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San Telmo

Goodbye Buenos Aires

by Garret on January 31, 2010

It was a bit surreal arriving in Buenos Aires. Somehow 7 months of travel had managed to shrink down to three days. It is one of those feelings you get when something seems like it was forever but just a moment ago. Time and memories perform funny tricks and not just with travel. As I get older I realize moments that feel like they occurred yesterday may have occurred 12 years ago or 3. There were tangible signs of 7 months slipping by, our bank account was smaller, our photo album was stuffed, my hair was longer, and a wardrobe of 4 shirts and 2 pairs of pants had slightly expanded; but other than that not much had changed. Things now felt familiar though; I know the curve of the land, the people (a bit), the smells, and how things feel when I look at a map. Returning to Buenos Aires was a bit like returning home.

Back in Buenos Aires

We arrived on Monday afternoon after our ferry ride on BuqueBus from Colonia, Uruguay. A friend of a friend picked us up and we rode over to his office in San Telmo. He had to work so we left our stuff and wandered around. San Telmo felt familiar. We didn’t have a map, but we knew where Origen was (great little organic café) so we had a delightful lunch. We found Mafalda sitting on a bench (Deeanne had been wanting to meet her since arriving in Buenos Aires). We did a bit of shopping at some stores we had wanted to visit before leaving and somehow our afternoon had disappeared.

Mafalda & Deeanne in San Telmo

Evening arrived and we headed over to Danilo and Cynthia’s house. They invited us to spend our final two nights at their house just outside the city. They have two cute little boys, 2 1/2 and 6 months old. They took us out to dinner at a place reminiscent of Sizzler, but with better steak. We savored our second to last dinner, knowing that once we got home we wouldn’t be eating at 10:30pm. Augustine, the 2 year old, had us make him paper airplanes out of the place settings, which he flew off the patio.

Family Dinner

Tuesday was Deeanne’s birthday, and it burst upon us hot and humid; perfect weather for the pool parties she has always wanted but couldn’t enjoy in the Northern Hemisphere. We spent the day visiting the Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, wandering around the Recoleta Cemetery (again), and eating ice-cream and crepes. We got to catch the train in from Danilo and Cynthia’s house; something we hadn’t done when previously in town.

Yet Another Ice-cream Stop

Deeanne as Insatiable as Ever

Wandering the Recoleta Cemetery

Argentina is a first world country that fortunately hasn’t seen the arrival of tort law yet. This means you can do a lot of stuff that we long ago lost the ability to do in the U.S. One little freedom you may not have realized your missing is the freedom to hang off of full speed trains and ride between cars. Just try it next time you ride Amtrak. I promptly found an open door in between cars and sat down on the steps. I watched the world stream by inches from my nose and grinned ear to ear. It reminded me of old cowboy movies and I longed for a trusty steed to jump off onto, but alas there were none. I had to content myself with visualizing various ways to jump off and roll should I get bumped off. I even got Deeanne to do it on our ride back home and she loved it.

Retiro Train Station in BA

Riding in the Train Door

I got tickets to Buenos Aires’ best tango show for Deeanne’s birthday Tuesday night, La Esquina de Carlos Gardel. It was like watching a Broadway show in New York. The dancers were spectacular; I’ve never seen anything like it. We had an entire side booth to ourselves for the two hour show. We even had a driver who picked us up and dropped us off wherever we wanted. After the show we had him drop us off at Sarkis, a middle eastern restaurant in Palermo. It was 10:30pm on a Tuesday night and we had a 45 minute wait. Every other table must have been a birthday party so Deeanne got happy birthday sung to her about 8 times. We caught a taxi home after midnight and fell asleep for our final night in South America.

Carlos Gardel Tango Show

Sarki's for Deeanne's Birthday Dinner

For our last day in South America we wandered around the micro-center, did a bit of last minute shopping, and visited the Carlos Gardel museum. Danilo’s friend Pablo took us out to lunch at Granix, a huge Adventist run vegetarian restaurant that was delicious.

Lemonade at a Cafe

Carlos Gardel Tango Museum

Before we knew it we had to catch the train back home to pack up. The whole family drove us to the airport and saw us off (sometimes no car seat laws are a blessing). I was really wishing we had borrowed some Ambien for our flight home from our dear friend Glynn. We boarded our plane at 9:30pm and waved fairwell to Buenos Aires. We will both miss Buenos Aires. To me Buenos Aires feels like what would happen if you combined Paris and Rome and then cut all the prices by 80 percent.

We will miss Buenos Aires and all its cafes

Boarding Flight 110 Home

After a sleepless flight and botched connection in Atlanta we found ourselves back at home in Oceanside, CA where Deeanne’s parents picked us up at the airport and gave us a thorough welcome back. It’s hard to believe that with just one plane ride your entire surroundings can change so dramatically. After 9 planes, 8 boats, 1 train, and more busses than I could possibly count, we are back in the same room where we packed for this trip more than 7 months ago.  It was wonderful, and right now there is nowhere else I’d rather be than home.  Stay tuned for our final blog highlighting our favorite places from the trip.

Curbside at LAX

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Back in Buenos Aires

by Deeanne on January 6, 2010

After our long plane ride back to South America, we had an unexpected surprise awaiting us at the Immigration area of Buenos Aires’ International Airport.  Apperently just 10 days before we arrived, Argentina decided to start a reciprocity fee for visitors of the US, Canada, and Australia.  So despite the fact that we have been in and out of Argentina for nearly 2 months, and this was our 4th entry into the country, we had to pay $131 each for the priviledge of visiting again.  This wouldn’t have been so painful to swallow, except of all of the dozens of entry points into Argentina, the EZE international airport is the ONLY place where this reciprocity fee is being collected.  No one who enters by land has to pay.  Ouch.

Arriving to BA

Well, after the money was out of the way, we caught a cab into the city proper.  A friend of Garret’s has family in Buenos Aires, and offered to let us stay in their apartment in Palermo.  We’re just two blocks from the subway line, and having such a great time exploring the city.  With Buenos Aires having over 12 million residents in the greater metro area, about 1 in 3 Argentines hails from this area.  It would take months to “see” the whole city, but so far we have had the chance to visit some of the more famous neighborhoods of downtown, La Boca, San Telmo, and Palermo.

Caminito Street in La Boca

Colorful Painted Homes in La Boca

Our first day of touring we decided to visit La Boca, known as a neighborhood that loves art, fútbol, and tango.  Unfortunately we just missed the end of the fútbol season, so we won’t be able to catch a Boca Junior’s match.  Even though we were there on New Year’s Eve, the streets were still full of artists selling their work, Tango dancers, and restaurants.  Caminito street is officially an open air museum, showcasing the architecture the city is famous for (painted corrugated metal siding), and lots of tango memrobelia.

Artists Show Their Work in the Streets

Lots of Artists at Work in Boca

Everything about La Boca is Colorful

In the evening, we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant (ironically enough).  Not quite as good as all the delicious meals we had in PV, but really not bad.  The restaurant had a special set menu for New Years, and included nachos, fajitas, lemon-mouse dessert, champagne, and pan dulce.  We arrived just after 9 pm, and had no problem stretching dinner out until midnight, in fact we didn’t get the last course of pan dulce until nearly 1 am.  We learned that New Years is a family affair in Buenos Aires, with most families celebrating with a dinner at midnight.  Then they go out into the streets and rooftops and set off fireworks at midnight that continue until sunrise.  There are no organized street gatherings such as Times Square, rather every street is a place to see fireworks (much to my dismay, I really don’t like unexpected loud noises).

Our Forray of Mexican Food Eating Continued Until the end of the Year!

New Year's Eve Dinner with James (we all cruised the Galapagos Islands Together in August)

On New Year’s Day, we watched the start of the Dakar Rally Race, which is taking place all over Argentina and Chile for the next two weeks.  The race features motorcycles, four wheelers and trucks.  We watched them get introduced, walked around and checked out some of the rigs.

The Start of the Dakar Rally Race

Really Big Vehicles Support each Racer

Saturday, we joined BA Free Tours for a walking tour of the micro-center.  Highlights included the house of Congress, the Pink House, and Cafe Tortoni, which we returned to later for lunch.  The Cafe is the oldest in Argentina (founded 1858) and enjoys an old rich history it has been visited by intellectuals, politicians and artists (Hillary Clinton in 2006).  We also did some fun shopping on Florida Street (a pedestrian only street and market), where we picked up our most unusual souvenir yet- a head scratcher.  Don’t laugh until you’ve tried it, it is seriously amazing massage!

A Homeless Lady Thinks by a Reproduction of Rodin's Thinker, While Others Bathe in the Background

The Casa Rosada, or Pink House is Where the President Works

Eva Peron Rallied her Country From the Balcony of the Casa Rosada

The President's Conference Room

Historic Cafe Tortoni was Delicious and Worth the Wait

The Host Live Tango Shows Nightly that are Very Popular

Calle Florida Runs for 12 City Blocks of Uninterrupted Shopping

Wierdest Souvenir Yet = A Head Scratcher

Sunday is a very busy day in the neighborhood of San Telmo.  Every Sunday since 1970 San Telmo has hosted a street fair, which is huge.  Seriously, I think every tourist in BA and half of the locals were there yesterday, selling everything from antiques in the Plaza Dorrego to putting on tango shows, marching in live bands and selling home made empanadas, lemon bars, pan rellano, tea & cafe, and every imaginable Argentine souvenir in the street for seemingly 15 blocks.  It was great fun.  Garret and James also enjoyed what they have been told is the very best Argentine parilla at El Desnivel, where for $30 pesos they ate a very very large plate each of Argentine grass-fed beef.

A Very Lively Tango Band Plays Music in San Telmo. They Even Brought Their Piano!

The Entire City Turns up to Shop on Sunday!

Milonga in San Telmo

As some of the sellers close their booths, the locals put on their dance clothes and have an outdoor tango party or milonga in the plaza.  It was very casual, and mostly locals from their twenties to well into their seventies mingled together on the dance floor as the DJ kept the tango tunes coming.  It seemed like a great way to spend a Sunday evening to me, and made me wish I knew a few basic steps to be able to share in the fun.  Here’s a clip Garret took:

We still have much to see in the city, so it’s good we have a few more days here before we move on to Cordoba, Iguazu Falls, and Uruguay.

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