Separate travels....

After having a wonderful week in Cape Town, Bjørn Christian had to travel home for a few days to have some meetings and deliver some projects in Oslo.



While Bjørn Christian went home to Norway, I took the train from Zurich over to the Italian border. I arrived in a little, cozy italian town called Cannero. There I did a lot of planning and organizing due to our World around-project. Accounting had to be done and I had to plan our next steps. It was very strange to be all by myself again after so long time having him around. But on the other hand it was very important for us to have a little room and space to do our own reflections and adapting.

Being in Italy felt almost like coming home to Norway for me. Coming to Europe again felt very strange. Somehow I felt like I had been returning from the moon....



After about one week Bjørn Christian came to Cannero. It was SO nice to see him again!! We went together to Lausanne where he had a new meeting, before we took the train back to Zurich again. From Zurich we took the next step on our travel - to the middle east!

Couchsurfing in Cape Town!

We were warmly welcomed in South Africa. In several ways. The overwhelmingly beautiful nature and the friendly people somehow surrounded us with open arms. All we had power to say was: WOW....Although the many superlatives were lined up in our forehead.

We were tired. And we were happy. Tired from travelling over 30 hours, and happy to come to this amazing place on earth - the continent we have always dreamt of and the country which many people have recommended us to visit. WOW....

We finally managed to take off from the Argentine land, four days behind schedule. We changed flight in Sao Paolo and headed for Africa. In the early morning Bjørn Christian woke me up and anxiously wanted to share his view from the flight window. We were flying over the desert in the rising morning sun.



Arriving in Cape Town we rented a car. The car took us to Hout Bay, a stunning pearl by the ocean. This was a perfect place to stay for a week!

Through Couchsurfing we got an invitation to come and stay with a couple, Louise & Brett. They turned out to be very generous and friendly. They took us to nice restaurants were we had the chance to eat the best Calamari ever! They also took us sightseeing around in the area. We really apreciated the time we spent with them - a beautiful couple!

















Diversity is a key feature of South Africa, here 11 languages are recognised as official. Many different cultures are merged together in one community. No wonder Bjørn Christian found this place interesting!






The Couchsurfers and the hosts in front of Table Mountain :)




Bjørn Christian became buddy with a king crab in the Cape Town Aquarium.








The last night of our stay in South Africa we spent in Strand, 45 min drive from Cape Town. There we were invited home to Chris and Reinette. We drank wine and had an interesting and good conversation, before we went to bed. They made us feel so comfortable, and the atmosphere was just like coming home to my grandma. For the first time in months I really felt like "coming home".






We woke up to a cozy breakfast. Reinette was abviously a good cook - her blueberry muffins were the best we had ever tasted mmmmmhh! They also left us a cute note, wishing us the best of luck for our travels. Chris and Reinette had left for work - just after few hours they left their home to totally strangers...A new WOW from us.




South Africa and Cape Town were really our cup of tea. We went to look at several apartments for sale because we were seriously considering to buy something here. We didn`t end up buying an apartment, but we found two very beautiful weddingrings! :)

This is the country of opportunities! Only three words to describe it all: WOW,WOW and WOW!!

Engagement celebration in Uruguay

One of the last experiences during our stay in South America would be Uruguay. We booket tickets with the "Boquebus"-boat and decided to visit Colonia. An hour and two glass champagne each later we arrived in the cozy uruguayan city. This was a nice place to spend one of the first days as newly engaged :)



We ended up in a colorful and charming restaurant in the old town. We had some tasty fondue and I thought we had a good conversation as well. But I seemed to fail in entertaining my fiancè with good stories. He rather entertained himself building wine glass tower...



In the past, Uruguay was South America's best-kept secret with only a handful of South Americans popping in to enjoy the pristine beaches, atmospheric cities and huge steaks. Then the place became more affordable and people got curious. They came, loved it and went back home to tell their friends. The same did we....

In Colonia you could also enjoy the sight of charming old cars in many different shapes and colors.







It was mandatory to have a Mate when visiting Uruguay. We both had one and I can`t say I became a huge fan - I guess it is "you either love it or hate it"- thing. Bjørn Christian was quite interested and curious of this mate as any new things - as always. He tried his very best to like his new friend, but it wasn`t much convincing.

Mate is kind of a tea, containing stimulants such as caffeine, prepared by steeping dried leaves of either erva-mate (Portuguese)or yerba mate (Spanish)in hot water. It is the national drink in Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay and a common social practice in parts of Brazil, Chile, eastern Bolivia, Lebanon, and Syria.













The newly engaged couple in Uruguay! :)



Windy on the top of the lighthouse, but OH! what a fantastic view!

Tango for two in Buenos Aires (2)

The most creative and colorful spot in Buenos Aires you find in La Boca. This place attracts tourists like a magnet, and we easily understand why. All around you there are tango dancing couples, inside the restaurant and out on the streets. Small, colorful houses make a fresh contrast to the dark, longing tango music coming from the live musicians on the corner.



La Boca was one of the main places in B.A where the immigrants settled, around 1800 – and the beginning of 1900. The immigrants, most of them men, came to the “Promised Land” from the whole world to make a living. They came over by the sea and settled down in the area of La Boca. For the most of these immigrants it was a tough life. They missed their family and it wasn`t always easy to integrate in the society. One day, some men decided to get rid of the dark feelings and sorrow, and started to paint their houses in strong and happy colors. This made their days much brighter, and somehow the sadness started to fade. The houses have remained the same, and have in a large extent made La Boca what it is today - a fascinating, colorful place with a burning heart and a strong soul.




In the end of the 18th century the tango was born. Men coming from all around the world, brought their dances, history and culture to B.A. Because they had to leave their family back home, most men where dancing and sharing culture experiences. They met in bars and brothels, sharing their sorrow and experiences - and danced. They melted all the different dances together (polka, mazurka, habanera,valse etc.)like a conglomerate, and by the time the tango was created. It`s not a convincident that the tango is melancholic when you concider its story. It`s the story of peoples life, which often consisted of pain, dreams, crisis and longings. As mentioned earlier in the blog, Mr. Villalba told us, “You dance proper tango if you dance to the words - more then to the music.” I tried my very best...




Carlos Gardel was the first tango musician who brought the tango to peoples ears and soul. But these wonderful and breathtaking musicians did a great job in following his steps.



The tango dancing couple pictured below shows what I mean. Here I think I managed to get the right sense in the picture. This melancholic expression is a natural ingredient in the tango. The tango is beautiful, mysterious and honest.




The Tango also reflects the culture of Argentina. We spoke with people who told us they have “given up” on their society and systems. The trust in the society is generally low and a lot of people have lost their faith in the politicians and government. Especially after the economical crisis in the early 2000s, when the currency dramatically fell and unemployment was very high, the situation was unbearable for many of the "Portenos". Argentina was subject to military dictatorship for many years, that resulted in a number of significant economic problems.




In the beginning of the 2000s, Argentina quickly lost the confidence of investors and the flight of money away from the country increased. In 2001, people fearing the worst began withdrawing large sums of money from their bank accounts, turning pesos into dollars and sending them abroad, causing a run on the banks. The government then froze all bank accounts for months, allowing for only minor sums of cash to be withdrawn. This is also much how it is today, we were still allowed to withdraw minor sums.

Because of this allowance limit and the serious problems it caused in certain cases, many Argentines became enraged and took to the streets of important cities, especially Buenos Aires. They engaged in a form of popular protest that became known as cacerolazo (banging pots and pans). These protests occurred especially during the period of 2001 to 2002. At first the cacerolazos were simply noisy demonstrations, but soon they included property destruction, often directed at banks, foreign privatized companies, and especially big American companies.

Although the situation is much better today, Argentina has a lot of work to do - building first and foremost trust into their community.





Buenos Aires was supposed to be a “Promised Land” but instead a lot of people have experienced dictatorship, lies and unstability. From one of the most known Tango songs the phrase: “Everything is a lie” seems to describe many of the "Portenos`" (Argentine people) situation.


Our plans was to leave South America on Saturday 12th of January, but because Aerolinas Argentinas was streiking due to political matters, we weren`t able to go. It was a mess! We went to the airport in the middle of the night and what we met was a terrible sight. Old ladies and young children were sleeping on the floor. We even heared that some had been waiting a week for a flight!
We tried to get information, but they couldn`t help us. Aerolinas Argentinas offices were totally damaged by furious passengers...




We waited for 7 hours hoping and praying for a miracle to come, but finally we had to take a taxi back again to Buenos Aires. No flights were departing...Our first chance to get out of the country was in 4 days...







In spite of the uncharming end of our stay in Argentina, which really made us longing for a new continent, we are grateful for the time had in Argentina. It has been a very educational and interesting experience. We have been dancing tango, we attended Spanish classes, we got to know many interesting and friendly people, made many new friends, and been travelling around in the country in addition to Chile and Uruguay. And last but not least - we got engaged!




GRACIAS!

We are engaged!

On 07.01.08 we got engaged! The pictures speak for themselves.

From the Atlantic to the Pacific and back!

One day we were walking around in Buenos Aires I got a message on my phone. It was Frøy – a friend of mine, who wrote me that she was coming to Buenos Aires for two weeks. I was very looking forward to soon be able to meet one of my friends. In these days Bjørn Christian and I were planning a round-trip in Argentina and Chile. We hoped Frøy would like to come along, and we were right!





The day after she arrived in Buenos Aires, the three of us were sitting on the bus to Mendoza drinking wine. It`s a 12 hours long drive from Buenos Aires to the wine district Mendoza so we bought VIP-chairs so were able to sleep the night through – and the next morning we woke up in Mendoza.






In Mendoza we booked in to the nice Hostel Wanca. The same day, we went to the beautiful wine district around Mendoza. You simply can`t visit Mendoza without going on a wine tour! We borrowed a bike which had a motor on it. The thought was to make it easier for us to go from the one bodega the other. But it all became much more inconvenient for us instead. Everything was wrong with these bikes, but it was worth it somehow – we had a lot of fun and good laughs….






We got wonderful wine at the Rutini Bodega! Frøy seemed to be satisfied….





We also got the chance to meet the production Director of the Rutini Bodega. He kindly gave us an short interview.




The day after the plan was to get a rent-a-car in Mendoza and pass the border to Chile. In the morning we packed our belongings and headed for the car rental office. When we came to Alamo, we were doing a lot of paperwork, and we apparently lost focus for a few seconds. We had all our bags around us, we thought. But meanwhile, as we were focused on the paperwork, someone came behind us and grabbed our rucksack with all our camera equipment. It was gone, and it all happened during a few seconds. We lost our cameras and a lot of pictures. It was a big crisis for us, the world seemed so unreasonable and cruel. But it was important not to get paralyzed by it and move forward – Frøy and I went to the police station and reported the crime, Bjørn Christian went around looking for new cameras. We had to have new equipment – FAST! We had some tough days following and the mood wasn’t exactly on top to put it that way. But we managed to cross the border to Chile the same day – a beautiful drive!




In the evening we came to Santiago, and headed for our final destination – the apartment resort San Antonio del Mar, one hour drive from Santiago. www.sanantoniodelmar.com
Our mission was writing an article about this place. We met the manager who took us around the area with a sightseeing boat.




The mood was raising and we just enjoyed this beautiful place! Bjørn Christian and I also swam across the swimming pool. They had also very tasty chocolate fondue. The first night in the resort Frøy and I were sitting in the apartment when suddenly the ground started to “boogie”! We were terrified! There were no doubts in our minds – it was an earthquake! We ran out of the apartment, trying to get down. We stayed on the 11th floor, so it was very frightening. I ran around in panic without shoes, trying to find the stairs. I was concerned about Bjørn Christian and hoped he wasn’t in the elevator - that could be very dangerous. Suddenly we heard a “pling”, and out of the elevator Bjørn Christian came – having no idea on what was going on. We ran in a hurry down the stairs and finally got our feet on the ground. Thank God - we were safer! We went to talk to the guards – but he just smiled to us and told us not to worry. This was common for them. But the next day we found out that the earthquake had actually reached 5,3 on the Richters Scala.
In spite of our experience with the earthquake, we enjoyed spending time at San Alfonso.














We managed to buy a new camera in Santiago the day after we came to San Antonio. Although we didn’t get a new canon camera the one we bought was better than nothing. The world kind of got back together again.

It was nice to be in Chile, which is the financially best developed country in South America. They have a high standard of living, and even fjords. No wonder we felt familiar with this country, although the people in Chile like to consider themselves as South Americas “Great Britain”.




After a couple of days we were on the road again. Our next stop was La Serena, approximately 5 hours drive north.






We arrived in the evening in a charming Hostel in the center of the city. And the owner of the Hostel reminded us very much of Santa Claus. We remembered suddenly that Christmas was right around the corner.




From Buenos Aires we crossed the continent from the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific. Of course we had to go bathing in the Pacific! In La Serena we had a nice lunch at a restaurant on the beach, and after having lovely seafood we ran into the sea.










The people in La Serena, and the rest of Chile, must every day cope with the fear of Tsunami and Earthquakes. Nobody knows when the next Tsunami will appear. But they have prepared for the day, at least to some extent.




Soon we were back on the road, which we really found nice. What a sight! Amazing nature surrounded us on both sides of the road.





Our next stop was Vicuna, where we planned to stay the night over. And we were happy we came to this place. This little town was just something special! Hard to explain by words - it was mysterious, peaceful and nice! The evening sun dressed the hills in light red and this lovely bridge welcomed us.



The Hostel we came to was almost like taken out from a Zorro-movie. And it turned out that the Zorro production team had been in the Hostel to check the possibilities to use it in one of the Zorro movies! Frøy was sitting outside on the balcony and was waiting for Zorro to come.






The day after we left Vicuna with heavy hearts, promising ourselves to return one day. We fell deeply in love with this place. Today our mission was to climb the mountains with our little Volkswagen Gol and cross the pass on approximately 5000 m.o.h. This was the road back to the border of Argentina. With our fingers crossed we started climbing the Andes.











On the border – about 5000 m.o.h the air became very thin. I fell asleep in the back seat and Frøy felt a little dizzy. We actually felt drunk all of us! We were happy we had managed to cross the border!



We were back in Argentina, and not far from the border we came to Pismanta. We stayed the night on a Spahotel here (http://www.pismantaspa.com.ar/), and celebrated “Lillejulaften” .






The day after, we left Pismanta in the morning. It was Christmas, but outside it was 28 C so it was unbelievable that we were soon having a Christmas dinner! We arrived in San Juan and checked in. We also booked a nice restaurant where we could enjoy our Christmas dinner later that evening.
We had read about “Difunta Correa”. And wanted to go there and check out the place.
And I was really something to remember, very emotional to be there.

The Deceased Deolinda Correa (in Spanish La Difunta Correa) is a semi-pagan mythical figure in folk-religion, for which a number of people in Argentina, especially among the popular classes, feel a great devotion. It has spread, in a limited way, to neighbouring countries such as Uruguay and Chile.

According to popular legend, Deolinda Correa was a woman whose husband was forcibly recruited around the year 1840, during the Argentine civil wars. Becoming sick, he was then abandoned by the Montoneras. In an attempt to reach her sick husband, Deolinda took her baby child and followed the tracks of the Montoneras through the desert of San Juan Province. When her supplies ran out, she died. Her body was found days later by gauchos that were driving cattle through, and to their astonishment found the baby still alive, feeding from the deceased woman's "miraculously" ever-full breast. The men buried the body in present-day Vallecito, and took the baby with them.

Once the folk tale became known, the inhabitants of the nearby areas started visiting Deolinda Correa's grave, building after time an oratory that slowly became a sanctuary.

The cultus to the Difunta Correa is that of an unofficial popular saint, not really recognised by the Catholic Church. Her devout followers believe her to perform miracles and intercede for the living. The survival of her child would have been her first miracle.













On our way back we listened to Bjørn Christians Christmas cd, and we all sang along with the music. “ Do they know it`s Christmas time at all?” of Paul McCartney was the ultimate favorite and it went over and over again. We sure could identify with the text – we hardly knew it was Christmas…!




The Christmas dinner was not how we were used to have it home. Instead of “Lutefisk” and “Ribbe” we got Pineapple and ham – but it tasted good and we had a nice and different Christmas evening!






On Christmas day, the day after – Frøy took the bus back to Buenos Aires to explore the city. She was very interested to spend more time there. We stayed in San Juan one more night, and celebrated “Første juledag”. We had planned to eat at a nice restaurant, but it turned out that everything was closed, so we ended up in a pizza bar, eating pizza Tropicana with brown, melted sugar on the top. (We got pretty amazed by this local speciality) Wuuuhhæææææsj……! Anyway, the wine was exceptional(as always here) and the dinner ended up veeeeery cheap.