One last adventure

It has arrived: our very last day in Argentina. Hard to believe that almost a month ago we were packing our suitcases to board a plane and travel more than 5,000 miles south on a ten-hour overnight flight to Argentina. But here we are, ready to do the same thing heading north to the U.S. instead. It's always bittersweet to conclude a vacation, with those dueling thoughts of "sad to leave" and "excited to go home." We are ready, though...I think.

Our flight doesn't leave until the evening, so we had a decent part of the day to experience one last adventure or two. Below are some photos of our morning and afternoon, walking around downtown.

A view of the Avenida 9 de Julio:

A final Obelisk viewing (and for the record, I did some research: the one in Washington  D.C. is more than twice as tall!).

A very strange name for a store, don't you think?

Our final McDonald's viewing. Which is saying a lot, because it seems like there is a McDonald's every block...sometimes twice, and they are always packed:

We saw a great sign in a Kiosco (small convenience store), obviously said is a sarcastically-mocking tone: "Hey skinny kid, if you aren't 18, don't ask for a beer." For the record, yes the drinking age here is (officially) 18. Though puberty seems to be a much more common measure.

We found a great little mall as well, with a phenomenal play area for kids. Since many hours of travel await us, we spent the better part of our late morning here:

We also of course had to have one final Pope Francisco reference, probably the most popular image in Argentina. Below, a restaurant announces "Beef Francisco Style." Not sure if the Pope is getting the proper royalties or not, considering this tiny restaurant on a small side street probably has no direct line to the Vatican.

Oh wait, one more Pope Francisco sighting: the huge 9 story-tall, block-long billboard. Not sure how we missed that one earlier.

Ten pesos to anyone reading this who can spot the Camino de Santiago reference in the photo below, taken a couple blocks from our hotel. Five additional pesos if you know what the Camino de Santiago is (which all my Spanish students should!):

After grabbing a quick bite for lunch (beef and french fries, of course), we walked back to our hotel to let the girls take an afternoon nap on some of the fancy couches in the lobby.

Pauli and I ordered a café con leche from the bar, and here we are circa 1 minute ago posting our final blogs from Argentina:

So with a bittersweet sigh, I am signing off and will see you upon arrival once again in the Northern Hemisphere, many hours from now.

Un abrazo fuerte desde Argentina. ¡Qué nos veamos pronto!

Downtown Buenos Aires

Today was our last full day in Argentina. We depart tomorrow evening on an overnight flight back to the United States. So today after the "deluxe" (and included in the price of our stay) breakfast at the hotel's restaurant, we decided to walk a few blocks to the main downtown area--the pedestrian-friendly Calle Florida and Calle LaValle corridor--and spend a few hours window shopping while taking in the hustle and bustle of one of South America's biggest cities. 

Below are some of the sights of the day.

View from our hotel room window as we got ready to head out (we're on the 10th floor):

My wonderful family pausing for a photo in the center:

A painted "Evita Perón" billboard graces the top floors of a skyscraper in the middle of Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest street in the world. The gigantic drawing is her classic "turned to the side while talking into a microphone to her people" view, which seems to pretty much dominate the Evita category here.

Below is The Obelisk, located in the Plaza de Independencia along the city's largest downtown thoroughfare. It is certainly one of Buenos Aires's most photographed places. (For the record, I don't know who is copying who between Washington D.C. and Buenos Aires...like every good Generation X-er, I will need to consult google to see which was built first.)

Some more views of downtown:

Interesting buildings:

And of course, our daily dose of Argentine pride...some more Islas Malvinas (Faulkland Island) sightings:

For those of you not in "the know," here is today's Social Studies lesson. The hotly-contested islands are a smalll archipelago about 300 miles off the southeast coast of Argentina, with two principal islands (East and West), not too far from Antarctica. They are officially a self-governing British territory, use the Pound as their currency, speak English, and have a population of just under 3,000...most of whom are native islanders of British descent because the British have occupied the territory since 1833. (Getting the picture? They are pretty much British.) The main industry of the islands is fishing, followed by sheep grazing and tourism. For decades, however, Argentina has claimed the island chain as its own given its close proximity to the mainland. This has been off-and-on contested by the British. Until 1982, that is...when Argentina decided to invade for real, which naturally upset the island's "owners" (a.k.a. the British). A war erupted, and the British sent down naval vessels and guns and hastily added lots of armaments to their already-existing military base. Small-scale fighting ensued, with a few hundred killed on both sides (yet, surprisingly, no natives...who had no say in the matter and were left out of the battle). The British won, Argentina surrendered, and the islands have remained under British control ever since. Argentina is not happy about this, and in 2009 restarted U.N.-sponsored negotiations, though they have gotten nowhere. Today, the islands remain a British territory, though you wouldn't know it by walking around Argentina, where signs, posters, and politicians alike broadcast the archipelago as a full-fledged Argentine territory. I am told that pretty much every Argentinian--from president Kirchner, to poor peasant farmers, and everyone in between--thinks the islands actually belong to Agentina and were taken from them.

My only piece of advice on this whole subject = Never, under any circumstances, ever, ever ask an Argentinan how he actually feels about this whole situation. How would he react? I don't know...that's the advice I got before the trip, and I have stuck to it!

Anyway...

Following lunch, we found a great little park for Isabel and Gemma to play in. The main attraction (besides running after pigeons) was this little 6-inch high grass mound, which entertained our children for the better part of an hour. Note to self: by constructing about a dozen of these small mounds in our back yard, we might never need a babysitter again!

Isabel sitting in a tree:

Gemma still playing on the mound:

After the mighty mountain (a.k.a. tiny grass-covered mound) finally tired out the girls, we went back to our hotel for a girl's nap and a Drew treadmill run. Ahhh, what a good afternoon.

Here is our hotel room view about 6:00pm, with the sun setting to the west:

Then it was out in search of our last dinner in Argentina, which ended up being one of the best. A phenomenal Bruschetta pizza with fresh basil, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and cheese. And, of course, house-made French Fries.

With the day winding down, we headed back to the hotel to pack up our suitcases in anticipation of tomorrow's travel. The best part of having lots of clothes strewn around the floor before bed? Playing dress up!

Long Drive, "Luxury" Reward

Yesterday we set out driving east from Mendoza toward Buenos Aires, about 1,000 miles away on the country's other coast. So with the snow-covered Andes Mountains in the rear view mirror (and Chile and the Pacific Ocean as well, both not too far behind us) we put the car in gear and took off driving.

On the first day of our journey, we hoped to make it to the small highway town of Villa María, about the halfway point and just south of Córdoba (our stop-over city going in the other direction). So with Spanish music playing, we drove and drove and drove. 

For the most part--like we saw on the way westward--Argentina is very flat, dry, and dusty. Only the Andes on the border with Chile (and some small Sierra mountain chains more to the south) give the landscape much topography. So after leaving the Andes behind, our drive looked eerily similar to what it would look like while driving across the Midwestern U.S. (Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, etc.). Except, of course, here everything is fairly unkept and rundown, with perhaps more ghost-towns and graffiti than residents. Outside the occasional shanty town, here is what the majority of our drive looked like:

The interesting thing that keeps drivers on their toes are the police checkpoints, as discussed in a preceding entry of this blog. After driving literally 100 miles without so much as a whisper of civilization, suddenly there is a bridge overpass, under which are 3-4 armed policemen checking your vehicle for seat belts (they say), but who really knows. Always a little bit unnerving. But I guess having two sleeping children in the back seat does serve us quite well, as for the most part the policemen merely peer into the car, ask our destination (like that makes a big difference to them), and wave us on our way. 

After one such checkpoint, actually, Pauli and I jokingly started wondering two things:

#1: What town do these guys live in? It's like living in a suburb of a major city and having an hour commute to work...only without the major city or the suburb. Just the hour-long commute from the closest civilization. These guys must have been the rookies who only barely passed the policemen test and got stuck on the bad assignment in the middle of nowhere asking people where they are going.

#2: What would happen if they asked us our destination and we said "The border...we have a big contraband shipment hidden in the trunk and want to get it to market before the price drops." 

Anyway, back to the road. Our trusty Chevy Cobalt and it's cargo made it safely to our first night's destination halfway to Buenos Aires, the small village of Villa María. We arrived about 6:30pm, checked into "The Samarán Suites Hotel" along the main drag...which trust me, isn't saying much. For $70 per night for a triple room (including breakfast buffet), this was the best and most expensive hotel in town. Our room, not much larger than a bathroom, somehow squeezed in 3 cot-sized beds and an Ultra Slim Fast crib that couldn't have been more than 18 inches wide. But it was clean, felt safe, and we only needed it to sleep until the morning when we'd be back on our way.

After getting situated, we made our way down the street to find some dinner. Along the way, we passed a couple interesting things.

#1 = The three stooges:

#2 = A street called "Periodistas Argentinos" (Argentinian Journalists):

A cool table to play with if you are a kid (and I mean "a" kid...not two, or you will run out of chairs):

Finally, the only open restaurant on the block, Giuseppe Resto Bar. The slogan across the top, Para chuparse los dedos, literally translates to "In order to suck your fingers", but a more idiomatic translation wold be ”Finger-licking good" I assume.

And the order = Pizza Napolitana and potato balls. What else?

We woke up early the next day, around 7:45am, and set off driving again. More dust, more nothing for hours, and more police checkpoints along the way. 

The most interesting thing to happen was stopping for gas, when Pauli and Isabel picked out jamón-flavored potato chips. 

Oh, and also I had to go to the bathroom so started looking for a gas station or town to stop in, but an hour later still hadn't found one so pulled off the side of the road to go behind one of the very few trees on the horizon. Wouldn't you know it, a car with blue flashers going the other direction slows down on the other side of the highway, crosses the median right toward us, and pauses. I freeze, not knowing what to do. But it turns out to be only a very official-looking taxi, and takes off along its merry way. Who knows why it picked right there to turn around...or who its passengers were, who figured out 100 kilometers from the nearest anything that they missed their exit. I ran back to the car, and we took off again singing kid's songs.

Finally, many hours after we started, we made it! We were back at the rental car place in the small domestic airport in Buenos Aires. We emptied our stuff, brushed the crumbs, raisins, and crackers from underneath Gemma's carseat onto the ground, and settled the bill at the desk. We hopped on a taxi and meandered our way through rush hour traffic to the Lennox Hotel in the city center to spend our last couple nights in Argentina. I had found the hotel randomly online a couple nights ago and made eye reservation...and for $120 per night in the middle of a huge city it seemed a decent deal (especially when you include the free ”deluxe breakfast").  

Upon entering the hotel lobby, however, we had to ask ourselves if this was the right place. Soothing spa music greeted us as we entered through the blue-backlit revolving door. A tuxedo-wearing bellhop quickly zipped over and took our luggage from our hands, putting it carefully on a luggage cart. The lobby was dimly-lit in that ultra-hip, expensive sort of way, as plush tight leather couches surrounded the reception desk and dark glass, bottom-lit columns added weight and hipness to the sparkling and shiny tile floor. This was no ordinary hotel. This was a super luxury hotel in the business district of downtown. Were we in the right place?

Well, yes! Somehow, I found a great hotel for a great price. The standard rates were posted at the reception desk: Double Room, $225; Superior Room, $325; Junior suite, $395; King Suite, $495. Um...Drew's price, $120. Is there a mistake? Nope...all looks good. No word on how I scored such a place for that price. But not like it mattered much to me!

We checked in, took the elevator to the 10th floor (past the gym, pool, spa, etc.), and opened our door to a wonderful room that mimicked the hip, dark glass & tile & mahogany design of the lobby. They even had a crib waiting for us in the room, beyond our small kitchenette and next to the big flat screen TV. Ahh, luxury sure feels nice.

That is...Until I checked my email and saw a note from the car rental company saying that I left in the taxi with the car key still in my pocket and would I please return it because the car is locked and in a ”30-minute drop off" zone with its hazard lights on. Well, given that the taxi ride was 100 pesos ($20) and took almost a half hour, I did not really feel like making an entire trip--there AND back--to return the key. Don't you think that if you work at a rental car company, one of your primary job descriptions would be to make sure that the drivers actually Give you the key back! (Yes, the italics are there to show you that I am shouting.) 

I went down to the front desk and as it turns out, they have a service to run errands for guests in the city, and for only 72 pesos (about $14, cheaper than one leg of my two-part taxi ride would be) they can return the key for me. Cha-Ching. Yes, sign me up.

So that disaster averted, I decided to check out the gym before we all headed to a late dinner. Nice treadmills with mounted TVs, free weights, stairmasters, bottles of water, cold towels, bathrooms, air conditioning...you get the idea. Off I went on a 6-mile run to work the preceding 1,000 miles of sitting and gear shifting out of my legs. Man, did it feel good.

Then we regrouped, walked down the street for a quick dinner (Milanesa and Gnocchi), and found a bakery for dessert:

We also played in our hotel room after giving the girls a bath:

Then, a touch before 10:00, Pauli and I finally settled down for a relaxing bottle of wine at the table in our kitchen. Of course, here in Argentina the winery was named after cow:

All in all, our 10-day trip across Argentina and back was a success. Only a couple more days until we officially pack up and head back to the States. Hard to believe! Well, we better enjoy our last bit of time in Buenos Aires while staying at our luxury hotel! Off to sleep in our king-size overstuffed bed. Tomorrow, our deluxe breakfast awaits!

More Mendoza...With a Hint of Olive Oil

Another stunningly bright (but exceedingly cold) day around Mendoza. 

After breakfast, we set out for a tour of the small, family winery Otero Ramos. They only produce about 250,000 bottles a year, exporting 80% of that, mostly to the United States and Europe. They are primarily a high-end winery, though do make an entry-level wine in the $20 range or so (their biggest seller retails for about $80). It was a personal tour led by the middle-aged daughter of the winery's founder (the winery name, Otero Ramos, is the family last name). It was a wonderful tour and we learned a lot about the area of Mendoza and what it's like to be a boutique winery. They export two different wine labels to the US: "Gritos" and "Testamento." Here are some photos of the winery (yes, they are really located that close to the Andes Mountains!):

Our tour guide (the daughter of owner and founder):

And the beautiful tasting room: 

Following our winery tour, we drove up the road to Laur, one of the biggest olive oil producers in Argentina. They offer a guided tour as well, so we thought, "Why not?"

Laur is over 100 years old and only makes Extra Virgen ilive oil, the best and purest kind. They have approximately 1,000 olive trees, most original to the winery (thus, dating to 1906 when it was founded). Apparently, olive trees can live for about 2,000 years, though typically only produce olives for roughly their first 400 years. Thus, Laur has planted two different "sets" of new trees, one around 1965 and another about a decade ago. These trees are all producing olives already. The tour guide said that because of the longevity of the trees, they expect to plant new "sets" every 30-50 years or so, space permitting. That way they will always have fruit-producing, mature trees.

Here are some photos of the tour:

Below are the original olive presses, for extracting the juice.

Here are some of the tanks and barrels, similar to a winery. Their top-line olive oil ages for 4-5 years, their other types about 3 years. Incredible! This is longer than many wines age! The wines start in the stainless steel tanks below for about a year, then go into oak barrels. But one difference between olive oil and wine = the barrels have the cap off, allowing oxygenation (which would kill a wine). The added oxegyn helps the olive oil mature and kills off parasites naturally found in the pulp of the olives.

Here are the olive oils we tasted:

Following all these tours, we were ready for some lunch. So we went into downtown Maipú (the little city just south of Mendoza) and had eggplant parmasean and a delicious chicken dish. Total cost: 95 pesos, about $17 dollars. This included a huge 1.5 liter bottle of Coke. For the record...this is a lot of Coke to drink in one sitting, even for two adults. But then we looked around...and every table had a huge bottle of Coke on it. When in Rome...

After lunch we headed back to the hotel for a nap. But both girls fell asleep on the 25-minute ride home, so upon arrival we tried to gently carry them up to the room without waking them up. Yeah, right! Anyone who is a parent knows how well that works! Since both Isabel and Gemma were now wide awake following their short car nap, we played quietly for a while then watched some Spanish cartoons. 

After refreshing ourselves, we went out to the grocery store to stock up on snacks for our two-day drive back across the country to Buenos Aires. We came across a couple interesting items. The first is rice. Here in Argentina, it's not "Uncle Ben's" but instead "Tío Carlos" (Uncle Carl's):

We also came across some great potato chips...Bun!

We grabbed some Dulce De Leche flavored ice cream at a little heladería on our walk home from the grocery store, then went back to the hotel to pack up for our drive. Here's to a great day!