A travelogue of our first trip to Buenos Aires

1/2/09

Friday January 2 - Arrival and Recovery

Craig's picture of the day



We set out from Boston about 11am on New Year's Day to head to the airport. It was a brisk 14 degrees F, clear and sunny. We left all our winter clothes (gloves, scarves, coats) in the car and made a dash for the airport terminal; no need for gloves in Buenos Aires! (Only Craig packed lots of winter gear for his sojourn to Antarctica.)

The flight to Atlanta and the connecting flight to Buenos Aires (BsAs) were both uneventful. The flight to BsAs was half full, so we had a bit of room to stretch out during the 10-hour flight.


Our first view of Argentina











At the airport in BsAs, we collected our luggage and waited for Daniel the driver to pick us up. The drive into the city was a quiet one, as Daniel spoke very little English and we speak very little Spanish. But he knew where to take us, and when we arrived at our apartment, he called the agency to let them know we were there.

Our apartment is near the intersection of Charcas and Gallo, in the Barrio Norte section of BsAs. I can't really characterize the neighborhood as I'm not familiar with the city, but it's sandwiched between the more well-known neighborhoods of La Recoleta and Palermo.

The apartment is big, with a large living room/dining room/kitchen, along with a bedroom, a dressing room and an office. There's a balcony looking over the street and a HUGE terrace on the roof (one flight up). All that plus wi-fi!



Our apartment living room...














...kitchen area...












...living room windows with wonderful light...














...door to street balcony...

















...view from balcony...



















...and the roof terrace.








After a nap and a shower, we headed out for lunch, strolling down Avenida Sante Fe, a popular shopping street in the city. Using info from the TripAdvisor BsAs forum and a few other sources, we had lunch at El Cuartito. Pizza with ham, mozzarella and red peppers, garnished with whole green olives. Really good, especially since we were starving!

Then we ran some errands. Here's a question - why don't the English and the Argentinians use wash cloths? There are none in our apartment, and we couldn't find any to buy in the two stores we stopped in. We had to go to the grocery to get some coffee, milk, wine, etc., so we found a shower sponge. That will have to do, but really, what's the deal with wash cloths?




Mid-afternoon cafe break.










At dusk, we had a glass of rose on our roof terrace, then went to a restaurant about two blocks from us called El Sanjuanino. We had our first empanadas, then we shared locro, a provincial corn-based stew with corn, beans, sausage, tripe and pigs feet, and matambre arrollado, flank or skirt steak pounded thin (or butterflied), grilled then rolled up with various ingredients. To serve it, they cut slices of the meat, then top the slice with a spicy tomato sauce. It was great!

We were the only Americans in the restaurant, and had researched the menu before we got there, but we were still diving into the food dictionary we brought to clarify certain words on the Spanish-only menu (our waiter didn't speak any English either). We were trying to be discreet, but a woman from the next table came over to us and asked if we needed any assistance - really nice of her. She was a local, but spoke perfect English and said she was pleased to see foreigners trying local places. She approved of our menu selections, and was actually impressed we were trying the locro, given how provincial a dish it is (especially the pigs feet part!). It was a happy way to end a great meal!

9 comments:

  1. Hi guys - glad you arrived safely. It looks beautiful down there - it's 10 degrees in NH today! Mmmmm - pigsfeat!

    -Jason

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  2. Sweet blog. We have been here since Dec 27th and are staying in Palermo Hollywood. Drink lots of wine....lots of it. Check around in a couple of grocers to see which has the cheapest wine and grocerys. We found the jumbo (like a big safeway) was not cheaper than the local guy around the corner.

    cheers

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  3. Valyn and Craig,
    Sounds and looks like fun! Great pictures; is there a remote chance that one of you may be in a picture? Funny about the wash cloth - what the Brits used to call a 'flannel.' I learned to travel with my own.
    Hugs to you both,
    Mom

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  4. Nice balcony!
    I learned from Robbie years ago that the British would not supply facecloths/flannels because they were considered to be too personal, and assumed that people would bring their own when traveling. That doesn't really explain why they might not be in stores...
    Enjoy!
    What's Craig doing in Antarctica?
    Happy New Year!

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  5. Great photos and wonderful descriptions of places and food. I was about to explain about the British (and French) policy on face flannels/washcloths, when I saw Rita has already done so. I don't know about the Argentinian practice if you can't even buy them. In Britain you can easily buy them and all towel sets give you the option to buy them, but in France they have a very small selection and the shops don't always have cloths to match the towels. Now that I have fulfilled the family duty and talked washcloths to death, I'll simply say have a great time and keep sending the good photos. The flat looks great. Love Robbie

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  6. Thanks all for the comments. Rita, I had Hannah in mind as one of the readers of this blog, given her desire to travel. I hope it inspires her!

    Valyn

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  7. Didn't someone say that our great-grandma was a fan of pigs feet? Maybe it was that Billie Holiday song...Laurie

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  8. Hi, don´t you think Quilmes beer is a good one??

    Have a nice season in Argentina and enjoy it a lot! Your apartment is terrific!!

    Greetings

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  9. Dear Valeryn,

    You are an artist!. I love your way to write about the city,th pictures ...they are wonderful for sure!
    I would like to link it at my website if you allow it.
    it will be a pleasure!.
    also, if i can have your pictures under your name to my website.
    Congratulations , sincerely.
    i love the art and you are an artist!
    Thank you again and it was a pleasure to welcomed you and Craig at one of our apartments.
    Let me offer a discount per second time because the wash machine and the Barrio Norte name!
    Warm Regards


    Nancy Landi

    ReplyDelete

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Eight Days in Buenos Aires by Valyn Perini is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.