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Speaking for some of my fellow nordic friends, not much is known about South America. Argentina is country far removed from Canada and we share few mutual connections in trade or migration. Many might know of the romance of gauchos, and grass fed beef, and might know of Mount Aconcagua, highest summit in the Americas. And of course in the horse world, Argentina has a great reputation for polo. But how many know that Iguazu Falls shares a border with Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay? How many know that it is one of the seven wonders of the world?  As we flew from Buenos Aires, the landscape was quite green and tropical. Fauna and flora are abundant here, as is the heat and humidity. My DH splurged on a lovely hotel with a rooftop pool for our final weekend. In between jungle trails to the waterfalls across Brazil and Argentina, I sipped mate and went for refreshing dips as we gazed over the tropical national parks. The highlight was the helicopter tour over the falls! Highly recommend...

Back from 4 days in the global capital of Malbec wines in Mendoza, Argentina. The weather was hot (40C 🥵) in the city, but cooled down to a breezy 30C once we hit the countryside and the lovely vineyards. The Uco Valley is like the Napa Valley of South America, with hundreds of wineries of all sizes and styles. They have many traditional wines like cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, sauvignon blanc … but the Malbec, which grows so well in this arid mountain valley, is truly spectacular. And at a cost of 3-5$ a bottle, you can enjoy sampling many. We stumbled on a great old vines malbec on our first day in Mendoza, at a nearby italian restaurant that shielded us from the heat with a lovely light lunch of carpaccio and mixto fritto (vegetables and seafood in a light and crispy tempura batter). We finally found another bottle at a nearby store and packed it home with us. The following day we had a private driver take us to the Uco valley for several visits, wine tastings and a delicious...

The world capital of tango, it is lovely to see it in natural spaces like the Plaza Dorrego in San Telmo. They call it the birthplace of tango. A slow dance punctuated by exciting movements, it is lovely to watch. This week we are taking it slow and staying in Buenos Aires, just enjoying the energy and vibe of the city. It is a lovely city and definitely undeserving of some of its international reputation for crime and safety. Of course we are always careful, but Ive felt quite safe here. The food scene is great in its own right, but its best to stick with Argentinian food. And enjoy the abundance of produce!

So our last weekend was a bust. The original plan was to fly to Cordoba, then drive to Villa General Belgrano (known for the largest Oktoberfest outside of Germany) in the foothills of the Andes mountains, with a day trip to pedestrian mountain village Cumbrecita … both towns known for their German heritage. I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend in the mountains with beer, sausage and schnitzel. A nice contrast to the beef, empanadas and cheese excesses of Buenos Aires. The AirBnB we rented was not great, better suited for young large drunk men needing space instead of comfort. It was made worse when the whole town shut down  at 6 pm  on Christmas eve with barely a stray dog stirring. We witnessed the shutdown shortly after the lamest lunch we have experienced, and started to panic as we had no food or water. We hit the last kiosko to close, and grabbed what we could to bunker down for likely two days (water, dulce de leche, coffee, tea, bread, ham, bananas). Is this our...