We have put together some ideas on what to experience either before you leave or while you visit this beautiful and enchanting country. From literature to cuisine, accommodations to historical attractions, or simply souvenirs, you will find it here. Simply click on a tab above to read more about the topic.
The Falls of Iguazú
Eighteen kilometers from Puerto Iguazú we enter the National Park of the same name. The deep flowing waters of the river fall from a height of 70 meters through 275 falls over 2.7 km. The frontier with Brazil goes through the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) where the falling water gives the illusion of magic rainbows through a perpetual cloud of mist. The National Park is full of the exotic subtropical vegetation surrounding the falls and 2000 plant species: gigantic trees, ferns, lianas, orchids; 400 bird species: parrots, colibríes, toucans; and 500 different species of majestic butterflies.
Eighteen kilometers from Puerto Iguazú we enter the National Park of the same name. The deep flowing waters of the river fall from a height of 70 meters through 275 falls over 2.7 km. The frontier with Brazil goes through the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) where the falling water gives the illusion of magic rainbows through a perpetual cloud of mist. The National Park is full of the exotic subtropical vegetation surrounding the falls and 2000 plant species: gigantic trees, ferns, lianas, orchids; 400 bird species: parrots, colibríes, toucans; and 500 different species of majestic butterflies.
The Alvear Palace
A french palace renovated with the latest technology, the Alvear Palace Hotel has 200 rooms, including 80 suites, non-smoking floors and executive floors. Dining pleasures take place at La Bourgogne Restaurant featuring "Relais Gourmand" Jean Paul Bondoux's "haute cuisine." Guests should also enjoy breakfast or lunch at L'Orangerie the hotel's own patisserie, tea in the Jardin d'Hiver or a cocktail at the Lobby & Piano Bar.
Located in La Recoleta, one of Buenos Aires' most elegant neighborhoods in the heart of the city, the Alvear Palace tempts the traveler with Hermes de Paris toiletries in every room and features such as an intelligent touch screen telephone.
A french palace renovated with the latest technology, the Alvear Palace Hotel has 200 rooms, including 80 suites, non-smoking floors and executive floors. Dining pleasures take place at La Bourgogne Restaurant featuring "Relais Gourmand" Jean Paul Bondoux's "haute cuisine." Guests should also enjoy breakfast or lunch at L'Orangerie the hotel's own patisserie, tea in the Jardin d'Hiver or a cocktail at the Lobby & Piano Bar.
Located in La Recoleta, one of Buenos Aires' most elegant neighborhoods in the heart of the city, the Alvear Palace tempts the traveler with Hermes de Paris toiletries in every room and features such as an intelligent touch screen telephone.
Chilean cuisine centers on beef, chicken, fish and glorious seafood. National specialties include the parrillada, which means mixed grill; empanadas, an oven baked, light dough crust filled with yummy ingredients for either meat lovers or vegetarians; delicious Chilean salmon and trout, which are cooked in a variety of ways; and a wide, splendid variety of some the best seafood your taste-buds will ever savor.
Equally tasty is cazuela, a chicken or beef-based soup with potatoes and zapallo, a pumpkin-like squash, and a wonderful hot dish called pastel de choclo, which is a baked cornmeal dish with chicken or beef, chopped onion, one hard boiled egg and olives. This is a rather heavy dish best eaten when you are not planning a very active day.
Humitas, boiled corn paste wrapped in a corn husk, are a must eat. Locals eat them with sugar sprinkled on top. Caldillo de congrio is another typical dish that foreigners rave about. One of the most typical southern dishes is curanto, a catch-all stew of fish, seafood, shellfish, potatoes and different types of meat and sausages.
Finally, the variety of domestically grown fruit far exceeds that of tropical countries further north. If you order juice, it will most likely be 100% natural, squeezed fresh at that moment. On many highways throughout Chile, you will find fruit and vegetable stands with great prices and gorgeous fruit of every imaginable variety. The Chilean avocado is practically considered a staple item for Chileans as it is served with salads, on sandwiches, accompanying meat and as a meal in itself in a dish called palta reina, or queen avocado.
Chile's traditional cocktail is the pisco sour, made with pisco, lemon juice, sugar and egg-whites. And don't forget to order Chilean wine while dining out. Fine wines at great prices can be found in most any restaurant and include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay among other varieties. Normal tipping is 10%.
Equally tasty is cazuela, a chicken or beef-based soup with potatoes and zapallo, a pumpkin-like squash, and a wonderful hot dish called pastel de choclo, which is a baked cornmeal dish with chicken or beef, chopped onion, one hard boiled egg and olives. This is a rather heavy dish best eaten when you are not planning a very active day.
Humitas, boiled corn paste wrapped in a corn husk, are a must eat. Locals eat them with sugar sprinkled on top. Caldillo de congrio is another typical dish that foreigners rave about. One of the most typical southern dishes is curanto, a catch-all stew of fish, seafood, shellfish, potatoes and different types of meat and sausages.
Finally, the variety of domestically grown fruit far exceeds that of tropical countries further north. If you order juice, it will most likely be 100% natural, squeezed fresh at that moment. On many highways throughout Chile, you will find fruit and vegetable stands with great prices and gorgeous fruit of every imaginable variety. The Chilean avocado is practically considered a staple item for Chileans as it is served with salads, on sandwiches, accompanying meat and as a meal in itself in a dish called palta reina, or queen avocado.
Chile's traditional cocktail is the pisco sour, made with pisco, lemon juice, sugar and egg-whites. And don't forget to order Chilean wine while dining out. Fine wines at great prices can be found in most any restaurant and include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay among other varieties. Normal tipping is 10%.
Mapuche artisan work, silver work, musical instruments and knitted lamb's wool articles as well as chocolates, jams, smoked foods and patés top the list of items to pack for the trip home. Wool pullovers, candles and ceramic work from San Carlos de Bariloche, and Lenga wood carvings from Ushuaia are also wonderful souvenirs.
Pablo Neruda
Neruda's body of poetry is so rich and varied that it defies classification or easy summary. It developed along four main directions. His love poetry, such as the youthful Twenty Love Poems and the mature Los Versos del Capitán (1950, The Captain's Verses), is tender, melancholy, sensuous, and passionate. In "material" poetry, such as Residencia en La Tierra, loneliness and depression immerse the author in a subterranean world of dark, demonic forces. His epic poetry is best represented by Canto general, which attempts to reinterpret the past and present of Latin America and the struggle of its oppressed and downtrodden masses toward freedom. And finally there is Neruda's poetry of common, everyday objects, animals, and plants, as in Odas Elementales (1954).
Other books by Neruda include the following:
Neruda's body of poetry is so rich and varied that it defies classification or easy summary. It developed along four main directions. His love poetry, such as the youthful Twenty Love Poems and the mature Los Versos del Capitán (1950, The Captain's Verses), is tender, melancholy, sensuous, and passionate. In "material" poetry, such as Residencia en La Tierra, loneliness and depression immerse the author in a subterranean world of dark, demonic forces. His epic poetry is best represented by Canto general, which attempts to reinterpret the past and present of Latin America and the struggle of its oppressed and downtrodden masses toward freedom. And finally there is Neruda's poetry of common, everyday objects, animals, and plants, as in Odas Elementales (1954).
Other books by Neruda include the following:
- Crepusculario (1923)
- Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1924)
- Spain in the Heart (1937)
- Residence on Earth (1933)
- General Song (1950)
- One Hundred Love Sonnets (1959)
