BUENOS AIRES, Argentina

... only 3 days in Buenos Aires ... and even if I spent most of the time just workin ... and I had spare time only after 7PM ... I already fell in love with this city ... I really felt a nice energy here ... the people ... the large avenidas that cross the city ... the blue sky ... El Rio de la Plata ... the wonderful steaks ... the excellent wine ... the mild wind that is always sweeping the city ... the restaurants lined up ... the canals ... the streets full of people ... the tango ... really nice ... here the few pictures that I managed to take ... the first one is Robertto emjoying a wonderful steak ... robably the best I ever got ... and red wine ... I think we spent something like $15 each ... this is el Rio de la Plata from the office ... on the other side there is Uruguay ...

... mmm ... and this is a couple dancing tango in the street once we left the restaurant ...... really sexy ... definitely gorgeous ... to see it live ... for now I can only dream to dance like these guys ... mmmm ... I think I will have to relocate to Argentina sooner or later ... :D

ARGENTINA

... here I am ... not anymore in CHILE ... I am in ARGENTINA ... last nite I flew with my colleague Roberto from Santiago, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina ... a nice 2 hour flight ... and I will be here in Buenos Aires only for 3 days and only for business ... I have to do some work here ... really cool to travel like this in South America for business ... I mean it is not vacation at all ... I did fly during the night ... did hit the Argentinian custom at 1AM ...... got to the hotel at 2AM ... went to bed at 2.30AM ... spent all day in the office ... but at least ... the view from my desk is really nice ...... mmmm ... what else ... ah yes ... the Argentinian girls are really cute ... mmmm ... forget about it ... it is almost 9PM and I am still in the office ... I think Roberto and I will go to get some serious parillada for dinner ... yummy ... :D

SOUTH HEMISPHERE SPRING

... I have to admit it ... I didn't want to believe it ... but indeed it is all true ... here in the South hemishpere ... it is really spring ... and of course the flowers are blooming ... here are some flowers in Santiago, Chile ...... wonderful flowers and wonderful days here in the South hemisphere ... :D

VALPARAISO, Chile

... more touristics things for me in Chile ... after ISLA NEGRA I did visit also VALPARAISO (VALPO for the locals) ... a nice town on the coast north of Santiago ... the LONELY PLANET goes a little bit further defining it ... the most unique city and one of the most unusual in all Latin America ... mmmm ... I don't know enough to confirm it ... but the fact that in 1997 it has been listed in the UNESCO heritage site list ... means something ... ayways it was really a nice visit ... the architecture is definitely unique ...

... the city is also full of nice murales ... really really colorful ... definitely ... something that can cheer you up ...

... and the views from the hills is really nice as well ... definitely ... if you come to Chile ... stop here for half a day ... or even more ... I am pretty sure you will like it ...

... and you won't need any car to go around ... the public transportation offers really a good mix ... of cable cars amd funical elevators ... probably not the cleanest ever ... but definitely not even that dirty ... really nice indeed ...

... just an advice ... watch out for your belongings ... in half a day ... I was witness of 2 pickpocketing ... an old man was stolen of his wallet and a guy was stolen of his camera ... the second thief ... a youngster... clearly pointed at me ... meaning did stand up when he saw me coming in his direction and followed me for few seconds and when I looked at him he basically turned in an other road ... just five minutes before he found an easier target ...

NERUDA and ISLA NEGRA

... Pablo Neruda is probably the best Chilean poet ever ... and not only Chilean ... and of course ... a trip to Chile ... needs to include a stop in one of his houses ... probaby the most famous is in ISLA NEGRA ... and today I went there. Isla Negra in spanish means Black Island ... but his place is not an island at all ... but Isla Negra was the name that the sailors gave to this area ... because from the sea a small back rocky island is visible and was used as reference point during sailoring ... before the invention of the radar and GPS ... we too didn't have neither RADAR nor GPS ... so we had to follow the signs ... much nicer than looking into a GPS LCD indeed ...

... so today I went with my friends Roberto & Elena to visit ISLA NEGRA ... an area 100 km far away from Santiago ... where there is the most impressive of Neruda's maisons ... the place is really stunning ... the power of the ocean is impressive ... and actually ... for what I have seen today ... it is really a good spot to surf ... a very nice point break ...

... Neruda loved the sea ... even if he really feared it ... so he never really sailed ... but he did put a small boat in his garden facing the mighty ocean ... and on this he was used to drink cocktails with his fiends ... ehehehe ... really funny ... I think he was really an eccentric guy ...

... and all his house is full of sea related stuff ... sea shells ... ships in bottles ... maps ... old bowsprits ... and other stuff ... really funny ... if he was a friend and not a Nobel price ... I would say that he had the house full of useless trash ... but because he was a Nobel Prize ... I tend to think ... that all this stuff did help him to find the inspiration and eventually write wonderful poems ...

... unfortunately it is not posssible to take pictures in side the house ... but it is definitely peculiar ... definitely worthwhile a visit ... in the garden there is also Neruda's tombstone ... he was translated here only few years ago from a cemetery in santiago ... the story of his funeral is really really sad ... he did die 2 after the Pinochet Military coup back on December 11th 1973 ... and in the two weeks between the coup and his death (by cancer) ... because Neruda was loyal to the ellected president Allende ... his house was stormed by the army ... and according to our guide ... people who attended his funeral had been kidnapped during the funeral itself and disappeared ... becoming the first desaparesidos of the Pinochet era ... really terrible ...

... seems impossible that such horrible things happened here ... in a such wonderful place ... but indeed they did happen ... just 30 years ago ... but fortunately for the Chileans ... the country is back on the democratic track and it is enjoying a wealthy economy ... happy for them ... really happy for this people ... nobody deserve what this people had to go through ...

PARILLADA in SANTIAGO

... finally Friday nite ... weekend ... finally time to taste Chile ... outside the walls of the office ... I did it with Roberto & Elena ... Roberto & Elena are my colleague and his wife ... but more than that are my friends ... and they are super super nice ... they are hosting me in their house in these days in Santiago ... so I am avoiding ... the cold and unpersonal feeling of an other hotel room ... tonite we went to the restaurant CHILENAZO ... here Elena and Roberto in front of the restaurant ...... a popular restaurant in Santiago ... and the way we found it is pretty funny ... a friend from Mexico ... knew I was here in Santiago ... and because she visited more than once this city she knows it pretty well ... and she sent me the name of this restaurant ... I like meat .. even if I am not a super meat lover ... but I have to say ... that this place was really worthwhile ... this is the kitchen ... ehehe ... not a lot of vegetable here ...... we order a PARILLADA for 3 ... it was really a lot of meat ... and ... honestly ... the only reason why we managed to finish it ... is because was absolutely delicious ...... difficut to describe how tender the meat was ... but ... I guess my smile in this picture is enough to give you an idea ... we had also some Chilean red wine ... really strong ... 14% alcohool ... and some coffee ... mmmmmm ... OK ... if you go to this restaurant ... just skip the coffee ... it is definitely not their speciality ... :o

CHILE so far

... so ... I am in Chile ... more precisely in Santiago, Chile ... but not yet as a tourist ... I spent the last 2 days working in the office ... but I managed to understand something ... for example ... here in the South Hemisphere it is really Spring ... and the sunlight is getting longer every single day ... the Chilean Palm looks like a big Havana Cigar ... Santiago is surrounded by wonderful mountains ... which are visible also from our office ...

... mmmm ... what else ... Yankees (i.e. Americans from USA) are generally smiling more than the Chileans ... girls are generally cute ... but I understood from my colleagues ... that the real South American beauties are probably in Colombia ... ehehe ... I hope I will have more interesting updates as soon as I will leave my laptop in Santiago ... I will take my backback with me ... I will take some public transportation ... and I will head south towards Patagonia ... I can't wait ... :D

MILAN-LONDON-LA-SANTIAGO

... I am finally in Santiago, Chile ... and I will be here and in Buenos Aires, Argentina for business until next Thursday ... but ... after that I will start my backpacking vacation ... :D ... really a perfect crime ... but in but in order to get here ... I had to fly a lot ... really a lot ... trust me ... really a lot ... never flew that much all together ... Monday was MILAN - LONDON - LA ... overall from my parents place in BERGAMO to my place in LA it took me 24 hours ... I spent 12hours in LA and on tuesday ... I embarked in another overall 20 hours trip ... from my place in LA to my friend and colleague place in Santiago, Chile ... but it was interesting ... here some of the pictures of the trip ... this was the Normandy, France coast ... not sure if the one in the picture is Omaha beach, though ... on my flight from MILAN to LONDON ...... and this is the green English grass ... no doubt ... really green ... not sure what castle was that ...... once in HEATHROW ... I had to face the superiority of the English humour ... about the ... latest financial problems of the Italian carrier ... ALITALIA ... ehehehe ... really sad ...... but more than that, in Heathrow, I was fascinated by the elegance of these two sik guys ... waiting to board on my flight to LA ... really nice ...... and because on the flight LONDON - LA I didn't get any window seat ... this is the only decent picture I got ... ehehe ... our plane ... played all day with the sunset ... a metaphoric message about life ... I guess ... and at the end ... the sunset won ... we got to LA ... that was night ...... I finally slept in my nice queen bed in LA ... and the morning after ... back to the LAX airport ... for a new flight to Santiago de Chile ... here the Boeing 767 waiting for me ...... I really love to travel ... and even if this was really a lot more than usual ... it was fun anyways ... ehehe ... in the last weeks I am wondering if I should continue my ccupation as engineer or ... if I should switch to a flight attendant career ... ehehe ... :D

LUCA DAY & NITE

... Luca ... is one of my favorite friends ever ... we studied together ...he is still living in Italy ... and he is now a successfull business man in Italy ... nevertheless ... during the weeekend ... he is helping his girlfriend in her new restaurant ...... and not only that ... he likes to drink ... and he becomes pretty funny ... here a small video I took while I waas trying to convince him to skip a working day ...

... I will definitely miss all this ... but I guess ... life is a matter of choices ... and probably I like to travel more of what I like to spend time in the same place ... unfortunately ... I can't put all my friends in my backpack ... and carry them with me ... unfortunately ...

TIME MACHINE

... it is time to pack ... and time to leave again for me ... incredible to believe but my second week in Italy is almost over ... in few hours ... I will leave ... a drive to Milan ... from there ... 2h flight to London ... a connection in Heathrow ... and there you go ... on the 10h flight to LA ... strange strange ... but true ... I feel like I have missed something ... I feel like I wanted to do more ... because of the US consulate schedule ... I didn't have time to go to Barcelona. Because of the weather I didn't run enough. Because of the food poisoning or flu ... I didn't drink enough. And more and more. But I don't regret anything ... I just would like that instread of flying tomorrow ... I will do exactly what I did two Monday ago ... when I spent the day with two of my best friends ever ... Laura and Luca ... I went with Laura in the upper town with her old VW Beetle ...... we had fun ... laughing all day about little things ... that probably won't make laugh anybody else ...... we went shopping ... and that was fun ... with a cashier asking to Laura ... where did she find such a nut!? (i.e. me) ... in the meantime ... Luca was waiting for us at home ...... we had drinks ... and food ... and more fun ...... and we really a little bit too tipsy ... we went to buy croissants ...... yes ... in this very moment I would like to have a time machine ... to go back on time ... in this very moment I don't feel like I need any future ... I am just happy about my past ... mmmm ... probably it is a good thing that such a machine doesn't exist ... I would use it in the same schizophrenic way I am using my iPod ... I have 60GB of music but I am always listening to the same 20 songs that I like the most ... ehehe ... thanks G-D ... that whoever invented the universe ... time ... life ... and all the rest ... is much more clever than ... the guy who created the iPod ... no replay sorry ... probably the future is waiting for me with something I can't even immagine ... I guess I just need to wait and see ...

ATALANTA forever

... one of the things that I wanted to do here in BERGAMO ... was to go to the old city stadium ... and see a match of my soccer team ... ATALANTA ...... today we played against SAMPDORIA for the SERIE A (top league of the Italian pro soccer) ... it was just great ... we were 0-2 after 11 minutes ... really a horrible begin of the match ... but eventually we won ... with two penalties and a goal at the 90th minute (i.e. last minute) ... and now we are 3rd in the SERIE A ... absolutely heart breaking ... here some of the pictures I took today ... from the CURVA NORD ... ehehe ... I was missing a match since more than 10 years I think ...... this is probably the picture that I like the most ... half supporters ... half sky ... yep ... I like it ... ... and these are the two teams warming up before the begin of the match ...... no doubt ... ATALANTA will be always my team ... forever ... it is nice to have such a passion ... I guess I am lucky ...... and don't tell me that AMERICAN FOOTBALL and BASEBALL or other funny sports ... are as nice as soccer ... ehehehe ... the only sports that can copete with SOCCER are probably only SURF and SKATEBOARD ... :D