The jamon y queso tour has come to an end. As I start this post, we're on the plane waiting for all the cattle to be loaded; as I finish it, we are home. A spotty wi-fi connection at the last hotel made additional updating difficult, (Too cold here, I want to go back.)
I think I succeeded in having ham and cheese for at least one lunch, dinner and breakfast (many times for breakfast to be sure.) The airport restaurant was the topper Sunday night; of 20 sandwich choices, 15 were some variation of jamon y queso – and all we heard about was the beef before our departure. Ate a lot of that to be sure, most of which was outstanding.
Where to begin? The final two and a half days were another whirlwind. The final hotel was in a funky area in the southern part of the city; partly a neighborhood and partly a business area. There was a printing company across the street, for example. But the rooms in the hotel were secluded from the street by huge wooden doors that opened onto a Spanish colonial courtyard. We had dinner the first night back in a Italian place a block and a half from our hotel that was all locals. Lots of families out for a Friday night dinner. We finally tried the milanese, which is on virtually every menu in town. Pat had the veal; I had a chicken version topped with, you guessed it, jamon y queso. OK, in the US it is usually called saltimboca, but I had to go there. It was good, and at 28 pesos, or about $8.50, it was a good deal. Food costs in Argentina were very reasonable, but we were struck by how pricey clothing was.
Saturday bro
ught us to La Boca, the old shipbuilding port famous for its brightly colored houses. It's a big tourist area – paid 10 pesos to pose with a tango dancer. Good for a laugh. But the market stalls were actually pretty good. But the area is dodgy; walk a block away from where the vendors are set up and you are in Fort Apache. A local woman warned me to put my camera away, so we got back to the tourist zone fast. As we learned later, there are plenty of police around when the vendors and tourists are in the area, but they clear out when the vendors do leaving the residents to fend for themselves.
That night we closed out at a trendy bar/restaurant in the Recoleta district. It was weird; sitting in the dining room all we heard was English in contrast to the previous night. But when we moved to the bar for a night cap (why wouldn't we?), it was all Spanish. We did learn our bartender from earlier in the trip, Ariel (which might not be a real name), has some local renown among fellow bartenders. They refer to him as the Samurai, I guess for his shaved head plus beard look.
Wrapped up the final day with another must-see stop on the tourist train, which is the San Telmo market. It is block upon block of vendors, musicians, tango dancers and all manner of things. It's a day-long carnival. Shared a beer with a Brit who now resides outside of Atlanta that told us about getting jumped on a visit to Lima, Peru. Put the previous day's experience in La Boca in another light. (Memo to file; don't plan a trip to Lima anytime soon.}
All in all, we loved Buenos Aires; it's now one of my favorite cities in the world. It is vibrant but seems to work well enough. We enjoyed the people, most of whom were very friendly even when we couldn't communicate, and would seriously consider a return visit in the future to explore other parts of the country.
I think I succeeded in having ham and cheese for at least one lunch, dinner and breakfast (many times for breakfast to be sure.) The airport restaurant was the topper Sunday night; of 20 sandwich choices, 15 were some variation of jamon y queso – and all we heard about was the beef before our departure. Ate a lot of that to be sure, most of which was outstanding.
Where to begin? The final two and a half days were another whirlwind. The final hotel was in a funky area in the southern part of the city; partly a neighborhood and partly a business area. There was a printing company across the street, for example. But the rooms in the hotel were secluded from the street by huge wooden doors that opened onto a Spanish colonial courtyard. We had dinner the first night back in a Italian place a block and a half from our hotel that was all locals. Lots of families out for a Friday night dinner. We finally tried the milanese, which is on virtually every menu in town. Pat had the veal; I had a chicken version topped with, you guessed it, jamon y queso. OK, in the US it is usually called saltimboca, but I had to go there. It was good, and at 28 pesos, or about $8.50, it was a good deal. Food costs in Argentina were very reasonable, but we were struck by how pricey clothing was.
Saturday bro
ught us to La Boca, the old shipbuilding port famous for its brightly colored houses. It's a big tourist area – paid 10 pesos to pose with a tango dancer. Good for a laugh. But the market stalls were actually pretty good. But the area is dodgy; walk a block away from where the vendors are set up and you are in Fort Apache. A local woman warned me to put my camera away, so we got back to the tourist zone fast. As we learned later, there are plenty of police around when the vendors and tourists are in the area, but they clear out when the vendors do leaving the residents to fend for themselves.That night we closed out at a trendy bar/restaurant in the Recoleta district. It was weird; sitting in the dining room all we heard was English in contrast to the previous night. But when we moved to the bar for a night cap (why wouldn't we?), it was all Spanish. We did learn our bartender from earlier in the trip, Ariel (which might not be a real name), has some local renown among fellow bartenders. They refer to him as the Samurai, I guess for his shaved head plus beard look.
Wrapped up the final day with another must-see stop on the tourist train, which is the San Telmo market. It is block upon block of vendors, musicians, tango dancers and all manner of things. It's a day-long carnival. Shared a beer with a Brit who now resides outside of Atlanta that told us about getting jumped on a visit to Lima, Peru. Put the previous day's experience in La Boca in another light. (Memo to file; don't plan a trip to Lima anytime soon.}
All in all, we loved Buenos Aires; it's now one of my favorite cities in the world. It is vibrant but seems to work well enough. We enjoyed the people, most of whom were very friendly even when we couldn't communicate, and would seriously consider a return visit in the future to explore other parts of the country.
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