Christ the Redeemer

Our second day in Rio was reserved for the most popular tourist attraction in the city, Christ the Redeemer. We had hoped for a nice, clear day, but clear weather wasn't in the cards for us so we decided to go ahead with the plan. We looked into a number of tour options to visit the statue, but each of them were either too expensive, too long, or not what we were looking for. Thank goodness for that since going on our own was easy, fast and much cheaper than any other option. Our hotel front desk staff were very helpful, we told them where we wanted to go and they hailed a taxi and told them where to take us. To visit the Christ, you can either drive to the top or go to the base station and take the train (Trem do Corcovado) to the top. If you have a chance, look at the google maps directions from Ipanema to the Redeemer statue, which confirmed our choice to take the train. The cab ride from our hotel to the base station of the Trem do Corcovado was less than $30 reais, and once we were there, everyone at the station ticket desk spoke either English or Spanish so we were golden.

Tickets to the top were $46 reais per adult, with kids under 6 free. On this particular day, they warned us that visibility was zero. They said it when we got in line, they told us again when we purchased our tickets. Then they printed it on the tickets themselves, just to be sure. There was no mistaking it, we were not going to have a great view - but we were already there with the kids, so we ignored these warnings and continued to the top.

There were not many people in line for tickets when we arrived - possibly due to the ZERO visibility warnings - but the earliest available train was 40 minutes from the purchase of our tickets, so there is probably some sense in buying your tickets ahead of time online.

To pass the time before boarding, there is a little park across the street with a playground and a retired train car on display. The train was inaugurated way back in 1884, though it had been running for a few years before that to help bring pieces of the monument to the top. It started as a steam train, but was renovated in 1910 to become an electric train, the first of its kind in Brazil. The ride to the top takes around 20 minutes and covers approximately 2.5 miles, 2,300 feet in altitude from the base station to the statue.

The wall that divides the train station from the street has a really interesting set of murals, some religious, some cultural, but they all make for a cool entryway to the station.

If you went inside the station, there are a number of things to keep you occupied before the train ride. There was this strange, smaller, metal version of the Redeemer strung up with Christmas lights, which lots of folks were talking photos in front of. There were some food stations and souvenir shops and a juice bar. While we waited, a marching band complete with gymnastics dancers and a Santa Clause marched in to play Christmas tunes and popular Coldplay songs. The station was in full party mode with the big Birth Day coming up (we visited on December 21). Before we knew it, it was our turn to board the train and go.

There are no assigned seats on the train, so it is a bit of a mad rush to get on board. Seats face forward and backward, which is odd because it's really difficult to stay in your seat facing backward going up such a steep hill. The train itself is pretty hot and humid, but gets a good breeze while in motion. There are a few stops along the way, I couldn't say why, but each stop seemed like an eternity in the close confines of the train. It was really only a few minutes each time.

Once at the top, the view is spectacular, even on a zero visibility day. You can see Rio city from one side and the beach towns from the other, both are really cool to see from above.

And then there's the main attraction, the Christ. Or as Gretchen liked to call it "baby Jesus's daddy". It is enormous. The statue itself is almost 100 feet tall with an additional 25 feet or so of base hight. The day we visited, clouds gave it a bit of a haunting or menacing feel, especially when the sun would peek out ever so slightly.

Trying to get a photo of anyone that included the Christ was an interesting task. This one just barely has Gretchen and I included and Jon was literally laying on the ground trying to get all of us in.

He wasn't the only ground-layer. Pretty much every group of people visiting the statue had some designated photographer laying on the ground looking up.

The clouds were blowing in the wind, every once in awhile we got a good clearing to see the city below. It really is a beautiful place - green forest, blue water and really cool landscape.

And other times, the clouds made you forget that you were standing so high up on the mountain. Zero visibility was not an exaggeration at times. 

I like this shot, even if it seems a bit menacing. Cloudy, blurred Christ in the background with Gretchen and Daddy in front.

There were elevators and escalators to help you get to the statue, though the elevators have a long line if you're not elderly or traveling with children. The down escalator was out of service so we ended up walking down a few flights of stairs - not a problem for us, but we were glad to be traveling without a stroller. Luckily, Alex is a champ at just riding along in the Ergo baby carrier - and it's great from a comfort standpoint for the parent. We got our money's worth out of that little device.

Christ the Redeemer was a really interesting way to spend a morning. We laughed at the fact that all sightseeing with children is on fast forward (we probably spent 30 minutes at the top - and noticed that other folks on our return train had arrived multiple hours before us). Jon and I certainly don't mind. We went, we took some pictures and we were back at the hotel by naptime followed by juicetime. A job well done.

Estancia La Porteña

The Big House at La Porteña

My mom and dad came to Argentina for their 6th and 3rd trip (respectively) to meet their new grandson. We wanted to show them a different part of the country without traveling too far (since our son doesn't have his documents yet...) so we decided on an estancia.  We've been to a few estancias in the past, but we wanted to try a new one, preferably a place that had more options for children. A few people had recommended La Porteña so I checked it out on Trip Advisor, and all of the reviews were raving. They also boasted an option to stay in one of their three houses, the Big House, the Small House and the Polo House - which has an apartment with two rooms, which sounded great for our family of four.

I sent the online booking form in English and a nice woman named Catalina responded in English as well. We booked a room for my parents in the Big House, and the Polo House apartment for us. When we arrived on Friday morning, the forecast called for rain and the weather was colder than normal for a weekend in late October. Catalina told me that we had been moved into the Big House (an upgrade free of charge) since the Polo House would be difficult to keep warm and we could be closer to my parents. Though this was a nice thought in theory, it also meant that all four of us were sleeping in the same room - a difficult venture considering my light-sleeping husband and our 5-week-old baby. I'm pretty sure that in the end, it was a better option for the staff as much (or more than) for us.

The estancia has beautiful grounds, lots of space, lots of animals and nice walking paths around the property. We arrived around noon on Friday, got settled in our rooms and met in a common area for what they refer to as a Welcoming Reception. There was wine, water and some snacks to choose from, along with hot empanadas, which were great after the ~1 hour 45 minute drive.


After the reception was over, you could choose to go horseback riding or just wander around the estancia. The day we arrived the weather was threatening rain so Catalina offered that we feed the animals before the rain came. We took a basket of bread to the horses, pigs, goat and sheep, though I'm convinced that as much bread went to feed Gretchen as the animals. Catalina was great, she helped Gretchen feed the horses and then when the rain started she shared that her two boys (ages 2 and 4) have a fantastic toy room that Gretchen could use during our stay.

Similar to many other estancias, La Porteña offers a dia del campo option for people that want to experience the estancia for the day without spending the night. This was never more obvious than at La Porteña where they had dia del campo visitors each of the three days that we were there. This is a great option for people on a tight schedule, but I felt like it forced us into an awkward schedule for people staying overnight. Each day before and after the dia del campo was very laid back and we could wander around the grounds, but since the very small staff was busy with the impending visitors and their own personal affairs, we felt kind of aimless during these times. We asked for a tour of the estancia grounds and were told that they were ready for this at any point - yet it took asking repeatedly for two days before we could get someone to show us around. They were so relaxed that we almost felt overlooked. Additionally, each afternoon had the same multi-hour lunch schedule: welcome reception, asado lunch, folk guitar singer and dance demonstration ending with the gaucho show. A great afternoon once, but we didn't need to repeat this experience to the letter on Saturday. No disrespect to the staff, the food was good and the singer/gaucho (Pablo, who is picture above) was great, but we would have preferred to take a hike or something else on the second day. Also, there is a great town nearby, San Antonio de Areco that we visited on Saturday morning, but we were told that they would wait for us to return for lunch, which meant that our food sat out on the table for a few hours (salads, vegetables, etc) since they didn't want to hold up the other folks visiting for the day. All this to say that it was not as accommodating as the other estancias we've been to in the past.

Once we finally went on a tour of the grounds, it was great! We could walk the trails and appreciate the history of the place.  There are trees from each continent in the world, many of them well over 150 years old.  Like this spruce from Lebanon in the background of the picture below.  This is the tree on the Lebanese flag yet it has been made virtually extinct in the country of it's birth. This was was enormous, beautiful and very old.

The original entrance to the estancia was used in a movie starring Antonio Banderas, Imagining Argentina, and is impressive with the large trees and the beautiful canopy:

 And after we knew what paths to take, we went walking on our own around.  Some of us got to ride...

 La Porteña is a beautiful location, it is very traditional and was named a national monument back in 1999, so it legally must stay true to its history. The weekend stay there was a mixed bag, the food ranged from mediocre (breakfast) to quite good (the asado) and the dinners were OK. All beverages were included in the cost of your stay, which was preferable to sorting out how many waters, cokes and glasses of wine everyone drank at the end of the weekend. The accommodations left a bit to be desired; the beds were nice and the rooms spacious, but the showers were laughable (we all skipped at least one shower, the water pressure was so bad) and the bathrooms in desperate need of renovation.

The staff was extremely nice and well-intentioned, but I felt like the stay could have been much better if there was more of a process for those staying overnight. Give us information about the town (how to get there, when the shops close, a recommendation for shopping or lunch...), find out what we are looking to get out of the weekend, and provide a general time table for what they offer (when is the tour, when can you ride horses, when are the animals fed, etc).  For the cost per person, I'm pretty sure we will not be back.

That's not to say we had a bad time, it was really fun and a clear window into traditional life in the 1700s. It was a nice way to spend time together as a family, and we were never crowded or bothered by anyone. The little ones liked it too, though Gretchen's favorite part was playing with the other children's toys that Catalina offered us. Playing with someone else's stuff is exhausting!

The Palermo Rose Gardens: El Rosedal

There are a whole lotta parks in Buenos Aires, so it took me a while to find this "rose garden" park that everyone was talking about.  When I finally stumbled upon it, I felt like an idiot, because it has somewhere in the realm of a million roses (actually, more like 5,000, according to their website), thus justifying the name El Rosedal.

The Rosedal is actually a small part of the Parque Tres de Febrero, a park that sits between Libertador and Figuero Alcorta, starting at Sarmiento street.  Virtually every weekend, especially in the summer, there is a fun run, or a roller skating tournament, or a brake-dancing show, or some other event going on in the pedestrian street that covers the perimeter of the park.  This is one of the most lively parts of the city during weekend days, and it offers a fun day outside for families, or fantastic people-watching for the casual observer.  There are vendors located on the pedestrian street that rent bicycles and peddle carts, a paddle boat rental for the small lake and plenty of ducks and geese for the little ones to feed.  It is also a great place to bring your camera and get fantastic, colorful shots of the city.

I have gone to El Rosedal exactly 10 times.  I have entered the park exactly 5 times because the other 5 times it was closed.  Maybe it's just me, but the downside of this park is that it seems to be closed on the most awkward of occasions.  New Year's Day: closed.  All Mondays: closed.  Carnival: closed (apparently it is closed all holidays, I should have learned from my mistakes). And to top the cake, I have attempted to take my in-laws to visit this park at least 2 times, my mother-in-law being a huge fan of flowers, and they have yet to get inside the gates, it's always been closed.  So, be warned, check their website before visiting, because on even the most beautiful spring day.... the gates may be shut.

Jon and I have taken Gretchen to this park together 2 times, and in an extremely unfortunate turn of events, we both wore the exact same shirts on both visits.  Luckily, Gretchen changed considerably between the two visits, so you can easily tell the difference in the pictures.  In other news, we are looking forward to our next US trip so that we can buy some new clothes.

Daddy and Gretchen April, 2011

Daddy and Gretchen, April 2012

Mommy and Gretchen, April 2011

Mommy and Gretchen, April 2012

 For families that want to visit the roses, here is another tip.  The rose gardens are accessible from two different directions, one has a footbridge with 12 steps up and then 12 steps down, the other direction is a long sidewalk of these clay-rocks, both are pretty rough on a stroller.  Bring the jogging stroller on this outing, if you have one, and if not, consider a carrier for the little one.

Also, the clay stones leave clay dust on EVERYTHING.  It's impossible to resist this face that wants to play in the rocks, luckily, the dust washes out.

 One of my other visits to the Rose Gardens was with our friends the Wilsons, who visited us back in October 2010, when Gretchen was just a little bean in my belly.  We got some great pictures of the roses, and the adorable Wilson girls:

Emma and Roses

Rebecca amid a whole lot of roses

 There are nice fountains and lots of walking paths around the park as well, it really is a nice place to spend an afternoon.  The actual Rose Garden is pretty strict about not going on the grass, so if you pack a picnic, plan on eating it on the outskirts of the park.  Also, if you visit in summer, the lake is a big draw for mosquitos, so bring some spray.

Temaikén Bioparque

This weekend we packed up our things and headed out of town to a zoo of a different kind, a biopark.  You might ask what a biopark is, and I would tell you - it's a nice zoo.  Not in a sarcastic way, an actual, nice zoo.  To the point that I'm hoping that there is no communication line between the animals at Temaiken and the animals at the Palermo Zoo because it is pretty obvious who got the short end of that stick. 

Temaiken is in Escobar, which is about 30 miles (~50km.) northwest of the center of Buenos Aires.  To get there you can either drive or take one of two types of bus, the Route 60 semi-rapido or the Chevallier Costera Metropolitana.  The information regarding each mode of transportation is limited on the Temaiken website, so we used what information we received from friends and other websites and used the Route 60 bus.  It was easier than we expected. 

The ticket kiosk on Sarmiento Street

The Route 60 bus stop is on Sarmiento Street immediately in front of La Rural Exposition Center.  They are on the same side of the street as the US Embassy, across the street from the Palermo Zoo near Plaza Italia.  There is a small kiosk marking the bus stop, this also serves as a ticket counter.  You can buy day passes for Temaiken (which I recommend in order to avoid a potentially long line at the park) and a bus ticket to the park at this kiosk.  As of Sunday, the one-time park entry ticket is $78 pesos, $60 for children ages 3 - 10 and free for children under 3.  They offer a discounted rate of $39 adult/$30 children, on Tuesdays (the park is closed on Mondays) and if you plan on going more than twice in a year, it makes sense to purchase a yearly pass for $145 adult/$110 children,  Yearly passes are available on Ticketek or at the park entrance ticket office.  Bus passes are $6.50 pesos each way, though you can only purchase a one-way pass at the kiosk, you need to buy the return pass at the returning bus stop at the park. 

The Rt. 60 bus indeed is semi-rapido, it still makes quite a few stops.  That considered, it took us an hour and 15 minutes to arrive to the gates of the park, and the ride was pretty pleasant.  This bus is a bit different from the regular collectivos that you ride in town; the seats are a bit nicer, more spacious and in general a more civilized ride.  As a side note, we brought our stroller with us and it took up an entire row of seats.  I'm not sure the other riders appreciated this and we found out later that you can rent a nice-looking stroller from the park, a service that appeared to be free.

Since we bought our tickets ahead of time we were able to bypass the long lines and walk right into the park after we arrived at Temaiken.  You want to stop at the information booth inside the gates on the left to get a map, the park is well marked but a map is incredibly helpful.  The park is large and though they don't have the array of exotic animals that the Palermo Zoo has, but the animals that they do have are kept in much nicer habitats.  We brought our jogging stroller, but the pathways were nice enough that a little umbrella stroller would have sufficed, something that we are generally not used to here in the city.

The zoo is spacious and even on a busy weekend day we didn't feel cramped in the park.  There were times when the animals were doing something particularly interesting that it was hard to see through the front line of viewers, but that is bound to happen anywhere you go with lots of children on a weekend.  The exhibits are well marked and coordinate perfectly with the park map, and each exhibit has a sign that is the shape of that animal, so even if you don't speak Spanish, you can ascertain what you're looking at.

Daddy checking in on Gretchen

 One of the highlighted parts of the biopark is the "El Lugar de Las Aves" or the birdpark.  It is hard to impress me since we've been to the birdpark on Brazil's side of Iguazu Falls, but this exhibit was not too shabby.  There were lots of "normal" songbirds and such in smaller cages, and then there were large walk-through cages that had more exotic birds like toucans and parrots.  I am completely in love with toucans so this part was great for me.  The toucan pictured below actually hit Jon in the head as it flew by, notice that the cage is on the opposite side of the bird.

 I am not quite as big of a fan of parrots, they are noisy and generally seem pretty mean so I was surprised that the bird exhibit path guided us right into another walk-through cage that housed parrots. Again, a parrot flew right at Jon's head, and then they seemed to guard the exit as we were leaving.  I think we both envisioned a parrot flying right into Gretchen's stroller, so we hightailed it out of the parrot exhibit.  If you aren't a parrot-coward like me, this would have been a really nice place to take pictures.

 The park has quite a few places to stop and eat, the food isn't fantastic, but we made out just fine.  Gretchen needed a break from sitting in the stroller, so here she is enjoying sitting on our lunch table.

In all honesty, we could have used more umbrellas in the food area, but what you can't see here is a water feature that was crazy fun for the older kids which makes up for the lack of umbrellas.  Their parents were able to eat in peace while the kids marveled at the water. And here we are together, simultaneously trying to get some sun for me while trying to shield Gretchen from it's harmful rays.

 Aside from the bird exhibit, there were several really great animal habitats to see; the aquarium was impressive with it's variety of sharks, stingrays and other large fish, we enjoyed the hippos, zebras, wallabies, and these adorable meerkats pictured below.  I especially like the little guy in the rock who is looking at a plane passing by. 

 And as we were on our way out, we caught one last photo by the entrance sign. 

We had a wonderful day outside of the city.  I think Gretchen would enjoy the biopark much more in 6 months or so when she is able to run around and play on the grass.  We avoided going to Temaiken for close to 2 years because we thought the bus would be too big of a hassle, and it was really not that big of a deal.  We should have tried this last year, it was really worth the trip.  Hooray for Temaiken!

Tea Time

Big-bellied Dawn, Kyra and my Mom

One of the specific excursions that I alluded to in the Christmas in Buenos Aires post was, for me, one of the highlights of the trip.  We had a girls-only tea time at the Alvear Palace Hotel (Recoleta - Ave. Alvear 1891, 4808-2949), and it was divine.  This is one of those outings where you really want to know your audience though, I was a little nervous that the tea was going to seem pretentious and conceited, but everyone enjoyed it and we all had a really nice time.

The inside of the Alvear Palace looks like what I imagine the inside of the Titanic looked like, and it has the added benefit of not being able to sink.  It is a beautiful hotel, complete with men in top hats and white gloves helping guests out of their cars, and it's conveniently just a few blocks from our apartment.  You know it's got to be good when fancy-pants like Ted Turner, Shaq and Sofia Loren have chosen the Alvear over places like the Ritz or Four Seasons.  And, it is on the list of "1,000 Places to See Before You Die", so that one is now covered.  My thought was that it would be a good way for the girls to get away, get a little dressed up and have some time away from the dude-fest at our apartment.  So, we got all gussied up, and away we went.  

Grandmas-In-Training

Having tea at the Alvear is a pretty popular thing to do, so if you plan on going, be sure to make reservations first.  In typical Buenos Aires style, tea time is a bit later than you might think, opening at 4:30pm Mon - Sat and 5:00pm Sunday.  We arrived a bit early and were able to take some pictures in front of the beautiful Christmas tree that was in the lobby.  There are also some very high-end shop displays inside the hotel, so we all drooled over the jewelry and watches on display. 

The super friendly staff took us to a table that was adorned with (as my Mom put it) presidential china.  The table setting was nothing short of beautiful.  There are really only 3 ordering options on the menu, full tea, full tea with champagne and just tea.  The full tea is deceiving because everything is mini, but it's a whole lot of food.  We ordered 2 full teas with champagne, and we left stuffed.  Each full tea ($160 pesos/ US$40.00) included a tiered platter, fresh scones with a selections of marmalades, 4 tea sandwiches, a choice of dessert, champagne and (of course) your choice of tea.  Since there were four of us, we paid for an additional 2 tea choices making it about a US$100 afternoon for four people.  There are a zillion teas to choose from, we were all happy with our choices, but the real novelty of the afternoon was feeling like royalty.  The waiters are all dressed very formally and they serve everything with white gloves.  Don't let this deceive you, when the time came we still were unable to find someone to give us our check, which is a problem we have in almost every restaurant we visit.  Chalk it up to being an impatient American, but when I'm done eating I really just want to pay and be able to leave at my leisure.

Anyways, it was a lovely afternoon and it was nice to have more intimate conversations with just the girls.  I highly recommend heading to the Alvear if you have guests in town or a group that likes to step out of city life and take a ride on the Titanic for a little while.

Mendoza: Montaña Madness - Day 2

Our second day of Mendoza touring was also spent with Felipe as our escort. We wanted to break up our 2 winery tour days by doing something outdoors, so we asked Uncorking Argentina to plan a day in the Andes Mountains - and plan they did. Mendoza is located on the eastern side of the Andes so the clouds/breeze/rain gets mostly blocked by the huge mountains, making it very dry and desert-like. There is an amazing system of canals and waterways in place to bring water to the city and outlying areas, otherwise, wine production and general living conditions would be impossible. This helps explain why Mendoza looks more like the set of a western movie than Napa Valley, but the views got considerably better as we began our excursion. We started our day off at 9:00am and drove an hour or so into the mountains.

The gorgeous mountain view driving in

Our first stop was Argentina Rafting where we were booked to go zip-lining (or on a canopy tour, as it was called). It was terrifying and awesome, a highlight of the trip.

I wore the least outdoorsy coat possible

Shankar flying on one of our first lines

This was the longest line at 420 meters - over a lake

Check out that view!!

And here is a delightful video of yours truly on the line. Look for the tiny ant in the middle of the screen.

We then headed off to lunch at the most remote, and coldest, restaurant I have ever been to. I think it was like 50 degrees inside - I wore my coat, scarf and napkin for warmth the entire time. The restaurant was in the middle of nowhere, we started to wonder if Felipe was kidnapping us - but alas, there was a restaurant - although I have no clue how they get their food deliveries. The place had windows on both sides of the building and there was a beautiful mountain scape out of each side, but that is where the positive comments end. This was the only "miss" we had with Uncorking Argentina, we should have skipped this place. The food was mediocre, the service was s...l...o...w... and we were shivering through the whole meal. It did make me want to invest money in land in Mendoza, the owner purchased the restaurant's land 10 years ago for US$50,000 (for something like 80 hectors) and now each hector is worth US$30,000. I thought he should sell a hector and invest in central heat.

In the afternoon we drove another 1.5 hours to get to Aconcagua, at 22,800+ feet, it is the highest mountain point in South America. We did not climb it. But walking around on the ground level trails was fun and it was cool to see some snow. We could also see into Chili, which was only 25 km away from where we were. Here are some mountain pics:

Approaching Aconcagua

Collectively wishing that we had dressed warmer

You might see this again on a Christmas card...

Jon fell through the snow :(

It was so dark, we didn't know the telescope was blue

After having our fill of the mountain, we piled back into the suburban for a solid 2.5 hour ride back to town. The original plan was to stop at our hotel and pick up some warmer clothes for our next event, but we were late, so we had to skip the warmer clothes idea. We drove straight over to Phillippe Schell's place, where we had a nighttime stargazing session planned. Phillippe is originally from France and made his way over to Argentina for a project with 3 other french guys approx 12 years ago. He has since broken off from his friends and started Andes First a company that offer things like the stargazing that we did. Phillippe knows his stars. And he has this crazy huge badass telescope, the biggest one I've seen in person. He told us all about the southern sky, we saw stars, star clusters, supernovas, galaxies and planets (like Saturn!) and he even arranged for 2 shooting stars to occur while we were out there. It was fascinating. And freezing. We regretfully left after 1.5 hours outside because no one could feel their extremities, but should we ever return to Mendoza in the summer, we would love to do a mountain stargazing tour with Phillippe, there is so much less city light that the stars literally multiply before your eyes.

We ended our day with a delicious dinner at Afrazan, a highly recommended restaurant in town. At this point, we could hardly keep our heads off the table, the day coupled with the wine that Phillippe had given us to enjoy with dinner - it was bed time for sure. Another wonderful day.