Nuestros aventuras en Argentina
To finish our trip, we left Argentina for Chile, crossing the border quite near Torres del Paine. We had time for one more night in Patagonia, in Punta Arenas, and then one night in Santiago as part of the overly complicated route I picked to come home. There is not a lot to see in [...]
After the tranquility of Estancia Cristina, we returned to tourist reality the next day when we took a group tour to the Perito Moreno glacier. The early morning logistics in Calafate are very impressive. For 3 hours, starting at ~7am, the roads are filled with shuttle buses gathering pasajeros from the many hotels, hostels and [...]
We spent an amazing two days at Estancia Cristina. The Estancia was a working sheep ranch established in 1914, on leased land that was later incorporated into Los Glaciares National Park. The family working the land was allowed to stay in perpetuity until 1998 when there were no more heirs. It is now used [...]
We've been in Patagonia since Sabadi afternoon, and it is awesome. Haven't posted any updates because we were off the grid at Estancia Cristina for two days: no phone, no TV and minimal WiFi. More to come... Go to the next post: Estancia Cristina
Arrived at AEP this morning for our flight to El Calafate in Patagonia, but it is delayed by ~3 hours. So we are airport-bound. Go to the next post: Deep South
A few days ago, I posted my thoughts on Buenos Aires, as a place. Now, on our last night before heading to Patagonia, I'm sharing some impressions of The People. It is always dangerous to generalize, especially after only scratching the surface as we have over the last 3 weeks. However, the view that I [...]
This is our third week in BsAs and in each of the first two, we had a day off for a public holiday. This week we had a day off because of the paro general, or general strike. The trains, buses and subways were all shutdown, as were international flights. So we pretty much had to stick [...]
Just a group shot of our Academia Buenos Aires Spanish class, including teacher Paula (seated) and fellow estudiantes, Ana and Hendrik. Today we wrapped up Level 1. Here is my thesis (with corrections from Paula in italics: En Buenos Aires, visitamos muchos lugars (lugares) y vimos muchos edificios y parques. Pero mi actividad favorito (-ita) [...]
i'm working on consolidating my thoughts on Buenos Aires, both the place and the people. Let's start with... The Place Any big city is in a constant state of re-construction as buildings become old, tired and no longer fit for purpose. This is certainly true in BA, and especially in our Palermo neighbourhood. Here, many of the older [...]
A much better description than I have been able to write. I don't agree with him regarding the quality of empañadas in Bs. As., but that's a quibble. Go to the next post: So now you’re an expert on Argentina?
On the one hand, I am pleased that I can now recognize and understand some of the text I encounter everyday here in Buenos Aires.. I like one of the free commuter newspapers here in BA because it tends to use simple vocabulary, and I can sometimes pick up the gist of the stories. The [...]
This weekend we went over the edge. Tired of showing up to be the first ones in the restaurant, we went out for dinner last night at 12:30 am. At that time everything happens in black and white. Here are some shots from Lo de Jesus restaurante. Today we visited El Alteneo bookstore, which is in [...]
After class on Thursday, we went for a walk in the Retiro and Recoleta barrios. We recruited Ceri to guide us once again. It was interesting because we pass under these neighbourhoods every day on the subte, but didn't realize quite how different they are from both Palermo, where we are staying, and the city [...]
After two weeks here in Buenos Aires, I was starting to feel the need for a trim. Este hombre has a small barbershop on the street leading to the cambio. So I stopped by, and now I feel muy bueno. I just feel bad that I forgot ask his name. Update: when I wrote this [...]
We decided that it was necessary for us, being in the home country of Maradona, to go to a fútbol game. Leery of large public gatherings, we signed up for a tour to see a local team, "River Plate", play against "Newell's Old Boys". I had never heard of either team, but have since learned [...]
It has been a little more than a week since the last public holiday in Argentina, so of course it is time for another. 2 Abril is Día del Veterano y de los Caídos en la Guerra de Malvinas, or Malvinas Day. No school today, but we made up the class time with a very long [...]
Last night, Sunday, we visited NOLA, a "closed door" restaurant here in Buenos Aires. This is not really a resaurant, but more like a dinner party in the home of chef Liza Puglia and her marido, Fransisco. For a fixed price of US$70 p.p., Liza and Fransisco treated us to a 4 course meal, with [...]
It rained again on Sunday, but we ventured out to Nuestros Caballos y Nuestros Perros, which is an annual event much like the Royal Winter Fair, but focusing solely on doggies and horsies. I don't know enough about horses, OK I know nothing really, to appreciate the different breeds that were on display, but watching [...]
Today we have a special appearance by guest, and first time, blogger. Over to you, Heidi.... So, we’ve been here a week now and, after the initial shock of being pickpocketed, we’re finally settling into a routine. Here are some of my observations this week: If you’re English, don’t go into any traditional BA restaurants [...]
On Saturday, we spent some time in our own neighbourhood of Palermo. We were looking for "MALBA", a museum of Latin American art, but we found "MNBA", the Argentine national art museum. We went in anyway. I was a bit underwhelmed; the collection is quite small, but includes pieces by many famous European artists (Rembrandt, [...]
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