Aug 27
I've been missing Peru a lot these days. The landscape, the culture and the number one reason for me-the food! The food in Peru is one of my favorite in the world. Although places like Cusco and Arequipa boast some fine restaurants and eats, Lima is, hands down, the number one place in Peru to get the most amazing food in the country.
Before leaving for our trip to the continent, I toyed with the idea of writing a book about what people in each country ate for breakfast. I don't know exactly why what people eat for breakfast is a curiosity to me but it has been for some time. There is the whole 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day' thing but I'm not sure that's it. It could go back to almost twenty years ago on my first trip out of the country.
Wow. Time really does fly! I can't believe it's been 6 months since my last post. Like everyone else in the world, we've been busy, got caught up and I've also taken a much needed break from writing. My focus has shifted to figuring out what is our next plan. I'm happy to report we've had quite a few developments.
Following in the footsteps of my Top 10 Unmissable Destinations for Chile, I figured I would do one for each of the countries we visited. Argentina was the first destination, where we began our journey in South America over two years ago. It all started in Buenos Aires and after visiting the capital we made our way north all the way to the border of Bolivia. Next, we headed south. Deep south, all the way down to Ushuaia, dubbed 'el fin del mundo' (the end of the world). We returned to the country recently this past August revisiting Mendoza followed by the northeastern part of the country, an area we hadn't explored on our original journey. We've spent a total of about four months traveling this diverse country and while that may sound like a lot, to be honest, I would probably need four years to really spend the time necessary in each place.
We just want to take a moment out to wish everyone a happy holiday season! May your day be merry and bright! Our Christmas was far from white this year as we spent it in the capital of the Amazon region in Brazil, the steamy city of Manaus. And okay, I'm a little late with this post but we had non-existent or glacial internet up until now. This city was our least favorite city in ALL of South America! It's dirty, smelly, big and loud. Picture a giant city of 2 million in the middle of the Amazon rainforest! A huge monstrosity of mankind in the center of pristine nature. This wasn't part of our plan but as is so often the case with travel, plans get disrupted and change. You just have to ride the waves and make the best of everything.
If you are planning a trip to Chile, you may find selecting where to go very daunting. Although not very wide, Chile stretches seemingly forever (more than 2500 miles long!) along South America's western flank. Bordered on one side by the Pacific ocean and to the east, the Andes mountains, the north consists of one giant desert and the south full of glaciers and waterfalls, the country screams diversity and contains activities that suit every taste and desire. The National Parks in Chile are numerous and vast and you can only hope to visit them all sometime in your life.
The infectious vallenato music is thumping out from almost every corner. An open-air party bus passes by the palm-lined street and the smell of the Caribbean Sea is heavy in the air. It’s Friday night in Santa Marta and things are starting to get down. Like many other places in Colombia, years ago this scene would have never existed. Drugs and prostitutes ruled the crumbling colonial streets here in the very same places where, today, vendors sell beach chairs and sarongs to tourists passing through.
In my last post I talked about the emotions that came along with celebrating two years of travel. Now, I just want to share some of our favorite moments through photos. Also, we have a big announcement! We feel so privileged to have spent another year living out our dreams and also realizing that this is where we want to take the future too. We are super excited to announce the birth of two brand new blogs!
As the saying goes, time flies. We all know it. Just take one look at your child's baby photos or in my case, your travel photos or worse, your own baby photos and the reality of times passage takes hold. It's a bittersweet moment to remember the times gone by but it also carries with it a hint of sadness that we can never get those minutes back. It helps us to appreciate the moment that is now.
Over a year ago when we first visited Lima, we had an incredible opportunity to eat at one of the best restaurants in the world. Astrid y Gaston is more than just a restaurant but an experience in and of itself. The tasting menu I had back then, was one of the top meals of my life and I wondered if it could ever be matched. You can read about my experience here.
Recently, the restaurant has moved to a new location and the space matches the food in terms of fantastically beautiful. Casa Moreyra is a historical house (the likes of where people like San Martin, yes-that San Martin, once lived). It's absolutely breathtaking and the tasting menu we tried was even better than our last experience.
Infused exposures 