Sao Paulo weekend

I flew to Sao Paulo for the weekend, specifically to visit a friend who I met when he was in New Zealand in 2006/7 to learn English. Thiago works for the airline, Gol, although that's not who I flew with. I was on TAM and collected some Air New Zealand Airpoints dollars. Anyhow, it rained quite a lot and we went around mostly by car. I spent the entire weekend socialising with Thiago and his friend Marco, plus some others who joined us for a meal at the Australian-themed restaurant chain "Outback", in shopping malls and out night-clubbing.

early riser

Hotel Arapey in Montevideo apparently USED TO BE recommended in Lonely Planet guides. I had looked at an old copy from Wellington library, which is how I came to stay there last night. I found some bad reviews online, but found the place to be fine for the money ($28 US). Nothing special. Only one of the four light bulbs in my ceiling light was working, and the speaker in the corridor outside continued to play music ALL NIGHT, but the TV in the rooom had lots of channels and there was plenty of hot water for the shower.

Anyhow, I woke up this morning at quarter to seven. Quite why, I'm not sure. But I'd had nearly 8 hours' sleep so that was ok. I discovered that television advertising at that time of day is aimed solely at fat people. In particular, women. There were only two ads, which came on repeatedly. One was for pills that speed up your metabolism to encourage weight loss. The other was for Slender Shaper. It's a kind of vibrating belt that shakes away the fat. Several women were shown wearing them, strapped to various parts of their body.

Slender Shaper has five speeds (cinco velocidades) and -- as with so many products demonstrated in "advertorials" -- one of the main selling points is that you can even use it while watching television. Perfect for lazy, fat people who want to sit around seeing TV shows while some invention does the work for them.

Photo Post : Montevideo

In a Parrilla (steak house/indoor barbecue) in Mercado del Puerto.

Ciudad Vieja - old city buildings.

Palacio Salvo, on Plaza Independencia.

Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

Colonia was founded in 1680 and is now a UNESCO world heritage site. The street shown above has Portugese buildings with the original cobble stone road. There are lots of old cars in the old town area, as you can see below. I came here on the fast boat from Buenos Aires and will leave tomorrow by bus for Montevideo. The hostel I'm staying at is on the main road. Along the pavement during the daytime you will find dogs sleeping in the sun. By night, they run up and down the street trying to bite the tyres of passing cars.

Photo Post : Flying over the Andes

I do try, honestly...

Yes, I try to be open-minded and have unconditional positive regard for Americans, but the majority of them don't make it easy !

For the second time on a Manuel Tienda Leon shuttle bus from Buenos Aires international airport into the city I have had to listen to cringe-making conversation involving a citizen of the USA. I saw this woman consider sitting next to me as she boarded the bus, but the fact that I was reading probably put her off and she chose another victim to sit beside. The poor person who had to listen to her was a Chilean woman.

For the next 40 minutes, USA-lady pestered the woman with comments in broken English and -- bizarrely -- the occasional "je suis", as if French was going to be appropriate. She made the extraordinary claim that she knew a few words of Spanish, then proceeded to ask her victim what "today" and "Monday" were in Spanish. USA-lady said she was living and working in Chile, yet she appeared to know no Spanish whatsoever. She also claimed to have lived in Nigeria at some point in her life.

As the bus neared its downtown destination, USA-lady spotted a statue and asked her victim "is that a saint" ? She repeated it several times, as if that was going to make it a sensible question, and went on to suggest that the building behind it could be a church. "NO", I screamed internally, "It's Christopher Columbus, and that's the Casa Rosada... the most famous building in the whole of Argentina". USA-lady then dug out her city map and stared at it for several minutes in a vain attempt to work out where she was or what the building could be.

The other occasion when this happened was my first arrival in Buenos Aires. An elderly American man wouldn't stop talking, loudly and in simpleton language of course, to the driver. He claimed to be an author, and went on and on about his books. I had never heard of him and had no intention of remembering his name or trying to find any of his work in print.

strange breakfast

Monday morning, and I've been to breakfast as usual. Today was different.

Having been asked for my room number, I went in and noticed there was no-one else having breakfast. Still, I gathered up some juice, tea, flat scone-like things, butter and cheese, a bowl of orange and kiwi fruit pieces and some yoghurt. As I sat and ate, I could hear sounds coming from the other side of the partition. Still no-one else joined me in the breakfast room. Every other day there had been only a few tables free.

A couple of women who were probably in their late 50s put their heads around the door, then went away. I finished my breakfast and was about to leave when a staff member came and I was again asked for my room number. Could I be the only guest in the hotel this morning ? It seems unlikely. Did no-one else get up early enough to have breakfast (at 9am) on a Monday ? A holiday Monday of course. The mystery remains.

Photo Post : Santiago de Chile

El Presidente, clearly a proud moment as he performs ceremonial duties on the 200th anniversary of Chile's independence.

Soldiers excited by the occasion, waiting in line before the President is due.

City buildings, with the mountains not far behind.

Two Felipes.

Chile can be Chilly

This weekend I'm in Santiago de Chile. Two hours' flying time from Buenos Aires, with the last bit of the journey over the spectacular Andes. It's clean and modern, with a compact and easy to navigate central area which has several pedestrianised streets.

The thing is, it's a holiday weekend. Not only is it the 200th anniversary of independence, but also the country's Military Day. Since these take up Saturday and Sunday, the government has made Friday and Monday holidays as well. Great for the Chilean people, but it means hardly anything is open. That, at least, makes it cheap.

A couple of hours after arrival I took a metro ride to Providencia, to visit my friend Felipe, who I met when he came to New Zealand. After admiring the view from his apartment balcony, we drove around the city and its suburbs, stopped for a walk in Parque Metropolitano (which has an even more expansive view), visited an artisan craft market and had drinks and some food in a nice cafe.

Saturday morning I went exploring. Very soon my attention was caught by the sound of a military band. There was a big event going on for the bicentennial, and a lot of streets were sealed off. So was the central Plaza de Armas, although I got back there when it was open later in the day. I was rewarded for waiting at my vantage point by seeing the President, Sebastian Pinera, go past in an open carriage as he reviewed the troops, only a couple of metres from me.

While I was waiting, it had been pretty cold. During the daytime, perhaps from 11 o'clock onwards, the temperature was up above 20 degrees. However, it drops away sharply overnight, down to the low single digits. Hardly surprising, with snow-covered mountains providing the scenic backdrop to the city.

La Boca

Today I followed the advice of a friend in New Zealand (thanks Moera) and visited La Boca. Literally "the mouth", being the mouth of the River Plate. Websites and guide books warn that it's a poor area, and tourists should not stray from the main routes. It certainly isn't the plushest of barrios, but it has the lovely Caminito pedestrian district with its colourful buildings and artwork displays. I also peeked through the fence at the Boca Juniors football stadium.

The Subte underground railway system is cheap and efficient, but pretty run down. The trains were especially crowded today, and with few places to hold on there were a lot of people struggling to remain upright. I had to argue, in very basic Spanish, with the ticket seller who gave me the wrong change. Eventually, I got the correct amount of money back.

Why do so many pigeons have crippled feet ? Did I pose that question in an earlier entry ? I certainly meant to.

Finally for today... in the lift on the way down from my 7th floor apartment to street level there was a woman and her tiny dog, called Pipi. Pipi is one of those squashed face dogs. He or she was very excited about being in the lift. You'll have seen the photo of a man walking several dogs. That's something I see frequently as I'm walking around Buenos Aires. In La Boca I saw an awful lot of dog poo on the pavements. Does no-one pick it up or clear it away ?

Oh... and another final thing. Thank you to the friends who have emailed me to express their condolences over the death of my mouse. Please rest assured, I've got a new one now. It's the same breed, but a different colour.

Photo Post : BA

Selling snacks for the birds in Plaza de Mayo.

Giant mechanical flower, Plaza Naciones Unidas.

Walking the dogs. A common sight !

Casa Rosada, rear entrance.

Photo Post : Buenos Aires

Inside a former theatre, which is now a book store and cafe.

One of the plaques on the Duarte family tomb, cementerio Recoleta.

Obelisk, Plaza de la Republica.

Traditional bottles for agua con gas, on sale at the market in San Telmo.

Submarino

Chic Buenos Aires. I'm staying in the suburb of Recoleta, which is an upmarket neighbourhood. I've got an apartment here for one week, with plenty of space and some basic cooking facilities. I can boil and microwave things, and I've been getting supplies from the two supermarkets nearby.

It's Monday morning and it's raining today. Since my arrival on Friday it has been dry and mostly sunny. Today could be an indoors day, reading The Devil Wears Prada. Kirsten gave me that in exchange for another book I passed on to her in Denmark. I have also been reading another book which I found abandoned in Munich airport, but that one has hundreds and hundreds of pages, and I can easily return to it at a later date.

One of the first things I did here in BA was to visit the cemetary in Recoleta, where the elite are laid to rest in tombs. There are ornate statues everywhere and the cemetary is like a mini-city with family buildings containing the coffins, some of which you can see through glass doors. The most famous is that of Familia Duarte. There is always a crowd of tourists looking at Eva Peron's burial place. Adjacent to the cemetary is Our Lady of Pilar Basilica and cloisters.

I've also been to the downtown shopping area. Of course, there's a long pedestrianised mall, like in any respectable major city. The Galerias Pacifico complex has lovely ceiling paintings. In Recoleta there's a book shop and cafe in a former theatre, which is quite stunning. The cafe is on what was the stage. There I had a "submarino" hot chocolate. A glass of hot, frothy milk and a chocolate bar to sink into it - like a submarine.

Yesterday I met up with a local contact and went walking in San Telmo, where there are cobbled streets and grand old houses. There was a Sunday antiques market in Plaza Dorrego and tango dancing displays.

I'm looking forward to seeing the Plaza de Mayo when it's sunny again. The famous Casa Rosada is there, along with an important cathedral. The parliament building is a short walk away. Perhaps you've heard about the grand avenues and European feel to this city. It's quite true. At times it's like Paris or Madrid.

Photo Post : Denmark

Checking in at Copenhagen Airport, to begin the journey to South America.

With Kirsten in Copenhagen.

With Louis, searching the box for some treasure.

Bob Dylan's paintings are on display at the National Gallery.

Catch up

I'm overdue with my updates, and it's partly because my mouse has died. Poor mouse. It had been playing up in recent days. Now it simply doesn't work. I hate all that finger twirling some people use to navigate around a laptop computer, so I'll have to go and buy a new mouse. It's always sad when a pet passes away :-(

Well, I'm in South America now ! You'll read more about that in other postings. First, I wanted to write more about Denmark. A big thank you to Kirsten for being my wonderful host in Copenhagen. Also for putting up with a house guest who was suffering from a cold. That's almost cleared up now, thank goodness.

Evidence remains of my time in Denmark, in the form of some red bumps. Flying insect bites, received when Kirsten and I drove to the middle of nowhere to meet our fellow former trans-Africa traveller, Louis. He had arranged a treasure hunt, and we walked through fields and crossed over electrified wire fences to find the hidden treasure boxes with the help of hand-held GPS devices. They were only accurate to within a few metres, so it took a bit of searching. I also lagged behind sometimes because I was wearing a pair of Kirsten's walking boots and watching my step so as not to fall over !

After the excitement of the treasure hunt (there is a whole community involved in devising and organising the hunts) we went to Louis and Britta's house for a lovely dinner. In another first, I attempted to play a car racing game on Nintendo Wii -- always losing of course to 8 year old Jacob.

Did you know about Bob Dylan, the artist ? The musical artist yes, but also the painter ? He has an exhibition of works on display in Copenhagen at the moment. The Brazil Series, created in 2009 and 2010 and on show in Denmark for the first time anywhere. The pictures have received a mixed response from critics, but I liked them well enough.

Finally, only hours after I'd left the country, Denmark hit the headlines with a possible terrorist mystery. Not far from Kirsten's apartment there was an explosion at a hotel and a suspect was detained in a huge security operation. Denmark, of course, became the focus of attention with the publication of certain cartoons that upset Islam.

Photo Post : train trip and Copenhagen

Soldiers drumming on bins in the grounds of Rosenborg Castle.

Look at all the bicycles in central Copenhagen !

A train on board a roll-on, roll-off ferry.

DB sailing train

I have taken the train from Hamburg to Copenhagen, and thus completed one of the few journeys in the world where a train still goes on board a ferry and continues to its destination after crossing a sea passage. The Deutsche Bahn first class service was well worth the money. A comfortable seat in a quiet and spacious carriage, with free croissants, soft drinks, tea and coffee.

Shortly before departure there was a commotion as an American woman displayed blind panic. She was staggering up and down the carriage shouting "65 and 66, where is my husband ? WHERE IS MY HUSBAND ? 65 and 66" over and over again. Someone asked here where she had last seen him. She said he'd been right there on the platform. They went to help look for him, and within seconds he was in the carriage and they were reunited.

The train picked up a 20 minute delay, which I'm told is normal once it's on the Danish tracks. I was met by my friend Kirsten, who I'm staying with. A delight as always. We've known each other since we were among a group of people who travelled together in Africa nearly 20 years ago. During my time in Denmark we will also drive north and see another of those Africa travellers, Louis, and his family.

A little while after meeting me, Kirsten revealed that we were going to a Zumba class. She'd signed up for eight weeks, and Monday was the first session. So I was taken along and had to join in. It was difficult to get the co-ordination at times, but actually a lot of fun. Zumba is a mixture of aerobics and salsa moves to music. It's a craze from Brazil.

The only downside about things right now is that I've developed a cold. It sort of came in reverse. My normal experience is that I have the nose problems, which descend into a cough and throat complaint as the days pass. This time it's been the other way around. How odd. Anyhow, I've got my vitamin C pills, my nose spray and my throat losenges... so hopefully I'll be able to get rid of it before arriving in South America on Friday.

Before signing off on this posting, I just wanted to refer to the hotel I stayed at in Hamburg. It was a little tired and in need of some maintenance, but with no major problems. I think it was a family run business, and I think of the woman on reception in the mornings as The Lusty Landlady. There was just something in the way she looked at me when she was speaking to me. She was also quite effusive in her farewell (in German) and said how much it would please her if I was to come back and stay another time in the future.

Photo Post : Hamburg

"Out of Control" is written on this building !

Under control - a vehicle the riot police would have used.

Hiding in the port area. A relic from the war; a U-boat.

The half-way point

Today is day 80 of 161 days. That means, of course, that I am half way through my trip. Around the world in 80 days ? Not quite. I've only been to Japan and Europe ! (I might be stretching it a bit to include Russia in Europe).

Still to come.... Denmark on Monday, then South America from Friday... until a brief stop in Berlin when I head back from Argentina and before going on to India. After that, a month in South East Asia and I'm done !

It's been a delight to meet up with many friends along the way. Hiroko, Victoria, Peter and Charlotte in Japan... Raef in Frankfurt... Ed in Madrid... the new Mr and Mrs Cook (and lots of their wedding guests who are former colleagues of mine) in the south of Spain... my parents, and aunt and uncle in Lincolnshire... Gary, Del and Ann in London... Adrian in Budapest... Ben and Chris in Munich. New friends and acquaintances were made in St Petersburg and Moscow.

The second half of the trip will include more friends, among them Kirsten, Louis and Mona in Denmark, Thiago in Brazil, Shane in India, and David in South-East Asia.

Before I went out for food last night, I saw CNN breaking news of the Christchurch earthquake. My internet connection held up well enough (it can be pretty patchy in the hotel room here) for me to listen online to some of Radio New Zealand's excellent coverage. Everyone is safe, but I have also been thinking about people there -- and especially friends who have connections with Christchurch.

Hamburg

For the first time, I'm in a city and I can't say that I'm especially enthusiastic about it. I could go so far as to say that I don't like Hamburg. That might be an unfair assessment. It has its good points, certainly. A very nice Rathaus (city hall), some architecturally attractive churches, a lake within the city centre and canals connecting it to the river Elbe. There are perfectly pleasant pedestrianised shopping precincts.

BUT.. all about the place are what I would call dodgy characters. It has an edgy feel to it. The street where my hotel is -- just a stone's throw from the main train station -- is lined with prostitutes at night. There are shifty looking men hanging around in other areas. Charities bring vans to serve hot drinks and food to people living rough on the streets.

I suppose it's just that I didn't see anything like this in the other places I've visited during my trip so far. I'm no prude, and I've certainly experienced all of the above in London in the past. Hamburg suffers because I'm comparing it to my most recent experience of Munich.

Today I got a day ticket for the underground and S-Bahn railway network, which took me to virtually all the tourist sites I wanted to see. It's quite nice down by the port and the fish market. The sun was shining and I used a voucher I'd found in a magazine to get myself two salmon and cream cheese bagels for the price of one at lunchtime. Now, that's something I've had a craving for since... well, several weeks probably. Delicious :-)

Photo Post : Munich

At the 1972 Olympic Games stadium.

Blue fountain with the Rathaus in the background.

A slice of passenger plane at the Deutsches Museum.

Bavarian clothes for sale.

In the Englischer Garten.

Munich

Munich is a really lovely city. There are so many spectacular buildings, grand avenues, extensive pedestrianised areas, and the calm and relaxing English Garden to wander around. People seem to be going about their business without stress or tension. The sun is finally shining and I have been out wandering the streets again, retracing some of my steps from earlier days and making use of my camera.

From the top of the tower at St Peter's (307 steps) there is an excellent view over the rooftops. How nice that there are so few skyscrapers. It's easy to pick out the landmarks from up there. Thanks to Ludwig the First for the way he developed and grew Munich.

I've had five days here and was glad to have been joined by a friend from London, Ben, and then spent a day yesterday with one of my former German teachers, Chris, who lives outside the city. During that time I've done a LOT of walking, and was so worn out last night that I slept for 12 hours (on and off).

At 4.30 on weekday afternoons the Karstadt department store does all food at half price in its restaurants. That's something I have taken advantage of once already and will do so again today. It means I can get something hot and cheap... and healthy too if I make the right selections from the buffet style dishes on offer. Most things are sold by a fixed price per 100 grammes of weight, so I suppose it's best to avoid heavier salad items such as tomatoes.

For a rainy day I can recommend the Deutsches Museum and the small but satisfying Palaeontologisches Museum. It's also well worth taking a train trip out to the Olympic Park where the 1972 games were held. No-one comes to Munich, of course, without visiting a Brauhaus for beer and Bavarian food.