And now for the most important part of our Argentina Trip…

This will be my last post about our yearly trip to Argentina, because I know you are probably all bored by now, and I’m actually forgetting some parts of the trip, because while it has only been 3 weeks since we got back… it feels more like 3 years!

But, I could not signed off without detailing the other past time of our trip, which can be sum up in one word:

EATING

Boy, did we eat!

During this trip, most of us had our little cheat sheat with restaurant suggestions from co-workers, friends, Internet, mothers… and of course the hotel staff, the people on the street of Buenos Aires and our guts.  While we eat a lot more that what I’m going to mention here,  we narrow down our experiences as follow…

First up: OSAKA

Osaka’s cuisine is a mix of Japanese, Thailand, Chinese and Peruvian gastronomy. The restaurant is located in the district of Palermo, considered nowadays as being one of the more “smart” area in Buenos Aires.

After a 30+ minute cab ride from the hotel, we arrive to encounter the restaurant plenty full, we waited about  20 minutes for the table, but considering that we were a total of 7 people, and it was Friday night, we did not mind the wait.  Plus the smells that were coming out of the kitchen were amazing.

Once seated we dove into our menus and then… well, uh.. we were stumped! Everything n the menu sounded good.  The bargaining around the table started… “what are you going to order?” and responses follow the trend “Oh, if you order that, I order the other stuff you were thinking about and we share?” and on and on, until our waitress saves us!  She came in, took one look of our confusion and asked us if it would be ok for her to make the menus suggestion.  The resounding yes could be heard across the restaurant.  She basically then suggested we start with a sample of all of their most favorite dishes in the Sushi department and cold plates.. then moving to the “hot” plates – we all agreed and sat back for culinary delight.

And people, we were impressed with EVERYTHING.  The sushi was fresh and the mix of textures and flavors were excellent.  The services was exceptional.  Our waitress was sure to come around and explain what she was putting in front of us, and then giving us time between the next offering for us to rest our palates and bellies.  If you travel to Buenos Aires, this is a must in your restaurant line up – as a group we all agree that this was our favorite restaurant in the whole trip.

Osaka Table Decor

Seco de la Costa

Of course we could not pass up desserts:

It has CHOCOLATE that is all we needed to know

Next up: LAS PENCAS

This little gem is located in San Telmo and this one was not on anyone’s restaurant list.  Basically we stumble on to it after our fist choice was totally booked and the wait time was over 1 hour and we were all very, very hungry – as in Starving!  So, we basically decided to walk down the street and we came upon this tucked in a corner.

Their cuisine is  “Andina” which means traditional fare from Northern Argentina. Using a wide variety of ingredients including meats, root vegetables, grasses and grains, which creates pleasing combination of flavors and aromas.  The restaurant address is Estados Unidos 501 (which means USA in spanish – kind of ironic don’t you think?) the docor was very typica and fun and the service (once more) was excellent, the waiter took the time to explain the menu, he gave us his recommendation and since it was our theme to be adventurous we did not take it for granted and took his word for it.

And we got to try our fist carpacio made from llama meat – and it was a hit.  One of the boys went with  the Raviolis and by far was the popular dish around the table

Ironically its located on a street named Estados Unidos, which means USA

The hit dish, the Raviolis:

Yummy

And of course we had to do this.

Argentina is know for meat, meat and more MEAT, and we could not pass up the chance to go to its most popular Steakhouse: Cabañas Las Lilas

This is a steak lover’s paradise, so if you are not a steak aficionado, you might not do justice to the quality of steak here. Las Lilas raises their own cattle on their own private farms, so you can already envision the quality control they have here and how wonderful the meat was going to be.

Its located in Puerto Madero, which is a gastronomic delight in the city, lining up its may street with restaurants, upon restaurants.

Pricier than most restaurants, Cabaña Las Lilas begins with an appetizer sampler and extensive bread selection that are both included in a mandatory 15 peso cover charge (”cubierto” in Spanish). After that, appetizers (ranging from around 20-35 pesos) and wine (45 pesos and up to over 1000) can be ordered; including selections of amazing carpaccio dishes with a small arugula salad and shaved fresh Parmesan cheese. (Yeah we ordered it and DEVOUR it tool)

While there are other options for entrees, no one in my party of seven people had the nerve to order anything but a big, juicy piece of masterfully grilled red meat. (Ok, I did not order a steak, because of course it would be wasted on me, since I could not eat it) but the “Oh my god” and “Its so soft” coming from the table pretty much seal the deal that we hit the mother load in steak heaven.

The gang ready to dig into the juice steaks

And did I mention the breads and the wine? Or the Original way in serving it? (the bread, not the wine)

One type of bread and wine

Or the lables on the steak, which promp us to shout to the waitres that we all wanted some!

I'm Juicy! Yes you are!!!

And she happily brought as 3 sets, because us crazy tourist need to take these type of things home!

Cows, Cows and more Cows!

And while we were ready to call it quits and take a much needed nap in order to start the process of digestion…we still gorged ourselves with a selection of desserts, ranging from a homemade chocolate masterpiece to a panqueque (Argentine version of a crepe) overflowing with their Dulce de Leche wonderfulness.

So last word on this restaurant? GO!

And since I realized that this post is long and it has taken me over one hour to write and manipulate pictures and answer text from my phone and cook breakfast… I need to take back my word and tell you that this will be SECOND to LAST post about Argentina cuisine… Because we still have left over another Steakhouse in El Calafate and of course we could not leave Argentina and not go to an Italian restaurant.  So more to come folks.

Ice, Ice Baby

So we come to the highlight of our Argentina trip.  Packing up and taking a plane down south to El Calafate, a little village in Patagonia. And spend 2 days enjoying great food, peaceful surroundings, very cold weather, and of course Perito Moreno Glacier in its entire splendor.

El Calafate is named after a small bush typical of southern Patagonia, whose fruit (a kind of berry) is very much used in local confectionery, especially for jams. It tastes similar to blackberries although it is less sour. It is usually the main ingredient of cakes, pies, drinks and desserts, which are very difficult to resist – trust us, we tried and failed numerous times.

According to the tradition, the person who eats calafate will come back for more. However reality shows that whoever visits El Calafate does not ever want to leave – we were hooked!

At present, the town it is a very important tourist center and has gained both national and international significance since it is there where all the glacial circuits start: Viedma Glacier, Upsala Glacier, Onelli Glacier, Spegazzini Glacier, Mayo Glacier, Frías Glacier, and Perito Moreno Glacier known as “the eighth wonder of the world” and declared World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981.

Yeah, we like to go BIG!

Our hotel: Altos Calafate was a preview of what was to come. Located high on the hills of the town, we had a breathtaking view of the mountains in front of us:

Sunset over Calafate

Our Hotel

The hotel staff was friendly, and very helpful – our bellman turned out to be our mayor source of tourist information during our stay, giving us tips and recommendations.  The food was excellent -the breakfast buffet, which was included in the price, rival the one we been having for the past 3 days in the Inter-Continental hotel in Buenos Aires.

In the town, the main attractions are located along the main avenue (there is only one), which is full of picturesque houses, shops, restaurants, hostels, public services and handicraft stores, among others. We were surprise how clean and modern the town was.  It shows how prideful they are in the upkeep of the town.

We were also treated to how organized they are the following day, when we set off to our Glacier adventure.

Just a step away to living the Glacier

We were picked up at the hotel by the tour company on time and we set off to ride along the town, then switching to a much bigger bus, that would make the trip Los Glaciares National Park, about 45 minutes away.  Once we enter the Park and stop and paid the entrance fee, it goes on for another 22 kilometers up to the wharf.  Once there, we took a boat to cross the Rico Arm, from Magallanes Peninsula to the opposite shore, where we landed and set out to cover a stretch of a couple of hundred meters on foot along the coast to the southern edge of Perito Moreno Glacier.

At the water edge

We were greeted by young guides who walked us up to a row of bungalow where we placed our packs and lunches and were able to have a bathroom break!  Then off we went passing views that beg for pictures!  The guides divided us in groups based on language preferences and then they went into a quick lesson of Perito Moreno.  How its form, how it moves, why it falls… all with this backdrop:

yeah... see behind us

I dare you to pay attention with this...in the background

Here are quick facts that we learned while trying to take pictures pay attention to the guide: The Glacier is about 3 miles wide, with an average height of 197 feet about the surface of the water, and the ice depth is about 558 feet.  It advances at a speed of up to 6 (almost 7) feet per day.  What makes it incredible is that it loses mass at approximately the same rate, meaning that aside from small variations, its terminus has not advanced or receded in the past 90 years.  Of course we all wanted to see rupture… and we were not disappointed, while on the treeking side of the glacier, we heard, a couple of times the unmistakable thunder before large pieces of ice fell unto the water.  Lots of ohhhs’ and ahhs at this point.  We had yet to see it.

After the quick lesson, we climbed up to base camp, where the guides start to clip metal spikes to the soles of your shoes.

Always in fashion

Ready, set go!

Afterward, they broke us off into smaller groups and launch into a lesson in walking on the surface of the glacier (harder than you think)…And then, there is nothing left to do but climb you butt off:

We are the last on the line

The feeling of stepping unto the ice is hard to describe, except to say that you feel you are already in heaven as you come in contact with the breathtaking ice blocks.  You cannot take one bad picture:

As the summit nears, impressive landscapes will unfold before your eyes. Giving us time to capture it on film:

Into the vortex

Here the guide have you  descend into a valley where you find a quick surprise:

Time for a drink!

Yep, those are crystal glasses, a bottle of whiskey and some Alfajores – what more can you ask for Internet?

The guides will shop off ice from the glaciers, and filled the crystal glasses with the amber liquid and   offers a toast all the while munching on the delicious Alfajores.  In my book? The perfect end to an already once in a life experience.  The only thing left for us to do?

Take more pictures:

On the very edge

After lunch, we got back to the boat, and then the bus… which took us to the other side of the Glacier to the “Mirador”, which is a series of walkways/bridges along the edged of the glacier.  Most of the ruptures of its frontal walls can be witness in this location and luck was on our side, when finally it happen:

Kabooommm

And of course more pictures:

As close as you can get

At this point very cold, and happy

This is one of my favorites… since the NYBoys were down there waving up at us (with all that mother nature made frosting behind them)!

Wave at me!

Tango

As you can imagine one of of the draws of Argentina, besides loads of heavy meals of “Parrilla” (Argentina BBQ)… is the Tango.  This is the staple of Argentina to the world.  And of course while we saw lots of Tango in the streets… and decided the only way to really see it was attending  a show, and after much deliberation, and suggestions we settled on the well known “La Ventana” bar/club. We passed on the dinner (since we had eaten in another place before hand) but the show was excellent, the music and the vibes of the place gave you the feeling that you were back in time.

I still like more of the Tango we saw dance on the street, it seems more real to me.  And when you combine the old with the new, it just keeps you on your feet.  Here is a treat for you to enjoy

Tom and I are so going to learn this.

Buenos Aires – Day 1, 2 and 3 (part 1)

We arrived in Buenos Aires (the capital of Argentina) on Saturday at around 7am.  We were all hungry, sleepy, and pretty much all in need of a shower!  The 10 hour flight from Miami, was pretty uneventful… except for the fact that one of my friends got her ass upgraded to First Class (we are all still giving her the evil look!).

We checked into the Inter-Continental hotel and after dropping the luggage, we all set out to find something to eat. 

We ended up walking into Café Tortoni, which open in 1858 and it’s the oldest shop in the whole country.  Just the thought of the amount of painters, writers, musicians, not to mention politicians (Hillary Clinton) and in some cases Majesty too. (His Majesty Don Juan Carlos de Bordon, King of Spain) that have visited and enjoy the place in the last 150 years; it sort of makes you stop and take stock.  It has manage to preserved the flavor of old times, offering the best of the past with it rich 18^th century décor. 

We started our culinary adventure by having some breakfast which included a “café con leche” (Cappuccino) and a couple of selections of Sandwiches de Mija, which are delicate sandwiches made with crustless buttered white bread, very thinly sliced and filled with different options, I chose the basic ham and cheese, while the other were a bit more adventurous and ordered gorgonzola with brie.  We topped the whole breakfast with some hot churros (fried-dough pastry-based snacks) and then we set off to walk it all off in the city streets.

We walked a bit and admired the architecture, which its mixture of old Spanish colonial and splashes resembling Barcelona, Paris and Madrid.  Walking on some streets we felt transported to those European cities. That is not to say that Buenos Aires has not joined the 20^th century…Newer modern high-technology buildings by Argentine architects include the Le Parc Tower by Mario Álvarez, the Torre Fortabat by Sánchez Elía and the Repsol-YPF Tower by César Pelli.

We decided that the best way to get to know the city was to take a quick city tour.  And if you ever travel, that is the fist thing you should do… it will give you a quick taste of the city, and this way you can make notes as to which locations you would want to go back and explore with more time.  The tour bus, took us to all the major landmarks… starting with the famous “Plaza de Mayo” (May Square) which is arguably the nerve center of Buenos Aires and witness to many demonstrations (In fact during the 6 days we were in Buenos Aires, and the numerous times we passed this square there was always some time of demonstration going on) and pivotal events in the Argentine history. Its also flaked by several of the city’s major landmarks: the Cabildo (the city council during the colonial era), the Casa Rosada (home of the executive branch of the federal government), the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires, the May Pyramid, the current city hall or municipalidad, and the headquarters of the Nación Bank. The Buenos Aires financial district (microcentro), affectionately known as la City also lies besides the Plaza.

Buenos Aires is made up of different neighborhoods (there are actually 48!) and we continue on to our next stop: San Telmo, which is the oldest barrio (neighborhood) of Buenos Aires and also fairly well preserved area.  It’s mainly known for its cafes, tango parlors and antique shops that line up the cobblestone streets, which are filled with artists and dancers.  The main attraction of San Telmo is the Antique Fair that takes place every Sunday in the main public square.  Here you can bargain for antiques and catch plenty of locals dancing tango on the streets not to mention people asking for “FREE HUGS” and getting them.

The most interesting barrio that we went to was La Boca, and this is the home of Boca Juniors, one of the worlds top football (as in soccer) clubs.  It’s a popular place with its colorful houses and pedestrian streets.  While it was not one of my favorite places, it had its unique identity and I really loved the street art and the large sculptures.

We then continue on to Puerto Madero, occupying a significant portion fo the Rio de la Plata riverbank and representing the latest architectural trends in the city… and it also was the meca of the best known restaurants in the city.  This was my favorite “barrio” in Buenos Aires. 

All of the streets of Puerto Madero are named after women. (Hell yes).  The “Puente de la Mujer” (Women’s Bridge), by the Spanish Santiago Calatrava, is located here, linking the east and west docks of Puerto Madero.  The bridge has a single mast with cables suspending a portion of the bridge which rotates 90 degrees in order to allow water traffic to pass.  When it swings to allow watercraft passage, the far end comes to a resting point on a stabilizing pylon.

This location represents the largest wide-scale urgan project of the city and it has undergone an impressive revival in just a few short years, making it the most successfull waterfront renewal projects around the world.

And then we come to Recoleta… (part 2)

Things that I hate…

Ok, maybe “hate” is a strong word here, and maybe the best title would be “things that irk me”… but it does not have the same punch as  I hear it in my head when ever I’m pissed off, it’s always pronounced very slowly and positively seething with anger.  Think, “I…HATE…SOOO…MUCH!” 

But this is about things I hate…

Ugg boots and mini skirts… because Ugg boots in Florida are freaking stupid, we have 98+  degree weather, and wearing boots made for winter just look dumb.  Mini skirts? Because I cannot pull them off myself. 

People who attempt to push their opinions on me. I don’t care if you think Palin is amazing, if you think Your God is an Awesome God, or if you OMGFucking LOVE The Office. I don’t. I won’t. Don’t try to change my mind. We can debate these issues, but keep in mind; “I just do,” and “well, that’s what I think” are not acceptable supporting arguments. 

Finance, accounting, balancing my checkbook and anything else that involves math. 

Any dessert with fruit in it. 

…And on that note, any fruit that is ripe, I know, I know weird but true, I like my fruit on the almost stage of ripeness, but as soon as it passes that line, its hands off (usually to the boyfriend). 

People who do not have an opinion about anything… how can you NOT have an opinion about stuff? 

Those who do not fight for their belief… I can agree to disagree, but you can also argue your point in order to make me understand it better. 

Traffic (enough said) 

Airports securities check point.  Totally unnecessary step… just a ploy to keep everyone “scared” in believing that we are “vulnerable”.  GIVE.ME.A.BREAK 

The Cartoon Network – Now that boyfriend is in the picture (with the kid), I have been exposed (constantly – we are getting a new TV set) to this and let me tell you… Whatever happened to the tea cup and the spoon singing? Or road runner? Beep, beep!  Because, Sponge Bob it ain’t. 

McCain/Palin – do I really need to elaborate? – Yeah, I did not think so. 

And for the record: 4 more hours to go before I get OUT OF WORK TODAY, and 20 more hours before I’m sitting in an UNCOMFORTABLE seat in American Airlines.

Counting…Everyone seems to be doing this…

Here I am sitting at work counting… COUNTING the hours left for me to get out of here today T-30 minutes… 

And then the count down begins again tomorrow, when all I have to do is get through 8 hours of work, because then I will be free… LIBERATED! Of bosses, co-workers, deadlines and stupidity for TWELVE whole days! 

Instead, I will be in Argentina, with my core friends, who I have not seen for over 6 months and seriously people…I was in the verge of entering withdrawal symptoms, due to lack of contact with people that understand me because well, they won’t let my crazy slide.

We will have marathon talking sessions about the new boyfriend, living with the boyfriend, the new house, and living in the house while remodeling the house, and we will talk about the circus that it’s the US elections, because this is the first time I get to VOTE in this country.  And let me tell you, I’m going to fully exercise my right to VOTE!

I have never been a fan of politics, coming from a country where politics are truly dead due to the amount of corruption and lack of trust on any given candidate (they all end up corrupt at the end), so I never really got excited about it.  

But, NOW?

OMG, its like I can not live without reading the headlines every day, I want to find out the stupidity that comes from Palin and wailing of McCain… the debate schedule is downloaded on my iPod calendar, and my DVR is programmed to record them. Political blogs are being read almost on a 30 minute intervals just so I don’t miss all the juiciness that these two candidates are dishing out.

3 Days!!!

In 3 days time I will be once more getting confortable in an airplane.  This time I will travel a total of approximatly 10 hours and by Friday morning I will probably be speaking my native language and drinking some cafe con leche and eating pastries at an outside cafe and catching up with the NYBoys and the BFF.

We will for the next 12 days, experience art, history, shopping, dining, fashion, tango and a glacier because out of all of the stuff we have planned in our up coming trip to Argentina.. this is what I’m looking forward to the most … which is visiting this place:

and doing some of this:

Are you guys a bit jealous yet?

Ready to see some sunrise

Why does it feel like the last 2-3 month or so I started each post apologizing for being away from the blog?

:slapping head: DUH! Because its true?

Yeah, well, been busy, busy, busy… with what? I wish I could say the following…

“I won the lottery and been traveling all over the world, with limited internet access”

Yeah.. no dice, I don’t believe it myself either. (but I got a lotto ticket just in case!)

Instead, for those that have not paid attention with the very limited posting, here is a simple recap

1. I met a guy, who made my insides turn Topsy curvy
2. fell in love with the guy
3. fought with the family for the guy
4. moved out of my old place into “our” new place with the guy
5. started remodeling the new place (without a contractor)
6. have seriously been promoted with more responsibilities (sadly not salary) at work.

As you can see, down time has not been my friend for a while now.

While I totally dig 1 and 2 on the list, the rest has taken its toll on me, no only mentally but physically as well.  For a while I felt like I was just going through the motions of every day life.  And for the past week or so have woken up and realized that “holy shit, 2 months have gone by!”  followed with the following thought:  “God, I need a serious vacation”.

And in 9 days I get my wish… I will be traveling up to Maine, specifically here

The main attraction? Meeting all of Tom’s family.   The reason, while it will be a family reunion, sadly it does not have a pretty reason. A week after Tom and I started to date, his father passed away… (we been lucky that something so tragic in the life of a person brought us closer instead of tearing us apart.) and this trip is in memory of his dad.  Most of his family (all 29 of them) will be meeting up for a weekend of remembrance and serious sports (hiking, biking, swimming and putt-putt)  It seem that his father was a man that enjoy triathlons… so the weekend is filled with all sorts of planned activities.  Most which involved waking up at six in the morning.

I.NOT.EVEN.JOKING people

We got the invitation and with it, the agenda and it states clearly the “start time” for the activities and sure it enough there it was: SIX-A-CLOCK-IN-THE-FREAKING-MORNING.

You could hear me from miles away…

“WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTT?????????? No way in hell, no how, I’m going to use my vacation time to actually wake up earlier than I do when I go to work at home”

Tom’s response: “Suck-it-up babe, you will love it, plus the highlight is Acadia National Park and trust me, you will be blown away”

Ok, I google it and found this bit of a fact:

“Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park is the tallest mountain along the eastern coast of the United States. During certain times of the year, it is the first place in the U.S. to see sunrise.”

So, now I’m excited.

Specially since I will be wearing my new leader jacket that I totally got on sale this past weekend, when we went hunting for hiking boots for Tom.  I mean I’m totally ready to see a sunrise in this kind of leather:

And the best part of it? I can wear it, again, almost a week later when I take my yearly vacation to this place

Argentina or bust

So, it has been decided… after numerous emails, phone calls, pitching ideas, locations and the ultimate deal breaker (we are to tired to keep looking at travel sites) we are off to Argentina for our annual vacation.  The past day has seen a flurry of activities among the group and we are starting to narrow dates, Hotels, airfares possibilities, not to mention all of the activities that we can fit into a 9 day vacation.

I have not been to Argentina in like a trillion years! (more like 15 years or so, but I’m not counting) The last time I was to young to enjoy any of it. So I’m really looking forward to it, the Tango, the good food, the fact that we will fully understand what is being said around us is a big plus too.

So, if any of you have been there, drop me a line, tell me what to do, what to see, and all the cool places that me and my friends need to absolutely go or bust.