Argentina How I Miss You!

We are back home now and recovering from our various illnesses, thank god! I just got the album of Argentina pics up here. I also added some pics to previous postings about the trip. At that point I realized I didn't even talk about a lot of the very cool things we did while we were there. So I'm going to bring you up to speed on some of the things we saw and and loved, and what I'm in complete withdrawal of.

First thing I can't believe I forgot to talk about was the Cementario Recoletta. I guess I hadn't prepped Oscar well for this because he kept making comments about how the cemetery couldn't be this way because it's the middle of the city and there isn't any grass. Finally when he made the grass comment I realized I had clearly not told him anything about this place, other than it was a must see and Evita was there. There is no grass, it's all tombs/mausoleums/crypts (whichever is your word of choice). Some were very ornate some were simple. Some were well kept with recent additions, and some had fallen into disrepair. All together this is definitely one of my favorite places to see in Buenos Aires. We both could have spent hours walking around, taking pictures and just taking it all in. There are many photos in the album of the cemetery, but this is one of the walkways of the cemetery lined with crypts.

One of the main draws to the cemetery is that Evita Peron is "buried" here. We were wandering around and found a large group of tourists lined up to see a particular crypt. I'd read this was probably the best way of finding her. Her family crypt was not very ornate but many had left flowers for her. The most remarkable thing to me was seriously the line to just take a picture of it. There are many Presidents, military figures, and famous Argentine people here. It makes sense to get the guided tour, but a certain someone I travel with isn't keen on getting guided tours.

While we were walking to the Cemetery we noticed large portions of major roads being barricaded. Oscar asked a few people what was going on, thinking there was some sort of parade, it was New Years Day. What we found out was it was the beginning of the Dakar Road Rally. It started from the obelisk in the center of Buenos Aires and continued for 17 days through the mountains of Argentina and Chile. We saw many stories on the news for the remainder of our trip. It was fun watching the vehicles enter the city, there are different classes of vehicles, dirt bikes, ATVs, Gigantic All Terrain vehicles, etc.

One really entertaining thing that happened to us revolved around our hotel, and a local soccer team. I think it's pretty common knowledge that South Americans love futbol (soccer), I learned this may be the understatement of the year! They have PASSION for futbol! One afternoon in Mar del Plata Oscar was sleeping, not feeling so hot, and I was working on my travel journal (mostly because someone was snoring and no sleep was going to be had by me). All of a sudden these three guys (two probably 19ish and one about 14ish) start drumming in front of our hotel, two snare drums and a bass. I'm all for street entertainment - when there is talent, but when there isn't I get annoyed, especially if it's effecting my rest time. And these three kids were NOT drummers. So annoyed I'm paying attention off and on and notice a few more people show up with large flags, and then more people, then the crowd starts singing. Now it doesn't really seem like they all know each other, but they certainly all know the song. Eventually the crowd gets rather large and blocks the street. I notice a tour bus pull up and the crowd goes BANANAS! Now they are shooting fireworks, singing like crazy, beating their drums, and acting like people did with the Beatles came to town. Getting off the bus are local soccer players who apparently won their game. It was amazing! I went from being totally annoyed at these amateur drummers to a state of awe at the passion this group had for this sport and it's athletes. I mean I'm sure the Yankees don't get this attention after a preseason game!

And lastly one thing that left a lasting impression on me, and that I have serious withdrawal from is the COFFEE. (if you know me well, you had to see that coming!). The standard coffee drink is the cortado, a small very strong coffee with a dash of milk in it. Oh man is it good, and it's customary to use 2 packets of sugar...excellent! and usually comes with some sort of little treat, like a wee little meringue or a little cookie. Such a great thing, reminded me almost of the cortadito in Miami (which I also miss greatly and have tried to replicate). I had many of these coffees throughout the visit and across the board they were good. I was surprised to see several Starbucks in the city, in a place where coffee is so good I don't really see the need...but oh well. It is customary to have Cafe con Leche for breakfast though, regular brewed coffee with more milk, and cortados in the afternoon.

Castelli, La Plata, or Buenos Aires

We decided after our long journey to find an estancia that we'll just go to the next large town, according to the map that's Castelli, and find a quiet hotel for the night. Again, at this point we both feel like crap and we just want to lay down. We get to Castelli and seriously, why is this place listed as a big town on the map? Not only is EVERYTHING closed, not exaggerating, but it's a tiny town without hint of a hotel or a simple shack for us to curl up in. So we trudge on, trying to think of other options. We had about 100 kilometers left until Buenos Aires, and I suggested we just head back to the Melia Hotel and try to check in a day early. We discussed going to La Plata but by the time we got there, we should have just gone to BA. So that's what we did. We got back to the Melia, and luckily they did have a room for us...but not just any room, a Junior Suite! Pretty swanky too, steam shower, giant tub, very nice. We returned the rental car and walked back to our hotel. Where we showered and collapsed in bed. Around 9:30 Oscar ventured out to, as he calls it, "our restaurant" to get some food for us. He came back with a lovely steak, and small bottle of wine. This steak was so yummy, yes everyone says to eat the beef here but frankly we've had few decently prepared steaks. And I've been more focused on the homemade raviollis. This steak was so yummy, it was topped with an egg, roasted red peppers, bacon (mmmm), and actually came with a vegetable (something of a rarity here), the potatoes were also supper yummy. It was a very good meal, and even better that I could eat it in my PJs.

Estancia? or can we just stay here?

On Tuesday we were supposed to spend the day and night at Estancia el Ombu, but as we learned when we arrived in Argentina there are horrible floods in the area. We researched several other estancias that were on the drive back from Mar del Plata and felt somewhat confident we'd be able to find one. The problem is there aren't any signs for the estancias on the high way, just mile marker suggestions of where to turn off on a dirt road and drive for 14+ kilometers. On our journey down one dirt road we finally gave up and decided there was no estancia there, though there were these really nice gates to a family estanica (not for tourists to visit) and we stopped in for directions. These people were so nice, they apparently summer at their estancia and spend the rest of the year in Buenos Aires. They invited us into the home, offered us drinks, and tried to help us find the estancia. Now the other real problem with the estanicas is that they do not list their own phone numbers, they all go through an agency in Buenos Aires. And no one seems to want to answer that phone or email (we've tried). Eventually this family figures out that they know the owner of the estancia we are looking for and the mother drives her car for us to follow her. More driving down dirt roads and she points us to the right way and then we parted ways. We drove on, only to find that it's closed! ugh. At this point we're both tired and feeling sick. We really wanted to just show back up at the families house and invite ourselves to stay there. They clearly had the room, and a lovely estancia, and pool, for us to enjoy. But we powered on to figure out a place to stay the night.

Mar del Plata and Day Trips

We left the big city for Mar del Plata on Saturday. I was expecting Mar del Plata to be a small beach side resort similar to Rehoboth. I was stunned to see the reality of another big city. And apparently all of the people who left Buenos Aires were there. Sunday the beach in Mar del Plata was packed, you couldn't tell where the sand ended and the water began because there were so many people. Oscar and I tend to be not so crowd oriented, so we were off in search of calmer waters. In our guide book we read about a beach called Chapadmalal, and set off to find it. While there were still a lot of people at this beach, you could at least pull up a parcel of sand and sit. The water was very refreshing, which was great given it was above 95 degrees! We had stopped in town for a sandwich, some cokes and chips and enjoyed our lunch in the sand.

On Monday Mar del Plata was a bit less crowded, we are guessing because the weekenders had returned to the bigger city, Buenos Aires. We did venture to the beach outside our hotel. Because we didn't bring anything with us we were able to swim in the water together, which as nice. Then we hung out on the rocks to dry a bit. Monday's day trip was to Balcarce, a town most famous as the birth place of Juan Manuel Fangio, a 1960s Formula One Race car driver. There is a large museum with all of his cars. My father would have loved this place, and frankly it was pretty interesting. I couldn't really read anything there, but the cars were pretty cool to check out. Many of them you could open the doors and look inside, much less hands off than in the US. I started to feel a bit sick so we ventured on to find some food. And again, our time to get hungry just doesn't mesh with the Argentines, no kitchens were open, though we were able to get a sandwich.

Ahhh, there you guys are!

We left the city yesterday for a few days at the beach. It was a nice drive through the Pampas with a stop off for lunch at a lake. We arrived here in Mar del Plata (or how I regrettably keep saying, Plata del Mar), around 5:30pm and HOLY MOLY! This is where all of the Argentines are! It is so packed here I have no idea how these people are even sitting on the beach. I have never seen so many people, it's amazing. We are off in search of a quieter beach today, not sure if there is one to be found.

In other news Oscar is on antibiotics now, and hopefully he'll be feeling better soon.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY PATRICK!

It's 3:30pm, Where is Everyone?

When we found out we'd be in Buenos Aires for New Years, I googled what awesome things to do in the big city. Much to my dismay I found posts like "the worst New Years I ever had was in Buenos Aires," Or "New Years in BA is boring." While our New Years Eve was anything but boring it was amazing how the city cleared out in the afternoon. For the entire week the streets have been filled with people and cars, some streets are pedestrian only however streets with cars also have people spilling off the sidewalks into the streets for walking.

Yesterday early afternoon I was walking through Avenida Florida (and shopping), it was so lively, tango dancers, bands, people selling crafts, etc in the center of the street, so much energy it was amazing. When Oscar and I were walking back from the office New Years toast we noticed the vendors packing up. By 3:30pm the vendors were gone and the streets were deserted! I haven't really noticed too many Americans until 3:30pm, perhaps because they were mixed in with Argentines until that point. For the rest of the evening is was amazing to see the city so empty of pedestrians and cars. Prior, crossing the street was a fast game of frogger, now a leisurely stroll would get you across the street without incident.

Finding dinner proved a challenge! Like I said the city closed down, restaurants that were open were reservation only and full...we did not make reservations. If you know Oscar he's very much against being "locked in" to something. The past few nights we've passed this one particular restaurant that was empty, something a bit sketchy. But it was open last night and didn't require reservations. They had a prefix menu and the food was a bit rough. Had it not been for the two other couples we'd met and chatted with, the evening could have gone horribly wrong. However, these couples were lovely, one Israeli couple from Boston and another English couple from London. Being we spent 4 hours in the restaurant it was lovely to have such nice people to spend the time with. Oscar said the best thing about the food was the water! ha. It did come with a bottle of wine and a champagne toast to finish. The wine was rough also, but we drank it all (seriously 4 hours what were we to do!?)

I hope you all had lively New Years celebrations! While ours wasn't crazy partying, we were excited to be out for it and with each other.

Hello! Buenos Aires

Here we are! My first thoughts were, Argentina is not like other Latin American countries I've visited. This city is much more put together, much more cosmopolitan. The city seems very European, hints of Spain...but the people are much more South American. Everyone we've met has been lovely. Oscar is working, getting back to the hotel around 8pm each night. We arrived on Tuesday morning after 24 hrs of travel (my parents house to Newark, Newark to Houston, Houston to Buenos Aires.

While Oscar is working I'm walking all over the city. I've seen Plaza de Mayo, La Casa Rosada, several Basilica, one had a nativity display with nativities from around the world. My favorite was the one from Malawi it was carved Ebony and just gorgeous. They were all beautiful and I'm glad I stumbled upon the Basilica and Museum. I spent some time in Plaza San Martin and watched the changing of the flags, I've been shopping on Avenida Florida (woohoo!), and my list of to-do's is slowly being checked off. Oscar is done with work this afternoon, so it'll be nice to finally get him out there and seeing this city. It's really beautiful.

Walking to Oscar's office this afternoon and shopping on Avenida Florida was so much more lively given the holiday. Lots of Tango dancers, street performers, people selling trinkets. I love it!

I forgot my memory card reader so you'll see pics when I get home!