Our first stop in Argentina was El Calafate, which is a tourist town developed thanks to the famous Perito Moreno glacier a few km from town. The most unique part of this glacier is that it is one of the few where you can walk on the glacier because it moves so slowly.
With the help of some crampons and a guide, we were able to hike this glacier for an hour, where we saw deep crevices in the ice, drank from crystal clear pools of water and saw a very unique perspective of a massive glacier.
Read on about our journey through Argentina after the jump
 |
| our glacier guide, wearing some crampons on her boots |
After the glacier trek we went to the Balconies, where you can stand and watch giant pieces of glacier fall. We saw a pretty big piece fall into the water which made a massive sound. The glacier is a brilliant blue and is constantly making a deep ominous cracking sound. It's my new favorite sound now.
The next day we drove to a very small and young town at the edge of the Fitz Roy range, called El Chalten. This tiny town is the youngest in Argentina and has a frontier town type feel. It was originally built for the climbers who were willing to climb to the tops of the peaks, but eventually grew when roads were paved.
We spent our first night in this area several miles outside of the town in a canyon in Fitz Roy. It is an eco-lodge powered exclusively through a generator in the river it sits next to. It's a beautiful lodge with several private cabins on the premises. This is where Mike and I had our wedding ceremony. We had originally thought to have it in the town, in a tiny chapel. But thanks to the planning and advice from our guide/friend we ended up have our ceremony at this lodge.
This is where I am going to say something about eloping. From the start, Mike and I didn't not want a big wedding. We are quiet people and the thought of a massive wedding with all of our friends and family sounded equally stressful as it sounded nice. Eventually, with the opportunity of going to Patagonia, we opted for eloping in Argentina. Eloping seemed like such a romantic way to marry a person, and it is! But one thing I did not realize about eloping is how you are leaving everything up to chance. We have never been to any of these places before and did not know what to expect.
That day, we experienced the worst weather we had on the entire trip, lots of rain and wind and clouds. At first, I was a bit disappointed, but we decided to do the ceremony anyway.
Under a canopy of trees, with the rain pouring down, we exchanged our (very brief) vows by the Rio de las Vueltas. I realized then that rain or wind or even snow would not matter because what truly matters is marrying my best friend, and I couldn't be happier. I can be kind of a control freak sometimes and it was really difficult to leave such an important occasion up to chance, but it ended up being even more memorable than I could have planned for. And to top it off, our guide had a very special Argentina style dinner planned of barbeque lamb and Chilean cake. It was so good and the night was wonderful.
 |
| Rio de las Vueltas |
The next day we started a 15 mile hike to El Chalten. At this point we were in the dead of fall, and got to witness the areas first snow of the year.
 |
| Officially husband and wife |
The last leg of this hike was through an amazingly beautiful forest of fall colors.
 |
| the Fitz Roy peak is somewhere behind all those clouds |
 |
| views from the trail |
We arrived in El Chalten greeted by the strongest winds I have ever felt.
On our last day of hiking we went to a small lagoon off of a glacier. The hike was beautiful and the sky was still snowing, so I have to admit I was a bit cold and my knees were soar, but it was such a great last hike.
 |
| At this point I'm kind of ready to not hike anymore :/ |
Finally, we said goodbye to El Chalten, and luckily on this day the clouds cleared and we finally saw the massive peaks of El Chalten. SO INCREDIBLE.
That day we flew from El Calafate to Buenos Aires where we met up with friends and celebrated our new marriage with lots of food, booze and sight seeing. I think Buenos Aires has found it's rightful place as one of my favorite cities.
 |
| Buenos Aires highlight: San Telmo Market |
On our last day we went to the San Telmo Market where there are tons of antiques and vintage stuff for sale as well as food and live music. I wanted to find a lot of stuff for the shop but found that there weren't a lot of deals to be made there, plus I didn't have a lot of extra room in my suitcase. I did however find a beautiful 1920s slip dress which will be added to the shop soon.
I can't say how thankful I am to have been able to see such an amazing part of the world. I want to recommend to anyone that is thinking of eloping to DO IT. I love weddings and for those who wish to have a wedding, it is a wonderful occasion. But personally, eloping has saved us money, and has been so incredibly memorable and stress free.
A very big thank you and hug to all the people that helped make this trip so wonderful:
Andres, Ro, Rodrigo, TC, Lucho, Hernan, our MTS group for being so fun, Lano (for making my flower crown and being the bestiest friend!!), Tawny & Keegan for meeting us down there and taking our lovely wedding photos and being awesome friends <3
Love to everyone!!!
It's back to work now and I am excited to announce that I have A TON of new vintage coming to the shop in the next few weeks (starting next week). Can't wait to get started.
