JOURNAL
Argentina, spring 2006
Friday, March 10
My husband Bob, daughter Fran, and I flew to Buenos Aires from Chicago via Miami with a bit of a surreal stop in the middle of the Amazon at Manous for a medical emergency. After arriving in Buenos Aires we checked into our apartment in Recoleta, a very nice urban neighborhood with a great location. As is typical of short-term apartment rentals in Buenos Aires, we had to turn over a big wad of US cash for the rent and a similar amount for the deposit. For the price of a standard hotel room, we got a large 2-bedroom apartment, and the friendly apartment owner gave us some good suggestions to get us started.
Bob left to find a mercado to stock up on basic items we’d need, and after about an hour and half, Fran and I realized he must have gotten lost, so we took off for a walk through the neighborhood and decided to stop for a café con leche in hopes that he would walk by. Sure enough, we spotted him. Turns out he didn’t have the correct address in his head, and without it, couldn’t even ask for directions.
After a rest we headed off for dinner at La Brigada (Peña 2475), an upscale traditional parilla (grill) restaurant right around the corner from our apartment that was recommended by the owner. It was the first of many excellent meals in the city. The Argentines love their beef, and this was a good introduction to it. It’s more chewy (but not in a bad way) and flavorful than US beef. We enjoyed it with a salad and a bottle of a Rustini cabernet/malbec/merlot and bread pudding for dessert. Service was very good, which we found to be typical in Buenos Aires, perhaps with the exception of the more touristy places. We had heard from friends who had traveled here that the cost of eating out was significantly less than in the US given the current exchange rate, and we weren’t disappointed! As food lovers, we were very excited.
Saturday, March 11
Our first destination was the neighborhood of San Telmo, once home to the elite until the yellow fever drove them out in the late 19th century, making way for new immigrants. Today the neighborhood is a bit bohemian and retains much of its earlier charming architecture. On Sundays the main artery becomes a pedestrian walkway with an antiques fair and plenty of buskars. It’s popular with the locals (porteños) and tourists alike, and made for a very pleasant afternoon.
For lunch we stopped at La Viejo Rotiseria (Defensa 963), a casual parilla. We started with marinated eggplant and roasted red peppers with garlic and moved onto provoleta (grilled aged provolone) and a chorizo sausage. Our one little sausage looked a little lonely amidst all the full grills of meat our neighbors were ordering, but it was a perfect lunch for us. [A note to anyone who looks for this restaurant: I found out about it in the magazine Saveur, and they called the restaurant Del Anticuario, but according to the signage, it’s called La Viejo Rotiseria.] After a stop at a heladería (ice cream shop), we walked over to the Parque Lezama, which was full of families enjoying a lovely late Sunday afternoon.
For dinner we walked over to the Palermo, a neighborhood bordering Recoleta. It’s a hot upscale area with a number of subsections and plenty of trendy places. At night you see cartoneros, or people, often families, who go through the trash for cardboard and other recyclables—an indicator of the country’s economic difficulties. The recent devaluation of the currency, while benefiting tourists, has certainly not helped the residents as a whole.
We had a simple dinner of pizza, a favorite food in this city. Much of the food, in fact, is Italian, and the city is full of people whose ancestors came from Italy. A number of different immigrant groups make up the population of Buenos Aires. Between the food and the European inspired architecture, I felt more like I was in Europe than South America.
Monday, March 13
Our Monday our plan was to explore our neighborhood of Recoleta, which is a mix of residential, commercial, and some important cultural sites. We stopped in to look at the Basílica Nuestra Señora del Pilar, a restored church, and its neighboring convent. Next we visited the famed La Recoleta Cemetery, which serves as the last resting place for the city’s elite. It was one of the highlights of our trip. The vaults create a mini city of sorts with narrow streets and stunning architecture. Evita’s body was brought here under cover of night 20 years after she died (apparently, the cemetery officials were uncomfortable with her being there) by her husband President Juan Perón. Her family’s (Duarte) simple vault is easy to spot with its piles of flowers left by admirers. It’s a bit eerie to look into the windows of some of the vaults and see the coffins stacked going down into the ground.
The Avenida Alvear is close by and one of the city’s most exclusive spots, lined with what were once magnificent mansions, now converted to other uses, and chic boutiques. We headed for lunch at el Sanjuanino (Posadas 1515), an inexpensive spot, where we enjoyed the empanadas and tamales at a booth in the cozy and comfortable downstairs seating area.
Not too far away is the Floralis Genérica, a massive polished metal sculpture with hydraulics that open and close the petals corresponding to day and night. It was quite stunning.
Our next stop was the MALBA, the city’s newest important cultural institution and home to a 20th century Latin American art collection. The building was beautiful, but we did expect a bit more from the exhibits. Nonetheless, it was definitely worth a stop, and we enjoyed coffee and a fruit drink in the attractive courtyard afterwards.
Porteños are known for their late hours and generally eat dinner between 9:30 pm and midnight, and we did our best to stick to this schedule, although it did sometimes require a nap around 5:00 pm. Our dinner that night was in a neighborhood. We’re not quite sure where, but it was west of Once. The area was economically challenged with plenty of vacant buildings and stray dogs, but it was well worth the trip. [A side note on cabs: you can get almost anywhere you want to in the city in a cab for less than $5 US, so it’s a really economical way to travel.] Our destination was Cantina Pierino (La Valle 3499), an Italian restaurant with excellent food. I had ham & cheese sorrentinos (little pillows of pasta) with a tomato-cream-basil sauce, Fran ordered the pumpkin stuffed ravioli with a butter & mushroom sauce, and my husband had osso buco ravioli with a white cream and mushroom sauce. All were distinctly different and all were delicious. We had started the meal with an antipasto plate of marinated vegetables and panfried cheese with polenta and finished it with tiramisu. Our wine was a delicious red Trumpeter. The friendly owner made the rounds frequently to the tables. It was one of our top two meals in Buenos Aires.
We thought we’d try the nightlife scene and took a cab over to Barbaro which I had read was a cozy jazz bar, but the night we visited there was a woman singing karaoke and several prostitutes hanging out there. We stayed for a drink just to check out the scene.
Tuesday, March 14
Most of Tuesday was spent in the busy center of the city. Here sidewalks and wide avenues were dense with people and traffic. We began at the Plaza de Mayo anchored at one end by the Casa Rosado, the pink government palace. White headscarfs have been painted on the plaza in honor of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, the mothers who regularly have used this spot to protest the disappearance of their children who were political dissidents during the 1976-1983 dictatorship. The mothers took to wearing the white headscarfs with photos of their children as a means of identifying one another.
The Avenida de Mayo leads away from the plaza and is lined with grand late 19th century, mainly French inspired architecture. For lunch we stopped at Café Tortoni, which has been an important part of the city’s history. It’s beautiful inside but very touristy. Buses unload out front and lines of tourist walk in, flashlights popping. It’s perhaps worth a stop for coffee, but I wouldn’t recommend lunch here.
We stopped for a quick look at the Congress building and the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires’s most important theatre before taking in some shopping at calle Florida, a pedestrian street jam packed with stores, including many shops selling leather. The salespeople were a bit too aggressive for us so we didn’t stay long.
We headed home, where we met up with a friend of Fran’s who is studying in Buenos Aires for a drink before taking off at the proper porteño dinner hour of 10 pm. Dinner was at La Fondue (J.F. Segui 4674) in Palermo, where we shared an antipasto plate, salad and cheese fondue. The food was quite good, although maybe not on pare with some of the other places we had tried, but our waiter was absolutely charming and the fondue was a fun group activity. We were the last ones out of the restaurant and arrived home at around 2:00 am.
Wednesday, March 15
We were up relatively early to catch the ferry over to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. The fast ferry takes one hour to cross the river (it’s a big river!). Navigating the ferry station and customs was a bit tricky, and we were glad that Fran is fluent in Spanish. Swarms of mosquitoes met us, sending us to the nearest store to find repellent. This sleepy town is really beautiful with its simple Portuguese and Spanish colonial architecture. The place abounds with inspiration for paintings, so I took many photos. Lunch was at La Luna (General Flores 43) next to the river, where we enjoyed seafood including delicious fried rabas (squid) and a paella-like dish with small mussels, clams and octopus. We took our typical two hours for lunch, planning our next meal. Turns out that this trip is all about food.
Dinner that night was at a trendy place in Palermo, and really, was the only disappointing meal of the trip, although the wine we had was the best we had: a red blend from Cuvulier Los Almos. I wasn’t able to find it at two wine stores, but did find out after checking online at home that it is a fairly new vineyard which is part of a consortium, and that they are just starting to produce.
Thursday, March 16
We began the day with a walk down our street several blocks to the house, now museum, of Xul Solar, a well know Buenos Aires artist. The next order of business was lunch which we enjoyed at Pane e Vino (Vincente López 2036), a warm and comfortable place with pretty good food, but perhaps a bit more expensive given it’s close proximity to the Recoleta cemetery.
We visited the Bellas Artes, Argentina’s most important art museum, and enjoyed the collection there. Upstairs was Argentine art and downstairs was their European collection. We stopped at the Design Store built into the Recoleta cemetery sporting a very big collection of homeware shops. It was fun to look around but we didn’t buy anything.
That night I stayed in while Bob, Fran and Fran’s friend went to a neighborhood parilla. I think I had just had had too much food! I could have easily ordered delivery. Porteños are very big on restaurant delivery: there are delivery bikes everywhere in the city, but I waited until Bob came home with some take-out empanadas. Fran and her friend decided to go out for the evening.
Friday, March 17
Fran went out on her own, and Bob and I traveled out to Las Violetas, a café at Avenida Rivadavia 3899, where I had an excellent salad and Bob enjoyed a very unusual meal for Buenos Aires: a fish fillet with steamed vegetables. We each indulged in elaborate desserts before braving a downpour that finally drove us home to dry out.
Argentina, spring 2006
Friday, March 10
My husband Bob, daughter Fran, and I flew to Buenos Aires from Chicago via Miami with a bit of a surreal stop in the middle of the Amazon at Manous for a medical emergency. After arriving in Buenos Aires we checked into our apartment in Recoleta, a very nice urban neighborhood with a great location. As is typical of short-
Bob left to find a mercado to stock up on basic items we’d need, and after about an hour and half, Fran and I realized he must have gotten lost, so we took off for a walk through the neighborhood and decided to stop for a café con leche in hopes that he would walk by. Sure enough, we spotted him. Turns out he didn’t have the correct address in his head, and without it, couldn’t even ask for directions.
After a rest we headed off for dinner at La Brigada (Peña 2475), an upscale traditional parilla (grill) restaurant right around the corner from our apartment that was recommended by the owner. It was the first of many excellent meals in the city. The Argentines love their beef, and this was a good introduction to it. It’s more chewy (but not in a bad way) and flavorful than US beef. We enjoyed it with a salad and a bottle of a Rustini cabernet/malbec/merlot and bread pudding for dessert. Service was very good, which we found to be typical in Buenos Aires, perhaps with the exception of the more touristy places. We had heard from friends who had traveled here that the cost of eating out was significantly less than in the US given the current exchange rate, and we weren’t disappointed! As food lovers, we were very excited.
Saturday, March 11
Our first destination was the neighborhood of San Telmo, once home to the elite until the yellow fever drove them out in the late 19th century, making way for new immigrants. Today the neighborhood is a bit bohemian and retains much of its earlier charming architecture. On Sundays the main artery becomes a pedestrian walkway with an antiques fair and plenty of buskars. It’s popular with the locals (porteños) and tourists alike, and made for a very pleasant afternoon.
For lunch we stopped at La Viejo Rotiseria (Defensa 963), a casual parilla. We started with marinated eggplant and roasted red peppers with garlic and moved onto provoleta (grilled aged provolone) and a chorizo sausage. Our one little sausage looked a little lonely amidst all the full grills of meat our neighbors were ordering, but it was a perfect lunch for us. [A note to anyone who looks for this restaurant: I found out about it in the magazine Saveur, and they called the restaurant Del Anticuario, but according to the signage, it’s called La Viejo Rotiseria.] After a stop at a heladería (ice cream shop), we walked over to the Parque Lezama, which was full of families enjoying a lovely late Sunday afternoon.
For dinner we walked over to the Palermo, a neighborhood bordering Recoleta. It’s a hot upscale area with a number of subsections and plenty of trendy places. At night you see cartoneros, or people, often families, who go through the trash for cardboard and other recyclables—an indicator of the country’s economic difficulties. The recent devaluation of the currency, while benefiting tourists, has certainly not helped the residents as a whole.
We had a simple dinner of pizza, a favorite food in this city. Much of the food, in fact, is Italian, and the city is full of people whose ancestors came from Italy. A number of different immigrant groups make up the population of Buenos Aires. Between the food and the European inspired architecture, I felt more like I was in Europe than South America.
Monday, March 13
Our Monday our plan was to explore our neighborhood of Recoleta, which is a mix of residential, commercial, and some important cultural sites. We stopped in to look at the Basílica Nuestra Señora del Pilar, a restored church, and its neighboring convent. Next we visited the famed La Recoleta Cemetery, which serves as the last resting place for the city’s elite. It was one of the highlights of our trip. The vaults create a mini city of sorts with narrow streets and stunning architecture. Evita’s body was brought here under cover of night 20 years after she died (apparently, the cemetery officials were uncomfortable with her being there) by her husband President Juan Perón. Her family’s (Duarte) simple vault is easy to spot with its piles of flowers left by admirers. It’s a bit eerie to look into the windows of some of the vaults and see the coffins stacked going down into the ground.
The Avenida Alvear is close by and one of the city’s most exclusive spots, lined with what were once magnificent mansions, now converted to other uses, and chic boutiques. We headed for lunch at el Sanjuanino (Posadas 1515), an inexpensive spot, where we enjoyed the empanadas and tamales at a booth in the cozy and comfortable downstairs seating area.
Not too far away is the Floralis Genérica, a massive polished metal sculpture with hydraulics that open and close the petals corresponding to day and night. It was quite stunning.
Our next stop was the MALBA, the city’s newest important cultural institution and home to a 20th century Latin American art collection. The building was beautiful, but we did expect a bit more from the exhibits. Nonetheless, it was definitely worth a stop, and we enjoyed coffee and a fruit drink in the attractive courtyard afterwards.
Porteños are known for their late hours and generally eat dinner between 9:30 pm and midnight, and we did our best to stick to this schedule, although it did sometimes require a nap around 5:00 pm. Our dinner that night was in a neighborhood. We’re not quite sure where, but it was west of Once. The area was economically challenged with plenty of vacant buildings and stray dogs, but it was well worth the trip. [A side note on cabs: you can get almost anywhere you want to in the city in a cab for less than $5 US, so it’s a really economical way to travel.] Our destination was Cantina Pierino (La Valle 3499), an Italian restaurant with excellent food. I had ham & cheese sorrentinos (little pillows of pasta) with a tomato-
We thought we’d try the nightlife scene and took a cab over to Barbaro which I had read was a cozy jazz bar, but the night we visited there was a woman singing karaoke and several prostitutes hanging out there. We stayed for a drink just to check out the scene.
Tuesday, March 14
Most of Tuesday was spent in the busy center of the city. Here sidewalks and wide avenues were dense with people and traffic. We began at the Plaza de Mayo anchored at one end by the Casa Rosado, the pink government palace. White headscarfs have been painted on the plaza in honor of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, the mothers who regularly have used this spot to protest the disappearance of their children who were political dissidents during the 1976-
The Avenida de Mayo leads away from the plaza and is lined with grand late 19th century, mainly French inspired architecture. For lunch we stopped at Café Tortoni, which has been an important part of the city’s history. It’s beautiful inside but very touristy. Buses unload out front and lines of tourist walk in, flashlights popping. It’s perhaps worth a stop for coffee, but I wouldn’t recommend lunch here.
We stopped for a quick look at the Congress building and the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires’s most important theatre before taking in some shopping at calle Florida, a pedestrian street jam packed with stores, including many shops selling leather. The salespeople were a bit too aggressive for us so we didn’t stay long.
We headed home, where we met up with a friend of Fran’s who is studying in Buenos Aires for a drink before taking off at the proper porteño dinner hour of 10 pm. Dinner was at La Fondue (J.F. Segui 4674) in Palermo, where we shared an antipasto plate, salad and cheese fondue. The food was quite good, although maybe not on pare with some of the other places we had tried, but our waiter was absolutely charming and the fondue was a fun group activity. We were the last ones out of the restaurant and arrived home at around 2:00 am.
Wednesday, March 15
We were up relatively early to catch the ferry over to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. The fast ferry takes one hour to cross the river (it’s a big river!). Navigating the ferry station and customs was a bit tricky, and we were glad that Fran is fluent in Spanish. Swarms of mosquitoes met us, sending us to the nearest store to find repellent. This sleepy town is really beautiful with its simple Portuguese and Spanish colonial architecture. The place abounds with inspiration for paintings, so I took many photos. Lunch was at La Luna (General Flores 43) next to the river, where we enjoyed seafood including delicious fried rabas (squid) and a paella-
Dinner that night was at a trendy place in Palermo, and really, was the only disappointing meal of the trip, although the wine we had was the best we had: a red blend from Cuvulier Los Almos. I wasn’t able to find it at two wine stores, but did find out after checking online at home that it is a fairly new vineyard which is part of a consortium, and that they are just starting to produce.
Thursday, March 16
We began the day with a walk down our street several blocks to the house, now museum, of Xul Solar, a well know Buenos Aires artist. The next order of business was lunch which we enjoyed at Pane e Vino (Vincente López 2036), a warm and comfortable place with pretty good food, but perhaps a bit more expensive given it’s close proximity to the Recoleta cemetery.
We visited the Bellas Artes, Argentina’s most important art museum, and enjoyed the collection there. Upstairs was Argentine art and downstairs was their European collection. We stopped at the Design Store built into the Recoleta cemetery sporting a very big collection of homeware shops. It was fun to look around but we didn’t buy anything.
That night I stayed in while Bob, Fran and Fran’s friend went to a neighborhood parilla. I think I had just had had too much food! I could have easily ordered delivery. Porteños are very big on restaurant delivery: there are delivery bikes everywhere in the city, but I waited until Bob came home with some take-
Friday, March 17
Fran went out on her own, and Bob and I traveled out to Las Violetas, a café at Avenida Rivadavia 3899, where I had an excellent salad and Bob enjoyed a very unusual meal for Buenos Aires: a fish fillet with steamed vegetables. We each indulged in elaborate desserts before braving a downpour that finally drove us home to dry out.
For our last night out in Buenos Aires, we headed off to the La Boca neighborhood for dinner at el Obrero (Caffarena 64). The cab driver had to ask three different people how to get to the correct street in this rather rough looking but friendly neighborhood. El Obrero celebrates all things Boca Juniors – one of the big soccer teams worshipped in Buenos Aires. The food was amazing and a fitting ending to our last night in Buenos Aires. Long lines form after 9:30 pm but we got there in time to find a cozy table for three. We started out with a bottle of Uxmal cab/merlot that just happened to be sitting on our table. Our aim to drink only wines we have never tried before so it seemed like a good choice, and it did turn out to be delicious. Just writing about the food at el Obrero makes me hungry. We had a fusilli with a coarse pesto, not the tightly wound noodles, but long twisting handmade noodles; a “little ears” pasta (orecchiette, I think) with a Bolognese sauce; and a milanesa di Napoli (thin breaded beef steak with tomato sauce and cheese). We finished with coffee and a bread pudding served with sweet cream (Argentina’s cream is delicious and very yellow) and dulce de leche, the thick caramel-like sauce that Argentines adore. Wow, what a fitting ending.
Saturday, March 18
After checking out of our apartment, we headed for the train that goes north from Buenos Aires along the water. To get there, we took a commuter train from Retiro to Mitre, a 30-
Our final destination was Tigre, an excellent day trip and also a place where some porteños have weekend homes. It’s part of the Paraná Delta which is made up of lush almost tropical islands cut through with rivers and streams. There are rowing clubs everywhere along the two main rivers that run through town. A stop at the tourist office proved necessary to navigate this small city with its many waterways.
Lunch, of course!, was top on our list of things to do. We sat on the upper deck at Y ahora que (Paseo Victoria 135) overlooking the river with the sun filtering through the trees. It seemed fitting to order a parrillada (a full array of grilled meat) given it was our last meal in Argentina. I had to ignore the offal and the blood sausage, but the rest was the typically good Argentine meat.
Next we headed to the Peurto de Frutos, a large market that was Tirgre’s commercial center when fruit was its main industry. Now it’s an enjoyable market with everything from wicker items (wicker grows in abundance here) to clothes and antiques. There are also a number of fresh juice stands here.
We headed back to the apartment, where we had left our luggage with the doorman, but not before one last stop at a heladería for an ice cream treat.
Our flight home to Chicago was uneventful, and our cats were very happy to see us.
San Telmo grafitti.
San Telmo Sunday antiques mkt.
San Telmo Sunday antiques mkt.
Parque Lezama in San Telmo
Evita’s vault
Le Recoleta Cemetery:
Floralis Genérica.
Cantina Pierino.
Headscrarf of Madres de la Plaza de Mayo.
Café Tortoni is busy with tourists.
Along Avenida de Mayo.
The impressive Congress building.
Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay.
Lunch at La Luna in Colonia.
On the river in Colonia. Note the brown water -- it’s fine to swim here.
Market at the Barrabcus station.
Tigre’s Peurto de Frutos.
Dinner at El Obrero in La Boca.
Row boats in Tigre.