 |
| Buenos Aires - Waterfront |
La semana santa, or in other terms the holy week here in Southamerica, is not only the celebration and commemoration of the greatest event in Christian, and I dare to say human history, with the accomplishment of the atonement, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the son of God, but also plainly and simply a week of vacation for everybody, inasmuch as a lot of shops close and even universities, which means we all had the chance to travel.
 |
| Plaza in Buenos Aires |
After seeing my girlfriend off to go to EFY in Argentina, where I most unfortunately couldn't get a spot anymore, I planned my own trip from Montevideo to Buenos Aires and on to Bariloche in Argentina, to meet up with a friend who was already there, and just in advance and I'm sorry to disappoint you in this matter, no I did not meet the pope ... So finally after having gotten my 2 different tickets (which actually was quite a hustle) I took the bus from Montevideo to Colonia (3h) and from there on with the overnight-ferry to Buenos Aires, Argentina (3h). On my way there I met another exchange student friend from Montevideo (Lucy from England) and we travelled that part of the way together and she was able to help navigating in Buenos Aires. The trip was quite calm and comfortable, however I must say that Uruguayans (and I guess Argentinians, too) love to wait in lines!!!! Ridiculous .. A couple of hundred people waiting in a line, for what seems to equal the amount of 2 eternities, but yes I know times is different down here, wait ... What is that anyway ...?
Becci and I in the lift
But enough sarcasm for now, although I really think it improves quality of life, especially in situations like this, and let's get back to Buenos Aires, a 14 million world metropole and the Capital of Argentina, with tons of skyscrapers and hectic frenzy everywhere you look. Unfortunately I only caught a brief glimpse of this beauty, which is why I'll have to come back soon to explore it a little more. Suffice it to say, that traffic is super nuts (I experienced a 15 minutes honking concert, cuz our bus was blocking a 6way lane and blocking all the traffic, hahahaha don't ask me why^^) and that it huge and a lot faster than Montevideo. I made my way to the bus station, seeing a lot of street vendors, beggars and a lot of dirt, where I only had to wait for an additional 3 hours because my bus was late. Finally inside the quite comfortable and spacious double-decker, I was on the road again to Bariloche, Argentina, which meant we had to cross Argentina horizontally (about 1600km) jippijayeah!
View on a lagoon at Punta de Princesa
But the time was well spent, scripture reading, journal writing, eating, watching movies, sleeping and also introspection (man, you gotta try this sometime, quite some amazing stuff to be discovered!). The landscapes changing from skyscrapers, to apartments, to houses, to farms, to woods, to no farms and fields, to no farms, to nothing (seriously for about 3 h there was nothing outside .. No house no tree, nada ... Then a lonely settlement and then again nothing but our lonely forsaken road for the next couple of hours, splitting the desert savannah in 2), and then the mountains began, at first soft scarcely vegetated hills and then rocky and zerklüftet (withered) mountain formations, embedding a sky blue river, on to snow covered peaks at the horizon indicating the real Andes and the chilean border and our destination ...
Mountains!!!
After 39 hours of travel I arrived in Bariloche and was instantly captured by its stunning beauty: 7 beautiful crystal blue lakes surrounded by a great variety of mountain types, I have never seen before. With about 102,000 inhabitants and more of a tranquil resort, it almost appears as a sanctuary in the middle of nowhere for the stranded wanderer. I spent my time down there with Becky and we couch surfed in a hippie community, where everybody was really nice and welcoming, and they showed quite some skills with home growing plants, if you know what I mean ...
The main events of my stay in Bariloche where a crazy breathtaking 9 hour hike up Punta de Princessa, walking along the Kamm to el Refugio Frey and descending from there back to el Lago Gutierrez( words can't describe this, if you really wanna know what it's like, come down here and see for yourself!)
landscape along the road
Then we were guilty of committing a chocolate shopping spree, as Bariloche has gained world fame in producing chocolate and they are currently building the world's largest chocolate egg with 5m (about 17 feet) and are breaking and it eating it right now! And third, I finally felt like I have reached heaven, maybe not literally, but at least culinary speaking ... El Boliche de Alberto! I guess we all heard about the famous Argentinian beef, well let me say, I can totally confirm that, as I had the best steak in my entire life (and probably the biggest portion) and it was sooo good that we went there twice within 2 days, as it's not even that expensive. A huge steak, a huge pile of fries and a huge salad, and the meat was so tender and so tasty, that I'm totally running outta words to describe it ...
Nur fliegen ist schöner!!!! (check out the size of the bagpack in comparison to the steak^^)
So yeah, now on my way back (the same long one^^) I look back and must say, what a great place, what a great time! The on,y thing that could have been better would have been, if my sweetheart had been with me, because I missed her a lot, and there where many moments, where I thought, how awesome would that be if we could share this one together ...
Nahuel Huapi & I
At the end let's get back to the main point and central message of this week, which is that Jesus Christ, our loving elder brother gave his life for us as a ransom, so that he could act as a mediator between us and the father, if only we would give heed onto his gospel, which is believe in him, repent, be baptized, receive the gift of the holy ghost and continue faithfully in keeping the commandments. However he is not dead, but he overcame death so that we might also live and I know all this to be true, because my heavenly father answered my prayer and i know that he will answer every sincere prayer, even yours ... dare to ask ...
landscapes along the road #2
No comments:
Post a Comment