Month: July 2015

We started in Bangkok taking it very easy. We were jet-lagged and Jeff was fighting a bug that started on the flight to Taipei on our way to Thailand.

“I like Bangkok.  It is a dirty city, but it is a very exciting city.” – Marcus

We introduced the kids to the big city which they learned to appreciate once they got over the initial shock. Bangkok is a very busy city; lots of everything going on all the time. Swarms of people, endless traffic, sidewalks packed with food vendors, lots of smells (good and awful), hot, humid, loud, polluted… yet interesting, exciting and fascinating!

We have visited markets of all kinds, eaten all sorts of delicious food from the street vendors, practiced (and improved!) our negotiating skills with the very street savvy merchants, gone on long tail boats to discover the Thai way of life in the canals, we have been startled by enormous dragons (called hila monsters) sunbathing on the rocks by the brown river water, we have been mesmerized by the gorgeous temples, the immensity of the reclining Buddha, the views of the city from the Golden Mount, enjoyed many exhilarating tuk-tuk rides, figured out subways and sky trains, admired matches of sepak takraw played throughout Bangkok’s parks and streets (a cross between soccer and volleyball played with a small sized bamboo-woven ball that the players skillfully pass to each other over a net without touching it with their hands or arms)… never a dull moment! Just like Papá and Mamá fell in love with this crazy city 10 years ago, so have our kids this time around.

No doubt we’ll be back in Bangkok again, but now we are off to island paradise!

From Uruguay, back in Buenos Aires for a couple of days and again having a beautiful time. The highlight was a most fantastic typical Argentine Asado evening hosted by the US Ambassador at the beautiful quincho of the Palacio Bosch (aka the Ambassador’s Residence). A quincho is a traditional Argentine outdoor kitchen and dining room with a HUGE brick oven where all kinds of (unbelievable!) beef is slowly roasted over a bed of hot wooden coals.

We had the most amazing ribs, steak, morcillas… you name it! A never ending feast that Ezequiel, the residence’s chef, mastered. Showered with beautiful wine and surrounded by the ever kind Ambassador’s team (we can’t thank you enough, again!) and a wonderful and interesting group of people: Claude and Gertrude, Kelly, Ryan, Melissa and her daughter Mary, Miquela, Jorge and Paula and, of course, Noah.

We did not leave Buenos Aires without walking all over again, discovering an incredible restaurant (La Cholita in Recoleta) and having the most amazing ice cream at Freddo’s one more time: Dulce de leche tentacion (dulce de leche ice cream with real dulce de leche swirls inside… so delicious!)

See you next time Argentina, we cannot wait to be back. We are off to Lima for a quick stop before heading back to LA for an even quicker stop to switch suitcases (thank you Hermans!!!) and start our adventure in Thailand. So exciting!!!