Buenos Aires Review

For a long weekend myself and three other PFLers jet set to Buenos Aires for the best that this city has to offer. This is my report:

Many people refer to Buenos Aires as the most European city in South America. I think the cobblestone streets, corner cafés, and fashion coifs make it easy to see why people might think this, but I like to believe that each place is unique and beautiful in its own way.

The main attractions of Buenos Aires are shopping, tango, fútbol, and restaurants (pasta, meat, alfajores and wine not to be missed). My enthusiastic travel companions and myself partook in all of these delights to some extent.

Day 1

On our first day we took up Marcos’s offer of a free city tour. Our transfer came promptly upon our arrival to the apartment that we had rented (BA Home Rental). He took us to the Marriott Hotel where we unfortunately had to wait 40 minutes for our tour bus to arrive. I am not a big fan of bus tours---I prefer to be on the street and walk around, which I appreciated at La Boca and Caminito. La Boca was our tribute to Argentine soccer, where we saw La Bombonera home of Boca Juniors Athletic Club. Perhaps I will return to this stadium one day to watch a game with my boo. At Caminito even the old people were fashionable and the tango dancers were all the attraction despite the holes in their fishnets. (That might be an oxymoron)

We wrapped up Day 1 with a well earned fancy dinner at Cabernet, in Palermo Viejo. Fried brie cheese, risotto with mushrooms, and Los Alamos Malbec for me.

On our way out of Palermo we spotted a bar with Guinness. Guinnesssssssss. Not very Argentine, but we had some pints. (Sullivan’s Bar).

Day 2

On our second day we got down to business. There are a lot of boutique stores in Bs As and we were determined to see as many as possible. It is likely that we stepped into 55% of all boutiques in Buenos Aires. On this day we went to Avenida Santa Fe, starting at Av. 9 de Julio and heading west. Reaching Burger King, we hailed a taxi to Alto Palermo. Today’s conquests: Zara, Albanese, Scombro, Cuesta Blanca, Zool, Freddo (ice cream), Caro Cuore, and more.

Dinner at La Huella, across from our apartment on the corner of Pueyrredon and Gutierrez. That waiter was adorable. I could have put a bow on him and given him away as a present. My lomo con champignons was delish.

In the evening we visited former PFLers Mark and Shelby. We went out with Mark and his Texan roommate to Milion Bar. Their conversation was … interesting.

We then took on the Bonairense night life at the coolest (according to some people) boliche, Crobar. I was impressed by the size of the club, and I did see a transvestite outside as promised. The club was rather infested with intoxicated young Argentines who had spent more time working on their hair than on their game. We stepped outside at daylight and went back to our little nest in Recoleta.

Day 3

More shopping. Galerias Pacifico and La Florida. Today’s special shopping mention goes to Susana’s beautiful red flats from Perugia and Anyela’s very practical and finely designed laptop bag (also from Perugia).
For dinner we met with former PFLer Rory and his small crew of metropolitan diners. We tried Bangalore in Palermo for Indian food and flavorful beers.

Day 4

San Telmo! We got there rather late in the day, though I really enjoyed it. Pedestrian streets, feria artesenal, street performers galore, more quaint boutique shops and good empanadas at El Desnivel (though notably not good service to go with them). It was here I found the obscure liqueur Hesperidina, which I had been sent to Argentina to find. I have yet to try it. I will let you know if it is worth it.

We left San Telmo tired but too soon if you ask me. We regrouped at the apartment in preparation for the Tango Show, which we were not sure if we were going to do or not. Confirming our reservation with the theater itself, we got dolled up. We looked hot that night. See picture. I really liked Esquina Carlos Gardel—admittedly touristy but the performers were excellent and there was a seemingly limitless supply of wine. Some us would be interested in the long haired Tango dancer’s number if anyone gets their hands on it.

Day 5

It’s now or never for shopping (and art). We split up to make our shopping strategy’s more effective to be sure that we got every last shoe or article of clothing necessary before coming back to Peru. I also visited MALBA for my cultural fix. I wasn’t blown away by the featured exhibits, but I did like the octopus on synthetic blanket and the large pulp print displayed on the wall of the first floor. O Imposivel, a sculpture by a Brazilian artist was also really cool.
We all managed to find space in our luggage for our new treasures and headed for the airport in a very full taxi. Our GOL flight was slightly delayed as could be predicted so we kept ourselves more or less entertained at Ezeisa until finally saying goodbye to Argentina.

Kathy and Abby’s Great American Adventure

Sometimes I feel like I never have a moment to myself to even reflect on what I have been doing lately, let alone write about it and post it in my blog. I did promise this post about a month ago after I returned from the US.

I had a great time while I was home—I saw some of my really good friends from elementary school, high school, and college—pretty good turnout considering the different places that we encountered each other.

Honestly the trip was too short and I didn’t go with the energy to do everything that I wanted to do—but it was totally worth it. It made me realize again how much I really miss my sister and the adventures we used to have and that is why this will be a tribute to our Great (Mini-) American Adventure in March 2008.

In the original plan I was going to rent a car and go and pick my sis up at the airport—though I forgot (couldn’t find) my driver’s license when I arrived at the airport and I ended up sleeping in at the time she arrived. I promise I really will go to the airport to meet her the next time. When she got to my mom’s house we both just slept in anyway.

I think we had one of my mom’s creations for lunch that day before my mom’s FJ took us to Leominster to go shopping with my sister-in-law. Shopping! I heart TJ Maxx and Target—I took a healthy dose of consumerism that day and updated a couple of phases of my wardrobe. We ended up at the Olive Garden for dinner with my brothers and mom’s FJ. The Olive Garden is something that I tried for the first time in 2006 when my mom and I went to Hershey, PA. It definitely qualifies as one of those restaurants to be featured in a great American adventure – don’t fill up on the breadsticks.

That night we hit my hometown with my siblings—Paisano’s, Singapore… again places like the Olive Garden that I didn’t ever dream of looking forward to. I give credit to the cougars at Singapore and a juicy scorpion bowl.

Then it was Easter Sunday. While my sister-in-law prepared the Easter supper, I discovered the wonders of Guitar Hero. It…is.,.AWESOME! I am almost ready to buy my own PS3 and plastic guitar so that I can master the mean licks and beat Sam at something, muahahaha!

The next day I drove Sam to work in his Chevy truck and went back to the house to chill until Kathy woke up. We took Sam’s truck for a ride—shopping, Dunkin Donuts, running errands…and then dumped it on the train tracks. I mean we parked it at the train station and took the train into Boston (damn that was more expensive than I remembered).

I made an attempt at lomo saltado for dinner for my mom and sister—it was not quite lomo saltado but it had a good flavor.

The next day it was my task to shove all my purchases and other treasures into my duffel bags so that I could come back to Peru.

I would like to go back for a longer stay sometime, though I’m not quite sure that is going to be. My sister is coming to Lima for some weeks during her summer break (yay!) and I am getting everything prepared for Kathy and Abby’s Great Peruvian Adventure.