4 feet 2 mouths

Moving to Buenos Aires? (By Carmen)

4 feet 5 forks - we found these embedded in the sidewalk. Seemed appropriate :)

The question Nathan and I ask ourselves about every city is, “Could we live here?” BsAs has its pros and cons.  We´ve written about the highlights such as great markets, fanatic fútbol culture, tango, inexpensive transit and good food and wine (particularly pizza).  There are a couple other items we didn´t have time to cover:

Nightlife – A good night out isn´t hard to find in BsAs.  That is, as long as you can stay up late enough.  Things don´t really get started until 2am or so.

Antares Bar on a Friday night

One of our first outings was at Antares, a local microbrewery.  Because we were still jet lagged, the late night was easy! It wasn´t the best beer we´d ever had but the bar was hopping  and had a great atmosphere.

The marble bar at Million

Another night we went to Millon, an upscale bar in a beautiful setting and prices to match the name.  Friendly bar tenders, good cocktails, 2 for 1 happy hour.

La Bomba de Tiempo at the Konex Center

Every Monday there is an awesome drum show called La Bomba de Tiempo at the Konex Center.  This is one of the rare early nights in BsAs since the show is from 8-10pm.  It attracts a young crowd that jumps in rhythm to the 12 or so drums on stage.  You can´t help but want to dance.

La Peña de Colorado

On our final night we checked out the Peña de Colorado.  There we heard more traditional music with guitars, harmoicas and vocals.

Menu from the closed door restaurant

Blurry picture of me on the stage with my raffle winnings

Closed Door Restaurants – One of our favorite nights was at a closed door restaurant in the Almagro neighborhood. A classmate from the spanish school invited us to join in.  She actually lived in the house where the restaurant took place every Friday.  Her roomates were the chefs and the entertainment since their band also performed.  The food was great, the crowd was lively, the tunes were awesome.  I won the raffle too so I got a CD of their music!  After this night, I really started to feel comfortable in BsAs.

View of Plaza Congreso in Buenos Aires

Calle Florida

Architecture – Another great characteristic of BsAs is its elegant architecture.  This is probably what makes it feel most like Paris, the city it’s always compared to.  Beautiful buildings can be found on almost any street.

El Congreso

One of the landmark ones is the Congreso, where their national government meetings are held.  I highly recommend the tour of the inside.

Palacio de Aguas Corrientes

Another beauty was the Palacio de Aguas Corrientes (Palace of Running Water).  It was constructed to hold the city´s first water pumps.  Today it still has the pumps as well as a museum about plumbing.  Complete with old toilets.  Awesome.

So the question is, could we live here?  For me the answer is yes.  The city has totally charmed me.  There are definitely drawbacks.  For example, you can´t hurry an Argentinian.  You sit at restaurants for 20 minutes waiting for the bill you already asked for.  But at the same time, this pace of life forces you to relax.  And looking out the window of a cozy cafe in BsAs is a pretty great place to relax.  I’ll miss you BsAs!

Finally, just for the fun of it, here are a few more pics we couldn’t fit in elsewhere:

View from the river in Tigre, a cute town on the edge of BsAs

The Recoleta Cemetary was one of our favorite sights in the city and has one of the best weekend markets outside its gate

The seal of Argentina can be found everywhere

Pierinos again! Delicious ravioli

The Fútbol (Soccer) Fanatics of Buenos Aires (by Nathan)

Calzone at Cumana

 We knew that the day we planned for a soccer game would be crazy.  We prepared accordingly the night before with what has been the best tasting and the best value sit down restaurant we’ve been to in Buenos Aires (BsAs).  Cumaná is located in the Recoleta neighborhood just north of central BsAs.  We had the tripe stew and a mushroom calzone that was so phenomenal that we are planning our tourist sites in the neighborhood so that we can go again.  The calzone was crispy and soft with all the right mozzarella goo that you expect.  Topped off with a house malbec served in a penguin-shaped carafe and we were happy travelers.  The whole meal cost about $25 USD.

Alfajores and other pastries

The next day we grabbed some amazing pastries for the road from a bakery down the block from our apartment.  We bought several types of dulce de leche stuffed alfajores (the cookie sandwiches), pastel de batata (crispy filo with a sweet potato filling) and some orejitas (the heart shaped ones).

Carmen and I really wanted to go to a few soccer games while in South America.  Our ideal was to go to the stadium, buy tickets and return a few days later to our seated section.  This plan quickly proved to be much more difficult than we’d imagined.  Time and time again the locals we have met informed us that not only is there a chance of getting robbed, but at the game we might unwittingly find ourselves in the middle of a fight started by crazed team hooligans.  Instead we decided to go with an organized group that bought the tickets, then chaperoned a group of 40 or so other young world travelers to great seats on the upper mezzanine. The cost of this was about $95 per ticket which included round trip transportation.  On our own we would have spent $70 each with taxis with an extra ½ day to buy the tickets and the risk of being alone.  In the end we were happy with the deal.

River Plate Stadium

When we bought our tickets we were given a small sheet of paper that said “Rodrigo, meet at VAMOS at 4:30″ and his BsAs cell phone number.  We waited and waited until finally a guy starts hollering at us from his black car.  We climb in to find out that he is going to catch the bus that we are supposed to be on.  He drove through the whole city with the phone glued to his ear weaving in and out of traffic.  Between phone calls he tells us about the best team in the world – River Plate (pronounced “Reeber Playt”). There is a huge rivalry between two all-star BsAs teams – River Plate and the Boca Juniors.  This rivalry is similar to, but more vicious than, that of the Cubs and White Sox. River Plate is part of the richer north and Boca is in the working class south. There are constant arguments over who is the best.

River Plate fans have a tough time winning that debate these days.  Six months ago, River placed on the bottom of the bracket for the season and they were demoted to the B level league.  The fans were so upset that they rioted the stadium during the final game and the rioting continued for several days.  They are still pissed and the only way for them to redeem their shame is for their team to win the B level championships allowing them to return to the premier league. Lately the River Plate has some reorganized management and is doing very well.  They placed 2^nd place at the mid-year championship.  But to all those fans with CARP (meaning Club Atletico River Plate) tattooed on their bodies winning is everything.

Rodrigo bounced around the city until we met up with who he called the head River Plate hooligan.  His mom gave him a stack of tickets and cash wrapped in a rubber band and waved eagerly to us as we drove away.

River Plate Lines

At the stadium we found the bus group that included a broad collection of people from around the world, all of them booked with Rodrigo through their hostels.  It felt like there we were 40 tourists and 40,000 jersey wearing fans set to go see a soccer game.  Argentina continues to increase the safety in the stadiums.  Laws have become so strict that alcohol is not sold in the stadium and no drinks are allowed to be brought inside.  At the first security gate the men and women were separated and we worked our way through the security check.  After the first checkpoint we lined up again for ticket checks and another round of security pat-downs.  These were not single-file lines, but hordes of people pushing and prying to get into the stadium.

River Plate - Standing Room Only Fanatic Section

It was here that I was happy to have a guide.  Our tickets showed no sign of where our seats were.  Although we entered in gate “Q” there was no reference on the ticket or the stadium of where gate “Q” went.  Of course my ticket machine broke right as I came to it.  After some jostling and pushing I too was climbing the stairs to the upper deck.  We found out that the seating was more or less open seating (reason why it’s not on the ticket). Our seats were phenomenal, mid-field with clear views of everything n the pitch.

River Plate Stadium - Oppoing Team's fans in distance

To the left of our seats was the standing room only section that included a raucous band, fifty or so banners, flags that were too many to count and a tumultuous crown of red and white.  To the right was a small section dedicated to the opposing team, the Mendoza Independiente.  This section was surrounded by heavy duty fences topped with barbed wire and an 8ft gap to prevent any interaction between the two teams.  This gap was further patrolled by ten riot-geared police officers just in case.  I was really hoping that the River Plate team won this game.

The game started out with some friendly banter and cheering by the Independiente fans then the fierce roar of River Plate fans echoed through the stadiumwith numerous other chants and song.  The game played with some drama in the air, moments of silence, then a song, then deep gasps when the River team missed a shot.

River Plate Game

It was when a goal was made that things got really crazy.  Upon scoring fans hugged everyone.  A hug to each friend, then a neighbor, then a group hug.  In a game where often only one point is scored it is very important to get on the board.  The course of the game was pretty tame overall, there were few bad calls and the stadium only broke out once in a chant of “hijo de puta” at the ref that gave one of the River players a yellow card.  The end result: River Plate – 3 and Independiente – 0.

Fires set by Independiente fans

This of course put the Mendoza players in a foul mood.  They started 10 or so fires in their section.  To prevent any violent interaction between the fans, the opposing team gets some what of a head start to leave the stadium.  We waited 30 minutes after the game ended for the Independiente fans to clear the stadium.

Leaving the stadium, we jumped in a private bus to return to the city.  The public colectivo busses were crammed solid with cheering and singing fans.  This looked fun, but what about when River looses?

Murga on Avenida de Corrientes

With a drop off in central we grabbed some food at an historic but unremarkable German beer hall without any German beers!  Then we walked over to the local murga, a carnaval street parade with lots of music, dancing and crazy foam that the children and teens spray onto each other and everyone around.  All in all, this was one busy day.

Finding My Dream In Puerto Madero (by Carmen)

Street Plaza in Puerto Madero

Nathan and I were walking along the broad sidewalk along Avenida Carlos M. Noel in the Puerto Madero neighborhood.  This route is lined with numerous carritos (carts) all selling the same thing: grilled meat.  What else could you expect in Argentina??  We noticed that one in particular, Parrilla Mi Sueño (My Dream Grill), had the most people. Always a good sign!

Street Side Parilla

We approached the bright yellow carrito and ordered a lomito (steak tenderloin sandwich) since Argentinian beef is rather legendary.  The old man running the cart was awesome.  He spoke to us in slow, clear Spanish which was a nice change from the rapid fire speech of most porteños (Buenos Aires residents).  Not only that, when he saw us take a picture of his cart he insisted that both Nathan and I take turns going inside his cart and pretending to be grill masters.  There was no tip jar or anything; he was just having fun with us. I like that.

Lomito Sandwich

After our steak was grilled up we loaded it with the array of sauces and veggie toppings set up on a long table on the side of the parrilla.  We took our first bite – the roll was nice and crunchy, the thin cut steak was tender, and the toppings brought it all together.  Delicious!

A Busy Walkway Along the Docks

The carritos on Avenida Carlos M. Noel add character to an otherwise ritzy and expensive neighborhood.  Puerto Madero used to be the industrial port in the late 1800s but only 10 years after it was built it was abandoned for a bigger and better port upstream.  It lay empty for decades until a regeneration effort in the 1990s brought new wealth.  Corporations built high rises among the restored old buildings.  There’s even a modern white Calatrava bridge that swings open for boats to pass through.  Supposedly the form references the embrace of two tango dancers. Eh. I think it looks like his other bridges.  It still makes for a good photo op : )

Calatrava Puenta de la Mujer

A Sunny Day on the Bridge

One more cool thing about Puerto Madero – the ecological reserve.  The carritos actually look out onto this land, which separates the neighborhood from Río de la Plata.  Nathan has gone running here a few times and I even joined him!  That’s a feat because I’ve never liked running much.  But I have to get ready for our Macchu Pichu trek.  Not wanting to get stuck in the middle of the Andes is damn good motivation to get in shape.

Reserva Ecológica

Stay tuned – Nathan’s going to write about our awesome experience at a fútbol game this past weekend!

Buenos Aires First Impressions (by Nathan)

We just completed our 4thday here in Buenos Aires and the key word to describe it is hot. The city is sizzling with excitement, great food, tons of people walking the streets and, of course, tango.  Quickly we are realizing that Buenos Aires could fill a blog entirely on its own, so we will have several posts to showcase all the great things that the city has to offer.

Un’Altra Volta Patio

Temperatures have been climbing steadily and now it is in the high 90’s. My first resort has been to consume the copious amount of water I carry around that clearly identifies me as a tourist.  Then I resort to ice cream.  We found this great little shop with an amazing patio in the back.  The name of the place is Un’Altra Volta and it is at the corner of Santa Fe and Avenida Callao.  There are a few locations, but the outdoor seating is well worth it.  They have a pretty trick website so get your ice cream porn here.  Carmen and I grabbed a mixed box with Crema de Almendas (almond), Dulce De Leche Bonbón  (signature caramel of Argentina) and Chocolate Tantación (vanilla w/ brownies & caramel). Oh was this the perfect solution to the heat – creamy and rich and absolutely delicious.

Ice Cream at Un’Altra Volta

We had another great experience yesterday at the Sunday market.  Not just any market, but a HUGE vendor parade of local crafts, tango music, street vendors and baskets and baskets of freshly made breads and empanadas.  They call this fest the Feria de San Telmo, and it is every Sunday all year round.  We entered onto Calle Defenso at Calle Estados Unidos to find out that thousands of people beat us there.  Immediately we needed to grab some food so we found the fist vendor in sight and bought a pan relleno, stuffed bread with ham, tomatoes and cheese, for $2 and we asked a kind lady to squeeze about 10 oranges for us in her juice press ($2.5).

We walked the length of the market that is about 12 blocks long (1 ½ miles).  The stalls had some really great crafts such as custom made jewelry, hand-carved mate gourds, t-shirts and antiques. It isn’t just the one street either. There are several alleyways, side streets and warehouses that also host vendors. Occasionally we’d stop to listen to an 8 piece tango group flaunting their tunes or peruse through the music selection at one of the tables.  We did find a must buy that I could not turn down:  80’s Tango!  I am a lover of all things 80’s and being that I cannot wear my Member’s Only jacket in the 90 degree heat I settled with a little Argentinean flare – 80’s songs covered with tango instruments and rhythms.

Entrance to Choripan Deliciousness

After all the walking we got hungry again.  We found these two guys that took over a parking garage that is abandoned on the weekends.  The lot was open to the main drag and there were loads of people filing in to eat their choripan.  Choripan ($3) is basically a sausage grilled over flames right in front of you, placed on a crusty roll slathered with a red pepper chimichurri. The addition of two bottles of the cheap local beer, Quilmes ($3), capped off the meal.

Choripan Sandwich

Feeling frisky we walked to the Plaza Dorrego to watch the tango dancers that gather there.  As it turns out there is an informal milonga that begins around 7pm.  A milonga is basically a place for people to dance tango.  We watched them dance cheek to cheek for a couple hours and Carmen and I promised each other that we would join in next Sunday once we got some practice in this week.

Tango in Plaza Dorrego

It’s late and these feet need a rest (over 40 miles clocked so far).