More Patagonia: Torres del Paine National Park

From Punta Arenas we headed on a 5 hour van ride to our next destination, Patagonia Camp.

When we started planning this trip, our goal was a trip that was in South America and had great hiking.  We went back in forth between Machu Picchu and somewhere in Patagonia. 

When I saw Patagonia Camp, the decision was easy.

We planned the entire trip around availability at Patagonia Camp and it was the best decision.

Patagonia Camp is an "all-inclusive" glamping experience.  It consist of 18 private yurts along side Lago Toro, just outside the national park.  I had requested the closest to the lake which was so beautiful and remote. 

Each day, you can choose between three different excursions the camp offers.  You are set up with a driver, an english speaking guide, a packed lunch and head out for the day.  I was impressed with the guides' flexibility and strong desire to keep everyone happy.  Jason and I arrived at the same time as 3 other couples who were not as interested in strenuous hiking.  I was worried we wouldn't get the chance to have the excurtions we had hoped for.  In fact, the opposite was true.  Two of our three days we had completely PRIVATE treks.  Just Jay and I and a guide!  The other groups were happy, as well, they went horseback riding, fishing, on wildlife hikes in addition to trekking.

Even though it was just the two of us, they still set us up a fabulous picnic between our two hikes each day.  Wine, cheese, sandwiches, soup, dessert and an entire cooler of soft drinks, beer, water. 
This is my kind of trekking.

 Don't let me fool you.  These hikes were no joke.  I could barely walk by the end of our third day.  I was panting, sweaty and sucking down the water on the way up each of the climbs.  The reward was unfathomable serenity at the summit and a great feeling of satisfaction.
I found myself trying to memorize every single moment of each day and each detail of what I was taking in!

Day One we planned the Lago Grey walk and were hoping to take a boat ride or kayak along the glaciers.  The hike was about 1.5 hours in total and flat.  It was super windy and rainy, so still somewhat treacherous.  It was so worth it to see my first iceberg.  Sadly, since the wind was so strong, the kayaking and boat trips were cancelled.  Our guide, Rod, let us pick what we would do for the second activity of the day.

We decided to hike to Salta Grande, which was a beautiful waterfall.  It was so windy, I honestly thought I might fall over the edge.  Rod had some chocolate candy for us and breakfast bars for snacks, which was a fun surprise.

The second day was insane.  We again had a private guide, by luck.  We found out later it was because no one else was as crazy as us to try one of the two "high" difficulty hikes in the park.  I don't know who I thought I was.  Mirador Ferrier was 700 meters verticle in just 2 hours of hiking.   Imagine the most steep mountain side you can.  This was worse.  But it was AMAZING and the 2 hour decent was much less stressful and allowed for taking in the view all the way down.

After a nice picnic lunch we headed to Lago Pehoe for the Condor lookout.  This was about 2 hours total.  It was not nearly as steep.  We saw condors flying and gaunacos wandering around.  From the top we had an excellent view of the perfectly still turquoise lake surrounded by mountains.

The third day was the grand finale.  The Base of Torres del Paine.  This is the main hike of "The W" that people come to the park to hike.  It is 8+ hours in total, so no nice picnic that day.  We carried sandwiches and water in our backpack.  This day we had a group of 8, the youngest a 13 year old boy from Santiago, the oldest a 70ish man from England.  They both kicked my butt.  We hiked up a steep mountainside, through a forest and then above the treeline.  Above the treeline the "path" was really a bunch of unsteady boulders on the side of a cliff.  It was an experience, that's for sure.  But I never felt unsafe.  And when we reached the top and found this, it was well worth the journey.

I should mention that the end of each day of hiking we returned to the dining area, celebrated our accomplishments with pisco sours before sitting for dinner.  We made great friends with the 3 couples who arrived the same day as we did, I hope we will stay in touch.  We also met a group of 6 Americans and 2 British people, after dinner we stayed until the bar closed each night and had one hell of a time.  I don't think Patagonia Camp had bargained on our group when the said "all inclusive."

I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to experience this portion of our trip.  I have a feeling these three days will always be among the best memories of my life.

Punta Arenas and The Straits of Magellan

From Mendoza we flew through Santiago and down to Punta Arenas.

Punta Arenas is a sleepy city on The Straits of Magellan.  You get the feeling that once upon a time this was a major stop for the shipping industry and sailors alike.  Most people we met spend a night here before and after their long treks in Patagonia.  We decided to spend 3 days here, relaxing and exploring.  Two would have been plenty and after seeing Puerta Natales, I wish we had spent a night there.

 The most memorible part of this portion of our trip was visiting Isla Magdalena to see the penguin colony.  This little island is home to between 150,000 and 300,000 penguins.  We took a two hour boat trip, one way, through Comapa to get there.  We were not disappointed.  Since it was Feb, the penguin couples had already had most of their babies for the year; so there were 300,000 penguins when we visited.  The baby penguins were learning to swim and it was quite entertaining to watch.  

The penguins are fearless and walk right past you, as if you are not even there.  You watch them guard their nests, make mating calls and generally just look funny walking.  I'm so glad we took this trip!

We absolutely loved the bed and breakfast we stayed at Hotel Ilaia.

The minute you walk it you are immediatley at ease and relaxed.  The rooms are modern and spacious.  You can walk just about anywhere easily.  But the overall vibe here is hard to explain.   Sayings about happiness, travel, opening oneself to the universe can be found everywhere.  Home made chapati, avocado, fruit, and yogurt served with a smile at breakfast.  Hot tea any time of day.  And on the top of the hotel is this adorable sitting room with a great view of the city.

We spent the rest of our time here wandering.  We loved the street art which covers most buildings.  We ate out several meals and didn't really have a great one.   Most restaurants play a hilarious compilation of American music from the early 1990s.   Enjoy the pisco sours, visit the fish market and relax!

Mendoza: Where the sun, wine and meat are in perfect harmony.

We flew from Chicago to Miami to Santiago to Mendoza before arriving at our adorable boutique hotel Club Tapiz.

Club Tapiz is a converted old estate from the late 1800s with only 11 rooms.  It sits on a 22 acre vineyard.  The rooms were fine and our air conditioner was "broken" but I would still recommend it to anyone hands down.   The staff was unbelievably helpful and kind.  The common areas are so charming.  The pool, hot tub, work out facility were excellent.  Every night there is a wine tasting of Bodega Tapiz wines (LOVED the Malbec Rose) which was a fun way to meet other travelers.  The on site restaurant was excellent, and a full breakfast is included daily.  We ate dinner here one night too, Jay loved to goat, I stuck to fish both were outstanding.  And the three hotel dogs are so adorable that I was sad to leave them.  I loved the quiet location in Maipu,  a quick taxi ride into the city of Mendoza if you are looking for a night life.

Our first day we rented bikes through Bacchus bikes.  SO FUN.  They give you a comfy bike and a map of vineyards in Chacras de Coria.  They recommend times to stop by each for tours/tastings.  We followed the recommendations for a few and then went rogue to other vineyards and for some gelato.

Chacras de Coria is the cutest little neighborhood, I swear I said at least 10 times, "We could live here, right?"

We visited Bodega Carmello Patti.  Bodega Lagarde, Bodega Clos de Chacras  and Bodega Pulmary on our journey.

All except Lagarde were very small "boutique" or family run bodegas.  I adored Clos de Chacras and Jay loved Pulmary.  Both you can just tour the winery, eat lunch in the sun and just hang out and enjoy great wine.  I don't have many photos (hey we were riding bikes) but I will say we went home with a bottle from Pulmary!

Jason digging into lamb (his meal of choice in Argentina) at Clos de Chacras

The following day we had booked a driver to take us to Uco Valley, Miguel, which was an excellent decision.  Miguel speaks perfect English and is one of the most experienced and well known drivers in Mendoza.  I had my heart set on two vineyards after doing my research (Salentien and Catena Zapata).   Miguel suggested we add Pulenta and La Azul to our schedule; he was right on.  Those two were our favorite stops of all 8 vineyards we visited.  Miguel made all the reservations for us in advance, which you need in order to do a tasting or a tour.  This is a bit different than Napa Valley, but most places in Mendoza you actually need a reservation.

Tasting Room at Pulenta State.  This winery has a beautiful view of the Andes.  The people here are so creative and friendly.  The tour is excellent and if you are a car person, they have Ferrari engines and Porsche has a special bottle from Pulenta that they give you if you purchase a Porche in Argentina.  The design of the common areas is sleek and modern.  The winery is progressive with a experimental room for winemakers and scientists!  We went home with a bottle from here too.

 Cave at Salentein.  This was the most impressive winery we visited.  Excellent tour, perfect wine, beautiful wine cave and tasting rooms.  This is a big deal vineyard but worth the stop.

Don't miss this, seriously.  And since it is right up the street from La Azul, it's worth taking a trip to see the two of them.

Catena Zapata.  This was the most expensive tour and really not all that fantastic.
The view from on top of the pyramid like building is breath taking and the wine is excellent.  If you drink Catena Zapata wine in the USA, then it's fun to see the building featured on the label in person.  Otherwise, do yourself a favor and skip this one.

Lunch at Azul.  I can not describe the beauty and perfection of this place enough to do it justice.  Situated in the middle of a vineyard you will be served the most savory 5 course meal with wine pairings to boot.  A view of the snow capped Andes mountains from your table and the owner of the vineyard as your waiter.  He is, by the way, not stingy with his pours.  After the meal you can taste wine straight from the barrel with him.  Seriously.

For our dinners we ate at 1884, Club Tapiz and Florentino Bistro  All of which were good, our meal at Club Tapiz was the best but the al fresco dining at 1884 is tough to beat.

So to recap.

Best large vineyard: Salentein 

Best medium vineyard: Polenta

Best boutique vineyard: Clos de Chacras or Pulmary
Best lunch and overall experience:  La Azul

Two Weeks in South America

 We just returned from a spectacular two week journey to South America.

Our journey was really complied of three very different adventures which we put together after endless hours on Trip Adviser, Fodors, Lonely Planet and of course blog searching.

I loved reading other people's blogs about where they stayed and what they did.

Over the next few days, I'll do the same for our travels.

First Stop: Mendoza, Argentina

 Second (much longer) Stop:  Patagonia region, Chile.  

Punta Arenas and Torres del Paine National Park

Final Stop:  Santiago, Chile

If you think you ever might want to visit these places, come back this week for details of what we loved.

Nashville Weekend

Jay and I love LOVE to eat.  We've gotten a little better with working on our cooking skills, but we still enjoy a great restaurant.  When we travel we love to investigate great places before our trips and often solicit advice from friends.

Friday when we arrived in Nashville, we first went to the CMM race expo and after a good amount of time with people in florescent shoes and visors (yes, even indoors) we had had enough.  We quickly re-entered society with a meal at Merchants on Broadway.

Any place that serves fancy popcorn while you wait for your meal is OK by me.  Fried green tomatoes and other southern delites fill the menu.  Such a cool place that stands alone on Broadway among the endless bar food.

After some down time at the hotel we walked to a speak-easy type place for drinks called The Patterson House.  Named after Nashvilles Gov. Patterson who tried to veto prohibition, this very small, dark place reminds me of Violet Hour or Aviary.  The mixologist prepares drinks right at your seat and the drinks are sip-worthy.

After one drink each, we headed to Midtown Cafe for an early pasta dinner.  The food, the decor, the service all outstanding.  Highly recommend to anyone heading to Nashville.

After the race and recovery Saturday morning, we headed to 12 South neighborhood for some lunch at 12 South Taproom and then a coffee at The Frothy Monkey.  I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Taylor Swift, be we weren't like totally ever going to be that lucky.

Then the fun began.  Broadway for some serious honky tonking.  If you've never been to Nashville, picture a street with at least 15 bars, each with at least one live music act going on.  No cover.  Plenty of cheap beer.  We spent 6 hours honky tonk hopping and heard some unbelievable talent, all for free.

Oh. Did I mention Jimmy Buffet was playing at the arena?  I'm sure you can imagine what kind of spectacle that drew.  A night to remember.

I love Nashville.  Anyone want to head back for next year's race?  I'm talking to you scrodnals.

Best Adventures: The Big Island

We had equally as much fun exploring the Big Island- Hawaii as we did on Kauai.

We spent the first few days with our friends Kimberly and Jeff, who live in Kona.  Thanks to our wonderful hostess/host as tour guides, we saw and did things we never would have had a chance to do otherwise.  They took us everywhere and have literally every single water-sport accessory necessary. This made for the most water-sport active portion of our trip.  If you know me, you know that means I was very happy lady.

We kayaked along the Ironman swim course in Kona, we went boogie boarding near Keauhou, and we failed stand-up paddleboarding because of huge waves.  But of all our water activites, snorkeling at a place locals call Two Step Beach on Honaunau Bay was our favorite. This came as a surprise to me, because I've always borderline hated snorkeling.  I find the masks and breathing tube annoying and fish always look about the same.  Most times, I end up ditching the equipment and just swimming in the ocean.  This was totally different.  The coral was spectacular, I could dive down so deep that my ears hurt, but the water was so clear you could see perfectly even from the surface.  I saw so many different schools of fish, but the most exciting part was when Kim spotted a Honu (sea turtle).  We swam along with him, one of the most exhilarating experiences I've ever had.

After we left The Gertons, we spent a few days in Volcano Village.  Hiking the trails at The National Volcano Park and seeing the crater light glow at night was well worth the trip.  It's amazing to imagine what the trails were like when lava was active.  I had my heart set on seeing active lava flow.  This is not an easy task.  The lava is currently flowing on private property well outside of the National Park.  We drove to old subdivision buried by lava flow from the early 2000s before setting out on a 2 hour one-way hike.  It was how I imagine walking in a desert or on the moon would feel.  Nothing in sight, rugged, uneven terrian but we continued on, eyes set on the steam ahead.  As we grew closer, we realized the steam we saw was actually lava pouring into the ocean.  

With our eyes set on the distance, we nearly stepped into hot lava.

We watched molten lava pour out between already cooled lava cracks and snake it's way toward the ocean.  The heat was intense and bits of lava were crackling almost as if they were boiling.  Pictures do not do this justice.  Jay and I had many discussions, which was more amazing?  Swimming with the Honu or discovering an active lava flow.  I'm not sure the answer, but highly recommend this hike if you're up for it.

If not, the crater glow from the national park is pretty striking on it's own and you can drive there :)

Honeymoon Adventures: Kauai

After the most unbelievable 2.5 weeks, I don't even know where to begin.  Our wedding was exactly everything I ever hoped for, I'll blog more about that once I have pictures.  The wedding was followed by two amazing weeks in Hawai'i.  We spent 5 days on Kaua'i and one week on The Big Island.  We had so many great recommendations from friends prior to our trip, I decided I'll blog about our favorite spots for eating, adventures and relaxation on each island.  Maybe someone will find our opinion useful!

Today, I'll start with our favorite Adventures on Kauai'i.  

Our first not-to-be missed adventure was hiking a portion of The Kalalau Trial along the Napali Coast.

The Kalalau Trial is 11 miles long and hiking much of it requires a permit for overnight camping at the far end where there is a deserted beach.  While that sounds outstanding, we didn't budget enough time for that, nor do we have any camping gear, so we chose to hike the first portion of the trail. This is about 2 miles each direction (4 miles took us about 3 hours) and ends at a pretty cool rock beach and river from a waterfall you can also hike an extra mile to see.  It was raining on and off, muddy and uneven rocky switch backs up and down the mountains inches from ocean cliffs, but well worth the effort.  The views of the Napali Coast were amazing and the trial was almost empty making it feel like we were on our own with nature on the edge in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Our second favorite adventure on Kauaii was our helicopter tour.  We flew with Blue Hawaiian based on some reviews we'd read and we were not disappointed.  They were organized, safe and professional.  We had the front seat which was roof to floor windows and the most thrilling ride and views of parts of the island we'd never have seen.  We saw at least 15 secluded waterfalls, mountain goats and whales.  We flew over mountains and canyons through rain and sun, all in one hour.  I highly recommend splurging on this one!

The Waimea Canyon is often bypassed for beaches and ocean time, but this place is a breathtaking canyon full of color from the red-oxidized-lava bed and earthquake which created it.  Our third not-to-miss adventure would have to be the Waimea "reddish water" canyon, it offers more hiking trails here than anywhere else in Hawaii.  We also saw a few mountain and road bikers on the narrow 18 mile road leading along side of the canyon, but we drove up and along the canyon, jumping out for short hikes along the way (maybe next time we'll bring our bikes?)  

One of the many amazing things about Hawaii is the vast differences in landscape on these small islands.  The canyon is like nothing I've ever seen before.  It's a quick 40 minute drive from some of the popular beaches on the south end of the island and well worth the trip.

Mahalo Kauaii!  We'll never forget our first week married.

Pura Tirta Empul

While reviewing our trip, both Jason and I agreed out favorite day was our trip to Pura Tirta Empul. Yesterday when Jamie and I went for a run, she told me it was her favorite day too! So I think it's worth breaking my blogging silence to explain.

Tirta Empul is a temple/fresh spring of holy water. The Balinese have had pilgrimages for of 1000 years from villages all over the island. Built in 960 AC when a Hindu God struck the ground to teach a pompous king a lesson- a fresh water spring was produced! They bring offerings for their gods and pray in a temple above the springs. We were lucky to have met a good friend who took us into the temple and showed us how to pray. The locals were very nice and we sat in on a service.

Before the service we also took part in the ritual bath in the holy springs. You are required to wear sarongs.

Inside the springs are 12 stations, each meant for a different prayer. The water is thought to have healing powers.

You stand before each of the fresh spring water spouts with your hands pressed together. Afterwards you poor the water over your head three times. After this you drink from the spring three times. You repeat this in front of each station, with the exception of some with special meanings such as a family death.

It was a truly unique and wonderful experience to be part of this ritual. The temple was filled with local people and only a few tourists. Much like every temple we visited in Bali, it was clear the people have amazing faith. None of this is a show or meant to draw tourists. Their belief set is strong and it was wondeful to be a part of.

Colorado Ski Trip 2011

Last week was the annual TenCate/Fowler Ski Vacation. We grew up spending the weekends with the Fowlers at Boyne and Nubs, but the trip has been upgraded to Summit County over the past few years. Seemed like a perfect time to break out the froggie hat (which incidentally was Jimmy Gerken's nickname for me at EGRHS)

Elizabeth came too. She showed significant favoritism to my sister and my mother, but she is a pleaser as long as one of them is holding her.

The highlight of the ski trip was when Dad and hiked to the top of the Imperial bowl. The view was breathtaking and the fresh powder perfect. I nearly threw up from fear and altitude, but it was worth it!

Basking in the glory of surviving the Imperial Bowl at Breck.

John Fowler, Jamie and her fiance Chris were so much fun to ski with!

Beaver Creek is everyone's favorite. I did not, however, spot any of the porcupines which we have grown to love.

The gang at Arrowhead for lunch in Beaver Creek.

Looking forward to next year!