Issues pending / Coses pendents

(Gossos abandonats pel seu passejador a BA / Dogs abandoned by their walker in BA)


Sovint pensem a fer un blog i a explicar com vivim alguns llocs o experiències que passem, però massa sovint deixem coses fora, no les acabem d'explicar, i és clar, vosaltres no en sabeu res... A voltes pensem que hauriem d'escriure sobre les rutines i les quotidianitats que vivim... quantes hores en cada vol, quantes viatjant en total, els hostals on dormim, els llits, els matalassos, les dutxes que hem trobat fins ara, els taxis, la conducció a cada ciutat, els cinemes que hem visitat, les pel.licules que hem vist i on, els restaurants on menjem, les referències de les guies de viatge que funcionen i les que no, els blogs que mai farem però que hem pensat.. en definitiva una llarga llista de coses que volem compartir i que potser no acabarem de fer-vos saber mai.

Ahir varem dinar en un restaurant de Buenos Aires que sortia a la Lonely Planet "South America on a shoestring" del carrer Lavalle que no valia res -es diu Parrilla al Carbón, al numero 663- i s'hauria d'eliminar de la guia. La darrera nit, i aquesta, les passem a l'Hostel Lime, que és més brut del que indiquen a la mateixa guia i més car, i on la música que sona fins a les 2 del matí a tot volum, i fa que intentar tenir cap conversa sigui inútil, a més no netegen les habitacions més que entre estades... Ahir varem entrar a un cafè "italià" també al carrer Lavalle, que es diu Caravela i hauria de sortir a totes les guies com a autèntic cafè per prendre els millors "capucinos" i les pastes de "dulce de leche" més bones i dolces que hem provat mai i a força bon preu, i a més són molt amables i, a l'Ella que no volia cafè, li varen fer un "submarino" -vas de llet calenta amb una xocolatina fonent-se dins- ja que no tenien cacao...

Mentre les "noies" resposaven i socialitzaven a l'hostal sorollós, nosaltres hem intentat trobar traces de l'estada del besavi Utrillo a la ciutat. Hem començat pel MNBA (Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes - si no m'equivoco) i malgrat que hi havia una vaga indefinida reclamant millors condicions laborals, hem pogut veure una exquisida col.lecció d'art modern Europeu que incloia obres de Gauguin, Degas, Monet, Picasso, Anglada-Camarasa, Zuloaga, Goya, Rusiñol i Rothko entre altres...

Ja que l'arxiu era tancat, hem anat a la Biblioteca Nacional Argentina - un edifici modern que no ens agrada gens i que questiona el gust d'alguns arquitectes- i després de diversos intents hem trobat una enthusiasta persona que ens ha ajudat en els primers passos - i s'ha emocionat al saber que era besnet de l'artista- encara que després de consultar sis o set llibres - el procés per demanar-los és força lent encara que eficáç- no hem trobat res a part de referències a societats o persones contemporànees... si podem seguirem amb l'intent i fins potser viatgem a Mar del Plata i tot per veure alguna pintura a l'esgésia...

Per cert, ara les noies estan arreglant-se - són gairebé les 11 del vespre- per sortir amb un grup d'anglesos/es que han conegut i anar "clubbing" per BA... mentre nosaltres ja estem a punt per anar a dormir.
Si no ho ha fet directament l'Ella volem confirmar que va rebre força missatges i alguna trucada i algun correu electrònic felicitant-la pel seu aniversari, gracies a tots, de debò li va agradar que us en recordessiu!

Al arribar aquí plovia i avui ho ha tornat a fer... de fet hem tingut força pluja en tot el viatge, ho dic per si algú pensava que hem tingut només estiu... sembla més aviat una primavera constant - i força bonica- amb les plujes associades. A Boipeba va ploure tres dies i va fer sol els dos darrers. Ens varem banyar a l'Atlàntic i ens varem cremar una mica amb el sol... però ja tocava. Allà les platges són d'anunci i hi haurem de tornar. Tant a Boipeba com a Sao Paulo, les flors, les fruites i la vegetació són extraordinàries: hi ha de tot i força. En Charles i en Maties (i en Mark, el germà d'en Charles) ens varen tractar massa bé, varem menjar com feia temps no ho feiem, varem llegir molt i varem reposar.

De fet la visita al Brasil era la primera a un món més proper al nostre, i ens va agradar, i tant que si. Al vol cap a Buenos Aires la BA ens va donar quatre seients separats ja que l'avió anava ple - venia de Londres- i al pujar varem tenir la sorpresa de trobar-lo ple de soldats argentins que tornaven a casa després de passar 6 mesos a Xipre... evidentment vaig dir que no veia clar que la Diana, l'Ella i la Blanche passessin més de dues hores entre la tropa i amablement BA ens va oferir seients entre business i turista on poder seure junts i sense soldats... Em va semblar un xic irònic que després de "Les Malvines" l'exèrcit argentí envii les tropes a casa en un vol de British Airways...

Diumenge, aviat - a les 6- volem cap a Tierra del Fuego! En tenim força ganes i esperem veure paisatges nous i potser fins alguna balena i tot. Diuen que encara hi fa fred (entre 0 i 9 graus) i amb sort podrem fer una esquiadeta el dilluns, el darrer dia de la temporada, potser fins en unes pistes amb vistes al mar... de fet les úniques on es pot esquiar amb vistes al mar... Després hem de fer cap a Puerto Natales d'on sortirem divendres 19 al matí, en vaixell, cap a Puerto Montt, on hem d'arribar el 22 - segons com estigui la mar. Després cap a Santiago abans de visitar l'Illa de Pasqua i deixar Amèrica del Sud.
Aquest mes d'octubre està sent una mica diferent de les altres setmanes de viatge, hem visitat amics i després al anar cap al sud, hem trobat un món més semblant al nostre. A mi m'ha desorientat una mica, encara que també he agraït tornar a trobar el comfort al que estem tant acostumats.
L'experiència de l'Amèrica del Sud ha estat molt bona i interessant, però sembla que s'acosta el moment de marxar cap a altres llocs, i tots estem a punt.

We often think about writing a blog explaining how we've been living in different places, or the experiences we've had but, more often than not, we leave things out, we never explain them and of course you don't get to know about these things ... At times we've considered writing about our routines and daily activities ... how many hours each flight has lasted, how many hours in total, the hostels we've stayed in, the beds, the matresses, the showers we've found so far, the taxis, driving in each city, the cinemas we've visited, which films we've seen and where, the restuarants we've eaten in, the guide-book references we've used which have been worthwhile and those that have not, blogs that we'll never write but which we've thought of ... indeed, a long list of things we'd like to share but probably never will.

Yesterday we ate lunch in Parrilla al Carbón, C/Lavalle 663, Buenos Aires, that we had found in the Lonely Planet guide "South America on a Shoestring" and it was dreadful. It shouldn't appear in the guide. Likewise we spent the night at the Hostel Lime which was not only unclean and more expensive than the guide indicated but also played loud music until 2 in the morning and so trying to have a conversation was impossible (as was sleep) and it turns out they only clean rooms between guests not every day. However, yesterday, by chance we found an Italian café, in the same street as the restaurant, which does not appear in any guides but which serves the most delicious capucinos and the nicest cakes filled with dulce de leche we've ever tried at a reasonable price and they were very friendly. Ella didn't want coffee and so was served a "submarino" - hot mik with a bar of chocolate melting into it!

Today,whilst the girls rested and socialised at the noisy hostel, we tried to find references to great-grandfather Utrillo in the city. We started at MNBA (Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes) and, despite the museum workers' strike for better conditions, managed to see a beautiful collection including works by Gauguin, Degas, Monet, Picasso, Anglada-Camarasa, Zuloaga, Goya, Rusiñol and Rothko, amongst others.

As the archive was shut, we then went to the National Library - a modern building of questionable architectural taste in need of repair - and after several enquiries found a lovely, enthusiastic woman who helped us get started - she got quite emotional when she knew I was the artist's great-grandson. The process is quite long, although efficient, and after consulting 6 or 7 books we only managed to find references to various artistic circles and societies and contemporaries of his - if we are to continue the search we probably should go to Mar del Plata and visit the church there...

By the way, the girls are, as I write this, getting dressed up - it's 11 at night - to go clubbing with a group of Brits they've met - we are, of course, on our way to bed. If she hasn't contacted you already, Ella would like to say thank you to everyone who sent messages on her birthday. She loved the fact that people remembered.

It was raining when we arrived here and it rained again today .... indeed we've had quite a bit of rain on this trip so far, I tell you this so you don't think we've had only summer ... more accurately, constant spring with showers. At Boipeba it rained for three days and was sunny for two. We bathed in the Atlantic and burnt a little in the sun ... The beaches there are beautiful and we'll have to go back. Both in Boipeba and Sao Paulo the flowers, fruit and vegetation are extraordinary: there's lots of it! Charles, Matias and Mark (Charles' brother) accommodated us in style, we ate well, read loads and rested.

Brazil was the first place that was similar to our own and we liked it a lot, of course. On our flight from Sao Paulo to BA (the city) we were given 4 separate seats because the flight was full - it had come from London. When we boarded we found it full of Argentinian soldiers returning home after 6 months in Cyprus. I obviously pointed out that I wasn't happy that Diana, Ella and Blanche spent more than two hours sitting between the troops and BA (the airline) kindly upgraded us so we could sit together without soldiers ... It seemed a little ironic that post "Las Malvines" (the Falklands) the Argentinian army sends its troops home on British Airways ...

At 6 a.m. on Sunday we fly to Tierra del Fuego. We're looking forward to it and expect to see new landscapes and maybe even a whale. It's still cold there (between 0 and 9º) and hopefully we'll be able to ski on Monday (the last day of the season) possibly even with sea views ... indeed these are the only slopes in the world with sea views. Then we head for Puerto Natales, where we leave by ship on the 19th to Puerto Montt, where we arrive on the 22nd - depending on weather conditions. After that we visit Santiago before visiting Easter Island and then we leave south America for good. This month has been a little different to the previous ones. We've visited friends and discovered, as we've headed south, a world much more similar to our own. It's been a little disorientating although very nice to experience some comfort again. Our experience in south America has been good and really interesting , although now it does feel like we're all ready for new places.