A taste of Buenos Aires....

We had a fantastic time at the Faena Bistro on Christmas evening. We opted for the tasting menu which gave us 8 courses and a selection of 5 or so wines to accompany the meal. Absoultely brilliant. I think we both found the last main course of suckling pig to be our favourite. Not only were the wines also great but the wine guru was also a tremendously nice guy, who offered to take us out to one of his many favourite bars in the city after our meal. So, the Christmas celebrations carried on into the small hours and a cab ride in pouring rain, thunder and lightning is our last memory of Christmas day.

We´ve been out and and about in the City since and have been a little overwhelmed by the generosity of the people here. The wine guru, named Aldo, also has a culinary radio show and he invited us to see his last show of the year on Saturday. Of course, being a tourist who speaks fluent Spanish and happened to eat at his restaurant the night before, Kat was asked on for a little interview! So they chatted for a while about our trip and the food of Argentina and Kat managed to get in that French wines were better than Argetinian. I was waiting for the calls of complaint with baited breath but unfortunately nothing came of it.

Last night we were taken for a meal by the family of one of Kat´s pupils in the International School in London and they have also been very kind to us, offering to have us for New Year and to take us on trips to the seaside. Our first night in Buenos Aires was a party hosted by them to celebrate the Father´s 40th birthday! We had a great time.

So, as you can maybe make out. Our time so far has been exactly what we expected of Buenos Aires. Walking around the city during the day and lots of eating and drinking during the evening. The steak is truly magnificent and the wines cheap and glorius. This is THE place for any meat lover!

Joyeux Noel, Merry Christmas and Nadolig Llawen!!

A Merry Christmas to one and all from Buenos Aires!

It´s 30degrees here which makes a bit of a change to the norm. Was great to talk to everyone today and was really nice to hear everyone having such a great time at home.

Ffantastic cael clywed gan pawb adre. A diolch yn fawr am y llynie o Dolwen Dad. Meddwl amndanoch chi gyd.

Merci pour les appeles et les photos, je vous adore!!! xxxx

Now we´re off to the Faena Hotel for Christmas dinner. Look at it!! That´s where we´re eating!!

Love

Rhys and Kat

We´re heeeeeeeeeeerrrre!!!

OH MY DAYS!


well we had a very interesting journey but interesting in a pretty amazing way. We left Jeri at 10pm following dinner and treats with our friends and then had our day in Fortaleza as we said before. We´d already asked if we could change planes for something earlier to have a day in Sao Paulo but it was 200 pounds more so we thought we´d stay and have a fun day in a city that the guide described as ´sophisticated´. It´s not. But we did have fun and it tired us out even more than we originally were so we thought we´d sleep a little and then take our flight. I´ll describe our journey as it should have been if we hadn´t been able to change it.
We would leave Fortaleza at 2.30 am to fly to Brasilia, stay on the plane and arrive in Sao Paulo at 9.30. We would then have to change airports (a 2 hour journey) before leaving for our next flight at 3.30pm. We would first fly to Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, then to Asuncion again Paraguay before changing planes and finally arriving at Buenos Aires at 7.40pm.
Why we booked this deranged journeywith 5 stops is beyond me. Thankfully we had a completely different journey and now we love TAM more than any airline in the whole world.

As soon as we got back to the airport in Fortaleza we went to see if we could change flights or at least book exit seats for the benefit of Rhys´long legsies and there was a little TAM man called Giovani (WE LOVE YOU GIOVANI) who is going to London in April and wanted to speak English to us.We explained our situation and he said, come back at 11pm and I´ll try to get you on the direct flight. So at 11, feeling incredibly nervous we went back and, not only did he get us on the flight, he booked us front row seats with loads of leg room (he told his boss I was pregnant to get the seats so I had to wobble off with Rhys carrying all the bags). SO we got on the earlier direct flight and arrived safe, happy and quite tired, it being 2 nights since we slept, in Sao Paulo at 5am.

Naturally, so as not to take advantage, we immediately asked again if we could change flights and they added our name to a list, in case there were empty seats on an earlier flight. At 8.30 there was a direct flight, we hung around check in waiting for our name to be called but sadly the plane was full and we were told to go back at 9.20. So we had a coffee, played a game and then went back but alas, this plane was also full. I have to add that when you wait, the check-in people run up and down the desks shouting for free seats and it is one of the most exciting and nerve-wracking things I have experienced. We knew that the next direct flight, at 2.20pm was the last one before our own, 3 stop flight so we were completely desperate to get the flight. So we waited and waited and were told that there was a good chance that we´d get the flight, then not much chance and finaly that there was only one seat and then none!AAAHHH 3 MORE FLIGHTS! We were tired and a bit annoyed that our luck had run out so we went to check into our flight and were told.......there was space on the direct flight! We were rushed through at full-speed to the plane and 20 minutes later we were off for a 2 hour flight with dinner and films to Buenos Aires.

So we had 2 flights instead of 5. Rhys' Grandma once said it's better to be lucky than to be rich and I think she's right. We go to our apartment at 7pm and had to endure a strange check-in but as soon as the landlord left we lay down, imagining that we would have a little nap and then get some dinner of steak but instead we fell asleep and woke up 14 hours later feeling much better.

Now we're in central Buenos Aires, we've had a trip to cafe Tortoni (sa a changer maman, les toilettes sont nouvelles mais le Dulce de Leche est toujour aussi bon!), to congress, to the Casa Rosada like Madonna and I had my hair cut in a top notch hairdressers for 10 pounds. we're heading to the port now to see where to eat on Christmas day and then tonight we're going to the party of one of my students' father! Rhys has already said that if there's no steak he's going to kick off.

We've not got any internet in our flat so we're relying on internet cafes but we do have a flat number so we can dish it out to any who want to call. We've got 3 hours differencefrom Britain still.

That's all I think, we miss you, we wish you were here, we'll eat steak for all of you

kaco and rhysychops xxx

Danes, Danes, Danes.........

So after a fantastic month, our time in Jeri had to come to an end. We´re now spending the day in Fortaleza on route to Buenos Aires and walking through the bustling market centre was a bit of a shock after the quietness of Jeri. Back in Jeri we´d noticed a few games of football happening on the beach and concluded that it was therefore a `busy day´. Obviously our boundaries of lots of people and not a lot of people have changed somewhat.

We had the pleasure of meeting a great gang of people from Denmark a couple of nights ago whilst having a few drinks and so with our neighbours also being Danes, the theme of meeting new people so far has definitely been Denmark. It was a shame that we couldn´t spend more time with our new found friends but we had to move on. I´m sure we´ll meet again though, a lack of contacts of people to stay with in Denmark will definitely not be an excuse.

Had a great last day on the water too and a few drinks watching the sun go down followed by pizza in town just before our bus made for a great farewell to Jeri.

The first part of the bus ride to Fortaleza felt like a proper adventure. Driving along the beaches and dunes in a back of a converted lorry in complete darkness. At times it sounded like the driver just would not stop accelerating. We changed buses to a road coach and made it to Fortaleza just as dawn was breaking.

So that´s it for now. We have a day here then catching no less than 4 different flights to make our way down to Buenos Aires. What carbon footprint?

Will post next from Argentina. STEAK AND CHIPS AND WINE PLEASE!

Countdown

So here we are in the last few days in Brasil before Buenos Aires arrives to give us new delights and experiences. I am very very excited, these last few days have been good fun and beautiful but I'm ready for a bit more action and culture. We've also had a little run in with our charming host Dolores who is booting us out a day early because of a mix up with our dates of arrival and departure. Try and we might to explain we had made all our plans around leaving on Monday very early in the morning, she is making us leave Sunday so we have a day on the beach with our bags and then a night bus to Fortaleza where we have another full day. Dolores isn't even expecting guests for Monday, she's just very tight. It's not actually that bad, we'll leave our bags in a friends house all day and then at Fortaleza airport once we arrive.
Thats really all there is to say. We've just been bumbling and planning and Rhys has been windsurfin like a loon to get his hours in. We saw his bill on the board in the rental place and felt a littlw knot tighten. So if anyone has any jobs starting in March, let us know....
Hokay kisses and let us know how you are, we heard about the snow. Did the country grind to a halt? Was there any BBC footage of a policeman getting hit in the face by a snowball thrown by a child? We're missing it all!
Lovelove
Rhys and Kacolaken (it means cockroach on Danish!)


-- Posted from my iPhone

Small Update

Hello again,
Been a few days since the last entry so thought id give a little update.
The wind dissapeared for 3 days or so which was a bit of a shock but it gave us a chance to break the surf boards out. Eduardo at the centre was kind enough to lend us (I hope. We'll see when the final bill comes through!) a couple of boards so me and the lady had a good few afternoons playing in the waves.
Then today the wind returned big time and the waves were still around so i had a fun few hours doing my best to ride them in a half decent manner. Tried to improve my jumping when going out to sea too, which resulted in a fair few good crashes.

Had the best meal of the trip so far last night at a restaraunt in town. Dolores, our host, had said it was really good and she weren't wrong i tell the. We'd been saving it up for a bit of a treat and we weren't dissapointed.
Had a bit of a weird experience when we were sat down having a beer in a cafe too. A guy came up to us and said 'Hi' in a really familiar way and neither of us had any idea who he was at first. After a few seconds of awkward silence we realised it was a Loic, a frenchman we'd met back in the hostel in Rio. He'd come to Jeri with his girlfriend Sally and been here for 5 nights. It was good to have a bit of a chat but unfortunately they were leaving at 7 this morning. Sod's law!

No photos this time sorry. Same old same old though. Sun, sea and surfing.




-- Posted from my iPhone

Another trip to Tatajuba

We were persuaded by Eduardo who runs the windsurf center that we should have another trip to the lagoon and we agreed that a slight change of scenery would be quite nice. Things didn't quite go to plan though as a few quiet farewell drinks for our new found Swiss friend Thomas the night before ended up with us returning to the Pousada at 4am slightly worse for wear. Needless to say we didn't feel too perky getting up 5hours later for a bumpy 4x4 trip to the lagoon!

As a consequence, I sailed for most of the day like an absolute Donkey and Kat had to retreat to the back seat of the Land Rover for a nap for a few hours. We had an amazing fish for lunch though, which was nice.

Im having a day off the water today as I woke up feeling like I'd been beaten up. Also have a touch of the sniffles which I think is related to sailing for 4hours a day on the trot with only 5hours sleep between. Kat's busy investigating possible ideas for our travels once we leave Jeri and it's looking really good. We both can't wait for a huge slab of steak in Buenos Aires!

Another nice thing will be meeting up with Jon and Tanya who are starting their big, round the world trip in Buenos Aires. Hopefully we'll be able to start it off with a bang!

For the photos, in no particular order:

One of the few moments when I wasn't sailing like a numpty at the lagoon. (Mae hwn i ti Dad! Dim zoom tro 'ma!)

We both had a laugh seeing a man walking through Jeri with 'Hang Loose' written on his boardies which were ripped at the bum. We're not sure if it was deliberate. You can just about see a bit of flesh if you're strong enough to zoom in.

I had a bit of a wildlife shoot sitting outside the Pousada one night. This is the best I got. A little lizard.

I thought it was about time you actually see the Pousada also. That's our place on the right and the two Danes live next door.

Some piggy wiggy piglets that Kat photographed at the Lagoon. They look a bit like rampaging bulls!

And finally, me sat at the breakfast table writing this post.

It's another BBQ tonight. Can't believe it's 10th December!

Another post will come when it comes!

Penblwydd Hapus!

After a few 'no wind' days here. And by that I mean that there wasn't enough wind to get the small sails out, eating breakfast just now it seems that the jeri machine has switched back on. We'll see when we're down on the beach!

In other news, we went for some pasta at a local restaraunt the night before and were pretty dissapointed by both our meals. Not everything is perfect here it seems!

Kat spent the day by the pool at a very exclusive place near my windsurf rental shop yesterday. What am amazing place it is. Do a search for Villa Kalango, Jericoacoara. A bit out of our price range though!

And to finish a very happy birthday to my Dad! Penblwydd hapus!


-- Posted from my iPhone

we´re brown!!!!!

hello hello,

so we´re brown! but also very happy and feeling pretty healthy, with our breakfast of mango and pineapple and watermelon juice and then our dinner of fresh fish caught that day. im certainly feeling much better, im not doing much at all, except for getting through a pile of books and writing notes to myself. Rhys is being a lot more active and makes me feel incredibly lazy but we decided that lack of funds means I can´t really afford to windsurf so I have no choice really!

There´s not a huge amount to say really. most days are the same as the previous, a visit to the beach and a swim for me and a few hours of windsurfing for rhys. The other day we hopped into a 4x4 because we were running oput of liquid money and, being only accessible by sand, jeri has no cash machines. so we headed off to Jijoca hoping that the banks were open (which they were) and on route we hit an ass´ass (say with an american accent) and got stuck in a lagoon, our journey back was fun too, riding on the back of a buggy going over dunes and through plots of cashew nut trees and tamarind trees too.

We´ve also finalised, to some extent, our chritsmas plans, we´ll be in Buenos Aires from the 22nd december to the 3rd January and then Santiago, Rhys keeps dibbling whenever he thinks of the steaks, there´s a lot of ham and cheese here and we´re very excited to have copious quantities of steak and chips!OH YES!

Thats all for now, needless to say that we miss you and we wish you were here but then we think you probably wish you were here too so we won´t go on about it.

lovelove
kacorhys