astrid

En Balneario Camboriu con Tati...

posted by Astrid @ 9:54 PM 0 comments

Playas de Bombas, Bombinhas y Estaleru

posted by Astrid @ 9:37 PM 0 comments

Con Tati en Praia 4 Ilhas..

posted by Astrid @ 9:05 PM 0 comments

IGUASSU and CURITIBA

So after it was a bit sad to leave Buenos Aires I really didn’t have too much time to think about this and be too triste, cause there were already bastante other high-lights waiting for me…

Unfortunately my flight from BsAs to IGUASSU was a bit messed up and we had to Emergency Stop in Cordoba for 2 hours to fix the plane before we could continue on to Puerto Iguassu airport… Oh well, back again to Cordoba for a little while… Because I liked it there soo much… ;) hahhaha…

So instead of 9.30am as planned we got into Iguassu airport IGR at 1.30pm, which only left me 5 hours to visit the Argentine and the Brazilian side of the falls…!! Not too much time really, but my guide Noely and driver Fernando were already waiting for me at the airport and we were on our way to the Argentina National Park (www.iguazuargentina.com ) straight away and got there 10 minutes later… Perfect services…!! (organized by 4star and Cuenca… jaja… Thanks Pato… ;)

I had read about, talked about, seen pics and sold tours to those CATARATAS of IGUASSU many, many times already during the last 6 months, but to actually see them in reality myself was totally OTRA COSA…!! WWWOOOOOWWWW….!!

They really are more impressive, amazing, beautiful, espectacular than I had imagined…!!
(me faltan un pocito las palabras para describir como fue…)
pero siiii - muy impresionante…!! Even though Noely told me that after the last 2 weeks without rain they were actually pretty “dry” at the moment and usually carried a lot more water in them….!!

Wow – definitely a reason to come back here again…!!

Spectacular again to see them from the Brazilian side later with an even better all-over Panaromic view…!!
And yes – on the way we had also gone through la frontera (ARG – BRA) and immigration and I am now IN BRAZIL for the VERY FIRST TIME…!!! Great… :)

After a very long and busy day I just spent the night relaxing at my great hotel in Foz do Iguassu and the next morning I had to leave again early to take my 10 hrs bus connection to CURITIBA…


Also a very beautiful journey and I got to see lots of the Brazilian landscape, country-side on the way… And also 3 pretty good movies… Hahha… ;)

Learned a few more Portuguese words from some guys that I met on the bus… Then arrived late that night in Curitiba and again my services there were organized and delivered perfectly… !!

Guide and driver were waiting for me at the but terminal already… Hotel here in Curitiba was nice too, but not as great as in Iguassu and Internet connection not as good…Pero bueno, igual… Pool and sauna were great…!! ;)

And all was made up for the next day anyway when I had a full-day tour of Curitiba, Serro do Mar train ride with lunch in Morretes...!!

Aaaahhh – again I was totally impressed –which really doesn´t happen all that often to me anymore- with this city and even more the beauty of Serro do Mar…!!
Curitiba is Brazil´s Ecological capital and you can really see that everywhere… Lots of green, parks everywhere, very clean city, Brazil´s best recycling system, buildings constructed to be in balance with nature and the environment… It´s really beautiful and I loved this city…

Then even better – in the after noon our tour to Serro do Mar and road-trip along la Estrada de Graciosa to Morretes… Serro do Mar is the Atlantic rainforest - immense and impressive with its endless green and trees and hills and plants and fruits and flowers… Well, a huge rainforest eben… fantastic…!!

After a 45mins drive over the cobble-stone road LA Graciosa we got to the village MORRETES, a little pueblo on a river… Now very popular with tourists and gearing more and more towards serving their needs… We had a great lunch with traditional Brazilian food from this region of the country…

And after looking around Morretes for an hour or so, had to take the train back to Curutiba… WOW, WOW, WOW again…!!

This train-ride through the Atlantic rainforest was very amazing too and just left me with ganas to come back again with much more time to spend in Morretes or hiking / trekking to the rainforest here… hopefully some time soon… :)

Sooo…tomorrow I’m already leaving Curitiba again to go to Blumenau and visit Tati there for 2 days…
Beijinhos from Brazil… xxx

posted by Astrid @ 11:35 PM 0 comments

My wonderful last day / night in Buenos Aires..!!

Soo, also this day had to come at some point – mi ultimo dia en Buenos Aires… at least for a while…

And yes, it was a bit sad to say Bye to everyone in my office on that day… The same way I had to say BYE to my other friends in Buenos Aires during the last few days….
But actually, we had a really nice day… With some VIP visitors from Silkway in the morning… Rather funny those guys, to be honest… ;)

And after a very Argentine breakfast with Facturas we ordered Empanadas for lunch…and Mate in the afternoon… aaaahhhh - Nice… J
Really did have a good time working here and gonna miss those guys in our BUE office… Until I come back… ;)

And once again I had to disconnect my computer that night and take everything back home with me… And start packing mis maletas… Hahha…en mis ultimas horas en BUE…

and then it was actually a really nice evening / night too… Claudia and Jesus came over to my place… Really just to pick-up their umbrella that I had borrowed last SUN, but also to say Bye… was nice to see them again and have a last tea in my house with them…

When they left Gaspar came over cause he wanted to go out and have dinner somewhere- at 1.00am…. very typical Argentine dinner time… Jajjaja… ;)

So we went to Bellagamba…!!! Yyyaaaiii…one more last time to one of my favorite places here..!!
And it was such a good idea of him, cause we also met Maurice and his new lady friend there….. had a really really great time - always soooo much fun with them…!! But at 3.00am I really had to go home cause I still needed to finish packing my stuff, have a shower and be ready for my taxi to Aeroparque at 5.30am…

My last salsa I Buenos Aires we danced on a street corner of Rivadavia on the way back to my apartment… :)

Aaaahhhh – what a wonderful last day / evening / night / morning ;) in this great, great city…!!

posted by Astrid @ 9:31 AM 0 comments

My wonderful last weekend in Argentina..

Hier wenigstens mal kurz in Stichpunkten:

- Very fun night at Show-Centre Martinez on Friday

- Beautiful day on SAT... hot and lotsa sunshine... went to Reserva Ecologica in the afternoon... met some really nice Argentinos there who invited me to Mate y Torta...

- Joaco came over from Rosario in the afternoon... great to see him again and hang out with him...

- SAT night - DOLAR TRAIN at Pinar de Rocha... long, long night but great music, lotsa dancing and really good time...

- SUN: Asado (BBQ) en la casa de Jesus y Claudia por mi despedida temporal... ;)
very nice afternoon with some good friends.... and great Argentine food... jajja....

- SUN night - went out to Bellagamba and Moluco with Joaco.... all really nice too...

- Fazit: WONDERFUL weekend... not enough sleep...!!

Gonna miss Argentina mucho mucho mucho....!!

che boludo... till I come back... ;)
besos..xx

posted by Astrid @ 11:01 PM 0 comments

Very nice weekend in Cordoba..!!

Hola amigos...

just got back to Buenos Aires this morning.... after a very nice weekend in Cordaba... well, FRI night I still spent in BsAs with Joaco (friend from Rosario) who came over to the capital with his Mum for 2 days... really good to see them again.... we had a dinner in a nice Italian restaurant, then dropped off his Mum at their hotel and went to a "semi-negro" party at La Clac... that bar / cafe not too far from my house where they have this really great sangria... ;)

was lots of fun there...!!! Argentina classics, pop and rock... hadn´t danced to music like this for AAAAGGGGEESS.... but it was totally fun, fun, fun..!!

had to go home about 4.00am to pack my stuff and have a shower cause at 5.15am my taxi already picked me up from my house to go to the airport and catch my flight to Cordoba...

my nice colleague Patricio had organized a little 3-day FAM trip there for me.... and it was all a lot of fun, but also a very packed and busy weekend...

left BsAs Aeroparque airport on SAT morning at 7.30am, got into CORDOBA around 9.00am....straight to my hotel....breakfast there.... then I was totally lucky and caught the last 10mins of one of my all-time favorite movies when I came back upstairs to my room... :)

looked around Cordoba on my own for a while and checked out the area around my hotel before I had a city-tour organized for 3.00pm....very interesting, nice city and a really good guide....

back to my hotel around 7.00pm.... sauna didn´t really work... :( too cold.... and internet only very slow..... pero bueno...
went out dancing at COMEDREJA later..... and had a really good time there....!!

SUN morning I had to get up early again for a full-day excursion to some Jesuit missions around Cordoba....
long day... nice weather... beautiful country-side... but 3 Jesuit missiong are definitely enough for one day... ;)

got back around 7.00pm again.... very tired after a long day and already 2 nights with hardly any sleep.... and only enough energy left for the sauna - which worked much better that night...!! and was actually hot enough to sweat a bit this time.... ;)
then I watched another really good movie (The Terminal) until I fell asleep.... ;)

On Monday I did a little trip / excursion on my own.... (but with advice from Carlos, mi guia del dia antes) to La Quebrada de Rio Ceballos y La Cascada de los Hornillos.... very sunny day out there in the little Sierras of Cordoba.... and really beautiful with its lakes, rivers, hills, horses running around free..... aaahh - I loved it there.... finally some time en la naturaleza and the country-side again... :)

but well, back in BsAs now, and it was nice to come back here too.... felt like coming home again... :) like when I came back from Uruguay and Rosario....

now I only have 1 week left here.... a bit sad.... and I´m certainly gonna miss Argentina as well... besos... y hasta la proxima....xxx

posted by Astrid @ 8:01 PM 0 comments

Typical.... tipico....typisch....!! ;)

el World-Cup ya se termino.... Italy is champion, beating France in the final..... and Germany celebrated their third place after a win over Portugal last SAT.... nice to see the German team like this..... to see that they know how to lose, but they also know how to win.... :)
and to celebrate a 3rd place... and realize that being 3rd in the WORLD is actually quite something..!!

hhhmm, guess things are gonna go back to a bit more normal now.... in Germany as well as everywhere around the world.... ;) until everyone is gonna go football-crazy again with "2010 in SouthAfrica"... ;)

yes, sure - it would have been pretty amazing to be in Germany during this past month, but it was very alright to experience the World-Cup in Argentina as well.... ;)

and here we go.... once again... the same old story... as always and everywhere in the places where I have lived for a while....

now that I DO actually really like it in Buenos Aires, when I've got used to my life here, met some very nice people , having a good time, can see enough positive things in this city and living here and do really enjoy it - then of course I only have 2 weeks left here before I'm about to move on again.... aaahh - typical.... todo el tiempo el mismo.... pero bueno....

at least I will leave from here with nice memories.... and it also makes me remember sth. that my Mum used to tell me many, many times when I was much younger....

"Man soll aufhoeren, wenn es am schoensten ist...!" meaning that you should finish with something when it is at its best.... that way you always keep it in good memory.... (of course - Ausnahmen bestaetigen die Regel.... ;) meaning: there are always exceptions of the rule.... ;)

but yes - I will leave from Buenos Aires with a lot of nice memories.... not ONLY nice ones... but definitely much more positive than negative ones.... :)

and another good thing is that I have un monton de cosas buenas (lots of really nice things) to look forward to when I leave Argentina in 2 weeks.... :)

first of all a nice little weekend-trip to Cordoba next SAT - TUE.... (Thanks again Pato por estas cortesias.... :) y si - voy a recordar los Alfajores tambien... ;)

then a quick visit to the IGUASSU WATERFALLS that I've been reading about, writing about, talking about and selling to clients soooooooooooooooooooooo many times in the last few months...!! ;) Now I finally get to see them myself too... !! yyyaaaiii..... then transfer to Curitiba and the same there with the Serro do Mar train-ride....

then two more shorts stops to visit Tati in Blumenau and Luis in Sao Paulo (yes, CS
www.couchsurfing.com is working again....!! almost back to normal... and I was able to get in touch again with all my "lost friends and contacts" ...) before I finally make it to RIO....!! one of the most beautiful cities in the world.... (and here you hear Astrid, the travel agent, talking now.... hahha...)

I'm gonna be working in Rio for 3 weeks in our office right on the Copacabana.... :) aaahhhh que bien... :)

before I'm going home to Germany for a month to see my family and friends there and also for the very first time my nephew PAUL ANTON who's already gonna be 6 months old by then...!! also to attend Eva's and Joern's wedding and to spend some time with all the nice people in my home country that I haven't seen since January...!!

then back to Rio at the end of September and then I have to figure out if I want to spend some more time in Brazil... or go back to Lima or Buenos Aires for a while.... really not sure yet.... and also it's not gonna be so very easy to decide.... oh well, a ver....

besos und bis bald wieder...

xxx

posted by Astrid @ 12:13 AM 0 comments

Asi pasan las cosas.... :)

hhmmm.... too many things happen and too little time to write about everything.... :(
aber hier wenigstens mal ein bischen kurz in Stichpunkten.... ;)

Last FRI Germany threw Argentina out of the World-Cup.... not soooo happy those Argentinos here afterwards.... obvio... no mas fiestas en el Obelisco... pero bueno.... como ya dije - asi pasan las cosas...!!

y para Alemania tambien.... Germany also lost their semi-final yesterday and are out.... sad.... pero life goes on....!! :)
Only a game of football after all.... ;) tried to explain this to Pato and Pablo last FRI as well, but for them it was a bit more serious.... oh well.... this week they're laughing and joking again... :)

then last week CS died... :( www.couchsurfing.com
very triste as well.... pero ya esta en su re-birth and it's gonna come back soon.... :)

and the really nice thing was that I actually still DID some "couch-surfing" last weekend.... even though everything that was / is going on with this site, server, upgrade and bla...

went to Rosario for the weekend to visit some friends and had a wonderful time there.... great people, nice city, perfect weather, lovely food.... y todo bien....

so, those were my last few days in a nutshell.... and if I have more time at some point in the near future I'll re-write this all in a bit more detail.... pero eso aqui al menos mejor que nada....

ya me tengo que ir.... tomorrow we're going to see a Tango Show with the guys from my office
and now I only have 3 weeks left in Argentina before I'm gonna be on my way to Rio....!!
and loads of stuff to do and organize till then....

well, take care and keep in touch.... aaahhh - and enjoy the last 2 games of the World-Cup.... ;)

besos...xx

posted by Astrid @ 8:41 PM 0 comments