Sean and Katy's South American Adventure!

Home Sweet Home

2008-03-09T17:54:00.033-04:00

THURSDAY MARCH 13 We're back! And so is the blog. On Wednesday February 13 Katy and I landed in Detroit, Michigan ending our 100 day trip of South America. We apologize for putting the blog into hibernation for the past month and not keeping you up-to-date on our travel adventures, but it was all in good fun. We decided to play a joke on my friend Chris (pictured above). Chris turned 30 Friday night and we thought it would be fun to not tell him that we were coming home and instead just show up one night in Boston. And that's exactly what we did! With a little help from my good buddy Tom, we arranged for Chris to show up at pub in Beantown. Tom called Chris and told him he had an extra ticket for the Bruins game that night. Chris agreed to come but when Tom hung up the phone he realized that when Chris figured out there was no Bruins game and only his good friend Sean, he might be disappointed. So Tom used his connections and got tickets for everybody right behind the goal. The Bruin lost 8-2 but we all had fun! The look on Chris's face when he turned the corner at Boston Beerworks and saw us was well worth the all the planning. Sufficed to say, Chris was was very surprised to see us in the northern hemisphere. Chris claims he's not gullible, but it's tough to hide from the fact that everyone EXCEPT Chris knew we were coming home. Happy birthday, buddy!

So... I feel like some sort of explanation is called for. We decided to depart from our original plan and come home after three months of traveling. Our original itinerary included an extra six months of working in Argentina and submerging ourselves in the language and culture, but Katy and I had an easy time changing our minds. The trip was incredible, but after three months of living out of backpacks, we were ready for civilization again. It's been great seeing everybody again and we're very excited to keep making the rounds and visiting with all of you. We have so many pictures to share and tons of stories (many of which were not included in the blog because of content reasons). Those stories are the best ones!

Since we've been home, it's been a whirlwind tour of the eastern third of the US. First we landed in Detroit and Katy's Dad picked us up and brought us to Chicago to visit with Katy's family. We stayed in Gurnee for about two weeks and had a wonderful time visiting with her friends and family and eating great food. Perhaps the highlight of the Chicago eating experience was dining out at Harry Caray's restaurant on the tenth anniversary of the great man's death. Katy's Dad recommended the sausage and peppers and it was quite simply one of the best meals ever. Another hightlight of the visit was spending the day at Notre Dame. Katy had never seen the campus and I was more than happy to play tour guide. Oh... and it just so happened ND played Pitt that night in basketball, so we got to see the Irish come back from an 11 point deficit with ten minutes to go and win by 12. Go Irish! Katy loved the campus and we both had a great time reliving my glory years and eating dinner at the South Dining Hall.

Chicago is a great city and we were sad to leave the area but also excited to get home. We stayed with Katy's sister Betsy for a few nights and had a great time with her catching up. Betsy has a great job at the Lincoln Park Zoo and gives one heck of an inside tour. If you're very in Chicago, look up Betsy Nicketakis and get her to show you the lions and the brown bear. You won't be disappointed. We also had a great time visiting Katy's mother at her bowling league and meeting some very loyal blog readers.

So we left Chicagoland and headed south to Champaign to visit my friend Dan and his wife Jenn. Dan is getting a PhD at U of I and gave us a great tour of the campus. We then headed east to NY to visit my friends Abby and Seth in Brooklyn, but got stuck in a mighty snowstorm in PA. We pulled off the highway and found a really happening Quality Inn. Turns out the hotel lounge was really the towny bar and we had a great time kicking it with locals. The next morning we headed to NYC and spent the night catching up with Abby and Seth. Unfortunately I forgot to take another embarrassing picture of Seth so I'll have to snap one the next time we're down there. Sunday we drove to Greenfield, MA and spent the night with Katy's friends Ben and Martha and had a super time at the People's Pint. If you're ever driving through western MA and looking for delicious food and qualities ales, the People's Pint is your place.

And on Monday... we finally made it back to Maine! Driving over the Piscataqua Bridge never felt so good. It's been great to see family and visit with friends. We were hoping to get some skiing in this past weekend, but rain and wind shut all the mountains around here down. There's still a lot of winter left, though. We don't have cable yet so tonight we're heading out somewhere to watch the Fightin' Irish take on Marquette in Big East basketball. Go ND!

For some unknown reason, people have requested that we continue to write the blog. I didn't think our lives were that interesting, but we'll keep it going as long as we have something to say and people want to read it. Feel free to let us know when it's time to shut it down. I know Katy wants to write something soon, and hopefully she'll fill you in more on the last couple weeks of our trip which were very exciting. We'll also post more pictures and get some albums posted on Snapfish for everybody to look at.

Until next time,

Adios, Sean

P.S. An explanation of the pictures above: The first picture was taken at a Waffle House outside Indianapolis. Katy was a bit reluctant to go in, but the sweet taste of waffles and America's best cup of coffee soon won her over. The second picture is back at the condo in Portland where we decided to write and perform a song for our friend Doty entitled "Big Man in a Little Subaru." The third picture is the last picture we took in South America. The fourth picture is Katy with her sister Betsy and the last picture is of me and Chris a few minutes after we surprised him in Boston.

A-O-K

2008-02-22T00:10:00.003-05:00

Hi all! Sorry it's been so long...we've been running around like crazy! We've had some exciting adventures that we'll share with you soon, when we have more time. And, we both had our worst bout of traveler's sickness, which kept us in bed for a couple of days. Luckily, the Cipro that we brought with us cured us of whatever we had. Thank you, antibiotics!

A couple people have been wondering about the political tensions in Peru and Lima... There's a lot of political instability going on right now, but luckily we've stayed clear and feel very safe.

Hope all is well and will write more soon!

katy

Elevation Change

2008-02-08T19:15:00.000-05:00

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 10 Greetings from Peru! Every morning on this trip we wake up and do something new. Thursday morning we woke up at 2:30 a.m., strapped our head lamps across our foreheads and climbed towards the stars. The Colca Canyon is 14,000 feet deep. It's the second deepest canyon in the world and twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. For some crazy reason, Katy and I decided to take a two day/one night hike in and out of the canyon. Well, it's now Sunday and we're still recovering.

Led by our freakishly fit guide Eddie, we jumped on a bus at 1:00 a.m. Wednesday morning and took a six hour bus ride from Arequipa to the rim of the canyon. It was by far the worst bus ride of the trip. Constant heading-smashing potholes, blaring music from the bus's PA system, bright lights turned on... somehow Katy, being the hibernating sleeper she is, got a couple hours of sleep, but I arrived at the canyon's rim ready for a full two days of hiking without one minute's worth of sleep. Fortunately, 4 Snickers bars and the sight of a 14,000 foot canyon wake you pretty quickly. So down we went... all the way to the bottom of the canyon through little villages where not much has changed in several hundred years. Finally, 14 hours later we reached our destination... a small village called Oasis at the very bottom of the canyon. After a great dinner and some semi-conscious banter with our new hiking friends Oli and Cassie from London, we fell asleep instantly in our indoor/outdoor "hotel room."

And that's when our guide Eddie woke us up at 2:30 a.m. to start the ascent back to the rim. Cassie and Oli were fortunate enough to sleep in until 4:00 a.m., but that's only because Cassie had hurt her knee on the way down and they were riding mules up to the top of the canyon. Question: What's scarier than climbing out of a 14,000 foot canyon in the middle of the night? Answer: Riding out of a 14,000 foot canyon in the middle of the night on a mule! Luckily we all made it out of the canyon and back to Arequipa by the next morning... very sore.

So Katy and I immediately purchased bus tickets for the next day to the beach resort town of Mollendo, where we have spent the last two days. Lying on the beach, drinking some cerveza and eating ceviche does a body good, and so now we're ready to rock 'n roll. We're taking an overnight bus tonight to Lima and can't wait to venture around the country's capital. Rumor has it Lima also has beaches, cerveza and ceviche... which is nice.

Hope everyone's doing well. ME holds its presidential caucus today. I wanted to charter a plane to Portland for the caucus, but Katy suggested we just vote by absentee ballot. So that's the way we chose to fulfill our civic responsibility. Not as fun as flying back, but probably more sensible. We'll write again soon...

Until next time,

Sean

Worth every penny...

2008-02-05T15:15:00.000-05:00

Ok...here comes more details about Machu Picchu--it certainly deserves more description! Clearly, we had heard of Machu Picchu and seen many pictures before we even left Maine last fall. This is different than most places we´ve visited on this trip. However, no amount of photos could ruin the amazement and wonder of seeing these Incan ruins for the first time in person. They balance precariously on the top of a mountain, seeming like they could tip off either side. Very little is known about them, especially why they were built in such a remote location. In fact, they remained hidden from the world until their rediscovery in the early 20th century. Silly Incas!

On my dad and Betsy´s advice, we stayed in Aguas Calientes (the town right below Machu Picchu) the night before, so we were able to take the bus up to the ruins and arrive before 8am. Since most tourists only come for the day, we had three hours to ourselves...well, it was us and the smelly Inca Trail hikers. The light was perfect and it was possible to lose ourselves wandering around the ruins. Sean swears he saw a 6 year old Inca boy! One of my favorite parts of the ruins were the llamas that were hard at work as landscapers in the middle of the ruins. We also climbed Wayna Picchu, the mountain in back of the ruins that you can see in the photos, as well. It looks like a tough climb, but was definitely manageable. The views were great and it gave us a new perspective on the lost city. Highly recommended for anyone that visits the site!

Now we´re in Arequipa, Peru´s second largest city. It only has 760,000 people and seems even smaller than that. We´ve enjoyed wandering the streets lined with old colonial buildings and sampling such regional delicacies as crepes and falafel. Well, they were delicious at least!

It´s carnaval here, and while it´s not as big of a party as it is in Brazil, people celebrate in a different way. Last sunday (our first day in Arequipa), Sean and I were exploring the city, when a taxi slowly pulled up to us and out shot shaving cream, a direct hit right on me! After being hit twice more, then noticing people selling cans of the stuff on the street, I became a bit paranoid. I would suspiciously eye every person and car that past me, daring them to spray me. Apparently, the spraying is only a tradition on that one day, not all the time in Arequipa, like I thought!

Apparently there´s a trend here, because the spontaneous water fights are one of our favorite parts about Peru and Bolivia. You have to keep a constant eye open, because you never know when a kid could spin around with a super soaker or heave a water balloon at you. Usually, if you´re not armed, they won´t attack you, but I can pretend that it hasn´t happened! Unfortunately, my super soaker from 15 years ago is buried somewhere in my parents´garage.

So hasta luego from Arequipa! We leave tomorrow (at 1am!!!) for a two day hike through the Canyon de Colca--twice as deep as the Grand Canyon!

Ciao,

Katy

Photos:
1) llamas at Machu Picchu

2) an incredibly fun moto-taxi!

3) Katy after being sprayed in Arequipa

Tough Traveling

2008-02-02T12:38:00.002-05:00

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 2 Katy and I are currently in Peru. We've been in the Cuzco area for the past week and tonight we're taking an overnight bus southeast to Arequipa. Since we left La Paz, our trip has become stranger and more adventurous.

After the hell that was La Paz, we decided to head for the beautiful laketown of Copacabana where we could relax, soak in some rays and visit the beautiful Isla del Sol in the middle of Lake Titicaca. The bus ride to Copacabana was beautiful. It was about three hours long and included a ferry ride over a small part of Lake Titicaca. I'm not sure how many of you have ever taken a bus and a ferry at the same time, but if you ever decide to test your luck, I suggest you do it in a developed country. The word "ferry" is really misleading. It was more like some boards with an outboard motor. Despite the fact this floating barge of death was unsafe without anything on it, the bus drove right up on it and we began to float across this very deep lake up at 13,000 feet. On the voyage across, we remembered our nice friends from the Explorer, whose boat sunk off the coast of Antarctica, and prayed our "boat" would have better luck. Fortunately, the barge was a magicical barge and it somehow floated across the lake.

Copacabana was much smaller than we anticipated. Normally after leaving a disgusting metropolis like La Paz, this would be just fine with us, but the town's small population and limited services would later prove to be our undoing. Because our Lonely Planet Guide claimed the population of Copacabana was over 60,000 people, we saw no need to take out enough money in La Paz to last us a few days at the "large" resort town... Big mistake. Here's a list of things Copacabana did have: a picture of Barry Manilow, thousands of swan boats and several beach foosball tables. Here's a list of something it didn't: an ATM. Of course we didn't realize this until it was too late. Katy and I had already decided to spend a night on beautiful Isla del Sol, and didn't realize the gravity of our situation until after we had bought the boat tickets to the island. So off to Isla del Sol, birthplace of the sun, we went with 230 Bolivianos. Sounds like a lot, but that's really only $30. We knew it would cost us 40 Bolivianos to get back to Copacabana on the ferry the next day, so that left us with 190 for food and accomodations. We were still OK... we thought. Upon arriving at Isla del Sol, we were approached by a small 13 year-old boy named Fernando, who offered us accomodations at his godmother's hostel just up the hill for 80 Bolivianos. Sounded good... Turns out "just up the hill" meant an hour hike to the top of a mountain and "80 Bolivianos" meant 80 Bolivianos per person (two details Fernando forgot to mention until after he had begged his way to a 10 Boliviano tip). So there we were, at the top of a mountain, completely out of breath with only 20 Bolivianos left. Thanks a lot, Fernando. (Note: Fernando became the curse word of choice for the next 24 hours).

Although Isla del Sol is the Incan birthplace of the sun, it mostly rained while we were there, which we were grateful for because we had no money to replenish our lost moisture and nutrients. Despite the situation, we still hiked over seven miles across the island. When we returned to the village that night, we split a plate of spaghetti and a bag of M&Ms.

The next morning we woke up and jumped on the ferry with two Bolivianos in our pocket. Of course when we reached the shore, we realized we were still in a mess. Buses, hotels and food still cost money and Copacabana still didn't have an ATM. When we realized that our last hope, the cash advance office, was closed, we started to panic. Somehow during our panic attacks, which included crying, begging for money and cursing the names "Fernando" and "Lonely Planet," Katy found 12,000 Chilean pesos in her money belt left over from our time in Patagonia! Through the tears (now of joy), we were somehow able to exchange them with some woman sitting at a lemonade stand on the street for 169 Bolivianos . The exchange rate may not have been in our favor, but it was enough money to get us on a bus to Peru. And that's exactly what we did!

So, now we're here and we're having a much better time. I forgot to mention, that through all the experiences of La Paz and Copacabana, we didn't have a warm shower in 10 days. So sufficed to say, when we arrived in Cuzco, we found a great place to stay with agua caliente. And life's been great ever since. I guess that's just traveling.

We visited Machu Picchu yesterday and I'm not sure words describe the beauty or spectacularness of the place so I just posted some pictures. Someone told me it just got voted one of the new seven wonders of the world. I can't imagine why it was never one to begin with. I'll let Katy write more about it in another blog. Definitely a major trip highlight.

So we're off to Arequipa to watch the SuperBowl. Go Patriots. Hope everyone is doing well and we'll check in again soon.

Love,

Sean

Katy and Sean Answer Questions

2008-01-27T21:14:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the questions everyone. And to those we emailed and specifically demanded they ask questions, a special thanks to you too. We received a good sample of questions so we'll reach right into the mailbag and get this going. Yippeee!

JENNIFER: Greetings, Katy and Sean! Q & A is fun. What do you miss the most about the US? What do you wish you could bring back? How's your Spanish coming?

KATY: I miss DQ Blizzards and I miss my friends and family. I wish I could bring back and have when ever I wanted the delightful Argentine beef. As for my Spanish, I just finished reading my second Spanish children's book, Detectives En Bariloche. I can have any conversation needed in a hotel, but I can't talk with somebody my own age.

SEAN: Thanks for the wonderful question, Jennifer. I miss sports and politics the most, although with internet cafes on every corner, it's easy to follow US news down here. As far as bringing something back, I wish I could bring the prices back to the US. Everything here is so cheap. My Spanish is OK. I know un poco. I appointed Katy my official spokeswoman when we landed in Buenos Aires.

ERIN: What's your favorite color?

SEAN: Green.

KATY: Rojo.

BETSY: Question for Sean, have you seen any tarantulas yet? Question for Katy, how much do you miss being Oakie?

SEAN: Yes, I have seen tarantulas. There were many in Mendoza at the city serpentarium. They were in a cage and I tried to wake them up by tapping on the glass, but I think they all died several years ago. Still scary.

KATY: First, I'd like to comment on Sean's behavior when he saw a miniscule yellow spider the other day. I don't think a five year-old girl could scream so high or flick it so far. I miss being Oakie as much as the five year-old girl loves that crazy nut.

KERRY: Question for both: What has been the scariest moment of the trip? For both: How do you think the trip will change your perspective on your life back in the US? For Katy: How many times have you wanted to kick Sean for being an idiot? For Sean: Isn't Katy wonderful?

KATY: My scariest moment was also my most exhilerating as Dad, Sean and I descended a rocky path through 60+ MPH winds after a four hour hike. Whenever I travel abroad, I return home with a new found appreciation for the comforts of home and my friends and family. I'm a really lucky person and it takes seeing those that are less fortunate to realize it. 152.

SEAN: Don't expect sappy answers like that from me. The scariest moment so far was descending into the Potosi silver mine in Bolivia. We were in the pitch dark in the middle of a mountain, barely able to breathe, feeling like the entire mountain could collapse at any minute. And considering the dynamite that was exploding around us and the fact the miners gave up consulting engineers several years ago, that was a real possibility. Good thing we were high on coca leaves and amped up on orange soda and rubbling alcohol (mandatory dietary supplements when entering the mine.) I'm sure traveling down here will give me a new, healthier perspective on life back in the US. I'll have a better appreciation for adequate plumbing and menus I can read. And yes, Katy is wonderful.

ERIKA/MOM: Do you have trip favorites? Hike? Meal? Accomodations? Scenic view? Dog story? Bus trip?

SEAN: OK, in order... best hike was when El Nick was with us in Patagonia. We took a great hike from our hotel in Torres del Paines five miles to another section of the park. Best hike ever. Best meal was the first of several times Katy, Nick and I ate at Mesita Grande in Puerto Natales, Chile. Great pizza, great beer and a great waitress. Best accomodation was Hostel 1004 in Bariloche, Argentina. Katy and I liked it so much we hung out there for almost two weeks. Best scenic view was during a boat trip in Patagonia from Puerto Natales. I can't imagine scenery more spectacular or surreal. Best dog story is walking out of the aforementioned Mesita Grande and seeing two dogs stuck together at their bums. Why? How? Who knows. We just kept on walking. Best bus trip? Well, I'll give you the worst. The first overnight bus we took from Buenos Aires to Mendoza. I ate the bus beef and didn't leave the hotel room for four days.

KATY: Surprisingly, I only agree with Sean on the best hike! It was the best hike either of us has ever been on. Ask to see pictures. My favorite meal was one of thr first of the entire trip, when we ate at Desnivel in Buenos Aires. I´ve never had steak that tasted that good or had the same texture. Plus, with a $5 bottle of delicious Malbec, who can beat it? 1004 was memorable--great views and a fabulous kitchen, but my favorite accomodations were at Hotel Mirador del Payne in Torres del Paine National Park. The views of the Torres are unmatched, the food was delicious and home-cooked, and it was in a part of the park that less than 1% of the visitors ever see. What a magical place. In a part of the world that´s so beautiful, it´s hard for me to say what the best scenic view is. Ones that stick out: Uyuni Salt flat--like being in heaven, view from Mirador del Payne of the Torres, and the final vista on the best hike ever. Like I said, ask to see pictures. Even though I prefer cats to dogs, my favorite dog moment came in Bariloche when we had 3 friendly dogs accompany us on a 6 hour hike. And my best bus trip was from Salta to Cachi in Argentina. The landscape was varied, but all beautiful. Valleys, cacti, clouds, llamas...all so different from home.

MARY: Question for Katy: If you've had a chance for political discussions with Argentians and Bolivians, what's the general attitude toward the U.S. government? What's the reception towards North Americans as individuals?Question for Sean: By how many points will New England beat the Giants? Go Pats!

KATY: I´ll let the resident political expert handle this one, but everyone has been incredibly friendly towards us. No matter what they think of the US government, they´re willing to judge US citizens on an individual basis.

SEAN: Thanks, Katy. Great question, Mary. Unfortunately, newly elected presidents Christina Kirchner of Argentina and Evo Morales of Bolivia have denied my requests for official visits. I'm hoping they reconsider before we head home, so stay tuned... But clearly there is a lot of disappointment here with the US government. Latin Americans, I think, feel disappointed that the US government hasn't lived up to its potential as leader of the free world, especially when it come to Southern Hemisphere affairs. The Pats will win their fourth SuperBowl in seven years by a score of 31-20!

CHRIS HARRIS: Hey Katy and Sean, miss you guys so much but love the blog. Every morning at work I read your blog and play scrabulous. Here's my question: What's been the scariest moment of the trip so far? Love ya XOXOXOX, Chris Harris

SEAN: Chris, thanks for asking a question someone already asked. We don't have time for this nonsense.

Well thanks for all the questions. We had fun answering them. For all you who asked inappropriate questions that had to be removed from the blog, we'll answer you individually by email.

Adios,

Katy and Sean

Q & A with Katy and Sean!

2008-01-22T20:12:00.000-05:00

Hi all!

For several weeks now, many people have been emailing us questions about our trip and we haven't had a chance to write back and answer all the questions. Well, here is your chance! Post a question to Sean, me or both of us and we'll answer you in the next episode of Sean and Katy´s South American Adventure.

We´re heading to Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca early tomorrow morning, so will check your questions when we get back!

love,
katy

Pissing and Moaning

2008-01-21T18:10:00.000-05:00

MONDAY JANUARY 21 I just have a few things to add to Katy's blog yesterday. If you remember, we were heading to Sucre, Bolivia's second capital, after spending a few days in Potosi. We were unable to travel there because roadblocks and protests continue to disrupt transportation throughout the country. As of right now, the road between Potosi and Sucre is closed and so we decided to skip it and head right for Bolivia's first capital, La Paz.

La Paz sucks. I know when you're traveling you're supposed to be respectful and and term things and places you don't like as "different," but La Paz is awful. When I walk around the city I think I'm going to catch the plague. And since Katy and I have been sick and bedridden for the last 48 hours, we're hoping we caught something a little less serious. We'll see... Why did we get sick? Maybe it was the trash in the street. Maybe it was all the people going to the bathroom on the sidewalks. Maybe it was the exhaust of the 1970s buses that make you cough, gag and temporarily lose vision. Maybe it was the food they sell on the street (literally ON the street). Maybe it was the brown and black water that runs down the streets like rivers whenever it rains and seeps through the pores of your skin. (Note: the food remains ON the street when it rains.)

The people of Laz Paz, on the other hand, are wonderful and extremely friendly and it breaks your heart when you see them living in these conditions. You wonder how people choose to live in these conditons until you realize they don't have a choice. It's very sad and it's been tough for us to deal with as we continue to head north through SA.

So hopefully Katy and I will be feeling better tomorrow because we're scheduled to be on the 7:30 AM bus to the town of Copacabana on Lake Titicaca. The bus ride is three hours and I'm not sure we could make it on a bus that long right now (if you know what I mean).

Not everything is bad, though. Cheers to La Paz cable TV for carrying the Patriots - Chargers game live last night. In between trips to the bathroom, Katy and I were able to watch the New England Patriots advance to their fourth SuperBowl in seven years. The play-by-play was in Spanish, but fortunately the Patriots speak the universal language of winning!!

Hope everyone's doing well. We're heading out to find some dinner. Rumor has it there's a place down the street with pool and darts. Katy is going down!

Adios and buenas noches,

Sean C. Smith

Rainy in La Paz

2008-01-20T14:50:00.000-05:00

SUNDAY JANUARY 20

Sean and I are quickly discovering that traveling during the rainy season really does mean that it rains every day. Right now we´re in La Paz, which would be a really neat city to walk around...if it didn´t rain every day. La Paz does have a different feel than the other cities that we´ve visited in Bolivia. It´s very busy and bustling with people selling whatever they can get their hands on wherever you are. Yesterday I saw a woman selling lightbulbs next to a woman selling cabbage seeds next to a man hawking fake Nike socks. If you´re looking for something specific, just keep walking around and eventually you´ll find it!!!

La Paz´s location is really cool too. It is both one of the highest cities in the world and located in a valley. Yesterday we took one of the "collectivos"--minibuses that cruise the streets (more about those later) up to El Alto, the city of working folk that clings to the sides of the mountains above La Paz. It was an unforgettable ride. The bus we were on had to be in first gear for the whole 20 minute ride to make it up the steep hill with so many people on it! The views from the top were fabulous--La Paz at the bottom of the valley framed by the hills surrounding it and Mt. Illipani, a 22,000 ft snow-covered mountain! Normally, to see a city from that angle, you need to be in a plane. We were able to locate our hotel and the church we visited that morning. Internet connections are slow here, but we´ll post photos when we can.

The mini-buses are something I´ve never seen before. They range from small vans to almost normal size buses and are constantly speeding (or grinding gears) around town. Adolescent boys will jump on them (the doors are always open--literally) and start shouting the destinations of the buses. They´ll then jump off and the driver will hand them a small tip. We´ve taken them here in La Paz and also in Potosi and wish that we had them in the US. They only cost 1 Boliviano (about 13 cents) and will take you pretty much anywhere you want to go. I´ve noticed that there are more public transportation vehicles here than there are private. Sadly, I don´t think this will ever work in the US.

We´re in La Paz through tomorrow, then head to Lake Titicaca, a beautiful mountain lake on the border of Bolivia and Peru. We´re going to visit Isla del Sol, the birthplace of the sun. Hopefully we won´t get burned!

katy

Bolivia, Babies and Dynamite

2008-01-16T16:52:00.001-05:00

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 16 Have you ever sat in a minivan next to a little girl and had a stick of dynamite in one hand and a bag of ammonium nitrate in the other? I have. Have you ever seen a three year old girl walking down the street with a sickle? I have. Have you ever seen a baby sleeping on the dashboard of a bus? I have. Have you ever been in the depths of a mountain and heard and felt the explosions of dynamite around you? And been holding a bag of coca leaves and orange soda at the same time? I have.

I knew that traveling was about experiencing new things, but I'm not sure I was ready for this. For the rest of my life, when anyone asks me if I have ever walked through a pack of wild dogs and seen two dogs stuck together at their bums, I will have to answer yes. When anybody walks into a room and asks if someone has been in a "bathroom" so gross they weren't sure where the toilet was, I will have to raise my hand in the affirmative.

I'm not sure how these events will shape and affect the rest of my life, but some sort of change is inevitable. I mean, there is life pre-baby-with-a-sickle and life post-baby-with-a-sickle. Once you've seen that, things can't be the same ever again.

This is life in Boliva, I guess. And despite these experiences, or more likely because of them, Katy and I are having the time of our lives. Bolivia is a beautiful, stunning, impoverished third-world country. And I think, next to Patagonia, our favorite part of the trip so far. Every morning we wake up and do something or see something that we have never done or seen before.

We're in Potosi through tomorrow, and at an elevation of 13,400 feet the lack of oxygen is dizzying. I walk around heaving and bumping into things all day. On Friday we'll head to Sucre and then to La Paz after that. Hope you're all doing well. We'll keep you up-to-date on our adventures as they progress. The internet is slow here and so posting pictures has been difficult. The photos are stunning so far and we'll be sure to share them with all of you when we get home.

Until next time, adios from Bolivia.

Sean

The Southwest Circuit

2008-01-15T19:03:00.000-05:00

TUESDAY, JANUARY 15

Well, it´s been a whirlwind few days! Sean and I have been in Bolivia now for a week and are loving it! You´ll all be glad to know that we feel very safe here and have not had any problems. It´s certainly different from Argentina and Chile, which at points felt like home. Bolivia is definitely a third world country. But, the food is good, accomodations are fine (for the most part, read on...) and everything is very cheap! Right now we´re in Potosí, the world´s highest city at 13,500 feet. The plans for tomorrow include visiting silver mines and going to the National Mint. Both are supposed to be fascinating.

The past 4 days were spectacular. We went on a 4x4 tour of Southwest Bolivia that covered some of the most stunning landscapes that either of us had ever seen. We took off from Tupiza and immediately started climbing until we arrived at a canyon that rivaled the beauty of the Grand Canyon. The rest of that day was spent careening around mountain curves and admiring the beauty of the mountains and valleys. Now, when we bought the tour, the agent told us that accomodations were going to be "basic". Ok, we thought, we can handle it. Well...we spent the night in a town of 250 people with houses made of adobe and thatched roofs! The only electricity came from solar panels and was only available for 3 hours at night. No showers, no hot water.

We awoke at 4:30 the next morning for another long day of 4-wheeling. The highlight of that day was being so high up that we could throw snowballs at each other! It´s the middle of the summer here and we´re at approximately the same latitude as Florida, but the altitude was so high that it was cold enough for snow! Crazy! The rest of the trip consisted of seeing mountains, deserts, flamingos, llamas, alpacas, tons of lakes, but no trees. I´m really missing the trees! We´re above tree level, so there´s just scrubby bushes.

The highlight of the tour was definitely the last day when we visited the Uyuni Salt Flat. It´s the largest salt flat in the world and it´s the coolest place I´ve ever been. It had rained the couple days before we visited, so there was a small layer of water covering the salt which turned it into an enormous mirror! The horizon disappeared as the ground perfectly reflected the sky. People standing on the ground appeared to be floating in the sky! We just drove for hours admiring the beauty of it all. We´ll put pictures up soon.

Hope all is well and that everyone is enjoying the massive amounts of snow. Sean and I are jealous!

katy

To Bolivia!

2008-01-08T17:10:00.000-05:00

TUESDAY JANUARY 8 Greetings from La Quiaca, Argentina. Here at 11, 385 feet, the air is thin and the elevation is dizzying. We arrived at this small border town in northwest Argentina this afternoon, and tomorrow morning, with passports and visas in hand, we will walk across the border into Bolivia.

Although we can see the neighboring Bolivian town of Villazon from our hotel window, we have no idea what we're walking into. Bolivia is South America's highest, most isolated and most rugged nation. It is among the planet's coldest, warmest, windiest and steamiest places. It is also the poorest country in South America, but one of the continent's richest in natural resources. Bolivia's history has been mared by political upheaval, brutal dictatorships and bad luck. Since its independence from the Spanish in 1825, Bolivia has had 192 governments. Most of these governments, dominated by the wealthy landowners of the eastern part of the country, have contributed to the intolerable economic conditions that dominate most of Bolivia's indiginous population. In January 2006, Bolivians elected the country's first indiginous president, Evo Morales. Whirlwind changes at political, social and economic levels happen here on a daily basis and the future of the country is in complete flux.

So Bolivia here we come! Katy and I have heard nothing but wonderful things about the country from fellow travelers and we can't wait to share with you what we discover.

Meanwhile, we've been having quite a time here in northwest Argentina! For the last week, we've been traveling around Salta and Argentina's Andean northwest. One of the highlights of the week was the spectacular bus ride to a small town called Cachi. The bus grinds its way up narrow, winding roads that twist and curl around the imposing mountainside. Katy was tempted to stick her head out the window and look down the sheer 2000 foot precipice, but fortunately she decided she didn't want to do anything to throw off the bus's delicate equilibrium. I think that was a good call! Cachi is a pretty town, but the poverty among its people is overwhelming. It was very depressing walking around knowing we could jump on a bus anytime and leave but most of the town's residents will be stuck there forever.

We also took a two-day trip on El Bus a Las Nubes (bus to the clouds). We drove to nearly 14,000 feet above sea level and took in some of the prettiest landscapes imaginable. The northwest section of Argentina reminds me a lot the southwestern United States, especially the Grand Canyon and Sedona in Arizona. Arizona is beautiful, but the landscape here is even more spectacular and dramatic.

During all these travels, Katy has become quite the linguist. Her Spanish improves daily and she regularly charms the locals with her speaking skills. On one of our recent excursions, we found ourselves with a Spanish speaking guide and two women from France. The guide spoke only Spanish and the women spoke only French. So Katy erved as an interpreter and translated from Spanish to French the ladies. Pretty impressive. I, on the other hand, am not catching on as quickly. But I frequently send Katy on "scouting" expenditions to ascertain information. For this reason, I have affectionately given her the nickname "Scout." Today's "scouting" adventure involved why the cable TV wasn't working in the hotel room.

We're having a great time down here and looking forward to entering Bolivia tomorrow. We already feel like we're in a different world and I think this is only the tip of the iceburg. Thanks for all the emails and comments. It's nice to hear from everybody back home. Hope you're all doing well and we'll write again soon to let you know how things are going.

Sean

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

2008-01-02T13:15:00.000-05:00

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2

Sean and I were quite excited to be celebrating New Year´s 2008 in a country known-world wide for excellent parties. On a normal night in Salta, the whole town comes alive around 10pm as people go out for dinner, drinks, or just a stroll around town. So just how crazy, we asked ourselves, would New Year´s Eve, the biggest party on the globe, be?

I guess we should have known by now not to try to predict anything down here. At about 6pm, Sean and I were sitting in the main square enjoying a local brew at our favorite cafe. We tried to order another beer and the waiter said that the cafe was closing. On New Year´s Eve? Now mind you, this cafe is open 24 hrs on Fridays and Saturdays. So we left, and walked around town, noticing that ALL the restaurants and bars were packing up and shutting their doors. We shrugged our shoulders and headed back to the hotel, sure that things would re-open later.

Were we wrong. When we went out for dinner at 10:30, we could only find one restaurant that was open. Upon entering, the waiter said, "no reservation, no food." Luckily, a friendly patron of the restaurant saw the look of despair on our faces and pointed us in the direction of the only other restaurant in town that was open. We arrived there to have the host pull two chairs away from another table to be able to seat us. Our bottle of champagne arrived just at midnight for a toast!

After dinner, I ran into a girl from Holland who was as shocked by the state of things as we were. We sat down with her and her boyfriend, then all went to a street normally filled with bars and young people. The bars were open, but empty. We grabbed one of many open tables and sat down with a beer. Now, keep in mind, it´s about 2am at this point. We sat around for a while, then noticed that the street was crowded. It was 4am! That´s when all the Argentinians came out to celebrate! Who cares about midnight, right?!

The last highlight of the night (see above) was at a place with local music where we met a gaucho (cowboy). That´s actually Sean wearing his gaucho hat and enjoying some Coca leaves--a local tradition that´s supposed to help altitude sickness. Happy New Year, Sean!

We slept most of yesterday--there were two cafes and one arcade open in the whole city and then took a spectacular bus ride to the sleepy, Quechua town of Cachi. More about Cachi after we explore tomorrow.

Happy New Year all! Hope it´s a great 2008!

Katy and Sean

Heading North!

2007-12-29T14:58:00.000-05:00

SATURDAY DECEMBER 29

DAY 53 OF TRIP

I'm back. Late last night, I reached a deal with the union for striking screenwriters that will let Katy and Sean's South American blog return to the world wide web. I think the Guild's pact with us is a sign of union readiness to negotiate with other major production companies, hopefully bringing an end to Hollywood's worst labor crisis in 20 years. This is not a solution to the strike, which unfortunately continues to disrupt the lives of thousands. But I hope it will be seen as a step in the right direction. Please forgive Katy's unauthorized post last Sunday.

Katy and I are currently in Mendoza, Argentina, getting ready to board a bus for the northwest part of the country. The bus leaves at 8:00 p.m. tonight and arrives in Salta 22 hours later! 22 hours! I can't imagine doing anything for 22 hours, nevermind sitting on a bus for that long. Fortunately for us, there's a quick stop in Tucuman so we can stretch our legs. So I'm going to be looking forward to that for the first 14 hours of the ride.

We've had an interesting couple of days here in Mendoza. We took a walk yesterday to check out a park on the west side of town and passed a couple of bizarre sights that we couldn't resist checking out. The first one was the Acuario Municipal Mendoza. Nothing at this small under water freak show seems to have changed since its inauguration in 1945 (except maybe the algae levels on the glass). But it's hard not to gaze in awe at the motionless, tongue-less albino frogs or the armored pig, a very ugly fish from the Rio Parana. Across the street we found the Centro Anaconda Serpentario. This small gem houses 50 different snakes, in equally small cages, including a giant yellow Burmese python. I know pythons are deadly, but I think this one was actually dead. But we had a good time anyway just walking around tapping on the glass. If any of you ever make it down here, I'm sure this would all make for a great day with the kids (or a trippy day with friends).

Last night was also a hoot. Katy and I were enjoying a beer at a street cafe when Katy glanced down the street and shouted a shriek of joy! Just down the road, rising six stories into the air, the brightness and enormity of the lights were unmistakable: CASINO DE MENDOZA! Fortunately for us, Casino de Mendoza only allowed its patrons to play with pesos, and we lost only a third of what we should have. Katy played a good game of roulette, though, and won a few times, but sadly we entered into the casino without an exit strategy and gave it all back before we left. Merry Christmas, Mendoza!

So now we're headed north toward Peru and Bolivia. For those of you keeping up on current events, there's a lot of political turmoil and instability in Bolivia right now. In response to a new constitution aimed at strenthening the rights of indiginous groups, four of Bolivia's wealthiest provinces are seeking greater autonomy from the federal governement, led by President Evo Morales. Morales, elected last January, is Bolivia's first indiginous president. The opposition accuses Morales of acting illegally and seeking to concentrate his power. Morales accuses the opposition of trying to block efforts to help the poor. The US State Department is recommending that US citizens defer all non-essential travel to Bolivia at this time. Katy and I are currently deciding whether our travel is essential or non.

So adios Mendoza and hola 22 hour bus ride. The worst part of the bus trip is that we'll miss the New England Patriots going for a perfect season tonight against the NY Giants. Go Patriots! We'll check in again soon and keep you updated on our travel plans. Thanks for reading and have a happy new year!

Sean

I´m dreaming of a green Christmas...

2007-12-23T09:18:00.000-05:00

SUNDAY DECEMBER 23 Luckily, the crisis has been averted and the blog is back on! Sean and I have been living it up in Bariloche since we last talked to you all. First, we´d like to pass a shout out to our new Canadian friends Steve and Jess! We met them on the cruise (ferry) through the Chilean fjords...no, they´re people, not the cows that were below! We then spent many nights together laughing and eating in Bariloche. Steve and Jess are on a 7 month trip to 6 different continents and now find themselves in New Zealand. Good luck guys!

One of our favorite memories with them was the children´s Christmas concert that we went to in the Cathedral in Bariloche. Traditional carols and the choral part of Handel´s Messiah reminded us that even though there´s no snow down here, it really is Christmas time. Other than that, this season certainly isn´t as commercialized as it is in the US (and it´s warm and sunny) so we´ve been having a tough time getting into the spirit. This day two days before Christmas finds Sean and I starting to shop for gifts for each other!

While we´ve been in Bariloche, we´ve been staying at Hostel 1004. It´s on the 10th floor of the tallest building in Bariloche and has awesome views of the lake and surrounding mountains! I found a postcard that must have been taken from our bedroom! The interior of the hostel is great too...very welcoming. There´s a large living room and dining room, but the best room is definitely the kitchen. There are 3 restaurant-like kitchen stations complete with all the pots, pans, spices, and kitchen basics that you could want. I´ve really enjoyed getting back to cooking. Eating out is great, but after 5 weeks, it´s so nice to be able to enjoy a real, home-cooked meal again. We met a couple from Arkansas and are going to make and enjoy Christmas dinner all together!

Bariloche is located in the Lake District in Argentina with beautiful lakes (obviously!) and great mountains. We´ve done some hiking that has been memorable. On our first hike, we made a lot of new friends! We went with Johanna from Finland (met her at the hostel) and took off on the bus. We had to walk for 20 minutes on a dirt road to get to the start of the hike, and while we were doing that, at one point we noticed 3 dogs sitting in the middle of the road looking at us...this is not all that unusual because there are a ridiculous number of wild dogs down here, but these dogs were certainly staring us down. We approached cautiously, they sniffed us, and then began to follow us. They came with us the whole hike! We were gone for about 6 hours and went about 9 miles and they were with us for every inch! They would stop when we wanted a rest, they would run off into the woods, but always come back. My favorite would only hike in between me and Johanna. It was great to have "pets for the day". At the end of the day, when we were returning by the dirt road, they ran into a yard--their home. Guess they weren´t wild after all! Our other hikes were beautiful and had spectacular views, but no animals to speak of!

The past two days have been great. We went rafting on the Manso river two days ago. Very fun! The rapids were shorter, but more intense than rivers we´ve done before and Sean is happy to admit that he fell out of the boat! We hit a wall of water during the ironically named "Relax" rapid and everyone fell out except for two people. I almost did, all of my body except for one foot was out of the boat, but someone pulled me in just in time! After an exhausting 2 hours on the river we were ready for the traditional asado (BBQ) that came with the trip.

Yesterday was memorable too. We rented a car (Sean was in heaven!) and drove to El Bolson, a hippie haven 80 miles south of Bariloche. The highlight of yesterday was sitting in the middle of the town market drinking a local brew and watching a magician/clown balance his dog "Wiggly" on his head.

After Christmas, we head up north. We´re first going to explore the Argentine Northwest, then hopefully head into Bolivia. Things are a bit rough in Bolivia right now, so our plans may have to change. We´ll keep you posted.

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! We´re certainly missing our friends and family at this time of year!

Cheers,
Katy and Sean

BLOG CANCELLED DUE TO STRIKE

2007-12-19T13:50:00.001-05:00

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 19 Katy and I were informed last night, via a secure satellite connection, that our blog has been cancelled due to the Writers Guild of America industrywide strike. At 10:00 p.m. tonight, Katy and Sean's South American Blog will go dark. We apologize to all our readers for any inconvenience and displeasure this may cause. Katy and I were hoping to avoid getting tangled up in this tiff over industry economics, but as the nearly two month-old strike enters a new and perhaps uglier phase, it is clear that the fight over America's perceived digital future is one that will go to the bitter end. Katy and I are happy to announce that we will pay the nonwriting staff members of the blog their regular salaries starting tomorrow. We will not waiver, however, in our support for colleagues and friends back home in the Guild. We hope the contract dispute ends both fairly and soon.

Goodbye and Good Luck!

Beautiful Bariloche

2007-12-13T17:25:00.000-05:00

THURSDAY DECEMBER 13 Greetings from beautiful Bariloche, Argentina. Bariloche, spectacularly set among snow capped mountains, turquoise colored lakes and rolling grassy hills is the perfect place to put your feet up and take a break from the pressures of the world. And that's exactly what we're doing. Traveling is very difficult and after four days of being on a luxurious cruise, we need a place to rest of weary heads. Enough spectacular vistas! Enough marine wildlife! Enough brilliant sunsets!

Of course I'm kidding. Katy and I often feel we go from one vacation to another. And sometimes we start to feel guilty. So this morning I volunteered to set up a small medical clinic at the hostel we're staying at and Katy volunteered to teach French to the hostel's employees. Both offers were rejected and we returned to our vacation. Oh well!

We had a wonderful time on the cruise north through the Chilean fjords from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt, but luxurious is not a word I would use to describe our vessel. In fact, Katy describes it as more of a ferry with cabins than an actual cruise liner. This is very accurate, because as far as I know, cruise liners don't have cows, industrial equipment or manure on the bottom decks. This vessel did, but I like to think of it as the result of Chilean efficiency rather than budget sea travel.

The cruise had very memorable twists and turns. During the first difficult sea passage, our captain had a heart attack and we were forced to dock in a small, remote harbor for nearly 15 hours while we waited for a new captain to be airlifted to the boat. We were glad to later find out the captain was evacuated to a hospital several hundred miles away and was resting comfortably. Fortunately for us, crew member Cristobal, remained healthy during the nautical interlude, and was able to take care of business on the boat. Cristobal was a man of many talents and could frequently be seen painting the ship's hull, manning the engine room, setting up DVDs in the movie room or belting out his unique renditions of John Lennon's Imagine or Steve Winwood's Higher Lover on the vessel's casio keyboard. Cheers to Cristobal for making 15 hours pass by in no time!

Anyway, the cruise was great and we arrived in Puerto Montt Tuesday morning and jumped on a bus to Bariloche. And that's where we are now. We're starting to think about the next part of our trip to Bolivia and Peru, but we're really glad to be here. Bariloche is a beautiful town with a spectacular, alpine setting. It feels really Christmasy here and that suits us just fine. We're staying in a great hostel on the penthouse of Bariloche's tallest building. There's a Christmas tree in the livingroom and Katy's upstairs right now making an old fashioned hostel-cooked meal.

Cheers to everybody back home. Thanks for all the emails and comments. We appreciate hearing from all of you. We're doing great and we'll check back in soon!

Sean

Same Rockin' Good Time, New Rockin' Good Continent

2007-12-07T09:57:00.000-05:00

FRIDAY DECEMBER 7 Hello from Puerto Natales, Chile. Katy and I are about to depart on a cruise north through the Chilean fjords and will be incommunicado for several days. So you know what that means? Sadly, we will be unable to celebrate with our friends and family, via a secure satellite connection, at the 5th Annual Christmas Party Saturday night. Although we'll be 7000 miles away, our spirits will still twinkle as brightly as the lights on the Christmas tree.

We're very excited to travel by boat through Patagonia's coastal region, but I'm going to miss hosting this year's bash with Kerry and Dave. I feel like the Christmas party is my baby and now I'm the parent forced to watch from afar as it takes on a life of it's own. The Christmas party is growing up without me. Well, I hope everyone's going to the party and has a great time!Katy and I toast our glasses of Argintinean Malbec to you, party guests. Have a rockin' good time at Dave and Kerry's and we'll see you next year.

Salud,

Sean and Katy

El Nick

2007-12-06T17:48:00.000-05:00

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6 Sean and I find ourselves alone again since the departure of my Dad, Nick, back to Illinois. We are questioning our existences and wondering, "Where do we go from here?" Luckily, Dad arranged a three day cruise through the Chilean fjords that we will embark on tomorrow.

We both really enjoyed our time with Nick. Here are some of our favorite memories.

1) The time at our favorite pizza place where he asked (in broken Spanish) if he "could leave his bags there." Just to see if he could get the point across. He didn't. And confusion followed.

2) Enjoying bottles of Carmenere (a delightful Chilean wine) at Hosteria Mirador del Payne.

3) Fighting off 70 mph winds as we made our way down from a spectacular viewpoint along a rocky path on a steep cliff...then watching horses do it effortlessly.

4) Sharing a bus with sweaty, rainy, dirty hippies. And loving it.

Thanks Nick! We´ll miss you!

The Most Beautiful Place In The World.

2007-12-03T21:12:00.000-05:00

MONDAY DECEMBER 3 Before I begin, this picture is the view from our hotel room at Torres Del Paines National Park. Ever since our little mix-up with the stranded gentleman at the hotel in Punta Arenas, it has been a week of "bests". We spent the past four days at Torres del Paine National Park, and the day before that we went on a full-day cruise around the Magellenic Straights outside of Puerto Natales. That´s where our story begins...

We got on the boat called "21 De Mayo" at 8:30 am, immediately went up to the outside viewing area at the front of the boat, and remained there for the next 7 hours. I hate the word "amazing" because it is very over-used, but the scenery that we saw on this cruise was truly amazing. We cruised in between mountains that came straight up out of the water, saw a colony of cormorants, watched sea lions playing in the icy water, oohed and awwed as condors soared above us, noticed so many waterfalls bringing snow down to the ocean, and finally, after all that, arrived at two huge magnificent glaciers. The first one (Glacier Moreno) looked like a ski slope that Sean wanted to ski until he realized that it was probably even icier than the top of Sugarloaf. It did an S-curve as it progressed from the sharp peak of the mountain into the crystal-clear blue water below. At the second glacier (Glacier Serrano) we were lucky enough to be able to get off the boat and take a half-hour hike to the bottom of the glacier. Our hike took us up and down small cliffs along a turquoise colored lake that was so cold that it had chunks of ice floating in it that had fallen off the glacier. Conditions were perfect (for once there was no wind) and we enjoyed sitting on a rock admiring the beauty of the ice. We got back on the boat for our return trip, with a stop at an Estancia (ranch) for a delicious lunch of lamb, potatoes and salad. After lunch, Sean and I explored the Estancia and had a run-in where we were caught in a showdown between a calf and a dog. Luckily, nobody got hurt!

We have found the two best restaurants in Puerto Natales: Afrigonia--owned by a man from Africa and his wife who´s from here, and Mesita Grande--the best pizzeria in the Southern Hemisphere! Imagine hand-tossed dough, a wood-oven, and delicious ingredients. For those who went to the BearBrew before it went down the tubes, the pizza is just like there. Oh, and the microbrews. Almost forgot those.

But...the crowning glory...the windiest place on earth...the most beautiful place that any of us has ever been...Torres del Paine National Park. You have not lived until you have experienced the majesty and beauty of this park. My dad, Sean, and I were there for 4 days, but could have stayed a lifetime!!! Our trip began a bit ominously, as we were on the bus to the park and we ran into a girl that was leaving the hotel that we had reservations at. She proceeded to tell us for 20 minutes how awful the hotel was, how the people were unfriendly, how the food was bad, and how we should get out of there as soon as possible. She could not have been more wrong. We stayed on a working Estancia at Hotel Mirador del Payne. Mirador means "viewpoint" in Spanish and this ranch had the most spectacular view of the entire Paine massif. The peaks are so young that they point and jag into the sky or the clouds that usually partially shroud the mountains. In front of the massif was the most beautiful turquoise lake that I have ever seen. The location was perfect.

Alberto (an incredibly nice Estancia worker who shuttled us around the park) picked us up at the entry gate to the park and took us to this wonder that they call Hosteria Mirador del Payne. The first day there, we took a hike around the lake by our hotel to another lake--Lake Honda. Rumor has it that the giant monster "Civic" lives in the depths of her waters. We came back--ran back-- from our hike just in time as the weather changed instantly from 75 and sunny to 40 and rainy with gusting winds. We took a quick nap and then enjoyed the first of our 4 delicious dinners at the Estancia. This one began with a seafood soup, followed by a chicken breast with a delightful mustard sauce, and ended with some sort of raspberry dessert. Wow. Was that girl wrong.

The next day, we decided to hike up to see the actual Torres. Seeemed like a good idea until, again, the weather changed quickly 2 hours into the hike and the rain started to fall. We retreated to the lodge at the base of the mountain and actually had a very enjoyable afternoon drinking Chilean wine, playing Go Fish, and watching an old Madonna concert from Australia.

The best day by far was our third day at the park where we went on the best hike that any of us has ever been on. It was the continuation of the hike that we did the first day. We left from our hotel in the morning, walked past the sparkling lake (all the while with snow-capped mountains right past the lake) and continued to Lake Honda. Unfortunately, we did not see any of the Guanacos (or Guans as we like to say). Guanacos are wild, llama like animals that are everywhere in the park. Sean did try his famous Guanaco call (ask to hear it!) but to no avail... the hike continued through scrubby fields, magical forests, past ponds and numerous incredible vistas. Just as you turned the corner, you would get this incredible view of snow-capped mountains that you didn´t even realize were there. It was unbelievable.

But...the hike climaxed at the end (as it should!). We walked out of one of the forests to realize that we were at the top of a cliff that dropped straight down. It was the most beautiful scene I´ve ever seen. Majestic mountains, peaceful European-like towns, and water so vibrant that it eclipsed anything from the Carribean. All three of us were completely blown away. We enjoyed the view for a few minutes, and then began the treacherous and thrilling descent. We scrambled down the side of the mountain completely exposed as we were pummeled by 50 mph winds! One misstep, coupled with a gust of wind, and we would have tumbled to the bottom of the cliff. Sean likened it to walking Knife´s Edge for those of you who have climbed Katahdin. We felt so alive at the bottom and were congratulating each other when we noticed something even more strange--there were horses coming down the trail that we just finished! It was scary enough just walking the trail...I couldn´t imagine being 6 feet off the ground on a different animal. But everyone made it safely, with a smile on their face.

So. Torres del Paine. Everyone needs to go. It is windy. The weather changes in an instant. It´s cold. But. It is the most beautiful place. The lakes are a color I never though possible, the mountains pierce the sky, the hikes surprise you at every corner, and it will take your breath away.

My dad sadly leaves us tomorrow. Sean has continued his endless attempts to impress him, but suffers set backs when he attempts to call or "bugle" guanacos in the wild, buys a pink Patogonia hat, or makes comments like "I feel like I'm walking around the Shire." But we've had a great time! Sean and I continue on to El Calafate to see the Perito Moreno Glacier. It´s supposed to be spectacular, but right now I can´t imagine anything ever topping what we´ve just seen.

All the best,
Katy

PS. Just to let everybody know, Sean is sitting next to me and just realized that Imus in the Morning came back on the air at 6am this morning. Sufficed to say, he will awake tomorrow to catch the live stream at wabc.radio.com.

PPS. Katy will remain at the hotel and enjoy a nice homemade breakfast. :)

Greetings from Fin del Mundo

2007-11-27T13:38:00.000-05:00

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 27 Greetings from the end of the world. Katy and I spent our last day in Ushuaia on Saturday hiking around Tierra Del Fuego National Park. Words fail to describe the beauty and spectacular setting of this part of world so I´m not even going to try. We'll try to get some more pictures posted ASAP. All I'll say is this: If you ever get a chance to make it down here, don't pass it up.

On Sunday we jumped on a bus and took an 11 hour trip to Punta Arenas, Chile. Although we probably traveled less than 100 miles as the crow flies, we had to drive around endless mountains, penninsulas and fjords to reach our final destination where... we were meeting Katy's Dad, Nick, who flew down from Chicago to spend 10 days with us! Unfortunately the restauarant we were planning to meet him at was closed so we gave up looking for him and headed back to Argentina. Just kidding... he was standing at the corner waiting for us. Joyous embraces followed.

Unfortunately the next several hours didn't go so well. First, Nick's luggage had been left in Miami. Second, as we attempted to open our hotel room door, a portly, bearded, English man clutching a life preserver emerged from the other side and said the hotel had "reallocated" the room to him. He then pleasantly informed Nick that he (Nick) had left his belongings inside the room. I think we would have been upset except for the fact Katy quickly put two and two together and, looking at the man's condition and life preserver, realized he was one of the passengers from the recently sunk Explorer ship from Antarctica. Sure enough, he was, and as we headed down to the hotel lobby to sort out the details, we realized all the recently rescued Explorer passengers had just arrived from sea and were all being put up at at our hotel. After a chaotic hour at the front desk, the English fellow was "reallocated" to another room and Katy, Nick and I headed back up to the seventh floor to reconvene. Upon getting back to the room, we looked in some of the drawers and discoverd enough clothes and bathroom items to last someone three weeks. As it turns out, amid all the chaos of the arriving Explorer passengers, the hotel had handed out keys to our room to at least three separate guests, including us. So Nick had arrived first at the hotel around 1 p.m., took a nap and then headed out to meet me and Katy. While he was gone, the English bloke showed up to the room and also took a nap. Turns out all this was happening while the original guest in the room was out on some excursion on the islands. Sufficed to say, Nick sorted out all the details and we found a great room on the fourth floor... alone. And all the Explorer passengers, who certainly deserved a dry place to sleep more than us, found rooms too! And... Nick's luggage was delivered safely to the hotel sometime during al the chaos!

Yesterday morning was a little frustrating as we attempted to figure out details and make arrangements for the next week. Nothing in South America is easy, especially coordinating travel plans. But the day got much better and brighter when we headed out to see los penguinos! Yes, we were all heading out to see penguins, but one of us was much more excited than the others. The penguin colony outside Punta Arenas was beautiful and the penguins we're very cute and funny to watch, but I think Nick and I enjoyed watching Katy watch the penguins more than we enjoyed the actual penguins. I'm not a parent, but I suspect our joy was the same joy a parent experiences as he/she watches their child opening presents Christmas morning. Katy was in heaven! I think she could have come back to the US today and felt like the trip was worth it. So cheers to los pinguinos.

Today we took a spectacular bus ride three hours north to Puerto Natales, a beatiful little town set spectacularly on the Chilean coast. Tomorrow we're taking an all day cruise to see 20,000 foot mountains, glaciers, sea lions, condors and lots more. We're having an incredible time with Nick and we're all really looking for to visting Torres del Paines Thurday, Friday and Saturday.

So adios from all of us from Puerto Natales, Chile. Hope you're all doing well and we'll check back in soon!

Sean

Ushuaia, yeah!

2007-11-23T20:10:00.000-05:00

Happy belated Thanksgiving to everyone! Sean and I had a delicious dinner at Restaurante Rocket in Buenos Aires last night. It´s owned by a friendly British ex-pat who decided to host a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner. Anyone else think that´s bizarre? At any rate, he pulled it off with gusto and we enjoyed roasted pumpkin soup, turkey, Gran Marnier stuffing, delicious roasted apples, and what they called ¨Thanksgiving potatoes." Top it off with a slice of apple pie and we were as stuffed (but much happier...) as the turkey itself.

Today we started the real adventure! We flew from Buenos Aires down to Ushuaia at a very early 6 am this morning. The plane was big and modern, the nicest plane I´ve been on in a long time! The flight into Ushuaia was the most spectacular approach either of us has ever seen. Picture snow-capped mountains, turquoise-blue oceans, forests, and a little city tucked into a pocket between these majestic peaks and the ocean. The airport is really distinct too. Ushuaia hugs the coast and is surrounded by mountains, so the runway is on a piece of land surrounded by water! Luckily we had expert pilots and landed without any doubts of safety. It appeared tricky enough, though, that the passengers erupted in applause when we touched ground!

We got a taxi into town, bought our bus tickets to meet my Dad in Punta Arenas on Sunday, and then found a great hotel all within 30 minutes! We then had a quick lunch and headed up to the mountains. We took a taxi to the aerosilla--a chairlift! Sean was really bummed because there were people with skis and snowboards (and he wasn't one of them). Unfortunately, we only had our hiking boots. We took the chairlift up anyway and hiked up to the top of the glacier. The views were incredible! The picture above is me on the hike. We climbed for a while, then rested and took in the views. So while you all are telling us that you´re jealous of the warm weather down here, Sean and I miss the snow and flock to a glacier!

We just had a great stir fry dinner. I love Argentine food, but it does lack in variety sometimes. The stir-fry was a welcome change, and then we bought some handmade chocolates and walked down to the water. Now we´re exhausted and ready for bed! Tomorrow we go to Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego for another day of spectacular hiking!

Ciao,
Katy

Sleepy Siestas in San Rafael

2007-11-20T10:16:00.000-05:00

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 20 I used to think that Sleepytown was a midrange motel on Route 1 in Wells, but apparently it's the perfect description for San Rafael, a sleepy little town 130 miles southeast of Mendoza. Majestic old sycamores line the streets of downtown and the open irrigation channels that water them trace the city´s clean, tiled sidewalks. Sounds nice, right? Well, when we got off the bus on Sunday around 2:30 pm, I wanted nothing more than to get right back on. I was immediately filled with a sense of fear and dread. Has anyone ever read Stephen King´s Salem´s Lot? A guy travels to a coastal Maine town and discovers the town´s been abandoned and all the people have been killed by vampires... Well, that's what San Rafael felt like. Beautiful town, lots of restaurant, lots of shops... but everything was boarded up and there were no people. In fact, during our first half hour of walking around searching for a place to eat lunch, we saw more stray dogs than people. Turns out the people of San Rafael weren´t laying in their coffins , they were laying in their beds... asleep. Yes, the tradition of the "Siesta" is alive and well in western Argentina. A bustling town of over 100,000 people immediately becomes a ghost town at 1:30 in the afternoon, and the people don´t reemerge until around 5:00 or 5:30. But they reemerge with vigor and a sense of renew and the town doesn´t slow down until after 11:00 pm or midnight. So, of course, to be respecful of local traditions and customs, Katy and I have been joining the people of San Rafael for a nap every afternoon. What a tough life...

Before our siesta yesterday, Katy and I rented bikes and took a 20 mile bike ride out into the country. Beautiful vineyards with the soaring Andes in the background made for quite the scenic adventure. Unfortunately we didn´t notice we were going slightly downhill the whole time. Well, we realized it on the way back and barely had enough energy to pedal back to town. We were very grateful for the mandatory siesta that followed.

It's hard to believe Thursday is Thanksgiving. It's 85 degrees and sunny here and most people have never heard of Pilgrims. Katy and I are taking an overnight bus tonight back to Buenos Aires before we fly to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, on Friday. We´re planning to have Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant in the Congresso section of BA that is advertising the traditional Thanksgiving feast of turkey, cranberry and all the fixins. Hope everyone has a great holiday and we'll check in from BA before we head to the end of the world.

¡Adios and Out!

Sean

Bus Beef y Los Andes

2007-11-16T10:09:00.000-05:00

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 16 Greetings from our future hometown of Mendoza! Located 600 miles west of Buenos Aires and tucked into the Andes, Mendoza is certainly living up to the hype. So far, I give the town an A+ and Sean gives it a D-. I´ve explored the town, walked around beautiful parks, drank wine and had a great Milanesa sandwich. Sean has been sick with his first bout of traveler´s sickness and been hanging out in our room at Hotel Petit (mostly in el baño). Today he´s feeling better so we´re taking a winery tour this afternoon. We'll see how it goes...

The trip from BA to Mendoza was amazing and the bus ride was spectacular. Who knew riding a bus was like sitting in the lap of luxury? I had some of best beef of my life and Sean got to watch one of his favorite movies - The Girl Next Door! The seats were more like beds in the coche cama class and the bus was very quiet. After the sun rose in the morning, we got our first glimpse of what we first thought were puffy clouds. Then... Sean gave a cry of surprise as he realized they were, in fact, the Andes! Every kid´s dream of clouds really being mountains came true! Beautiful, snow covered mountains rising up 20,000 feet before your eyes!

A few more days here, then a stop in San Rafael, the bike capital of Argentina, before our return to Buenos Aires. Thanks for all the comments, we love reading them!

Adios, Katy

Adios Buenos Aires

2007-11-13T10:24:00.000-05:00

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 13 Although it's raining on our last day in Buenos Aires, the sun is shining brightly on our hearts and souls. Just kidding, we're actually pretty wet and grumpy, which is why we just decided to duck into a local internet cafe and write some emails. After seven days and six nights, Katy and I are leaving BA tonight and heading for the beautiful Andean city of Mendoza. It's a 14 hour bus trip overnight and we're glad to start traveling to another part of the country. BA is great, but after being in two of the world's biggest cities for almost two weeks, we're ready to see less people and hear less noise. Buenos Aires is a great walking city and the food is amazing. Cheers to Kevin Allen and Abby Gelfand for giving us great restaurant recommendations. Our favorite meal was on our first night here at a restaurant called Desnivel in San Telmo. Katy and I both agree it was probably the best steak we'll ever eat. If you ever go, order the lomo al pimiento or lomo con la mustaza.

The lodging situation in BA has been OK. Cheers to Estrella and hotel O´Rei for great accomodations and a friendly atmosphere. The same can not be said for Hostel Mate. After not making advanced reservations at our hotel in downtown last week, Katy and I trudged our way to this hostel in the Congresso section of BA for two nights. There, we were surrounded by dirty hippies, small and filthy bathrooms and barbarians from far off lands. Just kidding, but it was pretty gross. I had not shared a room with someone I didn't know since my freshman year at Notre Dame when I shacked up for my first night with roommate Dave Whelan. That situation turned out great, although Dave did enjoy keeping the room at a balmy 92 degrees. I was heartened when Katy told me that this hostel was sub par as hostels go. So we'll give it another shot in Mendoza... this time with un baño privado.

Katy hasn't asked me to go home to the United States yet, so I take that as a sign that things are going well. Fortunately for me, Katy entered into this trip with very low expectations of my travel skills and companionship. Like George Bush, I am benefitting from low expectations. So I've got that going for me.

So ¡adios! from BA. We'll check in from Mendoza sometime. Hope everyone is doing well. Talk to you soon!

Sean

¡Sean does Hostels!

2007-11-10T08:58:00.000-05:00

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 10 Yesterday was a very exciting and eventful day for us, filled with many surprises. The day started when we realized that we did not reserve our hotel room for any more nights and they were completely booked for the rest of the weekend! After an hour of calling other hotels and searching on foot, we still hadn´t found anything and needed to leave Hotel O´Rei... The nice woman at the desk (Estrella) suggested a hostel down the street with dorm rooms. We began to walk there, but Sean insisted that we stop at EVERY hotel along the way to ask if they had a room. Luckily, none of the $100 a night hotels did, and we arrived at Hostel Mate in the Congresso section of Buenos Aires. So... up we went into the hostel and, although Sean won´t admit it, I think he had a panic attack as we were waiting to check in. There we were, in hippie heaven, and Sean was sweating from head to toe! Against Sean´s will, I booked us two beds in a 6-person dorm. So of course, we definitely needed a sandwich and a coffee.

The day continued with a visit to Palermo, the hipster part of Buenos Aires. We visited the Botanic Gardens--filled with random cats. Sean commented he wished that we had brought Murphy and left him with his brethren. Lunch was at an outdoor cafe (definitely our worst meal with a raw hamburger and really gross ham sandwich). When Sean went to the bathroom, a pigeon landed on our table and began to pick at the leftover fries. I shooed him away and he flew straight into a glass on the table, knocked it off, and it smashed on the ground! Unfortunately, the waitress missed the entire thing and arrived on the scene perplexed. Unable to say "bird" or "glass," I just shrugged my shoulders and she cleaned up the mess. Sean arrived from the bathroom after the entire incident.

Our third strange experience was at another cafe when we were having a glass of wine before venturing off to dinner with our new friends Claudia and Gustavo. Three young s (maybe 11, 8, 6) came into the restaurant and started begging for money. The waiter asked them to leave, and they wouldn´t. He had to chase the youngest one around the cafe, pick her up, and carry her out the door. When they were outside, the children they spit on the windows of the cafe, screamed, and ran off! I have never seen anything like it! How sad that their parents are using their children in this way...

We had dinner with Claudia and Gustavo at their home in a close Buenos Aires suburb. Thanks to them for the great food and great company. Today we will go with them to Tigre (a town on the nearby River de la Plata)...

¡Hola!

2007-11-06T02:18:00.001-05:00

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7 After a two hour flight delay, Sean and I made it successfully to Buenos Aires. We quickly learned that people here do not, in fact, speak English, and we do not, in fact, speak Spanish (very well at least). We found a bus to take us from the airport into Buenos Aires and found a hotel room with a balcony on one of the main streets for only $20 a night! Yes, we do have a private bathroom (although the shower just drains into the floor of the bathroom)! We then ventured out for our next goal in Argentina--a steak sandwich. They were delicious. Weather is great--so nice to be back in spring! Must go out and explore! Talk to you again soon!

Katy

Sean and Seth recovering from NYC Marathon

2007-11-06T00:15:00.001-05:00

MONDAY NOVEMBER 5 Our trip is finally about to begin! Tomorrow we fly to Buenos Aires where mystery, intrigue and a language we can't speak await us. Thanks to Matt, Mel, Guy and Phyllis for a great trip down to NYC and thanks to Abby and Seth (above left) for a wonderful weekend while we waited for our trip to America del Sur to begin. Highlights from the weekend include frozen yogurt at Bloomingdales, Les Mis on Broadway, barbecue in Korea Town and Sean and Seth deciding to run the NYC Marathon at the last minute. Looking forward to nine months of vacation...

Car for sale

2007-10-29T23:13:00.001-04:00

Help us sell our car!

One week to go!

2007-10-29T18:02:00.000-04:00

MONDAY OCTOBER 29 One week to go and we're in very different moods. I'm excited to be flying to a foreign country to learn Spanish and a new culture and Sean is nervous/disgruntled about fitting the next three months of his life into one backpack. Where will all his pressed shirts go?

Anyway, we leave for New York on Friday (thanks Mel and Matt!) and will depart US soil next Tuesday. Tonight is the big, final trip to L.L. Bean to purchase sleeping bags and a backpack for Sean.

Everyone is invited to say good-bye to us at Gritty's on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. Come for dinner, drinks, or just a hug good-bye. Hope to see you all there!

Katy