Age of Aquarius
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!
Im so glad to hear that everyone liked my last post. It’s always so nice to hear from you guys and reading your comments always makes me smile. I have just discovered that I can get free internet for an hour at the local public library, whooo hooo, so here are the updates from the past week...
Adelaide- We have been hanging out in the sea town of Glenelg on the coast of Adelaide for about 4 days now. I love it here. We have been beaching it, reading Time magazine and Haruki Murakami (me) and Harry Potter 7 (Liz), people watching, crunching it (working out) everyday, and I have been taking pictures of the pier and the sunsets.
It rained yesterday so we decided to take a day off from sunning it and went to see Baz Luhrmann’s movie Australia, with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. It’s a love story set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat (Kidman) who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a cattle driver (Jackman) in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by Japanese forces. It was SO GOOD! The critics around Sydney have been very critical by calling Kidman the botox master and accusing Jackman of being gay even though he is married. I don’t care about any of that after seeing the film. I think everyone should go out and see it this weekend. I laughed my head off, got a little teary eyed at the end, and fell deeply in love with beefcake Hugh during a shower scene where he pours a bucket of water over his chiseled and soapy muscles in front of a camp fire. I don’t care if it is corny, I am still all hot and bothered over it a day later. I looked over at Liz during this scene and her mouth was hanging wide open, then I realized mine was too. It was fantastic! Oh, good story and cinematography as well. It was a really interesting depiction of Aborigional people and the ackowledgement of the stolen generations of "creamies" aborigional children with white fathers and black mothers who were taken into slavery was really tasefully done.
You can watch the trailer below:
Love you guys! XOXOX
Adelaide- We have been hanging out in the sea town of Glenelg on the coast of Adelaide for about 4 days now. I love it here. We have been beaching it, reading Time magazine and Haruki Murakami (me) and Harry Potter 7 (Liz), people watching, crunching it (working out) everyday, and I have been taking pictures of the pier and the sunsets.
It rained yesterday so we decided to take a day off from sunning it and went to see Baz Luhrmann’s movie Australia, with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. It’s a love story set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat (Kidman) who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a cattle driver (Jackman) in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by Japanese forces. It was SO GOOD! The critics around Sydney have been very critical by calling Kidman the botox master and accusing Jackman of being gay even though he is married. I don’t care about any of that after seeing the film. I think everyone should go out and see it this weekend. I laughed my head off, got a little teary eyed at the end, and fell deeply in love with beefcake Hugh during a shower scene where he pours a bucket of water over his chiseled and soapy muscles in front of a camp fire. I don’t care if it is corny, I am still all hot and bothered over it a day later. I looked over at Liz during this scene and her mouth was hanging wide open, then I realized mine was too. It was fantastic! Oh, good story and cinematography as well. It was a really interesting depiction of Aborigional people and the ackowledgement of the stolen generations of "creamies" aborigional children with white fathers and black mothers who were taken into slavery was really tasefully done.
You can watch the trailer below:
Love you guys! XOXOX
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Rockin' and Rollin'
I would like to discuss our hostel situation. Formerly known as Nomads Industry but now referred to as Lucifer’s Dungeon, or in Aussie speak it’s the Lou Dun. The midget sinks come maybe up to mid thigh, and if the faucets are even attached to the base (rather than swinging around by their flaccid cords) they squirt water in an amazingly high 360 degree radius, covering everything in the immediate vicinity including the floor, walls, and your pants. There is one stove for the 5 floors of people staying at the hostel. Everyone in the kitchen is always angry and it is a very stressful cooking situation. I can just tell a fire would come from my cooking expertise so we have been doing take out. However the beds are the crowning glory of the Lou Dun. They could simply be described as squeaky, however I feel that is an injustice done to the nuclear bomb of squeaky coils exploding underneath your ass and sending creaky waves reverberating through the entire room every time you move a millimeter. Today will be the third time we have moved rooms in one week. This is due to our experiences in what we now call the room 101 incident. Although I am not yet at a point where I can laugh about the conundrum of last nights sleeping arrangements im sure you will be able to get some good entertainment out of it.
I mean it sounds harmless enough, room 101. Good numbers, nothing superstitious or unlucky. An easy stair climb from the ground floor because the lift is always broken (along with the phones, cinema room, and toilet seats). Upon entering room 101 we find our 6 male roommates flanked by foreign floozies wearing skanky spaghetti strap tops even though it is freezing out. They are boozing and peeling apart vials of weed to roll joints (and they didn’t even offer us any, rude!). The room is filthy. The smell of dirty boy, weed, dirty socks, and some sort of farm animal invades our nostrils. I hear Liz’s breathing pattern change. She is going for the mouth breathe. Smart girl. I get the top bunk closest to the door. Under me sleeps the guy who has a forearm tattoo that says “ROCK OUT”. He has a pink neck pillow on his bed and has made a makeshift tent by draping an extra sheet across the space between the beds. Floozie #1 explains this to me by telling me he has a lot of sex down there. I point at forearm tattoo guy
Juli: No sex tonight, not unless im invited. (laughing ensues)
Forearm tattoo guy: (Laughs in a stupid stoner laugh)
Juli: (laughing too) No but seriously, (stop laughing) no sex!
So the roommates and their circus of skanks roll their joints and leave the room to go smoke and party. Liz and I left to our own devices decide we should shower so at least we will smell good and hope that it will act as a shield against the invading fumes of the room. An hour goes by. We read our daily gossip news, do some Sudoku and I file my nails. Liz plays with her finger blister and listens to Harry Potter 5 on audio book. Finally we are ready for bed. We crawl into the sheets that feel like a paper hospital dressing gown and go to sleep.
All is dark…All is quiet…It is the middle of the night.
Why is my bed shaking? It’s a constant rhythm of a back and forth motion… steady front to back rocking… It’s kinda like… OH MY GOD NOOOO!!!!! I am now fully awake. My eyelids plastered to the inside of my sleeping mask. Completely grossed out and experiencing tinges of nausea. Forearm tattoo is getting laid not 3 feet from where I am sleeping! In a vain attempt to stop the bottom bunk sexing I do a full body heave and roll maneuver, detonating the chorus of bomb coils… All is still… The fan whirrs in the corner. A minute goes by. Have I accomplished my goal? Have they realized that proper bunk mate manners dictate you don’t do it in a bunk that shakes like an earthquake with someone sleeping not 3 feet away? The bed starts shaking again, damn it! Back and forth, up and down until it reaches a rhythm. I can hear her dilapidated moans through my ear plugs. THROUGH MY EAR PLUGS! He joins in with his own dying animal groan. Enough! I strike up a pattern of rolling and heaving movements designed for maximum person-sleeping-on-top-bunk awareness. After about an hour of our sparing I admit defeat. I reexamine my options.
Option #1: Hose them down with the baby oil that is sitting on the foot of my bed from my pre-slumber-lotion-slather, but they would probably regard it as extra lube.
Option #2: Get up and go downstairs to the bar and drink until I have forgotten the reason for coming downstairs. Then however I run the risk of seeing them in the action before I reach the floor, and running up a large bar tab.
Option #3: Listen to soothing ocean noises on my IPod and pretend I am on a cruise ship in a wonderful far away sea.
I opt for option #3, and although I spend the night trying to convince myself I am on a cruise ship my subconscious knows the truth. Eventually it stops. I listen to classical music for sleep, but spend the rest of my night in a constantly agitated fear that it will happen again.
We wanted to get out days ago and go WWOOF on a winery farm not far from Melbourne, but the winery people don’t need help until the 3rd of December and the hostel wont refund our money. So now we are switching rooms again for the third time this week, and on Sunday we are leaving for Adelaide.
More updates after I have had decent sleep.
I mean it sounds harmless enough, room 101. Good numbers, nothing superstitious or unlucky. An easy stair climb from the ground floor because the lift is always broken (along with the phones, cinema room, and toilet seats). Upon entering room 101 we find our 6 male roommates flanked by foreign floozies wearing skanky spaghetti strap tops even though it is freezing out. They are boozing and peeling apart vials of weed to roll joints (and they didn’t even offer us any, rude!). The room is filthy. The smell of dirty boy, weed, dirty socks, and some sort of farm animal invades our nostrils. I hear Liz’s breathing pattern change. She is going for the mouth breathe. Smart girl. I get the top bunk closest to the door. Under me sleeps the guy who has a forearm tattoo that says “ROCK OUT”. He has a pink neck pillow on his bed and has made a makeshift tent by draping an extra sheet across the space between the beds. Floozie #1 explains this to me by telling me he has a lot of sex down there. I point at forearm tattoo guy
Juli: No sex tonight, not unless im invited. (laughing ensues)
Forearm tattoo guy: (Laughs in a stupid stoner laugh)
Juli: (laughing too) No but seriously, (stop laughing) no sex!
So the roommates and their circus of skanks roll their joints and leave the room to go smoke and party. Liz and I left to our own devices decide we should shower so at least we will smell good and hope that it will act as a shield against the invading fumes of the room. An hour goes by. We read our daily gossip news, do some Sudoku and I file my nails. Liz plays with her finger blister and listens to Harry Potter 5 on audio book. Finally we are ready for bed. We crawl into the sheets that feel like a paper hospital dressing gown and go to sleep.
All is dark…All is quiet…It is the middle of the night.
Why is my bed shaking? It’s a constant rhythm of a back and forth motion… steady front to back rocking… It’s kinda like… OH MY GOD NOOOO!!!!! I am now fully awake. My eyelids plastered to the inside of my sleeping mask. Completely grossed out and experiencing tinges of nausea. Forearm tattoo is getting laid not 3 feet from where I am sleeping! In a vain attempt to stop the bottom bunk sexing I do a full body heave and roll maneuver, detonating the chorus of bomb coils… All is still… The fan whirrs in the corner. A minute goes by. Have I accomplished my goal? Have they realized that proper bunk mate manners dictate you don’t do it in a bunk that shakes like an earthquake with someone sleeping not 3 feet away? The bed starts shaking again, damn it! Back and forth, up and down until it reaches a rhythm. I can hear her dilapidated moans through my ear plugs. THROUGH MY EAR PLUGS! He joins in with his own dying animal groan. Enough! I strike up a pattern of rolling and heaving movements designed for maximum person-sleeping-on-top-bunk awareness. After about an hour of our sparing I admit defeat. I reexamine my options.
Option #1: Hose them down with the baby oil that is sitting on the foot of my bed from my pre-slumber-lotion-slather, but they would probably regard it as extra lube.
Option #2: Get up and go downstairs to the bar and drink until I have forgotten the reason for coming downstairs. Then however I run the risk of seeing them in the action before I reach the floor, and running up a large bar tab.
Option #3: Listen to soothing ocean noises on my IPod and pretend I am on a cruise ship in a wonderful far away sea.
I opt for option #3, and although I spend the night trying to convince myself I am on a cruise ship my subconscious knows the truth. Eventually it stops. I listen to classical music for sleep, but spend the rest of my night in a constantly agitated fear that it will happen again.
We wanted to get out days ago and go WWOOF on a winery farm not far from Melbourne, but the winery people don’t need help until the 3rd of December and the hostel wont refund our money. So now we are switching rooms again for the third time this week, and on Sunday we are leaving for Adelaide.
More updates after I have had decent sleep.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Melbourne Underground Art
I am still having trouble uploading pics to the blog, but if you click the link below you can see some from the last days in Argentina and a few new ones from Melbourne, Australia.
Show me the pics from the last days in ARGENTINA!
Show me the pics from MELBOURNE!
xoxo
Show me the pics from the last days in ARGENTINA!
Show me the pics from MELBOURNE!
xoxo
Friday, November 14, 2008
Sydney the psychadelic supermodel
I am in LOVE with this city. We arrived in Sydney last week and I have been keeping busy by visiting local markets and beaches, don’t worry though I am constantly lotioning and oiling to avoid burning. PS A shout out to my Aunt Judy for the half lifty. Congrats! I’m sure the other side of your face is very jealous. LOL!
Every girl walking down the street looks like a psychedelic supermodel who has hijacked a forever 21/H&M manikin from the window and did a quick change artist maneuver before strutting down the street with her perfectly volumized hair , glossed lips, Jackie O glasses and strappy goddess sandals. I had to buy a mini dress and tan waist cinching belt just to fit in. I consider my purchase part of assimilating with local culture. The fashion here is SO CUTE! Everywhere I look the women are fabulously dressed and adorable. This is in stark contrast with the sufer dude men who throw on board shorts and aviators, and maybe flip flops and a shirt. If they absolutely have to that is.
Sydney has the best public bathrooms I have ever been in in my whole life. I swear they are straight out of the Jetsons! When you enter a very instructive yet soothing female voice announces that you may now do your business, oh and feel free to use the public plastic needle disposal bin over to the right. Toilet paper is distributed for you, of course there are automatic sinks which distribute both soap and water in one hand swipe, and it flushes once you open the door to leave. I must say a step up from the farm.
Even the cross walks are better here. When it is time to cross the little green man appears to indicate the safe time to cross sign visually, but he is also accompanied by what I like to call walking music, which is emitted out of a speaker on the side of the pole and sounds like a cross between a videogame laser sound and an old school kitchen cooking timer. Brilliant!
The flavors of this country are amazing! First off, my favorite food in the whole wide world is Lilikoi (passion fruit), and it is EVERYWHERE! Whooohoooo! They have passion fruit ice cream, yogurt, smoothies and even lollies! It’s wonderful! People love to stop and chat here. Its actually hard to break away from an Aussie once they have commenced stop&chat mode. Not good if you have an agenda, but everyone is really friendly.
I am having trouble uploading pictures to the blog, but if you click here you can see a bunch from my facebook profile. Hope everyone is doing well. Love you all loads!
SHOW ME THE PICS!!!
Every girl walking down the street looks like a psychedelic supermodel who has hijacked a forever 21/H&M manikin from the window and did a quick change artist maneuver before strutting down the street with her perfectly volumized hair , glossed lips, Jackie O glasses and strappy goddess sandals. I had to buy a mini dress and tan waist cinching belt just to fit in. I consider my purchase part of assimilating with local culture. The fashion here is SO CUTE! Everywhere I look the women are fabulously dressed and adorable. This is in stark contrast with the sufer dude men who throw on board shorts and aviators, and maybe flip flops and a shirt. If they absolutely have to that is.
Sydney has the best public bathrooms I have ever been in in my whole life. I swear they are straight out of the Jetsons! When you enter a very instructive yet soothing female voice announces that you may now do your business, oh and feel free to use the public plastic needle disposal bin over to the right. Toilet paper is distributed for you, of course there are automatic sinks which distribute both soap and water in one hand swipe, and it flushes once you open the door to leave. I must say a step up from the farm.
Even the cross walks are better here. When it is time to cross the little green man appears to indicate the safe time to cross sign visually, but he is also accompanied by what I like to call walking music, which is emitted out of a speaker on the side of the pole and sounds like a cross between a videogame laser sound and an old school kitchen cooking timer. Brilliant!
The flavors of this country are amazing! First off, my favorite food in the whole wide world is Lilikoi (passion fruit), and it is EVERYWHERE! Whooohoooo! They have passion fruit ice cream, yogurt, smoothies and even lollies! It’s wonderful! People love to stop and chat here. Its actually hard to break away from an Aussie once they have commenced stop&chat mode. Not good if you have an agenda, but everyone is really friendly.
I am having trouble uploading pictures to the blog, but if you click here you can see a bunch from my facebook profile. Hope everyone is doing well. Love you all loads!
SHOW ME THE PICS!!!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
The Worst Awards: Argentina
Now I hate to talk smack about a place that overall I loved, but some things just hands down really deserve the worst award. Here goes...
BUS RIDE: From Cordoba to Villa General Belgrano. Two hours of non-stop winding road car sickness + hangover with a puke and rally at the end. Horrible!
HOSTEL: Mar del Plata. Although it is my favorite overall city the hostel was completely unorganized and expensive, and the bathrooms were outside the room.
BEER/DRINK: Fernets. Its kinda like a mixture between Absenth, black liquorish, Jagermeister, and rubbing alcohol. Absolutely awful stuff.
PARTY NIGHT: Mendoza round 2. "You don't havvvve to come out, but it is kinda expected, otherwise you will be insulting me and my culture, but no pressure, no pressure." Famous quote from some guy named Hormiga (literally translated into English the name means ant) and this guy had an ant tattoo, ant necklace, and even an ant car mirror ornament. OMG it was bad, to say the least.
OVERALL TOWN: Salta. Again, although the scenery was some of the most breathtaking in AR the town is dirty and cramped and polluted.
INCIDENT: Me: Shit Liz, I think I broke my toe last night.
Liz: WHAT! How did you do that?
ME: Wellllll, after the booze cruise I was jumping into the pool with some British guy named Kevin when I failed to notice the absolutely minuscule concrete rim surrounding the edge. Running at full speed I jammed my toe into the rim and belly floped face first into the pool... with all my clothes on.
Liz: (No words, just shakes her head)
VEGETARIAN MEAL: Polenta from the farm. Should really be called barflenta.
CARNIVOROUS MEAL: Gas station rubber uncooked hamburger in Che Guevara's hometown.
DESSERT: Coyote. An awful super sweet mash of fruit with sugar which looked like it was food processed into a chunky consistency. Gross!
PURCHASE: Probably the Oktoberfest feather hat. Although I really do love it, now I am carrying around this ridiculous hat with a feather sticking 3 feet up in the air out of my backpack ever time we travel. Whoops!
PRODUCT BRAND: Pritty soda. A lemon-lime energy drink wannabe
MALE ROOMMATES: Americans in Iguazu. Obnoxious and stupid exchange students only in AR to party and not learn about the culture or be respectful to customs.
FEMALE ROOMMATES: Buenos Aires round 2 British granny. She accosted me about room and air conditioning info as soon as I walked in then walked around after her shower naked. Not good.
TRAVEL NECESSITY: First aid kit. Although It has saved my ass quite a few times and I am glad to have it when I need it I hate carrying this thing around and worrying about it. And it takes up like 1/4 of the space in my backpack.
BUS MOVIE: Some horrible Memento wannabe movie with Sarah Michelle Gellar. I think it was called Butterfly.
We arrived in Australia about 2 days ago, combated jet leg like professional travelers and have had no trouble figuring out the public transportation system. Ill post some OZ updates soon when I have more to report, but so far we have been to one weekend market where I bought a beautiful locket necklace and hung out at the beach. We are trying to figure out our game plan for the next couple weeks until the rentals arrive for X-mas.
Lots of love
XOXOXOXOX
BUS RIDE: From Cordoba to Villa General Belgrano. Two hours of non-stop winding road car sickness + hangover with a puke and rally at the end. Horrible!
HOSTEL: Mar del Plata. Although it is my favorite overall city the hostel was completely unorganized and expensive, and the bathrooms were outside the room.
BEER/DRINK: Fernets. Its kinda like a mixture between Absenth, black liquorish, Jagermeister, and rubbing alcohol. Absolutely awful stuff.
PARTY NIGHT: Mendoza round 2. "You don't havvvve to come out, but it is kinda expected, otherwise you will be insulting me and my culture, but no pressure, no pressure." Famous quote from some guy named Hormiga (literally translated into English the name means ant) and this guy had an ant tattoo, ant necklace, and even an ant car mirror ornament. OMG it was bad, to say the least.
OVERALL TOWN: Salta. Again, although the scenery was some of the most breathtaking in AR the town is dirty and cramped and polluted.
INCIDENT: Me: Shit Liz, I think I broke my toe last night.
Liz: WHAT! How did you do that?
ME: Wellllll, after the booze cruise I was jumping into the pool with some British guy named Kevin when I failed to notice the absolutely minuscule concrete rim surrounding the edge. Running at full speed I jammed my toe into the rim and belly floped face first into the pool... with all my clothes on.
Liz: (No words, just shakes her head)
VEGETARIAN MEAL: Polenta from the farm. Should really be called barflenta.
CARNIVOROUS MEAL: Gas station rubber uncooked hamburger in Che Guevara's hometown.
DESSERT: Coyote. An awful super sweet mash of fruit with sugar which looked like it was food processed into a chunky consistency. Gross!
PURCHASE: Probably the Oktoberfest feather hat. Although I really do love it, now I am carrying around this ridiculous hat with a feather sticking 3 feet up in the air out of my backpack ever time we travel. Whoops!
PRODUCT BRAND: Pritty soda. A lemon-lime energy drink wannabe
MALE ROOMMATES: Americans in Iguazu. Obnoxious and stupid exchange students only in AR to party and not learn about the culture or be respectful to customs.
FEMALE ROOMMATES: Buenos Aires round 2 British granny. She accosted me about room and air conditioning info as soon as I walked in then walked around after her shower naked. Not good.
TRAVEL NECESSITY: First aid kit. Although It has saved my ass quite a few times and I am glad to have it when I need it I hate carrying this thing around and worrying about it. And it takes up like 1/4 of the space in my backpack.
BUS MOVIE: Some horrible Memento wannabe movie with Sarah Michelle Gellar. I think it was called Butterfly.
We arrived in Australia about 2 days ago, combated jet leg like professional travelers and have had no trouble figuring out the public transportation system. Ill post some OZ updates soon when I have more to report, but so far we have been to one weekend market where I bought a beautiful locket necklace and hung out at the beach. We are trying to figure out our game plan for the next couple weeks until the rentals arrive for X-mas.
Lots of love
XOXOXOXOX
Last Days in Buenos Aires
We spent the last few days in BA visiting our favorite parks and plazas and gorging our already overstuffed belly's with empanadas and Quilmes cerveza. During that time we started reminiscing about all the good times, annnnnnnd bad times we had in good 'ol Argentina, and thanks to our efforts we established the Best/Worst Awards. As always we didn't quite agree on what should win the award for every category, but in my opinion I think these sparkling memories deserve their praise.
Annnnnd the BEST AWARDS go to...
BUS RIDE: From BA to Iguazu, the first taste of spinach and a ripped off version of the new Batman movie to lull us to sleep in our cushy almost-recline-all-the-way seats. Perfect!
HOSTEL: Hostel-inn Iguazu, five star swear to god!
ICE CREAM: Corner shop in San Telmo, Buenos Aires. It was so hot outside and they always give you two scoops of heaping wonderful cooling pre-diabetic treats.
BEER/DRINK: El Bolson con frambuesa beer, mmmmmmmmmmmm.
PARTY NIGHT: Cordoba with six guys who serenaded sappy love songs around a guitar, then took me out dancing to techno remixes until dawn... and of course one was an army guy :)
MUSEUM: Museo del Mar sea shell museum, over 30,000 glittering sea shells. So pretty.
OVERALL TOWN: Mar del Plata, gorgeous little ocean town with surprisingly completely intact sidewalks.
EMPANADA'S: TIE! J&B Son in Cordoba with over 60 different kinds of Emps, and San Marino in Mar del Plata, because they were almost gourmet, and they had wine.
ILLEGAL ACTIVITY: Chewing coco leaves on a tour bus through the Salta mountins (just to put everyone at ease it isn't entirely illegal as they sell the leaves in the store).
LOOK-A-LIKE: Gulian to Charlie in Cordoba. Swear to god its his long lost Argintinian birth twin.
VEGETARIAN MEAL: The Green Apple in Mendoza, wonderful veggie buffet and a bean casserole to die for!
CARNIVOROUS MEAL: Lamb ravioli in the Jauja restaurant in El Bolson.
HANGOVER BREAKFAST: Huevos fritos and papas fritas in the Mar del Plata bus station. Saved our lives.
DESSERT: Green Apple flan, AMAZING!
PURCHASE: My big yellow luggage purse. I love it!
TOUR: Salta Mountains and salt flats, absolutely breathtaking scenery
NATIONAL PRODUCT BRAND: Ser, makes everything from dairy to meat product. My favorite was the yogurt. Good firmness consistency.
MALE ROOMMATES: The mates from New Zealand who we roomed with in Salta. Eric wins this award hands down because he recounted for at least 4 hours the entire Rocky and Rambo series with accurate quotes, voices, and behind the scenes extras from the directors cut. Awesome!
FEMALE ROOMMATES: Charlotte and Kattie from the farm, rooming with them definitely saved my butt from going loco.
BEEFCAKE: oohhhhhhh, this one is another TIE! The very first beefcake we encountered from Millhouse in BA was a fabulous tight shirted security guard who winked at me every time I entered the hostel. Beefcake number 2 comes from Cordoba with his bulging biceps and euro mullet.
QUOTE: This one I think sums up the relentlessness of Argie men who I think live by the motto, resistance is key... "Pssssst, Julia... Tienes un novio?" from our hot doctor roommate, whispered in the dark from his bunk bed. Hilarious!
As I am running out of time on my internet card the WORST AWARDS will have to wait for the next post. Love you guys, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE reading your comments, so keep writing them!
XOXOXOXOX
Annnnnd the BEST AWARDS go to...
BUS RIDE: From BA to Iguazu, the first taste of spinach and a ripped off version of the new Batman movie to lull us to sleep in our cushy almost-recline-all-the-way seats. Perfect!
HOSTEL: Hostel-inn Iguazu, five star swear to god!
ICE CREAM: Corner shop in San Telmo, Buenos Aires. It was so hot outside and they always give you two scoops of heaping wonderful cooling pre-diabetic treats.
BEER/DRINK: El Bolson con frambuesa beer, mmmmmmmmmmmm.
PARTY NIGHT: Cordoba with six guys who serenaded sappy love songs around a guitar, then took me out dancing to techno remixes until dawn... and of course one was an army guy :)
MUSEUM: Museo del Mar sea shell museum, over 30,000 glittering sea shells. So pretty.
OVERALL TOWN: Mar del Plata, gorgeous little ocean town with surprisingly completely intact sidewalks.
EMPANADA'S: TIE! J&B Son in Cordoba with over 60 different kinds of Emps, and San Marino in Mar del Plata, because they were almost gourmet, and they had wine.
ILLEGAL ACTIVITY: Chewing coco leaves on a tour bus through the Salta mountins (just to put everyone at ease it isn't entirely illegal as they sell the leaves in the store).
LOOK-A-LIKE: Gulian to Charlie in Cordoba. Swear to god its his long lost Argintinian birth twin.
VEGETARIAN MEAL: The Green Apple in Mendoza, wonderful veggie buffet and a bean casserole to die for!
CARNIVOROUS MEAL: Lamb ravioli in the Jauja restaurant in El Bolson.
HANGOVER BREAKFAST: Huevos fritos and papas fritas in the Mar del Plata bus station. Saved our lives.
DESSERT: Green Apple flan, AMAZING!
PURCHASE: My big yellow luggage purse. I love it!
TOUR: Salta Mountains and salt flats, absolutely breathtaking scenery
NATIONAL PRODUCT BRAND: Ser, makes everything from dairy to meat product. My favorite was the yogurt. Good firmness consistency.
MALE ROOMMATES: The mates from New Zealand who we roomed with in Salta. Eric wins this award hands down because he recounted for at least 4 hours the entire Rocky and Rambo series with accurate quotes, voices, and behind the scenes extras from the directors cut. Awesome!
FEMALE ROOMMATES: Charlotte and Kattie from the farm, rooming with them definitely saved my butt from going loco.
BEEFCAKE: oohhhhhhh, this one is another TIE! The very first beefcake we encountered from Millhouse in BA was a fabulous tight shirted security guard who winked at me every time I entered the hostel. Beefcake number 2 comes from Cordoba with his bulging biceps and euro mullet.
QUOTE: This one I think sums up the relentlessness of Argie men who I think live by the motto, resistance is key... "Pssssst, Julia... Tienes un novio?" from our hot doctor roommate, whispered in the dark from his bunk bed. Hilarious!
As I am running out of time on my internet card the WORST AWARDS will have to wait for the next post. Love you guys, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE reading your comments, so keep writing them!
XOXOXOXOX
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Sea lions and Sea Shells
Ahhhh the beach! We arrived at Mar Del Plata on the Atlantic coast a few days ago. It is gorgeous here! Liz compared it to the South of France thanks to the lovely cobblestone walkways weaving through the hillsides and the beautiful sandy beaches. Strings of purple flowers spill over onto the walkways at at any moment you are likely to see a Sealion having its lunch. Since it is just spring right now it is a little bit chilly, but absolutely perfect when the sun is out. We took some serious siesta time yesterday at Playa Grande, 3 blocks from our hostel, as seen below...
Playa Grande
The city
Although it is tranquil at the moment, Mar Del Plata is the summer escape for many people from BA, and it looks like this in the summer...
What a clusterfuck, right? CRAZZZZZZY! So basically we hit it at the poyfect time!
We are staying at a hostel that I think is sponsored by Quicksilver surf brand, which is pretty funny. There are all these ripped Argentinian surfer dudes running around dripping wet with their wet suits scantily riding just above their packages. Its awesome!
Yesterday we went to the port, securing the award for record high catcall day, 27! Amazingly horny seamen in this town. Annnnyway, we traipsed down to the port to check out the sealions and colorful fishing boats. The sealions were so cute. The big kahunas would throw their heads back so their noses were pointed to the sky and just sit basking in the sun, every once in a while rolling around to change sunning positions. Then when they got too hot they would waddle their blubbery little bodies to the edge of the sunning clif and belly flop into the ocean with a huge ungraceful splash.
So cute, but let me tell you about the smell. Sealions smell SOOOOOO bad! It was like someone hosed down a dead and rotting fish with liquid from the Bog of Eternal Stench, threw it into a heaping pile of garbage for a week, then took it out and peed and puked on it. AWEFUL smell!
The port at sunset
Afterward we wandered around the port a little bit checking out the fishing boats and lunching in the cute little port shopping area. While walking though the shops filled with an inconceivable amount of seashore brick-a-brack we stumbled upon these gems...
Cherub corkscrew penis wine opener... ummmmm, I think ill take 2, thanks!
Salty sea captain statue for the mantle piece anyone? Hilarious!
Annnnnyway... We checked out the Museo Del Mar today, which is a huge 4 story musuem dedicated just to seashells. This place has over 30,000 from around the world! They were so pretty.
My favorites were the really colorful shells.
Seashell art
We caught the beach today just as a terenchal down pour/tsunami was approaching. Check out this mass exodus chaos happening behind me. Hilarious!
And finally a special treat for Tonya and Betty, love you girl...
On the walk to Plaza San Martin
And a little treat for me too...
Of course no sea town would complete without a Navy military base :) Loves it!
Playa Grande
The city
Although it is tranquil at the moment, Mar Del Plata is the summer escape for many people from BA, and it looks like this in the summer...
What a clusterfuck, right? CRAZZZZZZY! So basically we hit it at the poyfect time!
We are staying at a hostel that I think is sponsored by Quicksilver surf brand, which is pretty funny. There are all these ripped Argentinian surfer dudes running around dripping wet with their wet suits scantily riding just above their packages. Its awesome!
Yesterday we went to the port, securing the award for record high catcall day, 27! Amazingly horny seamen in this town. Annnnyway, we traipsed down to the port to check out the sealions and colorful fishing boats. The sealions were so cute. The big kahunas would throw their heads back so their noses were pointed to the sky and just sit basking in the sun, every once in a while rolling around to change sunning positions. Then when they got too hot they would waddle their blubbery little bodies to the edge of the sunning clif and belly flop into the ocean with a huge ungraceful splash.
So cute, but let me tell you about the smell. Sealions smell SOOOOOO bad! It was like someone hosed down a dead and rotting fish with liquid from the Bog of Eternal Stench, threw it into a heaping pile of garbage for a week, then took it out and peed and puked on it. AWEFUL smell!
The port at sunset
Afterward we wandered around the port a little bit checking out the fishing boats and lunching in the cute little port shopping area. While walking though the shops filled with an inconceivable amount of seashore brick-a-brack we stumbled upon these gems...
Cherub corkscrew penis wine opener... ummmmm, I think ill take 2, thanks!
Salty sea captain statue for the mantle piece anyone? Hilarious!
Annnnnyway... We checked out the Museo Del Mar today, which is a huge 4 story musuem dedicated just to seashells. This place has over 30,000 from around the world! They were so pretty.
My favorites were the really colorful shells.
Seashell art
We caught the beach today just as a terenchal down pour/tsunami was approaching. Check out this mass exodus chaos happening behind me. Hilarious!
And finally a special treat for Tonya and Betty, love you girl...
On the walk to Plaza San Martin
And a little treat for me too...
Of course no sea town would complete without a Navy military base :) Loves it!
