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 ArgentinaAt 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!
