Going with Serendipity in Chile’s Patagonia

28 December 2010 by Raul 11 Comments

The agency that helped me organize my trip down south to Patagonia created a suggested itinerary based on what I wanted to see. In their itinerary, they had me staying 3 nights in Puerto Natales and 1 night in a place sort of in the middle of nowhere. I would stay at that place the second night of the 4 nights. I wrote to the agency asking for the rationale behind this as I would certainly prefer being in one place so I could unpack once, pack one especially in a year where I think I spent 10% of my time unpacking and packing already…

The answer was sort of OK. It was that the morning after staying in this place for one night I would save 20 mins in the ride over to see the Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina. Oh, and 20 mins the night before as I would get dropped off before the bus got to Puerto Natales. In other words, a total of 40 mins savings by staying further north of Puerto Natales since my travels around that night were north as well. I decided to not argue it as they better knew the lay of the land than myself.

I chose right. Though I was up there to see the well-known sites and sights, I was not aware that I was about to discover a place that for me would showcase some of the best in the beauty of the Chilean Patagonia as well as just a plain and simple quiet setting – something well needed after the last few weeks…

A Lodging Paradise in Patagonia

The Hotel Posada 3 Pasos (http://www.hotel3pasos.cl/) is located on a site where there has been a hotel or inn for most of the time that part of the country has been colonized. Of course, the structure has changed a few times since then. But once one has traveled in the area, one can see that a trail or road likely always existed once the land was colonized and that the location of this place of lodging was well chosen as a place to stop, eat, and sleep.

Looking at this inn’s setting I couldn’t help but feel I was in a special place on this planet – a real paradise of serenity and beauty.

A Building with Charm and Good Food!

The employees told me that many visitors stop on the drive from El Calafate to Puerto Natales or Punta Arenas simply to dine (the food was great! anything with the “vazca” sauce is well worth trying!). The next morning I was pleasantly, no, correction: VERY pleaseantly surprised at the incredible spread they served me for breakfast. I was SO engrossed by it that I forgot to take a picture of the table!! The bakery type of items and the jams were all home made and simply exquisite. I could not eat half of what was offered!

But, of course, food always distracts me… The inn is not the very original one from early 20th century but it is still of a period and style: country! It is charming, with a limited number of rooms, a small bar, a living room with a fireplace (which I am sure is used here year-round in the evenings!), and a dining room area.

Hotel Posada 3 Pasos in Chile's Patagonia

Living Room

Bedroom

The inn is in a very remote area so power is not easily available. At some point late at night, the generator is turned off. One is given a rather powerful battery-powered lamp in case one needs it (like for that middle-of-the-night bathroom run…) so it is not an issue should one want to read, etc. All the rooms have a private bathroom and, likely, a beautiful and serene view.

Gardens and Walking Around

The inn is in a great setting and they maximize how you can experience it. Across the road, there is an area where one can walk to one’s content as far as one wants, even up the hill at the end of the area. The inn also has a nice garden dedicated to the great Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral where I went to town using the micro settings in my camera on flowers, moss, and acorns! Certainly a great way to practice my hobby and also relax and unwind, something I badly needed during this trip.

Finally, I have to say the staff that day was very friendly and wanting to make sure my stay was comfortable and relaxing. I thank them for that!

What Did I Re-Learn?

I have realized over time that sometimes it is better to let things happen rather than have them all planned. This lodging experience drove the point home. Certainly my research would likely lead me to choices that better match what I am looking for in a trip. However, it is impossible for research to uncover it all and leaving space for the random discoveries is just as important. Lesson well learned. I may even get back to Patagonia just to stay at this place but this time for a few days of R&R!

Filed Under: Chile, Good Eats and Drinks, South America Tagged With: Chile, hotel, Patagonia, perito moreno glacier, Puerto Natales

Beginning the Journey into Patagonia: Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales

25 December 2010 by Raul 13 Comments

While Punta Arenas was my entry point to Patagonia (see map for a good visual!), I wasn’t going to spend too much time there – I had places to go in Patagonia! Punta Arenas is known for being very windy but much to my joy, the landing was very smooth.

Final approach before landing in Punta Arenas, Chile

Final approach before finally landing in Punta Arenas!

After a quick lunch at La Luna near the new costanera (“coastal”) avenue (chupe de centolla – a delicious king crab dish) and a failed attempt at using a coffee shop’s wi-fi on Ave. Pedro Montt after buying a coffee (the wi-fi “didn’t” work, something that seems to affect most places in this part of the country who claim to have one…), I walked around town for a couple of hours before I finally left town to head north into the heart of the Chilean Patagonia.

Chupe de centolla (crab dish) in Punta Arenas, Chile

Chupe de centolla. Yum!

Along the waterfront

Cormoranes on the waterfront of Punta Arenas

I made a stop at the penguin colony in Otway (I didn’t know I was going to see penguins right off the waterfront in Punta Arenas!). It was fascinating to walk among all the penguin nests on the shores of this body of water (more enclosed than a bay, but not a lake) – you stay on a slightly elevated walkway to avoid mis-stepping onto a penguin nest.

Penguins in Otway, north of Punta Arenas, Chile

On the way to see the penguins with dark skies in the distance

I was beginning to feel the wind and also be slightly disoriented in terms of direction. In Punta Arenas the water was to the east of the town yet somehow my brain thought it would be south and my many months in Chile would make me expect water to the west of land. Going to Otway, the water was to the west again. But my brain had a hard time processing this as I had not studied a map yet. My driver told me everyone from Chile goes through the same disorientation so I felt better.

Heading to the beach

“I’m sexy and I know it”

At the beach!

Younger penguin testing his strut

From Otway, we went back east to the main road again and headed north the remaining 2.5 hrs or so until we got to Puerto Natales, a small town of perhaps 20k inhabitants that tends to serve as the main launching point to explore the Chilean Patagonia. I am assuming El Calafate may serve a slightly similar purpose on the Argentine Patagonia. Puerto Natales does not have necessarily tons of charm but going to the coastal avenue does provide a 180 degree (plus) view of mountains and water that is very nice.

I stayed at a nice hotel called Aquaterra whose staff was very friendly and helpful even if the rooms were somewhat spartan. The best eating experience in Puerto Natales had to be the highly recommended La Picada de Carlitos. I was expecting to eat meat but the waiter recommended the chupe de centolla and, boy, he was right! It was phenomenal and easily beat the one I had at La Luna in Punta Arenas. Here is what it looked like:

Other than this, the only other thing to call out about Puerto Natales that I saw was some of the architecture and some bright coloring of house facades. I found the town to be charming and a great platform to launch into the rest of Patagonia. The views from its waterfront were beautiful.

Yours truly loving life!

From here I would begin my visit to Torres del Paine, glaciers and fjords… Majestic!!

Filed Under: Chile, Good Eats and Drinks, Patagonia, South America Tagged With: Chile, chupe de centolla, Otway, Patagonia, penguins, Puerto Natales, Punta Arenas, waterfront

Mendoza Wine Tour

24 January 2010 by Raul 1 Comment

As I said in my previous entry about Mendoza, wines are the other good reason to go to Mendoza – the capital of wine in Argentina.

Wine tasting in Mendoza

I had Saturday to play around so I opted for a tour of several wineries as I didn’t feel like renting a car and driving around solo in unfamiliar territory. It was a great choice. The wine tour I chose was offered with Trout and Wine. The tour cost about $135 lasted from 9AM until 5PM and covered 4 different wineries. At one of the wineries we were to have a 5 course lunch paired with different wines. The tour was a great idea as the wineries were guaranteed to be open and ready to receive you (though I sensed that would not have been a problem in this season).

Land around a winery in Mendoza, Argentina

At one of the wineries

All the wineries offered us a tour of the facilities as well as a tasting either by sitting down at a pre-set table or by standing around a bar or table (except for the lunch one where we sampled wines paired with the various lunch courses).

Wine barrels in Mendoza wineries in Argentina

Heaven

Wine tanks in Mendoza wineries in Argentina

Heaven, part dos!

We visited Terrazas which sat us down at a table and where we felt we were just having a chat with a knowledgeable friend about wines.

At Belasco de Baquedano, we were treated to the aroma room where you can walk around and try smelling different scents to train your nose. I actually tried to do the smelling blind to see if I could detect the aromas. I didn’t do too well, I must admit… But the concept was phenomenal.

Aroma Room at Belasco de Baquedano

Our tour guide, Cecilia, had worked at one of the wineries in the past and knew a lot about wine. That, combined with the on-purpose small size of the tour group, made for a great day. Along with me were a Danish father and son, and a California couple. We enjoyed talking throughout the day and exchanging travel stories.

I had asked Cecilia about a good parrillada place for dinner (meaning, a good local place) and she recommended Estancia La Florencia on Ave. Sarmiento which was really a building away from my hotel. The California couple and I decided to go together for dinner and we had a fabulous dinner in a mostly-locals only restaurant with great atmosphere. It was the perfect place for a piece of Argentine steak!

Wine tour ends – Cross back the Andes!

As I flew back Sunday, I got to see Mt. Aconcagua (tallest mountain in the Americas, north of 22,000 feet). Unfortunately, it was on the opposite side of the plane so I could not get a good picture of it but I did manage to get a few good pictures from my side of the plane. Enjoy!

Crossing the Andes by plane - view of the mountains!

The awesome Andes

Filed Under: Argentina, Good Eats and Drinks, South America, Wine Tagged With: argentina, Belasco de Baquedano, Mendoza, photos, Terrazas, Wine, wine tasting, winery

A Weekend in Mendoza, Argentina

17 January 2010 by Raul Leave a Comment

My current business trip to Santiago is for 2 weeks so I had a weekend in between to either: walk around Santiago and re-discover parts of it, opt to go and visit southern Chile (Puerto Montt or Pucón, for example; both of which I had visited in 1991), or go to nearby Mendoza, Argentina (capital of Argentine wine country). Because it is peak season in the south (high airfares, no rental cars available, and only 2 days) and due to a colleague strongly recommending Mendoza, I chose the quick trip over the mountains to Mendoza, Argentina, a place I have been wanting to visit because of its wines.

Mendoza, as the eagle flies, is pretty darn close to Santiago. However, the magnificent Andes sit in between. So the drive takes 6-7 hours over spectacular landscape from what I hear. However, I also hear customs on either side of the border can be quite bad so for a 2-day weekend visit, I had to fly. Luckily, LAN had an $82 fare (taxes included) and a 30-40 min flight time so it all became a no-brainer for me. My colleague suggested a moderately priced hotel ($60/night) in a great location so that eliminated guesswork and research time which I didn’t have. She also got me some recommendations for restaurants which was great. Flying over the Andes brings with it incredible winds and both flights gave me a run for my money in terms of scary moments!

Exploring the town of Mendoza proper

I arrived in Mendoza around 5 PM and had no problem getting a taxi at the airport at the rate I had been told ($23A or $8US). The Hotel Internacional where I stayed was OK. The room was not as nice as the pics on the website but the hotel was quite decent for the price. For the $60/night, it included a good breakfast and wi-fi. The location was great, surrounded by good eateries and close to the center of town.

I walked the town Friday after I arrived and on Sunday morning. The contrast couldn’t have been any bigger: the pedestrian part of Sarmiento (the main street) was a beehive of activity Friday but almost deserted Sunday morning. It sports cafes and shops and you can see the locals coming out from their homes to enjoy fresh air – and likely “cooler” temperatures than their own homes.

The not yet crowded Calle Sarmiento

Calle Sarmiento begins to pick up customers!

Mendoza is very, very hot this time of the year (90s – but dry) and I doubt everyone has AC at home. So it is nicer to sit in a plaza and enjoy some breezes under the shade of the many trees that line the streets of Mendoza (an odd thing considering it rarely ever rains here and that it is very arid land; the answer is that snow melt is captured and then released to the city and farms via an ingenious curbside open flow system).

Water collection from snow melt curbside in Mendoza, Argentina

The ingenious way to collect water!

Sunday morning, I got to walk almost in total solitude around town, covering all major squares and parks in the center. Mendoza struck me as a town that would be probably a great place to live as it is pleasant, clean, and not chaotic as Buenos Aires. At the same time, the time I spent walking around was probably all that a tourist needs to do in the town itself while visiting (surely, I am omitting some museums or theaters) outside of just chilling (in which case a tourist can do a LOT of that perhaps while enjoying wine, beer or ice cream at a café…).

Government building in Mendoza, Argentina

Need I say? A government building, of course…

Now, while the city is not a grand collection of sites for tourist interest, there are 2 things that make it quite a good choice destination to see: 1. the food. 2. wine country. Food, I will share here. Wine

Food

I ate at Mi Tierra on Friday night where I enjoyed empanadas to start and deer raviolis for dinner. The food was definitely good but I wouldn’t call it spectacular. The ambience of the restaurant is outstanding. (Watch out: the menu offer is only valid if you pay cash!)

Mi Tierra

Saturday night, I ate at La Florencia on the corner of Sarmiento and Peru, a few steps away from my hotel. This is not the same type of fancy restaurant than Mi Tierra (or a couple of the other restaurants recommended by my colleague, like Azafrán). It feels very local (in fact, most of the customers seemed either local or, at least, Argentinian) and was highly recommended by my wine tour guide. She was right! I was wanting just a normal Argentine piece of steak and fries and this place was PERFECT! The menu was quite broad and everything I saw served looked fantastic. We sat there for 3 hours and we felt we were at home. THAT’S the experience I was wanting and I got it!

I definitely think I chose wisely how to spend a weekend. While another day would have allowed me to go to the base of Aconcagua (I really wanted to do that), I cannot complain because I did get to sample great food and a taste of life in this western town!

Filed Under: Argentina, Good Eats and Drinks, South America Tagged With: argentina, food, Mendoza, Wine

Exploring Wineglass Bay in Tasmania

16 June 2009 by Raul 22 Comments

Our exploration of Tasmania in no time continued on Day 3. After taking breakfast overlooking Coles Bay, we wasted little time in getting going to see Wineglass Bay, which some call the best beach in Australia (I am sure there are many who may not agree; I certainly don’t know much about Australian beaches to opine conclusively!).

Again, Getting There Is Half the Fun

Yes, Wineglass Bay beach is not of the type where you drive up and park next to the beach with your cooler, chairs, bodysurfing board, bags of food, etc. Nor is it the type where you walk a few blocks to get to, similarly loaded with things. And what a good thing it is that it is neither!

To get there one embarks on a 1.5 hr or so hike. Of course, there is a lookout available way up higher than the trail to the beach so we made our way to the lookout for a good view of the beach. The path to the lookout is really not much higher than the highest point on the trail on the way to the beach so if you are making to the beach might as well climb a few more steps to the lookout! The view is quite worth the small extra effort.

Gorgeous Wineglass Bay

We were discussing why it may be called Wineglass Bay. As we had no computer access except the kiosk at the hotel and, as we were not about to get on a computer anyway, we speculated on the why. Our main theory is that the shape of the bay does look like a wineglass but the cup part of it. That is, it may be more appropriate to have called it Stemless Wineglass Bay but we realize that does not quite flow out as easily and musically as Wineglass Bay so we accepted the poetic license.

After the lookout, we descended into the beach itself. As most beaches, just the sound of waves itself is a reward but the setting of this beach is indeed quite spectacular. It was nice to hang out and soak in the view and sounds, as well as rest from the effort to get there so we could do it in reverse!

At Wineglass Bay

The Other Half of the Fun?

The other half of the fun, if I put aside my attempts at artistic picture-taking, could be the sandsurfing on a tiny sand “dune” of 3 ft in height. After a few times doing it and getting it on video, we had a good amount of sand in our shoes. Good for me, I had thick socks so I didn’t really notice or care – until I got my boots off at the hotel that evening!

The hike up clearly was not as exhilarating as the climb down as we had already seen the trail and we were just headed back to the car to hit the road. However, the beauty of this trail is that a good part of it is set between massive red boulders, especially towards the highest point of the trail.

Waiting for us at the parking was one of the 2 wallabies we had deemed to be “drunk” when we saw them on our way in. It was used to humans enough to be petted and still stay put.

Tasmanian Wine on Our Path

As with the prior day’s hike, what followed was lunch. We ate at the bistro at the lodge where I enjoyed fish and chips and a fantastic mixed salad. Oh, and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc for good measure. With that, we started our 3 hr drive to Hobart but we quickly found out that the Milton winery, whose wine we had enjoyed the night before, was about 40 minutes away from the lodge and on our way to Hobart to boot! We stopped at the winery where we got to sample their Pinot Grigio, Rose, Riesling, Iced Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and the Pinot Noir (not in that order!). They were all decent wines but the Riesling was not quite like the German Rieslings I am used to; does not mean it was not good but not what I was expecting. However, the Iced Riesling was simply delicious so I bought a bottle – not sure when I would drink it or how far I could carry it with me but I was willing to take the risk!

Wrapping Up the Day and the Trip in Hobart

The drive to Hobart was on the Tasman Highway which gave us a glimpse on the beauty of the east coast of the island. It was a nice way to wrap up exploring…

On the way back to Hobart on the east coast

We did not have much time left for Hobart but did follow a Lonely Planet recommendation for a restaurant. The restaurant was called Da Angelo and it was located in the Battery Park area. I had the carbonara which was close to the best I have ever had (maybe number 2 after a place in Rome near the Vatican). I could not eat the entire serving though I so badly wanted to eat every bit of it!

With that and our early morning flight on the next day, our long weekend in Tasmania came to a close. I was wishing my trip had been for even longer so I could spend even more time in Tasmania but I am finding that I am feeling that way pretty much about every place so far in this trip… I am astounded when I am told that New Zealand scenery will be even more impressive so I am eager to get there to check it out. In the meantime, I will continue exploring Melbourne and hanging out with my friends whose idea it was to explore Tasmania together – for which I am very thankful!

Tasmania deserves being explored though it may be far for many of us and it does deserve more days than we could give it. The folks there are super friendly and the scenery will indeed leave you wanting more.

(Pictures taken with Canon EOS Rebel)

Filed Under: Australia - Tasmania, Australia & NZ, Good Eats and Drinks Tagged With: Australia, Hobart, photo, Tasmania, tourism, travel, Wine, Wineglass Bay

Tasmania – The Lakes, the Mountains and the “Tinas”

16 June 2009 by Raul 2 Comments

Planning the Day

We hit the lodge breakfast (which gets high marks!) and planned our course of action for the day. The lodge offered a guided walk to Crater Lake at 1 PM but we thought that would waste a little bit of time waiting until then to do a 3 hr hike. We also had to get across the island for our next stop so we opted, after some research at the front desk, to head out on our own. The front desk offered a map and said the trails were well marked (they were). They also indicated weather tends to be better earlier in the day so that settled it for us. We were ready for our walk!

Day 2 – The Hike

After driving into the park and getting the car permit (around $22AU), we made it to the start of the trail. The trail begins with like a 20-min walk over a boardwalk set up above the grassland. The grassland was not quite just as grassland as there was plenty of water on the ground but you could not see it due to the bushy grasses. I supposed that is why they thought it would be good to install the boardwalk. The bushy grasses, due to my inability to properly describe vegatation or determine what they really are, were baptized the “Tinas” by us as they resemble Tina Turner’s hair. Later on, on our way back we determined that when the paths were covered in water and deep in mud, stepping on the Tinas at the edge of the path was the only way to make it across the pools of water and mud. Tinas became our friends!

Walking towards Cradle Mountain

The path then turned to a gradual climb with rock steps and wooden steps which alternated in different sections of the trail. Eventually we hit the waterfall along the path, nested deep into a very wooded and green area where you could almost not see the sky. I felt like I was in a tropical forest without being in the tropics. The sounds of water and nothing else and the smell in the air clearly “screamed” that we were not anywhere near human habitats.

Soon afterwards we saw the edge of Crater Lake. The lake did not have a blue color as the sky was somewhat overcast but the lake and the hills that surrounded it seemed majestic. We were in for a nice surprise further along…

Crater Lake

… As We Reached Marion’s Lookout

Though we had registered at the trailhead as only planning to go to Crater Lake, we had planned to go to the lookout above the lake. Upon seeing the lake, we knew that was the right plan! We embarked on the trail that would take us to that lookout –Marion’s Lookout. Of course, that meant we were climbing even higher, almost to the peak of one of the hills/mountains (which is it??) around the lake. Eventually, the route became so steep that a chain handrail was required to be able to climb the steps to the lookout. At the lookout, the effort was rewarded many times over by the view of Cradle Mountain, Crater Lake and neighboring Dove Lake. It was very cold at the lookout but that did not matter. We got to soak in the view and snap a few pix, of course, before descending back to the trail.

View from Marion’s Lookout (with the author in the way)

We decided to return to the trailhead via Dove Lake, not Crater Lake, so we could enjoy another part of the park. It was pretty easy to alter our route as the trails were very well signed (though the front desk said to not trust the time estimates on the signs; this must be part of Tasmanian psyche as the Hobart tourism brochure carried ads telling visitors “It’ll take longer than you think” and there were similarly-themed billboards along the road!).

Do Not Feed the Animals – They Feed Themselves Quite Alright, Thank You Very Much!

Once we reached the trailhead and the parking area, we went to sign out at the hike registration book (I am glad they ask for this; if someonen gets lost, I suppose someone from the park would know if they see a hike registered in but not registered out). At the little shelter where the registration book was, we noticed a few pieces of animal excrement and had a good laugh at how wildlife chose to come into the small shelter to take a dump. Well, we were in for a pleasant surprise when we walked back out and saw a wombat calmly eating grass next to a parking spot just like the one in the picture below (not my pic). It did not care that humans were around it as it went to town on the grass! I suppose it first made a stop at the shelter before proceeding to have lunch…

Headed East

After the hike, we were starving so headed back to the lodge for lunch before departing the park and the area to go all the way to Freycinet National Park on the east coast of the island (a 4-hr drive) to check out Wineglass Bay (see map in my prior entry on Tasmania).

The route we took was less scenic and a “faster” route than our way in which was fine with us. We got to drive through small towns (where I appreciated the fact that all towns seem to have public restrooms in their squares!) and see a little bit of different scenery. We bypassed Launceston, one of the main cities on the island, and entered the eastern part of the island as nighttime set in (it begins to get dark here around 430PM and before 6PM, you are in total nighttime). We could not see the beautiful landscape around us, we would see it the next day.

Finding the next lodge (Freycinet Lodge, http://www.freycinetlodge.com.au/) was not a problem as it was right inside the Freycinet National Park. This lodge seemed a step more upscale than our prior one (but it was cheaper pricewise).

And Now Time for Us to Feed Ourselves

We were very tired from the hike and looked forward to a nice dinner so after settling in and cleaning up, we headed for dinner. I had a fantastic pumpkin and rosemary soup and my main dish was a fish called Trevelle. One of the neat discoveries was this powder called “Bushdust”. Nothing to do with a U.S. political family, instead it is a mix of nuts and spices that you sprinkle on bread or soup or whatever to spice it up (spice up flavor-wise, that is).

We also made a fantastic discovery: Milton winery’s Pinot Noir (Tasmanian). It was quite full-bodied with great flavors and a good finish. A perfect ending to a great day!

(Pictures taken with Canon EOS Rebel)

Filed Under: Australia - Tasmania, Australia & NZ, Good Eats and Drinks Tagged With: Australia, cradle mountain, crater lake, Marion's Lookout, photo, Tasmania, tourism, travel

Of Mountains, Caves, and Wine – Leaving Sydney Is Hard to Do

9 June 2009 by Raul Leave a Comment

So today I leave Sydney. I have greatly enjoyed seeing friends and getting to know this awesome city. I am actually sad at leaving it and wish I can come back some day soon. But I am off to see other friends in Melbourne and that is helping me depart. I have packed all the stuff I brought plus all that I acquired here (souvenirs). It all fit so now let’s see how I do taking the bus and then the train to the airport. It will save me like $50 so I am willing to do a little work. Fortunately, the bus stop is very close to my friends’ apartment.

Of course Sydney has a Chinatown

One of the final explorations of the city itself started with a trip to Chinatown where, after enjoying a stop at a Chinese bakery :), we went shopping for souvenirs. Paddy Market (not to be confused with Paddington) has an incredible amount and variety of stuff for sale, including souvenirs, the same you find around town but much much cheaper (thanks Kelly for the tip!).

I got to do some good shopping which, of course, wore me out (I really do not enjoy going shopping) so we went to the Lowenbrau restaurant at The Rocks to recover by sampling their pork knuckle and enjoying some beers. It was a great place to sit outside on a beautiful afternoon, relax, and soak life in.

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Awesome a city and a setting as Sydney is and has, beyond the city proper are some really neat things to see. I explored those before wrapping up visiting this corner of Australia

A quick getaway to wine country!

How could I let Sydney end without seeing wine country?? Sunday we went to the nearby wine country: Hunter Valley. We visited 4 wineries and enjoyed sampling wine (oe swallowed; well, except the driver – thanks Dave for taking one for the team!). It wasn’t a bad drive heading over though we did face some roadwork traffic delays. Folks at the wineries were very pleasant and eager to talk about the wine – and pour for free. The most common wine as Semillon, which is fairly unfamiliar to me. It seemed a good summer wine or good for fishy fish (salmon comes to mind). We did also sample Pinot Noirs, Cab Merlots, Cab Sauvignon and Moscato. The latter was my favorite!

Tyrrell’s Wines in Hunter Valley

I felt like a tree hugger… This is a fat tree!

And leaving Sydney to see mountains and caves

Tuesday I visited the Blue Mountains and the Jenolan Caves. I went on a tour since the places would be about 3 hrs away. Unfortunately, though, we did not get to spend enough time doing the hikes around the Three Sisters area which I would have loved – I only got to spend like 45 minutes walking around the tropical forest near the old mines. Having now explored it, if I get to return to Sydney, I will plan to spend way more time in the Three Sisters area!

Driving on the Blue Mountains gave me a good view of the local mountain towns and I also wish I had gotten to spend time in these small towns. They look like a delightful place to live. The Jenolan Caves were pretty spectacular (we visited the Lucas cave; I liked the “slide” cave).

The tour we took was 1.5 hrs which was about the right amount of time to spend in caves. The temperature inside, as in any cave, was in the 60s which was extremely nice given it was much colder outside where I wore a cap and gloves! The Jenolan Caves also deserve more time so one can explore other caves (though I am told usually in this time of year there is only one cave open per day). Some other day…

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My final night in Sydney

My visit in Sydney ended with a dinner at the Belgian Beer Cafe in Harrington St. in The Rocks. A former school dining hall, it has a lot of charm and you can see the ruins under the building which probably date to close to the founding of Sydney by the British. There we enjoyed good Belgian beer as well as kangaroo loin, and mussels in white wine and cream sauce. The kangaroo meat was quite tender (cooked medium rare) and the sauce was delicious. I highly recommend it!

Now, I will wrap up my writing and posting of pix so I can head to the airport to my next stop in this great trip: Melbourne. I close this post with one of my favorite pictures of Sydney…

View towards Harbor Bridge and the Opera House

Thanks to my Sydney friends for a truly memorable time and for the hospitality. Til next time!

Filed Under: Australia - The "Mainland", Australia & NZ, Good Eats and Drinks, Wine Tagged With: Australia, Blue Mountains, Chinatown, Hunter Valley, Jenolan Caves, Sydney, Wine

Enjoying Delicious Food in Krakow, Poland

6 March 2009 by Raul 4 Comments

When preparing for my trip to Poland, I got asked a lot: “how will the food be?”. I honestly was not aware myself of what to expect as I had not researched the topic. Is food in Poland more like in Germany or more like in Russia or neither? Was Polish cuisine going to be a lot of cabbage? What types of meats were most common in Polish dishes? I was curious to find out and wondered if I would love Polish food or just eat it and be thankful to not go hungry. There was definitely no need to worry! I would enjoy every morsel I ate during my visit to Krakow!

Krakow, Cracovia, main square, plaza, Poland, beautiful, statue

Krakow’s Main Square is said to be the most beautiful in Europe

Eating out in Poland was cheap

First, let me say that eating out in Poland is cheap. I am not talking going to a hole in the wall or a mom-and-pop type of place. I am talking even at nicer restaurants. On the top end of the scale (places we never visited since we felt the food we were having at mid level restaurants was outstanding enough), a main entree could run up to $25 (at least, based on a non-scientific sampling from my walking around!). At the restaurants I ate (most were recommended by the people who rented us the apartment), a main entree was no more than $8-10. Talk about reasonable!

Food in Poland was delicious

Now on to the quality of the very affordable food: Every meal was delicious. Whether the veal scallopini at Cherubino‘s or the pork knuckle in honey and plums at Polskie Jadlo, every dish was spectacular. House wines were not shabby either. I didn’t get to eat desserts at every meal simply because I was usually stuffed by then. However, you can’t keep me away from desserts for too long! I had ice cream a couple of times and it was double-darn good ice CREAM! The real stuff. Creamy! I also tried the cream cake that the late Pope John Paul II favored in his birthtown of Wadowice and a rather large and delicious doughnut on the train to Czestochowa. Keep the pounds coming, baby!

cream cake, Karol Wojtyla, John Paul II, Wadowice, Poland, photo, travel

Cream cake – delicious!

doughnut, Poland, Polish food, chocolate, photo, travel

“Bite me!”

The places we ate at in Krakow were:

Kuchnia i Wino (ul. Jozefa in the Mazimierz district, http://www.cracow-life.com/eat/restaurants_details/61-Kuchnia_i_Wino)
Cherubino (on a side street from ul. Jana called ul. Tomaszka, http://www.cherubino.pl/restaurant_krakow.html)
Polskie Jadlo (ul. Jana, http://www.cracow-life.com/eat/restaurants_details/1272-Polskie_Jadlo)
Miod i Wino (ul. Slawkowska, http://www.cracow-life.com/eat/restaurants_details/270-Miod_i_Wino).

We also enjoyed bakeries (“cukiernias“) around the Old Town district, and a cafe in a square in the must-see Kazimierz district called TeD (Plac Nowy 7) – very nice loungey feel to it.

The only thing that bothered me a little bit about restaurants is that, while they have a non-smoking section, it is practically non-functioning as you still get to breathe enough secondhand smoke to lose a little of the sense of smell… The smoke can ruin the aromas and even the taste of food and it is a shame it was still so prevalent (hopefully, this has changed since my visit!).

So what was Polish food?

So what is the Polish food I experienced? Well, lots of meat (especially pork), potatoes (fried or baked, of different shapes), little in terms of greens (unless you order a salad), bread (served with lard in the more traditional places I went to; yes, LARD but it had bacon to probably make it healthier 🙂 ), etc..

Lard, food, Krakow, Poland, photo, travel

The pot on the left is lard for your bread!

A lot of the pork was fried which reminded me of my favorite Cuban dish (masitas de cerdo) but the pork knuckle was not fried (it was very tender!).

pork knuckle, Polish food, Krakow, Poland, bread

My best meal in Krakow: the pork knuckle cleverly served. Flavorful and tender!

I also enjoyed pierogis (many options as far as filings), and pancakes stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese.

food, Krakow, Poland, Polish, travel, photo, pancake

Ricotta cheese and spinach -stuffed pancakes

OK, I better stop here because I am making myself hungry! As you can see, I enjoyed the food in Poland and would love to find a place serving Polish cuisine near me… Hope you get to experience Polish food – in Poland or elsewhere!

Filed Under: Europe, Good Eats and Drinks Tagged With: cukiernas, food, food in poland, Kazimierz, Krakow, Poland, polish cuisine, Polska, pork, what is polish food like

My Everyday in Paris

7 February 2009 by Raul Leave a Comment

I am sure the world does not need another writeup about Paris. But I think we all experience Paris differently so here is my take. It is such a unique place (as are other places like Venice, Rio, Istanbul, etc.) that I never get tired of visiting. At some point I will add to the endless writeups on Paris out there to share my favorite sights. Today, the everyday takes center stage…

Landing in Paris in 1999

I spent 6 months in Paris in 1999 on a work assignment with another group of folks from the U.S.; we had all worked together for a few months prior to going to France and the trip felt like an adventure. It was great to be sharing it with others even if we all didn’t hang out together all the time. At first, most of us lived in the same building near the Arc de Triomphe and with a rooftop terrace with one of the best views in town! Check it out!

Want to better see where this location was? Check THIS out!!!!

Aerial view of the Arc de Triomphe and Charles de Gaulle Etoile

The star marks the spot!!

Once there, most of the time I was working which was crazy and unfortunate and for which I have given myself grief in retrospect, with no real effect on the past (how does that not happen??). However, even with the long days and many days of work, living there was a fantastic experience as I got a taste of life in a one-of-a-kind city. There were some experiences I would rather forget and probably have (… except the work ones!).

The daily life of a non-Parisian in Paris

Of course, being there for 6 months, we got to see a lot of the main sights in our free time. But we also got to live and deal with the mundane. Among the mundane, I can recall going to a hardware store looking for a particular type of lock (with my back-then limited French so I didn’t even know how to say “lock”), phoning locksmiths on behalf of my American colleagues (still not being able to say lock but using the words “cannot close the door” to indicate we needed help), doing laundry at public laundromats (which was quite the experience the first time as we didn’t know where the detergent went in those industrial machines), fighting to be able to buy a monthly carte orange for the metro with the more obtuse clerks, dealing with the throngs of tourists in the summer who made our commute in the metro more painful, etc..

Of course, I have to talk about food

The best part of the everyday (which, actually, was only possible on the weekends – if I didn’t have to work) was having breakfast at the neighborhood cafe (where the bread with butter was more butter with bread) and sit there for a few hours reading a book and watching people. The cafe au lait, of course, was the ever faithful companion of the butter with bread… and it was delicious.

I guess there was the other everyday breakfast routine which I also enjoyed – the one during weekdays. During weekdays we would go to the bakery near our office which offered -how can I say “selling” when these things were glorious- the freshest bakery items. Our everyday routine was to take a break around 9 AM and gather any interested colleagues for the 5 minute walk to the bakery. The baker didn’t speak English but baked goods know no language (I should be a philosopher). Her pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant) was fantastic and, of course, freshly baked. In August, as many other locals do, she took vacation and went to the beach. We had no idea at first what had happened and why the bakery was closed. We figured it out and rejoiced upon her return when, with my limited French, I managed to figure out she had gone with her family to the beach and to tell her we had missed her baked goods. Worthwhile to note, I lost like 10 lbs when I lived in Paris, even with this diet… That’s what walking daily does to you…

I also loved the movie theaters where you could enjoy a beer as you watched a movie (how adult of the French). I mentioned in an earlier entry about Paris about my favorite steak place and my favorite hot chocolate place so I will not repeat here lest this entry become War and Peace length.

Glorious end of the day

For me, and possibly for my friends Troy and Cybil, the “highlight” of the everyday was the end of the day and I don’t just mean leaving work which was probably the runner up of the highlight of the day. We lived in the first ring street around the Arc de Triomphe across from the Belgian Embassy. Our building had a rooftop terrace overlooking the Arc and behind it, further away, was the Eiffel Tower with its sign counting down the days until the year 2000.

At the end of just about every night, we would grab a bottle of cheap local wine (for like $2, perhaps the French version of two-buck Chuck? what would that make it? cinq-franc-Jacques?) and go to the terrace to drink the wine and sit back and take in the view until, 10 seconds before midnight, the counter would begin flickering, and at the stroke of midnight, the counter would change. At that point it was “good night”, “good night”, “see you tomorrow” and off to bed. That was the life.

Eiffel Tower in Paris, France 62 days before the year 2000

Eiffel Tower 62 days before the year 2000; the counter we saw change just about every night!

I have surely left off many aspects of the daily life. If I think of others, I will add as comments but please, if you have your own routines or experiences to share, would love to hear about them. I will add to the Paris category in the future.

Filed Under: Europe, France, Good Eats and Drinks Tagged With: Arc de Triomphe, daily routine, Eiffel Tower, France, pain au chocolat, paris, photo, tourism, travel, year 1999

Re-visiting Buenos Aires

24 January 2009 by Raul Leave a Comment

So, in 1991, I met BB.AA. Enjoyed exploring it, enjoyed the great food, and enjoyed seeing it with people who lived there. Fast forward to 2000. Company offers me an opportunity to go deliver a training class of 3 days. What to do? Had I ever taught or even attended the training class before? No. But, of course, if they thought I could teach it, who was I to defy corporate wisdom?

Getting there not always half the fun

Back then, there was no direct flight from Atlanta so I was to connect in Miami to a United flight to BB.AA. Due to an earlier cancelled flight to BB.AA., United decided to bump me off the flight. Now, I understand how these things work – most of the time – but I had paid full fare in business class so I do not understand how United made such a brilliant decision to bump off a full fare paying passenger of a large international business. (No wonder U.S. airlines continue to fail miserably in their business model… But that should be a topic for a different blog.) Suffice it to say that the resolution to this was both good and bad. Good, I could still leave that night. Bad, I had to connect now through Sao Paulo to get to BB.AA. Good, they put me on first class on the way down and the way up. Good, the never-ending refills of Dom Perignon. Good, the comfort of the seats. Bad, international first class back then did not have the fancy “seat-cabins” you see today. Good, I could use the first class lounge in Miami on the way back which had fantastic shower rooms. Neutral, the Canadian Airlines flight from Sao Paulo to BB.AA. got sprayed upon landing in BB.AA. as happens in flights between other countries (I assume to kill off any bad germs). Bad, I am allergic to those sprays which meant within 24 hrs. I was bedridden in my BB.AA. hotel killing my day to prepare to deliver the training…

But the good wins

In between landing and getting bedridden, I re-connected with one of my Argentine friends with whom I had worked in Chile in 1991 (the one who got us to ride in the colectivo during my BB.AA. visit in 1991 and to whom I may owe having survived that ride). Had dinner in a non-descript local place and then headed over their place to have some mate. Good to see Hugo and his wife again.

The training class was in a subject I was well acquainted topic so I followed the lead of my co-teacher and was able to add good value to the trainees’ learning experience (or so I think!). I knew some of them from past work and had a great time in spite of not feeling well.

I did also get to see how much BB.AA. had changed. Home Depot now had a store there. The dollar now could be used as currency. However, they did not accept any bill that was slightly torn or stained. The irony was that when giving you change, they felt they could give you back torn or stained Argentine bills… Oh, and I got to re-connect with empanadas. Empanadas are a gift from God via Argentina [good eats]. And I got to see how the city had undertaken urban renewal, like in the area of Puerto Madero, making it even more enjoyable to visit.

This particular trip was way too short to explore more of the city but it was sure good to see it again and see how it had changed.

What would others recommend people check out these days? It is 2009, 9 yrs since my last visit which was 9 yrs after my first visit. I feel I am due again and wonder “what’s new, Buenos Aires!”

Filed Under: Argentina, Good Eats and Drinks, South America Tagged With: argentina, Buenos Aires

Sampling South African Wine in Stellenbosch

29 December 2008 by Raul 5 Comments

Ready to hit a new wine region? How about Stellenbosch in South Africa, a short drive east of Cape Town?

The Wineries

So, we finally hit the road east from our hotel to get to Stellenbosch. We made a few stops in the wine region hitting some wineries pretty much randomly.

The vine of happiness!

We did apply enough intelligence to the itinerary to make sure the first one we hit was one that had a place to eat since we were getting there around lunch time. The winery we chose (Vergelegen) had very large fields and gardens and a café where you could eat lunch in the shade of trees overlooking a rose garden. We then proceeded to the wine tasting area where for a fee (on top of the R10 we paid to enter the property…), we could sample 6 wines. Not getting into details, the wines generally were refreshing and quite drinkable. It was a blue-sky day and we faced a mountain range so the setting was perfect to sit back and enjoy life.

View of the gardens and backdrop of the Vergelegen winery in Stellenbosch, South Africa near Cape Town

View from the Vergelegen winery garden

After the initial winery, since wineries began closing after 4 PM, we chose a road where there were a few wineries back to back to minimize driving time (did I say we both studied engineering??). The first winery was in an old building and the wine was quite nice. In this winery, the person who served us stood there by us and happily answered our questions but the conversation was nothing special. In a later winery (Peter Falke, not to be confused with the actor; the owner, if I remember correctly, was a German who owned a socks company in Germany) that seemed a little bigger (but not as big as the first one we went to), the only employee in that afternoon was the winemaker himself who was quite willing to sit outside with us and sample the wine on the backyard as we overlooked the fields and the nearby mountains. You can tell this winery is new but the setting is perfect to be rented out for events as it has the right lay out in the patio, has great outdoor furniture, etc. He was quite willing to discuss winemaking and generally answer our questions so I think this winery was my favorite . The wine was also quite nice.

In Stellenbosch Town

As the wineries closed, we headed into town to check in and have dinner. Our hotel was a local small hotel (the Eendracht) right in town. The architecture of the town as in much of the Cape region, is Cape Dutch. I, not being a student of architecture, have to admit I was clueless about it. I really found it quite charming. I will make a note to someday google it and learn something about it…

Typical construction in Cape Dutch architecture style in the Stellenbosch wine region of South Africa

Example of the Cape Dutch architecture

The town was very nice and we quickly ran into the shops and restaurant area of the town. We also hit a wine store where we were given samples of wine without any pressure to buy. The store had a long wooden table that indicated frequent wine tastings took place. If I lived there, I would likely frequent it :). That night we decided we were done with seafood so we smelled our way around the various restaurants until we found one that seemed right for a good meal. I don’t have the name handy but I think we did well. The place was full of locals and the meal was great. I ate springbok (a type of deer) in a brown sauce – it was delicious!So with that ended my weekend escape to the Cape region and I proceeded to the less magnificent Johannesburg area (but with interesting history) (read about it here). I also learned quickly in my trip to South Africa how cheap things are given the exchange rate!

Big thumbs up for the Cape region and here is to hoping to go back!

Does anyone have any recommendations for other wineries in Stellenbosch?

(Photos taken with Canon EOS Rebel)