Trip Report - Buenos Aires
Dec 31st, 2008, 01:31 PM
#21
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Keep'em coming sharbear!
I'll tell Ana Peña (the owner of Estancia los Dos Hermanos) about your post, so she can thank you!
I always recommend that "estancia", if you feel you will enjoy riding.
I'll tell Ana Peña (the owner of Estancia los Dos Hermanos) about your post, so she can thank you!
I always recommend that "estancia", if you feel you will enjoy riding.
Dec 31st, 2008, 06:54 PM
#24
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Hi sharbear84,
Great trip report! As I read about your apology in not understanding a few words in Spanish, here is my suggestion about ordering in restaurants. For me, being deaf! I don't have the communication skills to even try!
So where ever my trips take me, I find a restaurant online that is specific to the country that I am visiting. I can find the menus in english along with their language. Examples are, the menu that is attached to the take away Chinese order in your home town helps in China. It may not be accurate, but it gives the waiter the idea of what you want.
For me, I just wish for those that have the gift of hearing, learn a few signs. Have a great trip to the Falls, I loved it there!!!!
Great trip report! As I read about your apology in not understanding a few words in Spanish, here is my suggestion about ordering in restaurants. For me, being deaf! I don't have the communication skills to even try!
So where ever my trips take me, I find a restaurant online that is specific to the country that I am visiting. I can find the menus in english along with their language. Examples are, the menu that is attached to the take away Chinese order in your home town helps in China. It may not be accurate, but it gives the waiter the idea of what you want.
For me, I just wish for those that have the gift of hearing, learn a few signs. Have a great trip to the Falls, I loved it there!!!!
Jan 1st, 2009, 04:40 AM
#25
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sharbear, we Moved to Buenos Aires , not being able to speak the language. The time between making the decision and landing at EZE was 5 months and those were taken up by the gazillion things one must do to "immigrate" to another country.
We have learned quite a bit of Spanish from waiters
and shopkeepers and people who hear our mangled interpretation of Spanish and correct us.. only one or two have ever been abrupt or rude and those , like your experience, were the Unusual.. Usually, everyone here is patient and kind and helpful.
I am glad that your overall experience was similar to ours.. Porteñoes are easy to love and deserve High praise.
(yes, we take Spanish classes every week.. we are managing ...)
We have learned quite a bit of Spanish from waiters
and shopkeepers and people who hear our mangled interpretation of Spanish and correct us.. only one or two have ever been abrupt or rude and those , like your experience, were the Unusual.. Usually, everyone here is patient and kind and helpful. I am glad that your overall experience was similar to ours.. Porteñoes are easy to love and deserve High praise.
(yes, we take Spanish classes every week.. we are managing ...)
Jan 1st, 2009, 12:53 PM
#26
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Sharbear and Scarlett:
I "fixed" the captions of my pics...I had the pix of the Modern Art Museum mixed up with Centro Cultural Recoleta when I scanned. The Centro is a much more dramatic piece of 18th century architecture.
stu t.
I "fixed" the captions of my pics...I had the pix of the Modern Art Museum mixed up with Centro Cultural Recoleta when I scanned. The Centro is a much more dramatic piece of 18th century architecture.
stu t.
Jan 3rd, 2009, 06:20 AM
#27
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[I really didn't know where to post this, as its leaving Iguazu then back in BA - which is why people have probably suggested I do this all as one post - I think when I get back I will re-post all as one thing]
We went for a drink before dinner in the lobby bar while my husband watched a bit of the Rose Bowl. Then we went to have dinner in the restaurant, the buffet looked a bit picked over at that point so we decided to order off the menu. Neither of us were really hungry because lunch had been so big, so I just ordered a tomato soup and a couple of empanadas, but Sam went for a tomato/mozzarella/eggplant thing, and then a rack of lamb (so much for not being hungry!) My tomato soup was great, one of the best I’ve ever had, but the empanadas were not much to write home about, very dry. Unfortunately Sam got sick with some kind of food poisoning or stomach bug and couldn’t eat his lamb and had to leave, so we cut our dinner short and went to bed soon after.
The next morning we got up around ten, so hurried to breakfast as it closes at 10:30. I thought that meant they stop letting people in at 10:30, but really they start taking the food off the buffet then! Luckily I was able to get in a omelet cooked to order with egg whites before everything was shut down. We then packed and Luis (of course) picked us up to take us to the airport for the 1:20 flight that we had changed to. Once again, astoundingly, everything went very smoothly – flight was on time (a little bumpy), bag got there no problem – I have to say, I have nothing but good things really to say about Aerolinas! And I know I’m one of few who say that….I guess we’re lucky! Let’s hope this luck continues tomorrow for our international flight home on American. We got in a taxi this time instead of a remis, and it wasn’t even a radio taxi, but I saw it had a meter so I figured what the heck, it’ll be cheaper than a remise. It was..and cheaper than the fixed 30 pesos we paid in a taxi to the airport last time, but still the meter seemed to go up awfully fast, more so than normal – maybe that’s the difference between a radio taxi and a non radio one? Still not sure….We checked back into the Four Seasons, oh had we missed it ha, and then decided to go out and walk around the parks in Palermo, check out the zoo, etc. Well we got to the zoo and there were really long lines to get inside, so we said forget that, we have a zoo in Chicago…we tried to go to the botanical garden right next door but apparently that’s only open in the mornings (although there’s a little man inside the booth inside the gate – why is he working there if it’s closed? Odd. We stopped into a café for a snack, we really wanted empanadas and couldn’t find a street stand where we figured they’d be the best (we never see them when we want them, and we see them all the time when we’re too full of course!) So we ordered them at the café and they were pretty decent – I ordered entirely in Spanish which was very exciting (Tres empanadas carne, uno empanada verdure, y agua minerale sin gas y guiness…ok my spelling might be really bad, sorry). Then we decided to just walk….we walked through a park with a lake with people paddle boating, then we realized well just maybe we could walk all the way back to the hotel – and we did! It was a really lovely walk, although constantly interrupted by throngs of people really really excited about these guys on motorbikes (all part of some crazy car race starting here tomorrow that I don’t really understand). We probably walked like three miles, it made me feel better about eating empanadas when I wasn’t even hungry, knowing we’re going to La Cabrera tonight. Now it’s rest time before going out!
We didn’t arrive at La Cabrera until 11 pm and there was a big crowd milling around so we knew there’d be a wait. Our cab actually dropped us off at Cabrera Notre – the original one is around the corner, but the wait time was the same at both so we just stayed at the North one where we’d already put our name down. They give you champagne while you wait and it was a nice night out so it wasn’t too bad. They said the wait would be 40 minutes and that’s about exactly what it was – by the time we sat down there weren’t even that many people waiting anymore. It is a very touristy place, we heard a ton of English spoken, and it is loud and crowded – our table was basically right up against another table – so don’t come here for romance or privacy! But we knew that. Anyway, the meal was really great, and really fun – we were smart enough to share. We shared an avocado/tomato/hearts of palm salad and a pepper crusted filet which came with tons of small yummy sides (mashed potatoes, pureed pumpkin, olives, rice, amazing roasted garlic, onions in merlot saue, etc). We ended up talking to the table next to us because we were so close – they were all people our age who had just met at a hostel that day. We really enjoyed the food, and because we shared, we didn’t feel as disgustingly full as usual, which was nice. We looked at our watches and couldn’t believe we were still in a restaurant at 1:30 am!! We decided after dinner that we didn’t feel like going to any bars, so we just went home at around 2 am. It was a great last night!
We went for a drink before dinner in the lobby bar while my husband watched a bit of the Rose Bowl. Then we went to have dinner in the restaurant, the buffet looked a bit picked over at that point so we decided to order off the menu. Neither of us were really hungry because lunch had been so big, so I just ordered a tomato soup and a couple of empanadas, but Sam went for a tomato/mozzarella/eggplant thing, and then a rack of lamb (so much for not being hungry!) My tomato soup was great, one of the best I’ve ever had, but the empanadas were not much to write home about, very dry. Unfortunately Sam got sick with some kind of food poisoning or stomach bug and couldn’t eat his lamb and had to leave, so we cut our dinner short and went to bed soon after.
The next morning we got up around ten, so hurried to breakfast as it closes at 10:30. I thought that meant they stop letting people in at 10:30, but really they start taking the food off the buffet then! Luckily I was able to get in a omelet cooked to order with egg whites before everything was shut down. We then packed and Luis (of course) picked us up to take us to the airport for the 1:20 flight that we had changed to. Once again, astoundingly, everything went very smoothly – flight was on time (a little bumpy), bag got there no problem – I have to say, I have nothing but good things really to say about Aerolinas! And I know I’m one of few who say that….I guess we’re lucky! Let’s hope this luck continues tomorrow for our international flight home on American. We got in a taxi this time instead of a remis, and it wasn’t even a radio taxi, but I saw it had a meter so I figured what the heck, it’ll be cheaper than a remise. It was..and cheaper than the fixed 30 pesos we paid in a taxi to the airport last time, but still the meter seemed to go up awfully fast, more so than normal – maybe that’s the difference between a radio taxi and a non radio one? Still not sure….We checked back into the Four Seasons, oh had we missed it ha, and then decided to go out and walk around the parks in Palermo, check out the zoo, etc. Well we got to the zoo and there were really long lines to get inside, so we said forget that, we have a zoo in Chicago…we tried to go to the botanical garden right next door but apparently that’s only open in the mornings (although there’s a little man inside the booth inside the gate – why is he working there if it’s closed? Odd. We stopped into a café for a snack, we really wanted empanadas and couldn’t find a street stand where we figured they’d be the best (we never see them when we want them, and we see them all the time when we’re too full of course!) So we ordered them at the café and they were pretty decent – I ordered entirely in Spanish which was very exciting (Tres empanadas carne, uno empanada verdure, y agua minerale sin gas y guiness…ok my spelling might be really bad, sorry). Then we decided to just walk….we walked through a park with a lake with people paddle boating, then we realized well just maybe we could walk all the way back to the hotel – and we did! It was a really lovely walk, although constantly interrupted by throngs of people really really excited about these guys on motorbikes (all part of some crazy car race starting here tomorrow that I don’t really understand). We probably walked like three miles, it made me feel better about eating empanadas when I wasn’t even hungry, knowing we’re going to La Cabrera tonight. Now it’s rest time before going out!
We didn’t arrive at La Cabrera until 11 pm and there was a big crowd milling around so we knew there’d be a wait. Our cab actually dropped us off at Cabrera Notre – the original one is around the corner, but the wait time was the same at both so we just stayed at the North one where we’d already put our name down. They give you champagne while you wait and it was a nice night out so it wasn’t too bad. They said the wait would be 40 minutes and that’s about exactly what it was – by the time we sat down there weren’t even that many people waiting anymore. It is a very touristy place, we heard a ton of English spoken, and it is loud and crowded – our table was basically right up against another table – so don’t come here for romance or privacy! But we knew that. Anyway, the meal was really great, and really fun – we were smart enough to share. We shared an avocado/tomato/hearts of palm salad and a pepper crusted filet which came with tons of small yummy sides (mashed potatoes, pureed pumpkin, olives, rice, amazing roasted garlic, onions in merlot saue, etc). We ended up talking to the table next to us because we were so close – they were all people our age who had just met at a hostel that day. We really enjoyed the food, and because we shared, we didn’t feel as disgustingly full as usual, which was nice. We looked at our watches and couldn’t believe we were still in a restaurant at 1:30 am!! We decided after dinner that we didn’t feel like going to any bars, so we just went home at around 2 am. It was a great last night!
Jan 3rd, 2009, 10:33 AM
#28
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I for one enjoyed very much your trip report. I like it the way you wrote, in sequences. It makes sense to me. Why does it have to be just one long report?
Thank you for sharing, I am glad you had a good time in Argentina. A great country with a very bad goverment.
I feel sorry for all the hard working , nice, good Argentineans...well it is only my personal opinion may be they are all happy with what the have , at least they voted for it.
Thank you for sharing, I am glad you had a good time in Argentina. A great country with a very bad goverment.
I feel sorry for all the hard working , nice, good Argentineans...well it is only my personal opinion may be they are all happy with what the have , at least they voted for it.
Jan 3rd, 2009, 12:57 PM
#30
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Another great report, sharbear!
That "crazy car race" everybody is so excited about is the Argentina -Chile Dakar Rally.
Most Argentines love that kind of thing and we have not had a big one for quite a while.
That "crazy car race" everybody is so excited about is the Argentina -Chile Dakar Rally.
Most Argentines love that kind of thing and we have not had a big one for quite a while.
Jan 4th, 2009, 10:32 AM
#31
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Thanks for following along everyone! This was my first time doing this sort of thing...and I know my family enjoyed getting to read the details of my travels as well (maybe too much detail). I'm home now, in cold gray chicago..and I managed to bring a cold home with me too, but at least it didn't strike until the end of the trip! I had to post about our last day because we went to La Cupertina in Palermo Soho for empanadas, and they truly were the best we had on the trip!! We had the meat ones, and the greens one with sugar on top (sounds weird, but really good). I HIGHLY recommend this place...very cute, homey family run kinda place. We then just hung out at the hotel, had a very early dinner, and then our flights home - which I have to say went very smoothly. I'm going to miss Argentina so much!!!
Jan 4th, 2009, 04:11 PM
#34
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Thanks! Doing the report while travelling was a bit crazy, but I'm a fast writer (and didn't edit really, as you can probably tell), plus had a laptop and internet in the room in most of our hotels. When we're in Ireland this summer it'll probably be a lot more difficult.
Avrooster - I do hope to return someday! We missed a large chunk of the country (Salta, El Calafate), but we also have a list of so many places in the world to go - we are young, so lots of time, I hope - and we are lucky to share a love of travel. I hope when we do return we can have the pleasure of meeting you!
Avrooster - I do hope to return someday! We missed a large chunk of the country (Salta, El Calafate), but we also have a list of so many places in the world to go - we are young, so lots of time, I hope - and we are lucky to share a love of travel. I hope when we do return we can have the pleasure of meeting you!
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