After our visit to the Azul municipal cemetery , we ran to find a place to eat. It was Saturday at 2PM, we assumed that there must be several places open to eat but this was not the case. We took a couple of laps into the city center and there seemed to be no restaurant, which was very strange. Instead we ended up eating some fast food in the downtown square, in front of the cathedral .

The plaza in the center of the city of Azul was very similar to those in the center of the city of Buenos Aires (as if both were not in the same province). My aunts are fans of photos, they like to show that they were in that place, so I have photos of them everywhere . In addition, the day was beautiful so the sun allowed to take beautiful photos.

What I like about churches is their architecture. I am not a religious person, but I love to admire the constructions and all the work that is behind each church or cathedral. They really are an icon of history and it is good that they keep them as such through the years.

This cathedral dates from 1906. It is really very old but both inside and outside it is preserved in the best way. Perhaps it has to do with that Azul is a somewhat small city and they like to keep their tourist spots well organized.

The inside was really beautiful. These kinds of churches make you want to get married just to walk around in a beautiful dress. Ok, very romantic isn't it? The truth is that there was peace in there with soft music, no wedding at that time.

The furniture also matches the architecture of the place: heavy chairs everywhere. I doubt that in this last time of pandemic they have all been complete. Perhaps in a wedding if they have been (I continue with the idea of the dream wedding).

Fortunately, my friend and I are able to do these trips thanks to our beloved Hive platform. That's why while we enjoy ourselves, we don't forget to create content for our blogs ❤️. Currently my phone has hundreds of photos from this trip. I have yet to review and share them with you .

Visiting the inside of the cathedral was an unexpected walk since, due to Covid issues, I thought it would not be open to the public. It made me happy that my aunts are happy about that in the religious sense since they took the opportunity to say some prayers ❤️.

Finally, we ended up staying in Azul town until after 3 PM. Then it was time to leave for our main destination: Sierra de la Ventana. By then we still had quite a stretch ahead of us, so it was good to stretch our legs a bit and recharge by eating something and getting to know a great place ❤️.

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If there is one thing I am grateful for about my visit to Ushuaia, it is that I took advantage of every free moment I had to go for a walk and take in the beautiful scenery. After staying in the city for so long, I felt like I already knew almost every corner, but there was always something new to see. One of those things I had yet to see was the city's shopping mall, so one morning I set out determined to go there. But finally I got distracted just before I got there, and I ended up going back home without seeing it, but having spent a nice afternoon enjoying the sun .

Ushuaia's waterfront is not that long and it is possible to walk from end to end if you take the time to do so. On my regular trips, when I left the hostel, I always turned to the left side of the city, as that is where the Bahía Encerrada (Enclosed Bay) is located, an option for a nature walk near the city. But to go to the shopping centre you had to go to the north side, so that's where I went.

_{Route from the coastal promenade to the Paseo del Fuego Shopping Center
Ruta del paseo costero hasta el Shopping Paseo del Fuego}

According to the map it would take about 45 minutes to walk from the hostel to the shopping centre, so it seemed like a good plan before I started my volunteer shift. In this part of the city's waterfront is Ushuaia's commercial port, so most of the boats and boats for tours are located here. And of course, a lot of tourists in the surrounding area.

But walking a few more blocks along the coast, the tourist area ends and the place becomes quieter. On this part of the road are the facilities of the Argentinean Navy, and there are also boats, but they are now part of the official forces. Not many people come walking along this part because there is also public transport that takes you around this area, but my idea was to stretch my legs.

On this tour you can see what I always remark about Ushuaia and its changing weather in a matter of minutes. In the short time it took me to cross the area of the Navy building, the sky changed from cloudy to clear, so much so that it seemed like different times. That's how the whole walk went, with intervals of sun, clouds, wind and even a little drizzle. Typical weather at the End of the World.

By the time I reached the shopping area, after walking along the side of the road, I found a descent to the beach, the first one I could see after 4 kilometres of walking. All this part of the coast is occupied by something and there is no drop-off to the beach, so I was surprised that there was one right next to the shopping centre. By then, the weather was nice and I decided to go and sit there for a while. This was one of those moments when I couldn't believe that a casual stroll on a random day could lead me to such a beautiful place. I was grateful for my present, and sat there for a while enjoying the atmosphere ❤️.

In the end, I found it more interesting to stay there on the beach than to go shopping. The day was looking good, and unbelievably it wasn't that cold. The big spoiler of all this is that I ended up leaving Ushuaia after almost six months of my stay and I never went into that shopping centre. Everyone told me that it's small and that I didn't miss much, so I have no regrets: shopping malls I can visit near my home in Buenos Aires, but seeing landscapes like that, only there .

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Since I understood how Couchsurfing worked for casual rides, I used it until my last day in Ushuaia. So far, I had always organised trips with up to three people from the app, but then I saw that there is a section to organise outings further in advance. There, people suggest different types of activities to do as a group, such as going for walks around the city or going out at night. But on one occasion, I saw that someone had suggested a trek to a lagoon that I hadn't visited, and it seemed like a good opportunity to go and see it with someone else .

This trek was about the one to Laguna Celeste. This hike was indicated as being of medium difficulty, with an estimated duration of 8 hours and 12 km round trip. In this part of the application you can confirm your attendance to a walk, and for this weekend outing, there were 11 people confirmed. We had agreed to meet at noon in the city to go in different cars of the participants and luckily, almost everyone was on time.

We split up between the different vehicles and drove to the start of the trail, about 25 km from the city of Ushuaia. We were relaxed about the timetable because there was plenty of daylight in the summer in Ushuaia, so we started the hike at a leisurely but safe pace so that the whole group would be united. We were a very diverse group with different levels of mountain training, but we wanted everyone to make it to the end.

The trek to Laguna Celeste has wonderful views because all the time it passes through incredible corners of the mountains. It also passes through different panoramic points where you can see the whole valley and also the effects of the beaver forests in the landscape of Ushuaia. As soon as the hike started, the trail had quite a steep positive slope, but as there was no snow at that time of the year, the difficulty was not so high.

Of course, the idea of keeping the group together didn't last that long. As the walk progressed, some fell further behind us, while others quickly overtook us. I decided to form a group with two other girls and it was with them that I walked the whole way. One of the girls even walked only a kilometre and decided to turn back when she saw that the climb was so steep. Those are the risks of big groups, but it was still fun.

This trail has several interesting things to see: the Celeste Lagoon where we were going, the Alvear Glacier, above the Celeste Lagoon, and on the other side, the Alvear Lagoon. The trail to Laguna Alvear is a detour from the road to Laguna Celeste, which if I had been alone or with less people, I would have taken the trouble to go and see, taking advantage of the fact that I was there. But as this outing was more for Couchsurfing recreation and not so much for the mountaineering ego, we only went as far as the lagoon we agreed on.

After a little more than three hours of walking, we finally reached the Celeste Lagoon. My small subgroup of three was in the middle of the group and once there, we expected to see four other girls who had gone ahead of us, but they were not there. There were other people who had arrived before us, but no one we knew. This seemed strange to us, but we knew they would show up sooner or later.

About half an hour must have passed, when these four girls appeared behind us. It turned out that they had got lost, because they hadn't correctly followed the small stone turrets on the road. Luckily, they realised that they had taken the wrong path before they went too far. About fifteen minutes after them, the missing group of three appeared. Finally, we all arrived safely at the lagoon.

Once we were all together, we took the opportunity to have our lunch and rest for a while. This lagoon was very beautiful, with a very contrasting light blue colour to the surrounding mountains. It was also accompanied by the glacier behind it, which added a little more charm. In addition, you could see a lot of small waterfalls coming down the mountain, and even a perfectly cubic shaped rock. That was very rare.

As all the snow had melted and the pass was clear, it was possible to walk around the lagoon without any problems. We were able to get up to a high point, where we had a good view of the whole lagoon. We also saw another small lagoon on the side, which is probably part of the main lagoon. I always like to find a high point to get a better view of the landscape, and this place was perfect for that.

After that crowded Couchsurfing trip, several of us continued to see each other on subsequent trips. In fact, we all already knew each other but separately, as we had used the app before. Of all these people, there were some travellers and some locals, so we were able to exchange with them their experiences of what it's like to live in Ushuaia on a permanent basis. I loved this outing and the trekking experience as a whole, and above all, I'm glad that we all (or almost all), managed to complete it ❤️.

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