argentina

You are currently browsing articles tagged argentina.

Buenos Aires – The Paris of South America

December 3, 2009 in argentina by kels | 3 comments

After a relaxing week on the coast we headed into Argentina’s biggest city, Buenos Aires, home to 13 million porteños (“people of the port” – residents of BA).  With an interesting political history (which is a dangerous topic to begin with) and a huge economic crisis in 2000 – BA has become one of the most touristed cities in South America even more so with the US dollar getting an exchange rate of 3.8 pesos making it a rather affordable cosmopolitan destination.

European architecture mixes with Latin vibrancy, descendants of Italians, Spaniards, Ukrainians and Jewish to name only a few intertwine to create a very diverse population in this massive city.  Argentine Spanish is spoken with an Italian lilt to it and throughout the city you will hear snippets of expressive and passionate outbursts adding to the unique flavour that is Buenos Aires.

Checking out the crowds

Checking out the crowds

I have been waiting to see this city from the moment I read about it and the “Paris of South America” did not let us down.  To make our trip to the city even better my parents dropped in for a two-week vacation to help us celebrate the end of our drive to the bottom of the world.

The rents in Colonia, Uruguay

The rents in Colonia, Uruguay

Buenos Aires is bursting at the seams with things to do and see so we compiled a few of our highlights:

SOCCER
Argentinians are mad about futbol (soccer)….perhaps obsessive is a better word.  One of the first things you get asked by locals is “what team are you?” meaning which team are you a fan of.  We bought tickets to take in a game at the River Plate stadium, one of BA’s largest stadiums.  Arriving early to get seats we thought the stadium might remain pretty empty as the game being played wasn’t one of too much importance.  Turns out it doesn’t matter whether it is a play-off game or not people come out to support their teams.  The away team fans were sequestered in their own section complete with their own exit, barbwire fencing and security guards – they take this futbol thing very seriously.  Loads of  inappropriately worded songs were thrown back and forth between opposing fans – my folks asked if we could translate but sadly (or thankfully) we could only explain that they involved rather unsportsmanlike words.

Ready to watch some futbol!

BA chic!

TANGO
Although cliché for Buenos Aires we were wowed at the quality of El Viejo Almacen’s tango show.  Tango shows are advertised everywhere and I had figured that it might be overdone but watching six dancers and their complicated footwork perform on a stage not much bigger than a large dining room table was very impressive – we left suitably satiated by the tango.

LA BOMBA TIEMPO
Ok, my parents might not agree about this but the Cuidad Cultural Konex, BA’s cultural centre, hosts a fantastic drumming show every Monday night for 20 pesos/person.  La Bomba Tiempo is a group of about 12 percussionists who show up and perform to a very cool crowd of under 30s – neo-hippies, highschool kids and foreigners fill in as the evening wears on and dance to the drums as long as the guys will play.

Buenos Aires from Kels M on Vimeo.

SHOPPING
Buenos Aires is abundant with small, locally designed clothing labels.  Even better , the clothes are priced really well for those of us travelling on North American currencies.  I had been starving for fashion and after months of wearing the same clothes Palermo was little piece of heaven. The neat thing about Buenos Aires is that one store will house around 20 or so individual designers who rent a small bit of space to showcase their labels – so each rack you look through belongs to someone different.   There are a few questionable fashions happening in BA at the moment (like a horrible MC Hammer/harem poop pant combo and toe-less boots) but there are definitely some great longer t-shirts, funky belts and amazing leather goods to be had.  In fact the ‘rents bought 3 custom tailored leather jackets for less than $600!

Taking a break from shopping...with beer

Taking a break from shopping...

CITY WALKING
Tom and I are big city walkers…probably because I love to people watch and wandering around BA gives you a great insight into how porteños live.  In La Boca you see the futbol team’s colours worn proudly by all the residents, in Palermo ex-pats mix with upper middle class locals in trendy cafes and restaurants, in the city centre suits rush by on their way to the office. Down in Recoleta the rich retire to posh apartments and visitors take in the amazing cemetery searching for famous (or infamous) Evita’s grave and San Telmo’s Sunday antiques market brings out the hordes of those looking to find a hidden gem along the cobble-stone streets.

Recoleta's Amazing Cemetary

Cruise through Recoleta's history

MEAT and other tasty treats
Yup… bring on steaks that can feed a family of four.  We ate our way through Buenos Aires from huge cuts of beef for about ($7 or $3.50 per person because they are big enough to share) to morning café con leche, croissants, picadas (snack plates), deli sandwiches, ridiculous amounts of ice cream and, of course, a LOT of wine.

This is one serving!

This is one serving!

For a really good steak we recommend La Brigada in San Telmo – order your steak en punto (“on point” which is medium) and enjoy a  great meal, great service and very nice wine, the Argentine Malbecs are great!

Kels hearts wine

Everything I learned was from my folks!

Whale watching and Penguin walking

November 7, 2009 in argentina by kels | 4 comments

After reaching our destination of Ushuaia we saddled up for the long drive back to Buenos Aires.  The landscapes are pretty much the same up the Atlantic coast – mostly large estancias in the empty pampas.  We motored along heading to Punta Tombo, home to the largest colony of Magellanic Penguins in South America and who doesn’t like penguins?

Penguin Walking

We cruised into the park around 5pm and after buying our tickets priced at three times what Argentine nationals paid we wandered into the reserve. Minutes into our walk we started to spy our cute tuxedoed amigos.  One lone little guy even hopped up onto the bridge to say hello and we spent about 15 minutes up close and personal with a very forward and curious penguin.

Our drive up the coast then took us to Puerto Madryn where we were lucky to catch the Southern Right Whales that come to Argentina’s coast to have their babies and teach them how to swim in a safe environment. Driving down to the nearby beaches we were happy to find the whales hanging out and playing at both Playa El Doradillo and Punta Flecha.

Penguins and Whales from Kels M on Vimeo.

I was rather taken by the whales and wanted to have a closer look so we cruised about 35km up the coast to Peninsula Valdez – a marine animal sanctuary.  Puerto Piramides offers boats tours to see the whales and we hopped on a sunset cruise, perhaps we were just lucky but we ended up with an awesome day, capped off with a blazing fiery sunset.

A Whale of a Tail

Biking with wine

October 20, 2009 in Chile, argentina by tomandkels | 1 comment

We left Uruguay promising to return to it’s chilled out old-school vibe and headed into Argentina with plans to meet up with our friends (and partners on drivetheamericas.com) to get a little conversation and drink a little red wine.  We hightailed it over the bleak pampas, passing flashes of pink flamingos, to the wonderfully sunny and charming Mendoza.

Wine Tour Mendoza

Since we were in wine country we felt that to really experience it we should take advantage of the nearby wineries.  Boarding a bus for about an hour and half took us to Maipu and right to Mr. Hugo’s bike rentals.  We pedaled through the spring day, stopping in at a few wineries to sample the wares.  But I think the highlight of our little afternoon jaunt was the last stop – a small shop, A la Antigua, which had every sort of homemade delicacy imaginable: olives, dulce de leche, chocolates, preserves and liqueurs from Scotch to Absinthe.  Osvaldo, our giggly and rather round host, invited us to try a little of everything all of which were ridiculously good, so good that we all left with backpacks a little heavier than when we came.

Concha y ToroAfter enjoying a week of Mendoza’s sunny days and great wine we decided it was time to head to Chile in search of waves.  But, before we could hit up the surf we felt it was only proper to pay our respects to Concha y Toro, Chile’s largest wine exporter and creator of one of our most favourite joyful finds.  After a night of free camping (people are really too generous) we arrived at the crack of 10am to take a tour and a tasting at the humongous bodega.

Wine SnobsOur tour guide, who had a very odd accent (think William Shatner’s Captain Kirk with a British accent), told us a little about the winery as we wandered around the estate, the Concha y Toro cellar and the infamous El Casillero de Diablo (The Devil’s Cellar).  Señor Concha y Toro found that wines were going missing so he created a bit of a legend that the wines were protected by the devil himself thereby keeping frightened thieves out of his private collection.  The tour includes two tastings of the medium brand wines and your own Concha y Toro wineglass…all in all a pretty good time.
The end

Yerba Mate: An Uruguayan Obsession

October 14, 2009 in Uruguay by tomandkels | 3 comments

One thing we noticed right away in Uruguay were people carrying strange leather cups and thermoses: on the beach, walking around the city, the campground, the hot springs, drinking it in their cars… maté was literally everywhere.

Maté actually refers to a small gourd some of which can be elaborately decorated, wrapped in leather, embellished with silver or inset into cows hooves.  The tea is referred to as yerba.  This tea is sipped through a metal tube called a bombilla which acts as both a straw and a sieve, the whole ensemble is completed with a thermos which is usually carried tucked in the crook of the elbow.

Not wanting to miss out on the fun we decided to wander around Montevideo and try to find ourselves a maté and bombilla set that we both liked. Tom picked his up first (only after we saw every mate dealer in the whole old city) and I found mine in a small Saturday market and bought it direct from a man who handmade them…making Tom rather jealous.

There are a million rules about how to prepare and drink maté…but it all depends on who you talk to and since Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay all partake in the yerba ritual you could hear a lot of different stories—but from what we have read and seen Uruguayans are the most serious maté drinkers, consuming twice as much maté per capita than their Argentine amigos

Preparing Maté – Uruguayan style
We had the lovely owners of Punto Berro Hostel in Montevideo give us a lesson on how to prepare and drink maté, this is our summarized version:

How to make mate from Kels M on Vimeo.

Maté Etiquette
Maté is serious business here in Latin America.  It is more than just ‘drinking tea’ it is a centuries old ritual that is deeply ingrained in the culture and if you’re invited to share a maté you really shouldn’t refuse as sharing mate is seen as extending friendship.  Another steadfast and important rule is to leave the bombilla alone, don’t fuss with it or do anything crazy like pull it out or stir it around, once it is set it stays there until the maté ritual is finished.

Mate Flavour
As for the flavour, well I think this maybe  one of those things you learn to like.  It sort of like green tea only a whole lot stronger and at times bitter though every Uruguayan we met was sure that we would learn to love it.  We started out on one which was rather potent and have since backtracked to Abuelita (little grandmother) to slowly work towards proper appreciation.