The biggest highlight, however, was our daytrip out to a tiny city called Alta Gracia. On an interesting public bus ride, trying to figure out where in a random suburb we should hop off, we finally found the house where Che Guevara grew up, which has since been turned into a museum.
We even got to see the famous bike from his travels:
From there, we overnighted to Buenos Aires and finally moved into our glorious apartment. The place is incredible, with 20 foot ceilings, a great kitchen, steady hot water, and most importantly an unbelievable rooftop, fully equipped with 2 swimming pools, a garden with grass, palm trees, picnic areas, a restaurant and bar. We were excited to move in and for me, even more excited to put my things in the closet and say goodbye to my suitcase for a whole month!It didn't take us long to settle in and start living a true "porteno" (the people of Buenos Aires) lifestyle. We had many friends in town, other travelers we'd met along the way passing through BA, and enjoyed returning to a more normal lifestyle, with a kitchen and a place to entertain our friends.
In our first few days, we checked out some of the outdoor street fairs and a stroll through the neighborhood on a sunny, Sunday afternoon. It was immediately noticeable how pleasant and peaceful a crazy, busy city like BA can be. Walking through parks and green areas, people were scattered everywhere, sitting on blankets, enjoying the summer weather and sipping on yerba mate. In the street fair, the random bands set up jamming with an audience and locals dancing tango in the streets for tips.
Thanks to my wonderful SF roomies + Chaney, Mike and I headed to a traditional Argentine parilla (bbq) cooking class, a gift we received for my birthday. The day started with a train ride to a nearby suburb and a stroll through a cute little town and quaint house where the class was held. A retired teacher and her neighbor of 30 years put together this parilla class, where we were taken to nearby butcher. They explained all the different cuts of meat in Argentina and even wheeled out an entire half a cow to show exactly where the cuts came from. With all the fixins for a traditional Argentina asado, we returned to her house to learn how to cook them all. Over an open flame, we cooked kidneys, small intestines, sweetbreads (thymus gland around the neck and heart), black pudding, chorizo, short ribs, flank steak, and some sort of pork that I don't remember, all accompanied with the classic Chimichurri sauce of Argentina. What we thought would be a 3 hour class turned into a 7 hour day and more of an Argentine cultural experience than anything. The lunch itself lasted a good 4 hours, and as our cooking class teacher said, "never stop flowing the wine, since asado and a proper red wine is the happiest couple to be known." And these folks weren't messing around. At dusk we stumbled back home on the train, full to the brim, educated and happy.
We spent the rest of our first week, sprucing up our home, preparing for the holidays and buying a Christmas tree!
Mike's parents arrived and we had a jam packed 8 days in store for them!
We wasted no time! Straight from the airport, we got them settled in and hit the town, to check out the famous San Telmo street market, known for its culture and antiques! We started their trip searching for the perfect mate gourds to fit in with this mate obsessed society.
And naturally, had their first meal at a steak place!
We rode the famous A line home, the original subway track that still has some of the original train cars built in 1912.
The next few days were packed with sightseeing. I played tour guide and we took a walking tour through downtown Buenos Aires.
The packed Florida Avenue, now home to a million souvenir shops, clothing stores and fast food restaurants, is one of the most hidden architectural gems of any city we've seen. Buildings that were once famous banks, government buildings, colonial homes, are all now commercial shopping places, but if you look closely, you can spot hints of the original structures. Our favorite was the Burger King. It was once the home of Ana Diaz, co-founder of Buenos Aires, back in 1580. When you walk into the BK, the downstairs seems like your average fast food joint, but if you walk up the double curved staircases and look up, you can see the original stainglass ceiling and all the different rooms of this former colonial mansion.
Our tour continued into Plaza de Mayo, home of the Cathedral, many government buildings, including the most photographed building in BA, the Casa Rosada (where the President used to live). It was from that balcony that Evita made her famous speech to the people of Argentina...and where Carol and I were belting "don't cry for me argentina..." at the top of our lungs.
We finished the tour with a stop at the famous Cafe Tortoni. We soaked up the atmosphere of this cafe, where the political, intellectual and historical figures of Argentina's past once convened.
Our next stop was to check out another country! A pontoon boat shuffled us across the Rio de la Plata over to Colonia, Uruguay. A quaint, quiet little town nestled on the water, Colonia was historical. Several museums (and by museum I mean tiny homes built in colonial times turned into museums) were scattered throughout the old town, along with several original stone cobbled streets.
I even tried to create a picture perfect moment jumping on Mikey's back to the entrance of the old town area, on the original drawbridge... he had no idea what was about to hit him.
Unfortunately, I miscalculated Mikey's steps and stomped on his flip flop as I launched onto his back ...oops! It was the most serious flat tire Mikey had ever gotten. We totally almost fell... when keeping it real goes wrong.
It took us less than 2 hours to cover pretty much everything there was to see in the city...and we still had 6 hours until our ferry left! So after a long lunch to escape the heat and a stop in a cozy bar, where we tasted Uruguayan wine and whiskey, we successfully enjoyed a full day in Uruguay and headed back to Buenos Aires.
Upon our return to BA, we decided it was time to get some Argentine culture again and headed to the Malba Museum (Latin American Art Museum). Much to our chagrin, the traveling exhibit was none other than...Andy Warhol! Travel to Latin America to see an American! Although we did just see the same exhibit in SF, so it was interesting to compare...
We then took a stroll over to the botanical gardens, which were more focused on the plant and tree parts and our attention spans dwindled. It was, however, a great photo op spot.
It was time to rest up, as that evening we were to embark on a very Argentine custom...tango dancing. And folks, this was no tourist show. Mikey and I heard about this organization that put on the "Tango Experience." Rather than seeing a few dances on a stage, this place made you jump in! When we first arrived, we were seated in the front of what felt like a crappy diner. Mike and I exchanged concerned glances, both simultaneously wondering if we had just signed his parents and ourselves up for a complete scam. We were then escorted to the back of the restaurant where there was dance floor, stage and several cafeteria style tables lining the sides. In one sentence, it looked like my Junior High School Gym. Continuing to be a bit concerned, we went along with it and we all started a 2 hour tango lesson, followed by open time on the floor to practice. Fortunately, they kept the wine flowing and served us some dinner, because once the place started getting packed, we were all a bit out of our element and kept running into people. Oops! The rest of the evening we stayed glued to our chairs, as this weird place turned into quite the packed nightclub. By midnight there were a good 200 hundred people in this tiny space and there was some serious tango going on. Certainly better than any show we could have seen. We were taken to a local spot and watched some local tango!
Keep in mind, all these events with the padres happened over the course of 5 days.And we finally arrive to Christmas Eve! As a true Catholic country, we were not sure what would be open for the holidays and planned for some down time. Fortunately, it's summer here, and our rooftop is a great place to chill and catch some sun.
We started the evening with a treat sent from home. My mom being my mom, wanted to ensure that we had "nice tings" to eat as I would finally spend a Christmas away from home and sent an enormous can of Foie Gras that we cracked open that night.
Assuming the vegetarian of the group might not want the duck, we also had a lovely gift from Tita of cheeses I haven't seen or thought about in months! Mmmmmm.....Well, I was wrong about the veggie thing, because I think the person who enjoyed it most (behind me of course) was Walt! Thanks to the family, our Christmas Eve kicked off with some fine food and style!
Mikey of course had to put his own spin in as well and conjured up an Argentine/American fusion dish we'd like to call: Beer can chimichurri chicken.
The beer can chicken was something Mikey mastered back home on the grill. He added the Argentine chimichurri sauce for some flavor...and if you're wondering, my was she tasty!
The evening ramped up experiencing the Argentine tradition of fireworks at midnight...and we're not talking an organized fireworks event. This tradition consists of every age person (starting at 5 years old) going out in the streets, on their roofs, out their windows and setting off fireworks! It sounded like bombs over Baghdad. Hands down the chaos added to it being the best fireworks show we've ever seen! And we got to watch it over the skyline of BA from our rooftop.
Well, at that point we probably all should have gone to bed. Instead, we kept the wine flowing and the good times rolling. I am still not sure how we ended up there, but by the end of the evening, Carol and I were strolling the hallways of the buildings signing Christmas Carols. We hit our stride, at the top of our lungs in the kitchen at god knows what hour. I hope I never meet our neighbors. Good times...
After some much needed rest, we awoke on Christmas morning and although 5000 miles away, I was still able to continue a Christmas morning tradition we started when I was born...Christmas morning with my mom, dad and brother.
Ok, fine, over video chat...but good enough. We had a good 2 hours of Christmas morning, opened presents, made fun of one another...everything that Christmas should be.We spent the rest of the day enjoying the summer weather (while we thought of all you in the US freezing your buns off). We decided Christmas would be the perfect day to try out being a porteno. Everyone goes into a park and drinks mate from their gourds on weekends and holidays. We finally had made all the necessary purchases, and we conveniently had a park on the roof!
It turns out that mate is an acquired taste. We haven't had any since...but we'll be pros by the end of our Patagonia trip in the next couple of months.
We invited a friend over for dinner and decided to make an empanada factory for the evening. We created about 8 different stuffings and spent the evening making hundreds of empanadas and enjoying some Argentine Malbecs.
And unfortunately, the caroling didn't stop that night either...but I'll spare you the photos...After the relaxation of the holidays we were ready to continue checking out some of BA's highlights, including some history at the Evita Museum...
As well as a stroll through the Recoleta Cemetary, which houses many important historical figures for Argentina...as well as Eva Peron herself!
No Sunday is complete in BA unless you spend HOURS at an outdoor cafe. You literally have no choice, because the waiters look as though they are trying to avoid any eye contact...and if they accidentally catch you...they ignore you! Good thing we were in good company!
A cool tree we stumbled across searching for our perfect cafe:
And Carol and Walt slowly became more Porteno. They even rode the overly crowded subte at rush hour with the rest of them...
We ended their journey at arguably the best steak house in all of Buenos Aires...and for us, in Argentina. Every tourist that comes through BA and every local knows this spot...La Cabrera. Even the vegetarian couldn't turn down one of the best steaks in Argentina...
And so we finally had to say goodbye. It was an amazing week and one of the best Christmas' we could have asked for.Well, Mike and I decided to drown our sorrows of their departure in a bar. Good thing they have some pretty awesome bars in this city. There is even one that alongside your beers, let's you shoot bows and arrows! Legit archery in the bar...
And I know you are all wondering who is better. Well I think the bulls eye speaks for itself. Some of us are just naturals...
And we finally arrive to New Year's Eve. Friends from Peru, you may recognize Brad and Elaine from our Ausangate trek through the high Andes, were also in BA for a month or so and Natalie, our friend from Bolivia and future Patagonia compadre was still in town. We decided to do like the locals, have a dinner at home, then go out. We also knew we had to prepare ourselves, because this city is crazy. They usually don't show up to a club until 3ish and it's a competition to see who can stay out latest. We knew we had to do this right...And after Christmas Eve, Mikey and I knew we had to be prepared. We wondered if the whole fireworks extravaganza would happen again for the New Year and when we stumbled across a stand selling fireworks, with a line around the block, we knew we had to partake. Afterall, we have one of the best rooftops in the city!
So we were ready to have our guests for dinner and the rest of the madness that ensued that evening:
Probably easiest to just time stamp the rest of the night:9pm - dinner & drinks, including the "can you guess which type of wine this is" game (hence the 3 bottles on the right that look the same but are all made from different grapes). Turns out we don't know anything about wine. We took vodka shots as punishment after the taste test because everyone but Natalie completely failed.
12am - roof for an amazing fireworks display. We thought that Xmas Eve was great...this blew it out of the water. Millions of fireworks exploding everywhere. We tried to contribute:
Run!
And...disappointment. 6 sparks flew in the air, made a weak sound and died. Good thing we had the Harry Potter sticks, one for each of us. I felt like a wizard!
1am - Champagne & Cigars on the roof to enjoy the never ending fireworks display
2am - why it seemed like a good idea to try a little gym session at this hour is still beyond me, but it was fun!
3am - getting ready to go out...bringing back games from college...
4am - club #1
5am - club #2 (in the interim we got kicked out of line to a different club because we were trying to avoid waiting in line and paying the cover by telling the bouncer that Mikey was Andy Roddick. Well we didn't think this through and the bouncer was fine with us passing, if we paid him. In his eyes, some celebrity can drop some money...thwarted.) And if you look closely at the photo we are on an outdoor patio on the roof of a bar.
6am - still in same bar...
6:30am - the sun is fully up and we're still out
7am - we finally make our way home and serve the crew some breakfast burritos and mimosas before we all finally pass out. It was incredible. Once we left the bar, the streets were flooded with people finally leaving for the night at 7am! It was like being out at 2am back home...except it was 5 hours later and the sun was up.
And we successfully survived an Argentine New Years. Pretty sure my body could only handle that once. Don't think we'll party that hard ever again... well, maybe next year.We've spent the last week or so just livin up Buenos Aires. We even ventured out to some American bar to catch the last Sunday NFL games of the season. Looked just like home...
We are enjoying civilization while we have it...Saturday we kick back in to serious travel mode...a 30 hour bus ride to Patagonia!I promise we won't wait so long to do the next blog entry...and we'll finally return to weather that you're having! Except we'll be sleeping in a tent.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's to you all!
Besos y Abrazos,
Mikey&Marisa
Forgiven. :-)
ReplyDelete