After missing yet another breakfast at our hostel, we got up around 11am and set out to have lunch at the Google BA office in Puerto Madero. On the way there, our stomachs got the best of us and we were forced to stop for what might have been the world’s best empanadas! We then pressed onward to Google, where we ate again. The office was very nice, much like all of the other Google offices I have visited. It is very bright, filled with natural light and is located in a refurbished port-side warehouse. The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring Puerto Madero, the Microcenter, & Monteserrat. Some highlights include… the ‘pointy bridge (imported from Spain but designed by a Chi-town architect)…the city’s oldest church and café… a trip on the subway, windows down!... street vendor snacks… the Argentina flag… public expression of political unrest through protestors at la Casa Rosada and the graffiti and stencil art covering Avenida de Mayo (Carly's favorite!) All of these wonderful sights can be found in our photo album.
By mid-afternoon, we had reached a point of no return. We were running low on fuel, and our cat naps didn’t seem to be as effective as the first couple of days. However we were determined not to miss a beat and decided to pack in one more thing before heading to the falls the following day: TANGO!
Finding La Catedral reminded us of our first night in BA, searching for the second non-existent address given to us by Juan (there’s something with that kid’s sense of direction). The venue was a modern yet authentic Mecca for el tango. Christy described it as gothic barn, illuminated from within by the life of the dance. The people served as decorative fixtures for the place, more so than anything hanging on the walls. We quickly realized we were the only beginners in the ‘beginner’ class, as was evident by our choice in shoes (flipflops – not ideal for tango dancing). Rotating partners after each song, and trying to follow the Spanish instruction we were given, we did our best to follow the lead of whomever it was leading us. Though we are still far from experts, this extra event was well worth the time!
Once again, time got away from us and we left La Catedral in search of food, as we had not eaten before our dance lesson. “Fast Food” is rather hard to come by in BA, especially when it is one o’clock in the morning. With Carly proclaiming that she “literally wanted to die” and Christy unable to feel her feet, the two of us scarfed down our quesadillas and dragged our numb bodies into bed for 3 hours of rest before our 6am flight the next day!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Day 3 – “Somos de Los Estados Unidos”
We finally made it down in time for breakfast, after what we thought was a really bad dream. Apparently, our Irish hostel roommate tool a ‘sleeping’ pill she bought off of a Brazilian in order to get a good nights sleep. Unfortunately, her good nights sleep turned into a nightmare for us when we were startled at 5am by some violently shaking our bunk bed. The girl was ripping the base boards from underneath my mattress on the top bunk, and the stood over me, board in her hand, not saying a word! Once I realized what was happening and asked her what the hell she was doing, she laid the board down on the ground, and crawled back into bed. What an interesting story to tell her the next morning, none of which she remembered. Needless to say we check out of “dorm style” hostel a couple of hours later and were off to our second barrio… Palermo!
Day 3 was a lot of walking. We set out around 12pm to explore the lush green parks and gardens for which Palermo is so well know. It was a beautiful and relaxing walk that led us to the barrio Recoleta, where we saw the Flor de Metal, an amazing gift to the city of Argentina. Also know as ‘the claw’ (though the pistons sticking out of the middle suggest otherwise), this 2 story metal flower is an amazing piece of art. It opens during the day and at night the pistons glow as the pedals close around them. Journeying further into the heart of Recoleta, we decided to stop for a bite to eat. Our guide book had described this part of town, Barrio Norte, as being associated with “chetos” (social climbers) and “paquetes” (posers with older money) and as a place you will likely encounter “ladies who lunch.” The scene was just as our book described, so you can imagine our surprise when the mystery items we ordered off the Spanish only menu were a whole chicken and chicken friend steak (sandwich de milanesa). An hour and 80 pesos later (which we didn’t have on us so Christy had to run to the nearest ATM), we made our way over to Avenida Alivar, known for its luxurious shopping and grand architecture. The two story mansion that was home to Polo Ralph Lauren was quite impressive!
Getting back to the hostel was just another aspect of day’s our adventure. A cab would have been pricey, so we thought we would venture out and take a local bus. As previously mentioned, we had been advised of the shortage of monedas in Buenos Aires. However this was the only means by which we could pay for a bus ride, and so we had been hoarding our monedas like 2 kids protecting their Halloween candy. After hopping aboard the bus, knowing we didn’t have enough change, we decided the time had come to play the ‘tourist’ card. Our multitasking bus driver, flying down the street with doors still open, explained to us that we had to have exact change (which we already knew). He was kind enough to spot us the $.05 we were short. Que hombre simpatico! As had become standard practice by this point in the trip, we took a 20 minute power nap once we returned to our musty hostel, and were recharged for our wildest night yet!
Tummy’s growling and begrudgingly accepting by this point that our dinner time of 7pm was when most portenos were still recovering from the night before, we settled for pre-dinner drinks in Plazo Serrano. Our chat about life and our growing love for the city of Buenos Aires led us to our best meal yet… a taste of Mexican from home with blue margaritas to match! Upon finishing dinner around midnight, we took a taxi back to barrio San Telmo, where we had made plans the night before to meet up with new friends. We had the option to either go on a pub crawl with Dustin (a native Georgian) or have a night out on the town with los portenos. In order to truly experience Argentina, we opted to experience the local scene until 5am. Juan, Ezekiel, Carly, and Christy danced the night away at a local ‘discoteca’ to a jockjams mix with everything from Spice Girls and Sir-mix-a-lot. We then took a stroll down the BIGGEST STREET IN THE WORLD and found a late night snack to satisfy Christy’s craving. Having had our first true “taste” of the local flavor, we returned to our hostel for another 4-hour night’s sleep, which was becoming standard practice. (Running sleep total = 21 hours)
Day 3 was a lot of walking. We set out around 12pm to explore the lush green parks and gardens for which Palermo is so well know. It was a beautiful and relaxing walk that led us to the barrio Recoleta, where we saw the Flor de Metal, an amazing gift to the city of Argentina. Also know as ‘the claw’ (though the pistons sticking out of the middle suggest otherwise), this 2 story metal flower is an amazing piece of art. It opens during the day and at night the pistons glow as the pedals close around them. Journeying further into the heart of Recoleta, we decided to stop for a bite to eat. Our guide book had described this part of town, Barrio Norte, as being associated with “chetos” (social climbers) and “paquetes” (posers with older money) and as a place you will likely encounter “ladies who lunch.” The scene was just as our book described, so you can imagine our surprise when the mystery items we ordered off the Spanish only menu were a whole chicken and chicken friend steak (sandwich de milanesa). An hour and 80 pesos later (which we didn’t have on us so Christy had to run to the nearest ATM), we made our way over to Avenida Alivar, known for its luxurious shopping and grand architecture. The two story mansion that was home to Polo Ralph Lauren was quite impressive!
Getting back to the hostel was just another aspect of day’s our adventure. A cab would have been pricey, so we thought we would venture out and take a local bus. As previously mentioned, we had been advised of the shortage of monedas in Buenos Aires. However this was the only means by which we could pay for a bus ride, and so we had been hoarding our monedas like 2 kids protecting their Halloween candy. After hopping aboard the bus, knowing we didn’t have enough change, we decided the time had come to play the ‘tourist’ card. Our multitasking bus driver, flying down the street with doors still open, explained to us that we had to have exact change (which we already knew). He was kind enough to spot us the $.05 we were short. Que hombre simpatico! As had become standard practice by this point in the trip, we took a 20 minute power nap once we returned to our musty hostel, and were recharged for our wildest night yet!
Tummy’s growling and begrudgingly accepting by this point that our dinner time of 7pm was when most portenos were still recovering from the night before, we settled for pre-dinner drinks in Plazo Serrano. Our chat about life and our growing love for the city of Buenos Aires led us to our best meal yet… a taste of Mexican from home with blue margaritas to match! Upon finishing dinner around midnight, we took a taxi back to barrio San Telmo, where we had made plans the night before to meet up with new friends. We had the option to either go on a pub crawl with Dustin (a native Georgian) or have a night out on the town with los portenos. In order to truly experience Argentina, we opted to experience the local scene until 5am. Juan, Ezekiel, Carly, and Christy danced the night away at a local ‘discoteca’ to a jockjams mix with everything from Spice Girls and Sir-mix-a-lot. We then took a stroll down the BIGGEST STREET IN THE WORLD and found a late night snack to satisfy Christy’s craving. Having had our first true “taste” of the local flavor, we returned to our hostel for another 4-hour night’s sleep, which was becoming standard practice. (Running sleep total = 21 hours)
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Day 2 – “A Taste of Local Flavor (And a Styrofoam Chicken)”
Today we slept in, after such a late night. We then spent the day travelling around San Telmo, known best for its lively Sunday mercados. As we wandered, we took in all the bright colors, aromatic smells, and sounds of tango that filled la calle defensa. The Sunday market lived up to its expectations, offering cafes for tasting chocolates and café con leche, tango lessons and photo ops, and many other forms of entertainment from the variety of street performers. Of the many things we did this day, two stood out the most: La Boca & the Styrofoam chicken.
La Boca – In the guide book, Carly had read about a street in La Boca, “la caminita”, famous for its brightly colored houses and tango heritage. Although the guidebook warned that the neighbourhood should not be explored by visitors at night, Carly was determined to see EVERY part of BA, and we set out to check this one off our list. Halfway there, Christy began to get a few curious stares, and she made the executive decision that it might be best for us to take a cab the rest of the way – good call! Not only did we literally drive through the ghetto, but when we arrived we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of a circus. We didn’t stay long.
The Chicken – When we bumped into our friend Mr. Cooper during our second stroll down defensa, he showed us some of his treasures for the day, one of which was the infamous STYRAFOAM CHICKEN!!! Upon seeing this, Christy knew that he had to have one… at for 5 pesos, why not??? Her new pet provided us much entertainment the rest of the trip, including the laugh we got out of sharing our newly discovered treasure with a random “James Cooper” from Toronto on Facebook. We then enjoyed our first dulce de leche and cleaned up to head off to have our first Argentinean steak!
El Segundo noche, which we anticipated would end early, turned into a hostel fiesta. We met some crazy Australians, Carl aka Ben Stiller from “Dodge Ball”… another Juan and Ezekiel who played in a local band… Gabriel from Plata del Mar… and Fransico the bar tender. Our ‘early’ night turned into a 3am party, full of Spanish lessons for Christy, vocab to give us some street cred (la concha de la concha?) & some local “flavor” (el sabor de Argentina!)
La Boca – In the guide book, Carly had read about a street in La Boca, “la caminita”, famous for its brightly colored houses and tango heritage. Although the guidebook warned that the neighbourhood should not be explored by visitors at night, Carly was determined to see EVERY part of BA, and we set out to check this one off our list. Halfway there, Christy began to get a few curious stares, and she made the executive decision that it might be best for us to take a cab the rest of the way – good call! Not only did we literally drive through the ghetto, but when we arrived we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of a circus. We didn’t stay long.
The Chicken – When we bumped into our friend Mr. Cooper during our second stroll down defensa, he showed us some of his treasures for the day, one of which was the infamous STYRAFOAM CHICKEN!!! Upon seeing this, Christy knew that he had to have one… at for 5 pesos, why not??? Her new pet provided us much entertainment the rest of the trip, including the laugh we got out of sharing our newly discovered treasure with a random “James Cooper” from Toronto on Facebook. We then enjoyed our first dulce de leche and cleaned up to head off to have our first Argentinean steak!
El Segundo noche, which we anticipated would end early, turned into a hostel fiesta. We met some crazy Australians, Carl aka Ben Stiller from “Dodge Ball”… another Juan and Ezekiel who played in a local band… Gabriel from Plata del Mar… and Fransico the bar tender. Our ‘early’ night turned into a 3am party, full of Spanish lessons for Christy, vocab to give us some street cred (la concha de la concha?) & some local “flavor” (el sabor de Argentina!)
Friday, April 24, 2009
Day 1 – “The Longest Day Ever!”
After 24 hours of travelling, we safely made it to Buenos Aires. Christy and I met in Canada, and then took a 12 hour flight to Chile, followed by a 3 hour flight over to BA. Juan, Saba’s college friend, picked us up at the airport (no signL) as we parted way with our new friend from the flight, Roman. We checked into hostel Ostienatto and quickly set out to explore San Telmo, the barrio where we were staying. It only took one trip around the block for us to realize that we were going to need ‘una mapa.’ We wandered over to La Plaza de Mayo, which is essentially the city’s center although it is located in the southern part of the city. Here we had our first café on Avenida de Mayo, as we listened to tango and milonga en los calles de Buenos Aires.
Though it had been a long day of traveling, we were not deterred form going out or first night in this magical city. Around 7, our normal dinner time, we set out for food, but upon realizing that the only thing open were small cafes, we settled for un pastel y vino tinto at a nearby pasteleria to pass the afternoon.
Around 9 we called Juan, who had offered to acquaint us with the night life of BA. Without any form of communication, we attempted to meet up with him and his novia, Patricia, which ended up being a lot harder than you might expect. We quickly learned of the shortage of monedas in Buenos Aires, making it difficult to make a $.20 call, and it was only 3 hours later, after grabbing our first empanda, wandering around the streets with ½ bottle of open wine, and looking for an address that did not exist, when we coincidentally bumped into Juan and Patricia. We made our way to Mundo ____ (Bizarro) and shared the best mojitos in town with Juan, Patricia, and our newest friend, James. In an effort not to look lame (even though we were going on 48 straight of no sleep) Christy announced that she was ready for a change of scenery and with her dancing shoes on, she led us to our first Argentinean discoteca! VIP… vodka… strippers… enough said. We had had our fill and decided to head out early (sometime around 4am). We piled into the Juan-mobile, which did not want to start at first. Christy, James, and I sat in the back seat and finished off that half a bottle of wine from earlier, while Juan played bumper cars in an effort to get us out of the space… que noche loco!
Though it had been a long day of traveling, we were not deterred form going out or first night in this magical city. Around 7, our normal dinner time, we set out for food, but upon realizing that the only thing open were small cafes, we settled for un pastel y vino tinto at a nearby pasteleria to pass the afternoon.
Around 9 we called Juan, who had offered to acquaint us with the night life of BA. Without any form of communication, we attempted to meet up with him and his novia, Patricia, which ended up being a lot harder than you might expect. We quickly learned of the shortage of monedas in Buenos Aires, making it difficult to make a $.20 call, and it was only 3 hours later, after grabbing our first empanda, wandering around the streets with ½ bottle of open wine, and looking for an address that did not exist, when we coincidentally bumped into Juan and Patricia. We made our way to Mundo ____ (Bizarro) and shared the best mojitos in town with Juan, Patricia, and our newest friend, James. In an effort not to look lame (even though we were going on 48 straight of no sleep) Christy announced that she was ready for a change of scenery and with her dancing shoes on, she led us to our first Argentinean discoteca! VIP… vodka… strippers… enough said. We had had our fill and decided to head out early (sometime around 4am). We piled into the Juan-mobile, which did not want to start at first. Christy, James, and I sat in the back seat and finished off that half a bottle of wine from earlier, while Juan played bumper cars in an effort to get us out of the space… que noche loco!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Things everyone should know prior to visiting BA
Vocabulario Importante:
(1) milOnga - place or type of music that accompanies the tango
(2) portenos - refers to people of BA (literally means comes from the port city)
(3) Carlos Gardel - father of tango. He revolutionized the tango with his cancion 'Mi noche triste'
(4) orquestra tipica - 10 player band (with 4 bandoneons)
(5) asado - typical Argentine BBQ (note - not to be confused with aseo, meaning bathroom)
Recommeded foods to try:
(1) dulce de leche helado
(2) sopa locro
(3) empanadas
(4) sandwich de milanesa (aka chicken fried steak - which I orded by mistake one day!)
(5) fernet branca (Italian liquor that we discvered tastes like gasoline, but is very popular among the portenos)
Conversion of Celcius to Farenheit:
Degrees C * 9/5 + 32 = Degrees F
(1) milOnga - place or type of music that accompanies the tango
(2) portenos - refers to people of BA (literally means comes from the port city)
(3) Carlos Gardel - father of tango. He revolutionized the tango with his cancion 'Mi noche triste'
(4) orquestra tipica - 10 player band (with 4 bandoneons)
(5) asado - typical Argentine BBQ (note - not to be confused with aseo, meaning bathroom)
Recommeded foods to try:
(1) dulce de leche helado
(2) sopa locro
(3) empanadas
(4) sandwich de milanesa (aka chicken fried steak - which I orded by mistake one day!)
(5) fernet branca (Italian liquor that we discvered tastes like gasoline, but is very popular among the portenos)
Conversion of Celcius to Farenheit:
Degrees C * 9/5 + 32 = Degrees F
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