• Bingo Abroad
  • Bingo Abroad

The Global Adventure

AKA Sabbatical Part III
Quit our jobs, sold our condo and put everything in storage to head off this time for some round the world adventures - seeing where life takes us, enjoying the sights and eats, and having amazing experiences.
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  • Joshua Tree... not sure i get it...

    9. Oktober 2019 in den USA ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Several friends have raved or posted photo after photo of trips to Joshua Tree. It always looked fascinating and beautiful in a funky sort of way. So I added it to our roadtrip list.

    We got a super great Airbnb in Joshua Tree town, with a spacious comfy living room, big kitchen and nice outside space with hummingbirds fluttering and birds chirping away each morning.

    Sadly most cool restaurants we heard about were closed the days we were there, but on the plus side that did mean we had several healthy, home cooked meals instead.

    We also had some hiking planned but man it is hot and crazy dry (7% humidity) while we were there. So we opted for staying indoors until the sun was setting. The National Park has a gazillion wacky yet beautiful trees everywhere, massive rocks that look like they were thrown about, and we got to see a gorgeous sunset. But it was also quite monotonous...

    And now as for the tiny town of Joshua Tree, it is a strange mix of hippies selling healing crystals and vegan eats, military families from the nearby Marine base, and people just trying to get by, living in the desert. It is brown and ugly, with a lot of run-down looking homes. Can’t say I was as smitten as so many others about this area.

    That being said, I read a full book, played a lot of scrabble and enjoyed relaxing, so maybe that’s why people like it here!
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  • Happy I am no longer a teenager

    13. Oktober 2019 in den USA ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Spent the weekend in Hermosa Beach with my aunt and two 17-year old cousins. Yikes, applying for colleges, studying for AP exams, and generally dealing with teenage angst - that’s what they are going through and boy am I not jealous!

    Nonetheless it was great spending time with them, helping my cousins with applications, paddle boarding with my aunt, making delicious home cooked meals and running on the Strand overlooking the ocean.

    We also got to sneak away for Saturday morning to catch up with our friends Alyssa and Guillermo who now live in LA working for Sony Animation. We even got to see our first Oscar, of course behind a glass case.
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  • Santa Barbara, our new favorite place?

    15. Oktober 2019 in den USA ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    We definitely loved our two days in Santa Barbara. What a charming town filled with beautiful Spanish-colonial architecture, big palm trees and sidewalks. From strolling along the beach to sipping wine in funky wine bars on State Street, it is a laidback fun town. And lots of good restaurants, cafes and even a solid farmers market to keep my belly happy too.

    Sadly there are lots of homeless people roaming the parks or yelling at themselves while wandering the streets, but that does seem to be the norm on the west coast these days...

    Ignoring that, if only it was cheaper here, maybe this would be our city?? 🤷🏻‍♀️
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  • How do they do that? Yosemite

    18. Oktober 2019 in den USA ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Now that I have seen El Cap and Half Dome in person, all I keep thinking is, how in the world do rock climbers do this? How did Alex Honnold climb these massive rocks of granite without rope?! Insane.

    I wish I was a better rock climber to get up there though. Talk about a climbers paradise.

    I was hoping to get in more hiking while in Yosemite but turns out most hikes there include steep drop offs and cliff faces, not made for people like Brice who are afraid of heights. Instead we found the grove of giant sequoias, and did a great 7-mile home there. Beautiful large trees and a nice view at the top, and no scary drop offs.
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  • Catching up... now I am tired

    19. Oktober 2019 in den USA ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We stopped in the Bay Area to visit some friends. I got to spend two days with my friend Sarah, who I’ve known 14 years since my junior year of college. She now has her hands full with 3 munchkins but they certainly are cute. It was so fun catching up, talking travel and work and life, playing with her kids I haven’t seen since they were babies. Made me so happy we’ve been able to see friends around the country while on this roadtrip.Weiterlesen

  • A Surprise Favorite: Mendocino

    21. Oktober 2019 in den USA ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    While struggling to figure out what to do from San Francisco to Portland as Crater Lake was already closed for the season (man, it snows early there!!), we finally decided it was worth a few extra hours in the car to hit up the coast and also see the Redwoods. I found this amazing BnB in the little coastal town of Mendocino, which became the perfect spot for a few days.

    We spent two days going on a nice walk around the massive bluffs and enjoying watching the crashing waves and beautiful sunsets from the BnB restaurant and adirondack chairs. So gorgeous and relaxing. This town is definitely too small for a long-term stay but I would go back in a second.
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  • 7300 Miles Later

    24. Oktober 2019 in den USA ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Well, we officially survived our West Coast road trip. Two months and eleven states later, we are back in Oregon. We saw so many great National Parks, listened to a crazy number of podcasts, visited more McDonald’s than I’d been to in years prior, ate a lot of PB&Js, and visited quite a few friends and family.

    By the Numbers:
    • Miles Driven: 7,300
    • States Visited: 11
    • National Parks Visited: 15
    • Days on the Road: 55

    Top Sights:
    • Mammoth Terraces in Yellowstone. This was definitely our favorite park, and this was my favorite place within Yellowstone. The travertine made by calcium carbonate in the hot springs makes everything look snow covered. The reflections in the ponds, the weird layers of rock forming staircases, the dead trees still standing in the water, it was all beautiful in a weird way. Even better, there was a family of elk hanging in the terraces.
    • Rim Trail in Bryce Canyon. It was my second time to Bryce and I loved it just as much. Seeing the colorful pink hoodoos popping up all over the canyon is magical.
    • Mesa Arch in Canyonlands. Simply stunning and a little scary to be able to see deep into the canyon from the arch.

    Best Surprise:
    • Hiking in the Black Hills of Custer State Park. It surprised us how beautiful it is out there in western South Dakota.
    • Relaxing on the coast in Mendocino. Just before arriving back in Oregon, we stopped in the small beach town, a couple hours north of San Francisco. Massive crashing waves, big bluffs and gorgeous sunsets. I could have stayed watching the view from this incredible BnB for days.

    Coolest Towns:
    • Durango, Colorado. We loved this little town. Beautiful spot right in the mountains and along a river. Cute historic downtown area with really good food, great live music, and a perfect BnB to stay at.
    • Santa Barbara, California. Right on the beach. Awesome local restaurants, hip bars and wineries. Spanish-colonial architecture everywhere. Friendly and mellow vibe. What’s not to like?!

    Best Non-Hiking Activities:
    We did a lot of hiking, so we had to switch it up on occasion.
    • Biking 24 miles along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was hard not to gawk at the views along the ride but fortunately we never fell off while doing so!
    • Miss Behave Gameshow in Las Vegas. When we needed a break from nature and national parks, we hit up Vegas for a few days. This was a hysterical and fun show, ridiculous and outrageous.

    Best Tip:
    • Gypsy Guide app! “Jim” was our roadside companion and guide through 9 National Parks. It made those trips so much more interesting and fun. Plus then we had to do less planning, always a plus!
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  • Off we go again!

    6. November 2019 in den USA ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Here we are sitting at LAX, about to board for our flight(s) to Chile. A lot of nerves and anxiety have hit me the last few days in preparation, as the political situation in Santiago is sketchy at best, tours we were excited about have been cancelled in northern Chile and Argentina continues to have economic currency problems. Perhaps not the best time to be traveling to South America. I guess that’s what we get for booking something a few months in advance (which we’ve done only 2 or 3 times before on this journey)!

    But hopefully all will be ok and we will have a good time. We are both excited to visit in some new countries we’ve never been to, practice our Spanish and see some beautiful mountains and glaciers.

    Here’s to another adventure!
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  • Excitement in Santiago

    9. November 2019 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    I was pretty nervous heading to Santiago - were the news reports true about the intense rioting happening in the city, or were they exaggerated? I wasn’t sure. We got our first glimpse of the answer right when we got to our hotel in Providencia, one of the nicest neighborhoods in Santiago - the front door was boarded up and we had to use a nearly secret entrance through the garage “for our safety.”

    Once inside the hotel, all seemed safe and normal. We headed out to an early dinner across the street, being told it’d be best to be back before dark. Our nice meal on the patio of a Japanese-Peruvian restaurant was cut short when hoard of people started appearing on the nearby street, with flags, masks and bandanas, clearly ready for the night’s protest. We were ushered inside quickly, finished our meal then headed back to the hotel. From our window, we saw giant military trucks drive by covered in spray paint and people throwing rocks at the police cars and heard chanting and banging on pots and pans. Exciting for our first night.

    The next day assured it was nice and calm during the day, we headed out for a walk. The streets are beautiful, lined with massive trees. But also you can see the distress - political graffiti on most businesses, nearly all shops on street level had boarded windows, either from being smashed or in precaution. It felt both safe, especially seeing the locals go about their days, but also you could notice the tension.

    Then as we walked down the street by the largest skyscraper, our eyes started to water and throats felt on fire. Everyone around us put scarves over their mouths. Tear gas. We’d just been hit by tear gas, well not really hit as much as we felt the effects from last night’s tear gas. Still pretty potent.

    After that we were more apprehensive but continued on, happened upon a great cafe for lunch, a swanky mall to buy a couple last minute hiking things, and a nice spot for dinner and drinks. We still managed 8.5 miles of walking around the city and no other issues.

    Our last day was the most uneventful with a walk in a large beautiful park, some tasty ice cream to cool off from the hot temps and even our hotel’s front door back open.

    Overall thankfully it was a much easier trip to Chile’s capital than I feared. But also more of an experience!
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  • Made it to Patagonia

    10. November 2019 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    After 2.5 years of planning we finally made it to Patagonia! We are currently in Punta Arenas, a small city at the very end of continental Chile. It is much less remote (good cell service!) and much larger than we anticipated (130,000 population), plus better food (we’ve had some delicious meals).

    The town is a little rundown, trash on the sides of the roads and graffiti on most buildings (though to be fair, we aren’t totally sure if before the protests there was less graffiti). There is no cute touristy area like in Cusco nor a lot of activities right in town..

    All that being said, we do still kind of love it here. A long esplanade lines the water with bike and walking paths, there are a few hip coffee shops and restaurants with beautifully plated food, and such friendly people.

    We are here six nights, which is nearly forever for tourists who usually stay only a night or couple hours before taking the bus to the town closer to Torres del Paine, but we have an awesome apartment hotel and liking that we get to explore this area a little longer.
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  • Los Pengüinos

    12. November 2019 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    We got perfect weather for a day trip out to Isla Magdalena to see the island of penguins. It was smooth sailing for the hour long boat ride through the Strait of Magellan.

    We were told on the way out there, in 2007 it was reported there were 65,000 pairs of penguins! The population has decreased but there should still be thousands on the small island. So once we arrived, I saw black and white creatures dotting the land and thought it was a swarm of penguins. No, nearly all of them were seagulls. I think the better nickname for the island should be Seagull Island with a Handful of Penguins.

    Nonetheless we did see quite a few penguins, most of whom were inside their little burrows keeping their eggs warm or were plucking grass for better insulation underground. They were cute and funny as always when waddling to shore, and made the weirdest noises when encountering another penguin.

    On the way back we swam a few pods of dolphins to keep those of us who weren’t napping entertained.

    Not the most exciting of tours ever but still a fun afternoon.

    One of the best parts of the day was chatting with an older couple from Spain - all in Spanish! I’m sure we didn’t sound great and it wasn’t the longest of conversations due to our limited vocabulary but it was nice to know we haven’t lost that much Spanish since our last time in South America.
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  • Smart or not adventurous?

    15. November 2019 in Chile ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Today we attempted to drive to the Pali Aike National Park to hike around its massive volcanic crater. But sadly after 2.5 hours in the car, we realized our little rental car likely wouldn’t make it through the large puddles on the gravel road to the park. We opted to turn back rather than risk getting stuck in the mud in an area with no cell service, no nearby town and rarely another car. Good call or did we miss out on a good adventure? 🤷🏻‍♀️

    At least along our drive we did see tons of guanacos (basically large llamas), a little red fox, some giant bunnies, a really fat hawk, and more sheep than we did in New Zealand.

    And then we got blue skies once we returned to Punta Arenas!
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  • W Trail - Day 1

    19. November 2019 in Chile ⋅ 🌧 7 °C

    Day 1: Bus, catamaran, hike to Glacier Grey; 6.8 miles

    Talk about a rough start. After a 5:20am wake up call, we got on the bus to Torres del Paine eager for our adventure. The earlier bus was supposed to be better because we’d have an hour less on the bus plus arrive for the earlier catamaran giving us an extra 2 hours of time in the park. When we were only 30 minutes away from our stop, the bus broke down. So we just had to sit and wait while another bus came the 2 hours from Puerto Natales. As it was pouring down rain and I was dreading the weather once we would start hiking, I was happy it to be in the bus a little longer.

    Finally a new bus came, we made it to our stop and after some “negotiating” with the catamaran captain we were on our way. The clouds cleared and we got some great views to start. Once we arrived on land, we started out for our supposed 3.5 hour hike with some enthusiasm. That quickly ended thanks to the massive mud puddles along the route. Due to all the rain the previous few days, there wasn’t much trail and it was almost nonstop mud and walking in creeks. At one point it was literally like walking down a waterfall.
    Then Brice fell and broke his walking pole - at least it wasn’t his leg! But that just sent him over the edge. We weren’t enjoying the day and it just seemed worse.
    Finally we got to the lodge - in 5 hours vs the 3.5 hours we expected.

    Fortunately Refugio Grey was super nice, our room comfortable and the other people in our dorm friendly (and quiet sleepers!). We had a delicious and filling dinner while complaining with other hikers about the hard day. It was nice knowing everyone else struggled too. Plus we agreed we would bail out if the second day was just as rough. Not the best start to a trek I’d been planning for over two years by any means but trying to be hopeful for improvement.
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  • W Trail - Day 2

    20. November 2019 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Day 2: Grey to Paine Grande; 6.8 miles

    Much better day today! It started with a good, filling breakfast then a short walk to the nearby mirador. Wow, the glacier was amazing that close up, especially seeing the big wall of ice and all the icebergs floating around! So so cool.

    Then we started the hike back down to Paine Grande. We weren’t super excited after day 1 but the weather was much nicer and the trails were already much drier, so it wasn’t as difficult or unpleasant. The weather was nice.

    We got to PG in late afternoon, in time for a few rounds of drinks at the bar. We chatted with a nice couple from Amsterdam and had dinner with new friends who are from Denver. The people on the trail are all so friendly and great, making this much more fun.

    And even the camping was ok!
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  • W Trail - Day 3

    21. November 2019 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Day 3: Paine Grande to Cuernos; 9.8miles

    Great day! Relatively easy hiking with beautiful views of lakes and big mountains, and surprisingly nice weather. We did a short jaunt into the French Valley to the Frances overlook. Sadly we didn’t get to see an avalanche at Frances Glacier but we did hear a couple roaring - very loud and cool.

    We made it to our next lodge, Los Cuernos where we had a fancy private cabin. It was beautiful and clean and overlooked the lake below. I had best shower in a week but sadly Brice got a freezing cold shower, making him not as jazzed about the room upgrade.

    We enjoyed a fun dinner with friends we made on the trail - Janet and Elaine, and Andrew (from Portland) and Kerry, all of whom we met the first night. Loving the ambience and friendliness here.
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  • W Trail - Day 4

    22. November 2019 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Day 4: Cuernos to Torres Central; 7.2 miles

    Overall another good day but it did feel a little long - clearly we are starting to get tired. But this hike was my favorite - incredibly gorgeous views of the blue lake from above and mountains all around. We even got to see two small avalanches today!

    With the great weather, we had a picnic lunch with Janet and Elaine along the trail, then made our way over to Torres Norte.

    After being so excited to get a shower after the long day, of course we found out the water was out. Who knows why. So instead we enjoyed some beers outside with blue skies and views of the Torres. Definitely thought when we were prepping for the trip, we’d be bundled up freezing cold all wee, not soaking up the sunshine!
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  • W Trail - Day 5

    23. November 2019 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Day 5: Mirador de Torres; 13.9miles

    Wow that was exhausting. The hike to the mirador was super crowded with people (unlike our other days). It was also just straight uphill - definitely a slog but not too bad until the last .8 miles. We finally made it to the mirador after 4+ hours, there was some cloud cover and some wind but otherwise it was quite nice views with the big towers and the blue lake below. We were exhausted and hurting a bit though so didn’t enjoy it as much as possible perhaps. The route down was slow going and painful, so many big rocks jamming on my knees and steep downhills smashing toes in my boots. Once we made it to the flat part, I was beyond thrilled.

    I am happy to have done the hike as I would have regretted not, but also feel sadly it was a little underwhelming, as it is the quintessential hike of Torres del Paine. The other hikes were certainly better.

    It was so nice being back in time for a hot shower and dinner at the lodge instead of getting on the bus, even if it meant another night in a dorm.

    We shared a bottle of wine with a super nice couple from Bilbao and celebrated our final evening on the trail. We did it!!! 🎉
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  • Where are the White Walkers??

    27. November 2019 in Argentinien ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    We have made it to Argentina! On this side of Patagonia, we got to adventure about at Perito Moreno, a 97-square mile glacier with a massive ice wall that is 200’ high. We were lucky enough to hike on the ice and to see a few calvings (where huge chunks fall into the water), which sound like the booming crack of lightening. I was shocked by how blue the ice is - simply gorgeous.

    Also couldn’t help but think of The Wall from Game of Thrones the whole day...
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  • More hiking!

    1. Dezember 2019 in Argentinien ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    For our last Patagonia stop, we spent a few days in El Chaltén, a super tiny tourist town at the edge of the Glaciares National Park. The mountains surround the whole town, and you can easily start several great hikes right from your hostel or AirBnB.

    With only 350 year-round residents, it’s quite small but still filled with restaurants making homemade pasta, microbreweries, and bakeries making solid empanadas and alfajores (I love these little shortbread cookie sandwiches with dulce de leche in the middle!) Plus the town has a fun vibe of hikers and rock climbers from around the world, all there to enjoy the best of nature.

    After one day spent wallowing and sitting mostly in the hotel with a terrible head cold, we got in a couple more lovely hikes with some amazing views of Mt Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. Brice even suggested going on a second hike in one day - is he beginning to somewhat like hiking?!

    We once again got great weather to close out our 3 weeks in Patagonia. Certainly wasn’t as cold or dreary as I feared or expected and I’m a-ok with that luck!
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  • Life in Buenos Aires

    6. Dezember 2019 in Argentinien ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Dog walkers - they have an intense job here where walking 10 dogs at once is not uncommon. It is impressive.

    Graduation celebration - friends and family come out to celebrate the graduate by spraying them with silly string, confetti and paint. Very festive!

    Food - man do they love dulce de leche, so much so the grocery stores have entire aisles devoted to various brands of the sauce.
    As for eggs, in the little stores that are on most corners, you can buy them by the egg - whether you want 1 or 7, no need for a full dozen here. Then they get wrapped all nice and snug in newspaper for you to take home.


    Enjoying our first week in Buenos Aires, the beautiful parks, charming cobblestone streets, and chaos and grit. The cheap prices of everything doesn’t hurt either!
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  • BsAs - part 2

    29. Dezember 2019 in Argentinien ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Life has been good here in Buenos Aires. A little mellow and some days I feel a little guilty that we haven’t done more touristy things or venturing outside our nice neighborhood of Palermo. But then again it’s been relaxing after numerous weeks being on the go to just work out, get a few things done at cute cafes and enjoy all the parks.

    That being said, we are slowly working through our list of “Buenos Aires Must Dos.”

    We finally did a walking tour of the city center, where we learned a bit more about Evita and other aspects of Argentine history.

    We took advantage of the crazy exchange rate and went to a fancy closed-door restaurant - this one was a sommelier who decided to turn his gorgeous 19th century home into a dining space for 10 guests 2x a week. We got a delicious multi-course meal, a lot of good wine (too much it turned out!) and great conversation with fellow diners.

    I’ve been taking Spanish classes from a great tutor who is teaching me all about Argentine culture and lots about the different words and weird pronunciation here (double Ls are not like a y in other Spanish speaking countries but rather a sh- sound).

    Finally after 3 weeks here we’ve been making a few more friends. While I don’t love a lot of things about Facebook, I do love the way it allows you to connect with fellow travelers.

    But sadly since we only have a week left here, time to get the final activities off our to do list - a day trip to Tigre, a river delta area north of Buenos Aires; an alfajores baking class; and a tango show. Time to get it all in!
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  • How do they stay out so late?!

    1. Januar 2020 in Argentinien ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    I have no idea how the Argentines do it. They go to dinner at 10pm any day of the week. For New Years, we were proud of ourselves for making it until 2:30am - for us Americans, that is quite late and when the bars close. But here, oh no, that's when the party is just getting started and plenty of people stay out until the sun comes up. Do they ever sleep? I'm not quite sure.

    But we at least had a good time with some new expat friends. NYE is a little different here, nearly every restaurant and bar is closed as people spend time at home with their families until midnight. They ring in the new year, then hit the clubs which open at 1am (!!). We found a couple casual bars in a touristy area that happened to be open at 8pm for our American schedule. Service was slow but we had a good time chatting and enjoying the evening, like it was any other day of the year. Only because big fireworks started going off did we realize it was midnight. No countdown or ball dropping here!

    It was a relatively low key New Years but thankful we got to celebrate it with great new friends in a fun city we are loving.

    Happy 2020!
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  • Team Tigre

    5. Januar 2020 in Argentinien ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Toured about Tigre with this fine crew on Sunday. This small town just 40 minutes north of Buenos Aires is part of the Paraná delta with hundreds of natural canals and interconnecting rivers.

    We did all the touristy things: We took a boat ride down the murky-looking river to see the canals and gawk at the homes that are only accessible by boat. We wandered through the massive Sunday market which was like one big HomeGoods store - it wasn’t as artisanal as I expected and was super crowded but at least Daniel got a lamp 😂 And we enjoyed beers at a rooftop bar.

    Our trip to Tigre wasn’t as “tranquilo” or as much of a reprieve from the city as some people say it can be, but overall it was one fun day. #teamtigre #eatchillsweat
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  • Back to baking

    6. Januar 2020 in Argentinien ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    In our last week in BA, I finally got myself to a baking class to make alfajores with Vicky Pe Bakery. These cookie sandwiches are found all over Latin America but are made with slight variations depending on the region. The one we made was from Mar del Plata, the beach south of Buenos Aires, made with Nutella and cocoa powder, filled with lots and lots of dulce de leche, then dipped in dark chocolate. 😋

    It was a fun afternoon chatting about life in Argentina, drinking mate, learning a bit of Portuguese from the Brazilian couple who were also in the class, and of course eating lots of sweets.
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  • Chao for now, Buenos Aires

    8. Januar 2020 in Argentinien ⋅ 🌙 29 °C

    One great last night in Buenos Aires. A pool party on the roof, picnic in the park then pasta dinner. We may have had a few too many bottles of wine, but it was a fun night out with some good new friends, lots of laughs, and a strong desire to return to BA.Weiterlesen