Iguazu Falls you are so Beautiful...... but it just wasn't our day together

Our trip to Iguazu falls started with a 20+ hour bus ride from Buenos Aires to the small town of Puerto Iguazu.  The buses in Argentina have been suprisingly quite comfortable so we were not to concerned with our impending journey. We had set it up so that we would ride overnight in order to arrive in Iguazu around 9am the next day, check into our hostel and then book it to the falls themselves as we only had the 1 day to see them.  Unfortunately our bus departing for Iguazu was about 3 hours late getting away from B.A and as we stood on the bus platform hot, confused and asking anyone around for info on the bus (there were not annnocements, no employees giving out info on the bus etc), perhaps Jonny and I should have taken that to be forshadowing that our journey to Iguazu falls was not going to be quite as seemless as the rest of our travels have been so far. 


The ride itself was pretty uneventful and by the time we arrived, got our bags, found the hostel and got checked in it was about 1130am so we were a little behind schedule. We all decided to drop our stuff and do a quick change in order to get to get a bus to the falls by around noon giving us still a good few hours there before the park closed. Somehow in my rush to get ready I ended up almost chocking to death on toothpaste, to which Jonny have to come running down the hall to my rescue. It look me a little while to recover and finally be able to breath again but when I finally did the 4 of us headed to the bus. Jonny had already been feeling under the weather so by the time we got on the bus we were already a bit battered but so excited to see the falls - and trust me they did not disappoint!


After about 25 mins we arrived at Iguazu Falls on the Argentina side and the views were absolutely breathtaking. I don't think that it is even possible for me to describe the mixture of the view of the falls together with the sound of the water crashing down over them. These falls absolutely but Niagara Falls to shame. The falls actually border Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, each offering different view points of the falls. Unfortunately given travel schedules we were only able to see them from the Argentina side but apparently that is supposed to be where you get the most views. 


Once inside we hopped on the trolley that takes you towards the Devil's throat - the largest part of the falls - after about a 1km walk you reach the spot. Since we knew our time was limited we headed straight to the main event. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Unfortunately as we were walking towards the Devil's throat we realized that our stupid little point and shoot camera (the only one we have left ever since some soul-less bastard in Mendoza stole our DSLR - still bitter at this person) was on its last bar of battery despite the fact that we had charged it just the day before.  Because of this our photo's from the falls are very limited which was utterly disappointed. But no worries, we captured a few and then we just captured the rest with our eyes. 

Walkway on the way to Devil's Throat 

First view of the Falls at Devils Throat

Another view of the devils throat

After finishing up at the devil's throat we headed back to some of the other trails that take you around other parts of the falls both above and below. There are some amazing spots along these trails and I really wish I could put into words how amazing they are. Ever time you round a corner and catch a glimpse you think it can't get any better and then you go around only to be blown away again. 

View from the lower look out right before the camera died

Cedric enjoying the falls (photo credit Kait Haynes)

Finally around 530 we were headed to our last view point of the falls. A spot that is off to the side of one of the smaller falls but so close to them that you can soaked from the mist that it sends off. I went right up close to the falls to get a cool down from some of the water (it was close to 40 degrees that day) and Jonny and J.J were hanging back a bit admiring the view. Somehow as they were doing this Jonny dropped his oakley sunglasses over the railing down onto the ground below - which was basically about 10ft of heavily forested ledge before the slope drops off. It was about a 6 ft drop off the railing and so Jonny decided that he should jump over the railing to rescue his sunglasses. None of this I was aware of as I was still off getting misted. I turned around and started walking back only to see Jonny dropping back onto the path from the railing and then him and J.J starting to scramble and reach for the bags. As I got closer I realized Jonny had a massive amount of blood rolling down his legs. As we went to go over the railing it caught it on one of the brackets and tore a chunk out of his left about 5inches long. Needless to say they were scrambling to get the first aid kit out of J.J's bag. Upon seeing the blood Kait and I ran back to see what was going on. Luckily standing beside us was a super nice woman, who in the little English that she spoke ask us if we need help and that her husband is a paramedic who was also there. She called her husband over and we quickly jumped in to help. It got it cleaned up and bandaged up and then informed Jonny that he needed to head to the medical building to get 5 stitches. We were pretty deep into the trail at this point so it took us about 20 mins to walk back to the main area where we flagged down someone who worked there and asked where the medical building was. They took us all there in their very mini ambulance where we greeted the doctor...... who spoke not 1 word of English and worked in a medical building that looked like they maybe do stitches once a year. 

Ambulance ride at the Falls (photo credit Kait Haynes)

Given that blood and doctors are not really my thing J.J headed in with Jonny while the doctor stitched him up. Somehow in between their no Spanish and the doctors no English they were able to communicate and figure out that he had given him a prescription for antibiotics and pain killers and that he has to keep the stitches for 10 days. Unfortunately for Jonny we were headed to Carnival in Rio the very next day so he will have this injury all through carnival, our beach time in Rio and our for our entire stay at the luxury Sheraton Rio that has a pool overlooking the ocean. Moral of this story...... bad decisions end in bad consequences lol.  And that was the end of our day at Iguazu falls


We headed back to the hostel a little bruised and battered from the day but still blown away by the sights. If going to Iguzu falls is not our your wishlist of travel spots..... you should add it!! Luckily (well for some of us at least) our hostel had a very large pool where 3 of us spend the rest of the evening lounging before our flight the next day. Up next we are off to Rio for CARNIVAL!!!!!!!

OOO_Talia 

What do you do when you accidentally find yourself at a Gay Bar in Buenos Aires....... DANCE!

By Saturday in Buenos Aires we were starting to get our barrings in the city and getting in step with the pace of the city. So on Saturday we got rolling at about noon and Jonny and I headed out to the neighborhood of Palermo, which we absolutely feel in love with, think like Queen West in Toronto, but with a few extra upscale restaurants thrown in. We had already heard really good things about the area so we were pretty pumped to go, and Saturdays there is an open air market filled with Artisans selling their own jewellery, clothing, etc (which I took full advantage of).  

By the time we arrived in Palermo around 12:30-1pm, the market was only just starting to get set up........ they really do move at a different pace here, in Canada weekend markets would be wrapping up by this time.  So we spent the day wandering around the market grabbing food at a few great spots and hitting the shops. Although I did most of the shopping Jonny had the biggest score of the day and found himself a new short short bathing suit - wait for the pics you will not be disappointed - they come complete with a sail boat print right out of an '80s country club.  

Shopping in Palermo

One find that we have to highlight is this amazing little cafe that we went to called Libros Del Pasaje. Jonny had read about it on the same coffee blog that we found the amazing coffee spot in La Paz. It is this cute little cafe buried in the back of an independent book store that was the most charming spot we have been to yet, it even had hand written menus. We relaxed there with coffees, he had a bagel and I had a ham and cheese tostado (like a mini sandwich) and we read Spanish magazines for over an hour. 

Enjoying Spanish Glamour 

the quaint setting inside

The view from the street

Around 7pm we headed back to the hostel to start getting ready for the night. We were trying to pace ourselves right because we knew we were going to try and hit city hard tonight in true Buenos Aires style and make it dancing until 6am.  Around 10pm we headed back to Palermo with Kait and J.J. to meet up with our Kiwi friends at a great Parilla Restaurant, Don Jolio's, for a big Argentinian steak dinner.  And feast we did, we all had beef in some form or another, mashed potatoes, veggies, a couple bottles of wine and all for the around $40 each Canadian. After dinner the boys headed outside for some cigars that Pete, our kiwi friend, had bought earlier in the day and we ladies stayed inside finishing our wine. Before we knew it it was 2am and we were the last ones there.  


At 2am we decided that we would head to a bar to grab a few drinks before we hit a club for the night dance. I had heard about this little speak easy bar called 878 - indicating its address (for those that don't know a speak easy is a hidden bar with no sign or anything that usually looks like nothing from the outside). So we headed out to walk a few blocks to try and find this place and somehow along the way I had gotten in my head that it was 879, so when we pulled up to 879 and the door was covered with cobwebs I thought we had be steered wrong. Luckily Jonny spotted and really random man standing across the very deserted street wearing a tie and asked me if it could be 878, since that was the address he was standing in front of. I hesitated for a second and then the guy in the tie said "you looking for bar?" - Found it!! The place was great! A little hidden gem that even had a hidden room in the bar. The waitress escorted us there and we each had a few cocktails over the next few hours. 

Inside the back room of 878

The hidden gem for the evening

Suddenly we realized that it was almost 5am so we decided it was time to go DANCING! Rachel and Pete decided to call it a night, so the 4 of us jumped in a cab and asked the driver to take us to the Roxy!! This was a club that we had read about online that sounded pretty good, and was one of the only ones that claimed to play rock and hip-hop and not just electronic music so we decided it was the one for us. After about 10min cab (now 5am) ride we pulled up and walked to the front and the door man informed is that they were no longer letting anyone in since they stop serving drinks at 530. After a little pleading, offering to pay a little extra and telling him we were Canadian and only here for the night the bouncer caved and let us come in, and even let us in free of charge! Just as we were walking up the ramp to the sweaty dance floor the bouncer grabbed Kait by the arm and whispered in her ear "It's Gay night".  We all looked around, and he definitely was not kidding. Oooooooops. It didn't say that about the Roxy on line. We all had a good laugh and realized how badly we stuck out as the only straight people in the bar, in our only bar-ish back packing clothes, and without out any of that South American rhythm in our dance moves. We grabbed a few beers and the bar and jumped right into the dance floor and stayed there until 6am. After which we hopped a taxi home and watched the sun come out from outside the window of our cab. 

Sunrise cab ride home

Sunrising over the square near our hostel

At the time when we were there I just thought of it as a funny story, but as I was reflecting on the night the next day I was kinda happy that we had gotten to see it.  I was amazed to see in South America, where there are still a number of 3rd world countries and culture and customs that are still heavily based on religion that people were able to be open about their sexuality and in Buenos Aires a least, gay people where not forced into the shadows. 


All and all in ended up being a great night which resulted in a very slow moving Sunday morning. The 4 of us finally got going around 230pm and headed back to the area of San Telmo. We started out by quickly beelining to a restaurant and gave across this amazing little spot tucked away in a back alley called Pasaje Solar. We all had some amazing Italian food and shared a bottle of Mendoza wine to help cure our hangovers.  Sunday is an amazing day in San Telmo all the streets get closed down and it just becomes a massive street market filled with thousands of people. I am talking like 20 blocks of anything you could ever want, antiques, souvenirs, street food, art, leather goods, street performers, etc. I could go on and on about want what you can see there. Even with our hangovers were wandered around San Telmo for hours.  After which we headed home, made our our dinner and called it a night. Early. 

The patio at Solar Pasaje

Gentleman entertaining in San Telmo

Out front of Pasaje Solar

Interesting finds in the market

Antique spray bottles - they had these everywhere

A little cheese in San Telmo

Our first Whirlwind days in Buenos Aires..... The city that starts at 2am

They say in South America, if you turned off the music, the cities would just stop. That couldn't be more true in Buenos Aires. You can feel the rhythmic beats in every conversation you have, every sound in the street and sight you see. That beat constantly changes and evolves like an epic kitchen jam, but there is always a powerful rhythm that's ingrained in the BA fabric.. you just feel it in your bones... (it starts with a dance like extra step in your walk and ends in a full on body groove)

That rhythm and beats are exactly what we felt when we pulled into BA. Its a different kind of energy at first. We thought it was because we were back in a big city again, but really it was just the pure hustle of BA. You feel it in every hood you cruise through. 

• The laid back vibes of Palermo (which become not so laid back at night :))
• The colourful and passionate vibes in La Boca - a low class neighbourhood that help set the stage for BA and home of the Boca Juniors
• A high-class kind of shuffle you feel when roaming the streets in Recoletta
• The middle class, rock n roll feel in San Telmo
• The cultural togetherness you feel when you dance your face off at La Bamba

Its there in every moment in BA... And that really is the beauty. Its a feeling you don't have to search for like you would in some other cities... it, in fact, seeks you out.


Some of you may be wondering why we have gone silent on the blogging for the last week or so and to answer that question I only have two words...... BUENOS AIRES! We arrived here just over a week ago and we have been going non stop to see, do and experience all the incredible things that Buenos Aires has to offer and let me tell you, it lives up to the hype. There is so much to share and write down about Buenos Aires that it would take a novel to share it all and it would take you about 3 hours to read it all if we tried to put in all in 1 blog (plus we would need to sit inside for a day just to write it all lol) so we will try and break it up in a few instalments


We arrived in B.A via overnight bus from Mendoza on Wednesday afternoon (Feb 7th). It was an uneventful bus ride but not quite as luxurious as our ride from Salta - only feed us cookies and pop instead of hot meals, but I will take it! Immediately when we arrived we dove right into finding our way around the city and hopped on the subway, or called the Subte here, to try and get to our hostel. After wandering around the street for a bit looking for any form or subway sign we finally asked a cop how to get there and after a few minutes of trying to describe what we meant by subway we finally got in and directed us to the spot after warning us to be extremely careful with all of big bags while we are on the Subte. It was only a few short stops before we got off and after crossing a few wrong streets finally got to our hostel, the Milhouse (highly recommended to us and known for being the best party hostel in town)...... or so we thought. Turns out there is 2 Milhouse hostel locations and we were booked at the other one. Uggggh so we put our massive packs back on and headed back out in the 35+ degree heat - Luckily it was only about a 5 min walk away.


Around 430 - After getting all checked in, settled into our 8 bed dorm and grabbing some food at a typical Argentinian cafe/pizzeria  (Side note - there is so much to share about Argentinian food that we are going to have to include a whole other blog on just that so this update will be light on the drool worthy food description.....but rest assured the food in amazing!), Jonny and I decided we were going to take a walk over to the Neighbourhood of San Telmo. Kait and J.J headed to another part of town, where they were hoping to find an Apple store so J.J could fix some issue with his Iphone - I have no idea what he would do with himself should it break haha!


San Telmo is an super cute neighborhood with a very Boho vibe. The streets are all made of cobblestone, high trees, amazing Juliet style balconies and funky antique shops with some of the most obscure stuff that you have ever seen. Its really common also to see impromptu Tango dancing on the streets. We spent a very relaxing few hours wandering through streets and shops, enjoying a beer on a patio and people watching, including this little kid who was trying to beg for money by juggling with only 2 balls and he kept dropping them both. It was a great chill day and way to start getting our bearings in B.A. Sundays are really the day to hit San Telmo since all the streets are closed to cars and there is a massive outdoor market set up outside - more on that later. 

The tree lined streets of San Telmo

Strolling through the antiques market

The interesting finds in the Market

Enjoying a sunny afternoon on the patio in San Telmo

After San Telmo we headed back to the hostel to take a bit of a siesta - which unfortunately for us is not really part of the culture in Buenos Aires. We are starting to miss those.  We knew we needed a quick nap for the day since we were going to attempt to go out Buenos Aires style at night. Which means you pre-party to go out until 2am and then head to the clubs around 230am when they open until 5am or 6am. So we napped, grabbed a quick bite and then put on our only outfits that might be considered "going out" and headed down to our hostel bar party around 1130pm for the party. Somehow in the time that we had been napping our hostel had been completely turned into a club and it was filled with people much, much, much younger than us. So we tried to fit in and grabbed some vodka redbulls, which are the promotional drink so real cheap, then we watched all the single guy and girl travellers try and work their game, which lead to many many dance floor make-outs - so hilarious to watch. After a couple vodka's we were feeling pretty good and somehow we got the idea that we needed PANCHOS before we were going to head out to the bar (for those who have not seen the earlier post - Panchos are Spanish for hotdogs). So we headed down the street for to the place we saw earlier in the day and grabbed a few. After this we really felt we needed french fries so we stopped in at a restaurant across the street (there was no where fast food around and the hot dog guy didn't have any). I think it may have been the vodka's talking but when we sat down J.J decided that we also wanted a steak to go with his french fries, and he did. By the point we had all eaten and gotten back to the hostel party the buzz had worn off and we were beat and it was almost 2am so we did not make it past the hostel party on night one. 


The long overnight bus and the attempt at going out caught up to us by day 2 so we took it easy in the morning and then just decided to go check out a few different barrios (neighborhoods). We wandered through Plaza de Mayo, where there are alot of government buildings with stunning architecture, including the famous Casa Rosada where Evita Peron used to wave to all the people. 

Out from of Casa Rosado

After walking through the square we headed to Puerto Madera, a very trendy new 'hood down by the harbour. It is filled with little cafes, interesting looking buildings, condo's etc. While strolling along the board walks Jonny and I were approached but a cute little Spanish girl who had a T.V crew with her. She informed us that she was trying to win a trip to Bariloche, Argentina and in order to win she needed to get boys to sing love songs to girls on T.V. so Jonny serenaded me with some old school boys to men. 

Views in Puerto Madero

Crossing over the Bridge in Puerto Madero

Jonny overlooking the Bridge

Following Puerto Madero we wandered back to the hostel via some of the shopping streets, where Kait and I exercised our credit cards a little.  We decided to stop and pick up food to make our our dinner so that we would pace ourselves a little better this time as we were determined to make it out to an Argentinian night club this time.  After partying until 2am at the hostel bar, we bought our tickets for Club 69 - which is supposed to be the hottest spot in town on a Thursday hit the town. This is not the kind of spot that we would normally be caught dead at in Toronto, more of a Cancun on Spring break type club, but it offer great entertainment and the perfect intro to B.A. partying. Think transvestites, break dancers, half-naked girls dancing in crazy costumes all going on around you. We partied there until around 430am before making our way back to the Milhouse, making a pancho stop again of course. 


The next day definitely ended up being a recovery day, we didn't end up getting going about 1pm, which actually seems to be pretty standard here in Buenos Aires. We spend the day wandering around the high-class area of Recolletta, checking out the sights including one crazy cemetery that has hundreds of crazy mausoleums, including the one where Evita Peron is buried. 

Beautiful Church in Recolleta

Another View of the church 

Picturesque streets in Recolleta 

Jonny towering under a Mausoleum

Mausoleum in Recolleta

The amazingly large tree in Recolleta

It is quite the tourist attraction and I must say that some of the mausoleums are incredible beautiful, others just really interesting to look at but we both started to find the whole thing kind creepy after a while so we headed home to get ready for our real culture experience for the day - Argentina Soccer game!! La Boca home opener to be exact.


Jonny wanted to be the one to share our soccer game experience so he has detailed our experience below:



I have never loved soccer. In some instances, unless its at a pub or sometimes FC game, accompanied by enough gentle pints for the whole game, I might even go so far to say as I dislike soccer. Not as a sport. These guys are amazing athletes. Perhaps just as a means of entertainment. I'd rather read... and if Im reading, its because there is nothing else to do (or travelling :) My mom would be so proud. I just finished a 1,000 page book and didnt even skip a chapter).


I can say that BA has changed my opinion. IUts been wiped of all cold FC games and replaced with the intense passion and non-stop entertainment of the Boca Juniors. Every lonley planet and travel book similar will tell you a Boca Juniors match is part of the BA experience... They arent always right (i.e. there is an ATM in Copacabana, Bolivia), but this time... they have never been MORE right. Maybe its because their abbreviated team name is the same as our beloved Blue Jays (sick new logo :) Super different).
Boca is considered a dangerous hood. Even in the day time if you wonder off the gringo streets and especially at night, no matter where you are. Opening day, as a foreigner, even more so. That fear that hostels drill into you leading up to the game quickly disappears and is replaced with a differerent sensation. One of passion, pride and living for the moment.

Getting ready to head to security

After passing through 3 security pat-down checks (starting 5 blocks away from the stadium), after a lovely evening stroll down the low class streets of Boca, foreigner mocking chants quickly change for Boca merch for sale chants, Litre Quillmes for sale chants (basically a Boca merch it self), high fives and BBQ'd parilla (chorizo was our meat of choice that night).



After the last pat-down you're at the gates to the stadium and its lit up likea menorah.. Just raging like the shamash (middle candle on the menorah) on night 8. You hear the chants from the ground floor, and soon, your one of the voiceless bodies in a crowd of mayhem. You get to your seats (the only ones available for gringos) and quickly get over the fact that you and the other 10,000 people will be standing for the next 3 hours. Standing becomes swaying with the cheering and what seem like rehearsed songs which at one point even becomes coordinated songs with DANCE (you can imagine my excitement... Conny: it wasnt the same with out a back to swim on bro... get tight).
Boca Juniors are welcomed with sonds that sound great but cant be made out by most gringos (especially us). So we pretended via humming along like Mitch Ritter to most hip hops songs blaring in his 92 Toyota Tercell (this statement is false if you consider Mitch's knowledge of Rosa Parks and most outkast songs).

Starting our first match!

Our Gringo seats across from the Hooligans

Close up for the Hooligans sections

The game starts slow and the Quillmes are wearing off (Boca Junior games are dry... What is this.. the new queens homecoming post 2005 when a car was flipped and set on fire and cops beaten up?) and I start to think, "well the moment has passed... which team is the FC?" as memories of cold, rainy April home games come back to me.
Then Boca scores. This wsa an eruption unike anything I have seen at a live sporting event.. NFL, NHL, March Madness are put to sham eby this crowd of 60k+.
Gol - gol - gol gol gol (but it sounds like yol, which is both amusing and sounds better) is raged by the sold out crowd and surrounding streets. We could join that one... that one was SICK!
Boca won and the addrenaline fueled us for the night (much more happened during the game, but this blog is getting too long and you get the idea I think.. If not, go to a game your damn self). If you ask me, it this to comes back to the music of BA. Its unique Boca sound shakes the cement bleachers uniting the stadium with their team, neighbourhood and epic city.
Futbol doesnt suck... its epic. I just needed a change of scenery to figure that out. That and never go to an FC game again (I would say watch to, but I don't even think they get aired.. .if they do.. stop it.. its gross). Maybe they could use the stadium exclusively for Ti-cats vs. Argos games.. OSKI WEE WEE! So from now on, when the footy show hits The Score on Sunday AM's, you can find me at the futbol factory on Bathurst and Queen, drowning myself in gentles. Anyone have plans in November?

Check out the link to our Boca Juniors Experience Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viAYnMUKu7o

Final report from Mendoza

After Jonny and I's Sunday Funday we had booked a day at the Thermal Spas, complete with various temperature pools, Jacuzzis, Sauna's, etc,  just outside of Mendoza. We figured it was our reward for me being sick and recovering and for him putting up with my sickness and recovery.  

As we were doing on research we discovered there are actually 2 spas that you can go to 1 - is the Termas Cacheuta, that is the one most people end up going to and all the tour companies will try and sell you deals to. These spas are actually a bit more of a water park and completely PACKED. Especially since this is their summer the place is overrun with families with kids, which was not exactly the relaxing spa day that we were looking for. Spa number 2 - Thermal spa is just a few kilometers up the road and tucked away within a really remote luxury hotel up in the Andean mountains. We choose to spend the extra dough and head to Spa number 2 for the day. Only a few tour companies in the city seemed to offer packages to this spa but lucky for us the one in our hostel did so we didn't get suckered into the kiddie water park "spa". Now alot of people get sticker shock when they hear how much the luxury spa day goes for, 300 Pesos each, but this includes your pick-up and drop-off from your hotel, 8 hours at the spa, a massive lunch, lockers, etc, etc. and really 300 Peso's still works out to be less that 70 CDN dollars and trust me this places was WORTH IT!

The van picked us up around 9am and we were relaxing in hot pool number 1 by 10am. We spend a few hours bouncing around between the various thermal pools, foot spas, cold springs and bubble beds before we started to prune up a bit so we relaxed in our land chairs and read our books/napped. Totally heaven and it wasn't even lunch time yet! At 1pm the lunch buffet opens and it was the most amazing spread we had ever seen. Argentinian BBQ of course, with about 25 other side dishes, a massive salad bar, bread bar and fresh fruit bar for dessert. 

View of Spa surrounding area

Lunch Spread

After indulging in the lunch buffet we walked around the hotel for a little while to take in the amazing mountain vistas all around us before hoping back in the pools for round 2. The afternoon was spent much like the morning, bouncing between pool to pool at our whim, but in the afternoon we also decided to get into the mud spas. Jonny had a great time lathering himself and me up in mud. After letting the mud hardened for a bit so that is could do whatever it is that mud is supposed to do for your skin we got into the showers to rinse off, but these were not just any showers, they shoot water at your from every possible direction and various pressures - again heaven.  After 8 hours at the spa it was time to head back into Mendoza, relaxed and refreshed. What a great day. 

Jonny the mud monster

Digging in for some more mud

Cedric also came to the spa

Once we got back we took our siesta (we really like those lol) and then the night was not over. Jonny and I had already decided that we were going to check out Bachi's, one of the gentlemen we had meet on the patio on our sunday funday the previous day, restaurant called Luna Mexicana. Kait and J.J. were also up for Mexican so they can with as well as Jena and Daniel, and super nice couple we had met in our hostel earlier in the week who happen to also be from Toronto! Such a small world. So the 6 of us head off the restaurant and who do we run into on the patio but Bachi and Jeff - mine and Jonny's friends from the day before. We set up at a big table in the picturesque back patio complete with Mexican style table clothes and Christmas lights strung through the rod iron staircase. We started just with some drinks and nachos, which were amazing- the food at this place was the best Mexican that I have had in a very long time. They make all kinds of different salsas and they grow and then pick their peppers fresh daily to use in the salsas. 

Enjoying some Mexican and Luna Mexicana

For our first round of drinks we were all going to start with a ice cold corona, however they only had 4 left so J.J and Daniel decide they would go with the Toc-Toc - and unknown drink on the cocktails menu just to see what it was. Turns out a Toc-Toc is a tequila shot, so when they arrived we decided to all get one and really start this night off right. And the rest of the evening seemed to progress in the same way. Jeff and Bachi, along with Bachi's  daughter joined us on the patio and before we knew it there was about 2 or 3 litre beers and 6 bottles of red wine empty on the table and it was 3:30am.  So far best night of Mendoza by far! We all stumbled home to get some sleep. At which point I felt really had for our new hostel roommate since the 4 of us stumbled in, lights came on, we attempted to fix the AC which for some reason had shut off and then fumble around to find PJs ....could not have been good for her sleep. 

Jonny getting into the bottle of Tinto

The crew at Luna Mexicana

The next morning we had to check out since we had were leaving to head to Buenos Aires that night - none of us were moving very quick (it may have been all the wine from the previous night). Finally we all got going to shower and pack up. Jonny was the first one ready so he headed downstairs to grab a bite and read his book and wait for the rest of us. About 30 mins later I came down asked about where we can store our bags for the day and then joined him in at the table. Jonny's bags were about 10-15 ft away from him in full view. He got up to go get something from his bag and then he turned to me and said "Babe, did you take the SLR camera out of my bag?" to which I replied "No, why" to which he replied "really?? Are you sure" and I can hear by the tone in his voice that he was serious and was not trying to pull my leg. In the time that he has been sitting there someone had opened his day bag and dug under his change of clothes and was able to get out the SLR bag (which also had both lenses and the memory card with the last few days of mendoza picks) and steal our camera! The zippers on his bigger pack had also been opened but nothing taken out. Immediately we went into recovery mode and started asking everyone around if the had seen anything. 

The craziest thing about the whole incident is that first off, its a really small hostel and very secure, there is no way for people to come in off the street because they keep the front door locked and only the receptionist can let people in which means that it had to be someone that was still in the hostel somewhere or one of the 3-4 people that had checked out and left in the 30mins Jonny was sitting there. Secondly, there were people around while it happened so whoever did this had some major balls to go into the bag. 

Both the receptionist and the hostel manager who were there at the time were extremely helpful and felt terrible about the incident although there was not much that they could do.  they called the police who were there within minutes and looked around the hostel. They even searched one guys bag and locker at the urging of the hostel manager who had felt that is was quite sketchy and had seen him wandering around awkwardly during the time it happended, but they didn't find anything on him. At this point we had pretty much given up hope of finding the camera, we still headed back with the police to file a report in case there is anything we can do from an insurance perspective but all hope of getting it back is gone. I am heartbroken over losing it - I mean we knew that at some point something would likely get stolen but I didn't think it was going to be this early and not that! It is especially  infuriating that it was another traveller, I mean if I was going to have something stolen it would be easier to stomach if it was someone living in poverty who really needed it more that we did. We are usually very diligent about locking our bags with little pad locks we bought but Jonny  hadn't put his on yet since we was still just a few feet away and it was so quiet. So one lesson - never let your guard down unfortunately 

After finished our police report, doing one final walk around the city and another siesta we still had about 1.5 hours to kill before we had to leave for our overnight bus to Buenos Aires so we decided to go to a tasting room, Vines of Mendoza, to try a few more local wines before heading out. After a few Torrontes and Malbecs we realized we only had about 20 mins to get back to our hostel, grab bags and cab to the terminal so we booked it and made it onto our bus just in the nick of time!

Enjoying one last glass before leaving Mendoza

Go here! Great wines and atmosphere

So that is our final report from our week in Mendoza - filled with highs, and couple lows, but overall and great stop on our tour.  And once we get off this bus we will see what Buenos Aires has to offer! 

OOO_Talia and Jonny