Hello! And welcome back to the photo blog of Hannah's adventures! If you are here - you must already know that I recently went to ANTARCTICA and therefore completed my bucket list of accomplishing ALL SEVEN CONTINENTS! High five for me! You are probably here itching to see said photos of Antarctica...... and I promise they will come! The thing is...there are SOOOOO many pictures from this trip, I need to break it up (for your sanity and mine). So, this post is a collection of photos from Argentina and Brazil (pre- and post- Antarctica). Enjoy!
ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires
A pre-departure text from Meg - really set the mood for the trip
How we survived the longest layover ever in Atlanta
Ta-dah! We finally made it to WARM SUNNY Argentina!!!!
We spent most of our days singing the 2 whole lines we know from the Evita Musical and the song "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina"
And when in Argentina - YOU TANGO!
We took a tango class! This is Cameron. He let me step on his toes
Meg looked much more natural doing it...
An ode to my awkwardness! Meg delightfully captured this moment of me....always talking with my hands. Damn I'm adorable.
The street art is strong in S. America!
Well....they got this painted quickly, didn't they! Haha!
And then.....all of a sudden.....beautiful, sunny Argentina wasn't so sunny anymore. It POURED.
My $2 poncho matches the door!
So, naturally, in the lovely weather, we walked to this awesome cemetery to visit Eva Peron's grave
The rain added a real 'Edgar Allen Poe' vibe to the joint
Then it stopped raining! So we decided to do something indoors (again,naturally!) like wine tasting!
Argentina is famous for it's Malbec wines from the Mendoza region.
And what's a good drink without good food? So we took a cooking class also!!!
We were the only ones who booked it - so it was a private lesson with our new friend, Saul
Showing us how to shape the perfect empanada
SOOOOO GOOOOOD
Thank god we walked everywhere with as much as we ate and drank
Thank you Saul!
It started to rain again - so we took shelter under a bar umbrella. I used my very mediocre spanish to order us beers. I wanted short ones....I accidentally order flights. Oh well! We still got beer!
Obviously we were taking our drinking very seriously! Just goofing off and laughing.... which caught the attention of people behind us!
See!
Enough so that , even despite 1) looking like garbage from being tired 2)being soaked from the rain, and 3) speaking toddler like Spanish, we scored us some numbers! Haha
USHUAIA, ARGENTINA - The bottom of the world!
Pictures or it didn't happen!
Getting excited seeing the welcome point for our tour
Creepy Jesus welcomes you to the bottom of the world
Never too far from home!
Getting free jewelry on Valentine's day
Meg and I had to share our South American date
I looked for my Valentine's day kiss with a different local, though.
Working my indigenous peoples pose
So....we had a lot of time to kill in Ushuaia before embarking. So we roamed and played!
Don't worry, I've had my tetanus shot.
Turns out there is a tattoo parlour in this southern most city of the world.
Naturally, I had to go in!
The first glimpse of our home when we go to Antarctica
Saying Goodbye to Argentina!
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BRAZIL
Our trip to Brazil started out fantastic when we were accidentally put in first class!
SERIOUSLY! Look at this leg room!
But then.....
Our trip quickly went sour when we got lost in a favela looking for our AirBnb only to learn it had been double booked (Actually a blessing in disguise.....) We are happy to stay in some less than 5 star establishments....but this was a little much....
After our harrowing Brazilian slum experience - we found some comforts of home. (Apparently Hannah = Rena at Starbucks)
Don't judge my comfort level.
See - we ate traditionally too!
One day to get good views of Rio - we went on a hike to get to the top of SugarLoaf Mountain....
.....We went on a hike on the hottest day of our tip.....
This is what the hike felt like. (That's agonizing death in the photo)
At least it was pretty.
And we met some friends
Smart people use the tram that goes up these wires to get to the top. We were not smart people
But we made it!
This is a view of Sugar Loaf from the halfway point
You can see Jesus waaaaaaaaay out there
And no better way to cool off on those hot Rio days quite like visiting the infamous beaches!
When in Rio...you hike the swimsuit up the bum! (sorry for everyone viewing this...you have now seen more of my bum than you thought you were going to!)
This local gal puts my butt to shame though! Understandable now why someone wrote a song about the girl from Ipanema....
There were abs. ABS for DAYS! I'm sure most of those abs were uninterested in women....but the sight sure wasn't sore on the old eyeballs.
We had to pay our respects to one of the 7 wonder's of the world and visit Christ the Redeemer
Hanging with our homeboy
Jesus is ok with this beer. The cafe is just at his base, so I imagine he hits it up frequently, too.
It's unfair for us to only know how to cook in Argentina! So we took a class in Brazil also!
Competent Meg got the dangerous work!
Incompetent Hannah got scolded for using a knife wrong!
Fun...but nothing I think I can repeat at home
Watch your back Carmen Miranda
This awesome old shell of a mansion was converted into a park
We met this fellow while just cruising around the city
Toucan was unimpressed with my selfie. This is seconds before he took a grab of my hat.
Just bumming around town
Rio has INCREDIBLE fruit markets with the sweetest and juiciest fruits imaginable to sample
"I always feel like.....somebody's watching me! Can't get no privacy!"
Lapa Arches! Old aquaduct system
Arches are pretty low-key when we visited them this time, but at night, huge parties seem to pop up underneath them!
Visiting the Escadaria Selaron -an ecclectic mosaic staircase connecting 2 Rio communities
Climbing all these stairs must be how you get that famous Rio booty.
Street art in Rio makes the street art we saw in Argentina look sad!
This painted trolley is a real thing
We rode it!
It was odd and confusing though....We weren't sure where we got dropped off.
And what is Rio without CARNAVAL!?!?!?!
We were out of place not being in costume
HUGE street parties!
Bands playing on top of buses that you just follow and dance behind (or in front of if you are trying to attract members of the same sex)
And glitter. Tons and tons and tons of glitter.
Even the statues were in the spirit
And being a pasty white foreigner.....this happened a lot in the streets.
You want a self-confidence boost? Go to Brazil! Walk down the street and, even though you are significantly more dressed than everyone else, they will all stop you to tell you how beautiful you are!
The parties were not just at night. They raged night and day!
More cheek lip prints from strangers!
No idea how the man in the chicken suit stood the heat!
Tango is to Argentina as SAMBA is to Brazil! Who are we to try one but not the other?
And after our dance lesson, we obviously had to go to the club to try out our new moves!
Sampling the national cocktail - the Caipirinha
It's dark...but here I am dancing with who I can only assume is THE SWEATIEST MAN in all of Brazil. It was a very....damp experience.
Alright, friends, that's it for the S. American photos. Take a sip of your wine and stay tuned for part 2 which will arrive soon
ANTARCTICA!
