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.

Tango for two in Buenos Aires (1)

Finally we arrived in Argentina and Buenos Aires. I have to admit I kissed the ground as soon as I stepped down from the plane , I was so thrilled to come to the city where the Tango was born! I had read a lot about the city and we had really looked forward to come here. Our expectations were quite high! Buenos Aires was now our new home for two and an half months!




We had booked in at the Tango theme-hotel Mansion Dandi Royal www.dandiroyal.com for three nights to get the right tango- and Buenos Aires-feeling. In the hotel costs a really nice package was included: tango lessons, tango show with dinner, and sightseeing tour around in Buenos Aires. And it really paid off for sure! Dandi Hotel is unique. The atmosphere is unbeatable – a heavy taste of mystic is on your tongue as you enter the Hotel. Sophisticated and elegant are words that rapidly appear to my mind when I think of Dandi. The hotel room is stunning! The walls are all painted by hand - it is a masterpiece! You could use several of hours studying the amazing paintings which take you back to the twenties. As you watch the paintings you really feel you are participating the party on the wall. Of course they have silky gloves, and all of them wear cool hats.
Suddenly the piccolo arrives with our luggage, fruit, flowers and champagne! Is this for real?? We slept comfortably in the queen sized bed that night, until we woke up the next morning at eight sharp to tangomusic coming from hidden loadspeakers!







In Norway we attended a beginner course in tango. During this beginner course we got introduced to the basics of tango. However, it takes a lot of practicing to dance tango – and a lot of patience!







We enjoyed a breathtaking tangoshow at Dandi`s one of the following nights. Through the show we got introduced to the development of the tango from the beginning of the last century and until the tango of today. It was a great show with professional dancers. Some of them came from the streets. After the show, the evening continued with a milonga.








We were lucky to meet the owner of Dandi Royal and the tango legend, Hector Villalba. We interviewed him about the hotel and the tango. It was interesting to talk to him about his rich life. After talking to him we felt we knew more about the soul of tango. We found him very charming, he had lots of funny stories to share. After our conversation I got the opportunity to have a dance with him. It was a little tricky because I am a neck plus a head taller than him, and of course it was very difficult to follow his professional steps.



The apartment which we had reserved, was not longer available. We learned that although you have got a confirmed booked apartment in Argentina, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are 100% sure to get it in the end. When we called the day before to check the practical things and prepare to move in, they didn’t find our booking in their system... After a lot of organizing back and forth, Bjørn Christian found a new, nice apartment in Palermo Hollywood for us. And the apartment and the area turned out to be perfect for us. The apartments were placed in old factory-buildings, actually in silos. Our apartment was brand new, we were the first to move in after it was renovated. But it followed a catch, a lot of things were left to be done. No Internet-access, problems with the toilet, windows couldn’t be safely closed and the closet doors had to be installed. And last, but not least – we couldn’t pay the rent with credit card – we had to withdraw cash to pay it all. The problem was that we could only withdraw 3 x 300 pesos (ca 770 kr) pr day. So we had to collect a bunch of money each day and store it safe under the madras until we had the right amount.





However, we fully enjoyed the days we spent in Dorrego Silos – the area had a gym, a nice restaurant and a quite large and deep (!) swimming pool. Bjørn Christian loved to stay in that pool late and early, and he swam it back and forth – Heaven knows how many times! I rather preferred jogging on the treadmill, I found it better to be a little bored than getting my hair all green by the clorin from the pool…(!!)








Through two weeks we attended Spanish classes at Ibero Spanish School. The classes were from 14:00 to 18:00 every day. The teacher Gonzalo tried to keep our tongues rolling in Spanish sentences – and we ended the program with a bigger vocabulary and many new friends. Some of these interesting and friendly people are to be found in the pictures below. Kerstin, Didi and Mo.





Meared, Christine and Rory. Very friendly and cool people!


We also got to know Mariana and Marcos – a wonderful couple who lived in the silo next to us. Best neighbors we have ever had – we could always count on them. We were lucky to having them around.












During the first weeks of our stay in Buenos Aires it was spring, and the trees were blooming all around. This is of course a beautiful period for most people – but not for me. Past May I really hoped it was one year until the next pollen period, but I was wrong. We got a new spring here in Buenos Aires – two in a year - and I had to go through the pollen season one more time. I am unfortunately very allergic to pollen and on top of it all it was a lot of pollution in the air that we weren’t used to. For some weeks I was in really bad shape, and felt very ill. Some days I had to stay in bed – it was really horrible!









Spring turned to summer, and both Bjørn Christian and I started to feel much better. The days flew, we went to Spanish classes, worked and danced tango in the evenings.

To travel the world is not being on a long vacation. As I have mentioned earlier in the blog it is a lot of organizing, planning and searching to do. And we have experienced that everything is much more difficult to handle from “the other side of the World”. It all takes you so much more time! And with different timezones, Argentina is 4 hours behind Norwegian time, it can be difficult sometimes to reach Norwegian working hours. We need to keep in contact with customers, partners and creditors. We use Skype to call long distance – but we are depended on having a high speed Internet access, otherwise it can be very hard to communicate. During this time we are working on different projects, making documentary and writing articles. Bjørn Christian also works every day on Itim matters. I do the accounting. We have also been applying for visas for China and India here in Buenos Aires – and that is quite a huge project. And just to go to the post office and send some packages takes you about 2-3 hours. Everything takes a lot of time! We also try to catch up with friends and family in Norway. We are very happy to get emails and messengers from people who have us in mind! We actually also have grey days “hverdager” on a world-around-trip and then it helps to get an email from a friend “on the other side of the world”.




Sometimes we miss having our family and friends around. And it`s hard to reduce the frequency of contact on the phone. Fortunately, Bjørn Christian and I get along very well allthough we are around each other twenty-four-seven…We really get under each others skin, we know all weak and strong points – on each other and on our selves - and all of the life aspects gets very clear. We are totally dependent on each other, and we are forced to find good solutions – we can`t just run away – we have to tango just the two of us and be aware so that we follow each others steps.

It can be challenging to see things clear and make the right choice when you are in the middle of unexpected situations, which there are several of on a world-around-trip. We have learned how to let the patience grow and to bless the forgiveness. And last but not least, to send the rest of the Norwegian naivity, which we may have, on the boat. It is unfortunately a cruel world out there, and you have to be aware every step you take. If you accept this fact, and learn how to deal with the challenge you meet in this world, you will – to a much larger extend - appreciate the beauty of it.




It was unbelievable and surrealistic that it was soon Christmas. Outside we had temperatures up to 40 C, we got sunburned and wasn`t supposed to sing Christmas songs. We didn’t have much Christmas-feeling, and decided not to celebrate the way we were used to. For fun we got a little, white Christmas tree at the supermarket. We had a Christmas-budget of 100 kr. The tree helped us a little bit on our way to achieve some Christmas feelings, but understandable it was very hard to get in the right Christmas-mood for us. But when it turned out that Bjørn Christian had brought his “The best of Christmas songs” – cd, and turned on “last Christmas” by Wham, I actually started to get some. Have to admit I longed a little bit home to the “Lutefisk” and the white, heavy snow. In that minute of longing, our 25 pesos white Christmas tree was nothing but stupid. Anyway, half an hour later I fully enjoyed walking in the green grass towards the swimming pool, and actually felt very priviliged….