To flesh-coloured Christs that glow in the dark...

Buenos Aires Highlights Part II

Having neglected to write a blog for over a month we have returned with an updated and new look blog, and with the long awaited continuation of some Buenos Aires highlights we started long ago!

So here it is. For anyone whose been on the edge of their seat unable awaiting part II, apologies for the delay and I hope the wait was worth it!

Ok if you've only got a few days in Buenos Aires then maybe a religious theme park wouldn't be on your list of things to see.  But not only is Santa Tierra the only religious theme park in the world, but it hosts the world's largest (and I suspect only) all year round animatronic nativity scene.

And if thats not enough for you it also hosts an emotive, life size antimatronic reconstruction of the Last Supper, a kitsch (if not very life like) electronic recreation of the Creation and - to top it all an - 18 metre high Jesus who is ressurected every hour, on the hour.

I should at this point clarify that Tierra Santa doesn't have rides - it's a park with a theme, more than a theme park  - but it is however a fun and educational day out for all the family.  And a bargin at just over a fiver (Nuns and Monks take note - you get a discount if you belong to a religious order).

The whole park is a plastic Disney World style reconstruction of Jerusalem around 30AD. All the staff are dressed as Roman soliders or put upon Israelites, there are tasteful Arabian dancing shows and you can enjoy a beer and a kofta in the Road to Damascus Cafe.

Throughout the park there are life size statues of Jesus at different points in his life, from the time he turned water into wine or Palm Sunday he was greeted by crowds riding into town on a donkey. You can even get in on the action and get a photo.

Quite bizarrely, perhaps as a step towards inclusiveness or for educational purposes, there are some other relgious big hitters in plastic form as well, including Martin Luther and Ghandi. And of course, no Jerusalem would be complete without a Synagogue or a Wailing Wall, though I did wonder if the Mosque was a bit before its time. All down one side of the park you can see the Stations of the Cross, culminating outside Jeruselem in the true to life (if plastic) Cruxification on the hill... with the Argentine flag blowing in the background.

I think it's fair to say that if you've been to Disneyland - or even on the Bubble Works at Thorpe Park - you may find the animatronics a little limited, especially the Nativity. That said, if you're an Argentinian Nun then your unlikely to have visited either, in which case you'll find the Creation recreation pretty magical. The nuns sat behind us certainly did.

And yes - there really were real life Nuns there. Lots of them. Ironic as it may seem ,this park is not a joke - Monks, Nuns, Priests and families alike take the whole day very seriously. There were people moved by the Last Supper, gasping at the appearance of a gorrilla with a moving finger during the Creation and stood in awe and amazement at the Resurection, although that could be because the resurection was cancelled twice the day we were there due to a technical fault.

Kitsch and crass as the whole thing may appear on the surface, and far from the Bible's teachings as it may seem to many, it's easy to see the whole park has been put together with well intended love and devotion. It also achieves some quite frankly harmless Jesus related fun.

Luke, our friend Jo and I planned to spend an hour or so at the theme park, but six hours and a bottle of wine later, we finished off our perfect day with a photo with a giant Jesus and view from the Cruxification hill out of Jerusalem at night.

Tacky, inappropriate... or just what Jesus would've wanted? I'll let you decide. What I can tell you is that its a fun, if not rather bizzare, day out.

Stay warm, until next time.

Louise and Luke

(Posted by Louise)

Gotta Serve Somebody

Apparently, one of the joys of travelling is meeting and travelling with new people from around the world, embracing different cultures and backgrounds. And so it was that we met Marc from Cardiff (a Cardiff City fan like Luke) in Belgrade. Marc had the joy of sharing an overnight train journey with us to Sofia. Despite the fact that the train compartments were like a sauna, the train journey itself was very enjoyable, and we arrived, only an hour later into Sofia, than scheduled.

We had had already decided that we weren't going to stay in the city but would head straight out into the country for some more camping again, near to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Rila Monastery.

Sadly, we'd missed the only bus of the day, so had to get a 3 hour train to Balgoevgrad, then a 45 minute bus to Rila village and finally a half hour bus from there to the monastery -the “short walk from the village” we'd read about actually being a 22 kilometres trek uphill. The monastery is literally on the side of a mountain, in the fantastically beautiful Rila national park. You can imagine our joy, when we discovered that our camp-site was a 2 kilometre hike uphill from the monastery itself...

I won't pretend that we are some sort of intrepid explorers, but visiting Rila was a more more alien exerienc than the rest of our European trip so far, testing both our skills and patience. Having joined the EU less than three years ago, Bulgaria is a fast changing country, but outside of the Black Sea coast and the main cities, it doesn't yet have the transport infrastructure of its neighbours. Furthermore, opening times, sign posts and bus time tables, let alone tourist information are all hard to come by.

However, despite this, at every turn there seemed to be people keen to help us and give us directions despite our inability to speak Bulgarian, keen for people to visit and enjoy their country.

Bulgarians are also intensely proud of the Cyrillic alphabet that they, not the Russians, invented. Just to prove that it is their alphabet the Bulgarians use several extra letters that no one else uses just to confuse.


The Bulgarian language and alphabet, along with it's own Orthodox church stem back thousands of years, and Bulgarians credit the monasteries, particularly Rila, with keeping these traditions alive under 500 years of Ottoman occupation. This is one of the reasons why for many Bulgarians Rila Monastry remains a place of pilgrimage to this day.

The monastery itself was awe inspiring, truly beautiful and wonderfully maintained. With reaching arches in black and white, and a church covered in vivid murals, the whole place was made more stunning still by the scenery surrounding it. It is definitely worth a trip, and if anyone is thinking about it but doesn't like camping, you can stay with the monks for 15 Euros a night -  where they have their own restaurant!

The camp-site was not quite like it's German equivalent, being as it was several chalets, and a small stretch of grass (rocks) for tents. That said the bar and restaurant were really good. We were able to try some traditional Bugarian food including Kavarma, a kind of stew, and some Bulgarian Champagne (sparkling wine).

As we were in the middle of nowhere, we were surrounded by mountain ranges and colourful wildlife, including some huge bugs I'd never seen before! I'm sure we will surprise everyone by saying we did yet more hiking, this time crossing rivers and rocky paths, in the mountains around the monastery.

We were sad to leave this enchanting place after two nights and make the long journey back to Sofia. Rila Monastery is one of Bulgaria's greatest attractions but is still yet to be ruined by intensive tourism. I hope in the coming years when it inevitably gets more and more visitors it still retains its peaceful charm.

Louise and Luke

(Posted by Louise)