On our own..

This Thankgiving was a little untraditional for us in that we didn't go anywhere and we spent the weekend just the two of us.....it actually turned out pretty awesome especially our feastivus - gotta say we made a bird to be proud of AND for all those who left the beautiful So Cal they missed out on some stellar weather bout 78 degrees and sunny....

beautiful day called for a little pre-bird bike ride

Then a little cookin n' eatin

A little after-dinner stroll on the beach......gentry's behind the camera

Then Friday we took a little trip up to Big Bear and it was COLD!!

I survived a bear attack..

Gentry got a bit of Montezuma's revenge and ignored park signs ("no public dumping"

Chopped down a giant tree.....

And altogether had a pretty awesome weekend :)

Pun-kins

So it was the first annual pun-kin patch extravaganza....gentry was obviously constipated

It was blazing hot, the petting zoo (made entirely of really smelly goats) was a show stopper

The highlight was the corn maze that basically went in a circle haha, but the boys cheated and got to the flagpole first

Luckily we're super cute so altogether it was a successful day :)

Did I mention?

We got a new car!! Right after our little Argentina trip we took advantage of the oh so infamous Cash for Clunkers government deal (haha billions in debt and this is what they decided to put money into).

Bartered till I was blue in the face, Traded in our clunky Isuzu Trooper that was on its way to the grave.....

and got $4800 off the price of a brand new Honda Civic Ex-L, leather, sunroof, alloy rims, ipod hookup, yeah I'm in love with it.....

The Falls...

Some of our experiences of Iguazu Falls:

One huge bug...

We're on a boat....where we got to ride under the massive waterfall pretty amazing

One craaaaazy raccoon - anteater thing, they were everywhere and not shy at all


So much water, I loved the roaring sound it made...

The three points of Brasil, Argentina and Paraguay meet right here...

Three countries at once, we are standing on Argentina, to the left is Paraguay to the Right is Brazil.

Probably one of the most beautiful places in the world...

Food!!!

So one of the BEST PARTS if not THE Best Part of any trip is the FOOD!! So here it is in all it's glory:

First the MEAT!

Argentina is known for its BEEF, especially its grilled beef, and oh was it good. We went to 2 well known steak houses that were pretty awesome. First we tried to go to La Cabrera because of all the great reviews but by the time our crazy taxi had gotten us there we had missed lunch (end at 4pm) and they were closed till dinner which didn't start till 8pm (craziness) so we went to the next best one called La Brigada.

LA BRIGADA

We started off with a specialty "Provoleta" which is basically a huge piece of fried cheese with herbs on top - it was heartstoppingly delicious...

Next was the rib eye you could cut with a spoon...it was so good...a little rare and bloody haha but still pretty dang good...the pic next to it is their menu, it was made out of cow skin funny huh...

I really liked this place, it was small and cute and the steaks were huge and it wasn't crazy expensive like the US steak places, but I liked La Cabrera even more!

LA CABRERA

This place was ALWAYS jam packed with people...we had to make a reservation and they served champaign while people wait...not that we had any. So first of all their plates were shaped like cows haha, I thought that was hilarious, we got an argentine steak and a rib eye and all these tiny little dishes came with it, each was a different "side dish" there was one with this flavored butter that seriously made you feel like you were gonna have a heart attack after trying it... there were mushrooms, sweet potatos, olives, onions, applesause, potato salad and several other things I had no idea what they were...but it was AMAZING!

It's funny in Argentina people take forever to eat, seriously there is no customer/table turnover, they just expect you to stay for like 4-5 hrs and they never bring you your check. So people over there know how to CHILL!! But it was kinda nice cuz you could eat a little then rest then eat a little then rest...and it gave my stomach time enough to recover so that I could order dessert :)

BANANA FLAMBE! It was actually my favorite part..the bananas were warm and sweet and the ice cream was melty and the chocolate made it over the top....mmmm

So that was our main steak experience, it is definitely tops in my book BUT I have to say my favorite steak of all time was still from the Babb bar in Montana ( thanks again George ;)

Some of the staples in Argentina are pizza and empanadas:

And omigosh are they good, empanadas are the perfect little morsel for the perfect little snack, its like a homemade pizza pocket with really good taco meat inside, but just small, they were everywhere and like less than a buck mmmm I wish they had them here I could eat them everyday! Pizza there was really good too, really cheap and they don't skimp on cheese like they do in the US and its just so fresh and amazing....they had pizza places all over the place, I wish they had those here too, so much cheaper and better......Their signature pizza was a flat crusted cheese pizza with ham and a green olive on each slice - so good...

LUJAN COMIDA

Here's another pic of a feast we had while in Lujan, pizza and milanesa neopolitan (I think) Milanesa is so good! Its s super flat steak (so thin!) that they bread, the neopolitan they put cheese and pizza sauce on top - it was amazing...my mouth is watering...We ate this right outside of a huge cathedral/church that looks like notre dame...

Here is little Gentry enjoying the milanesa in a sandwich - their bread is the best! So soft on the inside and a little crusty on the outside mmmm....

And we def drank our share (well at least Gentry did ) of Coca Light....to kill any germs ya know

CAFE TORTONI

We went to this famous cafe one day for the best hot chocolate ever, it was seriously melted chocolate and you could add hot milk to taste....Gentry ordered this one that is really hot milk and then you add this solid chocolate submarine haha and then it turns into hot chocolate....that and some fresh churros....

CHORIPAN

It's like a sausage sandwich....pretty good pretty good, it smelled amazing...

While waiting in the airport to go to Iguazu falls we got this funny sandwich, its super thin bread with really thin ham and cheese, its really cute and surprisingly filling, they had these kind of sandwiches everywhere stacked up in huge blocks...

Gentry loved this: burger king letting you put as many patties as you wanted on your whopper or whatever, pretty funny cuz I don't think they do that in the states and you think they would LOVE that here!

ALFAHORES

These were everywhere too and we ate them like everyday, alfahores are like two crumbly cookies with dulce de leche or chocolate cream on the inside covered in chocolate, there were a billion different kinds and we tried a bunch of different ones, the gold one is a really popular one, it had dulce de leche - I can't believe they don't have that here either! They have it there in cans like peanut butter, just this really creamy carmel that you can put on anything, it was delicious!! Mmmmm I'm missing the food already........

So that was a pictoral journey through some of our Argentine food experiences, definitely one of the top places for food that I have been, go ahead and drool, I am.......

Coming Soon: Lujan Zoo & Iguazu Falls....

In the city of Buenos Aires

Argentina was amazing. There was so much to see and do and SO MANY PEOPLE!! It was a little crazy....first I was a little nervous about being mugged from stories Gentry had told me and my friend Christine is from there she said we would most likely get robbed if we weren't careful so I was wary of just about everyone, but luckily, no muggings tho I overheard a lady checking into our hotel that her bag with her laptop had just been swiped outside on the sidewalk.

Our apartment was right next to the Obelisk and across the street from a huge poster advertising some performance involving some women wearing basically nothing.....

I got used to the nudy pictures - they were everywhere haha.

Our apartment was less than a block away from 2 McDonalds, they were everywhere too, we only got ice cream there once though (Dulce de leche - yum!), they were always packed. Our first few days were spent walking around the city, most of the "sights" were within walking distance so it was perfect.

So around the Obelisk is the Avenida de Julio which I think is the widest avenue in the word, like 8 lanes on each side or something. The funniest thing about it was people drove like maniacs there! It's like the white lines drawn to separate the lanes were just for looks....really whereever there was any space there was a little car or motor bike or bicyclist, and if you stepped off the sidewalk (even if the crosswalk sign said "walk") you were likely to get plowed over by a car cuz they just don't stop...and the taxis were the funniest they would swerve in and out of cars and people and just honk as they approached them without slowing down so you constantly hear this beep beep beep beep beep warning you you were about to die.

We saw some beautiful churches, its funny they let people walk in during their mass and the tourists are all taking pics while people are seriously praying the taking the sacrament....

This is the "pink house" basically their white house, there's always protest going on all around it.

And here I am with e SWAT prepping for the protesters....

Tango is the "thing" there, that and BEEF and Yerba Mate (a disgusting grass tasting tea that Gentry had me drink -"just add more sugar")...

Here's guy drinking the yerba mate, they always drink it out of this special cup with a metal straw, and EVERYONE drinks it!!

The apartment we were staying in was right next to a bunch of theaters and the one right next to us was showing "El Fantasma de la Opera" so we had to go see it - it was in Spanish but still pretty dang awesome......Oh and we slipped the usher a couple of bucks to seat us closer it was awesome I felt all sly.....

Gentry tried to convince me to use the bidet, BUTT (haha pun intended) I just couldn't do it, it does make sense but then using a towel that hangs there for everyone else to use too just doesn't make sense....

This was the view from our hotel at night looking down on the city.

It was so funny, I got up early one day thinking we should get going to see everything and when we got out the door every shop and store was closed and no one was around.

For people there 10am is the earliest shops open and then all the shops close again at 3-4pm and don't open up again till like 8pm, like right during prime American dinner hours all restaurants are closed then they open 8pm till like 3am - all the restaurants were like this, it was so funny..... So we had to plan our eating schedule accordingly, it took a little getting use to....

There's a famous cemetery there called Recoleta where Evita is buried, you know "don't cry for me Argentinaaaaa". That's me standing next to her tomb, while Gentry is desecrating someone elses haha

There were monuments and statues EVERYWHERE, it kinda reminded me of Paris in that way.

Here I am on the roof overlooking all of Buenos Aires. The janitor was cool and let us climb up there and take pictures even tho we weren't suppose to, there was no railing! It was just a straight drop off, pretty freaky haha.....

So that was the city, I'll update later with pics of the FOOD (Yum), the Zoo and Iguazu (Jungle and Falls)......

Iguazu.....more to come