The Ianella Brothers

Guillaume's brother, Benoît (middle), came down from Paris for a week with his girlfriend, Élodie. Here we were fishing the sea, but unfortunately caught very little.

Château d'If

You can see Château d'If, the place where Dantes went before he became the Count of Monte Cristo, in the sea just in front of the bigger islands.

Marseille

At the Notre Dame of Marseille. It's on the biggest hill, so the panoramic views are stellar. End of July and cold enough to need a sweater. It's never like that.

Happy Birthday Delilah!!!

I would like to wish a very happy first birthday to my beautiful niece Delilah all the way from Les Arcs, France.  It is a very hot day here, but I imagine it could be quite the same in your part of the world.  I am sitting in the yard of my friend Guillaume, having a beer and toasting to you my dear.  I hope it is a very special day, even though it will probably not be in your memory.  I am sorry I can't be there to celebrate with you, but as your years increase so will the fun on your birthday.  I love you!!!!
Love,
Uncle Joe

Mediterranean Sea

Haven't ever been in these waters before.

Tallone, Corse

Tiny village in the mountains of Corsica.

Nice Again

Non-polluted pic.

Nice, France

On the ferry for Corsica, giving a pollution cloud to Nice as a farewell.

Tour Guide Guillaume

Gui showing me around the Medieval center of town. Tiny streets, no cars allowed.

Les Arcs, France

From the Medieval center of town looking down onto the village of Les Arcs.

France

But we did go on top of the Arc de Triomphe, which I hadn't done before (or just don't remember as well as the Eiffel Tower.)

Champs-Élysées et Arc de Triomphe

Eiffel Tower

It's pretty big, and with a multi-hour line to go up in searing summer weather we opted not to.

France

I wandered across the Atlantic to a little place called Paris.

Geysers

So we had to "wake up" at 4am to go to these geysers. (The quotes are there, because Guillaume and I decided to just not go to bed at all, bad idea. It worked out though) It was pretty cool, but Yellowstone is much better and you don't have to wake up before the sun to see everything there. However, in Yellowstone you can't climb right onto the geyser mound, whereas here it is encouraged.

Whew!!

No explanation necessary.

Saturn

Yep, it's really Saturn taken through the eyepiece of a telescope. The skies in northern Chile are so clear I went on 2 seperate star observation tours. So cool!!!

Checking In

Hola a todos!!
There are a lot more pictures to come.  The internet as of late hasn't been so great so as to load pictures to the internet, but they are on there way.  I crossed into Peru today and am now in Arequipa, the second largest city of the country.  I have only one more week until I am home for a few weeks, so trying to squeeze the most out of the last few days.
Talk to you soon.

The Wanderer

Giant Moai

Can you see the giant Moai in the mountain? If completed this one would've been 21m (69ft.) tall and weighed 270 tons!

Swimming Pool

Nice little natural pool amidst jagged volcanic rock. I don't suppose many people get to come here, but Alvaro, my guide and hotel manager, is local so I got to. Waves come from either side and keep you pretty much in the middle so you don't scrape your body to bits.

Moai on Ahu

All the Moai you see standing were put back up since 1955. All the Moai had been knocked to the ground when the clans of Rapa Nui starting fighting a few hundred years ago. The platform is called an Ahu. The thing on top of their heads, is their top-knot, which was sculpted in another part of the island than the statues themselves.

Moai Quarry

Here is the grassy side of the volcano where the Moai were literally sculpted from the rock face. They are all over.

Hanga Roa

The town of Hanga Roa. The entire island has a population of approximately 4,000, so it's a small town. Basically everyone lives here in Hanga Roa.

Painted Sky

Every night the sky looks like a giant painting.

Moai

Giant Moai statues. All you can see is the head, but the (buried) body is about 60% of the total statue. So these things are huge!

Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Wandering through caves and it started raining outside.

Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

 Whew! A 5 hour plane ride and I am finally here on Easter Island. It was one of the nicest plane rides I have taken in some time. We got a nice meal, chicken or salmon, and the silverware was actually made of metal. On the tray there was a wine glass, a coffee mug, and this was in addition to the soda they gave you right before. The food, however, was still airplane food, but you can't have everything. TV screens in the back of all the headrests with a little remote that could dual as a game controller. I decided to go the movie route and almost got 3 full ones in. I watched Whatever Works, a Woody Allen pic, with Larry David, Little Fockers, and most of True Grit. The first two I hadn't seen, and knew I wouldn't quite get through the third so I went with a previously viewed choice.


When I landed, after getting my bag, I was met with a lei from Alvaro, the guy running the hotel I'm staying at. Born in Chile, he grew up on the island (his dad Alvaro, Sr. is a native), he's spent the last 15 years in Australia, but now is back to help Mom and Dad run the place. It's a killer deal too, just 14 bucks more than the cheapest dorm room hostel I could find, and I get my own room complete with bathroom. After tomorrow I'll have the kitchen all to myself too, when the Canadian checks out. Super nice guy and his Mom is a sweet, tiny, old lady. I got in a bit late so I didn't have a chance to meet anyone else, but it's going to be a nice few days coming up. Tomorrow Alvaro is taking me and the mysterious Canadian on a tour of the first half of the island (I'll see the other half prob on Saturday). He was showing me on the map and it should be stellar. What a crazy cool place. As we flew over it, to turn around and land, you could see the whole thing in the airplane window. It is seriously just a tiny speck, but so full of mystery, beauty and warm people. The next pics should be pretty amazing, so stay tuned.


~The Wanderer

Neptune's Fountain

Congreso Nacional

Pretty Church

Cool Pedestrian Bridge

Bat-hombre

Cool graffiti in Barrio Bellavista

Virgin Mary

This statue sits atop the city's biggest hill. The spot where I got the pic with Santiago behind me.

Santiago de SMOG

It is a beautiful city, but smoggy as hell. (Notice the cool new watch I'm sporting)

Santiago de Chile

After you cross the border into Chile you have to get down the mountain.

Grapes

The grapes

Mendoza - Wine Country

One of the wineries on the tour. The biggest one.

Santiago de Chile

Howdy y'all,

I am sorry there hasn't been an update for a minute but I wanted to put some pictures up and haven't been able to upload any as of yet.  So just giving a bit of written word.  After I left BA I went to Mendoza, Argentina's main wine production area, for a couple days.  It was nice, had a few glasses of tasty vino, then hopped a bus across the border to Chile.  Santiago is nice and seems slightly cleaner than BA, although the smog is incredibly bad.  You'll see when I can post a pic or two.  Now I am just seeing the sights and museums until Wednesday when I head to Rapa Nui (Easter Island).  I'll be sure to get those pics up pronto, because they should be pretty epic.

The Wanderer

Looking Up

Looking up from the patio.

Dinner in the Apt

L to R: Guillaume, Annie, Me, Rodrigo, Ashley

Buenos Aires, te amo

I am finally leaving this kick-ass city.  I originally planned on staying for about a week.  I've been here for a month to the day! It went incredibly fast, but it was more than fun.  Ended up getting an apartment with 4 other people, Guillaume, Rodrigo, and two American women, Annie and Ashley.  We cooked dinner every night and were able to take things a bit easier than the hostel.  The apt. was great, a bed for everyone, a two-tiered terrace, giant kitchen (that we almost destroyed with dulce de leche, sorry no pics, I'll have to tell you that story in person), in a great location.  It even slightly cheaper than the hostel and you could really stretch out and not have to keep an eye on all your stuff, all the time.  Muy bien hecho.

This evening I take an overnight bus to Mendoza, Argentina's main wine production area.  After a couple days there I continue my bus journey into Chile to Santiago, where besides checking out the new city, I'll be waiting for my excursion to Easter Island.  The updates of late have been lacking, but there's a lot of stuff coming up that these eyes have never seen, so the camera will be out and snapping.

mucho amor,

The Wanderer

Tres Amigos

Part of the reason I stayed in BA so long. Guillaume on the left, Rodrigo on the right. Chillin in the kitchen of our apartment. Two very cool dudes.

Sunrise

So the moon was up on one side and sun was rising opposite. Beautiful morning!

Moon

The moon in there in the sky, but the sun was too bright to capture it on film. It looked so cool. (See pic above to see why it was so bright.)

Party Time con Amigos

Represting France, Brazil, Germany, and USA!!

Where's the beef?

Check out the steaks, enormous!

Hostel Living Made Easier

Also, with balconies that look to the street and onwards to the Congreso Nacional.

Hostel Living Made Easier

It's definitely easier when your hostel has a terrace with views like this! You can see the top of the obelisco on the left hand side.

Hostel Living

Staying in hostels isn't so bad, although it does take a little getting used to.  However, I have two major complaints. 
    The first is that people talk way too loud in the morning if they are packing up and leaving.  Now I understand it's a hostel so silence is a luxury rarely afforded, but if you are leaving to catch an early plane or bus you should speak to your travel-mates in a soft voice.  Regular decibel conversation is completely unnecessary, especially with all the zips and crunching of plastic bags that is already taking place. 
    The second is that if you are trying to catch said early plane or bus and you set an alarm to wake up, be in the damn room to turn it off!!!  If your internal clock is so stellar that you didn't actually need a reminder to wake up, please remember to switch off the alarm so that I don't have to stumble around and find the alarm and shut it off myself.

Thank you,
The Wanderer

Party Time

Yeah it's only quarter to 5am, just getting back from the club (yeah I bet it sounds crazy, but that's how it's done here, so deal).  Good times with my two good buds, Rodrigo from Brasil but lives in France and Guillaume, from France.  Plus some Oregonians, Venezuelan, Norwegians and of course some Argentines, como siempre.  Sorry for a lack of pics, I'll try to get some up in the next days.  Just wanted to post something, so y'all know that I'm good and having fun.  Been in BA for a week and a half, I could stay forever but I still have a lot to see.  Need to make my way east to Santiago, Chile and see a new country, haha.

Much love,

The Wanderer

Reserva Ecológica

Beautiful ecology preservation park, right next to the city. Paths for walking and biking. Cool spot.

Río de la Plata

Widest river in the world, looks like the sea, but it ain't. Gotcha!

Buenos Aires

El Obelisco (NOT an homage to GW monument in DC)

Cabalgata

Went for a horse-back ride. The horse was cool, after I got off and walked away to leave he followed and keep nudging me. I gave him a good scratch to say thanks for a good time and good ride.

Bariloche

Good view of some of the lakes around Bariloche

Bariloche - Buenos Aires

Oh boy, it's been awhile since my last update. 
I finally made it to the city of San Carlos de Bariloche.  It's a beautiful place.  It is funny though, because it looks a lot like Utah.  With picturesque mountains right near the city.  There are a lot of lakes, so it does switch it up a bit.  I went mt. biking and horse-back riding while I was there, as well as exploring the city itself.  However, I was ready to get out of Utah copy-cat land so I hopped on a 20 hour bus ride to Buenos Aires.  It really wasn't so bad.  The seat's are wide and very padded and soft (no airplane style).  They also recline fairly far back and there's a rest for your whole leg, not just your feet.  3 movies, we got Bedtime Stories, the remake of Escape to Witch Mountain, and RED.  Not the greatest selection, but entertainment enough.  Food as well; dinner was chicken breast, potatoes, shredded carrots and beets, ham and cheese and bread.

There's a little of what's happening for now.

~the wanderer

Mt. Fitz Roy

Pretty awesome mountain, when the weather cooperates. Google it to see it in all its splendor.