With the World Cup in full throttle and Argentina ready to crush Germany on Saturday, I figured there was no candidate more deserving of the T2T Hall of Fame honor than Argentine forward, Carlos Tevez. The guy has literally gone from Argentine poverty to English royalty without loosing his modesty, sincere smile or passion for the game in the process. Buena Onda!

Tevez was raised in a very tough part of Ciudadela, Buenos Aires in a neighborhood called Ejercito de Los Andes aka "Fuerte Apache". Because of its high crime rates, the quarter of tall block buildings is considered one of the most dangerous barrios in Great Buenos Aires and in the whole country. 

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(Hanging out in the hammock outside our cabin at the Malka Hostel in Tilcara, Argentina)

I'm sitting here writing this from the most beautiful hostel I've ever stayed in. I'm in Tilcara, Argentina (North of Salta) and staying at the Malka Hostel.

The hostel sits on the edge of a hill overlooking the quiet traditional village that is Tilcara. The Malka Hostel is designed like a Spanish summer camp with cabins setup on different levels across the property with stone and log walkways to connect them. Each cabin comes complete with handcrafted ceramic and wood furniture and is decorated with art from local indigenous people. To top it all off I'm traveling with a beautiful Porteña who is smart, organized and down for whatever. Most people would be at complete peace in this setting. 

However, my moments of peace are constantly interrupted with thoughts of this blog, my consulting projects and other revenue streams. I haven't wrote anything in a week and it is driving me crazy (hence this post). To be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way. We stopped and talked to some hippies from Buenos Aires today while walking around Iruya and they told us that they had been traveling around Argentina for a few months now, stopping in small towns to live and hangout. They passed their time by making and 'selling' beads, drinking mate and playing the guitar. They looked relaxed, happy and bored out of their freakin' minds.

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(Concert setup in front of the Obelisk in Ave 9 de Julio)

Yesterday we returned from Mendoza and Chile to a chaotic and joyous celebration. This past week the city of Buenos Aires has been the center of ceremonies for Argentina's Bicentennial anniversary. 2010 marks 200 years since Argentina revolted against the Spanish to gain their independence. 

BA has been buzzing lately with concerts, parades and ceremonies throughout the city. One of the most important of these events was the re-opening of the Colon Theater last night (below). Although, we missed that action, we made it down to 9 de Julio (city center) in time for some good music and great people watching last night. Avenue "9 de Julio" is the largest street in the world (14 lanes) and it was packed full of people for at least a half mile until well past 3am. That would never happen in the States.  Also, tonight was the actual holiday and their was a fireworks display like I've never seen. It was at least 20 minutes of non-stop grand finales. 

Congrats Argentina. 

Also, Argentina just beat up on Canada 5 - 0 in their last game before they had to South Africa for the World Cup. A lot more on this to come. 

Articles for events & information:

The Bicentennial Year Starts @ Argentina.ar

Main events for the celebration of Argentina's Bicentennial From My Buenos Aires Travel Guide

(Our new Argentine buddy admiring the giant Fernet bottle after a few beers) 

The guy sitting next to me was about to blow chunks right before take off. He was a first time flyer and his two buddies across the aisle wouldn't let it down. Don't get me wrong, I love it when close friends fake dry-heving to get someone else to vomit but just not when the shrapnel is pointed in my direction.

Unfortunately for the excitement of this story, he didn't throw up. Actually, once the plane lifted off from Buenos Aires en-route to Mendoza, Argentina there wasn't much action at all. Despite the few minutes during and prior to take off the whole trip from Buenos Aires to Mendoza was pretty uneventful. We took off from the Buenos Aires National Airport (Jorge Newbery) and to be honest, it was a lot nicer than I'd expected. Everything was new, well organized and very easy to catch our flight via LAN Airlines to Mendoza Monday morning. 

I was also really impressed with LAN as well. LAN has a great strategy for in-flight entertainment. They have those drop-down TVs every few seats and they played prank television shows from around the world. I think this is great for a few reasons, one it works for all languages and ages and two, it puts everybody in a good mood and allows them to bond with other passengers. I don't know if you planned it but well done LAN.  

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(There's a 50-50 chance I'll catch something while he's here)

It has been almost 90-days since my last out-of-country excursion to Punta del Esta, so that means it's time for a Visa stamp run. It is perfect timing too because my dad is going to be here in less than a week.

This is what I have been planning...

May 14: Dad Arrives via Chicago

May 15: Basketball & Asado with friends then the Pub Crawl Crew is throwing a huge booze cruise party in Puerto Madero with Hype and Severino.

May 17: We are flying (via LAN) to Mendoza for a few days of bicycle wine tours & hang-gliding.

May 20: We're taking a bus (via CATA International) to Santiago, Chile.

May 21: We are taking a day trip to the coast of Chile to checkout Valparaiso & Vina del Mar. The cool thing about this day trip is that a friend of a friend actually put me in contact with someone from Viator Travel so in exchange for a write-up, pictures and a blog post about the trip we get to check it out for free ($246.00 value).

May 23: We take a bus back from Santiago in the morning and then fly back to Buenos Aires from there that night.

From there we'll plan the rest of the trip and hopefully an Iguazu Falls excursion. Also, May 24 Argentina plays Canada at River Pate stadium and May 25th is Argentina's independence day and the famous Colon Theater in Buenos Aires is re-opening!  

I have to say thank you to Mariela from Buenos Aires Concierge who helped me out with some of the details. Otherwise, we'll be staying in Sheraton Hotels pretty much everywhere we go because my dad is all about bonus points! 

He'll be here until the 30th so it should be an adventurous trip and I'll obviously keep you posted. 

Any other tips, tricks or things I should do (or stay away from) in Mendoza and/or Santiago please let me know. 

Check out info from my last visitor: Planning a Friend's Visit to Buenos Aires