The 10 weeks we spent in Argentina during the winter of 2006 were filled with different unique experiences somewhat representative of the natural diversity of the country that extends from a subtropical north to a sub-Antarctic south. Considering that Argentina is the 8th largest country in the world, we were able to enjoy and explore the country a lot by flying from place to place. We found in our early research that if we flew into Buenos Aires internationally on Argentina’s national airline, Aerolineas, then there were discounted fares for flying between places within the country. From our homebase in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, it wasn’t easy to connect to Aerolineas in the US so we flew to Santiago, Chile, I think on Delta. We didn’t have to go through immigration and easily connected to an Aerolineas flight into Buenos Aires. Now we qualified for the discounted fares which made a significant difference in cost and time so we could see more of Argentina!
Our trip was framed by a few days in Buenos Aires at both the beginning and the end. We loved wandering the streets, sampling the excellent food, attending a tango show and visiting Eva Peron’s grave. While it was lots of fun it wasn’t very different from the excellent experiences we had had visiting other major cities.
What was very unique was the month we spent in Ushuaia. Ushuaia is sometimes referred to as the “end of the world” as it is located at the southernmost tip of Argentina. It is the “gateway” for Antarctica cruises. It is located on the Beagle Channel with the Martial Mountains behind. I have very vivid memories of seeing both the Beagle Channel and the mountains behind as our plane landed at the airport.
We had a wonderful hostess for the month. She was a retired teacher who earned extra income by hosting students studying at the Spanish school. A comfortable room, a good breakfast and dinner, and a drive to the school located up on a hill made it easy for us to quickly settle in. While Murray was in school in the morning I would usually set up somewhere close by on the sidewalk and just enjoy painting. I got very comfortable with people looking over my shoulder but conversations were limited as I had so little Spanish, and that suited me very well. Among my favorite paintings done on the street were paintings of the mountain peaks, the huge lupine flowers and the view into the channel.
Following our mornings in school we would wander down the hill and find a cozy restaurant for lunch. Sometimes we were joined by some of the students at the school. I remember one lunch at an informal pizza place with a couple in their 30’s from Germany. They were taking a half year off to begin a bike trip from Argentina to Alaska and decided to begin by reviewing their Spanish. Murray and I were both surprised and thrilled to hear about their plans and the trip. What an amazing, ambitious undertaking. We learned that others had actually done the trip and that they were going to do it in stages. We did follow their blog at first and know that they made it the length of Argentina riding their bikes. A quick Google search couldn’t find anything about their trip but I did find some blogs of people that actually completed the trip and I include them here for your reference.
https://3boondogglers.com/20-questions-pan-american-bicycle-tour/
After lunch we would sightsee downtown and walk along the harbor until we got to the street where we lived and then follow it, arriving home in time to relax before dinner.
We did have a few dinners out. One related to the Super Bowl. The Pittsburgh Steelers were playing the Seahawks on Sunday night, February 5, 2006. Murray and I had both grown up in Pittsburgh and Murray’s dad was Joe Tucker, the very first sports announcer for the Steelers. He began broadcasting on radio in 1936 and his last game was on television in 1968. Murray never missed a game and usually I was right there with him so it was only natural that we would find a place in Ushuaia to watch the Super Bowl. The week before, we visited several places that had TV’s and sport events on and did find one place that promised that they could get the game and we could have dinner and watch it there. We did and it was great fun to see the Steelers win, 21 -10 over the Seahawks.
Our other very memorable dinner out was at an elegant restaurant that prepared a five-course meal, each course served with a special wine. Our hostess told us that whenever a major cruise ship was in town, the captain of the ship usually dined there. It lived up to its reputation.
The next blog will share some of the special sightseeing that we did while in Ushuaia.
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