Ciao Buenos Aires, Buen Dia Mendoza

The fun of travel, at least to us, is soaking up the local culture and the title of this post sums up some of the uniqueness of Argentina. With a substantial percentage of the population claiming at least some Italian heritage, the dialect in BA is what I'd call Spanlian. Mostly Spanish, but with Italian phrases thrown into the stew. Hence, people are as apt to say “ciao” as they would “buenos dias” or “buenos tardes.” Here in the Mendoza region, they clip the words even more, offering buen dia for their hello. By the time we get back to BA we'll be totally confused.

The weekend was a whirlwind, complete with real wind on Saturday. On Friday as we toured the central part of the city with our Jersey-bred guide, the temps pushed towards 90 and after midnight a front moved through with rain, lightening and thunder. We know, because we got caught in it around 2 a.m. On Saturday it was very blustery, with winds of 35 mph gusting higher. The temps never got out of the 60s that day, and it was a chilly wind. We found refuge in Recoleta Cemetery, best known as the resting place of Evita. The Duarte family crypt is actually kind of nondescript, hidden on a side alley. More impressive were the mausoleums of various generals from the 1800s and other politicos that have massive structures to house their decaying bones.

Recoleta itself is one of the ritzy sections with the usual complement of designer name shops like Armani and the like. Same stuff you can find in any city; there were more interesting shops are in Palermo where we stayed (though they were usually closed by the time we got to those neighborhoods at night.) We found our way to some sidewalk cafe near the cemetery; we found out later was very well known for people watching. We had some wine and did just that. Chatted with a couple of gay guys from Fort Lauderdale; one was an Argentinian native who had been in the states for 35 years and was visiting with this boyfriend. They were off to Iguazu; he'd never gone as a kid. One of our inn keepers said he'd gone about five times, often under duress as a teen with other things on his mind. Of course, now he watches every episode of the “Girl Next Door” on cable, but that's another story. One couple staying at the same b&b as we did went up to Iguazu on day trip; kind of pricey because you have to fly but had we considered that option we might have done it.

The falls are supposed to be amazing, but we're not sorry we opted for skipping an overnight stay; it would have meant not getting back to BA and that would have been unfortunate. Buenos Aires is a great city. Last night we had a more “upscale” meal, which including wine and tip came to about $80 U.S. The night before we went to a casual place that served food typical of northern Argentina; the waitress spoke no English and the menu offered no translations, but we managed. I had a veal stew with red wine and mushrooms; Pat had something very similar to a tamale, all vegetable, and we had what for this place at about $15 U.S. was a pricey bottle of wine. Total cost for everything, about 35 bucks. Then there was the steakhouse. Strip steaks for two people were $10 – that's for both, not each and the meat was outstanding.

We find ourselves now in Chacras de Coria, a small village outside of Mendoza in an absolutely lovely rural inn. Grounds are spectacular, with extensive gardens. Everything is in full bloom as it is spring here. We are actually doing something we rarely do, which is just relaxing. Pat's sitting by the pool and I'm tapping out this opus, but at least I'm doing it outside. The “rooms” are all separate bungalows on the grounds. It's the property of an older couple that remodeled the whole grounds on their own. Our cab driver had trouble finding it but the place is beautiful. Multiple dogs and cats on the property and lots of nature. One cat was especially friendly, except its the only cat I've ever encountered that slobbers. Tomorrow we will take our first wine tour.

A couple final notes. Flew over here on Aerolineas Argentinas, which has a bad rap as a carrier but we had no problems. The big concern was the line at the security checkpoint that stretched for what seemed a mile. But they managed the line well; called out people for flights set to board, and we didn't miss our plane. Never know on the way back, but so far, so good.

One last note; before leaving BA we did return to visit our new favorite bartender, Ariel. Yeah, only in town four days and we're already regulars at one place. Staff greeted us like old friends. He told Pat, “Don't order, your in my mind.” And off he went to create a libation. It was fun; he complained about some guy who stared at the menu for 30 minutes, then ordered a Diet Coke. "In a bar?" he asked. Who knows, might have to go back one more time next weekend, though we'll be in a different part of town.