Bencito

This album features my first trip to South America in 2003.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/559723304fkWDVR

Argentina – I finally visited Buenos Aires, simply one of my top favourite cities. I spent around 5 days there and used the service of WOW Argentina. WOW Argentina gave me a very helpful guide of Buenos Aires that really assisted me in restaurants and alerted me with possible scams. The prices were very reasonable when I was there, and I could practise my Spanish there.

The only problem I experienced was when two women tried to rob me by spraying mustard at me and “helped” me clean up. Fortunately a policeman came by and got rid of the two women. This did scare me a bit but I did not suffer any losses and I enjoyed my time in the city. I would love to return sometime to see more of the city and the country.

I love the following:
· General beautiful atmosphere,
· the surviving elegant French style architecture in the city, the Casa Rosada, the Cathedral, the Galeria Pacifico. When I visited Paris half a year later, certain streets of Paris reminded me of Buenos Aires and that put a smile on my face!
· the tango show, very touching!
· the steaks
· beautiful neighbourhoods like San Telmo and Retiro
· Tour of Teatro Colon

Uruguay – I visited the world heritage Colonia del Sacramento from Buenos Aires as a day trip. Colonia was quaint, quiet and peaceful – good for a day trip from Buenos Aires.

Chile – I spent around four days there visiting Santiago, Valparaiso, Vina del Mar and Maipo Canyon. The Santiago metro makes getting around easy and fast. I really enjoyed the following
· the colourful architecture of Valparaiso stunning!
· the historic buildings in Santiago, the Plaza de Armas, Paris-Londres neighbourhood, Bellavista, the beautiful fountain at Cerro Santa Lucia and Palacio de la Moneda
· Central Market with its fresh seafood. I went there for lunch almost every day! Love the seafood empanadas.
· the beautiful coastline from Vina del Mar.
· a quiet walk in the Maipo Canyon.

Hope you enjoy the photos and this trip report.

Thanks!

maryanntex

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing. Makes me want to visit Chile on my next trip.

drdawggy

Angie,

I am not exactly objective. I visited Buenos Aires in 2001. I thought my trip would be one more stop on my way to seeing the world. Trouble was, I lost interest in seeing other areas after my trip to Argentina. One of these days I will force myself to visit other places, once I have finished seeing Argentina....I just completed my 20th trip with no end in site...but one of these days I may dig out my old check list of places to visit before I die and choose another destination....just not anytime soon...there is still too much I want to do in Argentina, even after 20 trips.....

betts20e

Great Pics Bencito, and thanks for sharing the things you liked. Maybe you can help me, seeing as you've been to BA, Santiago, and Valpo. If you knew you were going to visit all 3 cities, but had to choose one to live in for several months, which would you choose and why?
I ask because I'm a college student and I want to study abroad in one of these three places, but I'm having trouble deciding. I plan to visit all 3 cities, but I don't know which one to study in. I realize this is a very subjective question, but I'm interested in your opinion. Thanks!

Bencito

Hi drdawggy

Maybe your response is for another post? Just wondering and would like to let you know….

Hi betts20e:

Thanks for your comment! Much appreciated.

I read your other posting regarding which city to choose for your Spanish classes. It is definitely a difficult choice and I personally enjoyed my visits to all three great cities for very different reasons.

When reading my response, please keep in mind of my limited time in these places. If I would have the choice, I would choose Buenos Aires. It is interesting that I am also considering furthering my Spanish a few years down the road, and my choices include Buenos Aires as well.

Of all three cities, I enjoyed Buenos Aires the most because of its beautiful atmosphere and very reasonable costs. From the recent postings I have read here, the costs in general in Buenos Aires continue to be lower than Santiago. I love steak and pasta and Argentine cuisine is great for me! This opinion is probably influenced by a person I met while travelling in Peru, Bolivia and Chile in June 2006. He studied Spanish for three weeks in Buenos Aires and one week in Santiago and he really preferred Buenos Aires.

For Santiago, I love it and found it a great, vibrant city. I also felt safer in Santiago than in Buenos Aires because of the incident I described. I love fresh seafood and you can find good seafood in Chile. In addition, my tour guide in Santiago in 2003 was very proud of Chile and its positive economic development. Santiago is also surrounded by mountains and beautiful coastlines/ vineyards are close by. I am far more of a city person than nature person and cannot comment on this further though…On the other hand, I find Santiago in general more gritty and concrete than Buenos Aires in the city centre area. I have been to Santiago twice , once in summer and once in winter, and it is a very different experience! In summer, Santiago is beautiful. My tour guide said that it does not rain in Santiago in summer. When I was there in summer, it was sunshine everyday and it was great! In winter, the smog was bad and the sky was grey. The difference in weather creates a very different feel to the city. In addition, Santiago was at that time substantially more expensive, approaching the costs I am used to in Canada.

For Vina del Mar and Valparaiso, I can’t really comment on these places too much as my time there was limited. I love Valparaiso’s setting and architecture. Beautiful buildings are painted in vibrant colours on the hills – very picturesque and the city has a working class feel to me. Vina del Mar’s coastline is beautiful and the city has a ritzy, California feel to it.


From your other post, I think that you are already aware of the differences in accents in both countries. My Spanish is basic, and I won’t cover this point…

Once again, please note that this opinion is very subjective based on my short visits. Good luck with your decision and it is great that you decided to visit all three places. Have fun and let us know how this goes for you!

Ben

dfarmer

Thanks for the post Ben. Daughter is leaving in a few days for Vina and Valpo, to study. I am in constant search of info. Loved seeing the pictures.

Percy

Thanks for the nice pictures.

Downtown Old Santiago is really beautiful as one can see by your pictures.

Loved your Vina del Mar and Valparaiso pictures....of course Buenos Aires is beautiful also.

You mentioned you toured Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires..that means it is open now !

Percy

Bencito

Hi Percy,

I toured Teatro Colon in Dec 2003...I think it is closed until May 2008?

Thanks for your comment!

betts20e

Ben,
Thanks so much for your reply! I really appreciate the details, it helps a lot with my decision.

dfarmer: is your daughter doing study abroad? What program is she doing? Just curious because i'm looking into study abroad programs there.

Thanks for the help!