Stevo and lel’s adventures

It´s July 2012 and we are incredibly lucky to be  jetting off to Portugal for an all expenses paid family holiday .. woohoo and HUGE THANKS to Stevo’s overly generous day who turns 80 on this trip!! Eighty and doesn’t look a day over 6o I kid you not. That family has amazing genes. Maybe they will filter down to me through osmosis haha.  Okay, I digress (unlike me huh 😉 )  I’m focused again so on with the story.  This particular break is a wee bit different from out usual type of holibob. Its a  full board sun, sea sand extravaganza and not something we’d ordinarily choose choose for a holiday, however a change is often as good as a rest and  we’re  here to celebrate and enjoy family time with  Stevos brother and beautiful Spanish wife,  his lovely sister,  her hubby and their 2 utterly amazing and adorable boys.  Our home for the next week is an impressive, imposing 5 star hotel on the portugese coast. How nice is that!?? Thank you MILLIONS MR RUSSELL SENIOR AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I’ve totally lucked out this trip, stevo has footed  the flights and and it looks lovely here , the resort is wonderful and the company promises to be better still!

So, where are we are actually staying? Well,  the hotel is called Grande Real Santa Eulalia Resort and Hotel Spa (and here it is if you are really keen and want to check it out http://www.granderealsantaeulalia.realhotelsgroup.com).  It is a sprawling series of structures comprised of the main hotel section containing the buffet breakfast dinner resturant, couple of bars (in and out),  kids entertainment area  including a cinema, the thermal salt water spa, many serviced studios (usual set up, bathroom, small kitchen / lounge, bedroom and balcony), 5 circular pools and 3 more beachfront resturants, a club (imaginately  named ´Le Club´open until 6am)  and a large private expanse of sand beach interspersed with wooden walkways to help you get about. Phew … how’s that for a quick overview?

For a beach holiday it isnt half bad. The temperature is bearable, approx 30 degrees and the cloudy sky helps make it actually quite pleasant for this red headed freckled white scottish creature  with an aversion to the sun.  Come mid day the  fine golden smooth sand is almost unbearably hot underfoot however the sea is deliciously chilled, and makes for a welcome alternative. You can hire sun loungers and umbrellas relatively cheaply for the day or just rock up with your towel for free. The sea front bars sell the usual chilled drinks and snacks (grilled sandwiches, seafood, salads) reached via wooden walkways embedded into the sand. Its a relaxed safe family feel down on the beach.  The beach, as amazing as it is is not the best thing about this place, that accolade has to go to the self service restaurant with its plethora of dishes to suit all tastes and appetites. The vegetarian in our midst was equally as spoiled for choice as his carnivorous counterparts…in the self-service restaurant  the food changed nightly and breakfast was as abundant as the evening meal…. cheeses, breads, meat, fish, vegetables galore all cooked expertly with a Mediterranean twist. The wine (an additional cost) was enjoyable and not too pricey.  We also had the option of candlelit dining at the sea front restaurant and this was the choice we made for the 80th birthday meal. Again the food was tasty and filling and the restaurant staff very accommodating bringing the Birthday boy’s desert  lit with 80 candles.  A wonderful night to say thank you and toast a wonderful man.

This review wouldn’t be complete without mention of “The Club” – this is a trendy and cool establishment inhabited by Portugals Beautiful People. It’s a magnet to model like bronzed beauties  who pout and pose for the  club photographer. It comprises a terrace bar with outside dj which has comfy sofas and a more chilled vibe and a more energetic indoors scene with a different club dj.  Drinks are expensive here.

We stayed in a self contained villa which was clean and central – the main hotel, resturant and pools within easy reach. The decor is all oranges, greens, yellows and reds – very spanish looking and slightly 1980sish. It was handy to have a wee kitchen for our bottled water.

We did try the spa however we weren’t overly impressed. We opted for the head massage which was lacklustre and not very vigerous… it just felt like someone halfheartedly pressing my skull for 30 mins and was more annoying than relaxing, I was please to get out. The spa pool which is salt water was, unfortunately  dirty and the very tight and uncomfortable plastic head covers they insist you wear had us all looking like bald aliens!  Good for a laugh but not much else. The SPA isn’t cheap and in my opinion wasn’t worth the pennies. I wouldn’t  / couldn’t recommend this place.

This wee post wouldn’t be complete without a mention of Albuferia, the little costal town  2-3 miles away down the road and easily reachable by walking or by catching the bus which, handily,  stopped virtually outside the hotel. Its a pretty little seaside place with a sandy beach, an old town and square containing the usual touristy shops where you can procure a nice leather wallet or some such if it takes your fancy and a street filled with bars. There isn’t a great deal to do here however and we managed to see most of this town in the 3 hours we had between busses. We only visited once, I dont think theres really enough to do to warrant multiple trips.

In summary this is a lovely family orientated resort, its an ideal place to come relax if you want to sunbathe, eat nice food and generally not do much more. For us, a week was enough and the company made the holiday. We are more likely to be found on city breaks or exploring far flung places, however for a change it made a lovely alternative and we take away some very fond memories!

Having now experienced Havana (good and bad) we embarked on the last leg of our journey, to the beaches of Varadero. The journey from Havana to Varadero takes approx 3 hours by car. We were picked up from our hotel and chauffeured in a relatively modern taxi (if a little shabby –  an 80s design at least). It’s one of the better taxis we’ve been in here even though the interior door fabric was falling to bits!  The driver (charles) was a pleasant sort and we snoozed on and off happily as we made the transition from city to countryside. We passed though some wee Cuban towns full of locals going about their business (and invariably mending the old trucks and cars which had broken down) and watched some local children jumping dangerously from what seemed to be a very high rail bridge to the river below! I got to wondering about this and came to the conclusion that when I was that age that yeah, we would have done stuff like that too its only now in this crazily conscious age of Health and Safety where everything is a potential law suit that this stuff is frowned upon in the UK (I’d like to see someone sue the Cuban government haha!). Anyway it was a pleasant enough journey with the coast pretty much always on the left hand side and we kept ourselves amused trying to see who could spot the coolest old car! The hotel we stayed at – Blau Varadero – is one of the newest and biggest in this Cuban Beach resort of Playa Varadero. The Playa Varadero, is located in the peninsula of Hicacos, province of Matanzas Autopista Sur  and is famous for its long and beautiful fine white sand beaches, and its pleasant climate throughout the whole year. The hotel itself is flanked by arid countryside with stubby prickly grass on three sides and on the other there is a  beautiful Caribbean coastline with warm, fine white sand and crystal clear, clean sea. The sea is a turquoisy blue with splashes of  white surf. The shore is dotted with sun shaders made from faded local leaves and is accessed via a pretty wooden walkways cutting through the trees surrounding the resorts.  This was going to be a bit of a transition for as it is so different from  the other places we’ve been, however, after such a busy schedule so far on our honeymoon we wanted our last few days to be chilled out and relaxed so had opted for a luxury all inclusive hotel for the final part. Kuoini our travel company highly recommended this one and after the beautiful hotels we’d stayed in so far on our trip we had high hopes! The reception are as you enter is stunning, it’s spacious and open plan with the lobby area extending into an area of cane and wicker furniture looking over a little balcony down to the very ornate bar area covered by a delicate wrought iron gazebo type structure on the ground floor. There is a circular atrium  around which over 13 or so floors sit the hotel rooms. Vines hang from the balconies around the atrium on ever side from the ceiling to the floor and the effect is really quite dramatic. There are domed glass lifts either side which look very impressive (however as we were to find out they are really, really slow!)      We spent the next four days relaxing  by the pool drinking pina coladas – yum  😉  And swimming in the translucent water at the beach – I have to say again the beach really is spectacular ….  I was however a wee bit worried (unnecessarily it turned out) about the sharks. The water is so, so clear though you could see them coming – though  what good that’d do  have no idea, them being, well, water things with fins and me being a land thing who can barley manage a crawl!    Aesthetically the hotel was very pleasing and you really couldn’t wish for nicer beaches. We did have a few bad experiences with the food  here though  resulting in me being quite ill for a couple of days. The food was not really that great. In truth it was pretty awful and very samey. For example breakfast seemed to be an exercise in how many ways you could cook and egg. If you don’t like eggs (guess what…!) or if last nights leftovers ‘cleverly’ arranged into a new breakfast option (carrot omelette anyone?) don’t appeal you’re going hungry. I’m not really sure whether this is Cuba in general though or just this place? Anyway the hotel was quite full and on our first night there in the buffet dinner area it did feel like feeding time at the zoo, bringing our the worst in people with them pushing in and stuff. You had to go for your food in turns – one unlucky couple we witnessed went up together and another couple promptly took their table leaving them nowhere to sit when they came back!  There were a few other things which made this hotel not quite what we’d expected and we mentioned this to our Kuoni rep the next day. The up side of this is that we were given champagne (they said champagne – it was really sweet cava) flowers (3 roses tied with orange plastic!) and the ability to avoid the crazy free for all in the main buffet and eat in the a la carte restaurant every night. Our rep Pepe was lovely and did his best.      The a la carte restaurant was the real bonus as it included live music from a brilliantly talented classical string quartet who we later found out were members of the Cuban Symphony Orchestra. They were amazing, the young lead violinist in particular, so talented. They did requests and over our 3 nights played Canon in D (Pacobel – our wedding entrance music), Albinonis Adagio (which is a lovely amazing and moving tune) and a few others we requested. Their presence really made the experience and we were so impressed we bought their cd. I couldn’t help feeling a bit of a shame for them though, to be playing in a restaurant for tips is product of their economy. They should really be paid adequately enough not to have to do that, they were so very gifted.  We were informed that this is where the money is though, in the tourist resorts, a waiter  for example is a much prized job in Cuba, one trained doctors and other professionals covet and leave their careers to pursue. I will append a snippet of their playing later.. you really have to hear this.  Another wonderful experience we have in Varadero was swimming with the dolphins. Neither Stevo nor I had ever done this before so we were really itching to do this! ‘Delfinario’ is a natural lagoon approx 1 mile away from the Blau hotel. There are two options offered here – swimming with these lovely, affectionate playful creatures and watching a dolphin show  which includes ball tossing, hoop jumping (the hoop is so high!), leaps and acrobatics (including one of the Dolphins Christian going for a basket with a basketball!). The show is really great and very popular (packed out) with mostly Cubans. The swimming part is really something very special. You put on your life vest then walk out onto a floating platform before slipping into the lagoon alongside the dolphins. You then feel them whooshing past you underwater and even, as happened to Stevo, nibbling your toes with their wee teeth! You go in in a group of no more than 8 and first of  you all line up then swim forward and be kissed on both cheeks by 2 of these affectionate beauties. They then flip over and you get to stroke their soft rubbery underbellies, whist you get photos taken (which you can purchase later – we did and will post them soon when we get them scanned!).They feel lovely and warm and like cats getting the undersides of their chins ticked they seem to loe having their smoothe white bellies stroked. They are just some mischievous and fun! You then get a chance to ride around while holding onto their fins – they are extraordinarily and unexpectedly powerful and really propel you through the water! Then comes the best bit! You lie flat out in the water on your belly and two of them come along underwater and pop their noses  into the arches of your feet then propel you forward through the water then up, up and out of it until you are balancing on their noses with both feet hands up in the air in a star shape!  They then flip you off and you fly through the air and splash into the water – it’s AMAZING!! Once you’ve recovered they turn tail and come back for you again letting you hold their fins to take you back to the group. They are so clever they will wait for you if you haven’t grabbed on properly. They are also so gentle, so well trained. They just want to play, they are very inquisitive and push, prod you and twist round you in the water and ‘talk’ to you in that funny clattery way. There is something very enthralling and captivating about dolphins. They make you feel so happy and good, I can totally see why ill people sometimes go to swim with them. It was a fantastic experience one we’ll always remember.     There isn’t too much more to say about Varadero,  it was very much a time for us to  chillax 😉 and reflect on all the places we’d seen, all the things we’d done.    So with Varadero our Cuban holiday, and indeed our honeymoon save for the long flights homeward, comes to an end… 🙁  We have had many new experiences and itwas definitely an interesting country to visit however I wouldn’t go back to Cuba.Stevo says it will all be different in 5 years, that it’s  a country full of potential, one on the cusp of change and he’s likely right. We did see some amazing things and met some brilliant talented people. It  would probably be very different in the less touristy more rural places? We are after all tourists treading well trodden paths, not travellers experiencing the other side. We can but go on our experiences though and sadly the places we went to (and really  the main reason I wouldn’t go back to Cuba) is that everybody seems to be after something. The tipping in particular is ridiculous  – everyone expects a tip for doing absolutely nothing! And woe betide you if you don’t tip! Most of the staff  seem to only pretend to be friendly (for the tips!) and are constantly muttering things to each other in Spanish, sometimes they just completely blank you – its just really, really rude. Everything seems to be such an effort for them. Coming from such the UK with such a focus on  and high level of service this is quite hard to get used to.  To sum things up we would say that we have had THE BEST HONEYMOON EVER! South America in places is Heaven on Earth. we truly had  an amazing time and completely LOVED Argentina and Brazil. We are totally sold on seeing the rest of South America soon (look out for a blog on Patagonia and Machu Pico!). This honeymoon destination was Stevos choice and in all honestly he couldn’t have chosen better!. An amazing adventure, the first, and hopefully one of many of our married life together! Ciao for now lel & Stevo x  

So wee pruned and polished put on our finest glad rags and  headed out to experience what we’d been promised was  very good typical Cuban food in a place ran by Cubans for Cubans. It was pretty near our hotel and the directions were clear. It was opposite a massive town hall – directly opposite. We couldn’t miss it.

We managed to miss it. Several times.

In the end we asked some guy in the street who promptly whistled and another guy appeared as if by magic, one minute there was one the next **poof** this guy. It was literally that quick. He was very amenable. Yes he knew it, yes he’d worked there for 20 years now – lovely place. In fact he was going there now, would we like to tag along. Now, reading this back it sounds obvious huh? And I must admit given the afternoons experiences I was wary. Very. Stevo though, ever wanting to give folks the benefit of the doubt thought it worth a punt. The guy seemed nice, he was in his 50’s with greying hair and a friendly smile. So we set off. And we left the area our guide said it was in. We walked a few blocks. Then we walked some more. And as the touristy area disappeared behind us replaced instead by narrow streets full of  people houses (we knew they were their houses, the doors were open and we could see inside where they were sitting on couches, bizarrely knitting?!?) I got more and more worried and said as much. Not much further now said our cheery chap, not far go. This sounds stupid right? We were just about to turn around when he announced ‘we’re here’. There was no sign or anything just a set of dark stairs up. We didn’t want to go up there. There was a guy on the door and older man just sitting and I asked him the name of the place.. he said something, it wasn’t our place. By this time we were still at the door and our cheery chap was halfway up the stairs. He went mental. He started shouting in Spanish at the poor old guy on the door then at us ‘he doesn’t speak English he doesn’t understand, this is the place, come up, come up..’  he was then down and ushering us up the stairs. It could all have ended so badly!!

It didn’t. Not really. We got up the stairs and there was a restaurant, with a nice young smiley girl on the door. Again I asked the name. She said the same as the guy at the bottom of the stairs and we turned right around and walked out. The cheery chap looked so disappointed. His ruse hadn’t worked after all. I guess after all that walking most people just give in and eat in that restaurant. We never. I was just really angry. Why do they think it is okay to do this? It was the lying that got to me. That and the complete falseness of it all, the friendliness for a purpose. For their gain. It’s sad.

Eventually we ended up where we started (after a speedy walk back!)  Stevo went into a proper hotel and asked about our restaurant. It was, literally 10 meters from where we were and where the guy had ‘picked us up’ initially. Up some stairs.

We found out that most restaurants are up some stairs. Despite the hot climes it’s not really like other places where the tables sprawl along the pavement and the menu boards welcome you in. It’s all very discrete. In fact you wouldn’t know they were there. There’s often not even a sign at the door (as was the case where we ate that night). Stevo thinks that’s because not many can afford it really and perhaps that they don’t want to advertise the food they have given the rationing situation? Who knows.

 Anyway the restaurant was very good. It was dark, lit only by candlelight so completely romantic. There was a very good pianist in the corner playing a dazzling array of tunes, classical, contemporary, everything!  The menu was in Spanish but the had, handily, one waiter (reserved for the tourists!) who translated it for us.  I had a heavenly sirloin cooked   to perfection accompanied by sweet potato chips and salty rice. Stevo had 2 chickens (yes really!) and a lovely wee tomato flower (they thought the chicken was for me haha!) We also sampled this homemade lemonade which was more like fresh sherbet, a fizzy, fresh lemon drink made with ice with  pulpy bits in. very moreish. This place was well worth  the visit!               

 So that was yesterday!  Today we have spent mostly meandering around the market place, A haphazard series of  lanes crammed with wee stalls on the periphery of the old town today. The old town itself is a maze of  narrow streets and old buildings in a rainbow of pastel  colours interspersed with courtyards. The building walls are wonderful, all have peeling plaster and tumble down brickwork. The old town is in a period of rehabilitation, it has finally received an injection of cash from the government and bit by tiny bit they are restoring it, this is great news as pretty as it is at the moment eventually it’d fall to bits and all of these old spanish colonial type buildings would be lost. In places there are what look like wooden brides connecting the buildings across the narrow lanes – these are in fact structures and supports to stop them falling down. Regardless people continue to stroll about happily under the most ramshackle of buildings!  It’s very quaint, way prettier somehow than I think it  would be if they were all restored and perfect.? There is a feeling of transition, of a journey to something better. Though, selfishly I like it better this way!

Some thoughts on this place….Havana is quite weird it is very much up and down, good bits and bad bits. It’s a different culture though and one we’re not used to so we are getting surprised left right and centre here! Makes for an interesting time though!  

Another problematic thing about here is the ability to get money using your credit card. Just totally forget it if it’s an American card. We were assured though that VISA and MASTERCARD would work in ATMs.  They don’t so you  are forced to exchange  money in the hotels and they will firstly change the rate to that of American dollars then to sterling. It means you get very much less. And they charge you 20% commission for the privilege.  I just don’t get it. Such a rip off really.

Also we have heard today that there is a £25 ‘tax’ per person to leave the country. Hello?? What on earth is that all about….?   

On the positive side although they tell you stories and stuff crime seems to be low – the fear of a Cuban jail perhaps? Dunno. Fr’example we never felt we would get mugged, even when we were lost in the residential bits. Will this stay this way?   

 Perhaps tellingly for the rest of our Cuban stay our arrival was a bit of a disaster!  We had booked via Kuoni as they’re pretty great at picking you up from the airport personally and getting you to where you need to be in record time. However when we got through customs – and customs in Cuba are quite intense with sniffer dogs and bangy wee doors which you have to go through and scary immigration officers –  there was no one with a wee sign waiting to meet us. I was so tired after the 9 hour flight, it was gone 11pm, this wasn’t good. We don’t speak Spanish either so weren’t really sure what to do. Eventually we managed to find out that Kuoni had a sister company at the airport and that we had to go to their office to sort it out. There then ensued a fraught discussion with the woman resulting in – eventually – a taxi ride from THE MOST GRUMPIEST TAXI DRIVER in the world to our hotel with a promise a rep would meet us tomorrow.  The taxi driver was really, awful and didn’t even say thanks for the tip we gave him (now that’s just downright rude huh?).    

That’s th ebad bit, the good bit is that the hotel was LOVELY. Here it is: link its bang in the centre of the city surrounded by a mix of beautiful majestic old and new buildings. It was opposite a white marble tree lined square flanked by horses and carriages.  We had also been upgraded to an amazing courtyard view room  (woo hoo) with mini balcony and welcome cakes (very tasty!). Things were looking up.

We breakfasted the next morning in the blue frescoed dining room, again a lovely spread, then met up with our Kuoni rep to find our what we could see / do and also explain last nights fiasco. She was very sympathetic and arranged for a free meal for us at La Bocadita – the place Ernest Hemmingway used to frequent for his Mojitos in the old town – so we were feeling quite lucky and content and booked a guided tour for that afternoon. As we generally don’t have much time in these places we are finding these tours, though quite dear, invaluable as there is invariably so much to see and do and this way we cover most of it off! 

All that sorted we headed out to explore. And got ripped off 🙁  The next bit is kinda sad as we genuinely yet naively offered friendship to this nice young Brazillian couple we met and in return they conned us. Let me explain the context a little. You probably know Cuba is socialist under Castro. They have as a result amazing musicians, doctors and education systems. What they don’t have is is anything at all American. Not on the open market anyway. They also have rationing  – a 2kg bag of rice for example to feed a family of 3 per month – collected from a food hall. There is of course a black market getting stronger every day and this has  driven some of the younger Cubans to exploit the tourists for cash wherever they can. Things will likely change when Fidel croaks it but this is the situation now.

So, we were standing out like 2 sore thumbs, all white and sweating buckets in the sweltering +30 degree heat, and were beign approached left right and centre by guys selling (or trying to sell) cigars which we politely but firmly rebuffed. The young couple took us by surprise, no hard sell, just walking along with us,  them telling us about themselves and their lives, appearing really interested and, well, just plain nice. And we responded. And we suggested getting a drink, our treat of course. And in the end we were charged for four Mojitos in a proper Cuban bar more than they would cost in our 5 * hotel.  It’s sad that they did that and  sad that the bar were in on it too. We bought some cigars from them too taken in by the deal (1/3 of the price in the shops) and the work pass from the girl who ‘got good deals as she worked there’. Our Kuoni guide later told us we’d been scammed, the cigars weren’t good. Looking back it seems obvious but in truth we are nice folk interested in other countries and cultures and we openly offered our friendship. The experience  begun what would eventually become a dislike of Cuba and the Cuban people… here there are. It was a good scam, hats off to them for that, don’t fall for it though if you ever go there!     

The  guide was late for the City tour, almost half an hour. It seems that’s the way of things here. There is no rush for anything. So laid lack the are virutally horizontal. The tour encompassed the Square and the old town, photos to follow…

  One really, really cool thing about Cuba is the cars. Its like stepping back 80 years. The cars on the roads are HUGE, old fashioned american cadillacs in all colours, old estates some in good condition, some falling to bits. Old bulky truck from the 1930!  It was an amazing sight to behold. They haven’t had new cars in years and as a result have been forced to become very, very  good  mechanics! 

Our guide recommended  a typical Cuban restaurant and after a bit of  a freshen up and a bottle of Mendoza’s finest 😉 we headed off in search of this resturant. Queue bad Cuban experience 3!

…

Following Corcovado and the spectacular Christ the Redeemer we embarked on a guided city tour  taking in ‘downtown’  and the shopping district. We stopped of at Rio’s Cathedral. To say this building is a little unsual is putting it mildly! When I think of Cathedrals I think of elaborate architecture, gargoyles, peaks, steeples, stained glass, wooden pews, musty old smells, frescoes, gold leaf, wood panelling, that kinda thing. You too right?  Well, Rio’s cathedral has the stained glass – lots of it – however it’s worlds away from the rest. Here it is:
Crazy huh? And yes, that really is 70’s style grey concrete. I have to say when we saw it I was certainly shocked. All of those wee slats are open holes in the side – there is no glass. They are designed so air can get in but and birds rain can’t. Inside however  it’s very unusual (see below) and quite pretty.

So we have now left Argentina  🙁 and have headed into Brazil;  Rio de Janeiro to be precise!  We have arrived late at night so can’t see much however there is a vibrant buzzing atmosphere about the city and our tour guide, Renatta (pronounced with an H like Henatta) is absolutely lovely. She will be taking us on our full day guided tour tomorrow which I am certain will be great – so much to see and do!  some bits about Rio;  it’s probably most famous for its  carnival celebrations, samba and other music, its amazing beaches ( copacabanna.jpg and  Ipanema).  Some of the most famous landmarks in addition to the beaches include the giant statue of Christ, known as Christ the Redeemer (‘Cristo Redentor’) atop Corcovado mountain, Sugarloaf mountain (Pão de Açúcar) with its scary looking cable car Chirst & sogarloafcopacabanna.jpg; the Sambódromo, a giant permanent parade stand which they built to contain the  Carnival (although it apparently just holds the ‘offical’ carnival many other carnival celebrations spring up all over the town)  and Maracanã stadium, one of the world’s largest football stadiums *yawn*  ;)Being winter it’s out of Carnival season so we can’t see that in all of it’s glory however we plan to see all of the rest! We only really have one and a bit days here due to a flight cancellation so it’ll be a challenge to pack it all in!We should really mention the other side of Rio; the city is reputed to be one of the most violent  in the world and motivated movies  such as City of God and as mentioned by our guide Elite Squad  (which we plan to see when we get home – its about the special machine gun armed police in Rio who monitor the favellas – the normal police apparently would not stand a chance). Its quite strange as in Rio, apparently unlike other major cities, many of the slums are directly adjacent to some of the wealthiest areas of the city.Our guide informed us of govenment plans to build a wall around the favellas to contain them, apparently to stop further infringement into the national parkland, whether that actually is the reason or not is very hotly debated just now in the city!We didnt see much of this violence save a few wee kinds approaching us and checking out Stevos wallet etc however a lovely Scots couple we met on our first night at a Samba show had a tale to tell of having a gun held up in front of them mid day at the beach for a can of tango – quickly relinquished!   

We are staying in a lovely hotel on Copacabanna Beach!  http://www.redeatlantico.com.br/pt-br/atlantico-copacabana/foto.asp# The golden sands are just metres away from the hotel. You have to cross quite a busy road to get there mind and it’s quite a challenge as Rio has some funny traffic rules. When we arrived last night we came down the road to get to the hotel and as of this morning the traffic direction has changed and you can’t approach the hotel the same way!  It’s been set up to aid rush hour conjestion and is actually pretty clever I think, all traffic between a certain time is outbound only… wonder if that would work in the uk?

Anyway I digress. We have a lovely corner room with a view of the beach, when we arrived late last night there were still footballers playing on the beach, despite the dark, this is a common thing here, they’re totally obsessed and play well into the wee small hours of the morning. Volleyball is also big on the beach and they love to take on the foreigners.

Just before the beach – I guess you’d perhaps call it a promenade here? – there are wee stalls selling the usual touristy stuff and some nicer, pricier things like leather maps and silver jewellery. Henetta had already informed us that in Brazil the price they sell to the tourists is the actual price, they don’t barter here apparently. The stalls stay open really late and we had a nice time wandering and browsing after our meal.

As we arrived later we went to a bewery which also does food on the recommendation of our guide, although  it’s on Copacabanna it’s filled mostly with locals and not so many tourists so the menu was in Portugese!  We ordered burgers and a side of chips – and then we found out the burgers came with  chips and the chips came with bacon, and cheese. Chip overload (we never ate all the chips…). It was lovely but way too much food! Being a brewery we also sampled the local cervasa – probably a few too many I think!  😉  

Breakfast in the hotel was, again, great with the usual choices of fresh fruit, breads, cheeses, eggs, cakes, juices,  meats including  fatty bacon (the bacon is really fatty here, more like streaky bacon). The coffee was way better than the Argantinian stuff though and asI’m a complete coffee addict I was liking this a lot!   

We were picked up earlish at 8.30 in an attempt to beat the coach party rush and it seemed to work well. When we hit Corcovado (the Chris   Redeemer hill) there were few people about and hardly any on the train up. We were running short on camera memory and luckily there was a bloke selling memory cards at the foot of the hill – very enterprising. We payed almost £50 for a 2 GB card which wasn’t so great. Electronic etc are not cheap in Brazil, Henatta informs us most people buy online.. can see why!

When we parked the car before heading up, Henatta paid a guy to ‘look after it’. He saw us checking out the favellas crammed onto the side of the mountain and proudly informed us that he lived there and that is was nice with good views, he was genuinely happy about that which we thought was kinda cool.

You take the wee train up and as you go you travel through forest getting occasional, tantalising glimpses of whats to come. You then alight and climb some stairs to the top where the huge christ is.  Up close he is very impressive, covered in mosaic to give a smooth finish. How they carried all of the stuff necessary to put him together (the hill is very steep) way back when is really quite amazing. He is a sight to behold from the steps at the top and he makes for an even better sight from down in the valley. An astounding, impressive and inspired landmark.  The 360 degree views are also fantastic.. see for yourselves!

We started te day with a wee run around the lower falls nature walkways.  This is  definately worth doing if you get the chance as you pretty much get the place to yourself!  The walks open at 8pm and we arrived a little before (skipping over a cerrodo sign).  As it’s still so quiet there is much more wildlife about we got some great shots, especially some of the colourful birds. We finished off the morning with a dip in the pool in front of the falls and a lateish breakfrast of fresh fruit, herbal mati (tea), ham, cheese and bread.

As mentioned before we’d booked a jungle and rapid tour for this afternoon. We clambered aboard a rickty old customised open top tour truck and were navigated through the bumpy jungle pathways. Igauzu is sub tropical meaning that the temperatures vary throughout the year (they stay the same in tropical). We heard about the rare Heart of Palm which grows atop the palm tree and as soon as harvested, the tree will die. It takes 15 years to grow. What a waste… We saw and heard about the myriad vegitaions (sooo much babmboo – all differing shapes and sizes!). Then we pulled up  for our rapids and falls tour on the piranah river! Yay!

The river is really the best way to view the falls. You get a spectacular view of Salto San Martin and Salto Bernabe Mendez both from a distance and up very close. You also get totally, utterly soaked which is great!!  We navigated the rapids on an inflatable speed boat type contraption, very exciting and a wee bit scary!  Then headed right up into (alomost under!) the falls to experience the powerful spay on or skins – amazing!

We spent the late late afternoon marvelling at the Garganta Del Diablo.  From the park you take a gorgeous little old  train along the upper Iguazu to the falls (the Tren Ecologico de la Selva). We then made our way across a series of walkways sitting atop the river and offering spectacular views of the water which at this place is flat and tranquil fringed by lush green vegitation.  The series of falls called Diablo are incredibly beautiful and the sheer power the generate takes your breath away. The water crashes and tumbles fericiously and the silvery spray rises high into the air. The rainbows intersecting the falls made it all the more lovely, bright colourful arches against the bright white spray. This is completely unmissable. Everyone should see this.   Words, certainly not mine cant do it justice.

We didn’t return on the wee train, opting instead for a river tour home on a wee small boat where we heard and saw aligators, turtles and toucans as the sun set on the river…very calming and magical.     

On our last morning, Lesley enjoyed a well earned rest after a full day’s touring of the falls and night time drinks.  Stevo decided to go for a pre-breakfast jog again, jumping over the Cerrado (closed) signs.  The early morning is the best time to see the falls before the tourists arrive and scare off all the animals.  Stevo saw hundreds of wild parrots of the yellow, blue and green variety, toucans with their large beaks flying overhead singing as they flew and turkey vultures close up.  It was too early for the Coatis, they get up when the tourists arrive with their food.  You are not meant to feed them and we learned why later!!

A final few things worth mentioning about igauzu :

The Coatis – the wee cute snuffly things. In the last day I stole a little croissant to feed them. Big mistake. Huge!The ymorphed from playful little parcels of fur into deranged food seeking lunatic monsters. Teams of them clambouring for the small morsel I had long since given away! At one point we had to turn tail and run at which point they began to run after us and jump up (which was really quite scary). We escaped but lesson learned. Later we saw a bunch of them chasing one who had grabbed someones plastic bag, as they headed into the bushes the sounds of a hugh fight erupted. Not so cute afterall then.

The beers. Quilmez. Best enjoyed away from the Sheraton where they are a third of the price in the shade…

The monkeys – all different  sizes, very cute and quite friendly, the are obviously well used to tourists and the inevitable food they bring. They dont, however appreciate camera flashes!      

The hydropool in the sheraton, well worth  a visit, the jets are very powerfull and soothe away all of the days aches and pains.  The setting is tranquil and relaxed, dim lights, soft music, freshly laundered robes to laze in. There are jets for every area, upper back, lower, feet, neck, head….               

The helicopter flight over the falls which we had booked but incredibly sadly never got to experience. After a long wait we were told not today  :o( Looks like a good excuse to go back to me ..!  ;o)   

We are now in Iguazu.  Iguazu is an exceptional jungle waterfall area on the Argentinian  /  Brazillain border.  Parque Nacional Iguazu contains a series of gorgeous walkways throughout the jungle designed to provide amazing views and bring you into close contact with nature and the waterfalls. That description really doesntdo it justice. In truth I just  dont have the words to describe properly the place, the sights, the sounds. When I finally get around to posting some pictures you´ll get what I mean.

Okay so we are again in a Sheraton in the Iguazu national park    http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1152&EM=VTY_SI_iguazu_1152_overview.  We arived just after 3pm and after checking into our very comfortable jungle balcony room we headed out to experience the park. The walkways close at 6pm every night and dont open until 8am the next day so we wanted to make the most of what time we had. We chose the Upper circuit (all of the walkways are 5 mins from the hotel!)  this network of steel and bamboo paths lets you enjoy wonderful panoranic fall views. With the jungle on all sides and the sun splittign the trees we felt really close to nature.Well, plant nature not  so much the animals as they are mostly nocturnal however certainly with the beautiful, colourful  plants and flowers  butterflies and birds. There were a few animals, I dont have a name yet for the tame snufflers (as we called them), a racoon kinda creature which is very curious and friendly which would walk right up to you in the hope of a snack.   

We then headed back to our room for some drinks. Once again the Sheraton knowing we were on honeymoon provided some gratis fizz – Chandon this time which Stevo polished off quickly ( I stuck to the Premier Malbec!).  I am, I think turning into an alcoholic!  We ate dinner in the hotel resturant (the only one – you have to go a bit of a distance for another resturant, into the wee town and we were just too tired tonight) however the meal was lovely. Pumpkin soup with balsamic reduction followed by rare sirloin and sauted veg for me and a chicken, beef and corn and cheese (?)  empenadas for stevo with salsa followed by a speciality dish, pork marinated in a wood fired local sauce (sweet) with fried yucca. It was really, really nice, we were stuff ed  🙂

After two flights to get here and much hanging out in airports we crashed early as we were knackered! Tomorrow we have booked a jungle tour and a rapid ride on the Parana river. Were also off to Garganta del diablo (devils throat)  which is a spectacular set of falls you get to via a scenic railway tour and then a river tour back ending with a relax in the hydrothermal pools in the hotel which are meant to replicate the falls  (we´ll see haha!) more later xxx

We are in Mendoza!!  And honestly, this place is great!

After a short flight, private collection and shuttle to the hotel once again  (you really have to love Kuoni!)  we have arrived in Mendoza. We are staying at the 5* Sheraton http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1733&EM=VTY_SI_1733_MENDOZA_PROP_OVERVIEW . The hotel is gorgeous, we thought the Buenos Aires hotel was good however this one has lots of cool stuff. A full blown Casino for one. There are also two water walls and live singers at night.  One full wall of our room on the 11th floor is window which is pretty amazing. The views over the city at night when we arrived were spectacular, you could see for miles and miles… Come morning and sunrise the view got even better  – a huge  pinky red sun breaking through the cloud  –  we have some amazing photos, the sky a mix of blues greys oranges pinks and red. 

Another nice thing about this hotel was their wee gift – after 5 mins in our room we recieved a complimentary bottle of champers! Woo hoo!!

Mendoza is beautiful, and personally, I really think it´s  way superior to Buenos Aires (BA).  BA  is such a large metropolis. Mendoza is smaller, quainter, prettier, more relaxed. The buildings are largely older (although there are a good few modern ones, especially where our hotel is in the heart of the financial district).  You never walk far without coming across a square or a park. And all the parks have all of their main buildings surrouning them (town hall, church etc) I would actually love to live here given half the chance…. 

Today after breakfast we walked for 3 hours around the town. The sun was  shining, there was a lovely breeze, it was heavenly. There are many small wineries, boutiques and specialist shops. I bought my first piece of holiday  jewellery today from a wee silvermiths – a pair of silver dragonfly earings, they are very pretty and delicate. A bit like Mendoza.  We spent a good chunk of the morning meandering around  parks (Plaza Independcia and the very large Park San Martin) dotted with sculptures and statues. Very relaxing . We also had a strong coffee in a delightfully posh wee coffee house in one of the more affluent areas of older ladies made up to the nines reading daily papers.  We visited the Italian and Spanish squares .. lots of squares!

I am currently in the Sheraton bar catching up on this lest I forget.  The lighting is subdued, the air is filled with the aroma of Orchids and ambiant music is playing in the background.  I am tempted to have a drink however am saving myself for later – we have booked a private wine tour for this afternoon, wine especially Malbec I believe is what Mendoza is primarly famous for. I am so looking forward to this tour as I am rather partail to a wee vino or 10  😉  More to follow on our return …

So we went to two vineyards, Norton and Alta Vista. The tours are not unlike the whisky tours in Scotland. Large vats, casks and vaults.  The highlight of both was obviously the tasting after each tour  😉   Argentina didnt really export wine until about 10 years ago, not so much anyroads. Then, due to increased beer, soft drink advertising consumtion internally dropped from 90 to 30 litres per person and they looked overeas. This is good news for us as the wine is good. We sampled a Norton fizzy and a premier Malbec. We came away with a pink Norton fizzy which you cant get in the UK. Alta Vista was smaller, french owned. The tasting there was unusal, I dont generally like white however there was an unsual white (Torrontes) which smelt like it should be sweet but was in fact very dry. There was a premier Malbec (light) and another older aged malbec.  What a wonderful way to spend the afternoon!  There are thousands of wineries and vineyards in Mendoza and we really wished we had more time to visit them… 

Tonight we headed down to the Sheraton resturant for a Brazillain night, live music and Brazillain food. Early start tomorrow ( 6 am  🙁 ) so quite and undescriptive short blog tonight.