AUTUMN’S ADVENTURES

Today we got a late start but I still ate croissants for breakfast.  This time I drank coffee from a bowl instead of a mug.  Before Nathalie poured the coffee into the bowl I thought it was going to be used for our fruit so I went to go get us some mugs and she said “we already have the mugs on the table”.  I was confused so I asked her why we would be drinking coffee from a bowl and she said, “I dunno, I suppose it is big enough for dipping the croissants in.”  There you have it.

For lunch Nath’s father brought out 8 different kinds of cheeses and fresh bread.  He said “I hope you don’t mind, we are only eating cheese for lunch.”  I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a wonderful thing in my life.  He told me there were over 300 different kinds of cheeses in France alone so I had a lot more to try on this trip.  We started with the goat cheeses then worked around to the hard cheeses and we ended with the brie and roquefort.  What a perfect melody of flavors and a perfect lunch.

For dessert we ate a special cake called la galette (three king’s cake) made of almond flour, eggs and other magical ingredients.  It had a trinket or la fève in the center and whoever found the charm was king for the day and got to wear the crown.  Nath’s mother was the “king”.  In tradition, the youngest person in the house has to climb under the table and call out the people who get cake and where to put it.  Baptiste was the lucky youngin’ under the table this time.  The cake’s center was a custard-like filling called frangipane and it was so moist and rich and delicious (of course it was delicious, everything I’ve tasted has been delicious. I need to consult my thesaurus for more variety to describe this wonderful food).  I am going to get the recipe from Nath’s father so I can make a paleo version of this rockin’ cake.

In the afternoon we headed to Nath’s grandparents house to chat with them. They were the loveliest little grandparents I’d ever met and they had the coolest tree wall mural that reminded me of my name and of fall in New York.  They were so excited to tell me all about Florida and showed me their USA souvenirs like a russel stover’s valentine’s heart box and a US flag and an air force baseball cap.  Her grandfather was a pilot so that explained the air force cap enthusiasm.  We looked at photos from their trips to the US and they told me they went up in the twin towers top floor in January before the terrorist attacks.

They also showed me a photo of the previous owner of their house along with a star of david patch that was from the Holocaust.  They said that the woman escaped and abandoned the house only leaving a photo of herself and the star of david behind.  I couldn’t believe I was holding a piece of history in my hands, let alone a history so horrible and sad.  After watching Inglorious Basterds last night, it was strange to be seeing evidence of the real war right in front of me.  I was emotionally stirred by the whole thing.

After leaving her grandparent’s house we went to her cousin’s house and played with his two sons who were 4 and 1 years old.  I played the wii with the 4 year old until my arms felt like they would fall off.  I love the friggen wii.

That night we went to dinner at a chinese restaurant with her brother, his girlfriend and Nath’s friend Jess.  I tried Leiche for the first time and it was really delicious.  After Chinese we went to a house party for the birthday party of Nath’s two cousins.  The apartment was cute and small and full of frenchies.  Most of the artwork on the wall was a tribute to NYC which I was happy to see.  Once people found out I spoke English everyone wanted to practice with me.  When the party got too crowded the owner started kicking everyone out so we left and went to another friend’s house in the city and did tequila shots.  The funniest thing I saw in their apartment was this.  Oh what a night.

Today we woke up at 9:30 to go shopping and sight-seeing in Strasbourg which is 1.5 hour drive from Damelevières and home to the famous astronomical clock.  Since it is located on the border to Germany, the city has an infused culture of French and German where they also speak a special infused language called Alsatian.

For breakfast I had my first crossaint of the trip and it was filled with chocolat noir.  C’est délicieux!  Nath’s mother poured me coffee in the biggest mug I’ve ever seen and I was delighted to drink it all.  I also tried my first french raw cheese that came from Nancy.  I also ate a piece of bread made with flaxseed in the center and with homemade jam made from the mirabelle plum/prune which is native to their area and is delicious.

In Strasbourg we walked around looking at the beautiful architecture while the wind ripped our faces apart.  It was so cold that we decided to go straight to lunch at a winstub, or a german pub/wine cellar that serves typical food from the region.  Nathalie and I ordered 2 things and split them.  We also ordered some delicious white wine — a pinot blanc.   I ordered the choucroute garnie (which looks like a plate of animal penises) and Nathalie ordered rognon (kidney) with spätzle (potato pasta).  They were both delicious though I probably couldn’t eat kidney all of the time.  They had a bowl of strong yellow mustard on the table so I made sure to put that on everything to give it that zingy pop that I love.

After lunch we walked to the giant cathedral and went inside.  It was enormous and it had beautiful stained glass windows and was where the astronomical clock was housed.  We didn’t get to see the clock in action because it only goes off once a day at noon and you have to pay 2 euros to watch it happen.  In one part of the cathedral they had this giant drain-like cover in the floor and if you looked down into it you could see that a shit-ton of people had thrown coins and bills down there.  What a waste of money.

We walked from shop to shop trying on clothes and admiring things we couldn’t afford (like Svarski crystal).  I’m in the market for a simple long black vest (to hide my belly’s pride of food).  I didn’t find anything that fit and flattered my figure (or my budget) so I just bought some souvenir postcards and helped Nathalie shop.  I really enjoyed walking around Strasbourg even though the weather was beating me down.  The town is so quaint and cute and everything is perfect.  Our last stop before we headed back to Damelevières was a shop that sold espresso machines and gourmet espresso “pods” like Tassimo sells coffee pods in the US.  The company was called “Nespresso”.  I was amazed at how elegant the store was and how I wished the US had Nespresso stores available.  There were a bajillion flavors lining the walls and they even sold chilled chocolate and told you what coffee paired well with each chocolate.  I was in heaven.  Their most recent commercial features John Malkovich and George Clooney but old Georgie boy has been their main guy for all of their commercials.

It started snowing heavier later in the day so our trip back in the car lasted 3 hours instead of 1.5  I slept for most of the ride.  At one point Nathalie pointed out a huge line of trucks that had parked in the left lane of the highway on the opposite side.  She told me that they are required to stop driving when the weather is bad but she didn’t understand why they took up one lane of traffic, especially the inside lane.  And this line of trucks was super long.  It was pretty crazy.

When we got to the house Nathalie’s father had prepared a traditional meal called Raclette which is kind of similar to fondue except you cook slices of cheese on a hot plate and then pour it over boiled potatoes.  You can also cook bacon in with the cheese which of course I was delighted was an option.  There are other various cold cuts and salamis on the table while you are waiting for your cheese to heat up.  Aside from the raclette there was an endive salad with walnuts and a vinagrette dressing.  I had never tried endive before and now I am in love.  For dessert her father made banana flambé with vanilla ice cream and bergamont sweet crackers.  So far I have not had a single disappointing or half-assed meal.  How did I get so lucky?  I’m also supposed to try homemade foie gras as well as snails.  Her family likes that I am willing to try any food they put in front of me so they want to make me everything.  Again, I’m super lucky.  I drank a pinot noir from 1999 that is apparently a big deal among us Yankees.  Nath’s parents told me that they used to buy it all the time but then the Americans started buying so much of it that the price skyrocketed and it wasn’t worth it to buy that anymore so they stopped buying it.  And the supply to the locals was limited because the company would rather sell it at a jacked up price to the Americans.

After dinner the parents went to bed and me, Nath, her brother and his girlfriend, Oriane watched Inglorious Basterds.  They put the movie in English with Subtitles but that didn’t really help me out because half of the movie is in spoken French and German so I didn’t understand what was going on and Nathalie had to translate it for me anyway.  If you haven’t seen the movie yet, I highly recommend it.

I’m still jet-lagged which I guess is good because I had time to write these posts at 3am…but I’ll probably regret not forcing myself to go to sleep earlier.  Oh well, C’est la vie!

After two months of laying low and resting up in New York and spending some quality time at home with the family, I am finally on the road again and living it up, international-style.

I arrived to Paris at 11am French time/5am New York time. My friend Nathalie picked me up and we drove directly to her parents house, 3.5 hours to Damelevières, Lorraine, France which is 20 minutes outside of the city of Nancy.  When we arrived to Nath’s parents house she gave me a tour and I met her mother, brother and father.  Her brother speaks English but her parents only speak a little bit of English so I am really trying to learn some basic french so I can at least talk to them on a comparable level in French.  If they are willing to make the effort with me, it is only fair that I do the same in return.  And also, not knowing a language sucks when everyone around you speaks it.

I smelled like super B.O. from my long travels so I changed my shirts and then we all headed to a restaurant called La Gavotte to eat the best crêpes in Nancy.  They are like the crêpes in Brittany, France, which are the best crêpes in France.  We drank apple cider wine with our meal because they told me that is what you drink with crêpes in Brittany.  My crêpe of choice was filled with mushrooms, bacon bits, a sunny side up egg and cheese (probably my four favorite ingredients!).  It is made with buckwheat flour that gives it the darker color and is only used for salty crêpes.  It was freaking delicious.  I also tried some of Nath’s dad’s crêpe which had cow intestine in it.  It wasn’t so bad.  For dessert I got a crêpe with butter and blackberry jam.  It was lighter and made with a different flour.  It was also delicious.

After dinner the whole family went to a small rock concert in a bar called Le Vertigo Cafe.  Nathalie’s cousin is in the band that was playing that night so the whole family came out to support him.  I really liked that about her family since I’m all about family gatherings these days. Her cousin plays the keyboard and the band was more or less experimental rock music, heavy instrumental long jam sessions.  They were good.  I met Nathalie’s friend Mimi who is an English teacher in Nancy.  She was really nice and she invited me to speak to her class in English some time this week.  We drank a lot of Stella Artois and the night ended somewhere around 1am.  I was surprised that I made it through the whole day without sleeping since I was so jet-lagged all day long.  When we got to Nathalie’s room I couldn’t wait to shut my eyes and rest my body.

After draining my funds in Patagonia and adding 10 pounds to my waist (thanks, ice cream!) , I was afraid to take my planned trip to Mendoza, Santiago (Chile) and Valparaiso (Chile) on my way home to New York.  To come home with SOME money left in my account, I decided to cut my trip in half. I spent 2 days in Mendoza, 1 day in Santiago and 1/2 day in Valparaiso.  I’m not sure if that was enough time, it probably wasn’t, but I left satisfied.

In Mendoza I did a self-guided bike tour of the wineries with a dude from Boston that I met in my hostel.  I wasn’t sure how much I trusted myself on a bike while drinking copious amounts of wine but in the end I came out in one piece and I really enjoyed it, even if my crotch didn’t so much.

Read the rest of this entry »

I think I have a good balance when it comes to going with the flow of life but also being a planner.  I always have a plan, I never go with the flow aimlessly.  I think that a daily approach to going with the flow is healthy so long as you have a bigger goal in mind.  This past month I found myself goal-less as I reach the end of my first experience in Argentina.  The closer I get to being in the US, the less I see myself coming back to Argentina for more than a few months.  It is not that I want to stay in the US but if there is an opportunity for me there and I am happy there I would stay. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been restless lately ever since I finished up my seasonal work with IHS and had my birthday.  I don’t work very much but having no work really makes me think about what the hell I should do with myself.  I started thinking big, as usual. Read the rest of this entry »

Ever since I returned from Peru I have been trying to find a time to sit down with all of my thoughts and write some thoughtful blog posts.  Here I am now, with a mountain of things to say trying to figure out how to organize and say them all in a coherent and interesting way.

So much has happened since I got back from Peru that my head is practically spinning itself off of my body.  My first important thoughts, or I should say doubts, were confirmed after having a good g-chat with my friend Ellie who is currently in New Zealand and can relate to me from a more relevant viewpoint than my family who misses me too much to be rational.  I decided that right now I cannot realistically buy a house or start a bar, no matter how much I want to try and mix the young traveling life with a stable, settled life.  I can’t remember if I blogged about this but I probably didn’t because I was waiting for a more formal decision before I told everyone I was doing these things (and for good reason too since I already changed my mind.) Read the rest of this entry »

I had an absolutely amazing time in Peru.  Getting there and back was time consuming but it was worth every shitty bus ride to get there.  If you read the two previous posts you can see the route I took and just how long it took me.  Getting through Bolivia wasn’t so hard but it did take 2 days to get to Puno, Peru.

We stopped in Puno for the night before heading on to Cuzco. In Puno we found a sweet reggae bar that had a loft with pillows lining the walls and low tables.  We immediately took over the whole space, playing jenga, dancing to the awesome reggae and playing a drinking game called shoulders.  The bartender was friendly and often came up to chat with us and play jenga.  He tried to play shoulders but it was a complicated game that we could barely explain to him in Spanish.  Before we left he took us behind the bar for a group picture and thanked us for visiting Puno. Read the rest of this entry »

This post is for travelers who are looking for an alternative route to get to Machupicchu, instead of taking the train directly.  I took the longer and cheaper way to get to Machupicchu and my experiences are noted below:

Cuzco, Peru > Santa Maria, Peru
Ticket: 15 Soles / U$D 5.00
Method of Transportation: Bus
Duration of trip: 5 hours (8:30am - 1:30pm)
*To find these minibuses you do not go to the main bus terminal.  You need to go to the smaller terminal.  Ask your taxi driver to take you to the terminal for Santa Maria.

Santa Maria, Peru > Hidroelectrico, Peru
Ticket: 8 Soles / U$D 2.67
Method of Transportation: Minivan (seats 12, fits 17…)
Duration of trip: 3 hours (1:30pm - 4:30pm)
*There was a stop in San Teresa to change to another minibus that charged 3 soles but was included in the 8 soles prices.
*Make sure when you stop in San Teresa you ask the driver to let you out to buy your ticket for the train in Hidroelectrico.  If you do not do this you will not be able to take the train or buy your ticket at Hidroelectrico.  I am not sure why this is the case.  I did not buy my ticket in San Teresa and me and my friends ended up walking for 3.5 hours along the train tracks with our backpacks (half of the time in the dark) until we reached Aguas Calientes.  Walking is your only other option if you do not buy a train ticket in advance.  Because I didn’t take the train, I don’t know how much it costs.  I believe it may only be 8 soles.

Machupicchu

Getting up there:
There are two options to get up to Machupicchu.  There is a bus that goes up for 21 soles each way (U$D 7.00).  The bus takes approximately 5-10 minutes.  The other option is to take the stairs straight up the mountain.  This takes about 1 hour depending on your endurance.  My friends and I decided to walk up the stairs at 4:30am in order to get to Machupicchu right as it opens.  It was pitch black and only a few of us had cell phone lights or head lamps so if you decide to go this route make sure you have a flashlight of some sort.  I’m not gonna lie, the stairs were hard, especially in the middle of the night.  We arrived to Machupicchu at 5:30am and there was already a line.  The reason to show up early is because some people want to climb Mount Huayna Picchu to see a different view of Machupicchu.  This mountain is free to climb but you have to get a ticket once you are inside Machupicchu otherwise you cannot climb it.  They only allow 400 people a day on the mountain; 200 at 7am and 200 more at 10am.

Buying tickets:
You will need to buy your ticket before going up to Machupicchu.  You can buy the ticket in Aguas Calientes near the lower plaza.  If you have a student ID you can get a discounted rate of 62 Soles / U$D 20.67.  You will need to present your student ID card up at Machupicchu along with your passport.  In Aguas Calientes they tell you that you need to have a date stating when your ID expires otherwise you need to be 23 or younger in order to get the discount.  I am 24, my ID had no date on it whatsoever and I got in without any questions.  I may have been lucky because they were busy.  Feel free to take the same chance.

Here is a video I made of getting to Machupicchu, just for fun.

The normal ticket costs around 124 Soles / U$D 41.00.

Bringing things into Machupicchu:
In the brochures that you get when you buy your ticket it tells you that you cannot bring certain things into Machupicchu like food or large backpacks.  Don’t listen to the brochure.  They did not check our bags and we saw multiple people with large backpacks in Machupicchu.  If you don’t bring sufficient water and food you will pay out of your ass in one of the 2 restaurants at Machupicchu.  For example: 1 small water costs 8 Soles, 1 sandwich with no sides costs 22-30 soles.

Aguas Calientes

Food:
At first glance Aguas Calientes can seem a bit charming.  After about 5 minutes of being there you realize it is a stupid tourist trap and everyone who lives/works there knows you have to pass through Aguas Calientes in order to get a good spot in line for Machupicchu.  For this reason the town is plagued with shitty restaurants along the main street that offer “tourist menus” of 12 - 15 soles which include an appetizer, main dish, drink and dessert.  Don’t be fooled, though. The dishes aren’t good and the drinks and postres are small as shit.  Every restaurant offers the same exact menu with the same exact food excluding the one vegetarian restaurant but even they kinda sucked.  Also, the people working in the restaurants are annoying as hell when the scream all of the things on the menu to you as you walk by, sometimes they even stop you which is even more annoying since the hill is steep as shit.  I avoided the main street as much as possible.

To eat decently for a decent price you can always ask for the local farmer’s market.  I bought avocados and other cheap vegetables to make guacamole.  If you cross the bridges to the other side of Aguas Calientes you will find restaurants for the locals that have more authentic and better food.  I had “Arroz a la cubana” and “Palta Rellena” for about 6 soles and it was damn good.

Water in restaurants isn’t free so if you order water expect to pay about 4 to 5 soles for a bottle.  You can buy water for 1 - 2 soles in any convenient store.

Thermal Baths/Hot Springs:
Hot water is hard to come by in the hostels in Peru so when arriving to Aguas Calientes all I could think about was the warm water.  The actual hot springs were not that hot (not as hot as the hot springs in Iceland for sure).  The water is filtered into square pools and the last pool is the coldest.  The cost is 10 Soles to enter and 1 Sole to store your stuff in a locker with a padlock.  You can rent towels and bathing suits all over Aguas Calientes.  I had mine so I don’t know prices.

Ollantaytambo, Peru
To get back to Cusco from Machupicchu you can take the same route via Hidroelectrico/San Teresa/Santa Maria or you can take the train.  Often times, people will take the train to Ollantaytambo and then take a bus from there because it is cheaper.  I ended up staying in Ollantaytambo for 3 days because it was so nice.  The town is all cobblestone and has moats lining the streets with water flowing constantly.  It was very relaxing and very quiet after Aguas Calientes.  I highly recommend taking time to stop here for at least one night.

Aguas Calientes > Ollantaytambo
Ticket: 78 Soles / U$D 26.00
Mode of Transportation: Train
Duration of trip: 2 hours (9:30 am - 11:30am)
Via Hidroelectrico: 8 soles for Train from Aguas to Hidro, from Hidro to Santa Maria it was 3 soles or more,  and 15 soles for a comfortable minibus for tourists from Santa Maria to Ollantaytambo (total 26 soles)
Duration of trip: 7-8 hours (12:30pm - 8:00pm)

Ollantaytambo > Urubamba
Ticket: 1.20 Soles / U$D .40
Mode of Transportation: Combi/Minivan
Duration of trip: 25 minutes (comes every 15 minutes)

Urubamba > Cusco, Peru
Ticket: 3 Soles / U$D 1.00
Mode of Transportation: Bus
Duration of trip: 2.5 hours

This blog post is for travelers looking for an accurate route from Jujuy, Argentina > Cusco, Peru and from Cusco back to Jujuy.  I did countless hours of research online trying to find the best and cheapest route to Cusco from Jujuy and I didn’t find much so now I am adding my own experience here in hopes that it will help other fellow travelers.

I encountered multiple strikes on my way to and from Cusco so this route is only by bus as all trains were not functioning in Bolivia when I was passing through.  I went up through Bolivia to get to Cusco and went down through Chile to get back to Jujuy.

At my time of travel the exchange rate was roughly this below:

USD 1 = 3.79 Pesos = 7.02 Bolivianos = 3 Peruvian Soles = 537 Chilean Pesos (6/26/2009)

San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina > La Quiaca, Jujuy, Argentina
Ticket: 35 Argentine Pesos / U$D 9.24
Company: Jama Bus
Duration of trip: 4.5 hours (6:00 am - 10:30 am)

You will cross the border by foot or taxi to reach Villazon, Bolivia.  If you are a US citizen you will need a visa to enter Bolivia which costs U$D135.  You are able to apply for a visa at the border but you will have to make a copy of your passport and provide 2 passport photos.

Villazon, Bolivia > La Paz, Bolivia
Ticket: 80 Bolivianos / U$D 11.43
Company: Expreso Tupiza (I thought the driver was going to tip over the bus)
Duration of trip: ~19 hours (4:00pm - 11:30 AM)

*It is possible to take a train from Villazon to Oruro, Bolivia and then take a short bus to La Paz but during my trip there was a political problem and the trains were not running. There were shitty bumpy roads the whole way there.

La Paz, Bolivia > Puno, Peru
Ticket: 50 Bolivianos / U$D 7.14
Company: 6 de Julio
Duration of trip: 7.5 hours (2:30pm - 9pm [peru time])
*For this bus ride you will disembark and take a boat across Lake Titicaca.  At the Peru border you will walk across the border and get on a new bus.  You do not need a visa for Peru if you are a US citizen.

Puno, Peru > Cusco, Peru
Ticket: 15 Peruvian Soles / U$D 5.00
Company: Power Bus
Duration of trip: ~7 hours (2:15pm - 9:00pm)
*It is possible to take a train from Puno to Cusco but it costs U$D200 roughly.

RETURNING TO JUJUY VIA CHILE:
Cusco, Peru > Arequipa, Peru
Ticket: 60 Peruvian Soles / U$D 20.00
Company: Ormeño S.A.
Duration of trip: ~14 hours (9:00am - 11:00pm)
*We went to Puno first and then went to Arequipa.  This could have been for the strikes and a normal route may be shorter.

Arequipa, Peru > Tacna, Peru
Ticket: 25 Soles / U$D 8.30
Company: Transportes Moquegua Turismo
Duration of trip: ~7 hours (7am - 1:45pm)

Tacna, Peru > Arica, Chile
Ticket: 13 Soles / U$D 4.30
Company: Shared car or “Combi”
Duration of trip: 2 hours (2:30 - 4:30)

Arica, Chile > San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina
Ticket: 38,000 Chilean Pesos / U$D 76.00
Company: Pullman Bus
Duration of trip: 24 hours (9pm - 9pm)
*There are two buses on this trip. You disembark in Calama and wait for 3 hours in the bus station from 6am to 9am.  From Calama you go straight to Jujuy.
*This bus did not serve any hot meals, only cookies, crackers and juice.  Be prepared to bring your own real food even though you are paying a ridiculous price for this bus.