Is what Stella calls walking the streets of Buenos Aires, dodging dog poo.
Before I get too much further, let me brag about our dinner last night. Like true portenos, Stella and I went to dinner at 11p. Having nothing but large peso notes (cabs won't take anything larger than a 20 and we had nothing smaller than a 50 - thanks Banco de Argentina) we walked out our door and followed the smell of red meat. Literally.
It landed us at an upscale parrilla where we each ordered steak. I've never tasted better beef and consequently ate more red meat at that sitting than I probably have all year put together. After dinner, flan with dulce de leche. Oooooooh, my. GOOD.
We slept, fat and happy only to make an interesting discovery this morning.
Guess what is across the street from our flat? A dog park! Guess what dogs do? They bark!
Honestly, you've never seen anything like it. Dog walkers walk 10-15 dogs at once and they all meet at the park. Fine. The construction workers working in the dog park tie all their dogs to one tree. Okay. But then one barks. And then they all bark. All morning. From the wee hours. Until they drive us from the flat to the comparitive quiet of the traffic-y city streets.
We escaped the dog chorus and took the Subte (Subway) to Darco, a store near San Telmo that our tango teacher recommended to us for shoes. We each got a pair of straight disco tango shoes. They are hot! They are comfy! They are magic! They even say on the label, "Darco: Magic Shoes" (tee!!).
We swung back by the flat to drop the shoes off, but not before we stopped by our little neighborhood Chinese grocery. (I don't know why Ona called it that, other than there is one Asian person working there, but now it is doomed to forever be called the Chinese Grocery.) We made the greatest discovery there: fresh baked bread! So fresh out of the oven, it burned our hands!
After a quick lunch at home - dogs still barking, but not as vehemently - we took off for Puerto Viejo to check out some vintage shops. We got home FIVE HOURS LATER.
Highlights:
- Our walk took us through the Jardin Zoologico (zoo!) and the Jardin Botanico (botanical gardens!!) which made for a gorgeous stroll.
- A cat the size of a small Golden Retriever in the Jardin Botanico.
- Plaza Italia=59th Street Circle in New York, Stella says. (Actually, she said the majority of the BA is reminiscent of New York. Extremely so.)
- Calle Russel - a short, narrow cobblestone street block in Palermo Sojo, flanked by graffiti art on either side sporting captions like "paz, amor, luz, verdad" (peace, love, light, truth). I love this block more than anything else in Buenos Aires - and I love a lot of things in Buenos Aires.
- My allergy attack. I sneezed my way through at least six blocks.
- The horror of stumbling into Plaza Serrano and experiencing lame, touristy Buenos Aires for the first time. Jefferson Airplane blaring out of stores that feature cheesy "Tango Vida" T-shirts next to bars with names like Sullivan's and Taco Box. We nearly ran, RAN, our way back to Puerto Soho.
I have to admit I wasn't as impressed with myself today as I had been yesterday, as far as my Spanish skills. But then on our way home Stella and I stopped in La Fondue, this wine and cheese store we lusted after earlier in the morning. I discussed my wine selection with the owner, we sampled cheeses and membrillo (like a loaf of quince jam), and got an assortment of marinated goodies for an early dinner feast. Yay me! (pat, pat)
A few pics...
A sampling of Calle Russel
Stella doing research for tomorrow on our deck
The view from our deck
Before I get too much further, let me brag about our dinner last night. Like true portenos, Stella and I went to dinner at 11p. Having nothing but large peso notes (cabs won't take anything larger than a 20 and we had nothing smaller than a 50 - thanks Banco de Argentina) we walked out our door and followed the smell of red meat. Literally.
It landed us at an upscale parrilla where we each ordered steak. I've never tasted better beef and consequently ate more red meat at that sitting than I probably have all year put together. After dinner, flan with dulce de leche. Oooooooh, my. GOOD.
We slept, fat and happy only to make an interesting discovery this morning.
Guess what is across the street from our flat? A dog park! Guess what dogs do? They bark!
Honestly, you've never seen anything like it. Dog walkers walk 10-15 dogs at once and they all meet at the park. Fine. The construction workers working in the dog park tie all their dogs to one tree. Okay. But then one barks. And then they all bark. All morning. From the wee hours. Until they drive us from the flat to the comparitive quiet of the traffic-y city streets.
We escaped the dog chorus and took the Subte (Subway) to Darco, a store near San Telmo that our tango teacher recommended to us for shoes. We each got a pair of straight disco tango shoes. They are hot! They are comfy! They are magic! They even say on the label, "Darco: Magic Shoes" (tee!!).
We swung back by the flat to drop the shoes off, but not before we stopped by our little neighborhood Chinese grocery. (I don't know why Ona called it that, other than there is one Asian person working there, but now it is doomed to forever be called the Chinese Grocery.) We made the greatest discovery there: fresh baked bread! So fresh out of the oven, it burned our hands!
After a quick lunch at home - dogs still barking, but not as vehemently - we took off for Puerto Viejo to check out some vintage shops. We got home FIVE HOURS LATER.
Highlights:
- Our walk took us through the Jardin Zoologico (zoo!) and the Jardin Botanico (botanical gardens!!) which made for a gorgeous stroll.
- A cat the size of a small Golden Retriever in the Jardin Botanico.
- Plaza Italia=59th Street Circle in New York, Stella says. (Actually, she said the majority of the BA is reminiscent of New York. Extremely so.)
- Calle Russel - a short, narrow cobblestone street block in Palermo Sojo, flanked by graffiti art on either side sporting captions like "paz, amor, luz, verdad" (peace, love, light, truth). I love this block more than anything else in Buenos Aires - and I love a lot of things in Buenos Aires.
- My allergy attack. I sneezed my way through at least six blocks.
- The horror of stumbling into Plaza Serrano and experiencing lame, touristy Buenos Aires for the first time. Jefferson Airplane blaring out of stores that feature cheesy "Tango Vida" T-shirts next to bars with names like Sullivan's and Taco Box. We nearly ran, RAN, our way back to Puerto Soho.
I have to admit I wasn't as impressed with myself today as I had been yesterday, as far as my Spanish skills. But then on our way home Stella and I stopped in La Fondue, this wine and cheese store we lusted after earlier in the morning. I discussed my wine selection with the owner, we sampled cheeses and membrillo (like a loaf of quince jam), and got an assortment of marinated goodies for an early dinner feast. Yay me! (pat, pat)
A few pics...
A sampling of Calle Russel
Stella doing research for tomorrow on our deck
The view from our deck
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