Tierra del Fuego

Hi Everyone, By popular demand, here are some photos from our trip to Ushuaia (round 1). We are currently in Punta Arenas in Chile, on our way to Torres del Paine national park, where we will do a four day self-guided camping trip. We´ll be heading back to Ushuaia next week to embark on our Antarctic Cruise! YAY! While in Ushuaia, we had two small adventures. The first was to Tierra del Fuego National Park (Note: there are no volcanoes or anything resembling fire in Tierra del Fuego. The land was named as such because the native people who once lived here took fire with them everywhere they went, even in their canoes while fishing!). The national park was a great introduction to the awesome landscape of southern Argentina / Chile. We did one relatively easy coastal hike along the Beagle Channel (approx. 3 hours), and then a much more difficult hike up Mount Guanaco. We didn´t have time to do the whole hike (despite the 19 hours of daylight), but we had heard that there was a nice vista point after about an hour an half. We set out on the hike with the goal of reaching it, but not sure if we would have enough time before having to turn back to catch the last minibus back to town. Fortunately, about 3 minutes before we had told ourselves we would turn back we reached it, and it was spectacular! Definitely worth the steep climb. Adventure #2 was to Glacier Martial, which hovers over the city of Ushuaia. There are many options for getting there. The easiest is taxi + chairlift + short hike. We wanted to ¨fully break in¨ our hiking boots in preparation for Torres del Paine, so we chose to walk the whole thing (about 8hrs round trip). By the end, I was whining, Dena was limping, and we were pretty miserable, but we won the battle vs. the hiking boots. The hike itself was also stunning (we´re going to run out of adjectives soon), as we were walking along a large creek of melting glaciar water (delicious), with waterfalls every 10 minutes or so. We made it all the way to the top, and even had some fun in the snow (video coming soon -- huge thanks to Abba Gidi and Imma Paula for the awesome camcorder that they gave me for my birthday!). That´s all for now. Look out for another post in a few days when we get back from Torres del Paine. Love, Amit and Dena

View from coastal hike in Tierra del Fuego National Park View from our glorious vista point Waterfall on way up to Glacier Martial Glacier Martial Amit taking a break before ascending up to the glacier (this is where most people start their hike) The view from the top (see how far we came, that´s Ushuaia in the background)

El Fin del Mundo!

Greetings from the END OF THE EARTH! We can´t independently confirm this claim yet, but this is the catch phrase used by all of the shops and tourist agents in Ushuaia, the southern-most city in Argentina and the current location of yours truly! After nearly FIFTY-FOUR hours of traveling, we arrived in Ushuaia at sunset... 10:30 PM. It´s amazing to be in a place that gets almost 18 hours of sunlight per day, and Antarctica will be even more incredible. Yes, we will offically be able to report the number of daylight hours in Antarctica 12 days from today when we board our Antarctic cruise!!! As many of you know, this was one of the most exciting opportunities we would have on this trip, and upon arrival here in Ushuaia, we paid Amit´s right arm and my left leg for two seats on a boat called the Polar Star, departing on February 3rd and returning on February 13th. Amit will have to use his motion sickness patch for the few days when we are crossing the Drake Passage, but we are ready to ice this trip-of-a-lifetime cake with a visit to the least visited continent of them all!!!!!

Other than our crazy long trip to get here (which included 6 hours sleeping in the airport and 6 hours of 'border crossings') and our exciting booking, not much else to report, but tomorrow we go hiking in Parque Nacional de Tierra del Fuego and we´ll post pictures as soon as we can!

Lots and lots of love,
Amit & Dena

And we're off...

Hi Everyone,

We're off to the airport. Before we go, here's the (belated) second slide show of the photos from our road trip. Enjoy!

Finally, one important announcement:
The winners of the inaugural car naming competition, with a last minute entry, are Matt and Megan Elder. From now on, our car will be named Jean Claude Grand Am. Thank you for all who participated. The grand prize of eternal gratitude will be awarded in 6-12 weeks.

Wish us luck :)

-Amit and Dena

The Northeast Corridor

From Nashville, we head northeast towards Philly, D.C., and NY. As we got closer to the "Northeast Corridor", it started to feel more and more like home. The highway lanes got narrower, the speed limits lower, the traffic heavier, and the drivers more aggressive. It quickly reminded me why I don't like driving... Our first stop was Philly to visit my two sisters (Shimrit and Dorit). It would have made more sense to go to D.C. first, but we wanted to catch Shimrit and her husband (Daniel) before they left for the honeymoon on 1/1. We arrived late on 12/30, and miraculously found a parking spot on the street right in front of Dorit's apartment, which was nice after our 13 hour drive (longest one in a while). We spent a couple of hours relaxing in Dorit's apartment and then went to bed. The next day we went to visit Daniel at his office (Braithwaite Communications - hope I got the spelling right) and then went to Reading Terminal Market for lunch. I had a DELICIOUS pastrami sandwich from Hershel's Deli and Dena had a vegetarian Philly cheese steak, which she swears tasted great (I didn't try it). That night we celebrated New Year's Eve with Shimrit / Daniel, Dorit and her new boyfriend (Sahar), and a few of their friends. It was a pretty chill night... First we went out for Afghani food and then went to play pool, but wimped out of going to see the fireworks because of the cold. After the ball dropped we returned to Shimrit's apartment to kill some time before we would drive them to the airport at 3:30am. We ended up watching / sleeping through one of the world's most boring documentaries (about the French guy who walked a tightrope between the twin towers in NYC). The drive to airport, on the other hand, was much more exciting, as we passed a couple "making love" in the street. It's getting late and I'm running out of steam, so here are a few highlights of the last couple of days: Chatting with Courtney and catching up about all her adventures in Beijing Hanging out with Jon and Catie, visiting the D.C. zoo, and eating delicious homemade waffles Visiting our friends Karen and Adam in NYC and having a delicious NY pizza dinner. On a side note, being in NY reminds me why New Yorkers are the way they are (no offense). And that brings us HOME to Boston. But fear not dear followers. There is still more to come, including another photo montage, as well as the final stats for our trip! -Amit

Music City, USA

Although neither of us are self-proclaimed country music fans, our day in Nashville was one of the best we had on the trip! Granted, our overall impression of Nashville is that it is a pretty "sleepy" town, with the downtown financial/business district basically silent and empty on a Monday, mid-day. But it was clean and modern, and we found cheap parking, so that made our day! In the morning, we took our car (whose name we will be revealing shortly) to a Firestone store to have the tires rotated and the oil changed, and with the store only a few blocks from our hotel and the Country Music Hall of Fame only a few blocks from the store as well, life was quite easy. The Country Music Hall of Fame was not too exciting, although I have to share with all of our followers that one of my high school friends is now a country music star! His name is Jake Owen, and his album was on same in the gift shop... he hasn't quite made it to the Hall itself yet, but I have no doubt he'll be there someday. YAY for knowing someone famous! Check out his website... his first album is GREAT and he has another one coming out in a month! www.jakeowen.net Anyway, after the Hall of Fame, we headed out to Opryland... location of the Grand Ole Opry (no, not Opera, as I thought... the Grand Ole Opry is a country music radio show that has been the propeller for many of the greatest country music stars. Check out the wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Ole_Opry ). The more exciting attraction, however, was the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, a MASSIVE hotel complex with three inside greenhouse conservatories. It was gorgeous, but a little overwhelming. As we approached the hotel, we saw several groups of little girls with strange sparkly costumes on, and when we arrived, we were bowled over by many LARGE groups of these same little girls, and guys, who were participating in the World Cheerleading Association National Competition! Poor Amit had never seen a real, talented group of cheerleaders perform before (thank goodness I was blessed as a child with the Vero Beach High School cheerleading squad!), so we decided to go into the competition and watch... and so we go to see "Bring It On" live! The best part of Nashville in my opinion, though, was actually the live music scene that we explored that night. We went down to Broadway and 2nd Ave, where there are about 20 different live country music clubs/bars, and we club hopped, listening to Country Rock, Honky Tonk, etc. It was awesome! And there is no cover charge... all they expect is that you buy a drink or two, tip the bar tenders, and tip the band if you like them. Then we went to a dueling piano bar, which was new for me, and we hung out for another few hours listening to them play everything from Walking in Memphis to Britney Spear's Hit Me Baby One More Time. Very entertaining! And again, no cover! So overall, Nashville rocked (literally!)! Low-cost, fabulous entertainment and a few nice surprises/conveniences on top. Hurray for Tennessee! Love, Dena & Amit

The Big Easy

Hi everyone, We're officially home now (safe and sound), so we have a little catching up to do... From Houston we made the quick 6-hour drive to New Orleans (amazing how your definition of a "quick" drive changes on a cross-country road trip). Using the Starwood (hotel chain) points I've earned over the course of my travels for work, we were able to book two nights for free at the "W", a very snazzy boutique hotel right in the heart of the French Quarter. Upon arrival we were upgraded to a "wonder suite" with a private terrace. As a side note, everything at the W starts with the letter W... When you call the front desk (by pressing the "Whatever/Whenever" button on your phone), they answer "What is your Wish Mr. Koren?". To make a long story short, the hotel was very nice, especially the courtyard, which had a beautiful water/fire fountain, heated outdoor pool, etc... Our first evening in New Orleans we decided to wander around Bourbon St to check out the scene. In short, Bourbon St is basically the wild side of college life immortalized in six blocks. I ordered a "Huge Ass Beer to go" from a bar called "Huge Ass Beer" (fortunately they served Sam Adams, as drinking 30+ ounces of Bud Light is not that appealing). We then strolled up and down the street, passing alternating jazz clubs and XXX strip clubs. I found it entertaining; Dena found it distasteful (Mars / Venus I guess). We ended up finding a club with a band that we liked, and listened to a few songs before calling it a night. We spent much of the next day poking around the shops, galleries, and cafes of the French Quarter. Our first stop, upon the strong recommendation of Dena's dad and just about everyone else we talked to, was Cafe Du Monde. Our intention was to have a hearty breakfast of "beignets" (a cross between Fried Dough and a Donut, covered in powdered sugar), but it was packed beyond belief (~200 people seated & another 100+ waiting for a table & 100+ waiting for take out), so we decided we would come back later in the day. Instead we went to Cafe Beignet, across the street, which served delicious beignets (though, as we discovered later, not quite as good as Cafe Du Monde). A few highlights of the day: Catching a quick Jazz show at the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park, a national park (i.e. building) that hosts 1-2 free live jazz shows a day (your tax dollars at work) Lunch at Praline Connection, where I had a roast beef Po'Boy and Dena had Collard Greens for the first time, because usually they are cooked with pork but in this case were Vegetarian! The stunning iron-work on the balconies and gates of almost every building When we returned to the hotel that afternoon, we were planning to go to the pool to cool off and relax, but we realized the entire courtyard was set up for a wedding. We immediately feared the pool would be closed off, but it turns out we were wrong, and the pool remained open. We decided to go despite the wedding, so we put on our bathing suits, slipped around the guests in their dresses and suits, ducked under the photographer, and dove in. We quickly realized the pool gave us a great vantage point from which we could watch (i.e., spy on) the wedding. I'll spare you the details, except for one story I will never forget. As the bride is getting set to walk down the aisle, we saw one of the flower girls (the daughter of the bride) trailing slowly behind her. The girl suddenly stops, and starts whining, then screaming "No Mommy NO." The wedding coordinator ran over and tried to pick up the girl, but she squirmed free, ran towards her mom (the bride), jumped on to the back of the dress, and starting pulling at it desperately. The wedding coordinator finally managed to grab hold of the girl and drag her away... The bride seemed to handle it all fairly well and proceeded to walk down the aisle. The ceremony was over in about four minutes, and we then took the opportunity to escape the pool and get ready for our night out on the town. That evening we went to Preservation Hall, a jazz club that intends to preserve the New Orleans jazz tradition. As such, there is no amplification whatsoever, just the vocals and instruments of the musicians. I don't remember the last time I saw a music performance of any kind without microphones / speakers, and it was a real treat. The place was so crowded that we had to sit in front of the front row, on the floor. We were so close we could see straight up the barrel of the clarinet player (fortunately a low-spit instrument). The next day we went to the Garden District, the upscale neighborhood in New Orleans with all the elaborate mansions. I wasn't going to write about this at all, except for one funny story. We were standing in front of the Paige mansion, which was not particularly remarkable, except that it is the place where Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, passed away. As we were admiring the house, two cars pulled up and out poured three generations of a family. We started chatting with them and found out that the eldest woman was the granddaughter of a girl who lived in the house when Jefferson Davis passed away. They asked me to take their photo, and I happily obliged. For the first shot, I said "say cheese." For the second shot, I said "1, 2, 3" and then the mother chimed in "Say Confederacyyyyyyyy." Not quite believing our ears, we quickly scuttled away. Well, this post is getting intolerably long, so I'll stop at that. We'll try to wrap up the next few posts (Nashville, Philly, and DC) in the next couple of days! -Amit

Iron-work in the FQ Jackson Square Jazz national park The wedding Fountain of Fire Preservation Hall The Preservation Hall Jazz Band The sax player (we were close) Enjoying a beignet at Cafe du Monde

Houston... hot and heavenly!

Okay, so we're still a little behind, but we're desperately trying to catch you up so that we can fulfill our New Year's resolution, and then hopefully get ready for blogging the next phase of our travels! So we're DUAL-blogging (sitting here next to each other on the couch, writing simultaneous blog entries!)... As you can see from the cool little map we have on the right side of our blog, we went from Tucson to Carlsbad to San Antonio to Houston. Our goal for our visit to Houston was to spend time with some more of my family... my Great Uncle Max and my dad's cousin Linda. Check out our pictures; as you can see, we accomplished our goal! We arrived on Christmas Day... nothing better to do on Christmas than visit with our Jewish family! We met Linda at her house, but turned right around and drove over to have a wonderful lunch at Uncle Max's house (which was prepared by Linda, who says she is not a frequent cook... but we certainly couldn't tell!). We shared stories with them of our travels so far, heard some stories from their life travels as well, and reminisced about my grandfather! It was a great visit because Amit was never able to meet my Zayde (grandfather), so introducing him to my Uncle Max was pretty special. From Uncle Max's, we went over to the home of Linda's friend Joni... who regaled us with stories of her retirement hobby/part-time job: mystery shopping. If you've never heard of this market research technique, you should Google it, as I can't possibly describe it in all of its glory... or here is the Wikipedia link: . She also continued to feed us more delicious food (gourmet cheese, fruit, and tasty baked goods), and then sent us on our way with goodie bags of food! THEN, Linda took us out to eat at her favorite Indian restaurant (from which we also got to take delicious leftovers!), and in the morning, sent us on our way after an incredible, authentic Mexican lunch at a local "Mex-Mex" restaurant (which we learned was different than Tex-Mex). Overall, we ate like kings/queens, thoroughly enjoyed our day of relaxing and socializing with Linda/Uncle Max/Joni, and had a wonderful visit in Houston! Here are a few pictures... Lots of love, and more updates to come shortly! -Dena & Amit