Want some Mate?

Hey my beloved friends around the world,

We r back with a new entry about Argentinia - here we go:
After leaving Rio with many great impression in our mind we arrived in Buenos Aires on February 6th and stayed in this lovely city for 5 nights.
Buenos Aires is a very multifaceted city which looks like a mixture of Paris, Vienna and London with huge streets comparable to the US. Paris because BsAs grows starlike from the famous obelisk on the Plaza de la República. Vienna because some houses have similar architecture, especially the balconies and the coffee is very good. London because u see lots of doubledecker busses.

Obelisk of Buenos Aires.

We stayed in the best party hostel we've ever been - at Milhouse. There u have party and breakfast included literally every day. When I think back to the hostel in Santa Teresa in Costa Rica (Las Casas Blancas)...it was millions of miles better.
U guys probably know already our style to travel, so u may have recognized that we always walk through a city. We did that in BsAs, too. It has many nice spots to offer. E. g. at placa de Mayo u can see the national goverment house which is completely pink. me and MIKE called it the "Zuckerlpalast" (sorry for the German).

Zuckerlpalast

Go down to Puerte Modero where u will find a great area for dining, nice cafés and a bridge that looks like a tango dancing couple.

Puerte Modero

Tango-bridge

If u go further East u reach the natural resort: two large lagunes full of different birds and bugs.  West of the lagunes u experience a nice skyline and east the Rio de la Plata, which is very polluted and dirty. By the way, picnicking is very romantic there but watch out for the moscitos.

West view of the natural resort.

East view of the natural resort.

In Ricoleta district, u see the city from an scary side of view because there u find a large cemetery full of mausoleums. Lot's of rich people from BsAs are burried there. One example is Evita Peron, second wife of ex-president Juan Peron. She achieved for instance the right for woman to vote in Argentinia.
A funny story about another couple is told in form of two statues above one famous mausoleum. The wife is turning her back on her husband which indicates her hate and frustration against him. He treated her not well during lifetimes. However, she was just interested in his money and hence she accepted that situation. So she agreed to be burried next to him after he died because it was the expected behaviour of a real lady at that time but facing away from him.

Morsauleum telling the story of an unhappy couple.

Staying in the district Ricoleta, u have to see Floralis Generica, a huge metal flower which opens in the morning when detecting the first sun beams and closes in the evening every day. Unfortunately we just saw it during the day.

Floralis Generica.

Enough about sightseeing? Please, just let me show u the last great area we visited: La Boca.

U may have heard that in BsAs the people r dancing tango on the street and indeed; in La Boca this is the case. However, it is very very touristy. It is famous for its colourful buildings! U can also visit the Boca Juniors stadium. Actually, La Boca is the poorest area in BsAs, so if you approach the side streets away from the candy houses, u'll step on many broken glasses.

"Glasscherbengegend" in La Boca

Boca Juniors stadium - once the home of the great Diego Maradona (La mano de deus).

What I finally found again in BsAs are Starbucks cafés! I am sorry but I love my capuccino with soy milk. So everytime I ordered one the shop assistant asked me for my ?nombre?
I sayed always Jiny...
They wrote on my cup: Jimy, Gini, Shini, Gimy...
It was hilarious...

Our hostel offered beside everyday events and tours also cheap entrys to clubs. We went to club KIKA with two girls from the Netherlands/England one day and I have to say the music was weard and I felt unsave. It was way too packed and hence we left the club quite early.

me and the girls in club KIKA.

Enough about BsAs? We too, therefore we left it on Saturday and took the bus to Mendoza, the wine region of Argentinia...again 17h in the bus; but compared to Costa Rica we drove more than 1000km and not just 100km;). We stayed in the hostel Empedrado: very nice rooms, great breakfast, a little pool and free self made wine.
We decided to stay 3 nights in Mendoza for hiking and enjoying the nature. First we did horseback riding in the badlands outside of Mendoza. Before we jumped on our horses, we enjoyed a mate together which our guide, Alechandro, prepared for us. It is a special tea in Argentinia u have to drink with a metal straw. It tastes like a very strong black tea with a spicy intense ending flavour. Then we experienced the sunset on our horses. Mine was the slowest and MIKE had the crazy one. In the end we had a great Argentinian BBQ.

Mate cup

I liked Mate but damnon the pic I make a face like my grandmother.

MIKE did not like Mate that much...

Me horse riding.

Sexiest cowboy on earth.

 Pampaking and his crew - maybe I start liking horses;)

 

The cowboy crew @ BBQ table

On this horse trip we get to know nice people. I say hello to Mimi, Pamela and Mika!

The next day we went hiking in Vellecitos up to 3500 m. The highest summit there is about 6000m. Unfortunately we couldn't get a guide for the Aconcagua, with almost 7000m the highest mountain outside Asia. But actually also of those summits in los Andes look the same: no vegetation, stony and high. Mimi joyned us on that trip.

Nice ha?

me and MIKE on one summit at 3500m in the middle of clowds.

Lunch time with our tour guide Mathias.

Some rest before the descent

Paradise for lady bugs: moss and little yellow flowers. There were thousands of lady bugs!

Next day we headed to Santiago de Chile taking the bus over the Andes. Although another 8 hours in the bus, this time the hours went by quickly due the incredible view which made it finally worth to go by bus instead taking a quick flight.

With these pics I say good bye for this time and stay tuned for our next report from Chile.

 Kisses

jiny & Mike

A Tour through Rio...join us!

Dear friends and family,

Today I'll present you Rio from a different perspective besides parties and caipirinhas. We'll make a little tour through the city...although even me and MIKE haven't seen all of it. So please do not judge us for missing the classical tourist spots. We r no tourists, we are travelers. That means we try to enjoy the city from a Brazilian point of view even we do not speak the language. So what I will show u is more the impression u get when u r there...

Map of Rio de Janeiro.

I'd like to start with the beach side, South of Rio. U can either go to Leblon/Ipanema or Copacabana, which is the most famous beach in Rio. U'll probably ask: "What is the difference between these two main beaches". Well, it is simple: in Copacabana u have mostly tourists and pricy drinks. Ipanema beach is more lively and crowded, because all locals go there. They sing, play beach volley ball and most of the time foot volley. If u r at the beach lying in the sun u can experience the white sandy beach, lots of umbrellas and Brazilian guys smoking marijuana when suddenly the peace gets disturbet by those people walking around screaming: "Coca Cola, Aqua, Cervesa!!"
Or they scream something else I do not understand. They sell everything; grilled cheese, hot dogs, nuts, bracelets, bikinis, towels, sugarpops with lime (they are aweful by the way)...all what ur little heart could possibly scream for.

@ Ipanema beach. Want some new dresses?

However, they do that all the time...u can eat/drink all day long. For us it was a little bit too much. Nevertheless, the good thing about the beach r the great bodys around you if u overlook the ugly ones. The people r either hot or soooo not.

All kind of females wear just string biknis with this little rectangular topping which makes it even more sexy. As promised, I have collected some delicious choco butt some pics; there u go:

Vote for the best butt!!

For the girls: Isn't that a hottie?

After such an amazing view, u may have the chance and attend a bloco (street party)...going down in many districts of Rio, particulary before and during carneval. We attended one and realized it is way too crowded. U can not even walk, but you should dance Samba anyway.

Bloco @ Ipanema.

After such an exhausting experience, u should get you a coconut with a straw to drink the fresh coconut water and sit down on the mighty rocks at Parque Garota de Ipanema to eat out also the juicy, white inside. Many locals come here to sit down and watch the sunset and occacionally clap when its over. Like the US Americans in the cinema :P

Sunset @ Parque Garota de Ipanema.

In comparison, Copacabana offers u giant hotels and these great restaurants next to the beach. U have them at Ipanema too, but at the Copacabana, they r more fancy (and more expensive).

Even the side walks look more glamorous.

Copacabana beach. (it was a rainy day)

For swimming and beach fun I prefer Ipanema beach...but remember the water is freezing cold. Guys would probably say -2 cm- (or -1 inch-) - which is not necessarily a bad thing, considering all the hot, sandy butts .

Enough about the beach? Wanna go shopping? U can do that in Ipanema and Copacabana a lot. There r shops almost everywhere but the prices hurt. As a travel girl I need some cheap sights...where many locals r. So I asked my sista Tally...she knows all fancy places and where to find the perfect party dress under 50 reals (~20 Euro).

So she took me to the city hall in the centre of Rio. If u leave the underground at Uruguaiana and go down R. Urugaiana u find thousands of little shops with a lot of cheap stuff: pantys, dresses, crazy party outfits and underwear with funny slogans. I tried a really colourful wig for carneval...

nice mohawk ha?

We walked through all the numerous side streets and had great fun togeher trying things on and realizing that some stuff really was not our type. However I ended up with a new hot black top and two pairs of string tangas and Tally got this nice jeans jacket and this amazing red dress. U look hot SISTA!!!!

Brazilians leave the center of Rio at around 5 pm...rush hour!!!! After that no one is around in this area any more...like in a ghost city.

Rush hour in the center of Rio. Watch out not to get run over! The cars do not stop! SO YOU BETTER RUN!!

Enough about shopping? Let's go back to Ipanema and have a drink in a gay bar...oh yes baby. Ipanema is the district of the gay folks..:)
I had a great Martini and Tally something with a cherry :P

Me and Tally in a gay bar @ Ipanema.

At night u can go out in Lapa (not again, please stop me from being crazy) or u can enjoy a great view over the city from Santa Tereza (no, it is not in Costa Rica, Rio has one too).

View from Santa Tereza.

So...what's next? Want to do some active stuff? U can go running on the paths next to the beaches or around the lagoon. We were walking around the lagoon (big lake in Rio). There u have many spots of silence, no screaming guys who try to sell u something. Thats a perfect place to chill out.

...and enjoy a cup of strong coffee...

Rio has soo much to offer, u can stay a year...and u haven't seen everything. Next time I go up the sugar loaf, I promise...

By the way, when it's raining (we had rain for a week!!)...u just can go out and drink...this brazilian attitude destroyed me...so noo caipirinhas any more, thx!

U have enough about the glamour? I understand...u may have seen the movie "City of God", taking place in a district in Rio's west side (Jacarepaguá). This part of Rio was seattled up in the 80's to prevent the growth of favelas. Favelas r something like slums although the definition says something different - uncoordinated settling! They r all over the hills of Rio and a place you better not go to, when its getting dark.

I have never seen such a strict line between rich and poor. In Ipanema u r in one of the best areas but if u go up the hill or take the elevator (directly @ the metro station) u r sorounded by childrens begging for food and money. They wear dirty clothes and play with kites made out of plastig bags. I helped a little boy because his bag/kite stuck behind the wheel of a car. After that he smiled shortly and ran away qickly to bring his kite up in the air.

Elevator to the favelas.

I was really astonished by this diversity. Up there we wanted to go deeper into the favela but at the point, where there were more heavily armed police men than inhabitants, we decided that its probably better to turn around and go back to safer places.

To conclude: Rio is an awesome place with great parties, great (and beautiful) people and amazing beaches but only if you are also aware of its diversity including dangerous places and inherent poverty, u can get the vibe of this city.

With these words I hope you enjoy Rio as much as we did and the next time we will report from Buenos Aires, the city of the tango.

Kisses

Jiny...and Mike

Rio de Janeiro: Choco Butts, Caipirinhas with tons of sugar and Acai!

Hey my beloved friends!
I am sure u were already waiting for our next entry, right? So here it is!
Currently we are in Rio de Janeiro, not the capital city of Brazil, but the most fun one!

Rio,the city of beauty!

Here we stay with Johnny, the guru of the couchsurfing community in Rio. He knows everybody on CS and is the organizer of numerous events. Thank you Milton for this awesome connection!

We arrived last Saturday at the GIG airport and there we had already our first problem with the language barrier. Here, for some ATM machines require a second card insertion at the end of the process what we did not know nor understand. Without speaking and reading Portuguese we were lost. A friendly guy helped us out...but he was a little bit offended when I started mocking about this crazy system. Well, that's me - love me or hate me;)

After about 30 min in the taxi we arrived at Johnnys place which is in Ipanema. Ipanema and Copacabana r the best districts in Rio and have the most famous beaches. We are just a few minutes away from the white sandy beach of Ipanema;)

On the first day we bought us new bathing suits...MIKE got a hot bermuda and I was looking for a "classic" Brazilian bikini.

Love this bikini ;)

What I really love are acai beeries. Here u can buy them almost everywhere as shakes or frozen mixed with protein powder or bananas...hmm. If u eat this stuff, it is like a full meal - you are filled up for hours.

On our second day, Johnny took us to a typical Brazilian restaurant, Estrela do Sul. That means a buffet with great salads, all kind of typical Brazilian dishes, sushi, shrimps, etc. But the the best part are the waiters running (literally!) through the restaurant with skewers full of various prepared, delicious steaks excited to cut down thin slices for you until you are full...or even longer:)

That day I skipped to be vegetarian. As u guys know, I am a part time vegetarian...so when the meat is awesome, I eat it but I try to eat meat less often than once a week. However, in Rio it is hard to do so.

Following Johnny's recommendation, we then went to Sambódromo / Passarela do Samba. In January there r so called rehearsals, a sort of preperation for the samba schools that r going to perform @ the Carneval. It is free!!

Samba baby!

So... as you can see, there is a lot to do in Rio...Samba, party and sightseeing.
Another day we went up the Corcovado to see the gigantic statue of Jesus. Up there u have an amazing view over Rio.

Rio at night! (Now you know, why it is also save during night times;)

But what about the parties??
I am sure u wanna see that and u expect it from me and MIKE to show u again crazy party pics, ha?

Of course we have some for ya!

We met a very fun girl on CS, Tally, an exmodel, very outgoing and super cool. She wanted to bring us to a very hip boat party but unfortunately there were some problems with the reservation and this stupid bouncer didn't let us in!!! This never happened to me before in my entire life:(

His problem!!! We went then to Lapa, one of the party areas downtown, having some caipirinhas on the street.

Me and Tally

After this refreshment, we went to a friend of Tally, Angel. He runs Riobohemia, a cool hostel and throws parties almost every night. This evening/night was really freaky...I think this picture expains everything:

me and Tally giggling...

MIKE gave Tally a relaxing foot massage cause she was wearing hot red heels (u know the better they look, they more they hurt!). He has no shirt anymore because a bird shit on him before...really badly! His whole shirt was full of bird puu. I was laughing about this situation I think a full hour! Angel was taking the pics.

Angel of/from Miami (lol)

We also went to the big CS meeting at the Copacabana. Johnny said that on a regular and sunny day, around 500 people gather there weekly. Unfortunately it was raining so there were less people then expected, but still more than 100! We met some fun people at this meeting and made some arrangements to party the next days...so have the impressions how funny it can be in the clubs of Rio!!

CS meeting in Rio! The biggest community in the world (More than 18.000 members).

Freaking out in Club Six (Lapa)

me, MIKE and the DJ in Club Six

Now I think u r ready for some beach pictures! Sand, beautiful people and free openair gyms where MIKE had to stop by and do some work out ;)
I did some squats...I was the only girl :P

Ipanema beach

Benchpressing in the sun :)

Look at the guys face with green shirt:) These two pics remind Me on one of my favorite mocking videos about bodybuilding. CHECK THIS OUT

Conclusion: RIO is awesome, come here and u will see!

We decided to skip the bus tour through Brazil and stay until next monday with Johnny. Then we will fly directly to Buenos Aires...:)

Johnny is one of the best hosts u can get; he even cooked for us :)

Johnny

For the next Rio report we will try to get some of the promised choco butt pics for you. With an average string tanga rate of over 90%, they will be delicious;) Stay tuned!


Kisses to: Johnny, Angel, Tally, Janin, Eric...and maaany other CSs!!!

C ya soon :*