Forget4Explore

***This should have been posted before Mendoza*** We left mid morning for the 3 hour drive up to San Martin. We decided to take the scenic route 40 and highly recommended seven lakes route up the 40. We had the weather on our side this time, the sun was out in full force and we struggled not to stop continuously along the way to take pictures. We reached San Martin in early afternoon and were led by car through town and up a hill to our Airbnb. I feel like we are tucked away in a cabin up in the Muskokas  up here. Isa even has her own upstairs suite complete with balcony. The only issue with arriving anywhere in the afternoon is that most places are closed for siesta. We were beyond hungry because there are really no stops outside of the towns along route 40, so we lost our chance for food 2 hours before. Luckily the creperie was willing to serve us early and lucky for us, it was delicious. We took the boys down the road to play in the big park after that ...

The bus ride to Valparaiso was amazing. Yes, 8 hours in a bus was amazing. We each had VIP seats, which were giant/cushioned recliners, got served snacks and lunch and the boys were a little under the weather and slept almost the entire trip in their own seat. MAGICAL! When you walk out of the bus terminal in Valpo, there are food carts dishing up empanadas, stuffed bread, meat skewers amd other tasty treats. We were very pumped to see street food.  Argentina really lacks street food, but they have steak. We loved Valparaiso almost instantly and are very happy with our decision to stay here a bit longer than Santiago. Our apartment is on the waterfront and has a pool on the 5th floor terrace as well as a rooftop terrace. We will have a great view for the New Years fireworks. We set out to explore and get some dinner. We ended up at a Mexican joint that was pricy but tasty and afforded us out first views of the incredible street art here in Valparaiso. (Just kn...

Merry Christmas... baby it's hot outside!! The flight to Mendoza was an easy one. No issues and we checked into our airbnb no problem. The only surprise is that we are "sort of" sharing a house with the owner's brother. He has his own self contained side of the place and uses the kitchen minimally. No problem, he seems nice anyways and he has a pet tortoise that lives in our garden...we call her Christy...although she has a much more complex spanish name. We've officially initiated Xmas mode. They even have a little tree set up for us here. This is our week to relax and veg holiday style. Every night has included dessert and a Christmas movie to get us in the mood. We even managed to sneak in our annual prime rib dinner...although missing the company of some great friends. It's hot as hades here though. Like 40 degrees, singe your pale skin hot. We've been trying to battle the heat in the pool (yes xmas pool time) and with l...