Tag Archives: buenos aires

Mi Buenos Aires Querido (again… / otra vez…)

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Desplácese hacia abajo para una mala traducción al español (gracias a Google Translate)

Museo del Traje (and typical Buenos Aires signage called Fileteado Porteno)

So why did I go back to Buenos Aires rather than stay longer in India or go somewhere else?  A few reasons… 1) just because I could… 2) the rest of India was too hot and I’d pretty much done all I wanted to in Dharamsala… 3) I only had a single entry visa for India so couldn’t go to Nepal and come back again… 4) I thought it would be a good transition place between India and London and give me a chance to acclimatize to a big city and colder weather… 5) I thought it would be fun to hang out after introspective time in India.

So not much to report from Buenos Aires this time round, apart from I had a fantastic time visiting exhibitions, hanging out, eating yummy food etc.

I saw some really amazing exhibitions this time round, which really re-ignited my enthusiasm for exhibitions, museums and galleries again (just as well seeing as I have to go back to work).  MALBA had an excellent exhibition of American art  called Bye Bye American Pie, I finally made it to Museo del Traje (Fashion Museum) and Faena Arts Centre (amazing new gallery and they had a Los Carpinteros installation).  I also saw an amazing exhibition of Peruvian Amazon paintings at Palais de Glace which made me want to go back to the Amazon jungle and paint/make pictures of nature with amazing colours.  Maybe this trip did turn me into a hippy after all??!!

La Bomba del Tiempo

As well as seeing inspiring art I also met Paco’s sister (Isa) and we went to la Bomba del Tiempo, which is a weekly drumming show at Konex.  You can see a video here.  Although not the sort of music I listen to very much, the atmosphere was great and the drummers amazing.  Lots of people recommended this show to me and now I know why.  Fortunately, the place was full of foreigners who also couldn’t dance like the Latinos can, so I didn’t feel too ashamed of my poor attempts at dancing!  I’m still waiting for someone to teach me…

As with the rest of my trip, food was an important part of my visit (again).  This time I discovered Ugi’s Pizza (probably the cheapest and most edible vegetarian food in Buenos Aires) where they sell a whole pizza for 18 pesos or half for 9 pesos.  La Fabrica de la Pizza is cheaper but they don’t have so many convenient locations like Ugi’s.

Taquenos

Cristina and Carlos also took me to Caracas Bar for typical Venezuelan food, which was super yummy.  Of course I took photos of everything!  I have to say though, the arepa was not as good as the ones Cristina made at home.

To say thank you to all my Venezuelan friends for their wonderful hospitality I took 4kgs of Harina PAN (a Venezuelan staple food) so they could make proper arepas.  For some ridiculous reason they don’t sell Harina PAN in Argentina and it costs the same in London as in Venezuela, even though its imported.  Loco!!

Rather than cook something with the Harina PAN, I offered to make a momo party and Adriana kindly offered up hers and Mario’s house at the venue.  This involved a pre-trip to China town to buy a bamboo steamer and sweet chili sauce.  It took ages to make the momos as I’d had no practice since India.  Everyone seemed to like them (and I taught Loquillo how to make them) but the funniest thing was that everyone went CRAZY for the sweet chili sauce.  They’d never tried it before!  If sales of sweet chili sauce boom in Buenos Aires, I deserve a cut of the profits!

Making momos (and a mess) in Adriana’s and Mario’s kitchen

On my last day, and even though I’d made a right mess in her kitchen the night before, Adriana cooked bollitos on my last day during the Venezuela/Uruguay football match and before I headed off to the airport.  Again, super yummy and now I know how to make them.

So I finished my 9 month round the world trip with a belly full of delicious Venezuelan food and a big smile on my face thanks to the wonderful hospitality of such lovely people!

So, if you think this is the end of my blog, then you might be disappointed!  I think I’m going to do a review of bits and pieces from my trip (not quite sure what yet) and also do some recipe pages considering how much amazing food I ate and learned to cook.  I might also do a little post about my trip up north to see the Dalai Lama.  Watch this space…

Traditional tango music in Bar de Roberto

¿Entonces por qué me vuelvo a Buenos Aires en lugar de permanecer más tiempo en la India o ir a algún otro sitio? Algunas razones … 1) sólo porque yo podría … 2) el resto de la India estaba demasiado caliente y me hace más o menos todo lo que quería en Dharamsala … 3) Yo sólo tenía una visa de entrada única para la India por lo que no podía ir a Nepal y volver de nuevo … 4) Yo pensé que sería un lugar buena transición entre la India y Londres y me dan la oportunidad de aclimatarse a una gran ciudad y un clima más frío … 5) pensé que sería divertido para pasar el rato con mis amigos después del tiempo de introspección en la India.

Así que no hay mucho que informar de Buenos Aires en esta ocasión, además de que tenía un tiempo fantástico visitar exposiciones, salir con mis amigos, comer una deliciosa comida, etc

He visto algunas exposiciones realmente sorprendentes en esta ocasión, lo que realmente volvió a encender mi entusiasmo por las exposiciones, museos y galerías de nuevo (del mismo modo que ya tengo que volver a trabajar). MALBA tenido una excelente exposición de arte americano llamado Bye Bye American Pie, que finalmente pudo llegar a Museo del Traje (Museo de la Moda) y Faena Arts Centre (nueva galería increíble y que tenía una instalación de Los Carpinteros). También vi una exhibición impresionante de pinturas peruanas del Amazonas en el Palais de Glace, que me dieron ganas de volver a la selva amazónica y pintar / tomar imágenes de la naturaleza con colores sorprendentes. Tal vez este viaje me convirtió en un hippie, después de todo?!

El Ateneo (a book shop in an old Theatre)

Además de ver el arte inspirador también conocí a la hermana de Paco (Isa) y nos fuimos a la Bomba del Tiempo, que es un programa semanal de tambores en el Konex. Puedes ver un video aquí. Aunque no es el tipo de música que escucho mucho, el ambiente era genial y sorprendente de los tambores. Mucha gente recomienda este programa para mí y ahora sé por qué. Afortunadamente, el lugar estaba lleno de extranjeros que también no podía bailar como los latinos pueden, por lo que no me sentía demasiado avergonzada de mis intentos de pobres en el baile! Todavía estoy esperando a que alguien me enseñe …

Al igual que con el resto de mi viaje, la comida era una parte importante de mi visita (de nuevo). Esta vez descubrí pizzerías Ugi (probablemente la comida más barata y comestible más vegetariano en Buenos Aires) donde venden una pizza entera por 18 pesos o la mitad de 9 pesos. La Fabrica de la pizza es más barato, pero no tienen lugares convenientes, como tantos de Ugi.

Arepas made by Cristina – yum!

Cristina y Carlos también me llevó a Caracas para la barra de comida típica venezolana, que era súper delicioso. Por supuesto que me tomó fotos de todo! Tengo que decir que, sin embargo, la arepa no era tan buena como las que Cristina hechas en casa.

Para dar las gracias a todos mis amigos venezolanos por su maravillosa hospitalidad tomé 4kgs de Harina PAN (un alimento básico de Venezuela) para que pudieran hacer las arepas adecuados. Por alguna razón ridícula que no se venden Harina PAN en la Argentina y cuesta lo mismo en Londres como en Venezuela, a pesar de su importación. Loco!

En vez de cocinar algo con el PAN Harina, me ofrecí a hacer una fiesta de Momo y Adriana se ofreció amablemente a ella y la casa de Mario en el lugar. Se trataba de un pre-viaje a la ciudad de China para comprar una vaporera de bambú y salsa de chile dulce. Le tomó años para que los momos como yo no tenía la práctica desde la India. Todo el mundo parecía que les gusta (y me enseñó a Loquillo cómo hacerlas), pero lo más gracioso fue que todo el mundo se volvió loco por la salsa de chile dulce. Ellos nunca lo había intentado antes! Si las ventas de auge de la salsa de chile dulce en Buenos Aires, me merezco un recorte de los beneficios!

Venzuelan bollitos with tomato sauce

En mi último día, y aunque yo había hecho un verdadero desastre en la cocina la noche anterior, bollitos Adriana cocidos en mi último día durante el partido Venezuela / Uruguay de fútbol y antes de que me dirigí al aeropuerto. Una vez más, súper delicioso y ahora sé cómo hacerlas.

Así que terminé mi hijo de 9 meses todo el viaje por el mundo con la barriga llena de comida deliciosa venezolana y una gran sonrisa en mi cara, gracias a la maravillosa hospitalidad de gente tan encantadora!

Por lo tanto, si usted piensa que este es el final de mi blog, entonces usted podría ser decepcionado! Creo que voy a hacer una revisión de partes y piezas de mi viaje (no muy seguro de lo que aún) y también hacer algunas páginas de recetas teniendo en cuenta la cantidad de comida increíble comí y aprendí a cocinar. También podría hacer un pequeño post sobre mi viaje al norte para ver al Dalai Lama. Mire este espacio …

Pabellon

The drumming dancing parade in San Telmo

Anyone want to buy vegetarian empanadas in San Telmo market from Juan Pablo?

San Telmo graffitti

Evita’s tomb in Recoleta cemetery

Evita… again (and the biggest road I’ve ever seen)

Claudia and Stalin have a hairdressers in Buenos Aires (a different option…)

Bin street art

Mi Buenos Aires Querido (second time)

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Taking photos of the zoo through the fence

After my adventures with nature it was back to the big city of Buenos Aires.  Adriana was once again my excellent host (Mario was working in Mexico) and Mariale (Mario’s sister) was back from Venezuela.

I also met up with David (from London) and his girlfriend Adriana (from Buenos Aires).  We went to the botanical gardens, where they had a joint exhibition project with Buenos Aires and Maracaibo about green spaces (even though I’ve never really seen a green space in Maracaibo) and walked around the city.  We also went to see the amazing exhibition by Carlos Cruz-Diez (the most well-known Venezuelan visual artist, think Latin Bridget Riley and you get the idea) at MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano).  I managed to get in free with my ICOM card and I loved the museum.  Their permanent collection and temporary exhibitions programme are amazing, and its all housed in a beautiful contemporary building.

Roof top pool party in the rain

Hanging out in the plaza (Luiza, Wil and the French guys)

I tried to go to about four other museums but they were all closed for the holidays and re-opening in February so the only other place I made it to was the National Museum of Decorative Arts, which I enjoyed much more than I thought I would, especially their temporary exhibition of little Buddhas from South East Asia.

Someone in the hostel in Salta had joked with me that to have a good time in Buenos Aires all I needed to do was make friends with someone with a roof-top pool.  At the time I laughed hard about this but I laughed even harder when I went to a party with Mariale and her friends in an apartment with a roof top pool!!  Luiza (from Brazil and a friend of Mariale’s) was having a birthday party and it was super international with hardly anyone from.  Eventually the party got too loud so we all had to leave and we went to a club (that looked like an art/punk squat) where there was random karaoke.  To help celebrate Luiza’s birthday we belted out a few numbers before the club closed in the morning and then we went to the nearby plaza to hang out some more.  Seemed like everyone in Buenos Aires had the same idea as we met a couple of French travellers and a couple of punk guys from Uruguay. 

By chance I was still in Buenos Aires for Chinese New Year so me and Adriana went to check out the action in China town.  We had super yummy Chinese food (I was over the moon to get tofu) and Adriana bought a Chinese hat for Mario (not quite sure why he wanted one, or when he’ll wear it, but I’d like to see the photos!).  China town was packed with people watching street performances and dragon parades and there was a really fun atmosphere.

I was so sad to South America but at the same time I was super excited about seeing all of my great friends in Sydney and Melbourne again!

Karaoke time!

I got a lolipop with this face on it. I think he is an Argentine politician?

Yummy food to celebrate Chinese New Year

Mi Buenos Aires Querido (first time)

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Me and La Malfada in San Telmo

So after only seeing the bus terminal on my last visit to Buenos Aires, I was super excited to finally visit the city that everyone raves about!  Luckily for me I was on the same flight from Maracaibo to Caracas with Adriana and Mario (from Venezuela but living in Buenos Aires) and from Caracas we also travelled with Henry (from Venezuela but living in Toronto and visiting his sister in Buenos Aires).  Our flight from Caracas to Buenos Aires was delayed for four hours so we got a meal voucher (of an unspecified amount) to spend at the famous El Budare airport cafe on food. Of course, we all filled up on our favourite Venezuelan food which is not available in Argentina – arepas, cachapas, queso blanco, queso de mano, pabellon etc.  The arepa I bought came with about a kilo of queso de mano – increible!

My favourite cafe in San Telmo

My favourite cafe in San Telmo

Cafe con leche y media lunas in San Telmo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adriana and Mario were also my excellent hosts in Buenos Aires and I stayed with them in their lovely, colourful apartment in San Telmo, which is quite a traditional neighbourhood in terms of buildings, markets etc.  Mario recommended a lovely little cafe that I went to for breakfast most days – cafe con leche y tres media lunas (a typical Porteno breakfast of milky coffee and croissants).  It was on the corner of a typical little square and was nicely old-fashioned with graffiti scratched into the walls.  Ironically, it was opposite a Starbucks!

Adriana and Mario took me to see loads of great places in Buenos Aires, such as the cemetery in Recoletta.  It was a beautiful place with amazing architecture but we didn’t manage to find Evita’s grave.  We also ate amazing italian food down by the port and the best curry in South America in San Telmo (although for me it was weird to be asked if I wanted my curry spicy – of course, shouldn’t it always be??!!). We also visited a couple of exhibitions, la Casa Rosada and visited La Boca, El Caminito, La Bombonera (Boca Juniors stadium), the markets, the beach (in the park) and visited friends and drank nice beer.  With some help from Adriana and my little transport guide I was soon hopping around Buenos Aires on the public bus system (cheap and it pretty much goes everywhere you need it to, 24 hours a day) visiting the japanese gardens, galleries, more ice-cream shops and generally exploring the streets and neighbourhoods.

View back to the city from the japanese garden

La Casa Rosada

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love a good football stadium tour so I went back to the Bombonera to visit the museum and take a tour of the stadium.  The museum explained the history of the club and included lots of memorabilia (and of course, a photo of Maradona at every available opportunity…).  The tour group was mainly Brazilian tourists and a couple of Argentinians on holiday, so the tour guide found it quite funny that a Liverpool supporting English woman was interested in the tour.  The stadium is nicknamed ‘ the chocolate box’ because of its compact shape with steep sides – even though it holds almost 50,000 fans when full.  We got to visit the various stands and behind the scenes while the guide made lots of Argentina versus Brazil jokes (mainly Maradona and Messi versus Pele jokes).  It was a lot of fun and I was disappointed that I’d arrived in Argentina later than planned and was here during the break in the football season.  I think the atmosphere at a Boca match must be amazing!

La Bombonera

El Diego

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside La Bombonera

La Boca

As I mentioned before though, getting change for anything in Argentina is a nightmare and until fairly recently the colectivos (public buses) only accepted small coins.  There was even a black market for buying small coins where you would have to buy them for more than face value, just to be able to travel on the bus.  Fortunately, this silly system has been replaced with an Oyster style travel card called SUBE.  Seems like a great idea until you realise how difficult it is to get one of these cards and then you realise why so many people are still using coins.  The SUBE card itself is free but you can only get them from the post office.  Doesn’t seem like a problem until the post office tells you that their SUBE computer system isn’t working (and hasn’t been for the last 10 days and they don’t know when it will be working again) and can’t give you a card.  Doesn’t seem like a problem (again) until they tell you that the ONLY place you can get a card is from the post office.  Everything in Buenos Aires had been so easy that I almost forgot I was in South America, and this reminded me again where I was.  I remembered me and Adriana saw a bus/office issuing SUBE cards outside the Casa Rosada, so I went to investigate.  I was told that they wouldn’t issue cards to short stay visitors so a few little white lies, a false address and a false mobile number later I was the proud owner of a SUBE card and no longer had to worry about getting stranded in the middle of the night trying to get home without any change.

The colourful streets of La Boca

I have to say that originally I was sceptical as to whether I would like Buenos Aires.  I felt I’d had enough of big cities, I wasn’t that keen on Argentina in general at this stage, I hadn’t really had very nice food, and I didn’t get excited when everyone told me that Buenos Aires was very European (I can go to Europe on my doorstep for that).  Thanks to Adriana, Mario and all the other Maracuchos in Buenos Aires though, I had a great time and loved the city!  I couldn’t wait to return for a few more days at the end of my trip after going up to Iguazu and the north-east of Argentina.

La Boca

Window in La Boca

El Caminito

La playa (the beach) and the mechanical flower

Cemetery in Recoletta

International students night with Adriana and her friends

The old but new port in Buenos Aires

Colectivo