Jess came to stay with us for a glorious 6 weeks and it was wonderful. It was really reenergizing for us and gave us a new set of tourist eyes to look at the city through since we had someone to show around. It was also really nice for me to have one of my best friends here, someone familiar, who knows me and has a long shared history with me. Even though Jess and I hadn’t seen each other in 10 months (!) it felt like nothing had changed. It really made BA feel much more like home to have her here. Sara, Jess and I spent our time well, balancing between spending our days doing touristy things and spending our nights making dinners together and drinking Argentine wine. Jess alternated between our place and Bliss & Ben’s place each week.
Jess was here for the bicentennial, she joined us on our visa run to Uruguay, took us ice skating, went to the many bar/cafe notables with us, and escaped to the Argentine beach town of Mar del Plata with me for a weekend.
As so much happened during the 6 weeks I’ll leave you with an accompanying picture slideshow to show how we spent our time. This one’s for you Jess Rentsch- thanks for coming to BA!
28 June 2010
23 June 2010
Carmelo, Uruguay
We needed to renew our 90-day tourist visas again, so we decided to go to a Winery in Uruguay with Jess. Instead of taking the normal trip from Buenos Aires to Colonia, we got on a bus around 6:30 AM, which took us to north of the city to Tigre, where we caught a ferry to Carmelo, Uruguay. So instead of being out in wide open waters that feel like the ocean, but are actually part of the river (Rio de la Plata), our ferry went through much narrower river deltas.
When we arrived in Carmelo, we quickly realized there were no banks open on Sunday. So in order to change Argentine pesos to Uruguayan pesos, we had to trade money with a couple of men at the ferry terminal, who each had large wads of cash they were holding. Since nearly everyone else there seemed to be doing the same thing, it seemed less sketchy than it normally would have, and Jess assured us that she had done the same thing when she was in Central America. After that, we took a short taxi ride outside of the city to Bodega Irurtia.
Bodega Irurtia is the biggest winery in Uruguay and is owned by a large family. Our informative tour guide was the granddaughter of one of the founders, and she explained very well (in Spanish) about how they make their wines. It was fall and the harvesting season had ended in March, so there weren't any grapes to see or any wine-making, but we still got to tour the winery and learn about each step of the process. The tour ended in a wine tasting, where we were able eat several delicious cheeses with good homemade bread and to try four different wines (two red, two white) and grappa. Grappa is a hard liquor that is made by distilling the leftover grape parts that didn't get turned into wine. It was very sweet! In the end we preferred the Tannant, a red wine that Uruguay wineries are known for, and the Viognier, a white wine. We bought a bottle of each when we left, along with some delicious goat cheese, which we had tried during the tasting and which is made across the street at the family's farm.
Next, we took an hour-long leisurely walk back to the center of Carmelo, where we sat down at one of the only places that was open for lunch. We split some Pilsen (Urugay's standard beer, much like Argentina's Quilmes), fish and different types of Chivitos, the amazing Uruguyan sandwich that includes beef, panceta (not quite bacon), ham, mushrooms, olives, mozzerella, onion, egg, and mayonnaise. After eating some of the best sandwiches ever, we strolled around the tiny town, where there wasn't much else to do and most things were closed on Sunday. Finally we caught the ferry back to Tigre, and the bus from there back to Buenos Aires, where we arrived back home around 9 PM.
When we arrived in Carmelo, we quickly realized there were no banks open on Sunday. So in order to change Argentine pesos to Uruguayan pesos, we had to trade money with a couple of men at the ferry terminal, who each had large wads of cash they were holding. Since nearly everyone else there seemed to be doing the same thing, it seemed less sketchy than it normally would have, and Jess assured us that she had done the same thing when she was in Central America. After that, we took a short taxi ride outside of the city to Bodega Irurtia.
Bodega Irurtia is the biggest winery in Uruguay and is owned by a large family. Our informative tour guide was the granddaughter of one of the founders, and she explained very well (in Spanish) about how they make their wines. It was fall and the harvesting season had ended in March, so there weren't any grapes to see or any wine-making, but we still got to tour the winery and learn about each step of the process. The tour ended in a wine tasting, where we were able eat several delicious cheeses with good homemade bread and to try four different wines (two red, two white) and grappa. Grappa is a hard liquor that is made by distilling the leftover grape parts that didn't get turned into wine. It was very sweet! In the end we preferred the Tannant, a red wine that Uruguay wineries are known for, and the Viognier, a white wine. We bought a bottle of each when we left, along with some delicious goat cheese, which we had tried during the tasting and which is made across the street at the family's farm.
Next, we took an hour-long leisurely walk back to the center of Carmelo, where we sat down at one of the only places that was open for lunch. We split some Pilsen (Urugay's standard beer, much like Argentina's Quilmes), fish and different types of Chivitos, the amazing Uruguyan sandwich that includes beef, panceta (not quite bacon), ham, mushrooms, olives, mozzerella, onion, egg, and mayonnaise. After eating some of the best sandwiches ever, we strolled around the tiny town, where there wasn't much else to do and most things were closed on Sunday. Finally we caught the ferry back to Tigre, and the bus from there back to Buenos Aires, where we arrived back home around 9 PM.
19 June 2010
Random Bs.As. photo: Japan Lips
We're still not sure what "Japan lips" are or why they're being advertised...
07 June 2010
Friend Date
After researching some things we can do that don't make the tourist short-list in Bs.As., I planned a friend date for Jess and Jill. I'm not very good at keeping surprises because I don't want to disappoint people, so I asked them both if they were interested in the things I had planned right before we headed out for the day. Then before we could start the fun part of the day, Jill and I had to go look at an apartment in San Telmo. Jess came with us because she likes apartment hunting and could help provide a third opinion to help us figure out whether it was a good choice or not.
San Telmo was the perfect place to start out walking for everything on the list. We walked South until we reached Bar Britanico, one of Buenos Aires' bar notables, where we had some coffee and sandwiches. While we were relaxing, we couldn't stop talking about the apartment we just saw, and with Jess' help, we realized what a great place it was. So we called the landlord up and accepted the apartment within an hour of looking at it. Then, we walked South through Parque Lezama and checked out the feria, which was mostly made up of clothing vendors rather than artisan goods. From there, we walked southeast into Barracas where we passed the beautiful old Aguila chocolate factory (which is now occupied by a huge grocery store) and where we finally hit Calle Lanin.
10 Years ago, the artist Marino Santa María began a project to turn Calle Lanin into a public art project so that people can live with art in their everyday lives without having to go to a museum. Marino was born in Barracas, has been a resident of Calle Lanin for many years and is responsible for turning the houses on it into colorful mosaics. At one end of the street, there's a long brick embankment that spans a block and sits below train tracks. Marino turns that into an outdoor museum on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays when he hangs 33 different prints of modern Argentinian artists along the bare wall. As we were walking down the street and stopping to gaze at every print, Marino walked out of his house and started chatting us up. He was very excited to talk about his work and explain it to us, even though I'm sure he's told the same story to hundreds, if not thousands, of other visitors. When we were down walking down Lanin, he invited us into his studio so we could see some of his other work and see the cultural space where children can take art classes.
After that, we walked to the beautiful Constitucion train station and hopped on a subway to head up toward the Obelisk. From there, we walked to Confitería Ideal (another cafe notable), which is famous for it's milongas, where Argentinians meet to tango. We found the milonga upstairs, ordered two submarinos (steamed milk that you drop a bar of chcoloate into) and sat down to watch the locals. Although there were a few young dancers, nearly everyone on the dancefloor was over age 60, and before long, a few older men had stopped by our table to ask us to dance. We explained that we don't know how to tango, and one of the kind men stayed and chatted with us in Spanish for awhile. A few minutes later, two older men showed up again but insisted that we didn't let our inexperience keep us from trying. A patient man taught Jess how to tango over several dances, while Jill and I frustrated our teacher much faster. He gave up and went back to dancing with the Argentinian women who knew how to tango.
When the milonga ended, we hopped on a bus and headed to Boedo, which is supposedly the neighborhood where tango was born. We ate dinner at Pan y Arte (bread and art), which specializes in Mendocino (from Mendoza province) foods and that displays different local artists on the walls of the restaurant. We shared two different casseroles that were some of the most delicious and unique foods we've eaten here even though the ingredients were fairly basic including: ground beef, potatoes, pumpkin, and raisins. We were tired after all of that running around and headed home!
San Telmo was the perfect place to start out walking for everything on the list. We walked South until we reached Bar Britanico, one of Buenos Aires' bar notables, where we had some coffee and sandwiches. While we were relaxing, we couldn't stop talking about the apartment we just saw, and with Jess' help, we realized what a great place it was. So we called the landlord up and accepted the apartment within an hour of looking at it. Then, we walked South through Parque Lezama and checked out the feria, which was mostly made up of clothing vendors rather than artisan goods. From there, we walked southeast into Barracas where we passed the beautiful old Aguila chocolate factory (which is now occupied by a huge grocery store) and where we finally hit Calle Lanin.
10 Years ago, the artist Marino Santa María began a project to turn Calle Lanin into a public art project so that people can live with art in their everyday lives without having to go to a museum. Marino was born in Barracas, has been a resident of Calle Lanin for many years and is responsible for turning the houses on it into colorful mosaics. At one end of the street, there's a long brick embankment that spans a block and sits below train tracks. Marino turns that into an outdoor museum on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays when he hangs 33 different prints of modern Argentinian artists along the bare wall. As we were walking down the street and stopping to gaze at every print, Marino walked out of his house and started chatting us up. He was very excited to talk about his work and explain it to us, even though I'm sure he's told the same story to hundreds, if not thousands, of other visitors. When we were down walking down Lanin, he invited us into his studio so we could see some of his other work and see the cultural space where children can take art classes.
After that, we walked to the beautiful Constitucion train station and hopped on a subway to head up toward the Obelisk. From there, we walked to Confitería Ideal (another cafe notable), which is famous for it's milongas, where Argentinians meet to tango. We found the milonga upstairs, ordered two submarinos (steamed milk that you drop a bar of chcoloate into) and sat down to watch the locals. Although there were a few young dancers, nearly everyone on the dancefloor was over age 60, and before long, a few older men had stopped by our table to ask us to dance. We explained that we don't know how to tango, and one of the kind men stayed and chatted with us in Spanish for awhile. A few minutes later, two older men showed up again but insisted that we didn't let our inexperience keep us from trying. A patient man taught Jess how to tango over several dances, while Jill and I frustrated our teacher much faster. He gave up and went back to dancing with the Argentinian women who knew how to tango.
When the milonga ended, we hopped on a bus and headed to Boedo, which is supposedly the neighborhood where tango was born. We ate dinner at Pan y Arte (bread and art), which specializes in Mendocino (from Mendoza province) foods and that displays different local artists on the walls of the restaurant. We shared two different casseroles that were some of the most delicious and unique foods we've eaten here even though the ingredients were fairly basic including: ground beef, potatoes, pumpkin, and raisins. We were tired after all of that running around and headed home!
02 June 2010
Random Bs.As. photo: Bicentenario Google Style
Google updated their Argentine website for the bicentennial!
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