I heard you got snow, Denver.
I spent all day at Copacabana beach.
All day.
Sun, sand, ocean, swim suits, lounge chairs, beer, coconuts, picnic, relaxation.
Just trying to make you jealous.
We also got tan.
Okay, sorry, I´ll stop. We´re going to have rain for the rest of the trip, don´t worry.
Brazil has been decent! We went to Corcovado (the famous giant Jesus Christ statue with an amazing view) which was spectacular, we ate crepes, explored Rio and the metro system and have caught up on a lot of US news on the tv in our apartment (I was losing touch with reality in a big way)...
One more day and we´re off to Sao Paulo before going to Peru...I´m ridiculously excited for Peru!
Hope you´re all well...much love!
Brandee
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
the girl from ipanemaaaaa somethinnnng something...
Well...the computers in Latin America are slower than...something really slow. So the updates have been few and far between. Don´t worry. I´ve gotten your emails about it... disculpe, loved ones.
Chile was pretty freakin´awesome for the most part. Highlights were our first hostel in the Bellavista Neighborhood, eating sushi, hanging out with Tony´s friend Stacey from CU, eating completoes (the king of all hot dogs), Cerro San Cristobal, drinking pisco sours and piscolas, urban exploring and visiting the Concha Y Toro vineyard and winery.
The last thing was particularly awesome and we took some great pictures!
In all, Chile is a clean, pulsating city with a great public transportation system.
Aside from an awkward 2nd hostel that was more like a private homestay (where the language barrier was so great we played charades to talk), Chile was great. Cold, but great.
We´re in Brazil now with half naked people as far as the eye can see. Spring Break 07 baby! Just kidding. I´m extremely happy to be able to wear shorts, tank tops and swim suits--all of which I brought an abundance of. Our flight from Sao Paulo (layover) was 3 hours late so we didn´t actually get to our vacation apartment until 3am, but we did get there--by the grace of God--and that is what is important. Our apartment is 1.5 blocks from Copacabana beach! Sticking your head out the window provides a perfect view of sun and surf.
There is plenty to do in Brazil and actually quite a lot of English. Portuguese is the language of choice here and its making us feel like spanish is our first language! I´m excited to try to have conversations in Portuguese by the end of the week.
It is supposed to get rainy for a couple days so the wind has been pretty intense. That didn´t stop us from laying out on the beach and drinking from coconuts! It was all we ever wanted to do, really...
I´m following strict orders from...everyone...not to bring anything to the beach. I brought a plastic water bottle today and some kid jacked it...(Tony got it back but I then didn´t want it anymore. Kid germs. Ew).
Bring nothing to the beach. Not even water.
Chile was pretty freakin´awesome for the most part. Highlights were our first hostel in the Bellavista Neighborhood, eating sushi, hanging out with Tony´s friend Stacey from CU, eating completoes (the king of all hot dogs), Cerro San Cristobal, drinking pisco sours and piscolas, urban exploring and visiting the Concha Y Toro vineyard and winery.
The last thing was particularly awesome and we took some great pictures!
In all, Chile is a clean, pulsating city with a great public transportation system.
Aside from an awkward 2nd hostel that was more like a private homestay (where the language barrier was so great we played charades to talk), Chile was great. Cold, but great.
We´re in Brazil now with half naked people as far as the eye can see. Spring Break 07 baby! Just kidding. I´m extremely happy to be able to wear shorts, tank tops and swim suits--all of which I brought an abundance of. Our flight from Sao Paulo (layover) was 3 hours late so we didn´t actually get to our vacation apartment until 3am, but we did get there--by the grace of God--and that is what is important. Our apartment is 1.5 blocks from Copacabana beach! Sticking your head out the window provides a perfect view of sun and surf.
There is plenty to do in Brazil and actually quite a lot of English. Portuguese is the language of choice here and its making us feel like spanish is our first language! I´m excited to try to have conversations in Portuguese by the end of the week.
It is supposed to get rainy for a couple days so the wind has been pretty intense. That didn´t stop us from laying out on the beach and drinking from coconuts! It was all we ever wanted to do, really...
I´m following strict orders from...everyone...not to bring anything to the beach. I brought a plastic water bottle today and some kid jacked it...(Tony got it back but I then didn´t want it anymore. Kid germs. Ew).
Bring nothing to the beach. Not even water.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Chile con Carne
It´s great to be out of Argentina, we just weren´t with it. We arrived in beautiful Santiago Chile yesterday and the enormous mountains and blue sky made us feel right at home. our hostel is in a very cool neighborhood close to the downtown area. Lots of great bars and restaurants around and again we´re finding really good prices. Santiago is densely populated, but it´s still pretty clean. People stay out really late here as well. Dinner starts around 9 and bars get going around 12-1, which means happy hour untill 11, which is amazing. We´ll be in town for a few days, then closer to the hills for a few. Should be good.
Tony
Tony
Friday, October 5, 2007
Hola!
After a 24 hour flight delay and a 12 hour flight, we made it safely to Buenos Aires. The first stop in the 7 week Latin America portion of our trip. Muy emocionante!
I think since leaving New Zealand Tony and I have gotten somewhere between 10 and 12 hours of sleep total. I had booked a hostel for us in the Boca area of Buenos Aires. Boca is fine, it is by an old, culturally rich neighborhood called San Telmo, but the hostel was no bueno. I won´t get into details, it really could have been worse, but it was bad enough that we didn´t hesitate to cut our week long reservation there very short. There is a giant convention in Buenos Aires this weekend and we were told that literally every single hotel and most hostels were booked solid. Sooooooomehow we managed to find a nice place to stay last night in a guesthouse and upon looking for a phone up the street, found a really nice hostel with a lot of character and open rooms for the remainder of our time here. It´s a little more expensive than the first place (which was about $8 each) at about $14usd each but is worth the extra few bucks. We´re staying in San Telmo and I really like this area. Lively enough, great food, lots of live music and art.
I can´t wait to see some Tango! Tango tango tango! Tony won´t learn Tango with me...if someone could kindly remind him that Tango is the dance of love (right?) and that he should probably learn it...I´d appreciate it. K thanks.
Anyway, I have to admit, Buenos Aires is dirty. Really dirty. A thick layer of smog hangs low over the city. You can see it in the street lights, feel it in your lungs and I swear I saw Tony´s breath in it yesterday. It´s gross.
Coming from 300 days of sunhsine a year in colorful Colorado, the air quality and trash everywhere depressed us for a day or so.
But Buenos Aires is really growing on me. It has a lot to offer and I can´t wait to explore more. Dinner here is at about 11pm and we have yet to have a bad meal. The food is unreal. Ordering it, however has been another challenge. I have faith that my spanish will come back to me, but as of right now I feel like I´m two and can´t communicate what I need. It´s as easy as asking for a cajero automatico (ATM) and a cajeta automatico (which would be a fudge dispenser....which someone should invent). My ability to communicate at the present moment would make every spanish teacher I´ve had since 7th grade cry. A lot.
The people here, so far, are really beautiful and nice (read: understanding) so it hasn´t been too bad (plus we tip like Americans so they like us...) and Tony and I have a realllllllly good sense of humor. If not, I´d probably cry.
It´s raining (of course) so I´m going to try my best to get pictures up somewhere today...
Hope all is well!
Much love,
Brandee
I think since leaving New Zealand Tony and I have gotten somewhere between 10 and 12 hours of sleep total. I had booked a hostel for us in the Boca area of Buenos Aires. Boca is fine, it is by an old, culturally rich neighborhood called San Telmo, but the hostel was no bueno. I won´t get into details, it really could have been worse, but it was bad enough that we didn´t hesitate to cut our week long reservation there very short. There is a giant convention in Buenos Aires this weekend and we were told that literally every single hotel and most hostels were booked solid. Sooooooomehow we managed to find a nice place to stay last night in a guesthouse and upon looking for a phone up the street, found a really nice hostel with a lot of character and open rooms for the remainder of our time here. It´s a little more expensive than the first place (which was about $8 each) at about $14usd each but is worth the extra few bucks. We´re staying in San Telmo and I really like this area. Lively enough, great food, lots of live music and art.
I can´t wait to see some Tango! Tango tango tango! Tony won´t learn Tango with me...if someone could kindly remind him that Tango is the dance of love (right?) and that he should probably learn it...I´d appreciate it. K thanks.
Anyway, I have to admit, Buenos Aires is dirty. Really dirty. A thick layer of smog hangs low over the city. You can see it in the street lights, feel it in your lungs and I swear I saw Tony´s breath in it yesterday. It´s gross.
Coming from 300 days of sunhsine a year in colorful Colorado, the air quality and trash everywhere depressed us for a day or so.
But Buenos Aires is really growing on me. It has a lot to offer and I can´t wait to explore more. Dinner here is at about 11pm and we have yet to have a bad meal. The food is unreal. Ordering it, however has been another challenge. I have faith that my spanish will come back to me, but as of right now I feel like I´m two and can´t communicate what I need. It´s as easy as asking for a cajero automatico (ATM) and a cajeta automatico (which would be a fudge dispenser....which someone should invent). My ability to communicate at the present moment would make every spanish teacher I´ve had since 7th grade cry. A lot.
The people here, so far, are really beautiful and nice (read: understanding) so it hasn´t been too bad (plus we tip like Americans so they like us...) and Tony and I have a realllllllly good sense of humor. If not, I´d probably cry.
It´s raining (of course) so I´m going to try my best to get pictures up somewhere today...
Hope all is well!
Much love,
Brandee
Monday, October 1, 2007
Roll with the punches
The airport in Auckland has free internet--which almost makes up for how expensive everything else is!
Our flight to Buenos Aires tonight got cancelled and rebooked for tomorrow. Kind of a bummer because Buenos Aires was one of the places I was looking forward to most, but you've gotta roll with the punches.
New Zealand has been good...we spent a few nights in a fishing town in the bay of islands called Paihia. The people were really great and it was a relaxing break from the madness of Auckland. We were able to go onaboat and spend some time with playful dolphins while touring the bay of islands--this was definitely a highlight.
Anyway, hopefully next time I write I'll be in Buenos Aires....but I'm blogging in an airport and that's weird.
Hope everyone is well!
Brandee
Our flight to Buenos Aires tonight got cancelled and rebooked for tomorrow. Kind of a bummer because Buenos Aires was one of the places I was looking forward to most, but you've gotta roll with the punches.
New Zealand has been good...we spent a few nights in a fishing town in the bay of islands called Paihia. The people were really great and it was a relaxing break from the madness of Auckland. We were able to go onaboat and spend some time with playful dolphins while touring the bay of islands--this was definitely a highlight.
Anyway, hopefully next time I write I'll be in Buenos Aires....but I'm blogging in an airport and that's weird.
Hope everyone is well!
Brandee
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Writing from the future...
Of course, the day we left Fiji it was sunny and beautiful. It rained 4.5 out of the 7 days we were there, MUCH to our dismay. We had high hopes for the weather in Auckland, but the rain started pouring right when we got here. It's different, though. We can do stuff INDOORS! Whoa. We're in a very developed city sitting atop volcanoes. It is ridiculously green here, the people are very friendly and the stores (quite literally) alternate coffee shop/sushi/shoe store...coffee shop/sushi/shoe store. I have little to no problem with this. :) Needless to say, we ate sushi last night (I should also note we slept 12 hours).
I had to go buy a new sweatshirt (ohhhh darn) because it's only in the 50's today! I thought i did better research than this! Tony and I are VERY prepared for warm weather (hopeful, even) but weren't as much for cold weather. 50's! I still can't believe it.
I should note that we're in love with New Zealand. The best way to describe it is peaceful. It is a lot like San Francisco--great culture, fashion, food, easy public transportation, ports and harbors, roaring fish markets, calm weather--However, there are less crack deals and an abundance of funny accents.
We're staying in a little neighborhood called Parnell, which as much as I can tell is a lot like the uptown area of downtown Denver. It's within walking distance of downtown and a great area called Newmarket. We're staying at the City Garden Lodge which is really cute and homey. We're here for two more nights and then are off to Paihia in the Bay of Islands for 3 nights. I think we're going to do some whale and dolphin watching. Thought we'd be swimming with dolphins here--but at 50 degrees...you couldn't PAY me to splash around with Flipper. That will have to wait for Costa Rica! :)
We went to an excellent museum today and are going to check out the Sky Tower later.
Sorry I haven't posted any pictures, it's been a bit harder than I thought! Still trying though...
Hope everyone is doing well! Tony and I haven't killed each other yet... :)
Drop me a line or shoot me an email-- brandeecastle@gmail.com
xo
Brandee
I had to go buy a new sweatshirt (ohhhh darn) because it's only in the 50's today! I thought i did better research than this! Tony and I are VERY prepared for warm weather (hopeful, even) but weren't as much for cold weather. 50's! I still can't believe it.
I should note that we're in love with New Zealand. The best way to describe it is peaceful. It is a lot like San Francisco--great culture, fashion, food, easy public transportation, ports and harbors, roaring fish markets, calm weather--However, there are less crack deals and an abundance of funny accents.
We're staying in a little neighborhood called Parnell, which as much as I can tell is a lot like the uptown area of downtown Denver. It's within walking distance of downtown and a great area called Newmarket. We're staying at the City Garden Lodge which is really cute and homey. We're here for two more nights and then are off to Paihia in the Bay of Islands for 3 nights. I think we're going to do some whale and dolphin watching. Thought we'd be swimming with dolphins here--but at 50 degrees...you couldn't PAY me to splash around with Flipper. That will have to wait for Costa Rica! :)
We went to an excellent museum today and are going to check out the Sky Tower later.
Sorry I haven't posted any pictures, it's been a bit harder than I thought! Still trying though...
Hope everyone is doing well! Tony and I haven't killed each other yet... :)
Drop me a line or shoot me an email-- brandeecastle@gmail.com
xo
Brandee
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