Our Apartment

I hope these pictures work out....

Brrrrr!!!

Argentina is cold. Really cold.

We finally checked exactly what the temp. was last night after we walked home after dinner (2am). It was 33 degrees F!!! What did we have to wear? I had a cami, long-sleeved shirt, sweater and WINDBREAKER. Alan fared a little better in his shirt, fleece pullover and Columbia jacket.

At dinner at Acabar--a fabulously funky place that has dinner and board games for everyone (think Rimsky's meets the Alameda Brewhouse-kind of, but not really) we talked to our waiter and found out where to get some space heaters.

Coto was the answer. Coto is a super market, along the lines of Fred Meyer (US) or Dunnes (Ireland), and if you look at the website, they have four different kinds of markets: minimercados, supermercados, hipermercados, and maximercados. So we walked a couple of miles to the hipermercado. But they were sold out of heaters. So we walked another half mile to the maximercado and successfully bought two space heaters. Yay!!!

Along the way, we found a fantastic fish shop where we're sure to go back to get food to make for dinner another night. As it was, we bought a couple of empanadas to tide us over. (Thank goodness, we had no idea how far we were going to be walking!)

This is good practice for me, since I realize I didn't take any pictures of either the fish shop or Coto. I'll make sure not to make the same mistake again.

I did, however take pictures of our fabulous breakfast. Yummy!

Hmmm. the pictures are taking forever to upload. I must do that tomorrow...

Bye for now, hope all is well with you,

Nicole and Alan

Our Flight

Before we get into our arrival into Buenos Aires (BA), there's a couple short things to mention about the flight:

1. We managed to pack our stuff, most of Connor's stuff, and our laptops into two carry-ons. :)
2. LAX has a mini dog park outside the arrivals area!!?!?!
3. Nicole didn't have to pay an entrance fee (like most Americans) because she used her Irish Passport!!! :)))

Why did we give up our summer?

As you may have figured out, we'll be in Buenos Aires during their winter. And apparently, thanks to my grandmother, I now know they are having an usually cold winter. Hmmmm...

So, here's a few things that cross my mind about this:

1. No clothes for Connor= lighter suitcase. We don't have winter clothes in Connor's size. And the stores don't have any to sell. Looks like a light suitcase for him, and he'll come back sporting the latest porteño attire. :)
2. No summer= no urge to buy cute summer dresses. By this time, I'm usually looking for a nice summer dress to buy. But with only 7 days to go--why bother? Ca-ching! Just saved mega moolah. :)
3. Hope I guess right. I mean, I have no idea if I should really pack a heavy coat, or just trust if I really need one, I can get one down there. Should I bring a pair of ankle boots that are really warm and cozy--even if they take up a lot of space?

The real story is that we gave up our summer so that we could take class with two tango instructors we really like. Juan y Sol are fabulous. Fun, sweet, and not at all bothered by Connor running around while we take a lesson. ;) They tour internationally and they start their travels again in September. Thence, our trip in August.

Juan and Sol are such good tango teachers, we planned our travel schedule around their availability. When they told us they were gone in September, we decided to visit B.A. in August.

Check out their website: http://www.tangokultura.com.ar/.

They travel worldwide and any class you take with them is definitely worth the tuition.

:)))

Can Vacation Save You Money?

For sure!

I have been having a great time calling all our "vendors" and putting our services on hold. I've called Comcast, car insurance, Netflix, cell phone, garbage. I think the only thing I'm keeping is electrical and gas services. And even for that, we'll probably turn off our water heater.

And when I add up all the gas we won't be buying, it's so satisfying to see how much we're saving. I think it's almost up to $800!

Once it's all done, I'm going to type up a nice spreadsheet detailing it all. Then I'll show it to Alan. I'm hoping it'll turn on his inner analyst. ;)

Does anyone else have ideas how I can reduce our costs while we're gone?

Packing

Why is it that Alan can pack for a trip so easily and I sit here and make lists for weeks, try on my entire closet (twice), and still be up late packing my suitcase?

Well, if Alan's taught me anything, it's that how you fold your clothes is critical. I've learned the best way to fold my fitted shirts, pants, and where to stuff my shoes.

Speaking of shoes, this trip will have lots of them. There's the gorgeous tango shoes, of course. Then there's the practice tango shoes. And my ballet and jazz shoes (which, if I'm smart, will be the same pair of shoes). Then there's the walk-around-town-all-day shoes. And then, should I bring a nice pair of shoes? And do I bring sneakers? Is my walk-around-town pair of shoes sneakers? Maybe, if I can find black ones... I think a trip to Norstrom is in order to that one figured out.

At least one thing I won't have to pack is a ton of eye stuff. Before my lasik surgery, I'd be carrying the solution, a couple pairs of contacts, the cases, glasses, and the special protein cleaning drops and stuff. Now, all that is unnecessary! Yipee!!

Testing

Hi Everyone,

Here's our first family blog post! I thought I would try this out before we leave so I can learn about how it all works. If you have any tips for me, I would love to hear them!

So, we have only three weeks left before we go, and it seems there's a long to do list, and an even longer list of people I want to see before we're gone. Two months seems like ages to be away from friends.

We hope you follow us on our blog and let us know how you are doing while we are gone.

Best,

N