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A sweltering Christmas and New Year!



Picture this: hot sandy desert, pristine beaches, santa hats, bonfire, beer, all you can eat BBQ and great company. Sounds like an Aussie Christmas, right?! Except in South America (or Punta Del Diablo, Uruguay where we were staying) they celebrate on Christmas Eve and don't eat until about 11 pm.



The view from our beautiful apartment in Punta Del Diablo, Uruguay
Many hours relaxing by the pool in 38 degree heat


After Brad tripped into the door of the hostel in front of everyone (only 1 beer down I might add), the ice was officially broken. We spent Christmas eve drinking Caipirinha served out of giant buckets with: a dutch couple (don't worry Inge, you're still our favourite), an Irish/Hungarian couple and a guy each from Italy, Spain, Switzerland and South Africa. What a bunch! And oh, what a night (please refer to selfies taken on the walk home and the next day).



Merry, Merry, MERRY Christmas
Christmas at the hostel. Punta Del Diablo, Uruguay
NO champagne for Christmas breakfast


Needless to say the champagne breakfast planned for Christmas morning, did not involve much champagne... After Christmas we visited the capital Montevideo and Colonia Del Sacramento before catching the ferry to Buenos Aires.



Drumming and dancing in the streets of Montevideo, Uruguay

Beer and Ice cream on the foreshore of Montevideo, Uruguay
getting artistic with a beer can
Colonia Del Sacramento, Uruguay



Buenos Aires, Argentina... We were welcomed by the sweltering heat (and the power outages that accompanied it). We spent new years eve with the afore mentioned Irish/Hungarian couple; Agota and Peter. A Mexican burger and a drink at 'connection love' and we were ready to dance in the street along side the local drummers and girls dressed in traditional get-up.



Celebrating with our lovely friends, Peter and Agota. Happy New Year from Palermo, BA

Happy New Year! BA
Showing Agota and Peter the Aussie way to get rid of hiccups...
Happy New Year, dancing in the streets of Palermo. BA


We had a few Spanish lessons and learnt a lot in Buenos Aires about Argentina and its history. Here are a few very interesting things to Google if you have time: the blue dollar, the big mac index in Argentina, a private health plan with one free plastic surgery a year, and Evita Peron's post death trip around the world.



San Telmo Markets, BA 
Tango in the street. San Telmo, BA


I am still trying to figure out if we like Evita or not, the Argentinian people don't seem to be able to answer this for me. In the meantime, there's been a lot of listening to Madonna and Antonio Banderas (Evita the musical, still answers no questions but it provides hours of entertainment)...




La Boca, the home of football
Colourful La Boca. BA


One day on a free walking tour in BA we met an American couple who approached us at the end and said, "You two are travelling for a year, I am sure you could do with a free meal. Meet us tonight at this restaurant and we would like to buy you dinner".

After we picked our jaws up of the ground, we agreed (but insisted on paying our share).



Ave 9 De Julio in BA, Evita watches over the city...
Recoleta Cemetery in BA (like a mini city)


The night began with an awkward 45 minute delay thinking we'd been set up, while we waited at a restaurant with the correct name which ended up being across the road from the ACTUAL restaurant. We finally met up with this couple who wined and dined us at a nice restaurant and were really interesting people. Of course, they insisted on paying for everything and we were so touched by the experience.



Main square, BA
Casa Rosada (Pink House) in BA. The balcony made famous by Evita. Or was it Madonna who made it famous?!

We wandered out to our taxi asking ourselves what had just happened and what on earth we did to deserve such kindness from complete strangers... Either we looked like we really needed a good feed or it's our good karma paying off. We hope to do the same for someone else one day (perhaps at a less fancy restaurant...but it's the thought that counts, right?!).


I'll leave you with this little gold nugget. This couple's motto was "life is not a sprint, its a marathon".

So take it easy out there, there's plenty of time!


Connection Love, where the magic happens. Palermo, BA

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