wedding pic sneak peeks!

just a teaser trailer from our wedding day pictures, courtesy Frank Amodo Photography. cheers!
(just click here http://francesandshannon.amodophoto.com/ for the link to the page)

Mercado finds!

Saffron, black corn, sea kelp (that's the thick-skin meat-looking bound stuff), big fish, conger eel...Interesting market, interesting experience!

Chillin' in Chile (with the Miyamuras!)

Look who we got to meet up with in Santiago and explore the city! Old castles, plazas, mercados, and viewpoints...

Border crossing south of the border

This was NOT fun. A 7-hour bus trip from Mendoza to Santiago turned into 14 hours because of 1.) snow on the Andes roads and 2.) crappy border crossing. See buses stopped at the side of the road and a picture from our bus window, in the Andes, inching along... Otherwise, the rides are very comfortable - with DVD movies and very-reclinable chairs...but not when you are expecting a short(er than 14-hour) trip!

Mendoza Wine Country

What a fabulous day in wine country! We were fortunate enough to take a personalized tour to 4 different wineries - boutique to large-scale (all fabulous wines) with a knowledgeable guide (Thank you, Javier!), and even a gourmet lunch paired with (more) fabulous wines! Our favorite was Domani St. Diego, a small, family-run winery which also grew their own olives for olive oil! YUM.

More Lagos and Parques...

the lakes district was so beautiful. we strolled through the tiny puerto and hiked some fantastic peninsula trails and saw some fun things like the arrayanes forest...and...cows?

Alto Manzano - honeymoon style!

Hosteria Marinas Alto Manzano - our favorite lodging so far!!! 5 minutes outside of Villa La Angosturra (in Puerto Manzano), we got the matrimonial-suite for a THIRD a cost of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and BETTER: sweet view, breakfast spread, the best bed...


jacuzzi hot tub for 2 overlooking the lake!!! Awesome. We highly recommend staying here...more pics of room and view with Shan's camera later...

Breathtaking Lago Nahuel Huapi

Blessed with beautiful weather, the drive north to Villa La Angosturra was breathtaking...











We stopped for pictures and a picnic lunch and enjoyed the view.

bariloche!

Viva Barliloche! The main city of Argentina's lake district, Bariloche sits on gorgeous Lake Nahuel Huapi (pics later). In the city itself, just shops and restaurants. Our faves, Mamushka for chocolate (Bariloche is chocolate capital of Argentina - go figure) and the wood carvings of the city centro...

habla usted engles?

in case you were wondering...this is how we manage: skype, internet and trusty spanish phrase book and dictionary - too bad it's for spain and NOT argentina. :) basically, we plan for several days transportation and lodging. for example, we've got our trip to mendoza and then valparaiso all set, but nothing past may 2nd! crash course in castellanos (spanish)!

one of fran's friends

she makes friends everywhere. pet llama at this home in the middle of nowhere, where the bus stopped at the halfway point between el chalten and el calafate. seriously, the llama was a pet who nuzzled at the neck of its owner, a older woman who ran the little "store" inside her home catering to the turistas needing a snack, cigarettes, cafe, etc...

(i'm wondering how the carpaccio of this guy would be.)

the Fitz Roy

starting our day hike in El Chalten, to check out the Fitz Roy peaks and mountain range!

the weather was cold & brisk, but bright and clear
and a picture perfect day.





the Fitz Roy! (chris, we salute you.)

gorgeous. just gorgeous.




our fellow honeymooner new friends, drew and chris - great to meet you and spend the day with you! happy travels to you and hopefully we'll meet up again! aloha...

parrilla! = meat = YUM!

this is a traditional "parrilla" (pronounced, "pa-ree-jsha") way they cook meats, so yummy.




see, shannon loves parrilla....

walkin on sunshine... er, glaciers.

after we saw the perito moreno from the balconies, we took a boat to it - yeah, we're glacier trekkers! strapping on "crampons" (metal spiky shoes) we trekked for a few hours with a small group and knowledgeable guide - witnessing crevices, small lagoons, peaks and valleys...


this ice is 300-700 years old.






gotta love the argentinians! oh, the rewards!

ice ice baby

COLD and standing in front of the Perito Moreno Glacier!!!

the "world's most active glacier" accordingly, this thing was awesome.
when the ice breaks off, it sounds like thunder. we waited patiently to try to capture a "fall" but it only happened when our cameras weren't ready. amazing. the blue of the crevices. this is still advancing. glaciers 101 taught us how they work. other well-known glaciers are receding due to global warming, perito moreno is still going!

el calafate

a pretty little town. cemetary besides lago argentina, not as elaborate as the ricoletta's cemetario, no?






our adorable (and cleanest!) hosteria on puerto san julian. you can tell that this town is about to blow up. imagine aspen pre-construction. buy real estate today!

at one airport, ready to be shuttled to the next...

happy to be getting OUT of BA!
(sorry, but the smoke from the fires was brutal!)