Brazil + Argentina

Finally! AJ was able to join me on an international work trip! And while Brazil and Argentina may sound so fun and exotic, going to the southern hemisphere in August and September translated to winter... meaning overcast and rainy in Brazil and downright COLD in Argentina. But, we still had a great time working it what we could between my work obligations.

I call my little Khaleesi "Bug" so while I was packing, I tested out my bugspray (no Bugs were harmed in the making of this film!)

First stop was São Paulo! Largest city in South America (possibly southern hemisphere?) it's mostly just... a big city. There was a nice park with a nice big lake though, and we enjoyed that.

It was much more crowded than our pictures show. There were people walking, riding bikes, lounging, jogging, playing drums, doing maternity photo shoots...and on the Sunday there was supposed to be a jazz festival, which we didn't make it to.

Random street art

My event was in the conference area of our hotel, which was really convenient, especially for the added benefit of just having AJ take this picture for me, and he could wait for me while in the bar lololol.

On Sunday we went to Beco do Batman, which is a cute area with just tons of graffiti and street art that changes every so often. It was a bit small, but still really cool to see! That is, until the torrential downpour that had us sheltering for like half an hour before we could venture out again.

After that we headed to Centro to check out the historic city center and see the Cathedral. Well, we saw the cathedral alright, and sheltered inside (where a performance was going on) cause man was that area sketchy. Lots of aggressive people, lots of homeless, and we even saw a man get straight-up attacked by a pack of wild dogs!! Interesting place, to say the least.

After São Paulo was Rio de Janeiro. It was a shame we were barely there for 48 hours. Well, maybe not. It was definitely better that SP, but we came in to some decent weather, but it took a turn for the worse and was very cloudy, overcast and rainy for the rest of our time there. Still, the hills and the bay and the whole landscape was just so beautiful to see.

AJ's remote office for the day

Our flight out of Rio was pretty late in the day, so we were able to take advantage of the morning and rented some scooters. We had never done it before so we were loving it! There's a great bike lane all lining the promenade that made it easy to get around on too. We rode down Copacabana beach to Ipanema and then back inland a bit by an inland lake. It was so much fun!

Live action scootering!

This Brazilian churrascaria restaurant was
unrealllll!! So good!

And then, Buenos Aires! My friend/old coworker Jessica was doing the same event there as me, so we coordinated hotels, which worked out great.

The day before the event, AJ and I took a walk around the city and came to the Zoological garden. Translation = amazing cute animals!! And not even in cages... just out and about and everyone was respectfully following the signs asking people to stay off the lawns.

We recognized the ducks, peacocks and beavers... but could not figure out the giant rodent. I thought it was a capybara but AJ was unconvinced. Imagine our surprise when his Google search "Argentine deer rodent" brought us the answer: Patagonian mara!

There was even an island of monkeys that we caught later! I loved that park.

Check out the monkeys in action!

Working away in the hotel

Downtown where my event was

So, Argentina is known for tango. When we checked into our hotel, they even gave us a list of nearby tango shows, which usually involved dinner, and they were priced around $200! Yes, USD! Well, at the school event, Jessica found out someone was going to a tango show where you could come after dinner and just watch the show, and only like $15. So after the fair we did that. It was... interesting.

A picture of the city, and the reflection of the
tango dancers on the glass

We were pretty much just downing Argentine wine and watching the show (it was more like a musical that we couldn't understand, and inexplicably also included an Evita-dressed woman singing Don't Cry For Me Argentina with an image of the Argentina flag behind her) and Jessica was Googling it to try to learn more, and the first hit that showed was "THE WORST TANGO SHOW IN TOWN" haha! That made us love it more.

After that we left the metropolis and down back to our Palermo neighborhood, where we decided to check out the bars nearby, since we were in a great place for nightlife. We found a place that offered the most ridiculous range of shots and drinks and unsurprisingly realized the whole place was basically college students, after it was too late. I ordered a "Harry Potter" shot that included a whole fireworks display, and AJ's simple tequila shot included the bartender rubbing a lemon on my neck, pouring salt on it, and having AJ lick my neck before taking the shot. Have to admit, I was not expecting the night to go that way LOL.

After that we went to a bar called Antwerpen where Jessica and I got to dance, and then we headed back to the hotel. The next morning was breakfast at the ambassador's residence and we then had the afternoon to explore. Jessica told us about the La Boca neighborhood, a very colorful area in the old town. We went there via the highway where we also got to catch glimpses of the Obelisk and La Casa Rosada aka the Pink House aka their White House. Not bad!

In case you forgot, the current (super awesome) pope is from Argentina, and they are very proud of him!

Empanadas mmmmm

Once again, our flight out was very late (we didn't leave Buenos Aires until 10:20pm!) so we had all day, and AJ and I elected to take the ferry over to Uruguay, to a small little town called Colonia del Sacramento, just about an hour away.

It was great times! Very small little historic area, but still great for a day trip.

On the ferry over

Approaching the Uruguay dock

We did some shopping at the mall LOL #Americans

We took the ferry back and man was immigration rough. It just takes forever because they do both countries there at the port so you wait in line to exit one and then go to the next line to enter the other. We were late coming back. We then met Jessica back at the hotel to get dinner and the restaurant next door called Kevin Bacon. We wondered if Kevin Bacon knew about it. Either way, it was good!

AJ and I were running late for the airport. We were back late, dinner went late, then needed to change and rearrange our suitcases before heading out. The taxi the hotel called for us took awhile, and in that time, the estimated drive time to the airport almost doubled, to the point where, when we got to the counter at the airport, they told us the flight to LA was closed! We just sorta stood in shock like hmmmm. She had someone ask if they could still try to take our bags, and they agreed. She put a RUSH sticker on them and I figured well our bags are definitely going to be late, but who cares if we make this flight. She told us to RUN because we might not make it and boarding was about to start. That put the fear in our hearts for sure. So we ran to security... which had absolutely no line at all and we walked right through. Then we rushed to immigration... which had absolutely no line at all and we walked right through. Then we hurried to find our gate... and we got to it before they even began boarding! Talk about a false alarm! Oh well, alls well that ends well (and our luggage even made it too!)

AJ and I loved Buenos Aires and we would both love to go back and explore more of Argentina. That place has so much to offer! There are mountains with snow and snowsports... there are the salt flats and waterfalls and Patagonia. That would be a good place to check out the right way some time. But it'll have to wait for now because I'm already leaving again on Wednesday for the next work trip... I'll be lucky to update again in a month!