Day 36 – Back in town
Given we had seen most of the touristy stuff in Centro and knowing it was pretty lifeless on weekends and would be about the same, except for the shops, 2 days before Christmas, we opted to stay in one of the ‘burbs’ called Boedo a bit further out. Upon arrival first thing this morning, we were instantly happy with our choice as the streets were lively and the hostel “La Menesunda” clean and brightly decorated, with friendly staff and quite a bit cheaper than staying in Centro. Here we would be doing some more waiting as we had invited ourselves to Christmas celebrations at the home of Emilio (an Argentinean guy I work with at Pitcher Partners and part of our ‘locals’ group) who was home for Christmas with his family. Emilio had informed us that the main event at his place would be dinner Christmas Eve and so he would be picking us up late afternoon tomorrow to come and join the celebration.
So after a shower, we went for a wander around the neighbourhood, still looking for shirts (found one yippee!), something for dinner and some nice wine to take to Christmas. We found a nice wine shop which happened to be opposite a pub that served its own microbrew, but unfortunately got to both during siesta time. So it was back to the hostel for a siesta of our own! Later that evening we found our way back to both, although Matt’s refined palate was not overly impressed with one or two of the four available microbrews!
The brew pub in Boedo – Cossab cerveza artesenal “beer art”!
Day 37 – Christmas Eve 2009
While Matt spent the morning in search of an English book shop and purchased some more clothing along the way, I killed another couple of hours on the internet, caught up on blogging and found a florist to get some flowers for Lucy, Emilio’s mum, given Emilio had insisted that we couldn’t bring anything to Christmas.
Emilio and his brother “Kuke” (which is his nickname, his actual name is Haroldo) picked us up late afternoon and after catching up briefly in the car ride to Emilio’s place we were thrown head first into Christmas dinner with Emilio’s mum Lucy, Kuke’s girlfriend Mariana, his cousins Anna and Gustavo and Gustavo’s partner Cecilia, his Aunt and another friend of the family. We were presented with a feast of traditional Spanish and German foods (Emilio’s family is of German decent) and struggled to keep up with all the Spanish flying around! It was much easier to try and stick to one-on-one discussions, but this was made hard when everyone would stop and listen every time we spoke! None the less we felt instantly welcome and everyone was very interested in the parts of their country we had seen so far and what we thought and where we were headed next. After dinner we were treated to a bit of backyard pyromania by the boys who had purchased some fireworks earlier in the week and following this, presents were opened at midnight. Matt and I had resigned to the fact that presents probably weren’t practical this year and just being away on this grand adventure together would have to do. We were pleasantly surprised to receive a stocking each filled with homemade gingerbread Christmas trees, chocolates and other baked goodies from Lucy, as well as a really nice Kevingston t-shirt for Matt and bracelet for me from the ever generous Kuke.
Chistmas Eve dinner.
Matt and Emilio…2-4-6-8…
Emilio’s mum Lucy and cousin Anna.
Pretty good for backyard stuff… and it wasn’t even New Years yet!
Day 38 – Christmas Day 2009
Waking up late to the best black coffee I had had in ages, it was straight into the shower and out again to lunch at Mariana’s house with her parents, siblings, their partners and kids and assorted extended family! Another feast was had, this time of a more traditional Argentinean style of asado (BBQ meat, meat, meat) and salad. It was a lovely sunny day to be sitting out in the backyard and again we felt very welcome.
Mariana’s dad Luis cooking the asado.
Mariana and Kuke.
Hanging out in Mariana’s backyard.
Later in the afternoon we headed back to Emilio’s place for a dip in the pool and to take a break from the brain-hurt of having to concentrate on Spanish! We had two awesome stomach filling days and are very thankful to Emilio and family and Mariana and family for adopting us and taking care of us for our second only Christmas away from home.
Day39 – I guess it’s not Boxing Day when you’re not in Australia?
Despite their not being the equivalent of Boxing Day sales until around 6 Jan in BsAs, in the morning we hit the local shopping mall with the gang ‘for a walk’. Later in the day we took a drive out to Tigre for some lunch and a look around the market and the affluent Toorak like houses. Tigre is the picturesque town on the Delta where we had previously caught the boat to Uruguay.
That night we tagged along with Kuke and Mariana who were attending a catch up with family friends at the local German club. We met more family and friends and Mariana’s partners in the law firm she had started with some girls from uni. Just when we thought the brain hurt and eating was over for a little while we were again treated to an all-you-can eat buffet and more time practising Spanish.
Day 40 – On yer bike
The weather was again sunny and pleasant and Kuke and Mariana were eager to go on a bike ride as Kuke had given Mariana a new bike for Christmas. So once again we were invited along and headed off for a ride following the river near Mariana’s place as far as possible toward the city and then into Palermo, the big trendy park suburb just outside Centro. We had some ice cream in the park and watched as the locals rollerbladed/rode/strolled around the lake in the middle of the park, before heading back to Mariana’s place. About 30k in total and some long overdue exercise to counteract all the eating we had been doing!
Day 41 - MALBA
Today Emilio took us into town to visit the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), a must do on his list of touristy things in BsAs. After participating in the Argentina’s national past time of waiting in queues for half an hour or so, we spent a couple of hours wandering the three floors of artworks, including the visiting Andy Warhol “Mr America” exhibition.
The rest of the day was spent hanging out at Emilio’s house planning the last remaining days and must dos in BsAs, watching DVDs, catching up on the world at home and some washing and generally setting the pattern for the next few lazy days to follow.
Day 42 – Trying to earn our keep
After some more sleeping in and lazing around, in the afternoon Emilio tried his very best to find Matt a bookshop that would sell him a copy of “The Uttermost Part of the Earth” in English (a book about Tierra del Fuego – our next destination), or any other decent reading in English for that matter, as he was quickly running out. Unsuccessful on the book front, but getting to see some of the most awesome bookshops we’ve ever seen, one being situated in a refurbished theatre, we insisted Emilio take us via the supermarket on the way home so we could finally start earning our keep, having stayed for six nights so far, and looking quite comfy until our flight to Ushuaia on 3 January.
The gorgeous bookstore on Avenida Santa Fe.
Emilio agreed and we decided to make something we already knew Emilio was a fan of (or so he said last time at our place!) Our choice required couscous, something we had so far found impossible to find in Argentina. Unsuccessful even at the biggest supermarket in the area, we substituted for rice, but everyone seemed happy and we felt a little better and less worried about wearing our welcome. After dinner we watched the first of Emilio’s Misdsummer Murders DVDs he had brought back from Australia with him, a ritual that continued every night until we left!
Day 43 – Puerto Madero and Cemetery de la Recoleta
Today we decided to get out of everyone’s hair and do the last of the touristy things on our list. We caught the train to the port suburb of Puerto Madero which reminded us a lot of the Docklands/Southbank of Melbourne with its upmarket restaurants lining the manmade water’s edge, periodically placed modern sculptures, artistic bridges and people watching potential.
Strolling Puerto Madero.
After wandering as far down one side as looked interesting, we crossed over the bridge pictured above and back up to where we started near Museo Fortabat. On the way back, we detoured slightly to see some of the Dakar Rally cars being re-assembled outside the Hilton Hotel.
Another of Emilio’s must sees, we wandered around the Museo Fortabat being the private art collection of Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat, one of the richest women in Argentina. She certainly had some nice stuff and I came away with lots of inspiration to get back in touch with my artistic side.
A red flower/satellite dish (??!) with the brand new and very modern Museo Fortabat in the background on the right.
With plenty of time and a recommended restaurant for lunch about halfway over, we decided to walk across town to the Cemetery de la Recoleta, where Evita amongst other people of note, were buried. The cemetery and surrounding area of Recoleta, where BsAs wealthiest reside, was teaming with people, we suspect mostly tourists, but it is very difficult to tell an Argentinean from an extranero as the place is so multiculturally diverse!
Evita’s family crypt.
Some of the elaborate grave stones in Recoleta Cemetery.
Aisles and aisles of crypts – some broken that you can see to the bottom of – eek!
We were treated to another impromptu musical experience when a North American men’s choir began singing outside the cemetery entrance in advertisement of their up coming performances in BsAs and also caught the end of the Recoleta market.
A very pleasant day all round and then back to Emilio’s for dinner and murders!
Day 44 – New Years Eve 2009
Matt and I had been looking forward to purchasing some fireworks all week, an act that is illegal in Oz, and today was the day! Driving round to the local ‘dealer’ near Emilio’s house, we purchased the biggest box the guy sold for around $100AUD.
At midnight we joined some other locals on the street outside Emilio’s house and set off our show. We thought our show was pretty good until another started up a few blocks away, Emilio informing us that the source was the fireworks factory themselves! Back inside we sipped on champagne and made conversation with the various friends who had dropped by to say hello to Lucy and Emilio. Low key in the end, but just the way we like it!
Indie, having a siesta before the party begins.
One of our hundred-odd big bangs!
Day 45 – New Years Day 2010
As well as being the beginning on the New Year, today was the beginning of the Dakar Rally in Bs As, relocated to Argentina and Chile due to recent security issues in Africa. Emilio was keen to see Spanish driver Carlos Sainz begin his quest and so early afternoon Matt and Emilio ventured into the city to watch the drivers proceed out of the marshalling area at 2 or 3 minute intervals. I, on the other hand, had other ideas and spent the arvo reading, planning, napping and watching trashy movies on Showtime.
Upon returning, the boys were excited to report that they did in fact see Carlos Sainz start, but the highlight (not for the rider involved) was seeing one the the motorbikes catch on fire as it waited in the marshalling area!
Day 46 – Zoos and brews
Today Emilio took us out of town a little while to Bioparque Temaiken, a privately owned zoo with artistic enclosures and more open range opportunities for its residents than the central city located BsAs Zoo.
The Bioparque was immaculate and very well thought out with highlights being the flamingos, pudu (world’s smallest deer), the hippos and the huge bird aviaries located at the back of the park.
Flamingos
The Hippopotamus – who kept kissing the window! (see below)
A pudu – very cute!
Some smiles after our helado (ice cream) break!
A tucan having a chat.
Beautiful macaws.
Some more macaws, grouped on the opposite side of the aviary from the rainbows!
Building up a well earned thirst covering every enclosure the Bioparque had to over, we ventured across the road to the pirate themed Cervezaria Rojo Barbe (Red Beard Brewery) to try some of the local brews. Opting not to order the ‘lighthouse’, a three foot tower of beer with a tap at the bottom, we instead ordered a tasting set of six of the brews on offer. This proved to be in our favour, Matt’s palate again unimpressed with the ‘flawed’ offerings, although there were some interesting flavours including lemon beer! I took a bottle of orange and green beer for tasting with dinner later, the green beer actually being coloured green and the orange tasting like a girly drink!
Mattina – one of Red Beard’s wenches!
Day 47 – Our last day in BsAs…. surprise, surprise a lazy one!
Today we spent the day packing up and hanging out in anticipation of our 10pm flight to Rio Gallegos.
We had a great time with Emilio, Lucy, Kuke, Mariana and co and we were very well looked after. After six weeks of travelling it was nice to have a home, even just for a little while!
Lucy, Kuke, Emilio, Matt and I… and Indie strolling through!
1 comment:
Post a Comment