Vamos

View out of hotel onto Plaza San Martin

Hanging here at the Marriott.  Everybody speaks English and they have wash clothes and 115V plugs.  Its ruining my experience :).   Actually this a a very nice area and there is good shopping and eating just steps away from the hotel.   The Hotel itself is a beautiful old building that was obviously not a hotel originally.   We wandered into an Irish pub last night and Ava and Stewart ordered spaghetti.   So they were in Argentina at an Irish pub eating Italian food.   Here’s a vid of Ava’s noodle slurping technique.  video

Sometimes I dare myself to try menu items that I can't translate. Here is lunch yesterday.

Some more pics from new years trip to Mendoza

Bodega on the way out to Tupungato

New Years eve before the rains came.

Ava's take on new years pic. bordered by her two fingers.

Ran into a Lily look alike on the streets of mendoza

Stewart's new wheels? We saw a lot of these motorized bicycles on the streets.

This post is more for my memory that anything else.  If you find it boring,  please hit next.   We intended to eat at Bice Sunday night on recommendation of cousin John Wright who steered us the right way earlier in the trip with his Las Lilas rec.    But we liked the look and menu of the place next door better.  So in we went to dine at Sottovoce.    The service and food and decor were impeccable.  The fish and pasta blew us away.   The Malbec was great as usual.   The server spoke perfect english but was willing to limp along in Castellan with us.  He was also prompt which is unusal for Bs As (also maybe because he had no other tables!)    As we finished eating,  we noticed we were still the ONLY patrons inside.  There were 2 or 3 tables outside with people.  But we were amazed at this.  So I thought maybe Sunday is a slow night at Puerto Madero,  so we went over to Las Lilas to check their crowed and they were stuffed full with a a short wait for tables.  Strange.   Hopefully this place survives.   I will remember to recommend it in the future.

Due to the ice storm in Atlanta,  we are going to stay till Wednesday.    Have to be out of the apartment today, so we are moving down to the Marriott on Plaza San Martin.

El Libertador!   José San Martin is like our George Washington to the Argentinians.  He threw the Spanish out of Argentina, Chili and Peru.  Very strange though.  There was another guy at the same time Simon Bolivar that led similar wars of independence in Northern S.A.    They had a famous meeting in Peru in 1822 to plan out joining forces for the common good of South America.  Nobody knows what was said in that meeting,  but San Martin left afterwards and never returned.  He died in France 25 years later.    Never the less.  He is the national here here and there are several statues of him around town, usually on an horse.

Trip planning and hydrating at cafe on Puerto Madero

Sunday morning’s plan was to catch the speed boat to Colonia, Uruguay and spend the day walking the old cobblestone streets and relaxing on the beach.   But the boat sold out before we got to the front of the line.  By this time Ava (and me) were fixated on getting out on the water somehow someway.   So we found an article about taking a train to Tigre, then returning to BsAs by boat.   Good enough we thought.     What we ended up with was a boat tour of a very unexpected Argentinian low country vacation spot in the lower Parana Delta.    Then a great fast ride back to the city on the Rio De La Plata.  Blue line on the map shows train, red line shows boat.    Google Map link.   Some of the best adventures happen by accident.

Most folks are on summer holiday here, so the the little rivers were stuffed full of swimmers and boats, but other than that it looked a lot like Charleston in spots.   By the time we hit the main River, the wind was howling.  To step out into the open area on the back of the boat was to be instantly soaked.    We stepped off the boat at Puerto Madera back in town and walked into to a movie set.  They were shooting some kind of car sequence but the wind was howling.

Tigre waterfront area

Lots of locals playing in the creeks as we headed up into the delta

wow. That could easily be Johns Island.

Couple of boats playing around in some big breeze in the River

It was just a cheesy tour boat, but it had REALLY nice seats.

Prepping for our close up on the movie set.

First view of Buenos Aires skyline from Rio De La Plata

We r stuck in apt. Attempting to post from my iPhone. Just looked at the arctic conditions back home and began to dread boarding that flight next week. But at the same time we MUST spring the dogs loose from the kennel.

If it clears up we plan to take the ferry over to Colonia, Uruguay tomorrow. Ava and I have developed an unhealthy addiction to dulce de leche. It is like liquid caramel and when spread over buttered toast it produces instant happy.  We are currently having it with our huevos.

I had my first in-person business meeting yesterday.    Business down here is just as much about getting to know the other guy as it is the business.    We had some productive technical discussions then retreated to a nice long lunch.   I learned more about Buenos Aires and South American life from talking to these guys for 3 hours than I have living here for 3 weeks.   Picture left is what  lunch for 3 in BA looks like.    They dropped me off at my apartment stuffed full and a little drunk and I spent the afternoon catching up on messages.   Meanwhile the girls where out and about doing some banking and touring the botanical gardens.   We ended the day with a early (8:00) dinner at Cabaña Las Lilas.    Famous steakhouse on Puerto Madero.   They raise the cattle on their own ranch and serve it up in this restaurant.  This place is not to be missed although it seemed to be a bit overrun by tourists.

Botanical Gardens

Moved into new apartment in Recoleta on Monday.   Very ritzy area.   Looks like NYC when you get out on the streets.   The girls went out touring yesterday while I slaved away in the apartment catching up on work.    Here is the famous Recoleta Cemetery.  Lots of ex-Presidents buried here.  Also Eva Peron,  of “Evita” fame.   Note to the Grandparents:  We lost the last pacifier when moving out of the San Telmo apt 4 days ago.   She stop asking for it sometime in Mendoza.  I think we are finally rid of it forever!

We are now living here: Google Map

Ava with Eva

Recoleta Cemetery

I don’t have the words to describe this place, so I’m stealing a bit from Stewart’s journal…

So maybe Rancho’e Cuero is the loveliest place I have ever experienced. The owners, the guests, the service, the food, and then there is “simply” the setting. Yet again in Argentina we have landed in a place that is just like no other and nothing that I could have quite imagined. This estancia is literally in the middle of no where and, much like our old dock, this is a very good thing. First of all, to get here, you have to really want to be here. The drive, particularly in rainy season, is impassable without a 4×4 vehicle. (As is typical though, Ava actually fell asleep!) But upon arrival, you are immediately rewarded. It’s an amalgamation of The Hebrides and Dolomites together with your favorite relatives and closest friends with fabulous food and wine introductions that just don’t stop.

Arrived on Saturday afternoon and took off on a long hike with Ava.  She was a trooper and actually walked a lot of the way.  The ranch is 7000 acres of mountains with a strong flowing stream that comes from a Glacier high above.

Ava tries to dam up the stream

Back half of the fenced area. Red tail deer and guanacos abound.

at the end of our hike. the estancia and barn await us with wine, dinner and sobremesa (after dinner chat)

They have better photos than us here rachoecuero.com
The Palma family are some of the best hosts I’ve ever had.   And with a simple outdoor fire and small kitchen they produced some of the best food I’ve eaten.

Day 2 Included an enormous lunch followed by siesta to wait out a bit of rain,  then an afternoon ride we will never forget.

empanadas and way too much wine were the appetizers for the grilled lunch.

half way up.

And of course,  a couple of quick videos of the ride
River Crossing (Vid)
Climbing (Vid)

This was all followed by another great meal.  After which I walked outside (about midnight) with Ava and ran right into the Southern Cross.   I’ve been looking for this since we got here,  but city lights and clouds have so far not cooperated.   But this night, miles from man made light and clear sky,   I saw more stars than I have ever seen (including some ocean passages)  I went to bed humming CSN “when you see the southern cross for the first time, you understand now why you came this way”.

Ava catches up on sleep during the plane ride back to Bs As

Apologies for dropping off the face of the earth with no warning.  We were waaayyy up in the Andes again at an estancia.   No phones, no internet…   But incredible hiking and riding and EATING.  lots of eating.   full update shortly.   But just  note to say we are safely back in Bs As.

And no, we didn’t feel the earthquake in Chili.   I actually just read about it 20 minutes ago.

We spent new years eve day driving along the ancient trade route between Argentina and Chili which winds through the Uspellata Pass in the Andes.  The pass is between two huge mountains,   one of which, Aconcagua, is the highest peak in N and S America.   The first two pics are the Aconcagua peak taken from the ski area just inside the national park.  While we were there hanging out in the rufugio we saw several groups of English folks heading off with huge bags full of gear to go climb it

The peak over the rustic Refugio roofs

Pictures don’t really do this justice.  The size and color of these mountains was breath taking.  The rail bridge crossing the river gives a little scale.   The bridge is part of the old Transandine Railway (built around 1900 and operated through 1984).   They are trying to get it working again,  but are behind schedule.   This was the first rail route between the Atlantic and Pacific.  Once they finished the Andes pass in about 1904 you could take a train all the way from Valparaiso Chili to Buenos Aires, Argentina.   The entire route took 36 hours as compared to sailing around Cape Horn which took almost two weeks.

Old rail bridge in river bed

Potrerillos Reservoir

Big pig joined us for lunch on the way up

lots of whitewater on the mendoza river

Since the last post, I figured out we can see Aconcagua peak from our room.  Its the highest peak in North and South America.    Didn’t notice it before because it stays fogged in a lot of the time,  but here is a shot.  We are renting a car this morning to drive down to some of the vineyards, and I will try to get a shot of it without buildings in the way.

Speaking of car rental.  These people drive crazy and there are daredevil motorcycles everywhere.   Wish us luck today.      Not sure I’ve ever seen an cable powered bus before, so here it is.

One of the things we notice about mendoza is the green space.  It is a dense city but  they have huge parks every couple of blocks an most of the streets are covered by a thick canopy of trees.   I took my life in my hands to stand out in the middle of the street and look up to get this shot.   Next two are the main park, Independence Plaza.

Just touched down in Mendoza.  Western Argentina and wine country.    The city is in the desert and irrigated only by snow runoff from the nearby mountains.   Ancient glaciers moved through here stealing nutrients from the soil and leaving it perfect for wine.   The wine industry has exploded here in recent years.   They even have grape vines growing beside the airport runways.   We had an amazing dinner at Le 23 Gran Bar and winery.   Check out the color of that Malbec on the table.    We all three got stuffed on Tapas and had 2 bottles of great Malbec at hip outdoor courtyard all for less than $75US.   Love this place.  Third picture is the view of the mountains from our room.

I keep noticing these arcades on the ground floor of the older buildings.  Maybe the Italian influence here?  Looks like Bologna to me.

Rio De La Plata.   Worlds widest river.  You never really see it from BA which surprised me.  This shot is from the local Newberry Airport.  We were there getting ready to head out to Mendoza for New Years.

Ava’s been riding the carousels all over town.  This quick vid is the one around the block form the San Telmo apartment.   She found “the key” this gets her a free next ride. Video:  carousel

Some pictures of La Boca an artsy neighborhood a short walk from San Telmo.    This is home of the famous “Boca Juniors” futbal club.   Unfortunately there are no matches scheduled while we are here.   The cross town Rival is “River Plate”.  We’ve been told we must choose sides at some point.   The game between the two is the rowdiest of the year.

Hide and seek.

Even Money – Everything here costs an even number of pesos.    Imagine how much time this saves when multiplied by millions of people making 100’s of millions of cash transactions per year.   Compare this to the US where your coffee costs you $3.21 and the vendor stands there and counts out a handful of pennies.     Most everything here costs less than at home.  The exchange rate is about 4 pesos to a US dollar and they also use the $ symbol.  So its sometimes shocking to look at a price… $12 for a beer??  oh yeah that’s really only $3 US.

Daring playgrounds – They have stuff here on the playgrounds that would have the city in civil court for years in the US.   Ava stood in line with a bunch of Porteño kids and then rode solo down a 100 ft zip line in a public park.   That same park had trampolines!    No idea why I didn’t get a picture of all this,  but it also had a castle shaped structure made of rope.  It was about 20 feet tall at highest point and the kids were climbing (and occasionally getting stuck)  Ava was even scared of this one.

The locals (Porteños) are kind – Speaking of the zip line above.   There were about 10 kids on the top deck waiting, but no real line.  Ava was in the back and not ever moving forward.  I was busy working out how to talk to them in Castellan about getting my kid a turn on the zip line,   when all of the sudden, they decided as a group that she had waited to long and they all stopped and helped her get on the zip line.    Outside the occasional surely waiter at some busy restaurants, we have found most everyone we meet is nice to deal with and happy to slow down and listen to us talk like Tarzan.

Late Nights – We all three immediately embraced the late night culture.  The two hour forward time change helps,  But we all stay up past midnight every night.  And we all sleep well into the 8:00 hour and sometimes later even thought its getting light here at 5:30am.   The sound of delivery trucks rumbling up our cobblestone street in the morning was shocking at first, but is now the lullaby of our morning rest and doesn’t even phase us.

Heat Wave? – The locals here, even the newspapers, believe they are mired in a terrible heat wave.  “ugh hace calor” (its hot),  is a standard greeting.   But really its pretty comfortable.  It gets up to 90 occasionally, but never above 50% humidity, so it feels nice.  And there is often a nice breeze.  We always open the windows at night and let the breeze blow through.   The other nice feature of heat/wind/low humidity AND not having a dryer, is you can throw a wet towel over the porch railing and its dry in a couple of hours.