Escaping Home: Argentina - Snowy London, Paris to Buenos Aire

Families stranded from home just days before Christmas with only the shirts on their backs; slim sleeping mats and cradling the third sandwich of the day. Mothers appeared at the end of their tether; sat as though stoned – looking crazy out to an abyss. Fathers – helpless and afraid – while children snuggled as best they could under the circumstances.

Overview: Argentina – North-East

 South America is my favourite part of the world; a mix of climates from the ice and snow in the south, the sheer phenomenon that is the rainforest together with the excitement of the Latin culture and superb food. 

We chose Argentina due to Iguaçu Falls; Cuba had the year before showed us an interesting Spanish culture but we wanted more nature; Brazil had given us a taste for the countryside and the food. The time; Christmas and New Year – a 16-day vacation with our bags on our backs and the freedom of our feet to roam the country as we wished.

Argentina however is much larger than we initially thought; it’s not straightforward, you need to limit yourself to truly enjoy it (unless you have months on your hands and even then our friends who have visited you need 3 months minimum). Even for us 7 cities in 16 days was too much and we only discovered the North-East; we still need to go back for Mendoza wine country and experience the spirit of Patagonia in the south.

However, I hope our journey, the experiences and my imagination provide you with a little insight to this beautiful country and wonderful people. Read on:

THE ARGENTINE NE SERIES

Escaping Home: Argentina - Snowy London, Paris to Buenos Aires

Day One: Argentina – Buenos Aires, a little mistake

Day Two: Argentina – Train to the Delta, Tigre

Day Three: Argentina – A journey to Heaven – Iguaçu, Iguaçu

Day Four: Argentina – Panoramic Brazil

Day Five: Argentina - A water experience like no other

Day Six:  Argentina – Posadas or Not? Mission!!!

Day Seven: Argentina – Resistencia the heat trap

Day Eight: Argentina – A journey from Resistencia, the buses

Day Nine: Argentina – Cordoba, A bustling second city

Day Ten: Argentina – Condor country

Day Twelve: Argentina – Back in Buenos Aires

Day Thirteen: Argentina – New Year’s Day, Dakar Race

Day Fourteen: Argentina – Across the waters to Uruguay

The Alps - A White Wonder

As though transported 3,000 miles from a Caribbean beach and lifted 2,500 metres onto the Alps, untouched snow glistened in the sun with greater ferocity than a cloud-bare sky at night. Surely the stars felt slightly threatened by this temporary frozen wonder.

The sun shone in full spirit as if challenging itself to remove the white carpet from its stage below – yet this complex structure defied its rays reflecting all energy back – defiant to win this fight til dusk when mist filled the valleys reminiscent of a Swedish steam room. By nightfall Les Deux Alpes is drowned by cloud – creating a haze that formed a ghostly awe to the mountain village.

What makes a holiday – or a vacation?

Brits will deny a vacation exists; while for an American a holiday is a vacation. However I disagree entirely – a holiday is a part of life; as an individual you’re existing day to day just without the dramas of work and expectations from an employer; while a vacation – to me – is turning your life upon its head, doing everything differently and forgetting or blocking out everything that happens day to day. Exploring who you are as a person: re-evaluating your priorities and making decisions for where your life goes next. Taking that lead in the direction of your steps.