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“Grilled steaks, grilled chicken, French fries, a basket of bread, Grilled steaks, grilled chicken, French fries, a ... ” |
Buenos Aires, Part
It has been sunny for two days! The temperature is perfect, slightly warm with a cool breeze. An Argentine woman in the elevator apologized for the rain, and assured us "we're all upset about the rain, this is not Buenos Aires weather, no, no!" And now I know what she means. It's very very pleasant weather. Which is an apt description of the Argentines themselves: very very pleasant.
I know I've mentioned the taxis already, but they have become an excellent part of the Buenos Aires Adventure. You really need to take a cab everywhere, because this city is just so big and spread out. And getting into a cab is like spinning a roulette wheel. They all drive crazy, but I never knew so many varieties of crazy existed! It is truly exhilarating to race along, crossing over 8 lanes of traffic that are stuffed with cabs, each shouldering into each others' lanes, drivers signaling their intent with their hands out the window, or a quiet honk, and the cabs glide in and out so smoothly, it all feels choreographed.
We still have not figured out the food and eating rituals here. The feeding times are all screwed up, and all the menus in the hundreds of restaurants are basically the same. Grilled steaks, grilled chicken, French fries, a basket of bread, and some odd salads that they like to mix for you at the table. The only flavors you will find on any of these will be the oil and vinegar they bring to the table, and hopefully there will be salt.
We have really been enjoying the 3:1 ratio of the Canadian dollar to the Argentine Peso. Ordering the most expensive glass of wine on the menu will only run you about $4 cdn. Clothes are a pretty good deal for us too, cool t-shirts only $10-$20 cdn, but we have not spent much time shopping. Mostly we're spending time in cabs going to places that are closed or just turn out to be no fun. But last night (Sunday) we actually found a somewhat happing party at the Palacio that led us to a much more happening party at a club called Amerika-- a multi-level, all red, bona fide mega club for about 2000 people. It was pretty jammed for a Sunday night in a sleepy town! If you go out, go out very late. The Portenos take a long time to warm-up, and somehow, even in bars and clubs, they manage to be polite.
Even though we were out late last night we managed a full day of taking cabs to a lovely ecological reserve (that was closed because it's Monday) and then the Modern Art Museum (which was closed because it is no longer open) . We were all feeling rather put off by taking cabs to places that were closed, so we decided to walk and take pictures of graffiti and eat and maybe try, yet again, to find a nice restaurant.
We have one more day in BsAs, and then we're off to Chile, which will be another world, yet again. This is fun!
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It was another lovely day in Buenos Aires, The weather was perfectly warm, and that lovely gentle breeze was back, and the people were gentle and polite. We visited the Once ("on-say") neighborhood today, which was yet another bustling collection of retailers on a busy, wide intersection. This is the discount shopping area of the city, and every store has it’s windows jammed with shirts and socks and shoes and jeans and whatever you can think of, but all of it a couple of years old, and all of it priced to move. $30 Peso shoes, $45 Peso Jeans, but nothing worth buying. And store after store after block after block, all offering basically the same products at the same prices. It was worth a visit, but it seemed shopping in a giant outdoor dollar-store.
We hunted for a nice restaurant for our final meal with John and Clayton before we head off to Chile, and we found a nice little place where we could eat outside on the sidewalk. The menu was the same as all the other menus, the food was bland, and we all agreed that the food in Argentina is nothing to write home about. And yet, here I am, writing home about it. If you go to Buenos Aires, bring salt and pepper.
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We are currently flying over the endless Argentine countryside, Mendoza, farm land as far as you can see. Soon we'll be passing over the Andes Mountain range, where countless planes have been mysteriously lost. I am sure we will survive, and we are both hoping for a few days of sun and a little beach time in Vina Del Mar.
previous travel blog entryComments or Questions for the Author
French and Liquor says:
Hey Ma... I sometimes write with a portable keyboard and my palm pilot, then I am able to transfer the stories to a computer and upload them to the blog. Dontcha love technology?!!
Porteno de Alma says:
It is completely out of character for me to post a comment as scathing as the one that follows. However, it seems that French and Liquor have only demonstrated their ignorance and lack of sophistication when it comes to their characterization of Buenos Aires (BA). First the food. From reading the reviews of their stay in Brasil just prior to BA, it seems that they are comparing Brasillian food to Argentinean. They need to understand that Argentinean food is primarily based on Spanish, Italian, French and even British food traditions. You will not find a hot chili any where in sight. If grilled chicken and beef were the only food that they encountered, it was probably because they couldn't understand Spanish and didn't understand what was on the menu. Did they bother to find out what matambre, arrollado, empanadas, ensalda rusa, and radicheta are. These are staples on every Argentinean menu. In addition incredible Italian Restauranmnts are all over the City!! Matambre and Arrollado are made from the highest quality (ie most expensive) veal breast flattened and stuffed with eggs red sweet peppers, etc, rolled and then sliced into portions. Empanadas are small pies filled with ground beef, olives, raisins and spiced with comino. Ensalada Rusa is basically potato slad with peas carrots and sometimes tuna or chicken. As for being dissapointed about "grilled steaks," - I found it hard to believe that eating a meal of the world's best filet mignon with wine, salad etc. for 8 USD is disappointing. They reffered to salad prepared table side as strange. In Argentian restaurants, this is considered good service. As for BA being a sleepy town, I think these two are just seeing it through the eyes of North Americans. Dinner in restaurants is after 9:00 and people don't hit the bars and dance clubs until 12:00 -1:00. The club scene is very sophisticated ala NYC, London, Paris - wear Prada and leave your sneakers and t shirt at home. Dance clubs and bars with the most buzz are located in the Puerto Madeiro, Recoleta, and Palermo SoHo, Barrios. My Suggestions: Cumana on Rodriguez Pena - best empanadas in the world Los Inmortales and El Cuartito - best pizza in the WORLD Farina - best Italain Food in BA In closing. it need sto be understood that Argentina is a much more sophisticated, conservative, and formal country than Brasil. Don't compare the two as you would not compare France and Germay or any other countries
Answer says:
It seems like a typical case of "I-don-t-care-about-culture-or-sights-or-anything-just-take-me-to-a-good-restaurant" kind of tourism. People who probably just travel because they have nothing to do at home but watch TV and eat at their usual restaurant. People who won't care to learn anything new because they think they know it all. I don't think this is a language barrier problem, since all the other english-speaking tourists seem to find their way into great food without any problem. And finally, they sound like people that will criticize anything that's different even if at home they are the biggest losers. If that's the case, I guarantee that your time in Buenos Aires will be as boring as usual, but you had to travel for miles for it!!
MomBetty says:
I get up every morning looking for you emails. They have all been great! How can you write about "currently" flying over Argentine countryside? Thought you were only emailing from internet cafes.? Take care in Chile...glad you are having a great time. Love MOM