September 21, 2025 – Hello Curns

Weeknotes #139: missed views, found falls

Adventures, airports, waterfalls, and re-entry — travel tales beautifully grounded.

Week commencing Monday, 15 September 2025

Tour boat full of tourists wearing orange life jackets approaches the base of Iguazu Falls, with massive waterfalls cascading over tiered basalt cliffs surrounded by lush green vegetation and mist rising from the churning water below — Tourists aboard a boat excursion approach the thundering cascades of Iguazu Falls on the Argentina-Brazil border, where getting soaked is not just likely—it’s the entire point.

Quantified Self

This week: Stand 6/7; Exercise 4/7 and Move 6/7. (76 %). Total steps: 77,891

Life

The week started back in a Patagonian national park with a hike up for a view that was lost in the clouds. The other English speaker on the bus didn’t seem that interested in the tour.
In the evening, I ate my steak while one of the local strays laid his head on my lap for as long as the steak was on my plate. As soon as it was gone, he lost interest. Nobody seemed concerned. Can you imagine the health-and-safety implications in the UK?
Tuesday was a fly day: fly back to Buenos Aires but don’t leave the airport before taking off again bound for Iguazú. The views from El Calafate Airport were great. In Buenos Aires the lounge was packed, and it was dark by the time we landed in the north.
PY’s ‘bucket list’ used to include a trip to see the Iguazú Falls. It’s not on the list anymore as we crossed it off on Wednesday.
So much to say about the majesty of the falls: panoramic views from Brazil, close-up encounters in Argentina. The boat ride, or ‘Grand Adventure’, was stunning, and you really appreciate the power of the cascades.
My diary entry for Thursday’s return to Buenos Aires is entitled Three countries, two beers, one perfect pizza. The Tripoint is very impressive, the restaurant with the river views was a find I wish we’d made a day earlier, and the pizza experience at Pizzería Güerrín on Corrientes Avenue seemed authentic.
Friday was a return flight. Iberia seats were more exposed to the aisle so I didn’t sleep well. Or maybe it was the hours of turbulence that kept me awake. I was very ready for the landing.
Related, on Saturday morning we were almost first in the lounge and first in the shower queue. I had a little bottle of plane wine on the last leg of the holiday back to London, even though it was only 10 a.m. It felt like yesterday.
Sunday brought a gentle re-entry to London life. In a bid to keep busy, we decided to visit the This is Oxford Street event, where the street was closed to traffic and given over to music, food, fashion pop-ups, and other entertainment — a glimpse of what full pedestrianisation might mean.
Related, if this is what it means, it’ll be a bonanza for the retailers: the place was packed.

Media

I finished The Janson Directive and can confirm that it was meaty enough that the other books were unnecessary baggage.

Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar at The New Wimbledon Theatre with James Fox as Judas.

So I have to take it all back to TV pop stars. Last night I went to The New Wimbledon Theatre to see the touring production ofJesus Christ Superstar. PY bought tickets for my birthday. I had heard the soundtrack as a child but never seen the musical until I was in Norway a couple of years ago when I saw it in Norwegian – which of course made little sense to me but was an amazing staging in an outdoor setting. This one was, thankfully, in English. Fame Academy star James Fox was Judas, and he put in a superb performance. He was very impressive, with a much more powerful voice than I thought he had the last time I saw him perform his own material.

Glenn Carter was excellent as Jesus (although it seems to have been a role he has played many times), and the rest of the cast were also very good. The only thing I found a little odd was Herod’s Song, which was unnecessarily campy, but overall, it was an excellent night out and worth seeing. Last night was the first night, and it was sold out. I hope the rest of the run is like that, as it deserves it.

Tired

Another night of entertaining on Old Compton Street

Bet you’re thinking, not another entry about food. My office (more or less) took an American colleague out for dinner again last night and, again, on Old Compton Street. Pizza. Huge pizzas (I haven’t had such a big pizza in London for some time), bigger than any plates the restaurant had available. Many office-type things to speak of, but I will reserve judgement on the evening for another time (how mysterious).

So now I am dog-tired. I have been entertaining or being entertained all week. I have to arrange theatre trips for tonight and other things for the rest of the weekend. It’s very strange, as I haven’t felt this physically exhausted in months. I feel really drained, but I couldn’t sleep any longer than I did. My brain was awake, and I got to the point where lying in bed hurts more than the thought of getting up pains me. Maybe it’s an age thing.