Friday, October 29, 2010

Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, and a View of the Cowboy's Cheerleaders

We flew back to the states to attend a wedding and a week of wedding festivites in Dallas, Texas.  The oldest of the three Marston boys, David, married Shiloh Rich (now a Marston herself) in a beautiful ceremony in October.  However, the wedding wasn't the only celebration we were able to attend.  The first night the whole family went to an amazing Mexican dinner.  The next night, the Drain's (Shiloh's parents) had a gathering at their house.  Then, the next day we all went to the Texas State Fair to indulge in corn dogs, fried snickers, fried mac-n-cheese, and anything else unhealthy you can imagine. Later that night went to Shiloh's grandfather's 90th birthday.  We celebrated with some amazing bar-b-que.  Friday morning, Natalie had lunch with her long-lost cousins, the Eagles.  That night, we attended the Rehearsal dinner (good job Fran!!!).  Saturday, the WEDDING!  Bobby gave a relaxed and funny speach (sooo proud of him) and we danced our little butts off.  The grand finale of the week was amazing seats at the Dallas Cowboy's game.  We were accompanied by Fran, Chris (the youngest Marston), and his girlfriend, Sophie.  Those cousins we mentioned earlier were kind enough to extend an invitation to their box...we were not going to argue.  We had a great time at the game with our new friends, good views, and great food.  It was the perfect, and most American way, to end our stay in the States before heading to Asia. 


We had to get a picture with Big Tex


Soph, Bobby, and random state fair cow


The Groom and his Men





Cousin John, his daughter Alex, and two people happy to be that close to Wade Phillips




Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Buenos Aires: the home of tango

      We hopped a flight to Buenos Aires and spared ourselves the 30+ hour bus ride.  BA is an amazing city with limitless opportunities to have a great time while still taking in the culture. 

     We arrived late at night, around midnight to our hostel.  We had a friend from our neighborhood in Roswell, GA that we planned on hanging out with while in the big BA.  However, we were not sure where he was staying or if he knew where we were staying...Cole somehow arrived right on schedule at our hostel and greeted us with a smile and a beer; typical Cole fashion.

     The following day, the three of us set out on the town for our typical lunch-consisting of empanadas.  Then we decided to attend a polo finals match just outside of town, what the heck might as well.  Upon arrival we were told that there would be plenty of free alcohol there; at first we were all a bit skeptic to approach one of the multiple bars.  But after repeated questioning, we discerned that it was bottomless champagne, wine, and beer...and we happily obliged.  We watched an amazing polo match, slightly tipsy, with the 'who's who' of BA.  We attempted to fit in with our nicest clothing.  However, after backpacking for 2 months, our nice clothing was simply what was the cleanest. So in the end we sort of stood out from the crowd dressed in their finest outfits.  Ooooo...Welllllll!!!!!






Bobby enjoying the Stella garden.

    The next day, the three of us, and two new German friends, walked to the soccer stadium to buy tickets for the Quillmes v. River Plate game.  We were torn between sitting in the 'singing section' or the 'sitting section', but after much warning from the locals, we opted for the sitting section.  That night, we watched the singing section with pure amazement and relief that we were in the sitting section.  The singing section literally sang teams songs and jumped up and down the entire game.  Incidentally, they also throw beer, spit, food, and destroyed everything in their path whilst overcome with team spirit.  The Germans were upset that there were not fights breaking out on the field or in the stands.  But considering the away team had to evacuate for miles outside the stadium before the security let any of the local team's fans leave, we were left with enough excitement...we didn't need to see fists fly.


view from our seats


Singing-riot section.  This sign says something to the effects of "the drunkest in the staduim."




We were not kidding about not being allowed to leave until the visiting fans were out of sight.

      We broke up BA into two visits, and traveled to Iguazu Falls during the week.  The bus ride there was great as we had wonderful service on the 14 hour ride there.  We chose to sit next to the kitchenette area...good choice because Bobby continued to raid the cookie platter until there was no more.

      Since childhood, Natalie has always dreamed of seeing the falls; unfortunately though the influx of tourists has turned this natural beauty into a D-grade themepark.  We were constantly shuffled around in large groups, no matter how we tried to break free.  There were people everywhere and pushy cameramen asking to take photos.  Nonetheless, Iguazu was breathtaking.  Our favorite part of the whole park was at the end of the day we paid to take a speedboat up the river to the falls.  This little trip included taking a shower as the driver literally drove right up under the falls, so we all left soaked and smiling.




Devil's Throat


More Devil's Throat






This is for you Trish!! Really expensive hotel looking at the Falls.






Someone is excited to go on the boat ride.




Yeah we went under those.

      OK...back to the BA.  The second leg of BA included a lot of window shopping as BA has a huge supply of antique stores (old but still well above our price range).  We also saw some great parks, statutes, and buildings.  And in true South American style, the best ice cream shop ever!!!!  Bobby and Cole managed to drag Natalie to a Hooters for a taste and look of home (yes, the nicest part of town is home to a Hooters).  Much to everyone's disappointment, it was dirty and horrible.  The food sucked and the service did not even come close to the worst Hooters back state side.



Nat and Cole strolling in the park.


I wonder what he does with his free hand














Siga la Vaca = Yummy


What do you want?



     To end our time in BA and in South America, Bobby took Natalie to one of the famous tango/dinner shows.  He spared no expense and got prime seats (that came with a free bottle of champagne).  The tango show was a full 2 hours of dancing, music, and a collage of gaucho tricks. After it was finished, we both had smiles for miles.


Front row-true VIP style.




Sunday, October 17, 2010

USHUAIA:The End of the World

Next, we decided it was time to head south, all the way down to Ushuaia. So we caught a bus into Calafate where you can connect to other places and arrived around 9pm (no direct buses from Chalten to anywhere). The next bus to Ushuaia was leaving that morning at 3am...well, we may as well keep on truckin'. So we got filled up with a good meal in town and spent 3 hours at the bus station before our bus left (this time consisted of sleeping on the station benches and standing by the old school heating units).

Once on the bus we realized how complex the trip to Ushuaia, AR, would be. First, you have to leave Argentina and cross into Chile and then leave Chile and cross back into Argentina. Included in this bus trip was a ferry ride over the Strait of Magellan which was a very cold and windy experience but in the end great as we saw some “skunk” dolphins. The bus ride was full of get-ons and get-offs and our passports picked up a few unnecessary stamps, but oh-well.

view from the drive to Ushuaia

Finally, we made it to the southern most city of the world, Ushuaia. While in U-town we went on a boat ride, walked a lot (and in the rain), visited museums, and got some cool Ushuaia stamps in the back of our passports (we asked for all three). We also ate at a wierd but good all-you-can-eat parilla. The meat was alright but the buffet was a welcomed change to our palettes. Although the meat was Argentinian, the buffet was full of chinese food and cheese sticks-at that point in the trip we were down for anything.



A prison that has been converted into a museum.


SEALS! view from a boat ride in the Beagle Canal




Love, love, love






Happy Bobby

But above all else, our dog sledding adventure was our favorite part of Ushuaia. Winter had just ended in Patagonia, but with a bit of luck, we were able to participate in the last day of dogsledding. Now this was not your average sit in the sled and enjoy the ride; instead we actually learned how to drive the sleds and were let loose with our very own team of dogs. If you ever get a chance to do this-make it happen.



Poncho was injured and his barks lets us know he was very sad to not be sledding.




This guys was huge and lazy.  He would only move 3 inches forward so Natalie could pet him.


Poncho again


For speed and racing, they cross-breed a pointer and a husky to make these dogs.  Therefore, the pure huskys are just for show.






After a long run, the dogs would wiggle around on the snow to cool off.


friends


We got to take turns driving our own sled!!


That guy is small...but that dog is huge!! (also lazy like the dog above...he didn't put up any fight)




Our sled dogs!!  the one on the right was crazy


our dogs again




one of the best days ever!!!