And so it goes that we are already at our last destination and into our last few days of this great adventure…

I must admit, a small part of me is happy to settle and get back to some routine (and see family and friends again; and get the boys back to school…) but the bigger part could continue to discover the world (even together with the three monkeys) for a while longer.

Easter Island was an amazing place and after fearing that we would have way too much time there (8 days in total) we were happy to discover the whole island at a leisurely pace. We even took a horse treck to the highest point, which was a beautiful experience. A very remote place of the earth and at the same time, you can get (almost) everything – maybe with exception of insurance for rental cars 😉

The few days in Santiago de Chile brought us back to full civilization, with cheaper prices for wine, food, and pretty much everything else as well. The city was worth a few days of discovery and we could not resist the huge Chilean King crab at the fish market. Very tasty but never enough for the five of us as even the boys cannot get enough of any kind of seafood, our little gourmets.

The flight to Buenos Aires was indeed a bit frightening, especially as a few minutes after take off, the announcement was made ‘as we are going to cross the Andes in a few minutes, please do not get up and keep your seat belt fastened…’ – it was, indeed, quite a shaky crossing and I am sure I was not the only one remembering this one, specific movie…

Touch down in Argentina was smooth again and after some searching for an ATM or a money changer, some water, and the taxi stand we were on the road towards our hotel; in the middle of the center, a few hundred meters from the famous Obelisk only. A beautiful old hotel, with high ceilings, wooden floors, and a very old elevator, with double doors that must be closed manually on each floor, encaged in old wrought iron. Our room was quite nice, but VERY cold, even with the aircon on 30 degrees constantly. [By the time we left the city again, room temperature was just about pleasant…] Good thing we had bought warm wooly sox in Santiago as well as some Alpaca knit jackets and blankets… at least the shower was warm and with pleasant pressure.

I had been to Argentina about 16 years ago and the exchange rate was quite favorable for us back then already, but the current rate (1:44 vs. the USD) was just crazy. We ate some great meats and discovered San Telmo, La Boca, Puerto Madero mostly on foot. Not for the first time on the trip, we spent some public holiday (national day) there, which explained the very quiet street during our first city stroll through the banking quarter. At least now we know why the main street is called Avenida de 9 Julio… The other famous number must show that I am old (and have no clue about soccer), as the Argenina shirts with number 10 were not with Maradona’s name, but with Messi on the back…

And soon we were off again, stopover in Rio, which the boys really wanted to discover as they had just watched the animated picture with Blue, the macaw. Next time, we said… so at least one destination still needs to be discovered soon.

Onwards the plane took us across the Atlantic for once and after a very shaky flight, we safely made it to Lisboa. Jetlagged and shaky (it really felt as if we had stepped off a boat after a long time in rough waters), we found our apartment in the centre of the Alfama, luckily not too far off a drivable street on a cobbled walkway. This will be our base for the last few days, before we make it all the way back (to our new) ‘home’.