all live in a shoebox. It’s full of tourist tat shops and bars and there was also a dressed up couple about to do some tangoing for tips. Luckily, it started to rain and we got back in the car sharpish.

Finally, on our tour we drove past Puerto Madeiro which is the newest area of the city with quite a few skyscrapers and lots of nice looking restaurants in the old warehouses.

Back at our hotel at about 2-30pm we were both a little over-whelmed and decided we needed a snack. The nice girl on reception recommended the perfect place right near the hotel, Vinicas. Here we ordered some empanadas ( little pasties. 3 cheese and onion and 3 meat) to share and a glass of Malbec. The empanadas were delicious and we were having such a lovely time in this cosy, local place that we d decided to stay and not go out in the evening. We ordered another glass of the Malbec and a banana and Dulce de Leche pancake ( more like a banana tatin. Yum.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Argentina, Buenos Aires | 3 Comments

Foz de Iguacu

Posted on September 26, 2023 by julieallen36

After our wonderful stay in the Pantanal, we were sad to be leaving but looking forward to our next stop….Iguacu Falls. Again, it took a bit of travel to get here, basically retracing our steps to Campo Grande for an overnight stay. Well I say overnight, we arrived at about 7pm went straight to sleep and then woke at 1-30am for our pick up to catch our flight to São Paulo at 4-30am. From there we’d have a two hour layover before our next flight to Foz de Iguacu. It sounded hideous but actually it was all really relaxed and worked out fine. Our next guide, Giovanni picked us up and we arrived at our luxury hotel, The Sanma, at about lunchtime and went straight down to the lovely pool area to make the most of the afternoon sunshine. We had lunch down there and a couple of ‘Original Beers’. It was great to have the afternoon off! We ate in the hotel at night but it was a very average spag bol and there was an unfortunate incident with a mosquito in a glass of wine. Luckily the lady waiter was more understanding than the gents!

Anyway…..what did we get up into in Iguacu Falls? Well first let me tell you a little bit about the falls themselves. My info comes courtesy of Google, as whilst Giovanni was a safe driver and generally nice guy, he did not impart much knowledge for this old geographer! He did, however, correct my understanding of ‘Gauchos’ as he IS a gaucho whereas those cowboys in the Pantanal were Pantaneiro.

So, Iguacu Falls are in fact a network of 275 waterfalls spanning an area of 1.8 miles. They were first discovered by Europeans in 1541 when Conquistador, Álvares Nunez Cabeza de Vaca came across them on a stroll. Luckily, they decided to use the local Guarani name for the falls…not the old Conquistador’s as that wouldn’t have been so snappy. ‘Iguacu’ (or Iguazu on the Argentine side) means ‘big water’. Sounds pretty accurate to me.

In 1984 the falls were made a UNESCO heritage site and in 2011 were voted one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. The falls are vastly larger than Niagra and although Victoria Falls have a larger single curtain of water, Iguacu are the biggest overall. This famously led Elenor Roosevelt to declare ‘Poor Niagra’ when she visited the falls herself!

So, what do you actually do, see, hear and feel when you visit Iguacu? Well, I will tell you about this in my next post but what I will say is that whereas I’d expected this to be yet another wild frontier where we’d be hacking our own path through the rainforest to reach the falls, this wasn’t quite the case!

Apart from visiting the falls whilst we were here we did enjoy a bit more of a relaxing time, spending time by the pool and visiting the Bird Park next door which was great, lots of the birds we’d seen in the Pantanal but now up close and personal! Especially the toucans, parrots and Macaw!

After our first night in the hotel we also got a bit more adventurous and went out to dinner. The first night we went to a really nice, family Japanese restaurant where we ordered way too much food! The next night we found a new Italian restaurant full of mod cons where I had pizza and Jane had Strogonoff. Sensible portions for the first time and we even had space for a Dulce de Leche waffle with ice cream! I found it quite incredible that we were in this wild place catching Ubers and eating Italian and gyozas!

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Argentina, Brazil, Iguacu | 3 Comments

Iguacu Falls from all sides

Posted on September 26, 2023 by julieallen36

As we had a few days here we were able to see all sides of the falls. Our first trip with Giovanni was to the Argentinian side. This involved an early pick up and a short drive to the border between Brazil and Argentina. There’s a lot of roadworks going on at the moment because they’re building a new bridge between Brazil and Paraguay which also borders here. To cross the border we first of all had to exit Brazil. We had to go into a border post with our passports where a few mangy dogs lay about. The nice lady stamped our passports and we moved on. We drove a bit further and then had to enter Argentina. Here we stayed in the van whilst Giovanni did the necessary. It’s all quite easy really with the help of a guide. Loads of people gather around the border posts, parked mopeds, shady dealers…goodness knows what was going on.

Iguacu Falls gets over 1 million visitors per year and the infrastructure built on both sides of the border to support this is impressive. However, compared to other ‘Most Visited Tourist Attractions’ this number remains small and nowhere near the top 50 worldwide. Even ‘Poor Niagra’ gets 22.5million visitors and that’s No 5 on the list. Top of the list by the way is the Las Vegas Strip with 39.6 million visitors annually.

Soon we were entering the park and our first stop was the Garganta do Diablo or Devils Throat. We had to get on a little train which took us closer to the falls. The park was very, very crowded and after the train we then walked about 1km across a metal walkway which wound its way over the flat but bulging river. When you arrive at the falls there are various viewpoints above the mists and falls of the Diablo. It’s very loud and in places you get very wet! We’d brought our ponchos all the way from the UK but hadn’t packed them today. Idiots! Cameras etc were all getting wet but it was great fun.

The second part of the visit here is another metal walkway which goes right along the cliff top of the falls for about 2km. Here you walk across bridges right next to where the individual falls go over the cliffs. The volume of water is incredible. Jane and I both loved our visit but agreed that it was very difficult to capture it on camera. Still, on the walk back she started taking photos of the beautiful butterflies whilst I chatted to Giovanni about Peaky Blinders and Sopranos!

We were due to visit the Brazilian side of the falls on Saturday but there was a marathon taking place (in this heat? It’s been 37 degrees! ) and Giovanni got stuck in heavy traffic as he’d predicted would happen. So we postponed our visit to today (Monday) before we fly on to Buenos Aires.

The Brazilian side is a lot more relaxed and being Monday less busy. The walk starts at the Pink Hotel (Belmond Iguacu Falls). We didn’t even try to use their loo today! Here there is a single walkway that goes for about a mile gradually going down into the gorge and getting closer to the falls. The views from here are awesome as you get to see the full panorama in front of you. The water is a beautiful jade green colour in parts. At the ‘bottom’ the metal walkway stretches right out over the water to a viewpoint head on into the Devils Throat. Again, you get very wet walking to it but it’s a jaw dropping sight. We caught the ‘not very scenic lift’ back up and Giovanni was waiting there to take us to our final part of the day.

We got dropped a little further back along the river and taken in a series of extended golf carts down to the gorge floor where we were to catch our boat! We got a locker and left everything in it, boarding the boat in our swimming gear! No cameras, no nothing for this thrill ride.

We boarded the rib with about 20 other suckers and off we went, slowly at first. But then as we approached the falls and the river got more exciting, we sped up and twisted and turned into the rapids. Along the way we passed small beaches, wonderful forests, a mass of yellow butterflies and huge fallen rocks. This was all very nice but the highlight of the trip is when you really speed up and he charges the boat at part of the waterfalls themselves. Under the falling water you go, sideways, then head on! The noise and feel of the water is, I confess, a bit scary. You get absolutely soaked and I could hardly look because I was in fear of losing my contact lenses!! Meanwhile, the girl from London next to me is screaming ‘Look at it, Look at it, Look at it’. I wasn’t quite sure what she meant but assumed she was looking up at the water coming down! Crazy lady! Crazy ride!

Soon it was over (I’m not sure if I was sorry or relieved) and we headed back to base. Obviously, we took no pictures of all this but we did purchase the video evidence on a widget. On this Jane looks like she’s having a whale of a time, whilst I just look rather harassed. My favourite bit is when Jane was sitting twisted in her seat and I tell her to turn round and sit straight! Health and Safety! Health and Safety!

We declared the Brazilian side the winners and headed back to the hotel still dripping wet! Then we finished our packing, went back through the borders with Giovanni and caught our evening flight to Buenos Aires. Roll on the next few days and last stage of this amazing trip.