Back to Buenos Aires

(photo credit: SIP-IAPA)

Total Miles Traveled: 14,773

Since we’d been on the road for over two months (and stayed in 23 different places), we needed to camp out somewhere to decompress.   We decided to head to Buenos Aires and find an apartment so that we could experience the city as a resident and use BA as a base to travel elsewhere. After a couple of days of searching, we found a great deal on a 1 BR apartment in a centrally located high-rise on the border of Palermo and Recoleta (at the corner of Guemes and Coronel Diaz).

We had about 4 weeks in Buenos Aires – so what did we do?   We became “portenos” (a Buenos Aires citizen)! We did everyday things like going to the supermarket and cooking, making trips to the pharmacy, working out, meeting new people, going to an asado (backyard barbeque) and riding public transportation.   It’s the same kind of feeling you get when you move to a new city – everything is awesome and stimulating – before you (maybe) get jaded by big city life.

Here are some tidbits we’ll remember from our time there:

• Stopping the bulge – Almost every day, we worked out in the building’s gym and started the 100 pushup and 200 squat challenges (which both have convenient iPhone apps by the way).  Why, you ask?  Well, we had packed on more than a few pounds from eating a bit too well (mmm… steak. mmm raviolis. mmm pizza) and “tasting” all the local wines.  The pants were starting to feel a wee bit tight (or gasp! not fitting at all).  We now understand the appeal of “lose weight fast” advertisements, but know that they are too good to be true.
• Riding buses and subways – The subway system is easy to navigate, but somewhat inconvenient to getting to some places like the restaurants in Palermo Soho.  So, you can take taxi (which can get expensive over time, but oh so convenient), or take a bus.  But the bus system is MMUUUYY convoluted and you really have to invest in learning it by buying the guide at your local kiosco, learning the bus numbers, and seeing where they go.  And you need exact change – by change we mean coins.
• Moneda, por favor –  Portenos say that coins “moneda” are more valuable than bills.  We would do a little fist pump any time we got a peso or 0.25 centavo coin as change to use for the laundry machines.  Small victories!
• The canine opera – Every time an ambulance came through the neighborhood, the local dogs (and there are LOTS of dogs) would start howling in concert because of the sirens.
• Doggy doo-doo minefields – Speaking of dogs, you really had to watch where you stepped when walking around Buenos Aires because lots of owners don’t pick up after their pets.  This was an especially interesting task since it was Autumn and trees were shedding their leaves.  Beware the steaming leaf!
• Argentines smoke a lot – Recently, Argentina has started banning smoking indoors at cafes and restaurants (though larger restaurants will have designated smoking rooms).  So as a result, many Argentines sit outside.  It really doesn’t matter if it’s cold or rainy or windy, you will always see tons of people sitting outside. These folks are truly committed to their smoking habit!

So what else did we do, when we weren’t avoiding smoke and steaming leaves?  Two things – shop and eat!

Shopping

• You can find high quality and stylish handbags for a quarter of the price of LV or Marc Jacobs.  You just have to get over being a brand whore.   For example, check out Charles Calfun: http://www.charlescalfun.com/english/home-eng.htm
• Shoes/boots – there are tons of stores!  A girl could definitely feed the addiction in Buenos Aires.  Guys, just fork over the credit card.  Resistance is futile.
• Palermo reminds us of New York’s SoHo district – lots of boutique designers and cool stuff.  But also way overpriced for the quality you’re getting.  Same prices as in NYC.

Dining Out!!! Our number one favorite activity was dining out… below are some photos from our dining adventures.

• Argentina has way too many restaurants to mention, but we mostly ate in Palermo SoHo.  La Cabrera and Cabernet deserve a shoutout.
• Wanna learn the Spanish words on a menu?  Just watch cooking shows on Argentine TV.  They speak more slowly and will repeat the words often.  Another option is asking for both an English and Spanish (or ‘castellano’) menu to compare and contrast.
• Argentine tap water is OK – perhaps a bit chlorinated – but totally fine to drink.  Tony and I drank it everyday!  But Argentines are muy picky about their water and so tap water is never an option at restaurants; it’s bottled water only!  All will offer great flat water (from Patagonia) or ‘agua con gas’ also from Argentina.  We loved the agua con gas.  For whatever reason,  we found the Argentine agua con gas MUCH better than similar waters from other countries.
• One interesting thing we learned is that Argentine wine / alcohol consumption is on the decline (seriously!).   In fact, many Argentines don’t drink wine all that often —  they prefer soft drinks instead.  And if they do drink alcohol, the drink of choice seems to be Coke and Fernet.  Fernet (if you haven’t heard of it) is a really nasty tasting ‘herbal’ liquor (think Jägermeister)

• Meeeeeeaaaaaattttt (warning for Vegetarians):  Argentines eat pretty much every part of the cow and pig.   They have cuts of beef and pork that don’t exist in the US.  Our favorite cuts are the following:
  • Lomo de pimienta (tenderloin) at La Cabrera – probably one of the best tenderloin steaks we’ve ever had with a black pepper crust.  We actually went back to this place twice.
  • The mollejas (sweetbreads – or thyroid glands) are also the best – seriously they are amazing!
  • Asado (beef ribs) slow cooked over low heat, but not like Texas beef ribs which are smoked
  • Entrana (beef hangar steak – pictured above, with herbed butter) – it’s a tougher cut, but beautifully done by Argentine parillas.
  • Matambre (rib meat that doesn’t exist in the US)  There is both pork and meat matambre.  We especially loved the pork variety with fresh lemon juice.  Lip smackin’ good.
  • Chorizo – the sausages in Argentina beats the BBQ sausages you find in the southern U.S.  No joke.
  • Cordero  (lamb) – slow cooked over the open fire – still the best is found in Patagonia, especially Southern Patagonia.
  • A not so favorite grilled entree:  chinchulines (intestines stuffed with a liver pate) – it feels like you are eating intestines with partially digested food still inside.  Gross…

Our next few posts will show a few of our outings in more detail, in the meantime, enjoy some dining out photos:

… Dinner with Mike, who Tony knows from Yahoo, and Joey, who is Tony’s family friend…

… Dinner at La Cabrera Norte with Joey and Heather on our last night in Argentina…

And for all you foodies…

Risotto with Langostines and Mescarpone at Crizia …

… Langostine Raviolis at Cabernet …

… Bife de Chorizo at Ginger Restaurant …

And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention tango.  We went to see a tango band called Cuarteto de Julio Coviello (thanks to Heather who invited us to see this band!!).  It’s a young band and they take a more modern approach to tango music.  Julio Coviello is the bandoneon (accordion) player you see on the far right in the video below.

For more photos, check out the slideshow:

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/tony-chen/sets/72157624272344021/show/