I had the great pleasure of hosting first, my cousin, Elizabeth and then my friends from Fordham, Katie and Mary. So if Elizabeth took to the cuisine at lightning speed, then Katie and Mary took to the laid back lifestyle of long lunches at cafés like Argentine pros.
Mary arrived without any problems; she went up to the taxi stand inside the airport and arrived a half hour later with a discount return trip. Katie, on the other hand, made the mistake of going to the taxi stand outside the airport and she was charged an arm and a leg and had to step out of the vehicle while the taxista put gas in the car. We’re still a little unsure as to why she had to exit the car, but in true Katie Carroll style, she was ready to jump and hang on to the roof of the taxi in order to keep her luggage, if need be.
The first order of business was lunch and the girls quickly realized how quickly 3 hours can fly by in Argentina. After lunch, we took in some highlights: the Recoleta Cemetery, including Eva Perón’s mausoleum , the Floralis, and Avenida Alvear where you can see all the beautiful French inspired architecture and also some old mansions, where high society once lived. Then the day ended with a nice long dinner accompanied by wine.
Basically, we followed this routine for the rest of the week. Wake up at a leisurely hour (even Katie slept past 7:30am), ate breakfast, took in some sights, enjoyed a long lunch, took in some more sights/shopped, had a merienda, relaxed until dinner, went to dinner, repeat.
A few distractions and honorable mentions from the normal routine…
Mary learned to always keep your bag on your lap. While we were enjoying a nice lunch at an outdoor café someone pulled up a chair behind Mary. I noticed that the person she was walking with continued on so I thought that was strange, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Finally, I saw the strap of Mary’s bag moving and I very calmly said to Mary “grab your bag,” Mary looked at me quizzically and I said again “grab your bag” and finally I was able to blurt out, “she’s taking your bag.” And just as Mary grabbed her bag the waitress flew out of the restaurant to see if we had all our things. Apparently, these people were working a scam, but they obviously have some kinks to work out, since we got keen to them pretty quickly.
After days of ogling boots in the shop next to my apartment Mary dragged Katie for some shopping. Three hours later they were back: Katie with four leather bags in hand and Mary in need of some translation assistance for her boot purchase. While Mary tried on her boots again, Katie managed to find two pairs for herself. I have to admit you cannot find better leather products anywhere else.
On Friday, a guy I went to high school with was in town with a friend, so we rented bikes in San Telmo and rode out to the Reserva and Puerto Madero. We lunched on the costanera and had choripan and bondiola sandwiches—the bondiola was DELICIOUS! I used to always only get the choripan from the outside parrillas, but my teacher recommended the bondiola and it was super good. I will never go back to the choripan again. Goodbye, old friend.
We also found time to take in an 11pm Tango lesson at La Viruta. I got to dance with a 16 year old (and I am being generous, when I say he was 16) and the girls cut the rug with other locals. We went for a nice dinner after the lesson, at Lo de Jesus. I’d never been there, but we all really liked it and agreed it was the best dinner of the week.
Another great find, were the picadas. I thought this word existed in English, so every time my Argentine friends served a picada and asked for the translation I always said that I think that we say the same thing. For the record, we don’t. Anyway, a picada is basically the spread before the meal: cold cuts, hard salamis, cheeses, and sometimes tortillas and empanadas. We had a few of these as late leisurely lunches and were pleasantly surprised!
I am in the home stretch. It was great getting visitors the month before my homecoming; the visits really made me realize how long a year is and how much I really miss my friends and family. When I collect my thoughts on this past year I will write my final post, although at this point, I think it’s only my mother, when reminded, who is reading the blog. This became apparently clear when I asked Katie and Mary to write a post and they both said in unison “you have a blog…oh yeah.”
