Florence

Over the long Easter weekend, we took a trip to Florence. It is hard to believe, but with the train it is just 6 hours away. While in Florence, were able to visit the Accademia Gallery, the Uffizi Museum, the Cathedral, the Pitti Palace, and various churches. We enjoyed the food and drink, not to mention some great desserts. Even with the cool rainy weather, the time went by so fast and before we knew it, it was time to head back to Zürich. Here are some pics we took over the weekend.


Santa Maria Novella


Il Duomo


Il Duomo


Il Duomo


Easter Fireworks in front of Il Duomo


View from Piazella Michelangelo


View from Piazella Michelangelo


D and View from Piazella Michelangelo


Doc and Ponte Vecchio in the background


San Croce

Snowy Sunday

We've had quite a bit of snow in the last days ... and even more today! Here's a photo I took yesterday. I really liked how the train looked against the snowy background.

Gaucho Festival

On our last day in Argentina we went to a Gaucho Festival, complete with horseback riding, an asado lunch, folkloric dancing, and a horse and cowboy show.









Argentina was a great place to vacation and we really enjoyed our time there!

Buenos Aires - Part 2

After our days in Patagonia, we returned to Buenos Aires and visited La Boca.

Day at Perito Moreno

On our second day in El Calafate we went on another excursion to the glaciers. This time we spent the day at Perito Moreno.

As we were driving toward the glacier, we had this great view from the bus.



We then took a short boat ride across Lago Argentino to visit the south face of Perito Moreno.



We walked along the shore to the tip of the glacier.



After putting on our crampons, we went on a mini-trek on Perito Moreno. It was a gorgeous, warm day and we got to see some melting on the glacier. This trek was really amazing and one of the best things we did on our vacation.











After our trek, we walked through a forested area to the lodge.



Sitting at the lodge, this was our view as we ate a picnic lunch. Awesome!



While we were all lined up waiting for our boat to go back to the other side of the lake, a big iceberg emerged from under the water!



We then headed back to the other side of the lake.



Finally, we went to an outlook point with incredible views of the glacier.

Glacier Boat Tour

On our first full day in El Calafate we took a boat tour of the glaciers. We spent the day on Lago Argentino and visited three glaciers: Upsalla Glacier, Spegazzini Glacier, and Perito Moreno Glacier.

The first glacier we visited was Upsalla. Due to a loss of a large part of its icefield in the last year, we were only able to see this galcier from afar. Instead we cruised through the icebergs that broke off from the glacier. That itself was really cool.







While we were cruising from Glacier Upsalla to Glacier Spegazinni we saw a condor perched in the mountains.



The second glacier we visited was Glacier Spegazinni.







The final glacier we visited was Perito Moreno. On this excursion we saw the northern face of the glacier.

El Calafate

Although El Calafate is the main city near Perito Moreno and other glaciers, it is about 80 kilometers away from the glaciers and lies in a very arid region. Out hotel was at the edge of the city and looked out toward town and Lago Argentino. Here are some photos we took looking towards town.