Buenos Aires: the best anachronism


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November 18th 2007
Published: December 11th 2007
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The greatest meal everThe greatest meal everThe greatest meal ever

A rare bife de chorizo with Quilmes and chips in Las Cañitas

Fear of Arrival


This month in Argentina has been a truly welcome mix of homecoming and new experiences. When Ana and I started planning this trip, it was to be a combination of volunteer work, visiting exciting new places but also to visit old friends and family around the world for the first time as a married couple. So coming back to Argentina, where my family (Chas) lived for 6 years and where I left when I was 16 years old, after some of the best times of my life, was frightening in many ways. After the economic crisis in 2001 (food riots, 5 presidents in two weeks), it was uncertain what would be the same and what had changed, including my friends.

Ana here: After moving around from hostel to hostel, it was with great joy that Chas and I opened to door to our flat in Palermo, in central Buenos Aires. Finally we were able to unpack our bags into a wardrobe, and even able to hang up clothes if we'd wanted to. I guess after travelling for 7 months, you just don't get too fussed about hanging your clothes so they won't crease. But it was lovely
The Icelandic girls (Nina & Sara) agree!The Icelandic girls (Nina & Sara) agree!The Icelandic girls (Nina & Sara) agree!

Argentina has the best ice cream in the whole world!
to have the option anyway! So, along with hanging space, our flat came with a nice though compact kitchen (actually having cooking utensils, crockery, oven, stove and microwave was a big improvement after our experiences of trying to cook in hostels), open dining area and lounge room (with cable tv - aaahhh), a little balcony with outdoor furniture, bedroom with a really comfy bed and a decent bathroom. I think what I like most about it was the huge glass windows that went from floor to ceiling that looked out on to bright green tree leaves. We were on the 3rd floor, and right outside was a beautiful tall tree, and we were at the perfect hight of being able to just see branches and leaves. It almost made you forget you were in the middle of a huge bustling city. And what was also so lovely, were the many little flower stalls along the streets, so we could buy fresh flowers every couple of days for so cheap.

Chas back again: Agustin, my best man at the wedding and my roommate from boarding school in Argentina, came to the airport to pick us up with his uncle Nemo and had organised the flat for us. As soon as we had dumped our bags he walked us to Recoleta along Libertador Ave (a walk we were to repeat on an almost daily basis) to get our first ice cream of the trip. Argentine icecream is the best in the world! Now obviously I have not tried every ice cream in the world, particularly not in Italy where the Argentine tradition comes from, but here every store makes its own ice cream, creates its own flavours and it is sold by weight not volume. We normally went for a quarter kilo a day, but Ana on one day almost hit a kilo of ice cream. The quality is always amazing and includes flavours such as lemon mousse with frozen strawberries, banana with caramel and chocolate chips, every fruit flavour including grapefruit and, of course, every version of the national flavour dulce de leche. Rachel's favourite became dulce de leche with crumbled brownie. Words cannot describe the daily heaven/addiction that is Argentine ice cream.

Anyway, our first day ended with empanadas (small pasty like pastries that come in many flavours such as spiced meat, onion and cheese, roquefort and ham, etc.) and television. The empanadas are so yummy! And you can even get them delivered to your place - how lazy is that! But it was quite good when it was pouring with rain outside.

A History Lesson (Sorry!)


Buenos Aires is a first world city in a developing country. After World War I it had the fifth largest economy in the world which it has subsequently squandered in true Latin style through reckless socialism (the Perons, once with Evita and second even more disastrously with Isabelita), a liberal dose of corruption, a horrific military dictatorship (sponsored by the US and responsible for the torture, murder and disappearance of over 30,000 people) and several economic crises. The most recent was in 2001 and spectacularly claimed 5 presidents in two weeks.

As this happened just after I left, the country is much changed. Last time Ana and I visited, rioters would stand across highways deliberately cutting off traffic, rising against the violence used by the government to quell earlier food and unemployment riots. So, it is with come sadness and trepidation that Ana and I returned to Argentina. Thankfully, only to find it much recovered. The restaurants and clubs are all full, roads blocked with frustratingly inconsiderate drivers, the cost of living again rising, polo matches taking place and the Pumas result in the Rugby World Cup restoring some national pride.

Anyway, to cut a long story and the boring history lesson short, Ana and I were looking forward to living in the city that I fell in love with so long ago.

BA: The perfect mix


The title of this blog is my favourite description of the city of Buenos Aires. The economic chaos, combined with its hotchpotch culture, fills it with wonderful idiosyncrasies and anachronisms. When I was there, a peso was a US dollar, it is now three. Public transport and petrol are heavily subsidised (subway tickets are 20 cents AUD) but there is a coin shortage so people often cannot catch pubilc transport as they do not have change.

My favourite anachronisms are, among the expensive jacaranda lined avenues of Palermo, surrounded by highrise apartment buildings, come afiladores or knife sharpeners. They sit on the street on what looks like a fixed exercise bike which, when pedaled, spins a circular whet stone upon which they sharpen the neighbourhood chef knives. Or that
The famous BA dogwalkersThe famous BA dogwalkersThe famous BA dogwalkers

We saw one lady with a grand total of 14 dogs!
the subway system, while fanatastically cheap, has no pedestrian tunnel joining both sides of the platform. Therefore if you have accidentally walked down on the wrong side you have to exit and then cross the road to get to the other platform to head in the other direction!

Argentina is a fascinating country and Buenos Aires my favourite city in the world. A lot of people we have met along the way are disappointed at how European it is, as opposed to being more ‘South American’ I suppose. I, on the other hand, think it is a perfect mixture. This comes from being colonized initially by the Spanish and then having large intake of Italian, German and English people. From Italy,as I have said, comes the best ice cream in the world.

The more South American elements are the nightlife and dancing. Ana and I went out to dinner many times, the earliest being a nine o’clock start and the latest being one in the morning. On that particular Saturday night, Ana and I called it quits around three in the morning and called a friend to say we were not going out clubbing with him. He had not even left the house yet.

Similarly, you cannot be a Latin nation without dance but the tango is a perfect example of Argentina. It is a beautiful beat laden dance but unlike its Cuban or Brazilian counterparts, it flows rather than pumps, it drips with sophistication (hats for men almost mandatory) and its pauses laden with sexual tension. On our second night in BA, Agustin took us to a milonga which is a get together for couples to tango freely together to some great music. This particular one came with professionals dancing followed by mini lesson to teach people new steps. It was wonderful. It is a dance that looks nothing like the ballroom versions you see on television; the movements are not sharp at all (I never once saw arms held out at right angles to the body and more often couples foreheads are touching, faces rapturous) nor are the holds, rather they are sudden pauses in the dance, the pause forming part of the whole.

Something that cannot be characterized as either Latin American or European is their unique consumption of meat. The steak is world renowned and I enjoyed many a thick, rare bife
At the milongaAt the milongaAt the milonga

So Cani, did you take Laura out again?
de chorizo. But it is only a part of a famous Argentine asado or barbecue. On their famous parrillas they will cook up thick spicy sausages, kidneys, sweet meats, ribs, pork belly, black puddings and finally two or three cuts of steak, just for one glorious meal. All washed down with one of their world class red wines, this has to be my dying meal should I get to choose.

Pre-Rachel: A new hedonism


I cannot claim this title as my own, I am reading A Picture of Dorian Gray and Mr Wilde has a certain way with words. But we have certainly chased after its principles. Our time here can best be described as pre- and post-Rachel arriving to spend time with us, which will be in the next blog.

Our first two weeks consisted of self-indulgent luxury. We would wake up at noon. Have breakfast consisting of pastries and coffee (lashings of dulce de leche, sweetened condensed milk boiled down to a caramel consistency). Get up and walk either to the nearby Palermo lake and woods (flowers, picnics and sunbathers during the day; transvestites, druggies and pimps by night) or to downtown or Recoleta to get
Recoleta cemeteryRecoleta cemeteryRecoleta cemetery

Notice the jewish candle with the catholic cross. Any explanations?
ice-creams, go to the cinema or just lounge in the parks. Our nights consisted of going out to dinner (steak, meat in all different cuts, more steak, every meat product known to man) and bars with friends (Agustin and Carolina being regulars, but wonderful dinners and nights out with Alex, Pablo, Marcos, Nico, Oscar... the list goes on).

It was a life without obligation; heaven will be like that. I would try and track down friends and then go out with them. Catching up with people was so nice; they have all lived and changed but the core aspects of them that attracted me have never changed.

Whenever we started to wonder whether we should do something constructive with our time, we had guests drop by; two icelandic girls (Sara and Nina)and a canadian guy we met in Brazil. We took the icelandic girls to San Telmo (more anon) and got them addicted to ice cream. They, in turn, taught us more card games. We hope to see them again in Melbourne when we get back home. Daniel we treated to a full parrillada, the six course meal consisting of various meat products, and a walking tour of Recoleta. Otherwise, if we felt guilty we would go to the zoo or sunbathe in the park or have an icecream and realise that perhaps there is more to life than being constructive. As hedons, pleasure became our goals and they were realised fully.

A bloom in the relationship


And so ended two weeks of luxury. Walks, food, friends, movies… Most importantly, no obligations. In this free time, Ana and I grew closer together and discovered more about our new lives as a married couple. We learnt what we are like when free and it is something we must never forget and always try to repeat, a nirvana of marriage.















Additional photos below
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Another breakfast of championsAnother breakfast of champions
Another breakfast of champions

Dulce de leche with cookies
The Palermo woodsThe Palermo woods
The Palermo woods

We intended to come down here (it was only 3 blocks from us) every day to go for a run around the lake. Do you think we ever did?
Chas se anima a bailarChas se anima a bailar
Chas se anima a bailar

At a tango show in San Telmo
The Japanese gardensThe Japanese gardens
The Japanese gardens

Apparently the huge goldfish here are worht US$1000 each!
The cow parade continuesThe cow parade continues
The cow parade continues

Here was the only place that had their cows sectioned off
What BA zookeepers do when boredWhat BA zookeepers do when bored
What BA zookeepers do when bored

Play rodeo with llamas
The worldThe world
The world

Avenida Maipu cerca tren de la costa. 5 pesos un cuarto kilo!
Stupid sign Stupid sign
Stupid sign

A no pedestrian sign on a pedestrian crossing.


11th December 2007

hey guy's!
how great is it to be able to read your blog and see what you're up to! just wanted to say hello to you and tell you that Melbourne is such a lovely city and we've been having a really good time. Looking forward to see you here next year... Sara
12th December 2007

BE CAREFUL - THERE IS A FINE LINE
Oh yes. It is one thing to send carefree 'bons souvenirs' of Argentina, and QUITE ANOTHER to expose former residents and connoisseurs to photographs of indigenous steaks. Fortunately for you both, the sample was merely from Recoleta (PAH!) and not La Nelly, Olivos. Otherwise, who knows what vengeance Lufthansa might have suddenly flown in from Gatwick via Frankfurt. You have been warned. There are limits.
14th December 2007

now i'm really jealous...
do you think you could post some of that icecream over? it's getting really cold here, so it shouldn't melt too much... (Ana, are you putting on weight yet? You must be... a kilo of icecream???I don't even think I could do that)
14th December 2007

no nazis
Can't you see??? That 'stupid sign' doesn't mean no crossing the road, it means no goose-stepping.
7th January 2008

Hi
You forgot to mention "How simple and easy it is to dance tango".

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