Beg 'n Men

Warnings about Bird Flu

2006-05-02T21:15:00.000+09:30

In Hong Kong we came across this little fella amongst the warning signs about Bird Flu. Strangely enough this was in the Bird Market. He was happy to pose for photos as long as we didn't interrupt his escape bid.

More Vaticano

2006-05-02T20:54:00.001+09:30

Been busy with Tangomania and setting up Meg's new laptop, and the wireless connection throughout the house, hence have neglected the blog. But I should now finish off my Vatican Museums pictures...

There were a couple of interesting doors at the Vatican Museum. It's funny that we got to see them, because it was shut when we arrived (came back the next day though - so all was well!).

This is the main entrance:

Some random door along the road leading to the main entrance:

More Vaticano

2006-05-02T20:54:00.000+09:30

Vatican Museums

2006-04-12T19:10:00.000+09:30

The famous Vatican Museums have a very cool stair well... I just wish they would remove the top of that persons head :(

La Boca

2006-04-12T19:04:00.000+09:30

La Boca, apart from being famous as the home of La Boca Juniors (Maradonna's old club) has a colourful little district area called Caminito. Bit of a tourist trap really... But everyone goes there none the less.

Tango Hardcores

2006-04-12T18:55:00.000+09:30

This is us in a group on the last night of CITA. Photo taken by Adrian Veredice of Adrian y Alejandra... thanks Adrian.

Los Reyes del Tango

2006-04-12T18:52:00.000+09:30

As already mentioned previously, this band was amazing. Unfortunately I didn't get too many worthwhile shots of them (goes in general for Buenos Aires also... pity). This one is cropped as their stag layout was pretty haphazard and there was little I could do to enforce that first rule of photography - keeping it simple. Or is that the second rule?

Sebastian Arce y Mariana Montes

2006-04-12T18:42:00.000+09:30

OK, I can't be bothered doing what I'm meant to be doing now, so here's another picture. This couple is Sebastian Arce and Mariana Montes. Both lovely people and exceptional dancers. His musicality is simply amazing, her strength, flexibility and grace is outstanding. This was an interesting performance, mostly close embrace with little sign of their nuevo prowess. Certainly an example of their versatility.

I changed it...

2006-04-04T19:45:00.000+09:30

Couldn't be bothered with formatting the pictures to fit the blog (some may have noticed the overhang)... then couldn't be bothered changing the blog template by hand to cope with the pictures... This was next next best thing... not as pretty I must say. The orange bit across the top kinda reminds me of easyJet in the UK. blergh.

Before I archive it I will endeavour to fix it.

Tiz the Ripper

2006-04-02T22:26:00.000+09:30

Sometimes low lighting can work in your favour. Tiz is actually holding a knife, but being on the outside of the image it was moving fast over the camera's CCD and hence is blurred beyond recognition. Thanks for the inspiration for this photo dave...

Nice Ending

2006-04-02T22:25:00.000+09:30

This couple is Damian Rosenthal and Celine Ruiz. Celine stepped in for Eugenia when she didn't perform at the CITA theatre show. Anyway, I liked their finish and it was right in front of me, and they held it long enough to get a relatively blur free capture.

More Chicho

2006-04-02T22:22:00.000+09:30

OK, so the grainy behaviour of the ISO1600 setting is clear in these images... but still there's nostalgia in the potential fact (!!) that this is their last performance together...

Chicho

2006-03-28T20:01:00.000+10:30

With no flashes allowed, this photo was a real test of my miserable photography skills... still I like it. This could well be one of the last ever photos of the famous couple Mariano "Chicho" Frumboli and Eugenia Parrilla. We all left with the feeling that they were done. It was a passionate performance though, despite a few slips on the tricky floor, it was amazing to see up close and personal (I was zoomed right out for this one).

This is the End

2006-03-28T19:45:00.000+10:30

I think that was Jim Morrison that said that...?

Anyways, Meg has already mentioned that it's all done and dusted. I spent a few hours in at work clearing out a backlog of emails and doing the catch up walk around, now I need to pull my end of the bargain along back here at home and get things up and running again.

No major dramas in Auckland. Never been to NZ before, so it was nice to see it, but Auckland really is just another city and we were not armed with any tourist information. Didn't matter for 2 reasons:

1. The weather sucked... Topical cyclone what's his name that flattened Innisfail (spelling probably wrong) dropped into the north island while we were there.

2. The whole point was to catch up with Meg's sis and bro in law. It was fun to catch up and vegetate over coffee, chai lattes and beer .... and wine ... and a bloody big bowl of mussels... and all the other stuff we ate (including a big snapper landed by our hosts themselves).

Besides veging out I was the lucky recipient of a personal brewery tour of the Auckland Lion Nathan brewery, as arranged by Andy (pulled a few strings he did). It was pretty cool (and hot by the kettles) to see a full scale brewery under full steam, being guided by the big guns. One of the guys was also the "microbrewer" who does little 40 litre batches to test out new hop and yeast varieties... Just a perfect size to bottle up a few to take home after the taste tests one would assume...

So now it's back to reality - something I'm not really fond of at the moment. And managing the aftermath of the insurance claims for lost luggage and robbery. Dang theif made a call on Meg's cell phone for 13 minutes and it came up to 70 bucks. Bastards.

I think we should shift right back into Adelaide sleeping patterns OK, the up at 1pm and in bed after 4am regime seemed to allow us to settle into NZ.

Ummmm.... that's really about all. I'm not going to write much more, but I do plan on sticking up a few photos before I archive this thing as my diary (as I got a bit lazy on that handwritten deal).

Thanks to all those who read and commented, we had stacks of people checking the site... yay!

Blog Signoff

2006-03-28T17:23:00.000+10:30

That's it, we're back in Adelaide.
Got up at 2:30am this morning in Auckland to get to our flight...Andy and Midori were crazy enough to get up to wave us goodbye! Had a relaxed couple of days hanging out with them in NZ, nice to see where they live and the places they are hanging out in. Managed to bypass the Krispy Kreme stand in the Sydney airport.
So, am back around the corner from the central markets....wandered over to look at the fresh weird green stuff apparently known as vegetable matter, and have begun to wade through the mail (bills), the emails, the washing and other tasks. Lovely to hear from friends and family, reassuring to be back amongst our 'stuff' and disconcerting to think about the alarm going off tomorrow morning for work!
Now I can start planning for the next adventure....
Thanks for coming travelling with us through the blog.
M!

Cheap Clothes...

2006-03-24T12:25:00.000+10:30

Only just realised how cheap the clothes are here... I had to replace a few more laundered items... Brand names like puma nike etc., sell their t´s for about 20 australian dollars, back home the equivalent stuff is 50 to 100. Don´t understand.

Wrongness

2006-03-24T12:23:00.000+10:30

Mark and I finally jumped and tried the mixed parrilla.... Guts and all.

Mark had it in a word: POSION

Kidney´s have a text that is not unlike meat, but they taste like chemicals. Gross.

Hanging with Sebastian

2006-03-24T12:20:00.000+10:30

Again, I can´t reiterate how great some of the people in the tango world have been to us. Yesterday, Mark and I spent an hour in a tango music shop getting an experts opinion in all of the works from all of the orchestras from Sebastian Arce. He´s only in Buenos Aires (his old home) for a month or so per year and he happily spent this time sharing his great depth of knowledge with us.

I return to Australia with 26 tango CDs not already in the extensive Siempre Tango collection, with not much time to study them before my next DJ gig.

Parillas, Practicas and Packing

2006-03-24T08:51:00.000+10:30

Final few hours in Buenos Aires.
Really enjoyed the last few days in Palermo, a completely different part of the city with lovely parks, great cafes....and shops.
The divide between the haves and have-nots here is extremely sad. Watching people at 4am going through the rubbish on the side of the road to pick out the cardboard to sell for recycling, or the guys on the subway trying to sell stickers or aspiring...or the kids on the streets hocking sad bunches of flowers at 5am.
Heading out for dinner tonight with Mark and Tiz, they have been great company the last two weeks. Going back to a great parilla. We went to a practica last night run by Chico and Sebastian - again, just happy to watch people who really know what they're doing! We did have a go at some of the stuff....in our self-named beginners corner.
Feels kinda crazy to think that 6 weeks is coming to an end. Looking forward to seeing Andy and Midori in Auckland on Saturday, and to giving my feet a rest for a few days.

The Tub

2006-03-22T09:45:00.000+10:30

I almost ater a quater kilo tub of ice cream on my own (small amount of help from Meg).

Is that bad?

Battling the Plague

2006-03-22T09:43:00.000+10:30

I´ve not had much luck with illness on this trip. I´ve been just fending off a cold for 3 weeks - hit me big time last night so I had to bail on the milongas... The smoke and late nights were replaced by 13 hours of sleep and litres and litres of water (oh yeah and some 3000mg of vitamin C and the odd hit of pseudoephedrine)

Smokey internet cafe´s not doing much good tho...

Moved to Palermo

2006-03-22T09:35:00.000+10:30

Due to some confusion with our booking, we had to move out of our San Telmo guest house to an apartment in the suburb of Palermo. I now have an entirely different feeling of BsAs. Not as polluted, much cleaner, greener, quieter, and ...well.. nicer.

The apartment itself, however is a disaster. Not only was it not clean when we arrived (the previous tenant was clearly a slob... floor was barely visible through the sh!t they´d left behind), but it certainly wasn´t as advertised to us by the guest house. We´re not sure if that´s just our perception of what´s nice and appropriate and that this is common or if we were sold a dud, but anyway we´re only there for 2 more nights...

My top five greivances with the apartment

5. The window rattling when it´s closed (so we have to sleep with it open, luckily it´s quiet in this neighbourhood)
4. The door rattling when it´s closed
3. The shower filling up like a bath
2. The bed feels like sleeping on a matress of sand

... but most of all...

1. The bathroom floored with carpet and the cistern leaking so the carpet is permanently wet... Well I´m telling myself it´s the cistern and not something else... Of and there is also the soap holder with drainage holes that empty straight onto the carpet...

Carpet in a bathroom????

Sharing Their Passion

2006-03-22T09:28:00.000+10:30

I´ve already mention that Adrian and Alejandra have been exceedingly generous in various ways with Meg and I. Today we had the pleasure of spending about 3 hours with Sebastian Arce. It all began when he gave Tiz and Mark the wrong address for a practica and he felt guilty and offered us all a private lesson. He normally does not do privates in Buenos Aires and prefers people to study with the local teachers (he is now living in Paris).

Before the and after the lesson he spent a long time chatting with us over coffee, interesting in hearing about Australia, but more importantly for us, sharing his extensive knowledge of Tango. It´s clear it´s his passion, he lives it, always reading books, listening to music (all types, old and modern), and studying bio mechanics to help him discover new movements in the dance.

The lesson itself was another back to basics, but gave us 2 new ways of dancing the same stuff we´ve been doing for years... more information to integrate and understand, but I can´t help feeling once it happens I will always look back on that lesson as one of the most significant moments in tango for me.

It´s hard to imagine a footballer or rock star sitting down with a fan and chewing the fat. These people are treated like rock stars in the tango community, some of them live that lifestyle, behave that way too, but others like Sebastian are very down to earth.

Getting There

2006-03-19T07:22:00.000+10:30

CITA has been pretty good, except for a few minor gripes about the theatre shows and people pulling out - but I'm over that now. THe workshops have generally been great, but still full of people who have over estimated themselves... they all seem to have the same accent too, funnily enough. We will walk away with a bag full of new tricks that are half baked and will require many hours of tweaking to get right... But the most valuable thing has been the technique feedback - often this has been contracdictory between different teachers, but now we are aware more of what is possible and armed to make our own decisions on what works for us. Dancing should be back to normal after about 2 years solid practice!

Rocking Practica

2006-03-19T07:20:00.000+10:30

MEg and I went to Sebastian Arce and Chicho's practica last night, packed full of awesome dancers it was great to watch them and borrow ideas. Chicho was in step invention mode and would stop the practica to demonstrate his discoveries, he's pretty amazing to watch... but so is Sebastian.

Palermo Class

2006-03-19T07:17:00.000+10:30

Adrian and Alejandra took Mark, Tiz, Meg and I out for dinner in Palermo, a decent suberb with stacks of restaurants... Naughty buggers wouldn't let us pay - another example of how crazily generous they are. It was great to have more meat, except this time it was served with a delicious sauce, salad and roasted potatoes instead of the standard pile of meat and chips (of which Ive had more than i could remember since getting here)

Ice Cream

2006-03-19T07:15:00.000+10:30

The ice cream here is great, and there are ittle shops everywhere. Each one seems to have 50 or so flavours all completely unmarked and covered with stainless steel lids... somehow the ice cream man always knows which lid to lift without making a mistake...

Catos y Perros

2006-03-17T06:59:00.000+10:30

Rain came a tumbling down agin today, umbrella was useless in the torrent. Wasnt too bad though as I needed to buy new clothes because of the damage done by the last laundry.... All dry again!

Mean Spirits

2006-03-15T10:47:00.000+10:30

As usual there was someone on the subway today, hawking cheap goods to try and make a living, in this case sets of coloured pens. The asking price was only 2.5 pesos for about 6 pens, or about 1 dollar aus. Some budding pick pocket managed to grab some while the destitute guy wasnt watching and escape off into the next carriage before anyone noticed. Took me a second to realise exactly what happened, not that my spanish would have been able to alert any one anyway.

Memories of Roma

2006-03-15T05:15:00.000+10:30

The other day I saw something that reminded me of a common practice in Rome: "Can't fit your car into that parallel park??" Just park head first and leave the back end of the car in the middle of the street... photos to be posted soon.

My friend Erin in Whistler called this "Stunt Parking"

Blocked

2006-03-15T05:12:00.000+10:30

It seems that all the internet cafes here are really strict with their internet p#rn blockers. I can't generally access my email because someone must have sent me something with a word that might be construed as rude. Even when reading smh.com.au or theage.com.au it sometimes tells you off because maybe there's a headline with a potentially word. Look out side on the street and half of the massive billboards contain barely clad women.

Double standards.

The Man

2006-03-15T05:07:00.000+10:30

Last night we attended the first theatre show as part of Cosmo Tango. It was OK, but not superb. Many different couples, but they weren't the cream of the crop (and the best couple reused stuff we'd seen before)... The all did an improvisation at the end, which was pretty good, but on the whole not great.

Then we headed off to a milonga at La Viruta, expecting some performances and hoping maybe Chicho would strut his stuff. Satisfied we were. At about 3:30 am Chicho and Eugenia did two long performances that were simple stunning. Cosmo Tango has now offically been worth it. We've now had 2 lessons with these maestros and also one with Sebastian and Mariana, Chicho and Eugenia's lessons are awesome. His understanding of the positions of the two bodies and their possibilities from any position is second to none (we've seen anyway).

Currently very satisfied.

Mark and Tiz

2006-03-13T05:10:00.000+10:30

Mark and Tiz have arrived safely, we caught up with them in their ritzy apartment last night and took them out to our crazy little tango parilla, from which we managed to escape before being forced to perform again (he got a bit upset as we left, but hey)... At least we got to hear one karaoke performance and his friend on the keyboard.

We took Mark and Tiz to Villa Malcolm after that to see Color Tango. I don't think they (COlor TAngo) were in their best form, but it was a good night none the less and finished at a reasonable 2:30 am. The crowd at this place had changed significantly for the orchestra, normally a very young crowd - much older this time.

Was good to chat to some familiar faces and get the gossip back from Adelaide.

CITA starts tonight (the festival we've come here for)... opening night milonga and performances by some of the masters... Hope it will be good.

Dont drink the water

2006-03-13T05:07:00.000+10:30

OK, Im usually pretty careful about not drinking water in places I dont trust, but everything seemed fine here, excepting the fact it is South America. THis place used to be super rich and I figured that the water treatment would be up to scratch. I think it actually is, but the bugs that remain are probably different to those in Adders. Anyway, my advice after 3 days of food poisoning (either the water or the dodgy pasta from the other day) is always buy bottled water and drink that. Even if the place has good water... stomaches can take some time to adjust and its not always what you want to be doing when on holis :)

Tango Parilla

2006-03-13T05:03:00.000+10:30

The other night we caught up with an old friend of Megs from Canberra, Sarah. Sarah was involved in the tango social club there (started it) and has sinced move here to live and teach tango (brave girl). She took us out to this little grill (parilla) near her apartment. THe super friendly owner proceeded to block the doors before we could leave and demanded a tango performance. SO Meg and I had to dance in a space the size of one or two tables for a packed restaurant. Very funny. THen the old guys got up and tried to show us up with their partners. Even funnier. One more "performance" by myself and Sarah (whom I had never danced with before, but it went ok) before we were able to escape the crazy little restaurant and the owners karaoke efforts...

Bizarreness

More Taxi Madness

2006-03-13T05:01:00.000+10:30

THe taxis here generally dont have any seat belts. Combine this with the fact they all drive super loco and it is actually illegal not to wear a seat belt it makes for interesting journeys.

Bad Floor Craft

2006-03-11T04:42:00.000+10:30

Ive been very disappointed with the floor craft here in the busy milongas. Im told it is because of the percentage of tourists here at the moment. Stand still on the floor for a second because you have no space and people smash you from all sides.

Having been told its the tourists, a few of the better local dancers (one being an up and coming new guard dancer) do insane turns and space hogging moves just to show off irrespective of the damage done.

I think next time we will come out of tourist season.

Australians Everywhere

2006-03-11T04:41:00.000+10:30

One of the nice things during the travels has been catching up with a couple of old Canberra friends. Naomit Toth in Paris, and Sarah Bonnar here in BsAs. Have also run into Rod Daniels who I knew from Canberra and is now living in Perth. Sarah lives here now and teaches tango. Rod, like us, is here for the festival and to cram his head with new tango stuff....and shop for shoes. Don't worry Andy, we've looked at an extra bag, I might still need it!

Dodgy taxis

2006-03-11T04:38:00.000+10:30

We know about the taxi drivers here driving you around in circles to crank up the meter a bit more, which is not really that annoying when they rip you off 50 cents Australian, however when they expect to get a tip also - that annoys me. Last night I had to rip 50 centavos out of the taxi drivers hand because he wanted a tip after driving us around in circles for 10 minutes, thinking we wouldnt notice.... somehow him reading out the street names he thought would justify his deception.

Im pretty generous with the honest ones, at least a peso tip, but the dodgy ones can b!ugger off!

Color Tango

2006-03-10T05:40:00.000+10:30

Last night we ventured back to the super touristy Confiteria Ideal, not my favourite venue, primarily because I´ve not managed to find a local there yet... Anyways, the amazing Color Tango played and had a superb vocalist working with them. His voice was amazing and sounded just like the classic tango signers working for the great tango orchestras of the past. Spine tingling stuff for the tango afficionado.

There were also 5 couples performing in intermissions, the first of whom were terrible, and I might say embarassing. The other 4 couples were excellent, the final couple bringing back memories of Roberto Herrara in his hey day of Perfumes de Tango. They were super young too, maybe 20 at the oldest. The girls had obviously had some ballet or gymnastics training, and the balance of the men was supreme. Again not sure if this is enough to enspire one or make one give up completely...

Good fun though.

Shoes and Coffee

2006-03-10T05:29:00.000+10:30

Aaahhh yes, I have found tango shoe nirvana land! Shoe shops like candy stores, where you go and sit on a lounge, tell them your size and the height of the heel that you want and they start bringing out boxes and boxes of all different colours and materials and patters and all sorts! Thank goodness the exchange rate is working in our favour!!

Ben thinks I've finished shoe shopping now, but Tiz gets here on Saturday and then I'll have to visit them all over again....and each time you go they have different stock! :)

And have found a great little coffee place we've been wandering to each morning, the guys there are getting to know us but are laughing I think as we arrive later each day!

So much tango, my legs and feet haev never been so sore. It's great, but I'm looking forward to my towels, my shower, my toaster, a pale ale, fresh vegetables, family and friends (not necessarily in that particular order!).

Still Alive

2006-03-09T11:56:00.000+10:30

Yep were still ticking, just dont have a lot of time to update. Things have been good but frustrting in regards to tango. Instructors are great but they have been pulling apart our technique. Probably necessary, but feels like going backwards.

My clothes got bleached by the moron laundry across the street, that was kind of annoying...

We had the worlds worst lunch today pasta floating in a bowl of water with a touch of sauce ordinaire.... having said that all of the other food has been superb... the chorizo sausage here is absolutely divine, and the bife de chorizo (rump) is nuts!

Anyway, better run, off to COnfiteria Ideal for Color Tango live.

Mark and TIz must be getting excited as they leave very soon.

Oh and weve also seen Otros Aires live and Mario Chicho Frumboli has been burning up the floor a bit in the places weve been visiting (he is unbelievable to watch)

MOre soon

(oh and the table legs here are getting worse)

lucky the coffee is good.. so are the media lunas... or croissants for you frenchies

Tight Pants and High Heels

2006-03-05T02:43:00.000+10:30

Milongas in Buenos Aires. Apparently, this is the place to be for some serious butt viewing! I've never seen so many women wearing such very, very tight tights! The men don't seem to follow the same fashion.... It's far more casual here than I was expecting too: jeans are around at the milongas, t-shirts, and at the practicas there were a fair number of tracksuit pants. We went to La Nacional on Wednesday night and luckily caught Nito and Elba performing. Last night we saw Mariana Dragone performing with her new partner, it's kinda crazy looking in the paper and seeing all the orchestras and performances happening. It's quite a surreal existence though. The milongas run until 6am - what do all these people do during the day??

Curse of the Buenos Aires Table Leg

2006-03-05T02:21:00.000+10:30

The tables here all seem to have 4 legs instead of one central one and because the tables are so small you end up banging the table continuously, putting everyone's drinks in peril. I figures though, because everyone here is quite short! This is perfect for me dancing, but Meg towers over a lot of the men!

Adrian y Alejandra

2006-03-05T01:44:00.000+10:30

Last night we were taken out to the famous Confiteria Ideal by the original Siempre Tango postcard models, Adrian and Alejandra. They chose the venue because one of best (if not the best) current day orchestras played: Orchestra Los Reyes del Tango. This orchestra had 4 bandoneons, and their sound was so powerful, it was a hard decision as to whether we should just sit and listen and watch them and overcome the urge to dance. So of course we did some of each.

Adrian and Alejandra are one of the best new tango couples in the world, and I would put my money on them being one of the nicest. For them to take us under their wing and introduce us to their friends and even the performers of last night was really great. We have a lesson with them today at 3 pm, which will be excellent.

Oh yeah, and I got to dance with Alejandra... muhahaa...

www.adrianyalejandra.com

U2 in BsAs

2006-03-04T06:40:00.000+10:30

They played here the last 2 nights, we were very tempted to go, but having to get scalped for tickets at the stadium would have been difficult... also they play in Adelaide the night we get back, so that will be enough.

We also just missed the Stones by a week.

Practica and Milonga

2006-03-04T06:25:00.000+10:30

On Wednesday we ventured out for our first real tango experience. Firstly we went to Tangocool, a practica full of young people dancing mainly the nuevo style. AS usual more women than men, but there was a lot of rejection of invitations for a dance which I found amusing. There is a real pecking order of tango here that's much stronger than at home. The best dancer in the room had his little harem who were more than happy to sit out most of the night as long as they were free for him if he so chose.

After the practica finished at 1230 am we headed off to the milonga la Nacional, it was packed and we hung around there until after 230 am before running out of steam. The process of cabecao (attracting a woman's attention for a dance through eye contact only) is quiet intimidating the first time. Anyway, I had some success...

The dance floor was incredibly packed, like a busy night at the banque but on a greater scale. Many people out of control crashing into each other, I didn't expect that here, but perhaps they are tourismo!

Through to the Bone

2006-03-04T06:23:00.000+10:30

I went to the tellar machine to get some cash a minute ago and the skys opened up ala Queensland wet season. I am saturated... it was amazing, I haven't seen rain like it in years. I didn't think BsAs would be able to get so much rain. One good thing about it was that it stripped all the smog from the air (BsAs is almost as bad as on HOng Kong in that respect). I can breathe again!

Second Stomach

2006-03-04T06:17:00.000+10:30

Last night Meg and I went to La Bariada, a grill restaurant here in BsAs. It was magnidicent food and in classic Argentine style it was mostly meat! I had Bife Especial, which was the biggest piece of meat I've ever eaten. I was about 30 cms long 15cms wide by 6 high. THis thing would have weighed a kilo easily with no bone at all. Considering I'd eaten Veal Thone, half od Meg's entree, some salad and fries before hand I was amazed by the capacity of my stomach to eat high quality cows.

We meet some Portugese lads there, anglasised names were John and Arthur (who became known as King Arthur and St John for the rest of the night). They ordered a steak so tender the waiter cut it with a spoon (yes a blunt one). After dinner, some cognac and whiskey we hit the streets of Buenos Aires with these guys and ended up at some club next to the massive cemetary in which Eva Peron is buried. I vaguely remember returning home at 5 am and then having to get up for a tango lesson with Fabrizio...

Ben in Bs As

2006-03-02T01:47:00.000+10:30

I have arrived well and excited here in Buenos Aires, has a great vibe about the city, and Meg found a great little coffee place with you guessed it, more good croissants!

I had been emailing with a tango instructor Fabrizi Forti while back in Australia, he said we could have some lessons with him in his San Telmo studio, little did I know it was actually the same place we are staying in (he runs our hotel as well!)... More proof the world is tiny.

My flight from Dallas to Bs As was uneventful, except this time they actually provided some food (dodgy of course but at least we did not have to pay for it), however I handed the wine back when they wanted 5 US dollars for it... Sneaky yanks.

Buenos Aires

2006-03-01T09:40:00.000+10:30

Have made it from Paris to Madrid to Buenos Aires - not without Iberia doing it's best to interrupt the process! Never mind, am here, and wandering the streets - Ben will be pleased to know tomorrow that I have already found a good beer bar! The trip in to the centre took us past an enourmous slum area, the driver informing me that they are made entirely of people 'without papers' - it looked just horrendous, a place you would never hope for an enemy to have to live. I caught up with Naomi in Paris before I left, which was great - and she spoke about this side of Bs As. It will be interesting to see the ongoing contrasts while we are here for the next month.

Dallas Fort Massive

2006-03-01T08:05:00.000+10:30

Currently milling around wasting time in Dallas Forth Worth airport. This place is seriously big, more restaurants than you can poke a stick at. I don't know whether lunch should take the form of a gourmet burrito, texan bbq, french sandwich or if I should just gorge myself on gelati and ben and jerry's.

I wandered into a book store here (which was impressively big for an airport) and was looking for something to read because it seems American Airlines don't have any form of in-air entertainment (and yes they charge $4 for a small snack even on international flights - I mean, hey, it's offensive enough airline food, without having to pay for it, but I digress)... so in this bookstore they have a sectional called "famous authors", it's full of Jackie Collins, Dan Brown, Michael Crichton (sp?) etc., around the corner in which must be the "other authors section" you'll find "lesser known" authors like Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, and Hemmingway. Funny.

I must have a really thick accent because the information guy couldn't understand me saying "internet terminal", oh dear, reminds me of trying to order a bagel in New York (I had to repeat myself 5 times and on the 5th I whacked in my best attempt at an east coast accent and it seemed to work).

The north and central western parts of the US seem to be all white still, we flew over them for a good 3 hours and it wasn't until the 4th and final hour did the landscape turn the more dirt brown. Maybe this place needs to be investigated in the future for its skiing opportunities. Next time.

Cruising into the airport to land I was staggered by what looked like some kind of "ranch suburb" for lack of a better term. Massive houses on massive blocks all neatly subdivided with dams etc., was all a bit to orderly to have been an accent. I could tell the houses were massive because the SUVs parked outside looked tiny in comparison. The size of the houses didn't diminish closer to the airport, just the side of the blocks when it got to the point of a 2 or more storey mansion butted against another. They really like big stuff here.

Hmmm., perhaps it's time to explore this crazy airport some more.

Poor Choice of Song

2006-02-28T10:58:00.000+10:30

You'll all have read the issues we've had with Iberia (trashed bags, lost bags, bad service, and now meg's been multiply delayed on her way to Argentina), well I just remembered one of the songs they play while taxiing has the repeating lyric:

"I'm not going anywhere"

I think their PR department needs a bit of a clean out or at least hire someone who can understand english lyrics to choose their songs. The cabin staff were pretty funny in their english announcements also, Meg and I could barely understand a word, and those we could be assembled rather carelessly into incoherent sentences.

Last day in BC

2006-02-28T08:53:00.000+10:30

Well this is it, my last day in British Columbia. My body needs a rest from skiing now anyway. Erin and I went up this morning after DHL delivered the replacement credit card (we're back online now, so I can stop carrying wads of cash) and the weather was rotten. Most of the moutain was shut for high winds and it wasn't that cold, so halfway up was raining still (snowing at the top luckily). After finding one sheltered run through the fir trees my body had said enough! Legs are exhausted. Went a little too hard on the first few days on my own (a product of skiing on your own is never having to wait for a lift line).

Looking forward to Buenos Aires, the warmth and Meg!

Has been fun hanging out with Erin and Geordan.

Proof the World is Tiny!

2006-02-27T10:42:00.000+10:30

Went to a bar here called the Savage Beagle and ran into a guy I went to primary school with. He once live here (and in fact I ran into him last time I was here too), however he left about the same time Meg and I did in 2003 and hasn't been back since... until the same week that I returned 3 years later.

23 cm

2006-02-27T10:38:00.000+10:30

The fresh snow arrived last night with a 23 cm dumping, it made for great skiing, but the trip home from the pub last night was not so much fun. Waiting in the "puking" snow at 3:30 am was a bit tough... I think we're getting old, and this late night game should be left to the youngsters.

Our friend Geordan is still missing in action from last night...

I had some fun watching my old uni friend Mike and his brother Brendan teach Mike's girlfriend Kristy to snow board, she's quite coordinated and doing well after only one day, but she did look kinda funny in Brendan's spare ski jacket (it was a little too big and in her own words she looked "like a big red bean bag").

Minus Twenty

2006-02-25T09:26:00.000+10:30

This morning was a tough one on the mountain for the ill prepared... -20 degrees celcius. My gear really really started to show its age. Luckily there as no wind chill at all, but after each run I had to go inside and defrost my toes and heat my gloves. The rented boots I have a tearing my feet apart and I have pressure bruises all over my shins and ankles. Having said all that I love it, I had my first real ski with Erin (he's an excellent skier and pushes me a lot) and I remembered what it was all about.

Luckily there's only 3 more days or my body would explode. When you're skiing solo you don't have to wait in lift lines as there's a special singles queue that bumps you right to the front to make up the extra person(s) in groups of 2 or 3, so I've been skiing non stop all day for 3 days... time for some apres!!

My friend Lakey comes tomorrow and Geordan's now up from Van... Should be a fun weekend.

Australian in Paris

2006-02-25T04:39:00.000+10:30

Everyone has heard tales of the rude Parisiens, what an awful people they are in general to anyone unable to speak French. Have been here for 6 days now, and have not had a single instance of rudeness - on the contrary, I've been greeted with politeness, patience and good humour the whole way - such that I've been able to do and get everything I need and want with no more than about 4 words of French!

I have a theory, having now been amidst throes of tourists here, that the rumour of rudeness comes via the multitudes of visitors who are obnoxious, disrespectful, and just plain foolish themsemves in their behaviour...like the hundreds who use flash photography in all the museums despite clear signs everywhere not to...or the people who talk LOUDLY on their mobile phones as they wander through a church with a mass in progress...or the people who argue with guides about taking their hat off inside notre dame - saying that if they want people to remove their hats they should heat the building better...or the people who completely bypass a sign saying something like 'reservere de praire privado' (even I can figure out what that means!) and sit right next to someone obviously in prayer and again, talk loudly about how their next vacation is going to be to someplace warm and tropical...

The one that takes the cake for me thus far though, occurred when I was having dinner in a little place in the latin quarter a couple of nights ago. Listed in the Lonely Planet as the kind of place where you get solid but cheap food - don't expect anything great and you won't be charged for it either. Unfortunately I was positioned next to an American couple, man and woman, and pircture in your head a middle aged man, strong American drawl of your choice, again loudly, proclaiming the following:

Now, really, what is this crap we've been eating anyway? I mean, everyone talks about the French and food, but really, what is this crap? No really, you have to cut me some slack; I've been outa the Uunited States for what, 6 weeks now, and all I've had here is crap and piss. What? No, really, that's truly what they say here - when you say pee pee, they say piss, and that's all this is. I mean, I might order some dessert, but, god knows what they'll do to apple pie here, and with the prices, well, really, I feel like I've been raped. I mean, I've been staying the in the best hotels here, and they don't even do better than this.

I kid you not. At about that stage I couldn't decide whether to inhale my food and leave (a not too bad casserole dish at 6 euro...) or to jump up and down and scream, 'I am not with them!', or to tell him to damn well go back to the Uunited States and leave the rest of the world for others who might just appreciate it....!!

If only I was a Parisien and not a tourist! :)

Random Pics

2006-02-24T11:55:00.000+10:30

Meg out to find Maximus

Inside the Pantheon Looking Up

Hmmm... Where should I tie this do not cross line... How about to the leg of that priceless piece of Roman history...

Please do something about that growth

Shutters... Something of which we don't have enough in Oz.

Tango Tango Everywhere

2006-02-24T11:28:00.000+10:30

Authentic Argentine Tango has really permeated European culture, if we wearnt hearing it in the Paris Metro being banged out by buskers, it was a Madrid street performer dancing with a strange puppet like manequin couple he'd strapped to himself and disappeard into like a Chinese New Year dragon. The Seine cruise we went on also pointed out in the pre-recorded audio commentary that in the Spring and Summer, Paris is home to a regular outdoor milonga (all the while playing another tango as background music), all other commentary was squarly based around the architecture and history of the visible bridges and buildings.

Foie Grais and other Funny Words

2006-02-24T11:15:00.000+10:30

On our last night together in Paris, Meg and I went to a nice little restaurant in the Latin quarter which had a supremely authentic French menu, Foie Grais, Escargots etc. The Maitre d' was very patient with us and ran through the vast menu (only available for viewing as a chalked board as it changed reguarly) explaining and translating everything. Of course five minutes after he left we were asking each other if the other could remember what any of it was...

Ultimately we managed to inhale foie grais encased fig and escargots in a garlic cream sauce for entree, and stewed hare and duck with more foie grais for mains. A sublime meal and for the quality it was significantly cheaper than an equivalent meal I've eaten in Adelaide. In fact I don't know of a restaurant in Adelaide that could even produce such amazing food...

Meg has the Lonely Planet so I can't yet mention it's name, but will update this entry.

The staff also suggested a delicious wine that we drank with the meal, and of course I drank far to much of it to remember to write the name (or even region) of it down.

This is something well worth putting a few euros aside for if you ever visit Paris, even if it means living off croissants for the rest of your stay.

num num num...

Donuts and Hot Chocolate

2006-02-24T11:02:00.000+10:30

There's a special place in Madrid you can use to put on some extra weight if need be, Choclateria San Gines just off of Calle Mayor sells incredibly thick hot cholocate and slices of "donut" for you to dip and enjoy. They were very fresh and tasty, but clearly not good for you. Meg and I didn't manage for finish off one serve shared between the two of us.

I quoted the word donuts because they were a funny shap, they make them super long and wound up like a coil.

Just me and the Mountain

2006-02-23T12:35:00.000+10:30

First day up on the mountain today, went up alone as Erin had to work. It's good fun just cruising around on your own (or at least when you're far enough away from the american families not to hear them yelling at each other) in the quiet.

Weather was not so great and the old ski gear is starting to show it needs replacement... hmmmm, lucky there's no credit cards around here...

Ben Arrives in Van

2006-02-23T12:29:00.000+10:30

Yesterday evening I arrived in Vancouver and Erin picked me up from the airport after I was put through the 7th degree by the immigration department. She took my ticket off me then quized me on the dates I was flying in and out of each place, I must have done all right because I wasn't subjected to a cavity search. Some how she also knew I went to Spain even before I gave her my ticket, but after I'd given her my passport, exchange was:

Customs: "Where'd you fly from today?"

Ben: "Paris"

C: "So you've been in Spain."

Ben: "Err... Yes"

Weird, I'm pretty sure she knew Paris was in France.

She also tried to steal my ticket, and when I asked for it back she tried to make me feel like she was doing me a favour. I wonder how long immgration officals need to train to behave like that.

So Erin picked me up and we met up with Geordan, who I also worked with in 02/03 and we went out to a cheap and good little chinese restaurant in Van and firmed up some plans for a serious skiing and socialsing weekend...

Australian in Paris

2006-02-23T02:34:00.000+10:30

It has been a jam packed few days....Ben left yesterday afternoon, so after finding my new hotel (7th floor, no elevator) I wandered out to find the Rodin museum, then wound my way back through st germain. Went to a milonga last night that Ben and I had tried the night before with no luck. It didn't start until 10:30 and unfortunately I had to leave by 11:30 to get back to my hotel on the metro, so it was a quick visit but thankfully I still got to dance.
This morning I went to the Luxembourg gardens and back to Notre Dame to do a tour - Ben and I visited briefly on the first day. Such an incredible building. Also went in to Ste Chapelle, they certainly knew how to do stained glass a few hundred years ago. Such a sad thing that humans insist on building amazing things and then destroying them via one means or another. Ben and I also did a lightning tour of the d'Orsay before he left - highlight being the enormous polar bear!
Oddly enough, an email arrived in my inbox yesterday from a girl I used to know in Canberra who danced tango. She is now living in Paris, so I am hopefully going to catch up with her on Monday before I leave. Lucky timing. Anyway, I'm off to the Centre Pompidou.

Ben's Museum of Crap

2006-02-21T04:30:00.000+10:30

I think I'm going to start a museum. I'm going to call it Ben's Museum of Crap. I've seen quite a few museums around the world now, and while most of them have had some amazing art that i've really enjoyed. Pretty much all of them have had quantities of stuff that just doesn't seem like art to me (call me a philistine and tell me I just don't get it, because well, I don't). I plan on collecting this crap and installing it all in the one place and charging 30 euros entry (i don't care what country the museum is in, I'm still charging euros).

First exhibit will be the water feature overlooking the Eiffel Tower, because it is just crap.

:)

Trials and Tribulations in Paris

2006-02-21T04:17:00.000+10:30

Well not such a great start to the morning on this not so fine Monday. As mentioned we're in the process of stocking up on traveller's cheques for Meg as I am about to wander off to Whistler with the only card we have left that's not been cancelled. However just metres from the AMEX door step, Meg realised she left her passport at the 'otel.... ARGH!

Anyway, I wandered in the Galleries Lafyette to get some much needed new jocks (I know you you wanted to know that), and a t-shirt etc., while she went back in search of said travel document. I probably chose the most expensive place in all of paris to buy standard underwear, but hey, insurance is paying for it (and it wasn't on purpose,it was just close). 1 pair socks, 1 pair jocks, 1 t-shirt, 60 euro. I would love to play the master card game here and say something was priceless, but that will take me a couple of months to think that way... it's all been rather stressful!

However the day was not a complete waste and we went on a river cruise which was much better than I expected... The perspective changes dramatically when you look at the same buildings from below in the Seine. Notre Damm looks amazing from the river. After freezing our butts off on the river cruise (me in particular because I was dressed for Madrid still...) we thought there would be nothing like a bit of hot chocolate to warm the cockles, so we headed into the Louvre area and Angelina. This beautiful little cafe was frequented by Audrey Hepburn amongst others and serves a mean Chocolat Africain (read expensive but delicious and rather volumous hot chocolate).

I realised I needed to buy some more clothes to stop me from freezing in this frosty town and just after said clothes found out my bag has been located and will arrive in a few hours (believe it when I see it!), and anyway, the insurance should come in handy for the emergency luggage...

Last night we went to an "authentic french brasserie" called Le Chatelier. It was packed and Meg and I were squeezed onto a table with another aussie and a chinese girl... authentic, huh. Anyway, the steak with Bernaise and frites was pretty decent none the less.

Prior to this we wandered into a nice unassuming (and packed) bar, ordered a couple of beajoulais and then they turned the lights out and started showing Charlie Chaplin movies with a live Pianist. Bizarre, but very cool.

I'm heading off to whistler tomorrow morning (thankfully with a ski jacket now) and Meg's here for another week.

Tango the Saviour

2006-02-20T04:16:00.000+10:30

After a reasonably torrid time in Madrid, Meg and I had a magic last night of Tango and tapas and beer and wine... Tango was at a great venue in Placa de Santa Ana, and the DJ and host Marcos was great. The standard of dancing was very high, and they said a lot of their best dancers were away in Berlin for a festival. The milonga had about 30 couples, down on the normal 50! Not bad for a regular milonga in a City with something on every night. Marcos music selection was superb.

How dare they...

2006-02-20T04:10:00.000+10:30

Iberia charge 6 euro for a pre fab sandwhich on their flights. Its not a budget airline.

They also appear to have baggage issues trashing megs and losing mine

Mad Ridden

2006-02-20T04:04:00.000+10:30

I discovered why Madrid is called such: When you are running around with minutes remaining before AMEX shuts to by travellers cheques and you cannot find a single teller machine, you get kinda mad... and ridden. Anyway we managed to get some in the end... an essential item since we are now credit cardless as they all had to be cancelled... ugh...

You Can't be Serious

2006-02-20T04:01:00.000+10:30

We have arrived in Paris, but my suitcase has not. You can but laugh at our luck at the moment. Also we have discovered that insurance is not all it's cracked up to be, who keeps all of the receipts for everything they have ever bought in case the lose it travelling.... Anyway, Paris is beautiful as usual, but the weather is horrible....

Crap Internet

2006-02-19T19:40:00.000+10:30

Inmadridirport theyhve theworstinteretrminals wihsome ruggedkeyboad thatis mposible tousanditis insanel yexpensive hene iwill not wrie much other than to say we are leaving for parisnow and everythingis under control.... stupidkeyboard

Always Carry a Spare Passport Photo

2006-02-18T01:06:00.000+10:30

Only one piece of advice for anyone travelling from here on from me....always carry a spare passport sized photo, you just never know when you'll need it....
After the craziness of our departure from Rome, and a gorgeous afternoon at the Museo Centro de Reina Sofia yesterday and tapas in the evening, we were looking forward to a cruisy day today at another museum and some gardens (yes of course with more food). We did make it to breakfast, and to an internet site to check the Siempre email, see how my brother´s big business meeting went (yay for Graeme!) and my sister´s move to Auckland etc etc .... did all that, and went to leave to find somewhere for lunch.
And no bag.
No bag, anywhere.
No passport, no plane tickets, no credit cards, cash, sunglasses, gloves, diary, phone, etc etc.
Someone had smoothly walked off with my bag!

Thankfully, being in an internet cafe, information was easy to find about cancelling cards etc, and Ben still had all his stuff (except his sunglasses which somehow went too!). It all seemed okay, cancelled all the cards, barred my phone (Ben´s is still operational), even found a police station fairly quickly to make the report.
Got to the embassy however, and found that the nearest passport photo place was shut for lunch 2-5pm, and the embassy is to close at 4:30pm....
SO off we raced to another metro stop to find a passport photo booth to get back to the embassy and here we are now waiting....3:35, and an hour in which to getm my emergency passport so that we can get out of Spain and into France in two days. It is of course Friday afternoon and we head out on Sunday.

Aaahhh, travel, love it! The whole process has been remarkably smooth....it's just the lost time that's really annoying (okay, and my phone with all the contacts!). Could have been worse....

The Great Brolly Tanty of Rome

2006-02-18T00:59:00.000+10:30

It sounded like such a nice idea...an early morning flight from Rome to Madrid, and hence a cruisy walk to the airport with perhaps one last stop for a coffee and croissant along the way....
The alarm went off at 5:15am and we were out of the hotel before 6am. The outdoors greeted us in dark drizzle and our two suitcases rattled along the cobblestones as we headed beyond Fontana de Trevi. And we walked. And walked. And walked. And began to get slightly peeved. And kept walking. And walked.
Eventually, in a fit of utter frustration, Ben´s brolly hit the ground, a stream of expletives rose into the heavy drizzle, and we acknowledged we had no freaking idea where we were.
Faced with a choice of continiuing to the next corner to check the sign (you try lugging a full samsonite across cobblestones for an hour!) chose to ask the nearest stranger the way to the termini - and tahnkfully wasn't completely put off by the fact that he was one of the many umbrella salesman we'd been avoiding the past few days (and didn´t need an umbrella, had my own, though Ben´s now didn´t look so great!). Anyway, heading directly back from where we had been, took one extra corner, and there it was in front of us....
Made it inside, raced down the platforms, sat ourselves on the Leonardi express, and 30 seconds later the train took off - thank goodness we didn't check the next corner! Got to the Iberia check-in as boarding went up on the computer screens, and a long line of people waiting to check in ahead of us, all looking as frustrated as we had felt a short while ago! Two check-in-chicks were making their way slowly through the line, as a guy at the business class check in sat back and talked with them about his weekend - these guys made Qantas look like saints! The man after us got shut down, the chick closed her computer and left - we didn't see if he ever got on the flight! Having realised we'd spent an hour walking what should have been a 30 minutes max trip, we were both in need of sustenance, and gazed longily at the espresso bar near our check-in but thought, no, boardinglines move pretty quickly, didn't want to miss the flight that way! Well, we could have, and should have, 'cos once on the plane there were only sad little sandwiches available to purchase, and one big snoring man accompanying us.
Two grumpy people later!
Got to Madrid, and spent half an hour waiting on the tarmac, they eventually let us out, and found my suitcase fairly well trashed. Gorgeous new airport, but apparently some teething problems...
Never mind, had arrived safely, the rest of the day ahead of us for Paza de Mayor, tapas etc, and I still had my passport....

Hotel Mimosa in Roma

2006-02-17T20:31:00.000+10:30

If you're going to Rome and want somewhere to stay, I can recommend the Hotel Mimosa on St Chiara. The price is good for its location right in the middle of Centro Storico, and just around from the Pantheon. Only small gripe is that the walls are not that thick and when Mr London with the loud voice came next door Meg had to ask him to shut up (and he did)... My relentless banging on the wall just resulted in them talking more, about what the hell the noise was...

Beautiful Madrid

2006-02-17T20:19:00.000+10:30

We have now spent one afternoon and one night in Madrid, it is a beautiful city with a really great ambience. People all seem really friendly, are happy to let Meg practice her Spanish on them and help out where necessary. They even dont fall over laughing when i say something completely incomprehensible.

We have visited the Centro Sofia gallery which has quite a selection of Picasso (including the famour war depiction, Guernica) and Dali. Their collection concentrated on artists who have spent a fair bit of time in Spain (or were born here). It was a great museum with heaps of seats for the weary legged, allowing you to sit an break rather than power walking through.

Lunch here is great and affordable when chosing of the Menu del Dia (apparently it is law in Madrid at least, if not Spain) that restaurants have a set menu to complement the a la carte. For 30 euro we had a three course, excellent quality meal, with a couple of glasses of wine. Yum.

We had to risk taking another power nap last night as all the walking and a very early start from Rome (Meg will fill you in on this debacle). However, I am happy to say there were no problems this time. We were back out on the streets in search of our first authentic tapas experience around 10:30 pm and found a great couple of bars in which we sampled small serves of incredibly fresh produce. It was a Thursday night, however, and I think most people had actually gone home and many resturants had shut, but other places were still serving food regardless. Tonight I expect will be another story.

It's sad to say that the Croissants here are not up to the quality of the Italian ones and the Cafe con Leche here is nothing like the Cappucino. They seem to just heat the milk rather than integrate the froth like in Rome. A small gripe... But I am the coffee snob.

We have been blessed by superb weather, except for one day in Rome which was our last morning, and again Meg is itching to tell this story.

Adios!

Pizzaria to Avoid

2006-02-17T20:17:00.000+10:30

We saw a busy Pizzaria in Rome and using that as a basis for quality, we didn't have much to work on, we went in. Turns out it was the Roman equivalent of Marcellina, and potentially worse. Blergh!

Avoid Pizzaria Montecarlo when in Rome, i.e. in this case do not do as the Romans do.

Green Eggs, No Ham

2006-02-17T20:13:00.000+10:30

Forgot to mention that at Yung Kee in Hong Kong we were served soem rather bizarre looking apertisers. These weird things that looked remotely like eggs, except they were a strange greeny blue colour. We quizzed one waiter and he had no idea what they were and found out from another that they were pigeon eggs. They were served with some pickled ginger, kinda like the sushi ginger, but much thicker and muck fresher.

Anyway, given some advice we loaded our eggs with ginger and chucked them down the hatch.

They tasted just like eggs except a bit more sulphery. I can't decide if I was happy with the result or disappointed that they maybe didn't taste like something else...

When Power Naps Go Horribly Wrong

2006-02-16T00:38:00.000+10:30

After a busy day yesterday, you know, seeing the Trevi Fountain, coffee and croissants at the Pantheon, a walk through the Roman Forums and to the Colloseum before hitting the via Sannio leather markets (whole other story there), more coffee and croissants, nice long leisurely lunch of pizza and pasta, before visiting the Spanish Steps and staring through the windows of the shops on via Condotti (those that we will never be able to afford to buy from)... one tends to be in need of a short power nap to recharge ones batteries before the evening ahead.

Sometimes one wakes up several hours later and is unable to remove themselves from the bed and they lose a night to tiredness. Perhaps captain jet lag finally caught up.

Bar il Fico

2006-02-16T00:34:00.000+10:30

My uncle and aunty recommended we visit a bar near Piazza Navone called il Fico. First we went there yesterday too late for the main buffet (the left overs looked tired) so we moved on. We made it there today, and it was simply superb. 6 Euro for a buffet of top quality, fresh food. If you are ever in Rome then I, too highly recommend it. I will however let you find it yourself, as thats also quite fun. Its west of Navone and on Corsa del Fico (enough information already).

The Great Versace Rip Off (Attempted)

2006-02-16T00:28:00.000+10:30

On the way up to the Museum Borghese in Rome we were asked for directions by a man in a car, intially he asked us where the French Embassy was and then started the usual, where are you from etc. He was surprised and said some of his family they live in Sydney, you know? But he lives in Paris and he works for Versace, hey young lady would you like something I have? Look at this jacket, its Versace, but I need your help I need some money for the Petrol, no? I am running out and have far to drive to the embassy. What?? You have no notes? How much you have? Nothing? Give me back that jacket...

And off drove the dodgy Fiat with an immitation Versace employee.

Good scam attempt, but it no work.. comprende?

Another Hong Kong Observation

2006-02-16T00:26:00.000+10:30

Copy watch copy watch fake watch best price tailored suit very cheap just for you gucci sunglasses chanel glasses you like the best

Fun for a couple of days, but its too hard in the end...

What, No Gelato??

2006-02-14T03:43:00.000+10:30

The Mini Cooper S screamed and smoke bellowed from the tyres as Meg slammed the machine into reverse and tore backwards through the tiny cobbled street with Ben screaming "left, LEFT". Scooters slid and scattered like tossed pieces of Mercury as the pair made getaway from the scene that would forever haunt Rome as the great unsolved gelati tantrum of 2006....

Okay, there haven't really been any run-ins yet with the polizia yet (breathe mum) but I did think of holding a protest when unable to find ANY places selling roast almond gelati. Still at 6pm did manage to stagger into a place to order chocolate, fragola and nocciola, and to stave off Ben's demands for more (should have ordered his own!) and then to run frantically down the street trying to warm up again.

Ahhh, beautiful city. Cancel the mortgate, take my name off the Siempre committee, Midori take the pot plants, I'm not coming home, Rome is my new abode.

Air Conditioners in Hong Kong

2006-02-14T00:12:00.000+10:30

The lonely planet did not lie about the airconditioning in hong kong. for a warm city, being inside is freeeezing... even the buses and trains are freezing.

Ripped off

2006-02-14T00:05:00.000+10:30

It didnt take long but i think we were just taken for a ride in more than one way from the stazione termini to the hotel. The taxi driver seemed pretty nice, trying to talk to us in english and us in some lonely planet italian... before quickly packing us out of his cab somewhere near our hotel and putting us under some pressure because of the banking up traffic (not that anyone else on the road cares about that), before releaving us of about twice what our hotel staff said it should have cost... hmmm... nice work scheister...

Its good for me to be back in Rome and at the start of a trip this time instead of the end. Last time i was here i was suffering from end of trip syndrome quite badly and didnt take much in. This time i am loving it, its such a beautiful city and the coffee and pastries are second only to paris, and they are stacks cheaper. We had 2 coffees and 2 pastries within the first hour of being here... its going to be eyes open 24 hours a day with all this sugar and caffiene.

We are about to hunt out some gelati, that should take us about 1 second. mmm gelati.

anyway, since were now paying 10 euro per hour for this internet i had better get off and out of here. excuse spelling or strange characters as i dont have time to look for the correct keys... wheres an apostrophe when you want it... ??? found the question mark at least!!

Chicken Man Lost

2006-02-12T15:39:00.000+10:30

Aahhhh, but is there a photo of said chicken man with basket full of raw dead chickens? :)

Starbucks

2006-02-12T15:26:00.000+10:30

OK, I know they're a dodgy coffee chain and those who are priviledged enough to come from Aus with our plethora of good coffee shops should never venture through the front door. However, the coffee here is terrible and at least with Starbucks you know what you're going to get, just as with Maccer's the food is always the same. Always. So if you want something resembling a Flat White or a Latte then head on into a Bucks and as for...

"A short latte with a double shot"

And it will be about on par with what we're used to.

Yours Truly,
Coffee Snob

Smogville

2006-02-12T15:24:00.002+10:30

OK, I thought I was tough. Reading the Lonely Planet, it kept saying go to the islands if you want to get away from the smog. Yeah, whatever, I can handle it. Not true, after one full day of walking, I've never coughed and sneezed so much in my life. I thought London was bad.

Arriving Late

2006-02-12T15:24:00.001+10:30

Btw, due to the flight from Santiago being cancelled that we originally had booked, we are now unfortunately having to stay a day longer in Auckland and will be getting back to Adelaide Tuesday 27th. I dare say Midori and Andrew are just relieved that we're arriving in Auckland closer to midday than 4am!

And forgot to say thanks to Mum, Dad, Mary and Harry for coming down to to Adelaide airport at 6am on Friday to wave us off - very impressive effort from the hills!

Chicken Man

2006-02-12T15:24:00.000+10:30

I saw a bloke riding a bike down the street with a basket on the front full of raw chickens.

Tango Hong Kong Style

2006-02-12T15:12:00.000+10:30

Meg and I have officially tango'ed overseas now. We went to the Red Tango night at Culture Club in Hong Kong. Lovely little venue about the size of The Banque with very young crowd who were there primarily to dance and not just socialise. GOod friendly atmostphere and the standard of dancing was generally good.

Lennon was our host for the night and he did a great job with the music too, quite varied and not always aligned into strict tandas (no cortinas at all).

I'm not sure what it is that has drawn the younger crowd to tango here in Hong Kong. There was only one local who looked over the age of 30, there were about 2 Americans and a couple of English who were older, but that's it. Maybe Lennon has a secret, or maybe the culture here is just that the younger generation are more eager to embrace other cultures... where as in Australia it is the other way around.

One of the girls (whose name now escapes me) will be going to the Sydney Tango Festival, which Meg and I will attend, so that will be pretty cool.

Culture Club has a website here.

Tango and People in Hong Kong

2006-02-12T14:57:00.000+10:30

Ahhh, it is not possible to escape! Found a teensy tiny bar in Central with the sound of tango wafting out into the street...an interesting merge with the smog and back yard Ky Chow smells!

Hong Kong is incredibly clean, and they sure as heck don't have 60km/hour speed limits near pedestrians! In Canada in a superb move of timing and athletic grace I saved Ben's life when he almost stumbled in front of a speeding car (okay, I yelled, yanked and stumbled just as much). Thankfully Ben returned the belated favour when I almost put my cranium straight in the path of a truck's side mirror...I maintain I saw it the whole time and was merely practising my anime last minute speed diversion tactics....

It took us a little while to find all the people of Hong Kong - the airport was pretty much empty, the streets likewise oddly deserted when we arrived. But then, all of sudden, we found them - they were, and are, all in the trains! Okay, and the markets. I think we walked for about 16 hours through crushed market stalls in pursuit of the Lonely Planet circled Bird Markets. Maybe it was 17 hours, I'm not sure, it was only the egg custard tarts that kept us going, tasty.

I did also have the first 'debacle' of the travel experience. After we arrived the first night, decided to head to a night market nearby for dinner. I said I had cash and the credit card and out we ventured. Found a little place oddly reminiscent of Ky Chow, sat down and were promptly served with two large Tsing Tao's (who? us? drink?). Looked at the menu and quickly came to the realisation that a) I didn't bring enough money and b) there was no way this place was accepting AmEx! The valiant Ben raced back to the hotel for more funds as I caved in to the strident menu tapping ministrations of the little waiter and ordered cuttlefish trying to be brave and overlooking the chicken hot pot. (Next time, I'll get the chicken hot pot). Cuttlefish wasn't bad, kind of like squid, only, not quite as nice....

Mmmm, could go on, 'bout the dim sum at Maxim's Palace, and the fright we got when we looked at the menu prices at Yung Kee, but I think Ben has already done that, so I'll just head off in search of more food....

Megan

First Full Day

2006-02-12T14:50:00.000+10:30

Mission number one was to get some storage for my new camera (I just bought the Nikon D50 to capture the holiday snaps, I bought it back in Australia and knew I should not have looked at how much you can buy it for here... but anyway) so we headed off to Stanley St in Central, Hong Kong. I think we must be early birds compared to most people here because every camera store was shut until about 11am, so my hopes of haggling $10 off the price were dashed and I had to pay top dollar, which in the scheme of things was pretty minimal...

The Peak Tram which takes you up to the top of Victoria's Peak is a great ride, and incredibly steep. The funky little red tram jerked its way up through the smog and to what would be a fantastic view if you could see more than a couple of kilometers. However this is not really an issue because the local Photoshop experts will take your photo and replace the background with a clear day version. Your choice of night or day.

Our first Yum Cha experience on the trip was great there's a place here called Maxim's Palace and it's authentic Dim Sum full of locals with very little english spoken or on the menus. It pretty much became a case of point and hope when the carts come around. We didn't pick out anything too obsure and the pork buns were simply superb. We'd definitely recommend this place to anyone that visits here, and it's well regarded by the lonely planet.

Kowloon was our next stop and as we attempted to make our way to the bird market we got side tracked in the extenisve shopping areas. Resisting the urge to buy clothes and shoes we didn't need, Meg stopped off and got an egg tart. A local specialty, the egg tart is very tasty and at a mere 30 cents makes a great little energy source for the weary shopper.

Hours of wandering later (still in the general direction of the Bird Market) we stumbled across a fruit market and thought we best balance up the diet of stir frys with some fresh mandarins. I have to admit I got taken for a ride when some little old lady refused to sell me just 2 mandarins and I walked away with a whole bag and HKG$10 less in my pocket. Whipped.

By this time we really started getting closer to the Bird Market but hit a road block at the Flower Market. I think on Saturday's everyone in Hong Kong goes to the Flower Market, I'll admit the Hong Kong "Orchid" is pretty, but this was ridiculous. You wouldn't want to be claustrophobic, or wanting to get to the Bird Market before it shuts.

Bird Market: Lots of birds in cages. What more can I say... Lots of noise, lots of bird poo, and lots of signs warning against the Avian flu. Time to leave.

Back into Central Hong Kong for beers and food. The lonely planet recommended us perhaps the most expensive two options in Hong Kong (well not quite but it was a bit of a shock for those trying to travel on something resembling a budget). The dinner was at a place famous for it's Roasted Goose. Yung Kee from the outside did look a bit posh, but the LP did say it was $100-$250 (about $20-$40) for food and a beer/wine per person, so we wandered in without a second thought. The waiting staff were very efficient and set us down, and delivered two Tsing Taos before I could blink. We were locked in and I hadn't even picked up the menu. It was a frantic scene as Meg and I flicked over the menus looking for a plate of food less than HKG$200. Luckily for us the deep friend bean curd came to the rescue (and of course we had to try the goose, but didn't go for the deluxe goose).... We got out of there for less than AU$100 but it was a close call and those mandarins will certainly come in handy to see us fed for the rest of our stay here :)

Back to the hotel for a power nap and get changed to head off to our first overseas tango experience...

Bathlet

2006-02-12T14:43:00.000+10:30

Our hotel room in Hong Kong is tiny, as to be expected in such a densly populated city, however the one thing I didn't expect was that the shower would actually contain the toilet and hand basin. Quite strange, but I guess as efficiency goes you can wash the whole bathroom and yourself at the same time!

It took some finding, wandering back and forth to find our unmarked and even street numberless hotel. We stayed in a tiny back alley off Jordan Rd, but somehow people have managed to cram the buldings above with tonnes of neon signs that all look precariously perched and rely on one another for super. God forbid one of them should fall.

There's some classic "lost in translation" signs around. A couple of my favourites are a neighbouring shopping mall called the "Rightful Centre" and one lady's T-Shirts saying "Let's get a big family and have a good time".

Airports

2006-02-12T14:38:00.000+10:30

Sydney International Airport is a complete shambles, one male bathroom for some 40 gates, customs queues of about 30 minutes to leave the country, then the line up for the Tax Refund for Tourists Scheme was about 45 minutes (guess this is the perfect way to discourage people claiming back the GST). Then back this up with $4.85 for a bowl of steamed rice (no kidding) it's pretty much a disgrace to Australia.

Arrive in Hong Kong and the super clean, super efficient airport was a relief, albeit a misrepresentation of what would follow in regards to the quietness!

Honk Honk Kong

2006-02-11T15:52:00.000+10:30

We have made it in one piece to the crazy packed town full of cars and smog. Just managed to get ourselves sorted after a tango lesson and practica follwed by pub session which got us home around 11:30 pm. Frantic packing ensued and i think i went to bed around 2 am or something, managed a few hours sleep before the taxi at 6 am. My hopes of sleeping on the plane were dashed by various limbs getting pins and needles and waking me up... but you get that.

Hong Kong is a fantastic starter for a tour. Easy to get around, very busy, heaps of stuff to do and no language issues.

D & C: you must know that the Yum Cha here is far better than that in Adelaide and is certainly much cheaper!

Anyway, am using a free internet thing and should probably get off to let someone else on (i.e. Meg)

More interesting anecdoted updates coming soon.

Snuh Buh

2006-02-10T00:37:00.000+10:30

It's 12:37 am and the taxi comes in precisely 5 hours and 23 minutes...

Better pack.

Goddam Airlines...

2006-02-09T15:58:00.000+10:30

So Qantas decides (the day before we leave) to cancel the flight from Santiago de Chile to Auckland de New Zealand, which means we get bumped to the next day. This allows us 12 glorious hours in Santiago's beautiful airport and about half of our original time in Auckland.

On asking XYZ Travel to move the Auckland-Adelaide leg back a day, they couldn't because the only way I could do this was to go via Sydney or Melbourne and then they would have to reissue the ticket and that would cost ME $55 a ticket, because Qantas cancelled the flight. Hang on... something's not right here... Qantas cancels on me and I pay for it... I don't think so...

Lesson number 1 when dealing with customer service people. Continually repeat "this is not good enough, I will not leave until you fix it" and generally they try to fix it to make you go away. As I speak the poor lass from XYZ is still on hold after well over 2 hours trying to get through to Qantas to ask them to waive the reissuing fee.

The irony of this situation is that it's cost me more not to be at work than it would have just to pay the reissue penalty. Still, sometimes standing by a principle is worth something... I think... isn't it?

Itinerary

2006-02-07T11:14:00.000+10:30

For those who haven't had their ears worn out by us repeatedly enumerating where we're off to, then the general plan of attack is thus:

Adelaide -> Sydney -> Hong Kong (2 days) -> Rome (3 days) -> Madrid (3 days) -> Paris

Ben stays in Paris for 2 days to tick a couple more museums off the list, and Meg's there for just over 1 week.

Ben goes to Whistler for a week (mmm snow).

-> Buenos Aires for (3.5 weeks) -> Auckland (2 days) -> Adelaide (forever)

Biggest Snow Fall on Record

2006-02-07T10:37:00.000+10:30

The Whistler-Blackcomb website has just announced that January is offically the snowiest month on record. Almost 5 metres of snow. Crazy. Can't wait to get there, hope it doesn't all melt while I'm lazing around in Europe...

It's going to be a real challenge for me to ski in such deep powder as in the past I tackled the "pow" with a snow board. This time, however, the snow board has been banned by my insurance company (too many broken wrists claimed one would suppose).

I'm also looking forward to catching up with a couple of old work colleagues Erin and Geordan (from the Whistler days) and Mike (from uni and Vision in Adelaide). Erin's been kind enough to let me sleep on his couch for my time there, and with Geordan back in town there will be a few fun nights ahead. I'm hoping Erin recovers quickly from his most recent skiing accident though...

2.5 working days to go...

Ben