Deepest apologies.
At the moment I'm with the Genessini's in Posadas Argentina. A lot has happened since Amsterdam, well, we've been to numerous places. Unfortunately, I didn't always have access to internet, hence the delay in this latest instalment.
1. Amsterdam. We mostly did tourist-y stuff: Amsterdam Madame Tussauds, Amsterdam Dungeon (where they basically scare you as they teach you a bit about the history), Heineken Factory Experience, a short but necessary trip to the Red Light District, but no stop in a coffeeshop - not my thing really... I quite enjoyed Amsterdam, if only because we were in a really nice and quirky hotel and because it's such an easy place to get around. It was, unfortunately, FREEZING cold and our hotel was about 15mins away from the city centre, being situated in the WTC building in the heart of the business district.
2. Den Haag. DH and I went to Den Haag to visit a friend we made in Rome and stay at his place and see his university and what not. That was nice and relaxing, and quite cool to see a little town that has even more history than New Zealand. Crazy, huh?
3. Berlin. We met up with DH's friend from high school, whom we shall call Malaria (inside joke), who was on exchange in New Zealand. That was very exciting for my lovely man, who was quite sad when we had to leave :( We spent an afternoon in the Berlin Madame Tussauds, which was a lot more fun than the Amsterdam one. We learnt all about the Bundestag and how the German government works, and about how life was like in communist German Democratic Republic. And we got a new German grandmother who made DH and I a traditional German dinner complete with Sauerkraut and these double boiled mashed-potato balls: mmmmmmm :)
4. Rio de Janeiro. for all of Germany's so-called efficiency, on our arrival to Berlin airport there were no staff at the counter to check us in, even though we were only 10mins early; further more, they arrived 10mins late and then proceeded to waste time getting ready while the line of passengers grew longer and longer. Not cool British Airways. Not cool at all.
At London Heathrow again (where we somehow managed to fly in and out in between two crazy weather storms), we had a slow and rather expensive but delicious breakfast courtesy of one Gordon Ramsay - Delicious, said Max. Shopping at Heathrow wasn't that fun on account of the Pound, but at that time it was actually a better deal than the Euro so it wasn't too bad really.
The flight to Rio was marred by an entertainment system that ran in cycles, supposedly, but didn't; so the entire flight the same set of movies were shown over and over and over again. Oh, that and the stupid buggers behind DH and I kept playing football or boxing with our chairs. But the one behind me got denied alcohol which made me feel vindicated ;)
Copacabana Beach itself was quite lovely - beautiful sun and heat after a month of freezing cold Europe. The trip to visit Jesus on the Hill (otherwise known as Christ Redeemer - Cristo Redemtor) was made fabulous by the awesome taxi driver we had, Luis Peres. He took us all the way up and then gave a scenic tour back to the hotel for a pretty good deal we thought and he told us all about the city on the way as I started playing translator in my mixture of Portuguese and Spanish - LOL. The second day we spent at the beach, where I stupidly got super burnt (hilariously on the front of my calves and just above my armpits, hilarious because those parts were BRIGHT PINK compared to everything else a light shade of snow white). DH had a big pink chest and face, which brought out the colour in his eyes I thought ;)
5. Posadas. We've now been in Posadas almost a week and leave for Buenos Aires tomorrow. It's been odd but not to be back here. Some things in the house have changed completely - like a giant new formal lounge/dining, and some things have stayed exactly the same - such as the GIANT cupboard full of cookies and goodies, and the deliciousness of smooth velvety caramel Dulce de Leche... Oh, how I've missed you... Somehow, I'm getting some back into New Zealand. There's nothing wrong with it, Customs!! It's processed! The milk isn't a problem anymore, I promise...
We spent a couple of days in Iguazu, going first to the Brazillian side of the Cataratas do Iguassu (Iguazu waterfalls) and then the Argentinian side all the following day. The wonderful Hotel Cataratas comes Highly Recommended.
Other than that, we've mostly been mooching around here really, eating scrumptious food NOT prepared by Graciela and swimming the pool. The Little Blister had her first clubbing experience in the gigantesco Power Complejo (with about 11 different dance floors including some outdoor ones that double as restaurants/bars), which I think went smoothly and pleasantly.
that's all for now folks.
*doo do do-do-do doo* Malaria.
4. Rio de Janeiro. for all of Germany's so-called efficiency, on our arrival to Berlin airport there were no staff at the counter to check us in, even though we were only 10mins early; further more, they arrived 10mins late and then proceeded to waste time getting ready while the line of passengers grew longer and longer. Not cool British Airways. Not cool at all.
At London Heathrow again (where we somehow managed to fly in and out in between two crazy weather storms), we had a slow and rather expensive but delicious breakfast courtesy of one Gordon Ramsay - Delicious, said Max. Shopping at Heathrow wasn't that fun on account of the Pound, but at that time it was actually a better deal than the Euro so it wasn't too bad really.
The flight to Rio was marred by an entertainment system that ran in cycles, supposedly, but didn't; so the entire flight the same set of movies were shown over and over and over again. Oh, that and the stupid buggers behind DH and I kept playing football or boxing with our chairs. But the one behind me got denied alcohol which made me feel vindicated ;)
Copacabana Beach itself was quite lovely - beautiful sun and heat after a month of freezing cold Europe. The trip to visit Jesus on the Hill (otherwise known as Christ Redeemer - Cristo Redemtor) was made fabulous by the awesome taxi driver we had, Luis Peres. He took us all the way up and then gave a scenic tour back to the hotel for a pretty good deal we thought and he told us all about the city on the way as I started playing translator in my mixture of Portuguese and Spanish - LOL. The second day we spent at the beach, where I stupidly got super burnt (hilariously on the front of my calves and just above my armpits, hilarious because those parts were BRIGHT PINK compared to everything else a light shade of snow white). DH had a big pink chest and face, which brought out the colour in his eyes I thought ;)
5. Posadas. We've now been in Posadas almost a week and leave for Buenos Aires tomorrow. It's been odd but not to be back here. Some things in the house have changed completely - like a giant new formal lounge/dining, and some things have stayed exactly the same - such as the GIANT cupboard full of cookies and goodies, and the deliciousness of smooth velvety caramel Dulce de Leche... Oh, how I've missed you... Somehow, I'm getting some back into New Zealand. There's nothing wrong with it, Customs!! It's processed! The milk isn't a problem anymore, I promise...
We spent a couple of days in Iguazu, going first to the Brazillian side of the Cataratas do Iguassu (Iguazu waterfalls) and then the Argentinian side all the following day. The wonderful Hotel Cataratas comes Highly Recommended.
Other than that, we've mostly been mooching around here really, eating scrumptious food NOT prepared by Graciela and swimming the pool. The Little Blister had her first clubbing experience in the gigantesco Power Complejo (with about 11 different dance floors including some outdoor ones that double as restaurants/bars), which I think went smoothly and pleasantly.
that's all for now folks.
*doo do do-do-do doo* Malaria.
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