Perruccis o porteños?

Chau chau Buenos Aires

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:19:25 -0500

Well we’ve reached the end of the line on this amazing journey. Tomorrow we head back to NYC and after a trip to Washington DC for Obama’s inauguration, we’ll start thinking about finding new jobs and all that. Our planned 4th leg is not going to happen, due to a combination of economics and being kind of done with traveling, for now.

Buenos Aires has been fantastic, we’ll always think fondly about our time here. A few final pictures follow, along with some random observations of life down here.

• The porteños really are the nicest city people we have ever met. We’ve had countless experiences of their open, friendly nature, just wonderful people. They are, however, a city of soft talkers. Not sure how they even hear each other...
• We’ve loved the creative, artistic aspect of the city. So many great (and inexpensive) performances, most requiring just a phone call or email to reserva. Returning to NYC where most events are sold out is going to be tough.
• The wine really is great down here, and an amazing value.
• The food on the other hand, is tricky. While the steaks can be great, the overall bland and spice-less cooking leaves much to be desired for foodies like us. And the lack of diversity is driving us crazy. We are so looking forward to getting back to NYC and its international bounty...

Salta la linda (the beautiful)

Fri, 9 Jan 2009 09:42:05 -0500

We took one last trip to the northwestern corner of Argentina to visit Salta and the surrounding area. The geography reminded us of the American West, with beautiful multi-colored mountain ranges. The locals are called Salteños, a mix of indigenous peoples and Europeans. The area is known for these beautiful mountain valleys, colonial architecture and delicious empanadas.

One day we traveled north to the Humuacha Valley and visited a series of interesting small villages inhabited by indigenous people. These towns offered lots of wonderful crafts amid the multi-colored mountain valley, although our breathless 12-hour tour was a bit hectic to take it all in. The tour to the south to Cafayate had even more stunning vistas, along with the highest elevation wineries in the world. A great way to end our travels in Argentina, having now covered most of the country except for the glaciers in the far south...

Mighty Iguazú Falls

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:19:44 -0500

I don’t think I ever need to see another waterfall. Iguazú Falls is a true wonder of the world that defies every adjective you can think of, in English or Spanish. Simply spectacular.

Iguazú Falls, or Cataratas del Iguazú, is located
in northeastern Argentina on the border with Brazil. Two-thirds of the falls are in Argentina, so you don’t need to visit from the Brazil side (plus the $150 visa is a deal breaker). While Victoria Falls may offer more water (in just one waterfall) and Niagara Falls may be faster, Iguazú boasts 275! different waterfalls in a jungle National Park setting that provides amazing access and diversity. There’s an island where you can swim in the river close to the falls, a loco boat ride that takes you right into the falls and endless vistas of natural beauty amid a thundering soundtrack.Iguazú Falls, numero uno!

Romantic Colonia, Uruguay

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:06:07 -0500

A 1 hour high-speed ferry (Buquebus) ride from Buenos Aires brings you to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay - a charming little waterfront town that is a favorite porteño day trip.

We have the luxury of time right now, so we
stayed for 2 nights and wondered the cobblestone streets of the Old Town, watched glorious sunsets on the river and swam in the hotel pool. Romantic indeed...

Buenos Aires, the city that really doesn’t sleep

Sun, 7 Dec 2008 09:48:12 -0500

Melissa’s cousin Lisa and her husband Bryan came to visit from Orlando. We had a mad-cap week of running around town and staying out late. In Buenos Aires that means going home around 3:30 am and feeling like you’re the first one to leave. One night we were out until 5:30 am, and couldn’t even get a table at a few places since every one was full. It’s completely loco, I don’t know how they do it.

One of the week’s highlights was La Bomba de Tiempo (photo above and video below), a wild drum band rave party that takes places at a former factory converted into the groovy Konex art space. One of the coolest things to do in a city full of cool things to do. We also met 2 enterprising porteños Fer and Fona who throw weekly rock-and-roll dinner bashes - we partied with them until 4am or so. And then there was Fernandez Fierro, an alternative tango orchestra with some intense hardcore accordion players (video below). It was a wild week. We don’t have many pictures of the craziness since we were too busy having fun (thanks Bryan for the Konex photos).

Melissa’s friend Janet and her friend Ro also blew into town for 3 days and re-defined shop till you drop - I think they may have revived the local economy...

A Thanksgiving heat wave

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 13:50:31 -0500

Our friends Michael and Lisa came down to BA for Thanksgiving week and were greeted with record-breaking heat (peaking at 104!) that culminated with a completely loco flash flood that topped 2 feet. Oh and Melissa and I are now in a apartment for 2 weeks that’s not air conditioned, which has been a bit challenging, especially during the 2 power failures. Miraculously, still a great week...

Went to our first futbol game and it was exhilarating, even though we thought we were literally going to melt. Curiously, the only beverages for sale were warm Coke and apple juice, which the vendor enthusiastically explained contained water. In Argentina, each futbol team - 18-of-24 top clubs are in BA - have a group of hardcore fans called barras bravas. These guys are like English hooligans, except they are given free tickets, get a cut of tshirt sales and transfer fees when a great player goes to Europe, as well as travel expenses for away games. There are also rival factions within each team’s barras that fight for control. These folks are serious, in that last weekend alone there were 2 murders during matches (not the one we were at) including one poor soul who was stabbed for not cheering enthusiastically enough! Oh and at each game, in the populare or standing-room only section, the barras make a dramatic mass entrance singing and waving flags - makes the bleachers at Yankee stadium seem like a church in comparison...

Pingüino videos

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:38:27 -0500

By popular demand, here’s some video of the penguins in action...

Muchos pingüinos in Puerto Madryn

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:35:05 -0500

We schlepped to Puerto Madryn (another 13-hour bus ride, this one a challenging rocky experience) primarily to see the pingüinos. Two hours south is Punta Tombo, home to the largest colony of Magellanic penguins in the world at 350,000! It was an incredible experience like walking through a Discovery Channel show. There’s also the sheer comedy of watching the pingüinos walk, it never gets old.

The previous day we ventured out to Península Valdés, a UNESO site and one of the world’s top marine animal habitats. While we enjoyed the elephant seals and whales, the combination of the brutal Patagonian wind and dust, and hours of driving on unpaved roads (our van got a flat tire) made this a tough day. Melissa was impressed by the up close sight of the ballenas (whales) repeatedly leaping from the sea. To me it was a loco exercise in “how many Argentines can we cram on this boat with John + Melissa” - the answer being way, way too many...

Tranquilo San Martin de los Andes

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 07:33:10 -0500

After the amazing ride on the Ruta de los Siete Lagos, we arrived in San Martin de los Andes, (wow that’s a mouthful, maybe that’s why they talk so fast) a picturesque Swiss-influenced ski village nestled amid beautiful mountains on a sapphire blue lake.

We enjoyed relaxing days here finding the 2 miradors, or mountain lookouts, on opposite sides of town. One required a crazy drive up, up, up an unpaved road, while the other featured the added bonus of an historic tea house with one of the best vistas on the planet. We also embarked on a boat ride to a small National Park for some hiking to the prerequisite waterfall.

Melissa was in heaven with the local specialities of fondue and variety of smoked meats and trout (trucha). I was able to sample some of the excellent Patagonian micro-brews, since the national beer of Quilmes is let’s just say, not great.

Bariloche and los Siete Lagos

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:19:18 -0500

Bariloche, or San Carlos de Bariloche to be proper, is a miraculously beautiful place. Envision a smaller Montana / Rocky Mountain hybrid, meeting a Lake Tahoe / Swiss Alps merger, then add hundreds of neon blue lakes and you kind of get the idea, I think. Hopefully the pictures will help...

In our 2 days here, we took a ferry ride through a National Park, a rickety cable car, and just drank in the scenery. Of course we also drank some wine and ate grilled meat, I mean we’re in Argentina after all! And we sampled the local chocolate (amazing) and micro-brewed beer (pretty good) since this whole lakes region of the country has a strong Swiss / German influence dating back to its earliest immigrants.

We were somehow able to find the only automatic rental car for under $200 USD in Argentina, which made getting to our next destination a true highlight, since we drove the spectacular Route of the 7 Lakes, or Ruta de los Siete Lagos. The ride was a little challenging since for maybe 3 hours we drove on unpaved roads with fear of flat tires and damaged rental car. But we emerged unscathed.

Oh and we actually took a 19-hour overnight bus to get here, and we didn’t have the fully reclining seats. (BTW, domestic airfares are ridiculously expensive which is why these bus rides are necessary.) My beloved Melissa knew this going in, but felt if she told me I wouldn’t have done it. She’s right, of course, but again it wasn’t bad at all. What’s that song about the women being smarter? Anyway, just ask me about the no residuo solido rule the next time you see me for a funny tale...

Exquisite wines in Mendoza

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:19:24 -0500

We survived and actually enjoyed the 13-hour bus journey to Mendoza. Somehow, the lack of air cabin pressure/claustrophobia made the ride doable, while the fully-reclining seat and a Xanax helped a bunch. Vanessa, a high school friend of mine, is currently living in Mendoza with her husband and 2 kids, and she was generous enough to let us stay with them. We got a quick introduction to expat life while joining 7-year-old Olivia’s birthday party. Then, of course, it was on to the wine.

Melissa has declared the local wines to be the best she has ever tasted, and let me tell you, she has enough practice to make such a bold statement. I must say, with my more limited vino experience, that I agree. Unfortunately, most of the good stuff is not exported. On Friday we visited 4 wineries (bodegas) in the Uco Valley - an hour from Mendoza - that in addition to great wines offered views of the towering snow-capped Andes in the background. Wow, wow and wow are words that come to mind. Just a fantastic day.

On Saturday we tried our hand at repelling to give the livers a rest. It was very exciting, and somehow my fear of heights disappeared completely and got transferred to Melissa. Sunday night found us drinking wine (shocker) with new friends Matt + Kati from Colorado who we met briefly at an Obama party in Buenos Aires. BTW, every Argentine we meet is thrilled about Obama and has renewed hope in the US, so I guess we’ll be coming back after all!

On Monday Vanessa worked her connections (her husband works in the wine industry) and took us to 3 more bodegas, including the consensus favorite Pulenta that utilizes giant French oak barrels and features a basement tasting room with just spectacular wines. Another was Bodega Benegas, a historic winery restored by a former financial guy (see giant couch below) with a classic old cellar. Guess what, another great day in Mendoza, the wine capital of South America...

85 days in Argentina

Sun, 2 Nov 2008 22:07:31 -0500

Saludos de Buenos Aires! Esta es neuestro departmento hasta el 14 de enero - menos algunos viajes alrededor de la Argentina. Greetings from Buenos Aires! This is our apartment until January 14, minus a few trips around Argentina.

In case you are curious... Argentina is the southernmost place we’ve ever been (around 35 degrees below the equator!) and more east (3 hours ahead of NYC) than I would have guessed before really looking at a map.

We’re having a wonderful and somewhat mellow introduction to Buenos Aires, pacing ourselves for 3 months. We’ve been spending more time than we’d like dealing with apartment rentals and planning a 2-week trip around the country via 3 overnight! buses and 1 flight. We’re told the buses are the equivalent of a first-class airplane and we did pay extra for ejecutivo, we’ll see...

Anyway, so far we love it here. As good as advertised. Some initial impressions:
• The steaks are even more delicious than you expect, better than Smith & Wollensky, for about $13 USD! and usually big enough for us to share.
• The wine is great, at maybe $10-$20 USD for a nice bottle at a restaurant.
• The porteños eat late, really late. 11pm is a prime table, yet somehow they still make it in to work by 9am? We’ve been in a few restaurants solo at 10pm. Some bars don’t open until 2am.
• I’ve kissed 3 men and counting. It’s the standard greeting, a little odd at first when you see cops kissing, the guys at the supermarket, but it happens so fast there’s no time to react. At least I got some practice this summer with the Italians, who prefer the double cheek kiss to the Argentine’s single cheek.
• English speaking is pretty rare, even at restaurants and stores. Thanks to Melissa, we’ve been in great shape. She’s even taking a daily Spanish lesson. The first time I went to pickup some lunch without her was a little scary.
• We love our neighborhood of Palermo Soho. Kinda like the West Village, filled with cool restaurants and stores, cobblestone streets, small buildings and a quiet-ish vibe compared to the congested city center.
• The porteños love their dogs (perros), many preferring big dogs like German Shepards, labs, and huskies. Most hire dog walkers who walk 10 or so perros at once, a loco sight.
• The subway (subte) is good, but the buses are hard to navigate since there are 749 different routes and they’re all run by different companies.

Chau ( how the porteños say ciao, their standard good bye)