Ain't No Mountain High Enough...

At the cold, windy and snowy border crossing between Argentina and Chile

This post, and quite frankly any post from this blog, is way overdue, but I still wanted to take the opportunity to tell and show you a little bit about our trip through the Andes Mountains into Chile.

We left Mendoza on a warm, sunny morning, heading west towards Chile. To get there, we'd be traveling by bus through the Andes Mountains, the longest continental mountain range in the world. At 6,960 meters, Aconcagua, part of this mountain range and on our travel route, is the highest peak in the western hemisphere.

Heading towards the Andes from Mendoza

The weather quickly changed from warm and sunny, to dark and rainy. Then, even darker with a torrential downpour (we'd later see snow as well). Rain in Mendoza, a dessert, is quite rare, but it had rained quite a bit in the week prior as well. So much in fact that the road through the Andes was closed a few days earlier because the excessive rain was causing landslides. We were lucky that was no longer a concern. The only problem the rain was posing now was to hinder our view through the big bus windows of our upper deck, front-row seats. As you can see, the view was still incredibly awe-inspiring, even through the rain kissed windows. 

Perhaps the craziest part of the ride is when you are descending the mountain on the Chilean side. There is a series of 32 switchbacks down the very steep mountainside. In a double-decker bus, you feel like you just might tip over the edge at any moment.

Series of switchbacks on Chilean side

If you find yourself in South America somewhere close to the Andes, I highly recommend taking a bus trip to a neighboring country through them. It is one of the coolest experiences we have ever had. The trip from Mendoza to Santiago was listed at seven hours, but it is actually longer when you factor in the time you will lose at the border crossing. From station to station, the trip was a full ten hours for us, including the three long hours spent at the border crossing. In my opinion, a small price to pay for what you will get to see. For the best views, be sure to book the upper deck front seats if you can.

In a Mendoza State of Wine

The week before Thanksgiving, Brian and I headed west for some wine tasting in the province of Mendoza. It is the largest wine producing region in Argentina, which is is the fifth largest in the world! Many think of Argentina as part of the new world of wine, but they have been making wine here for over 400 years. Not so new, if you ask me.

Many of my wine drinking friends will know that Malbec is the most prominent grape here, and certainly the varietal that Argentina is known for, but there are other fabulous red wines to enjoy here as well. We tasted Bonarda (the second most planted grape in Mendoza), Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and a variety of different blends as well. As far as whites go, there are several varieties grown here, but Torrontes is reportedly only grown in Argentina. The best of the country are planted in Salta, a northwestern province, but Mendoza turns out some nice wine from this grape as well. At Alta Vista winery, we tasted a fantastic Torrontes made from grapes in their Salta vineyard. It was a blend of grapes of different levels of ripeness, making it deliciously complex. It had a floral aroma that turned into a fruit explosion in your mouth. Brian, who typically is not a fan of whites even enjoyed this one.

We visited a total of six different wineries in Lujan de Cuyo and Valle de Uco, two of the big wine producing areas in Mendoza. The region is absolutely stunning with beautiful vineyards painted on a backdrop of the Andes Mountains. It's Argentina, so you are able to take all of this in at a very relaxed pace. Some of the highlights from our trip include:

An incredible lunch at Ruca Malen winery with beautiful views of their vineyards and the Andes.

Meeting the charismatic father of Argentine wine, Carmelo Patti, and touring his very basic, but wonderful winery. The goofy expression on my face is because Ariel, our driver/guide for the day, told us to say "Carmelo" (instead of "cheese").

Tasting the wines at La Azul from stainless steel tank, barrel and bottle; chatting with their female winemaker (an apparent rarity in Mendoza); and unexpectedly getting to sip their yet to be released Sauvignon Blanc with  the owner's son (whose name sadly escapes me right now).

And, lunch at La Tupina under the blazing desert sun, being served several of the MANY courses by Lucas Bustos, the incredibly young, warm and talented chef.

Next stop: Chile, by way of the Andes Mountains!

Noviembre

The past several weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind for me, albeit a really fun one that I was more than happy to get swept up in. I guess that's how Noviembre (November) came and went so quickly. As I type this, I am realizing that I can no longer say "solo dos meses mas" (only two more months) when talking about how much time I have left living in Buenos Aires. Now the calendar is telling me there's just a little more than one month left.

Brian was here for two full weeks!! That in itself would have been great, but we also squeezed in a really awesome trip while he was down here, traveling first to Mendoza and then on to Chile by bus through the Andes. We returned to Buenos Aires to spend five days with my sister, Marie, and her boyfriend, Michael. What a wonderful few weeks it has been!

Many of you have asked me if I celebrated Thanksgiving in Argentina. I feel lucky to have been able to spend the day with Brian, Marie and Michael. Yes, a few really important people were missing, but it was as much as I could have hoped for being so far from home. Instead of chancing a potentially less than delicious traditional Thanksgiving feast, we opted for something traditionally Argentine at La Fachada (means, the facade). This place turns out some of my favorite empanadas in the city. They even have an open-faced variety which are especially spectacular. Anyways, I do hope your Thanksgiving was as good as mine. I have so many things to be thankful for this year, the least of which is getting to spend five months in a different corner of the world.

Stay tuned for details and photos from our recent trip. I promise them soon.

Chau.

La Boca

On Saturday, a small group of us planned to head over to La Boca (means mouth; it sits at the mouth of the Riachuelo (little river)) for a late lunch. La Boca is a poor, working class barrio in the Southeastern part of Capital Federal (city of Buenos Aires). I had been to La Boca once before to visit Caminito, a small section of beautifully colored buildings, tango dancers, artisans selling their wares and restaurants trying to lure you in for a bite. Caminito, literally little street/little walkway, as it is today is actually a recreation of what the neighborhood once was. The rather poor Italian immigrants who settled here in the late 1800s used scrap metal and wood to build their homes and whatever paint was left over from the nearby shipyards. This is how the neighborhood became so colorful. However, over the years the neighborhood lost its splendor. In the 1950s, local artist Benito Quinquela Martin, unhappy with the state of disrepair, began a project to re-beautify the buildings (many old convetillos = communal housing) in the small section known as Caminito. And today, this section of La Boca provides the eye something pretty to look at, but is not a true picture of La Boca. Because all of the guide books only show photos of Caminito, many tourists (myself once included) believe this is La Boca. And, most people who visit Buenos Aires will know nothing more of the La Boca barrio than this small, yet vibrant tourist trap. Don't get me wrong, there are perfectly good reasons someone would choose only to visit Caminito (safety is a REAL concern in La Boca), and even though I just labeled it a "tourist trap," I would still recommend an afternoon in Caminito. Today, though, we were headed to the real La Boca. The La Boca that the guide books warn you is not safe, not really even in the daytime.

Because of safety concerns and because we were running the risk of not making it to the restaurant before it closed for its late afternoon siesta between lunch and dinner, we decided to take a taxi instead of the colectivo (bus). Our cab driver told us the moment we got in that he didn't know exactly where we were going...just the general vicinity. A couple of us had a good idea of how to get there once we got to the barrio, so we told him to press on. We were looking for El Obrero, a restaurant appreciated by local working men (el obrero actually tranlsates to the working man), brave tourists and celebrities alike. In fact, when U2 visited Buenos Aires and asked to be taken to a place that authentically represented Argentine culture, they were taken to this place. I have a feeling they were not disappointed.

After a few wrong turns and some helpful locals, we found our way to El Obrero. Despite the popularity of this joint, the street itself was eerily quiet. Once inside though, there was quite a bit of energy from other patrons and our lively waiter as well. The interior walls are decorated with Boca Juniors (the local futbol (soccer) gods (team)) paraphernalia, photos of celebrities who have visited and chalkboards decorated with a handwritten menu. 

The food, as you might expect from the name, was reasonably priced. It was also incredibly tasty. We started off by sharing rabas (fried calamari), which I hadn't had since arriving in Buenos Aires nearly three months ago. They were lightly breaded, kissed with lemon juice and delicious. For my main course, I had ojo de bife (ribeye). I've been to a lot of parillas (steak houses) in Buenos Aires and have consumed quite a number of steaks. I think this may have been the tastiest piece of beef I have had yet. Other dishes at the table included chorizo (sausage) and salad, bife de chorizo (similar to NY strip steak) and squid ink pasta with squid and tomato sauce. All were enjoyed! Pictures of some of the dishes are shown here:

Aside from one older couple who I am convinced are barrio regulars, we closed the restaurant's lunch shift around 5 pm. Our waiter was kind enough to call us a taxi without us even asking...another reminder of the neighborhood we were in. We did wait outside on the deserted street, but we definitely wouldn't recommend walking around. 

If you make it to Buenos Aires, I hope you'll visit Caminito and El Obrero. Both are worth it.

An Unexpected Visitor from Chile

On June 4th, 2011 in southern Chile, the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle eruption occurred and the volcano has been periodically releasing ash ever since. On a number of occasions, flights coming to and departing from Argentina have been postponed because of an ash cloud (nube de ceniga) hovering over Buenos Aires and other parts of the country. Even Australia, New Zealand and South Africa had ash clouds overhead, disrupting their flight schedules as well. It actually seems as though Chile has been less impacted by the volcanic eruption than its southern hemisphere neighbors, near and far.

This past Saturday (more than four months after the initial eruption), another ash cloud erupted from the Chilean volcano and, sure enough, it made its way to Buenos Aires. On Sunday, its presence was ominous - a thick, grey cover over the city. You could feel its grittiness on your skin and see it on the dust covered cars parked along the street. Many flights were grounded until the cloud cleared just a day later.

When I returned to my apartment Sunday evening, I realized that I had left my balcony and bedroom windows open all day. The last time I did this, an uninvited bird came to see me. This time, a visitor from Chile stopped by. There was volcanic ash over every exposed surface in my apartment! While it's actually quite difficult to see, you can feel it when you swipe your finger across a table, the floor or the screen of my iPad. As much as I'm not enjoying cleaning it all up, it's pretty neat to think this came from a volcano...one located in another country to boot. Two lessons re-learned: we live in a small world AND mother nature is one powerful chica. Oh, and don't leave your windows open when the day's forecast from weather.com says "ash cloud."

Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

Last week I was lucky enough to have my favorite person south of the Equator with me! Brian was here for his first week-long visit after having to return to the states without me in mid August. We had such a great time together, most of which was just spent living...you know: walking to work, sitting in cafes, picnics in the park, wandering around the neighborhood, enjoying great steak and sharing stories over local malbecs. All of this alone would have been perfect, but we decided to mix it up a bit with some adventures outside of the city as well. One of those was a short ferry ride across the Río de la Plata.

Colonia del Sacramento is a colonial town in southwestern Uruguay, across the Río de la Plata from Buenos Aires. It was founded in 1680 by the Portuguese and is the oldest town in Uruguay. Over the years, claimed ownership of the land bounced back and forth between Portugal, Spain and later Brazil. Now it is part of the independent country of Uruguay. It is most well known for its historic quarter, a Unesco World Heritage Site. And, it is only a one hour ferry ride away from Buenos Aires! With a population of only 22,000, it was a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires.

When you're in Colonia, the thing to eat is a Chivito, which is the national sandwich. Chivito actually means little goat in Spanish, but the Chivito sandwich consists of beef, ham, cheese, tomato, egg, mayo-like spread and olives. Another one of those heart attack on a plate meals. We ordered ours al plato (literally, "on the plate" - no bread). Of course, it came with french fries. The Chivito tasted good, but there was a bit too much going on for me.

I highly recommend experiencing the historic section on foot. It's a nice way to see everything, wandering at a relaxed pace. The winding, cobblestoned streets are best appreciated this way. Plus, you can then at least try to convince yourself that you've burned off the calories from the Chivito (maybe if you swim back to BsAs!). But, once you've taken it all in, go and rent a carrito de golf for $20 or $30 USD and venture a little further into Colonia. We rented one for a couple of hours at the end of the day and it was tons of fun! We drove the cart up la rambla along the river which provided a beautiful view. The beaches along here are quite nice and we stopped off a couple of times to take in the beauty. We followed la rambla out to the Plaza de Toros, an old bullring, and also saw the Hipodromo (horse racing track). Brian left his driver's license back at the apartment, so I had to do all of the driving. I think he was a little jealous of my sweet wheels. 

We had such a nice time in Uruguay. The people were so friendly, the pace of things very relaxed. It started to rain in the evening, so we headed into a quirky bar for a Mastra, a delicious Uruguayan beer, to finish the day. Then it was time to head back to the station to catch the ferry back to Buenos Aires. The tranquil beauty of Colonia is hard to describe, so I'll let a few photos do the talking for me:

Aprovecha el Momento

Vista from my apartment in BsAs

In the life I live back in the states, I find it all too easy to stick to the usual routine. No need to go check out this museum, buy tickets to that concert or explore a new section of the city. They (or something like them) will all be available to me the next day, next month or even next year. For most of us, there's no rush to get to doing and seeing the things we say we should because we don't see any sort of expiration date on our time here.

I was happily reminded of this just the other day. By pure coincidence, an old friend of mine is living a temporary life in Buenos Aires as well. Her time here is a bit longer than the five short months I am scheduled for...she is planning to spend three to five years working for her Seattle-based employer here in BsAs. She and her partner have been here six months already. After a brief exchange of stories, what we learned is that I have seen and done more in the city in one and a half months than they have in six months. At first I couldn't believe it, but really it's all about perspective. Every day I spend here, I see another grain of sand slip through the hour glass and I am desperately trying to stop them by living as big of a life as possible.

Gotan Project Concert
GoTan = TanGo

Last Thursday, I went to a concert with a couple of friends from the office. The concert was by the Gotan Project, a group based out of Paris, France, known for their Tango Electronica style of music. Tango is the national dance here in Argentina, so you can understand why a group from Europe is so beloved here. I really didn't know much about them, nor had I heard more than one of their songs before the concert, but I'm so glad I went. It was a great evening at Teatro Gran Rex followed by a delicious parilla - including the best chimichurri I have had yet in BsAs! Gracias a Parilla Peña!

Over the weekend, there were two great events going on at La Rural, a large exposition center in the Palermo neighborhood. On Friday night, a group of us attended Vinos y Bodegas, an expo of wines to sample from all over Argentina. Anyone who knows me well, or even knows me at all, knows this is practically a national holiday for me. For $100 ARS (about $25 USD), you are given a glass and the opportunity to taste the fruits of labor from over 100 different wineries participating in this event. QUE BUENO!! There were also some fabulous olive oils and balsamic vinegars to try when you needed a little break from the wine and a little bread to soak it up. My favorite wine of the night was the Malma Pinot Noir from Neuquen. I think I definitely lingered for a while at their booth...

On Sunday, I went to the other big event at La Rural that weekend: Caminos y Sabores. There were over 400 exhibitors, including producers from all over Argentina of food (salami and other meats, cheeses, dulce de leche, jams, honey, yerba mate, olive oils, liquors, beer, wine), textiles, jewelry and other artisan crafts. It was such fun moving from booth to booth to sample all they had to offer. I even ate a piece of wood! It was an interesting afternoon to say the least. 

In my month and a half in Buenos Aires, I have already done and experienced so many things. I can't wait to continue the daily adventure and share a little bit of it with you. If I take only one thing back with me when I return to the states, I hope it is the lesson of  "aprovecha el momento" (basically, carpe diem) because "la vida es demasiado corta" (life is too short). Time will run out in some way and at some point for all of us. I hope to make the most of mine every day.

Chau,

M

El Almuerzo

Quite a bit of the food in Buenos Aires is actually fairly similar to what we eat back home…beef (though I will elaborate on this in a future post), french fries (papas fritas), pizza and pasta. 

For lunch (el almuerzo), common fare might include a tarta or a few empanadas. While most of you have probably had empanadas before, they’re not exactly something we eat regularly in the EEUU (Estados Unidos=United States). Empanadas are basically filled pockets of dough, and they are the perfect lunch, dinner or snack to get you through to the next meal. From what I’ve seen, here in Buenos Aires they are most commonly al horno (baked) rather than frito (fried). The options seem practically endless, but the most common fillings are: carne (meat), carne picante (spicy meat), humita (corn), queso y cebolla (cheese and onion), verdura (vegetable), jamón y queso (ham and cheese) y pollo (chicken). Of course,  there are also dulce (sweet) empanadas, but that´s for another day. Besides the versatility and sheer deliciousness of these savory little pockets, I also love the unique shape used to denote what is inside. 

Key to Empanada Shapes, courtesy Mi Matute in Recoleta

How brilliant! I am still trying to figure out if shapes are consistent across bakers or not…more sampling to do, I guess.

Tarta de Calabaza y Mozzarella

A little after 14:00 (that's 2 pm to you), I ventured out onto the streets in search of sustenance. Remember, everything happens later here. A noon lunch meeting would be unheard of. Today I decided to have a tarta (tart, pie) for lunch. I've mostly seen savory tartas here, but apparently they do come sweet as well. There are many flavors of these as well: jamón y queso (seems jamón y queso is an option no matter what you are ordering), zapallito (a round zucchini that seems overly abundant here), pastel de pollo (chicken) and calabaza y mozzarella (pumpkin and mozzarella). Sometimes they have only a bottom crust and other times there is top crust as well. A slice of tarta is the perfect lunch, especially when accompanied by a chopped tomato from the local verdulería (fruit and vegetable shop).

Buen provecho!

Feliz Cumple!

Most of my MB BsAs Team! Nati is in lower right corner.

Birthdays in Buenos Aires remind me a bit of being back in elementary school...in a good way. All of your classmates (coworkers) make a really big deal over it and you are responsible for bringing in a treat to share with them. Instead of the Duncan Hines cupcakes our moms made in grade school, it's usually some of the delicious facturas (pastries) here in BsAs. So that a gift can be given to the birthday girl or boy, they solicit donations of $12 ARS (about $3 USD) from everyone in the office. To my surprise, the gift seems almost always to be an article or two of clothing.

Today was Nati's cumple (short for cumpleaños, meaning birthday). Nati and I are on the same account team down here and sit right across from each other. I was amazed today every time someone stopped by to see her - to kiss her on the cheek, ask her about her weekend and wish her a feliz cumple. At least 30 different people must have visited her today to carry out this ritual. And on their way back to their desk, they grabbed one of the pastries that Nati brought in to help celebrate.

El Desayuno