Lisa and I explore Buenos Aires!

Lisa is here!

It is so great to have family down here... I have definitely been feeling slightly homesick! Lisa arrived last Sunday and it has been great. We had lunch with Georgette on day 1. She even made some of her famous pancakes for Lisa! I was super proud of Lisa too...considering she hasn't used Spanish for years, she spoke quite well! After lunch we headed out on the town and I had the chance to give her a mini-tour of my southern abode.

I kicked off the tour in San Telmo. Sunday's are great because of the feria that stretches for blocks and blocks. It's gigantic and has everything from mates to live music. I was so proud when Lisa bought her mate....she hadn't even tried the stuff yet. It was a vital purchase though. We also got some great earrings with a little bit of swift haggling. It was a nice little afternoon at the feria. Afterwards we headed over to Cafe San Juan. This restaurant has to be one of my favorites in the city. The atmosphere is awesome with classic red tablecloths and a long list of Malbecs. We ordered our first bottle of Malbec, some tapas and the Cerdo (pork) main dish to share. For the main course we were both presented with an incredible piece of meat which was so tender it basically fell apart as the fork touched it. The fabulous Argentine meat was accompanied by sweet potatoes and a sweet, mapley sauce. It was hard to take the first bite because it was so pretty too!

After dinner we went to a Argentine tango show at the legendary Cafe Tortoni. During the show, we ordered dulce de leche topped helado (ice cream) and our second bottle of wine. The show was super fun. It inspired me to take a couple tango lessons before I leave!!!

Day two we spent in Recoleta. We walked so much that our feet were in pain. We started with a ten block jaunt over to the Recoleta Cemetary. After an hour or so of admiring the family mausoleums, we grabbed a spot on the grass in Plaza Francia. I introduced Lisa is mate for the first time and taught her how to prepare the yerba properly. I love mate :) Then we walked about Recoleta and I showed her my favorite stores. We walked along Rodriguez Peña, which has the best stores and admired the beautiful leather purses and shoes. Lisa purchased a flower for her hair too! Re Argentina!!! We ended up walking all the way to Alto Palermo before finally sitting down for a cafe con leche in Havanna. Havanna is the Starbucks of Buenos Aires, and there is one on every block practically. Lisa tried her first alfajor while we enjoyed a little break from walking!

That night I planned to take her to La Bomba del Tiempo, which is an awesome percussion group that plays every Monday in an old warehouse. I invited Julie and Susan to come along and have dinner with us too. We went to Status, an awesome Peruvian restaurant, before going out for a bottle of wine at Milión.

Day three we spent in Tigre. Tigre is a city north of Buenos Aires where all the rowing clubs are. Little did I know that the HUGE feria that Tigre offers is actually closed during the week. Apparently I have never gone during the week before! It was still a fun day...we did a little feria shopping (the few stands that were open) before grabbing a bag of fresh cherries and a beer and sitting on the pier. It was a beautiful day and hard not to just be happy with each others company! That night we came home and Georgette treated us to milanesa napolitana for dinner. Milanesa is a very classic dinner in Buenos Aires; I am sure I've eaten it at least once a week since I've arrived. After dinner, Georgette and Lisa had a full blown conversation about their favorite Jazz musicians. Lisa remembers more than she thinks....and Georgette knows more English than she lets on!

The next day we saw Puerto Madero, Plaza del Mayo and La Boca... It was so hot out that we were sweating beads in the bus. We had some Freddo Ice Cream. Dulce de leche flavored-OF COURSE. It was a perfect day for it too. In Boca we relaxed a little. The feria in Boca is mostly made up of local artists and Boca apparel. Lisa bought a beautiful painting of the colored buildings of Boca. After the long ride home we basically crashed for a few hours. That night dinner was a classic peña like I had in Salta. We tried another Malbec, ate un montón de carne argentina (ate too much Argentine meat!) and listened to the local folk-style music.

Thursday was a day of rest. We walked around Belgrano, my neighborhood, before I had to go to class. Lisa preoccupied herself in el centro while I went and gave my final presentation. Then afterwards we headed to the bus station....we were off to Mendoza next!

Stay tuned for more! :)

BESOS!

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