Río & Ilha Grande

Hello everyone,

After having a tough time finding a place to stay I finally found a bed and WiFi so I am prepared to write the next entry. 

First of all though I hope all of you had a great New Year’s Eve and are enjoying the new year already.

We,Franziska and me, enjoyed New Years  in Rio which was simply impressive. Great fireworks, never seen anything like that before. But besides the fireworks at Copacabana the city has some more things to offer which we obviously visited:

Sugarloaf

The arc (still can take a train ride on it)

The Metropolitan Cathedral doesn’t look that pretty from the outside but you should never judge

Catching only some of it’s beauty 

Some street art here Germany in Southamerica

Escadaria Selaron (very crowded during the day)

Cristo

New Years at Copacabana 

After having an amazing time in Rio I had to drop off Franziska and am now traveling on my own again. We had a great time together and ended it perfectly with a great Rodizo dinner. Thanks for coming Franziska!!!

Afterwards I headed to Ilha Grande which seems to be more Argentinian than Brazilian during summer. Plenty of great beaches so perfectly to just relax

Lopez Mendes

One of Brasilians most beautiful beaches which is definitely worth a stop. 

So now I am back inRio set to go to the northern part of Brasil

Hear you soon

Hannes

Florianópolis & Paraty

Hohoho everyone,

I hope you guys had a great Christmas (if you celebrate it). 

We spend Christmas at Florianópolis, a huge peninsula in the south east of Brasil. We had a great time as the hostel organized a big Christmas dinner and we all (about 40 ppl) got together and just had a great time. Definitely chose the right hostel to stay at. The peninsula itself is terrific and I would have loved to stay longer even though the weather was all rainy... 

Christmas dinner

1 of over 100 beaches

We jumped from those rocks at the right



A big part of the Christmas group

Another beach (would have been a nice surf)

The hostel

Then we had a long ride (26hrs incl waiting time and traffic jam) drive to Paraty where we only stayed for a short time. There are supposed to be many nice beaches but we only had time to look at the old town:

Now we are in Rio where we are going to enjoy New Years at Copacabana 🎆

Hope you guys have a great New Year’s Eve! 

Hannes

Punta Del Diablo, Asuncion und Iguazu (Puerto & Foz de Iguazu)

Hello, 

Sometimes live gives presents to you which you First need to open to see its beauty. 

But let’s start chronological. Our last station in Uruguay before returning to Montevideo and catching a flight was Punta Del Diablo. This is a nice little village where you can relax all day. There isn’t any sightseeing but the beach and the sunrise are stunning. 

Beach 20m away from our Hostal. Could see this from the balcony as well 

So after having some calm days some exhausting followed. When we tried to catch our flight we were informed that there is a general strike in Argentina and therefore we weren’t able to go to Puerto Iguazú for at least another day (buses weren’t going either). Instead of waiting I could convince Franziska that it would be great to use this to go to Asunción as the airline offered to change our flight to Asunción but otherwise they would not pay for any costs as this is a countrywide strike. So we got to see Asunción which is not really beautiful but at least we got to see another place (no fotos from Paraguay though). The next day we went from Asunción to Ciudad Del Este, through Brasil and finally arrived at our destination Puerto Iguazú. 

We got to see both sides of Iguazú (Argentinian and Brazilian):

Argentina (had Bad weather over here)

Garganta Del Diablo

Brasil:

I think the Argentinian side offers more diversity (spent there 5 hours) while the Brazilian side is not as much walking (1 hour) but therefore a nice overview and you get really close (which includes getting wet as well). 

Now we are waiting for our bus to Florianopolis where we will be spending Christmas.

Wishing everyone great Christmas days and enjoy the family time and especially the good food! 

Hannes

Buenos Aires Part 2, Colonia Del Sacramento, Montevideo and Punta Del Este

Hey everyone

Still alive and haven’t been robbed this week. 

We did go the last days in Buenos Aires to Palermo and a Tango show/dance class which has been a great evening.

Botanic Garden

Cemetery 

The Building has been a theater before someone opened a book store inside

On Sunday we left to Uruguay and started our trip in Colonia Del Sacramento. A stunning village with an old city center and a small lighthouse. The atmosphere invites to get an ice cream or just sit down in a cafe and enjoy the view on the ocean. 

The lighthouse build inside of an old castle

View from the lighthouse

Bullring which you are not allowed to enter but...

We then left to Montevideo which is basically a big city but not a must do:

After Montevideo we headed to Punta Del Este which is the most expensive and exclusive place in Uruguay but definitely not a must do. The beach is nice but there are better places which are cheaper:

La Mano

We are now in Punta Del Diablo which is fantastic but will write more next week.

Hope everyone is doing well

Hannes

Rosario & Buenos Aires

Hey everyone,

So after Cordoba I went to Rosario which is supposed to have a similar flare than Buenos Aires but is smaller. I would disagree with that. I think Rosario has a chilled atmosphere especially when you are with someone. The promenade is beautiful and invited to enjoy a coffee or a beer. 

Buenos Aires is a big city. Parts of it have a nice flare as the district La Boca. Furthermore it has some nice sightseeing but I wouldn’t compare the both cities. They are simply different. 

Most important about Buenos Aires though is that Franziska joined my travel for the coming 4 weeks!!!! 🍾🎉😍

Here some impressions of Rosario:

This is the place Che Guevara was born

Reminds a bit of Washington 



The statue, the highlight of Rosario unfortunately being restored

We didn’t see all of Buenos Aires yet:

Congress 

Obelisk 

La Bomba (drum Show)

Puente de la Mujer

Estadio de Boca

La Boca District (very colorful buildings everywhere)

And Art everywhere as well

Everywhere

Buenos Aires is a big city which always means there is crime. Unhappily we got robbed in San Telmo but we are fine and only lost some money which isn’t a big problem. Still wasn’t a pleasant experience.

Furthermore I did a short stop at Tandil between Rosario and Buenos Aires to visit my friend Santiago. We had a great time and it was a pleasure staying at his house. Nice BBQ

Hear you soon

Hannes