Category Archives: Argentina

Incredible Iguazú Falls!

Posted on by under Argentina, Scenery, Travel

When I 15, I went to Niagara Falls and was underwhelmed. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I recall thinking the gardens were pretty and feeling cheated by the falls. I was expecting something  majestic and it looked like a big dam. Decades later, Iguazú Falls provided the majesty I was seeking.

Iguazú Falls is on the border between Argentina and Brazil and is described as the “largest waterfall system in the world,” which I learned is because there are various ways to measure waterfalls in order to maintain bragging rights! We wanted to go to both sides of the falls but didn’t have time to get the required Brazilian visa. While I read posts that said sneaking visa-less over the border in a cab was no big deal, we decided not to become an international incident and stayed in Argentina. Compared with many of our adventures, it was pretty easy to get to the falls – we walked into town from our lovely hotel, the Iguazú Jungle Lodge, and caught a bus to the falls. Once there, it reminded us of the Milwaukee County Zoo – walking paths winding through wooded areas, kiosks and concession stands and even a train to take you to the “Devil’s Throat” to see where about 1/2 of the Iguazú river’s volume crashes over the top of the falls. The Devil’s Throat is 80 meters (262 feet) high and 2,700 meters (8,858 feet, 1-3/4 miles!) in diameter. The entry to the falls had an amusement park feel, but soon we were taken by the natural beauty. I had so much fun the first day and we didn’t get to see every corner of the park, so I decided to return the following day. Matt opted to join me and was glad he did as our first day was overcast and the second day sunny, which gave different perspectives. Plus, it had rained considerably overnight so the falls were noticeably fuller the second day.

Iguazu Jungle Lodge
Where to Go First?
All Aboard!
Welcome to the Jungle
Station
As If!
Don’t Say They Didn’t Warn You!

First stop both days was the Devil’s Throat. Spectacular!

Devil’s Throat Panorama

Walkway to the Devil’s Throat
Getting Closer!
Happy We Returned
Devil’s Throat
Over the Rainbow and the Falls
Rainbow and Water
What a Day!
Wow!
Devil’s Throat Lookout
Brazil Across the River
What a Rush!
Devil’s Throat
Impressed!

Thank goodness that I had to get over my grate phobia in El Calafate, because I really had to get over it to enjoy Iguazú Falls!

On the first day, we had bought tickets for a boat ride under the falls. We lingered at the Devil’s Throat and then needed to scurry around the park to find the boat launch. Somehow we missed a turn and arrived 5 minutes before the boat was leaving. Thankfully, we were obviously not the first clueless tourists and the worker provided us tickets for the following excursion. I had been ambivalent about doing the ride, but it was great fun. You cruise down the river and look at the falls and then suddenly the captain guns the engines and drives you smack into one. Despite the ponchos, there is no escaping the deluge of water. I thought the women who brought swimming goggles were brilliant as I feared my contacts were going to get pushed out of my eyes! When you are on the trip, you feel like you are directly under the falls with the amount of water that crashes down on you, so I was surprised when we watched another boat cruise into the falls and saw that they really just go to the perimeter.

Safety First
Ready for Adventure
Gaining Steam
Heading In!
Soaked!

I loved that there were so many waterfalls to see – between 150 and 300 depending on the amount of water flow. Each one was pretty in its own way.

Two Sisters
Paradise
Spectacular
Impressive
Back on Dry Land
Off the Beaten Path
Rush
Cascades
Pretty as Far as the Eye Can See
If Only I Remembered Which Was Which!
Wow
Nature at Its Finest

The lush jungle setting made it so much more magical than Niagara and allowed us to see capuchin monkeys, toucans and other birds, coati (raccoon-like creatures that will shamelessly try to steal your food) and butterflies. There were boa constrictor warning signs and jaguars in the park, so I watched for those although I couldn’t decide whether I was disappointed or relieved when we didn’t see any!

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Butterfly
Feeding
Resting
Beauty
Hitching a Ride
Another Hitchhiker
Matt’s Hand is Tasty
Friendly
Peaceful Path

Iguazú Falls is a magical place. It is no wonder that upon seeing it, Eleanor Roosevelt is reported to have said, “Poor Niagara!”

 

Living the Good Life: Mendoza

Posted on by under Argentina, Food

Wine, grilled meats, gorgeous scenery: how could we not return to Mendoza? After an amazing visit there in 2014 with our friends So Much Wine and So Little Time – Mendoza, Argentina we were eager to return. We again arranged winery tours with Ampora Wine Tours but this time added on an asado cooking class to learn the art of Argentine grilling.

The Hills Are Alive

Mauricio Camenforte was our host for the asado class that was held in his backyard. http://asadocookingclassmendoza.com/ We enjoy seeing how people live and his home and its view were lovely. Mauricio clearly loved having people in his home to show them a true Argentine experience. There were three other Americans from Seattle in the class  – Norberto, Jeff and Holly – and we quickly bonded over a shared love of travel, wine and food.

Ready to Feast!

An asado is made on a special type of grill: a long, flat concrete surface with a metal grill and basket. Only wood is used and the idea is to take your time, drink some wine and enjoy the process. Mauricio started by creating a wood fire. As the wood burns, you knock off cinders and spread them under the grill. Once you have a suitable amount to start grilling, you place the burning wood in the basket, replenish as needed and continue to knock off cinders for under the grill.

Raw Ingredients
Fire
Meat and More Meat
Starting the Fire
Chef Mauricio

As we waited for the fire to burn, we started our feast with delicious bread accompanied by an eggplant spread, blue cheese spread, chorizo and olives. Next up were some amazing empanadas. It goes without saying that there was an endless supply of malbec wine as well.

Appetizers

Then we got to work. We sliced the veggies and put them on the grill with small, fresh chorizos. Beef ribs were expertly placed for slow cooking. Holly and I volunteered to make the chimichurri and we chopped the parsley and garlic as we sipped our wine. Mauricio put green and red peppers and onions directly in the fire basket, which wowed us all. We were even more wowed when they were done and we simply rinsed them under the tap, cut them up and seasoned them with some olive oil, salt and pepper.

Making Chimichurri
Into the Fire
Almost Full
Blackened Veggies
All Clean!

Mauricio oversaw the completion of the chimichurri and then we were ready to make choripan – little chorizo sandwiches with chimichurri. Delicious! We also learned to make matambre a la pizza – flank steak topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella. Mauricio warned us that this dish is hit or miss as sometimes the meat can be tough, but his was a big hit.

Inspecting the Meat
Matambre a la Pizza
Making Meat Pizza!
Choripan

The food just kept coming! We made provoleta – provolone grilled in a special cast-iron skillet. While we were eating the ribs, veggies and a salad, Mauricio snuck some gorgeous tenderloins on the grill. Just when we thought we couldn’t eat more, we did! The meal ended with a dessert of baked apples with dulce de leche and the popular Argentine drink of Fernet and Coke.

Food and More Food!
Provoleta
Ribs and Veggies
Norberto and Matt
Fernet for the Finish

The class was a top notch experience from start to finish. While we didn’t think we could eat or drink for a week, we rose to the occasion the next two days with our wine tasting tours. Both days were excellent and we again met great people and sampled fantastic wines.

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I ♥ Mendoza!

Glaciers Galore!

Posted on by under Argentina, Scenery, Travel

I’m weeks behind on writing any posts, but anyone who knows me knows that I am all about chronological order. When we left Chilean Patagonia’s Torres del Paine National Park, we crossed the border into Argentina and headed to El Calafate. Still in Patagonia, El Calafate is a cute tourist town capitalizing off the proximity to Glacier National Park. After some pampering and a day of rest in a nice hotel, we were ready to check out some glaciers.

Glacier National Park

Our first tour was to El Perito Moreno glacier. El Perito Moreno’s claim to fame is that it actually is advancing as opposed to retreating like most of the world’s glaciers and every several years it forms a bridge with the land that lasts for a period of time until it crashes into the water. While I was interested in seeing the glacier, I had no idea how wowed I would be. The park has a series of metal walkways (I had to quickly get over my grate phobia) that allow many different views of the massive glacier. It looks like an advancing ice army and its creaking and groaning are spectacular. There was no ice bridge, but we were fortunate to see several calving incidents. Despite the dreary, drizzly day, we had a fantastic time.

Icebergs
Advancing Glacier
Perito Moreno
Ice Strata
Matt Enjoying the View
After the Fall
Waiting for the Action
Ice Army
What a View

The next day was our big adventure: kayaking at the Upsala Glacier. Matt and I are experienced kayakers, but I was still nervous about kayaking near a glacier and in frigid water. What a great time! The tour company, Upsala Kayak Experience, was fantastic. We had excellent gear (although I can’t stand things around my neck and the dry suit was a necessarily tight fit!) and the staff was fun and engaging.

Geared Up and Ready to Go!
Waiting to Launch
Our Crew
Set Up
Final Instructions

Not everyone had kayaking experience, but after some instructions and paddling demonstrations, we set off. We intended to go to the face of the Upsala Glacier, but a storm blew in and our guides wisely determined a better course was to paddle around a large iceberg.

Clouds Over the Upsala Glacier
Iceberg in the Distance
What Form!
Cruising to the Iceberg
Kayaking in the Storm
Remember the Titanic!
The Goal
Close Enough

After we paddled around the iceberg, we headed back to shore. It was strenuous paddling as the wind was against us and the guides worked to keep the group on track. One kayak needed to be towed when they got far afield. Matt kept us on course and we paddled well together, which is unusual! The weather cleared up a little and we were offered the treat of paddling under a waterfall. Matt and I gamely went first and had a ball. I was shocked that we stayed dry. Each kayak had two trips under the falls, then we returned to the boat for the ride back to the dock.

Waterfall

Heading In
Paddling Through
Almost Done
Success

After two active days at the glaciers, we relaxed on our last day and enjoyed walking around town and through its park. We recognized our pal Darwin with a few of his animal friends.

Young Darwin
Old Darwin
Moreno

After 10 days enjoying nature, we left El Calafate for Buenos Aires to enjoy some city living for a couple of weeks. Stay tuned!

So Much Wine and So Little Time – Mendoza, Argentina

Posted on by under Argentina, Travel

Our friends Beth and Chris were our first South American guests. We couldn’t persuade them to come to Peru so we met in Argentina and Chile for a wine adventure. All adventures need some mishaps and ours started with a pretty big one: as Beth and Chris sat on the tarmac in San Antonio, TX, for their flight to Dallas, they received a text that their flight from Dallas to Santiago was canceled and they would be flying out the next day. We were all disappointed to be losing an entire day of vacation together, so we started off strong when they finally arrived in Mendoza.

Welcome Wagon
Here at Last!

First stop after our lovely inn, Villa Mansa, was the tiny tasting room at the Carmelo Patti winery per the recommendation of our driver, Marcelo. Carmelo was holding court, surrounded by other tasters, but warmly welcome us despite our limited Spanish. The wines were delightful and we each bought a bottle of the 2004 Gran Assemblage, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Who said Mendoza is just about Malbec? A perfect first stop now that our trip was up and running!

Villa Mansa
Grapes
Villa Mansa View
Carmelo Patti Winery

Marcelo and Barbara at Villa Mansa attempted to get us last minute lunch reservations at Zuccardi, a popular winery owned by the cousin of a woman Beth and Chris met on the plane, but were unsuccessful. After calling other wineries, they finally got us a reservation at Vistandes. When we pulled up, we were pleased with the choice as it had the beautiful views its name suggests and the outdoor patio was lovely. Unfortunately, our initial server was terrible, the food was awful, and about 10 minutes into the meal I fell ill (no, not due to wine consumption!). We rushed back to Villa Mansa where I was indisposed the rest of the day and evening. While Matt and friends offered to stay on site, there wasn’t much that could be done for me, so they headed to Mendoza for dinner that night.

Vistandes
Statue

The next day I was vastly improved when we were picked up at 9:00 by Ampora Wine Tours to start our day of wining in the Uco Valley. Our guide, Sabrina, was very knowledgable and friendly and the other 4 tourers  – a Canadian, Brit, Swiss and Brazilian – were all pleasant company (no wine snobs, thank goodness). We learned that tasting wine early in the morning is best because your palate is at its freshest, so that became our excuse for drinking by 10 am each morning. First stop was the organic Bodega Domaine Bousquet.

Mountains, Wine and Water
Beth and Chris
Wine Residue
Post tasting
Back to the Soil
Hail Protection
The Final Product

We pulled ourselves away from the beautiful grounds and went to Bodega Gimenez Riili. This was our favorite stop of the day. Not only were the wines excellent, but the charming owner, Eduardo, gave our tour, complete with tank and barrel tastings. Our final tasting was on the beautiful patio and complete with cheeses, quince, bodega-made chocolate and fresh empanadas brought out by Eduardo’s wife. We could have sat there all afternoon in utter bliss and our only disappointment was that we couldn’t buy the chocolate to go with our wine.

Gimenez Riili
Tank Tasting
Wine Flowing
Barrel Tasting
Wine and Snacks

Our final stop was lunch at Bodega O. Fournier. We were late, so we caught the very end of the tour, which was fine as we had already heard the wine making spiel twice that day. The medieval barrel room was over the top and Matt spent the rest of the day humming the Raiders of the Lost Ark theme. Lunch was in a beautiful restaurant, with average food (I stand by my prior statement that Argentine beef is not impressive www.https://kerryedwyer.com/2014/02/14/bread-glorious-bread/) and nice wines, but the experience had a definite assembly line feel as we saw other tables from other tour companies throughout the room and the meal wasn’t as amazing as the setting. Except for the dessert, which was incredible and included a spun caramel confection, or as we preferred to call it, bird’s nest. Matt had to restrain himself from picking off the plates of our fellow diners who didn’t eat theirs. In addition, our wine glasses were readily refilled so that was a plus!

X Marks the Spot
O. Fournier
Lots o’ wines!

Beth and Chris were accumulating wine to ship at a brisk pace, so we headed to Mendoza after our tour to drop off their loot at Ampora. We wandered about the vendor stalls at Plaza Independencia, which felt very similar to wandering around any outdoor market in any country. Some things are apparently universal. We continued to walk around aimlessly, found another similar but smaller market, and ended up eating at Anna Bistró, where the other three had eaten the prior night because nothing else in the neighborhood was open so early  (it was only 7:30). It was very cute, with a nice patio, attentive service from a cute waiter and decent food. My cosmopolitan was terrible (we were all off wine by that point) but as I didn’t need more alcohol, I didn’t mind not drinking it.

Our next day was much like the prior one – Ampora tours picked us up at 9:00 and we were wine tasting by 10 am. Jorge was our guide and the four of us were the only guests, which made for a somewhat more relaxed atmosphere.  We visited the Luján de Cuyo region and started at Bodega Lagarde, which is right on a busy street in Luján de Cuyo with its vineyards behind it. They offer a pure Cabernet Franc, the first we had tasted on our tours, which both Matt and Chris loved. They also produce sparkling wines, which is a bit unique in the area, so we saw the racks where they hand turn the bottles during riddling – the process of getting the sediment to consolidate in the neck of the bottle for removal prior to final corking.

Largarde
Cool, Grafted Tree
Take a Rest
More Wine, More Fun!

One thing that amazed us on all of the tours is the manual labor involved in producing the wines – the grapes are harvested by hand, sorted by women (always women, we were informed repeatedly, due to their nimble fingers and attention to detail) at a long table, and, at some wineries, the stems and leaves removed by hand as well. Then, add on the time it takes to make good wine – several months in the casks and time in the bottle as well, and it is amazing that one can buy a decent bottle of wine for $10-$15!

Our next stop was Pulenta Estate, and apart from my notes that indicate we really loved these wines, the only other thing I remember is that the owner is a car aficionado and imports Porsches to Argentina. The winery had an area with some very cool engines and pictures of various cars. Maybe when we drink this bottle some additional memories will return!

Pulenta Cabernet Franc

Pulenta Gran Cabernet Franc

After Pulenta we went to Bodega Caelum, a small, family business owned by a woman and run by her son and daughter. The family had produced grapes for other wineries for 10 years prior to opening their own winery in 2009. The son, Hernán, conducted our tour and his pride in his family’s business was evident and endearing. The family took a lot of time in deciding the name and label and settled on Caelum, a small constellation in the southern hemisphere that depicts a sculptor’s chisel. The tour had a personal feel and Hernán even showed us how to hand-label a bottle and mentioned that on occasion he and his sister pitch in to do so if they need to get a shipment out. The wines were good, including a Malbec dessert wine that we hadn’t seen at the other wineries. The family also grows amazing pistachios, which we eagerly bought (although we ended up leaving a half of a bag behind in Mendoza as we knew they would be confiscated when we returned to Chile).

Caelum

Caelum

Our final stop of the tour was a gourmet lunch with wine pairings at Osadia de Crear at the Dominio del Plata winery. The meal was excellent, even the ribeye was decent, and we agreed it was our best meal in Mendoza, and that wasn’t because it was about 3:00 and we were in desperate need of food! The experience felt more personal than that at Bodega O. Fournier and the food was definitely better.

Osadia de Crear Menu

Osadia de Crear Menu

After the tour we returned to Ampora so Beth and Chris could ship their two cases of wine back to the US. Matt and I were jealous – due to the difficulty we have had in getting packages delivered to Cajamarca, we limited ourselves to the wine that I could pack in our suitcases (I have become a master at this practice due to the booze runs we make in Lima), which ultimately were 5 1/2 bottles – the half being the malbec dessert wine that Caelum cleverly advertises will fit in your shoe and it did in Matt’s size 12! The irony is that upon their return to the US, Beth and Chris determined that they can buy most of the wines they shipped in the US for only slightly more expensive prices while Matt and I cannot find any of the wines in Cajamarca.

Mendoza was just the start of our tour – next up, the Colchagua Valley, Chile.

Money, Money, Money – Navigating the Blue Market

Posted on by under Argentina, Travel

The pesos are sticking to my boobs as Matt and I race-walk the mile back to our apartment in the 100 degree heat after our first “blue market” transaction. We exchanged $700, which translated to 7700 pesos. 77 bills to stuff in our pockets, Matt’s shoe and my bra. While walking around with a few hundred dollars in the US would not put us in a tizzy, Americans are constantly warned of the perils of carrying large sums of money in South American countries. The cost-benefit analysis promotes the robbing of tourists in countries where an average monthly wage likely is far lower than the few hundred dollars a tourist has in his pocket. Adding to our, okay, really just my, paranoia is the fact that we have left a “cave,” an illegal-but-condoned private money changer, and anyone hanging around clearly knows that we each have a wad of cash somewhere on our person.

IMG_1212

So what led me, generally a stickler for the rules, to illegal trading?  Economics, pure and simple. On the day we arrived in Argentina, the official exchange rate was 6.7 pesos per dollar. At our local cave, to which we were directed by our landlady, we got 11 pesos per dollar, which allowed our dollars to stretch an additional 64 percent. All guide books, websites, Argentines and just about anyone who had ever been to Argentina told us to exchange our money on the so-called blue market, and when we arrived to Buenos Aires, the blue market rate was published in the newspaper and stated on the television newscasters’ money reports alongside the official rate. So we were initially confused – was the blue market the same as the black market? After all, the second time we walked out of our local cave, there were about 10 police officers in front of the place and not one of them gave us a second look. And our cave had no front business – the door said Consultancy and it was a small lobby with two teller windows. We would hand over our dollars, they would get passed off to someone in a back room and a wad of pesos would come our way. The only added consulting service was when the cashier taught us how to spot counterfeit pesos, which just added to my paranoia about getting ripped off as a tourist.

And then there were the caves on Florida street, the bustling shopping district that had about 10 people on every corner shouting “exchange,” “dollars,” “buy dollars” and the like. We were intimidated by Florida street as we weren’t sure how to avoid getting ripped off or counterfeit bills (honestly, when you are getting that many bills are you going to sit in some back room and look at each one?) so we stuck with our local “consultancy” and grew more relaxed about the walk back to the apartment with our cash.

The blue market exists because Argentines distrust the stability of the peso and prefer the relative stability of good ol’ greenbacks. Stashing dollars under the mattress is no joke. Although most Argentines use a house safe, we literally stuffed our dollars and pesos under our mattress.  In 2011, in an attempt to curb this behavior, the government essentially forbade Argentines to own dollars except for travel abroad. Even then, the individual had to apply to obtain US dollars for a trip and such requests were not always granted, or were granted in a stingy fashion. One Argentine told us that people began booking cheap US flights they never intended to use just to obtain some dollars. Going across the river to Colonia, Uruguay, where dollars can be withdrawn from an ATM is also popular. Foreigners can not withdraw dollars from an Argentine bank or ATM, and charging purchases makes no sense as you will get the official exchange rate. So we arrived in Argentina with our entire vacation budget in cash and hit the blue market.

About a week after we arrive the peso plummeted, falling 17% in two days, raising the official exchange rate to 8. The government first decried the blue market, admonished newspapers and television stations for publishing the blue rates, and cracked down on the caves with a series of raids. The government then announced that the restrictions on owning dollars would be loosened and a plan would be announced in a few days. Unsure whether the changes would render the blue market obsolete, we quickly exchanged a few hundred dollars and got an abysmal 9.9 pesos to dollar rate. The following week the government announced that the loosened restrictions would allow Argentines to buy a certain amount of dollars per year based on income, but those dollars must saved in a bank account for a year or be subject to a hefty penalty for early withdrawal.  Our “consultancy” had a padlock on the door but Matt and I needed to exchange a few more dollars.  We headed to Florida Street and the mood was subdued – no one hawking their rates or shouting “cambio,” but quiet people hanging around with calculators in hand.  We asked our Peruvian friend to come with us and she was amazing in action: approaching various exchangers before negotiating an fantastic 12.2 rate for us. We followed the woman down a side street and into an actual travel agency where we were buzzed in and the door locked behind us.  Matt and I would have freaked out on our own in that situation, but we felt fine with our friend, particularly after she discerned that  the owner was Peruvian and chatted him up.  He was tickled that we lived in Peru, so we dispensed with checking the cash for counterfeits and hoped we weren’t ripped off (we weren’t).

We are headed back to Argentina in May for a wine trip to Mendoza, so I checked to see whether the blue market remains alive and well.  It is.  As of today, the official rate is 7.88 and the blue rate is 11.25.  Apparently, Argentines still want their dollars.

Buenos Aires: Evita, the Beatles, Opera and More

Posted on by under Argentina, Travel

Buenos Aires has so many great museums and other sights that while we saw a lot, we barely scratched the surface (a good reason to return someday).  Here are some of our favorite paid attractions.

1.  Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires (MALBA)  An excellent modern art museum with many different types of exhibits, the MALBA is a beautiful space and organized well.  A definite must-see.

Fancy figures
Pointy
For my siblings
Table is set
Growing bench
Find the bunny
Reclining
Art

2.  Evita Museum  We had lunch in the museum cafe (amazing warm bread!) and then toured the museum.  The museum looks rather small and we expected to tour it fairly quickly, but it was very interesting with artifacts of various stages of Eva Perón’s short life, she was only 33 when she died, so we spent more time there than anticipated.  My favorite artifacts were her clothes and shoes (I was surprised by  her large shoe size!), but it was interesting to learn about her causes such as women’s rights and children’s welfare.

Evita

Evita (museum cafe)

3.  Japanese Gardens  We actually went to the gardens with the primary purpose of having lunch at the restaurant on the grounds, but the restaurant was closed for the holidays.  The gardens were lovely, but incredibly crowded.  Matt thought this added to the authenticity of the experience as when we visited various gardens in Japan they were usually too crowded to enjoy the tranquility they were intended to inspire!

Babbling Brook
Statue
Japanese Garden Grid
Waterfall

4.  Teatro Colon  One of my favorite sights in Buenos Aires, I would love to see an opera here some day (while Matt liked the theater, he was happy it was not opera season).  As our tour guide explained, the cost of Teatro Colon cannot be estimated as a building with these specific materials – the particular marble, windows, fixtures- can not be built today. The beauty of the theater is incredible and the English speaking Argentine guide was funny, entertaining and knowledgable as he kept our group moving at the prescribed pace. A few interesting tidbits: the Argentine opera audience is not shy and will hiss at singers who it doesn’t think meet the grade; there are separate entrances depending on ticket price and the materials and styles of the entrances reflect said prices;  and the lower, grated areas under the side boxes were the widows’ boxes where widows who wanted to see the opera but also were in mourning would have to sit to see the opera but not be seen.

French Stained Glass
Ballet Costume
Side Boxes
Stage View
Mozart

5.  Fuerza Bruta  Our entertainment wasn’t all high brow – Fuerza Bruta is a stripped down Cirque de Soleil. The audience stands throughout the show and is constantly moved to accommodate the staging. A mixture of song, dance, performance art, swimming, acrobatics and more, it was an exhilarating hour and a half for the bargain price of $14 a ticket. We didn’t even mind being jostled and having water sprayed on us, it was so fun! See Matt’s blog for some videos of the spectacle.  http://mattgeiger.blogspot.com/2014/02/fuerza-bruta.html

6.  Zoo  While the Buenos Aires Zoo is a bit shabby, it was quite charming with its old buildings and pleasant grounds.  We loved that these guys were freely wandering about and learned that the jackelope is really a Patagonian Mara (relative of the guinea pig, but apparently not eaten in Argentina).

Jackalope?
Friends or Foes
Muscovy Duck

This is a great zoo for kids as patrons are encouraged to buy the special pellets in order to feed most of the animals.  So like the old days at Milwaukee County Zoo, you can see elephants and bears shamelessly begging for food. The enclosures also allow the patrons to get fairly close so you can get a good look at the animals.  Yes, zoos have their negatives and it is always a hard to see the animals captive (well, except for the huge, Amazonian snakes.  I was happy they were captive and still almost threw up looking at them), but if you can put that moral issue aside, it is a nice place to spend a few hours.

Ssssss
Feed Me!
A by-gone era of men in suits and ladies with parasols
Water for Mate
Not sure how he is getting out…
Close up

7. Xul Solar Museum We really know nothing about Argentine art but Matt read about this museum and thought it sounded neat.  I thought it was cool that the artist changed his name from Oscar Agustín Alejandro Schulz Solari to Xul Solar (note that Xul is Lux backwards, so his name means Solar Light).  In addition to being an artist and sculptor, Xul was a cosmic dude, interested in astrology and reincarnation.  He invented two languages, tarot decks, a mystic game of chess (apparently the board was larger and the rules could change as the game was played) and created a new piano with 3 rows and colored keys.  The museum is small, but interesting.  Because the museum was set up by Xul’s widow and followed Xul’s design, Matt questioned just how famous Xul was if he established his own museum.  But then we saw his works at other museums and some pieces are traveling around the US as part of a joint exhibit of Xul and Jorge Luis Borges’ (writer) works.

8.  Buenos Aires Museum of Modern Art  (MAMBA) This museum doesn’t really deserve to be on the list as we didn’t care for it much; the collection was limited and not well organized.  To be fair, two of the exhibit floors were under construction so it may be more impressive when those are accessible.  And while it normally charges a fee, we happen to go on a free day so it wasn’t all bad. 

Eternity
Spindles

9.  Fortabat Museum  We were a bit disappointed when we began our visit as you are first directed to the family gallery and with the exception of the Andy Warhol painting of Mrs. Fortabat, we weren’t too interested.  (Aside: if you own your own gallery, you can put your niece’s substandard work in it too!).  But once we got to the lower level, the quality improved immensely and the artwork was amazing.  My favorites included a fantastic painting of Venice’s Bridge of Sighs, a View from the Empire State Building and a Tower of Babel.  The top level has functional art: bikes, chairs, coat racks etc., which while not of great interest to me, added to the uniqueness of the collection.

10.  The Beatles Museum While the Fab 4 never made it to Buenos Aires to the best of my knowledge, the Cavern Club complex pays tribute to them in style. Created by a Argentine whose Beatles memorabilia  earned him a Guinness World Record for having the largest Beatles collection, the small museum is packed with items ranging from albums to figurines to bubble gum to condoms (John and Yoko label, not the Beatles).  The collector doesn’t appear to play favorites and the solo work by each of the Beatles also gets a nod.

Sgt Peppers
Beatles Cafe
Cavern Complex

11.  Proa  This museum located in a really cool building in Caminito does not have a permanent collection.  We were fortunate enough to see a fascinating Ron Mueck exhibit that was life-like sculptures of people apart from the scale (they were either big or little, but never exactly right).  The exhibit also had a film that showed him and his staff creating the work.

Proa

Proa

Wow, when I see all that we did on vacation, it is no wonder we were happy to get home to Cajamarca!

Fun Freebies in Buenos Aires

Posted on by under Argentina, Travel

I have been procrastinating posting more about Buenos Aires because we did so much that I am having a hard time organizing all of it into coherent posts. So enjoy today’s post on the fun freebies and stay tuned for posts on the paid attractions, Tango and Salsa and a surprise bonus (yes, I know what it will be).

In no particular order, here are the worthwhile free attractions we enjoyed in Buenos Aires.

Recoleta Cemetery  – No verdant spaces here, this place is a concrete and marble mini-town chock full of mausoleums, statutes and dead people. Some mausoleums are beautifully maintained while others have fallen into creepy, decrepitness. While free, people at the entry will stop you, draw you a map to the main attractions and then hit you up for a “donation” to some cause. Eva Perón is buried here (we learned that it was after much wrangling and moving of her corpse, including overseas, that she was finally interred in her family’s crypt) as are many other Argentine notables. While other famous tombs are marked, Evita’s is not, so the 20 cents I spent on the map was worth it. Had we not toured the cemetery on a day with a heat index of 116 F, we likely could have stayed longer, but we were afraid we would join the corpses.

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The tomb below is often visited. The young woman died in an earthquake in Innsbruck in 1970 and her parents commissioned a statue of her in her wedding dress to stand outside her tomb. The poem under the statue was written by her father and beseeches God as to why his daughter died. The bronze dog was added after the dog’s death. No mention of the husband, so I’m not sure whether he perished in the earthquake as well.

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Liliana Crociati de Szaszak

Botanical Garden in Palermo  A horticulturist’s dream, this shady retreat is home to over 5,500 plants and trees and a nice place to enjoy a peaceful walk or rest on a park bench. Not that we rested; it’s not our nature to actually sit in one spot while on vacation. I kept saying I was going to go back there some day with a book, but it never happened.

Statue
Kerry trying to stay cool
Lovers
Matt with his beloved Yerba Mate
Indicador Meteorológico
Fountain

Rose Garden  If you have to pick between the Rose Garden and the Botanical Garden, go for the flowers. The gardens were absolutely beautiful, laid out alongside a lagoon. We must have been there at the right time of year as the flowers were in bloom. There are fountains, statutes, and a pergola covered walkway, which make the whole park lovely. There isn’t a lot of shade, so we saved it for a day that was merely in the high 80s.

Sign
View from the Entry
Kerry
Poet
Statues
View
Paths and Tree
Fountain View
Poets Garden Plaque
Roses

Eduardo Sívori Plastic Art Museum  We had no idea why this museum has “Plastic” in its name, so we didn’t have any expectations when we entered. We still don’t know why, as the museum is dedicated to showcasing Argentine art. Wow. The galleries were filled with light and laid out really well and the contemporary art exhibits by Sergio Moscona, César Fioravanti, and Marcelo Mayorga were each distinctive and all very good.

Panorama
Wise Guy
Sergio Moscona

Casa Rosada  This Argentine equivalent to the White House is both the executive office and mansion of the Argentine president (although she lives elsewhere).  We went on the tour, which was a bit dry and didn’t provide a lot of opportunities to take good photos.  One notable aspect of the tour was when the guide, upon showing us the famous balcony where the Peróns spoke to the masses, reminded the group that Madonna (in the movie Evita), and not Eva Perón, sang Don’t Cry for Me Argentina from the balcony. We were also shocked to enter President Cristina Fernández’s office and see her family pictures, desk etc.  Of course, on that date the President hadn’t made an appearance for over a month, so her office hadn’t been used recently!  The Hall of Argentine Bicentennial Women was impressive and filled with portraits of famous Argentine women.  President Fernandez gives her televised speeches from this room, so we later saw it on the news reports when she finally showed up to rule her country.

Casa Rosada
Balcony
Fresco
Grand Room
Courtyard
Balcony View
Casa Rosada Mural
Casa Rosada Mural
Kerry and the Guards

On the day she was set to make her first appearance after her absence, we happened to walk by the Casa Rosada about two hours before the speech. There were loads of cameramen and many organized groups of people (unions and other issue groups). We waited for about an hour and then decided to go home.  As we watched the news that night, we realized that at some point the gates were opened and all those people and groups were allowed to enter the Casa Rosada’s atrium. After the press conference, Cristina address the crowd in the atrium for about 45 minutes. It would have been cool if we had waited, even if most of what she said would have been lost on us.

Waiting at the Gate
Masses assembling
Plaza De Mayo Security

Puerto Madero  A gentrified former port, Puerto Madero is filled with shops, restaurants, hotels, a few museums, green spaces, bridges, and ships and is a fun place to hang out for an afternoon. Quiz for my Milwaukee followers: name the architect of the “Woman Bridge” pictured below.  Puerto Madero contains an ecological preserve and there is a long walkway that runs along side the preserve (site of our Salsa day, stay tuned). It also is site of the free Humor Museum, which is in a lovely building that retains its former German brewhouse atmosphere.  The displays were somewhat lost on us due to language and cultural differences in humor.

Puente de la Mujer
Humor Museum
Calatrava
Puerto Madero Panorama

San Telmo  San Telmo is known for its antique market and shops but I managed to buy a nice pair of sandals there instead. On Sundays, the main drag, Calle Defensa, is closed to traffic and becomes a bustling flea market that extends for blocks on end. Flea market doesn’t entirely do it justice as in additional to all of the wares there are musicians, street foods, tango dancers and throngs of people enjoying the scene. Matt bought his first prized mate cup here and we found the popernipperings here too. Plaza Dorrego is nice and if you miss the flea market, there are plenty of vendors hawking their wares there every day of the week.

San Telmo
Mate Cups

National Museum of Fine Arts  While it does not rank as my favorite museum in Buenos Aires, a visit to this free museum is worth it. It has a large collection of international art from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, including several rooms devoted to Argentine painters. It’s been about a month, but I remember a room devoted to the Impressionists, Rodin’s Kiss and a creepy bust, a collection of bombillas (silver mate straws), and gorgeous display of hair combs that were so ornate and large I am not sure how one would hold her head up. The museum is raising funds for air conditioning (only one room has it thus far), so as we went on the same day as the Recoleta Cemetery, we were not able to linger long due to the extreme heat. Near the Museum is the ginormous Floralis Generica, which opens at dawn and closes at dusk.

Rodin Bust
Floralis Generica

Plazas, Monuments and More Plazas There are countless plazas to enjoy in Buenos Aires: Plaza de Mayo outside the Casa Rosada is a big demonstration site with camps and signs everywhere, Plaza de la República has the iconic obelisk, Plaza San Martin is a huge park, Plaza Italia was near our apartment so we passed it daily, Plaza del Congreso has Rodin’s the Thinker, among other sculptures … The list goes on.  Everywhere you look there is a Plaza and a Monument to enjoy.

Plaza de Mayo
Statue and Obelisk
Demonstration sign
Demonstrators
Demonstrators
No Fracking
Obelisk
Congreso
Reflection

Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo  I know I already devoted part of a post to the horse track and casino, but it was so fun we went twice so it is worth mentioning again.  It truly can be a free event if you don’t wager and in addition to enjoying the races, the people watching is great too.

Home stretch!

Home stretch!

Next up: the paid attractions.

Bread, Glorious Bread

Posted on by under Argentina, Food

Argentine beef has nothing on Argentine bread.*  I am a carb queen and bread tops my list.  That said, about 2 years ago Matt and I started following a low carb diet and bread was banned from our house except when we had company or on a rare special occasion.  Avoiding bread in Peru isn’t too difficult as restaurants do not serve bread (instead serving cancha, carbs, I  know, but irresistible).  And then we got to Argentina.  Bread Bliss.  Flaky rolls, yeasty slices, crispy crackers, warm loafs, crunchy grissini, crackling wheats – we had them all.  These were some of the outstanding ones.

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Every restaurant had different breads, and while the nicer restaurants generally had the best kinds, sometimes the small joints pleasantly surprised us.  The typical accompaniment was a diluted cream cheese concoction, with chives (most common), herbs or, once, beets.  Butter and olive oil were rare and sadly tasteless.  The olive oil in particular was a surprising disappointment as we expected good olive oil to come with good wine.  No such luck.  My favorite accompaniment was the eggplant spread, which we had at two different places.

Bread and Eggplant

Bread and Eggplant

Bread and Beets
Portazuelo Bread
Grappa Bread
Cabras Bread
Pizza Restaurant Bread
Bread
Bread and Cream Cheese Spread

Now we are back in Peru and off the bread.  Sigh.

*  I actually mean that.  Despite Argentina’s reputation for amazing beef, we were generally underwhelmed.  We had some decent beef, but none so tender you could cut it with a butter knife.  And sometimes you couldn’t cut it with a steak knife.  We did have a darn good burger at Burger Joint – the best we have found in South America, including the ones we cook at home!

IMG_2863

Caminito: the Tourist Trap that Grew on Me

Posted on by under Argentina, Travel

Known for its brightly painted houses, street artists and tango dancers, Caminito is one of Buenos Aires’ touristic “must sees.”  Caminito is located in the Boca neighborhood, which is also home to the Boca Juniors, one of Buenos Aires’ premier soccer teams.  Boca is an impoverished, run down area that wouldn’t see any tourists apart from Caminito and the Boca Juniors.  In fact, tourists are warned to stay within the Caminito area, which includes the Boca Juniors’ stadium, the Bombonera, and to skedaddle before dusk.

Caminito Balcony
Caminito Mural
Crocheted Tree Dress
Caminito
River View

Matt and I headed to Caminito one Wednesday and proudly navigated the bus system to get there.  While that may not seem like a big deal, understanding public transportation in a foreign culture and language is always an adventure. Subways are pretty straightforward and once you have been on one the rest are fairly easy to understand.  Buses are different.  When you don’t know how much to pay or how to pay (cash, tickets, passes), it is difficult to try to understand with limited language skills, while a line of people queue up behind you.  For this reason, most tourists stick with cabs, but we were armed with a transportation pass that we were determined to use on more than just the subway.  We learned from our Peruvian friend Jocelyn, who lives in Buenos Aires, that when you get on the bus you tell the driver your final destination and he determines your fare, which you then pay by holding your transportation pass up to the scanner or paying cash. So we set out for Caminito on the bus and managed to get off at the right stop (okay, that part was pretty easy as it was the last stop before the bus turned around), but still, we were feeling pretty proud of ourselves for our bus-taking sense of adventure.

And then our hearts sank: what kind of tourist hell were we in?  Despite my popener quest, I typically am not a shopper.  I shop when I have something I need to buy, not as its own form of entertainment.  And Caminito, as far as the eye could see, was a several block area of street vendors and knick-knack shops, interspersed with tourist restaurants, generally featuring a tango show, guacho show or some other show.  UGH.  It reminded me of the lowest point on our Alaskan cruise, Skagway, Alaska, that was little more than a fake Wild West town geared for tourists. Matt and I assured each other that we didn’t have to stay long and started walking around.  Despite the pushy vendors and tacky souvenirs, the bright colors and art work created a lively ambiance and we began to enjoy the experience for what it was: tacky and hokey, but fun and with some neat street art. We even fully embraced the tacky shopping experience via the popener quest. (If you missed that post, you can find it here:  https://kerryedwyer.com/2014/01/21/the-quest-for-a-popener/)

Colorful Caminito
Guitar Guy
Houses
Newsboy
Accordion Player
Restaurant Row
Walls

We intended to visit two museums in Caminito, but the Museum of Decorative Arts of Benito Quinquela Martín (the creator of Caminito) was closed in January, a common occurrence in Buenos Aires, where residents leave for the month to escape the heat.  We went to Fundación Proa and were not disappointed in the Ron Mueck exhibit.  We had never heard of Mueck, a contemporary Australian artist, but his work was unique and great to see.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Mueck

We also sucked it up and ate at an outside cafe where we saw tango dancers and then two guys play guitars.  The tango dancers were okay, but the guitarists were really great and we enjoyed the show.  And my inexpensive steak sandwich with chimichurri sauce was one of my best steaks in the city thus far.  All in all, an enjoyable experience although one I do not feel the need to repeat, unless we decide to visit the Museum of Decorative Arts as it is now February and open again.

Proa
Mate Drinker
Guy
Gal
Eva and Friends
Guitarist
Locals
Performers
Tango
Tango 2

Our Highbrow/Lowbrow Day

Posted on by under Argentina, Travel

We are trying hard to relax in Buenos Aires and limit ourselves to one thing a day (I know, poor us) due to the heat and the fact that we ran ourselves ragged in the US.  But we don’t relax well and sometimes there is just too much fun to be had in one day.  And maybe Matt’s and my definitions of “fun” are a bit diverse.

So we started last Monday at El Ateneo, an amazing bookstore situated in a renovated theater. Matt knows me well and it was actually his suggestion.  Books, books and more books, in a beautiful setting.  As much as I read, I don’t buy books for several reasons: I read too many books to afford to buy them all, I’m cheap and hate when I do buy a book for a plane trip or book club that I end up disliking,  I LOVE public libraries and think they are crucial to society and deserve support, and books ultimately add a lot of clutter (how many books do you actually re-read?).  I also HATE e-reading as I think reading without a physical connection to a book is soulless, but given my ex-pat life, I am resigned to checking out e-books from my previously local library (hey, I still pay Wisconsin taxes). But there are exceptions.  I am on a quest to find To Kill A Mockingbird in Spanish.  It is hands down the best American novel ever written (I actually own two copies and a book about the book) and I know it so well that I figure reading it in Spanish will be a good language lesson for me.  But, alas, El Ateneo, despite its splendor, did not have Matar un Ruiseñor.  I resisted the urge to buy another book (remember, I HATE e-reading and don’t have access to a good English print library), but it wasn’t easy.

El Ateneo
Books
Glorious books
El Ateneo
And More Books

After lunch in the cafe on the stage at El Ateneo, we commenced the lowbrow portion of our day: the track. Lucky us, we are staying near the Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo, a horse track and casino.  We managed to spend 4 hours at the track and and come away merely $10 poorer from bets and $5 from snacks and the program, fully justified as great entertainment, people watching and a Spanish lesson (“carrera” is “race”, for example).  We then spent an hour in the casino playing my favorite slot machine, Sex and the City, and between the two of us only lost $10. Well worth the day of entertainment and given our frugal Midwestern natures, no real danger of breaking the bank.  The highlight of the track was a race for which I picked horse number 6, who broke away from the gate and came racing down the track, riderless, before the race began.  It reminded me of the time I placed a bet on a Kentucky Derby horse who didn’t make the field. Thank goodness my bet was only $2.

Home stretch!
Matt at the Track
Twilight at the Track

My quest for Matar un Ruiseñor continues and I searched the boulevard of used books.  Like many big box stores, the salesclerk at El Ateneo had no idea what book I was talking about but nicely looked it up on the computer.  At the second hand shops, the proprietors all knew instantly what I wanted, despite my bad Spanish accent, and sadly shook their heads as they told me I was out of luck.

Book Stalls
Can’t find my favorite book in Spanish