A Day in Tigre on the River

Welcome to Tigre!

One of the primary reasons that we love Argentina is because the country is full of interesting and beautiful places to visit and to see new things. Just when we think we've hit a good chunk of the most raved about spots, someone is sure to start talking about some other place that they've been to that sounds amazing. Well, today we hit yet another of the destinations on our list, a place in the northern province of Buenos Aires called Tigre. The main draw is to take a boat tour of the delta and inlets and see the various islands. A couple we met who owns a nearby restaurant had recommended that we visit a particular island that houses a delicious restaurant named Gato Blanco. We were lucky enough to arrive and just look around until we found a boat company that would offer us a private tour, drop us off at lunch, and then take us boat to the main port. It was a fantastic day on the water. People were kayaking, jet skiing, taking motor boats, and even floating in the water on plastic recliners. We had a spectular lunch...the grilled black hake was the best I've had here in Buenos Aires. All in all, a successful trip, a beautiful day, and another destination checked off of our list!

On the boat ride traveling along the delta:

Our fantastic lunch spot:

Watching visitors lounge at a resort on the river:

Kosher Night

As always, Don and I are on the constant look-out for new restaurants. We keep our eyes trained on new signs and fliers in Palermo searching for something new and interesting. Well, since we got here in September, there has been a huge purple wall announcing the arrival of an Asian steakhouse on Cordoba Avenue. We've waited patiently and walked by every week or so to monitor the progress of the construction. Finally, it was open! We tried to go there for lunch one day and ran into a security guard in an ill-fitting black suit standing near the elevator entrance. It was then we discovered that the restaurant was open only for dinner and that it was "Jewish food" as he called it. Kosher-style Asian only, so we probably wouldn't want to eat there, he assumed. Don and I are no quitters so we politely informed him that we would return at a later time for dinner. That dinner came a few days ago and we ran into him and yet another security guard. After a lengthy conversation about us 1) not having a reservation, 2) not being part of the "community", and 3) being from the United States and aware of what Kosher means, we were finally allowed to take a seat in the restaurant and order dinner.

The duck rolls were rather tasty but didn't really surprise us. Don was a bit reluctant to order the deep-fried gizzards but we relented after the waiter insisted. They tasted like sweetbreads wrapped in dough as one would imagine. But man, oh man, did we get a big surprise when our rack of beef rib steak came out. It was a massive sight to see. They like to serve the meat on the bone here a lot and this thing looked like it came from a brontosauras and it was covered in barbecue sauce. A little overcooked for us but we were so excited just to figure out how to eat the thing. A successful Asian Kosher dinner if we may say so ourselves.

Don't you see the resemblance?

Patagonia III: Villa La Angostura

Hotel Correntoso in Villa La Angostura was the perfect way to end our tour of Patagonia. We were intending on staying at Llao Llao but our apartment owner suggested this alternative and he was right on target. After tons of excursions we needed a relaxing way to decompress with less people around. We ended up getting 4 days of much-needed spa time, fine dining, and beautiful lake views. They knew us really well in the spa as we had different treatments 3 days in a row and they couldn't keep us out of the pool! Las Balsas restaurant deserves a special mention here because our lunch there was exquisite and we had our first encounter with a really helpful sommelier. We both think the food was probably the best we've had since being in Argentina overall.

We did drag ourselves away from the hotel to take a private boat tour along the Nahuel Huapi Lake and a walk through the Arrayanes Forest. The picture above is one we really like of an old bridge that is near the entrance to the national parklands where the boat docks. It was much different having a small boat and a gourmet lunch to ourselves versus being on a catamaran with hundreds of people and a tour guide trying to speak English over the loud speaker! But we feel like we got a full spectrum of the Patagonia experience.

Click on the title of this post to see our picture slideshow.

Sounds of Jazz

What a lovely Saturday it was. The 2008 Buenos Aires International Jazz Festival on the rooftop terrace of the Recoleta Cultural Center was quite a treat. There's not much we like more than free live music outdoors. The turnout was amazing and when seats ran out there were tons of people standing up in the back or just sitting on the ground. This picture is of Roxana Amed, a very important figure on the Argentina jazz scene. She opened her set with a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace.

We had a nice dinner in the Unicorn Room at the Faena Hotel -- where we saw Julia Stiles hanging out. Wonder if she's filming a movie here? In any case, after dinner Don finally got what he had been waiting for...a trip to the floating casino in Puerto Madero. As luck would have it, we won big! We had a lot of fun and walked away with a big stack of pesos.

Is Spring Here to Stay?

After several more days of rain and clouds, the sun appeared on Thursday and Don and I jumped at the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. We went to the Botanical Garden and had a leisurely walk around the area. The garden has hundreds of cats living there and they like to come up to you, probably hoping that you have some food. There were tons of people laying around on the grass and relaxing.

After the garden we went over to the Park Hyatt in Recoleta, which was even more beautiful than the one we visited while in Mendoza. We had afternoon tea and scones and listened to a harpist. It was a very peaceful way to enjoy our late afternoon merienda (snack) during the downtime. Whereas at home bars and restaurants are jumping around happy hour (5-7pm), nothing really happens here in Buenos Aires. People are at home having family time and dinner doesn't get going at most places until after 9:30pm.

I can't say enough about the fabulous Vietnamese dinner we ate at Green Bamboo. A new version of chicken satay that, instead of just wooden sticks, the chicken was skewered on sugar cane sticks. Add pork rolls and duck confit to the mix and YUM...

We also successfully booked our next trip! On November 9th we'll be heading to the Patagonia region to visit Calafate, Puerto Madryn, and Bariloche. We can't wait.

Everyday Life

The past few days have been pretty normal and mostly low key for us with few exceptions. We've tried some really great restaurants like Standard for Argentine asado, Pregiatto for pasta and Sudestada for southeast Asian. I was disappointed that I forgot to bring my camera to Sudestada because I had the most delicious and beautiful looking dish. The chef carved out half of a huge, fresh pineapple and filled it with chicken, pork, shrimp and a spicy-sweet sauce. Don also loved his spicy pork dish and we definitely plan to go back. However, we've only made it to the gym once this week so you know where I'm going with that...

Thursday night we hung out with Linnea at Milion, which we had seen on the Food Network when Rachel Ray visited here. It's a cool bar/club in an old mansion and the website is really cool, Milion. The place is also known for its black cat that roams around but no one could seem to find him for us. We haven't really stayed out late here so we decided to keep the night alive by going to Club 69 or Niceto Club. It was very much like what we'd do in DC by going to the upper VIP level and getting champagne. We had a great time and stayed out really late.

To recover from our late night out we had a lazy day in the park for a picnic on Friday. We got some choripan and went to La Rosedal or the rose garden. At least we tried to get into the rose garden but it was closed so we sat on the outskirts. The weather was fantastic and we just lay on our blanket and relaxed. A group of geese tried to attack us for our food and it was hilarious watching Don try to hit them with his baseball cap. The geese would even try and eat the blanket!

I won't even go into detail about our trip to Jumbo Easy today, the equivalent of Wal-Mart here. Big shopping trips drive me crazy even though it was relatively empty and we didn't even have to wait in line for very long. Plus they deliver everything to your house, which is good considering we bought enough to last us for the next six months!

La Recoleta Cemetery

We ate lunch in Recoleta today and visited La Recoleta Cemetery, which is a common touristy thing to do and is where Eva Peron is buried. There are hundreds of mausoleums for famous, wealthy, and influential families from Argentina. As we had read before arriving, the mausoleums and walkways are arranged somewhat like city blocks. Here's a typical view:

Some of the mausoleums are in horrible disarray, which was sad to see. But, for the most part, walking through the cemetery is a nice experience. It was difficult to get a good picture of Eva's mausoleum because of how it was situated but here's a part that shows "Evita".

Rain, Rain Go Away

It's been raining and chilly for 3 days and I'm fighting a stomach virus. Not too fun so we haven't done much except for eat out when I can "stomach" it. Luckily, we've had some good food experiences, mostly after realizing how difficult it is to get anything delivered on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. Most of the best restaurants here will deliver to you, unlike in DC, but you can mostly forget about it until Wednesday rolls around at the places we tried.

Monday night we went to Sarkis just a few blocks from our house, which some call the best Mediterranean food in Buenos Aires. The reviews didn't disappoint. We absolutely loved the tabbouleh and the lamb kebab, and we had a tasty Cabernet-Merlot blend. The hummus was better than the one we had to throw out from the grocery store but still not as good as some of our favorite restaurants back home like Zaytinya or Lebanese Taverna. I tried to get a picture of the belly dancer with Don but it didn't turn out too well as you can see! I had a great time eating away but my stomach made me pay for it all night long while Don slept soundly...

We leave tomorrow for Mendoza to stay at the Cavas Wine Lodge. Stay tuned for details of our adventures in wine country!