Last Day and Last Post - Water the Color of Evian

This am, we headed to the Tigre Delta via train about an hour outside of BA. Its an area that the Argentines fled to and built homes in during a yellow fever outbreak. It seemed for every beautiful, gigante colonial home there were quite a few abandoned domiciles and ships. In fact, the water was so murky, I was surprised to see a playa with children playing in it. One fellow turista commented ¨water the color of evian, its how my skin stays so young.¨

We returned and did some shopping on Santa Fe which is where the middle class Argentines shop, not tourists. So Madamesoile Elodie, your harem pants are coming at a price under $6....consider it a gift of fashion and yes I got them in Parisian chic negro! In fact, I had to buy another bag to bring back all that I bought for me and you all.

Tomorrow our plane leaves at 9 pm so we will probably just bum around Palermo. My feet are sore from all the walking although I do miss my yoga and TKB, I bought a much needed pair of Havianas which I think I will wear all the way home...and yes, V I got you more fashionable ones too...

Its been a lovely trip. For all that Argentina is with its passionate people, gastronomica of food and appeal to American and European travelers alike, I must point out as you all may know that there is an immense economic problem for the people here. Once one of the wealthiest countries in the mundo, now their new President Christina (yes a mujer!) faces many problems. I talked to many Argentines living here about this, and the story is one of sadness. They work and live very hard here.

PS Just returned from getting my last helado, dulce de leche con brownie...sigh...

Crime of Fashion, another flea market and huskies

This morning we woke up and met our friend Sim from Canada that we met at the hostel at Igauzu for a brief trip to the mall in Palermo. I managed to do some damage, but not much at Zara. It is so inexpensive, most shirts are $10. Another note on fashion, if you are not wearing skinny jeans here you are wearing what we have termed - hammer pants. They come in short and long versions and we are trying to sneak a picture of them when some young beknownst Argentina girls gone wild photo prospect comes along. So stay tuned.

Sara and I then headed to the Sunday flea market in San Telemo. It is huge with many performers, tango and such. We found much more artisan things here so much so we both had to hit an atm draining all our cash on jewelry, belts, purses, etc. BTW, Vanessa I got you and me both the Havana flip flops. Your´s are much more stylish as I asked the hip Argentine girls and bought the same as they did ; ) .

And in a period of an hour, I saw count them two siberian huskies. I posted one named Jack who is 12 and has NO HUEVOS. He does however know how to howel esp. for dulce de leche at the helado shop.

We are off to a tango show at the oldest Cafe in BA. I will update later. I think its a pizza night tonight. I have yet to have one here and Sim told me they are good.

Ciao, D

Slow Food

I was very impressed to try a Slow Food organic restaurant in the block of our neighborhood. It really was the first of its kind outside the homeland of PDX I have seen out of the country. If you travel to BA, I highly recommend it. Its name is till Bistro and its the Palermo Soho neighborhood on the street Julian Alvarez right next to our B&B La Otra Orilla that I also HIGHLY recommend - (http://elcuerpodecristo.com/wiki/Till%20Bistr%C3%B3).

I really just wrote about it because I wanted to post more food pics - ha! We dined on sesame chicken on a bed of brown rice with the bestest cherry tomatoes I have ever had. The atmosphere is very hip and artsy as is the music. I stumbled across a great architecture/contemporary design magazine there as well local to Argentina. I picked it up for a friend and his wife (if you are reading this you two, I guess you know your gifty). I guess if you read this, you know what you are getting...

Slow food manifesto (http://www.slowfood.com/about_us/eng/manifesto.lasso)

Art

Hola!

Today was an art day! We hit the MALBA(http://www.malba.org.ar/web/) first which was a wonderful collection of modern art including Jackson Pollock, Rothko, Paul Klee. We had lunch at a cafe next door which was quite chic. We began with a champagne apertif, and then I ordered lomo. I am not sure what cut of beef it is, but I think tenderloin. It was served with the classic chimichuri sauce. Cooked to perfection. It was the best meal I have had so far! I included a pic here.

We then to this amazing sculpture of a flower in Recoleta that opens and closes with the sunrise and sunset (light). Below I included some back ground on it and the architect especially for my dear friend Arcy as I thought of you today.

"Researching the Flower of Buenos Aires, another Argentine architect - Eduardo Catalano - emerges as the artist. And not just any architect, but yet another designer sparked to artistic complexity by Walter Gropius. Catalano completed his architectural studies at HarvardB-School-Isnt-What-It-Used-To-Be in 1945 and later move to the USA in 1950 to join an amazing faculty at North Carolina State University that included Buckminster Fuller, Matthew Nowicki and Lewis Mumford. The hyperbolic parabaloid roof of his 1954 home was a product of this creative environment. Unfortunately, the house was demolished in 2001 like so many tiny masterpieces of modernism by underrecognized architects around the USA."

After that we went to the Museo National de Bellas Artes (http://www.mnba.org.ar/). It had an incredible European art collection, impressive locale artists and photo exhibit. Again, I was in heaven.

We returned to the flea market in Recoleta and picked up a few more trinkets for pennies. I feel like I will come home with all new jewelry to dawn. At the market were some of the most wonderful postres (desserts). I included a pic to get your mouth watering.

Exhausted I think we are going to pick up empanadas and spend the eve in in our candlelit courtyard and open our $2 bottle of malbec.

Tomorrow we hit the San Telmo antique market and a tango show.

Mate

I wanted to write a quick note on mate. I have to admit my naivte. I didn´t know what mate was. Apparently Sara drinks it every day back in PDX, and a lot of our shopping excursions have been looking and pricing gourds and bombas for gifts for Sara´s friends.

Ok, so mate is a twiggy tea drunk in gourds with a straw that yes looks like a pipe. In fact, the twiggy consistency I rather smoke than drink - ha! This I triste (joke) with many of the shop keepers. In fact, my Spanish is good enough that my sarcasm comes in and is WELL understood. Yesterday, I asked the helado owner if ¨Don Pedro¨ala alcohol ice cream he serves to chicos. Of course he laughed no.

Today we head back to the falls as the nice German gal in our room told us of a little known hike on which she saw monkeys and giant spiders which lends itself to giant mosquitos. So yes mom, I sucked it up and used a LOT of OFF.

I hope to download some pics when back in BA, but at least for now I hope you get the jist of this wonderful country which is so Euro in influence, an amalgamation of people of all European cultures reflected in the gastronomica food. The Argentines are passionate people. Andrea - I now appreciate your permeating, most wonderful personality from our days of LA so much more. All you told me about this wonderful country, the gifts you shared - jewlery, Havana ducle deleche and the art of the cat - I appreciate even more being here. I am sad I never visited you here with your family, but find I will return. Salta undiscovered and Patagonia....a much needed work sabbatical at hopefully somepoint in my career.

Until later....

Ciao, D

Are you wet enough?

Pic of hostel pool at 12 bucks a night and Igauzu Falls

This blog is dedicated to Vanessa...she knows why.

Sara and I woke up in the bright early am to catch a flight from the local airport in BA to Igauzu Falls. Igauzu Falls are supposedly 10 times the size of Niagra that border Brazil and Argentina.

Upon Andreas´ recommendation we are staying in Hostel. Its the Hostel-Inn, and its more like a resort in Bali. Crazy large, clean pool with palm trees, terrace complete with lounging area with constant moderen discoteque music. People of all ages and all over the world and at 12 bucks a night who is complaining except I didn´t bing a lock or a towel.

Anyway, the falls are amazing. We did the water tour and wound up completely drenched. Next to me were four college seniors or shall I say obnoxious seniors who went to midwest schools, but from LA and of course one was from the University of Michigan. Note that aviator Ray Ban glasses are back in from when I was in college almost 20 years ago, note I hated them then and now.

Here is how I begin the discussion with my new boy friend. He took an 18 hour bus here so I asked him how it was,¨well I had a lot of xanax¨. Oh so can you get Xanax without a prescription, he proceeds to tell me how to work the system which I won´t go into details here. But the best comment came after we were drenched a million times,"are you wet enough?¨ Blast of laughter comes from friends... "I am taking you back to your college days...wet enough?....ha haha." Note, I didn´t tell him my eggs were rotting, maybe the "I am old enough to have given birth to you line..."

Anyway, besides a plethora of rainbows amongst the falls, we stumbled upon an alligator. To my dissapointment, we hardly saw any wildlife in the park. I think too many people come through, its almost Disneylanesque in its paved paths, cost of food, train, etc. But the falls can not be missed and all the more worth it.

I am, however, looking forward to returning to the more urban chic BA. High on the list are the MALBA, Once which is the Jewish neighborhood, maybe a trip to Urugay to get our passports stamped ; ) , and the Sunday flea market in San Telemo. But tonight, I am just going to suck it up and drink beer at the rocking hostel listening to Dido and the alikes with my younger kin. It doesn´t matter everyone thinks I am 26. I am deciding the oily skin of my youth is no longer a curse...ha....

PS Dogs are intact because Argentines wouldn´t cut the balls off their sons. Truth my new Canadian friend who has been teaching here for a month told me - thanks Sim for all the tips.

PPS No posting of pics....this computer sucks, the Israeli girls are hogging the internet and I need to give some young unshowered hippie a chance to communicate with the outside world.

Dogs are intact, skinny jeans are still in, cemeteries and steak

Pics of La Boca

If its the one thing I notice here, its a lot of dogs. There are dog walkers on cell phones with ten gigante dogs. And the one thing I really notice is they are all intact, but for some reason I don´t see the porn or aggressiveness that I see at the dog parks back in the states. I just think its the national trend in Argentina to have huevos.

We had a fabulous day. We woke up to breakfast where the sole other attendee was a fisherman from Eugene...small world. We then took the bus to the Recoleta neighborhood and visited the famous cemetery. Note if you are looking for Evita Perron´s grave here, she keeps her maiden name...Duarte - go Argentina! Pretty astounding with above grave Euro mausoleams almost creepy except for the overwhelming number of you-thought-you-were-in-Greece....CATS!

Recolata is the upscalse trendy Champs de Elyss neighborhood complete with all the Beverly Hills blah blah stores, but worth a walk. We then decided to take a tour which hit La Boca and San Telemo.

La Boca, albeit terribly touristy, is beautiful with the original painted old architecture of Italy. I am glad we went for twenty min., get-the-photo-op and leave option.

San Telmo was the birth of tango. I knew nothing about the origins of Tango and learned a bit of interest this eve. Apparently, when the immigrants came to Argentina ala Italy, Spain, etc. it was 7 men: 1womea so there were tons of brothels. So the cafe keepers, bars, etc. invented tango as a form of seductive , whorish entertainment for the men in waiting for their 10 min. of fame. The dance itself represents the melancholy of the immigrants missing their homeland, the low cut clothes of the woman was represetative of whorish anticipation for the men in waiting. Nice huh?!?!

We returned to Recoleta and I finally had my carne. It was good, but seriously the 50 cent empanadas are plenty, but more astounding is the helado! Yes, gelato in all forms thanks to the Italian immigrants and in the favorite de dulce deleche, I decided it is a must among the espresso and empanada list.

Oh I must say we had a cute waiter, Andreas, who barely spoke English at dinner, he told me I looked 25, and it was an excellent practice of my Spanish and his English. If you want to know how to order a steak medium rare in Spanish, ask me when I get home!

Tomorrow we leave early for Igazu falls. Mind you there is no coffee to go as Sara pointed out, not a Starbuck´s on ANY street corner here. In fact, I have seen very few chains...another plus for Argentina!

PS If any of you are wondering, skinny jeans are still the fashion for front! Glad I bought my first pair, looking for a pair of flats to go with them here as leather goods are barato!

Unfortunately, I am unable to post pics tonight for the computer is not recognizing them perhaps tomorrow from Igauzu.

Ciao, D