Buenos Aires - food

Sometimes picture speaks better than words. Asado from yesterday:





Asado for four people, we managed to eat half of it. There is a legend about one customer that has eaten it all.

Buenos Aires - photos

Flickr set on Buenos Aires


San Telmo antique market on Sunday, Plaza Dorrego



Puerto Madero, Puente de la Mujer (architect Santiago Calatrava)



Palermo Hollywood




La Boca, Caminito street



Recoleta cemetery

Buenos Aires - food

I think the true top 3 in Buenos Aires is to eat, to drink, and to party. The city is amazing for it. Don't expect Rio de Janeiro beauty here.

Having spent in BA a month, I learned a lot about what typical Argentinian is.

Everybody knows that no visit to Argentina can pass without steak and wine. Actually, Argentinians prefer asado (name of barbecue technique, so asado can be of ribs, meat, sausages (chorizos, morcilla (blood saugage)), etc) in their parillas (steak houses) to my favorite bife de lomo (filet mignon).



Argentinians are crazy about everything dulce de leche (slowly heated sweetened milk aka сгуженка in Russian). Dulce de leche is present in the majority of desserts, cakes and ice creams flavors. Argentinian ice cream deserves a separate entry in this blog, it is so good. Dozens of flavors are listed on the board in numerous ice cream parlors and one can only guess how a poor girl can choose two flavors from this variety. You cannot see the actual ice cream like in Brazil...

Here is an example of a small ice cream shop:



In the coffee shop Argentinians invented submarino (hot chocolate drink) - hot milk served in a tall glass comes with a piece of chocolate that you stir in the glass.



A day starts and breaks (a meal between lunch and dinner is called "merienda") with cafe con leche (coffee with milk) and medialunas (croissants) of three types - de manteca (butter), de grasa (literally fat, thinner in shape then de manteca ones), de manteca rellenas (with a filling? never tried). Medialunas are smaller than croissants in France and taste differently, but the shape is the same (half of the moon).

:)

The rest of the day Argentinians drink mate (herbal tea), which is art in itself foreign to me as I do not like green tea.

Buenos Aires - how cheap is cheap?

If you listen to my classmates from the US, Buenos Aires is cheap, dirt cheap. If you listen to my friend from Belgium who lives here, Buenos Aires is not cheap.

So what is cheap? Eating out in Buenos Aires is cheap compared to USA and Europe. On average we spend 40-80 pesos each ($13- $30) per dining experience in a nice restaurant, which would include an appetizer, a good sized steak, and a bottle of wine.

To be more specific, filet mignon (bife de lomo in Spanish) costs from 27 pesos (La Plata in San Telmo) to 50 pesos (fancy Las Cabreras in Palermo), which is cheaper than the price is dollars in some comparable restaurants in New York. [dollar to peso = 1 to 3]

The cheapest (but decent) bottle of wine in the restaurant starts at 20 pesos, which is again cheaper than the price in dollars in New York. So on average eating out in BA is at least 3 times cheaper than in New York.

It gets pricey for me if I would have decided to eat out daily. To spend $30 on a nice meal is not a lot by New York standards, but by backpacker’s it is. It adds up, but it is cheap.

Buenos Aires - nightlife

In deep pockets of my backpack I found teared out articles about Buenos Aires that I have been carrying around South America with me for three months. Having been here already two weeks, it was interesting to compare my first impression with the impression of the city articles are trying to build.

All articles but one were talking about tango. They identify Buenos Aires with tango, they recommended tango, they focused on tango. I actually forgot all about tango until I picked up those article clips. I did not see tango and I did not feel tango in the air. I just saw a very crazy city.

They say New York never sleeps. Well, compared to Buenos Aires, New York never even woke up. Nightlife is beyond insane here, it is unbelievably busy. I was ready for "eat dinner at 11 pm, go out at 2 am" schedule, but I did not anticipate "cannot get into club at 5 am - get in line".

No bottle service bullshit here, everybody dances!

Popular events weekly gather hundreds and thousands of people each day of the week! Big nights at club form lines I have never seen in my life. I though that only applied to clubs. No, bars are also packed at 5 am. Here one can party non-stop, especially from Thursday till Sunday night with a number of after hour clubs properly spinning the beats.

We are 10 people in the house. If we all go out to different venues, each of one of us reports back a packed club or bar or restaurant. It might be the culture, the number of bars/clubs, or the number of young people in Buenos Aires, but I cannot explain this phenomena.

The place to go on Monday is KONEX for the concent La Bomba de Tiempo. The performance space in a former warehouse gets packed by 5,000 crazy youngsters dancing to drums. The party starts at 7 pm ends at 10 pm (it is Monday afterall). If you show up at 8 pm, you won't get in until 9:30 pm (if ever) as the line hugs almost three blocks.




Club Museo is packed on Wednesday nights with after work party, so is Shamrock on Thursday on a slightly smaller scale. Club Niceto in Palermo Hollywood hosts the fabulous Club 69 on Thursdays. Fridays and Saturdays are just big nights everywhere with dozens of clubs in all parts of towns.

Special events such as James Zabiela last Saturday pack exhibition halls. I can only imagine insanity in Buenos Aires for Creamfields 2008 in November.

A great website for the ones appreciating electronic music with daily event listings in Buenos Aires is Buenos Aliens (in Spanish).

So, tango. Besides street performers in San Telmo and La Boca I have not seen tango and do not have any regrets. I am happy to have experienced the energy of the city in its winter mode.

Big weekend in Buenos Aires

Tonight a huge party



I remember SOS at WMC Miami 2008. They were in the room next door to RA vs. Kompakt Party at Pawn Shop.

Tomorrow we are going to an opening game of the season for Boca Juniors, the most famous football team in BA, against the team from Jujuy - Gimnasia.

Settling down in BA

My somewhat painful apartment search is over. Today I moved in into a 10-room house shared by international students in San Telmo area of BA. We have got one Argentinean, one Polish, one Dutch, one German, two Swiss, one Mexican, one American and me (one room available for those who´s been counting). The Mexican guy is a chef who cooked dinner on Saturday and suggested we create a menu, collect money and he would cook. Is it heaven or what? My tiny room costs $300/month, which is cheaper than some popular hostels, but more expensive than my 6-bed shared dorm in Palermo. I get my privacy, wifi, TV with cable, cool roommates and a rather cool home. I am excited!

So why was the apartment hunt painful? I am yet again "lucky" with timing. As I was told it is the beginning of a school year, so there are bunch of long-term international students arriving. The majority of landlords are requesting a minimum 3-month stay. So with the lack of supply and high demand I did not really have a lot to choose from within my budget.

Also I initially wanted to live in Palermo or Recoleta (more expensive areas than San Telmo) as advised by some friends here. The funny thing is that I did not really like Palermo. It is the coolest area in BA with all the fancy stores, design shops, restaurants and bars. It is very nice, but it is absolutely too cool for me. I am not nearly as cool, never have been, never will be. Palermo is like Soho in New York. Unless you have the money to spend, I think it is crazy to live there.

Recoleta is more like Upper West Side of New York with 10-12 story high buildings and doormen. It is definitely a nice area, but I did not feel the character there. Maybe not yet.

Then I arrived to San Telmo and fell in love. I think San Telmo is more like Lower East Side in New York - dirtier, graffiti everywhere, narrower streets, smaller buildings, more down to earth crowd, artsy, hip. In other words - amazing. Now I am on a mission to learn all about the area. Hopefully, pictures will follow.

On Monday I start my Spanish classes. Ideally I would have classes in the afternoon, so I can go out at night, sleep through the noon and then go to school. Given the club scene, restaurants, neighborhoods and other activities in Buenos Aires I cannot imagine a better lifestyle.

Buenos Aires aka BA

I am starting my blogger´s life in Buenos Aires. I have yet again changed my mind about the itinerary. I decided not to go north from Rio due to off-season, costs and personal considerations. I figured settling down for a month before two months in Africa and another two months in India can do me good. I also can actually learn some Spanish. Four weeks of 20 hours per week combined with Spanish environment could really boost my Spanish (vs say 2 weeks).

So after some hostel hopping (my new traveller´s slang - you change the cities, but spend a good chunk of time in a hostel meeting new backpackers) in Rosario and Córdoba I have arrived this morning to BA. From an overnight bus (finally I found that bus service that so many were talking about - yes, you can wine with your food or whiskey after!) straight to craigslist and a phone booth. I am looking to rent a room in a shared apartment for a month. The result of the first day? I am SUPER SUPER tired. I figured I spent as many nights on a bus as in a hostel. More than that, all hostels had one thing in common - shitty mattresses. My back hurts! And tonight won´t be any better. I can´t wait to find the accommodation for this month with a decent bad and a wardrobe!!! But first things first - I want to stupidly sleep in front of TV for a day or two. I want to get myself out of backpacker´s state of mind for a month.

My first BA observation while running around (I hope to publish a lot - sort of "daily life in uberhyped BA") - BA has gone absolutely wifi. It seems that all buildings are wifi, most of the corner coffee shops are wife. It is a laptop geek paradise. WHERE IS MY LAPTOP?

Iguazu Falls

I am not a big fan of waterfalls. I am more impressed by the mountains. Call me weird. So I was curious how much I would enjoy the waterfalls. Skipping all the details let me tell you they are (of course) amazing, just like everybody says they are. The roar of the falling water, perfect rainbows, water clouds do overwhelm. Besides hiking through both Brazilian and Argentinean sides, I took a boat trip on the Argentinean side. We approached "little" waterfalls (little compared to Devil´s Throat) and I got soaking wet. The waterfalls are so strong I could not open my eyes to look at them. Then I saw that the boats actually do not even approach the waterfalls that close...

Amazing experience, an absolute MUST for anyone coming to this region.

Set on flickr

Salta, Argentina

I have spent a week in the Salta area enjoying amazing mountains, wineries and most importantly people. I felt I arrived to another planet - people were so nice! An older couple stopped us on a street for a chat, gave us apples and orages. In all the stores we were asked where we were from and they really were curious. When we said thank you for something, they responded: "No, no, thank you!" I was pleasantly surprised (or more accurate would be - stunned!). I think just this attitude would have made my visit here pleasant, but on top of that the area is magnificent.

I spent two days in Salta. At first I was slightly shocked at how European the city was. I would say there is nothing to do in Salta, but eat well. It takes half a day to visit the plaza and maybe take a finiculur to the top of the mountain for not-so-special views. The main attractions are outside the town and the best to explore them in my opinion is to rent a car for a couple of days (also cheaper than going on multiple tours). So that is what we did.



We started with so-called southern circle - from Salta to Cafayate, from Cafayata on unpaved road to Cachi, from Cachi back to Salta.

The road 68 becomes scenic 45 km north of Cafayate - Quebrada de Las Conchas with various red rock formations. See pictures.







In Cafayate we visited two wineries and one goat cheese factory with the latter being the most entertaining of all.






From Cafayate we took Route 40 (the logest road in Argentina, over 5000 km) to the north, visiting and sleeping in a cute tiny place called Angastaco, then Molinos and Cachi. The mountains here fell on their sides - Quebrada de Las Flechas. Through the national park of cactus (cardones) we returned back to Salta for another dinner at Old Jack steakhouse (Viejo Jack). I must have eaten half a kilo of steak or more.

On the fourth day we headed to the north of Salta towards Tilcara on a winding route 9. At around Tumbaya we started seeing colorful mountains. Quebrada de Humahuaca is famous for its seven color hills at Purmamarca. Sliced mountains at the town of Maimará are also very cool. Tilcara is a nice tourist hangout where we stopped for an expensive lunch. After a visit to Purmamarca at sunset we headed back to Salta.






The Salta set on flickr

At night we went to the mall (!) and watched a movie (!). Sex and the City movie! Everybody can start laughing at me now, but I liked it!

The next day I was off to Bolivia. It took me 18 coldest hours of my life to get to Potosi.