Argentina

Argentina was my favorite country I visited, due to its breathtaking views of the Andes, beautiful people and the European feel of Buenos Aires (plus, the Spanish was a breeze to understand after Chile). The capital is known as the “Paris of the South” and that was definitely how it felt because of the architecture of the buildings, wide streets and general layout of the city. It was raining the last two days I was in BA and was actually SNOWING in Mendoza, but even that couldn't damper the beauty of the cities.

Beautiful Andes

The first city I went to was Mendoza, which is about seven hours from Santiago in the west part of the country. I couldn't believe that when I woke up the first day there was snow on the ground... I actually looked at it and just laughed out loud. My parents are always telling me about how disgustingly hot is it in Virginia, which is something I cannot even fathom right now! The cold was especially painful because I did not pack adequate cold weather clothes (I was in denial that it would actually be that cold down here during 'summer'=not smart). Anyway, I did a tour of wineries and an olive oil factory the first day. All the wines were delicious, which makes sense because Mendoza is one of the wine capitals of the world, and I actually drank red wine! (Dad, are you proud?) The next day, I did a tour of the Andes, which was absolutely amazing. There were a few mishaps during the tour, however. We had to wait four hours to get to the mountain because there was an accident (and this was after leaving the hostel at 6:30 a.m.). Also, there was a girl in the group who got sick (like...puking sick...), and we had to keep stopping on the side of the road. We're also in this tiny van, so I'm trying my best not to breathe in all the sick vapors circulating around...(typical me). I did feel bad for her though, is there any worst place to be nauseous than on a windy road through mountains? The sights were absolutely unbelievable, my favorite of the trip.

Second, I moved on to Buenos Aires. It was a beautiful city, very similar to Santiago but without the mountains in the background. The first night I went out to eat steak (a must there!) at a sweet restaurant with these two guys from Scotland who I had met in Mendoza. The steak was delicious, as I figured it would be. The next two days were rainy, so I couldn't do the bus tour of the city, unfortunately, but still had fun hanging out with the Scots more and going to a tango/dinner show the next night. The dancers were amazing and put on a great show. I don't think I can ever get used to the late eating schedule here. Peru is okay because dinner is around 8 or 9, which I can handle, but in Argentina no one eats until at least ten. The night life is on a whole other level than the US, with clubs/bars getting started around midnight and not finishing until early morning, around 6 a.m. With all this being said, I definitely had the most fun in the capital city.

View from La Plaza de Armas

The last city I went to in Argentina was Salta, in the very north of the country, which I wasn't crazy about. I did another mountain tour (can't get enough), but after the Andes, nothing could even compare. There were some pretty sites, but overall I could have done without it. The actual city was nice, though, with a pretty pink building in the middle of their Plaza de Armas.

Mooooo

I wish I had more time to visit Argentina because it so, SO BIG and there are tons of things I wish I had time to see. Patagonia, Iguazu waterfalls, Bariloche, wildlife preserves in the south...all of this just gives me an excuse to come back :)