¡Viva Argentina!

After Malargüe we went to a small town called Santa Rosa. We spent some time camping and exploring what the city had to offer, which wasn´t much. After a short stint in Cordoba (which, yes, was just another city) we were excited to get to some greenery and took ourselves to a small German town called Villa General Belgrano.
After three and a half months of ´Bud Light´-similar beers we were excited to get here! They actually had beers called Roja (ambers) and Negra/Stout (dark beers). And, yes, they were good. Not the best, but we didn´t know otherwise since it has been so long! We did some beer tastings, camped at a great little hostel just outside of town and even took a day trip into Alta Gracia to the Che Gravara Museum, which was the best yet. After Belgrano, we made our way to Rosario. We´ve heard this city is very similar to Buenos Aires, just smaller and not as busy. If this is small and not very busy, then I´m afraid to see Buenos Aires!! The weather was crazy as well. One point it would be hot and humid and the next it would be storming with thunder and lighting for an hour, then back to the sun. We went to the ´beach´(river beach) one day with some people from our hostel and enjoyed some panchos (giant hotdogs with yummy toppings) and papas fritas (fries). Later that night we went to a Newell´s Old Boys fútbol game! Our first professional soccer game. Let me tell you, if you think football fans in the US are crazy you obviously haven´t been to a South American fútbol game. These fans are nuts! So nuts, in fact, that they are required to separate the home fans and the visiting fans. The visting fans are let in first through a completely different entrance and also let out after the game before the home team. All the fans jump up and down, play large drums, chant their home team songs, wave gigantic flags-- the entire game! It was an amazing experience. We will be hanging out in and around Buenos Aires until Easter, when Andrew´s parents will be here! We can´t wait to have a piece of home with us here in South America.

I´ve finally had time to upload ALL the pictures from Argentina so far. Here is Mendoza and Malargüe:

http://www2.snapfish.ca/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3671932009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/

Here is from Santa Rosa to Rosario:

http://www2.snapfish.ca/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3671932009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishca/

from Chile to Argentina

We´ve made it to our third country: Argentina! Right now we are in a small town called Malargüe, after a short stint in Mendoza. This is big wine country, folks! The scenery is beautiful, the weather is amazing and the Malbecs (our new favorite wine) are flowing. After leaving La Serena, Chile, we made our way to Santiago. We visited the city´s center, which is more structurally stable than the surrounding towns. There wasn´t too much evidence throughout the city that there was such a severe earthquake. Although, some of the old cathedrals and momuments did have minor damage. We, by no means, saw the devastation of the earthquake. --Speaking of earthquakes, we literally just felt a tiny aftershock-- After exploring the gigantic and beautiful city of Santiago, Chile, we decided we were ready for Argentina! We took a bus over to Mendoza, which is widely known for it´s wine! It´s what Napa Valley is for California. We set up camp about 6 kms outside the city at a great campground. We took the local bus into town daily to explore the city and, of course, wine taste. We rented bikes and went to a couple great wineries in Maipu, and also tasted some great olive oils! We discovered Malbec, which contrary to what I thought, is it´s own grape and not a blend. We have fallen in love! We got to Malargüe two days ago and are making our way outta here today. Like I said, the town is small and quaint, but there isn´t a whole lot to do. Today, I have no idea where we are going, what time we are leaving, if we are camping or staying at a hostel, or which bus company we are riding. In fact, Andrew is at the bus terminal right now deciding and purchasing our tickets to our next destination. For anyone who knows about me and my need to plan-every-little-detail, should know this is HUGE. But, if this trip has taught me anything thus far, it´s that things cannot always go as scheduled, no matter how much planning is put into it!! We are planning on travelling around Argentina, until Andrew´s parents meet us in Buenos Aires on the 3rd of April (which we are so excited for!!). Also, we have set in stone our date of return to California-- May 27th, 2010.--And another aftershock, can you believe they´re still coming??-- Sorry I coulnd´t upload more pictures into the blog. My internet connection is incredibly slow at this cafe. Make sure to check out the rest on Snapfish.com. Until next time...

I will upload the photos from Argentina so far when I have more time on a computer, right now here is the rest of Chile:

http://www2.snapfish.ca/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3567887009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/