Podworld - Exploring interesting places

It rains in Buenos Aires. Not always but when it does it can be heavy. On such a grey day it seemed appropriate that a visit to a cemetery was planned. No ordinary cemetery though. This is the resting place at Recoleta. I had read about this place before leaving for Argentina. It was where the body of Eva Peron was interned. It is probably fair to say that among the skillful footballers, notorious presidents and celebrated writers, Eva Person is the most famous Argentinian in history. Yet her light shone only briefly. She was the second wife of Juan Peron, helping lead a popular uprising to secure his release from prison and subsequent elections as president. She died soon after at the age of 32. Family Duarte tomb Her infamy and myth was no doubt enhanced by the Lloyd-Webber/Rice musical Evita, later developed into a film starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas. I don't propose to go through her life and times in this blog. More scholarly writers than me have written elega

It is one of the great capitals of the world with a rich and controversial twentieth century history. Buenos Aires was the launching pad for all of the other journey's made in Argentina. Because of its vastness and diversity, it would not be right to sum it up in a single post. Instead, it will be broken up into episodes with later postings covering other aspects of this great city. Post one here will deal with the central area, what the Americans might describe as downtown. The first impressions of Buenos Aires, once one had negotiated the astonishing traffic chaos, was that despite travelling 13 hours from Europe to get here was that it still felt like a European city. For me, Buenos Aires most resembled Madrid. In terms of layout and architecture the two cities, certainly in the metropolitan areas, felt like twins. With the high number of immigrants from the Iberian peninsular and native language being Spanish, this was not a huge surprise to me. The old Naval buildi

It has to be one of the most dramatic natural sights I have ever seen. There was no real hint of it before hand. Then suddenly piece by piece a glacial wall collapsed in front of me. Quite astonishingly I was filming the event at the time. A wonder of nature. The base for the glaciers is the southern Patagonian town of El Calafate. There are frequent flights to the nearby airport from Buenos Aires and Ushuaia.The nearest glacier is Perito Moreno which is a little under an hour's drive from the town. There are plenty of organised coach trips too. Reaching the base of the  glacier is easy along one of the best roads Argentina possesses. There is a small charge to enter the National Park area. It is worth it. At the end of the road the visitor area is well laid out with walkways allowing tourists to many vantage points of the glacier. The first thing you notice is the noise. Quite frequently there will be a mighty groan. This is the compacted ice moving within the glacier.

Argentina in foreground and left, Brazil to the right and Paraguay ahead I will confess to knowing little about the Iguazu falls before booking my journey to Argentina. In fact all the travel books I was reading before climbing aboard the plane had images of Patagonia and most particularly, Mount Fitzroy on the cover. That is not to say Patagonia or Fitzroy is not deserving and that will be covered in a later blog. Getting to Iguazu was simplicity itself. I took a LATAM (formed from the LAN TAM merger) to Iguazu airport from AeroParque (Jorge Newbury) the city centre airport in Buenos Aires. Latam Argentina  It was my only LATAM flight which did not under go a schedule change. From Iguazu it was a 20-30 taxi ride to the hotel, the Panoramic Hotel . It afforded views of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay from the swimming pool. The falls can be reached a number of ways. The most popular is by taxi or emis but you can also book a tour. It is also possible to view the falls fr

In one of the earlier postings I mentioned that the initial motivation for travelling to Argentina was to see football. That is not to say the other natural wonders did not stimulate and amaze but it was football that drew me there. My first exposure to the seemingly extraordinary nature of Argentine football was from my sitting room as a child watching the 1978 World Cup hosted and won by Argentina. I loved Mario Kempes and his flamboyant playing style Mural of Diego Maradona If you are a visitor to Argentina and would like to see a game read the blog carefully as I guide you through the a few pitfalls. Going to a match in Argentina is not like visiting your local game in Europe or the USA. First a little background. Our trip was in the Argentine spring or northern hemisphere autumn (fall.) Reading up on the Argentine league I learned that the authorities had decided to move the league to run in parallel to the major European leagues, i.e. during the Argentine summe

On a bright a beautiful Sunday morning here was one of Buenos Aires most colourful neighbourhoods of barrios. Read any literature about the area and it seems to have two personalities. The painted splendour or a rejuvenated area underpinned by petty crime. What were we to discover? From the centre of BA getting to the Boca is not problem. Taxi or bus will get you there, our choice was the 152 from the Correos or Post office on Leonardo Alem close to the junction with Correntes. Bombonera We were early. The market stalls which attract visitors on Sunday's were just beginning to open. They mainly sold poor quality replica shirts and designer goods. There, two blocks away and towering like the mightiest cathedral, a remarkable building. The Bombonera is home to the local football side, the world famous Boca Juniors. Here was the place were Diego Maradona and Antonio Ratin, colourful and controversial captains of Argentina plied their trade.  It was match day and fiv

It is not a country that features heavily in the travel sections of British Sunday newspapers. You will never see it shining down from the shelves of your local travel agent. Most of you friends will never have been there. Yet there is sits this vast country at the foot of the Americas. Argentina has been on my agenda since 1978 and I am happy to explain why. In that year the county played host to the globe's major single sport event the football (soccer for Aussie and USA readers) World Cup. I remember as young viewer being mesmerised by the colour, ticker-tape and joie de vie of the host nation as they swept to victory led by the charismatic forward Mario Kempes. Mario, I thought, I am coming to see your country. 38 years later sitting on the tarmac at Heathrow airport instead of the usual joy and pleasure of an anticipated trip I was griped with an unusual anxiety. What if Argentina failed to deliver? What if it had nothing to offer? Perhaps the travel writers had fail

It is a long time since this blog was added to, too long in truth. There is a reason for this. The blog is a record of my travels around the world. The trouble has been that since the northern hemisphere spring I have only travelled to Spain and I have blogged ad nauseum about that. So little travel for a travel blogger might seem like a gross over sight but it is not. That is because the next adventure represents a major investment in travel and it begins a only a few days time. It is the culmination of a near-lifelong dream. Let me tell you the story about it. In 1978 as a child in Europe I sat transfixed as a remarkable spectacle unfolded before my eyes on the television. This was the World Cup final in which the hosts Argentina were playing the Netherlands. The Argentines was truly passionate about what they were witnessing and thousands of miles away I was with them. Driven by their clever midfield player Osvaldo Ardiles, led superbly by skipper Daniel Passarella and

In Britain and the United States Easter passes with a nod to its symbolism and after a brief holiday return to work. However in Southern Europe and particularly in Spain it is a time of reverence.  Easter week or Semana Santa is a significant time in the country. This also manifests itself as a celebration and the city of Lorca, in Murcia puts on one of the greatest shows, of many, in Spain. Over two nights, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday a four hour procession takes place. This is part religious ceremony and a re-telling of biblical tales. hence the number of people who dress up in Roman costume and, for me, the highlight of the show, chariots racing down the main street. I have tried to capture the excitement with these two short videos. It is obvious that nothing quite captures the drama of six horses pulling a speeding chariot or carruaje, as they are known in Spanish, along a main thoroughfare but I hope you get a sense of the occasion. I hope that you get to see

It was and still is the famous steam locomotive in Britain. The Flying Scotsman earned its reputation by maintaining speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour during the 1930s, the first locomotive to do so. It could also travel between the capitals of England and Scotland, London and Edinburgh without stopping. Such is it alure to the British public that it has been refurbished back to its original state. The restoration cost in excess of £4m. This is a short film made just days after it returned to service on the preserved North York Moors live at levisham near Pickering.

I often think the people who reside in London are spoilt. The problem is they do not know it. The other day I was in England's capital city and within 100 metres of my hotel on Tower Hill were two extraordinary landmarks with unique histories. The first was a grand Georgian looking building. In fact it was really old at all but was built in the early years of the 20th century as the headquarters of the Port of London Authority. In those days ships from around the world berthed on the adjacent Thames. Now as ships grow larger and the Thames in London becomes unsuitable for ocean going traffic, the PLA has moved up to Gravesend. The building has been acquired by a developer who is turning it into another hotel. The building though retains two claims to fame. First it was where the first United Nations congress was held. Second, look closely, and you will notice where several early scenes from the James Bond movie Skyfall  was filmed. Port of London Authority Building - 1922

To celebrate its Viking heritage, the Yorkshire village of Flamborough has inaugurated a fire festival to welcome in the new year. Here is a video showing part of that celebration plus some still images. Viking Fire Festival Fire parade around Main Street, Flamborough The Nordic vessel paraded in Yorkshire In Norse times, Flamborough, with its distinctive white headland and beach at Thronwich Bay, would have been an ideal landmark for Scandinavian raiders to use as a navigation aid and landing site. They went on to settle Jorvik which became York and Wyke which is present day Kingston-upon-Hull.

I have fixed the link so you can enjoy watching the semi-wild orangutans and wild monkeys in Sepilok Forest on the island of Borneo. They eat dinner and disappear into the great rain forest.  Orangutans on Borneo