Arrived on Jan 14th in Buenos Aires with no problemas; however I did have a problem with the in-flight movie they showed. The weather is awesome...sunny & warm; it feels great (apologies to those stuck in a frozen NYC). BA is and isn't a great city. BA is not really the type of city that blows you away aesthetically upon first impression; at least not if you're a somewhat yuppie-in-denial like I am. In my experience you really need to seek out and find the best of what Buenos Aires has...and to me the best things to check out are its classic culture and food. In terms of culture I was able to "tear it up" one night on the dance floor. By "tear it up" I mean step on my various partners´ feet while learning the tango. Happy I did it though...if you should ever find yourself in BA then by all means check out Días de Tango; seriously you will not find an experience that will expose you to such a universally beautiful & cool dance style that, in a small way, connects you to the locals while simultaneously crushing your dancing confidence. I've comes to terms with the fact that a blind guy can dance the tango better than me. Here's an actual video of the tango as performed by one of the staff at my hostel who is also a local porteño (i.e. porteño is to BA what a New Yorker is to NYC).
Also really one of the coolest things I did so far is eat a fabulous meal at Casa Felix, which is a puerta cerrada...the gist is it´s basically an in-house, home-cooked meal served to a small group in private (i.e., behind closed doors...hence the name). This relatively new style of dining is described very well in this Continental article. However at Casa Felix the food´s main ingredients are literally grown in the backyard so you know it´s really fresh.
Of course I can´t write anymore with out telling you how great it is to live like you are this guy; seriously if you ever watched Brewster´s Millions and thought, "What the heck? I´d like to spend wads of money without actually spending lots of money"...then you need to quit your job/take a vacation, cash in your unused frequent flyer miles and get your ass to Argentina ASAP. The US economy might be up a river w/o a paddle but you wouldn't know it from its exchange value into Argentinian pesos...meals are averaging like $8 to $10 US a day. And that´s high quality meals...smaller quantity foods like empanadas & fresh fruit are easily $2 to $5.
Anyway folks that is the good news...the not so good news was that when I booked a hostel for my first few days in BA I stupidly overlooked the fact that I booked a double room that DOES NOT have separate beds and DOES NOT have air conditioning and DOES have a non-soundproof window that opens into a loud, not NON-smoking hostel courtyard and DOES have a toilet where you can simultaneously go to the bathroom (#1 or #2) and wash your hands/wash any one of the 4 main body parts in the shower. Did I mention that despite having 2 non-employed months to prepare for this trip I overlooked some ridiculously basic facts when booking the kick-off accommodation?! Needless to say Mark (i.e. my former roommate) celebrated our 3rd continent of roommating in grand style. I can´t really blame anyone but myself though so I will digress. One last thing I would like to point out is my utter shock at how such a beautiful culture that is responsible for the Tango, Evita, $10 succulent bife de lomos (i.e. filet mignons) and a high proportion of attractive women can tolerate, perhaps even encourage, the following social crime and constant source of irritation to me...DOGSHIT. Seriously it´s everywhere in BA. I think this point is obvious & transcends languages, culture and hopefully my future footsteps.
Well that´s all for today. I´m onto Mar Del Plata and Bariloche next. That´s right folks I´m just living the dream.
Also really one of the coolest things I did so far is eat a fabulous meal at Casa Felix, which is a puerta cerrada...the gist is it´s basically an in-house, home-cooked meal served to a small group in private (i.e., behind closed doors...hence the name). This relatively new style of dining is described very well in this Continental article. However at Casa Felix the food´s main ingredients are literally grown in the backyard so you know it´s really fresh.
Of course I can´t write anymore with out telling you how great it is to live like you are this guy; seriously if you ever watched Brewster´s Millions and thought, "What the heck? I´d like to spend wads of money without actually spending lots of money"...then you need to quit your job/take a vacation, cash in your unused frequent flyer miles and get your ass to Argentina ASAP. The US economy might be up a river w/o a paddle but you wouldn't know it from its exchange value into Argentinian pesos...meals are averaging like $8 to $10 US a day. And that´s high quality meals...smaller quantity foods like empanadas & fresh fruit are easily $2 to $5.
Anyway folks that is the good news...the not so good news was that when I booked a hostel for my first few days in BA I stupidly overlooked the fact that I booked a double room that DOES NOT have separate beds and DOES NOT have air conditioning and DOES have a non-soundproof window that opens into a loud, not NON-smoking hostel courtyard and DOES have a toilet where you can simultaneously go to the bathroom (#1 or #2) and wash your hands/wash any one of the 4 main body parts in the shower. Did I mention that despite having 2 non-employed months to prepare for this trip I overlooked some ridiculously basic facts when booking the kick-off accommodation?! Needless to say Mark (i.e. my former roommate) celebrated our 3rd continent of roommating in grand style. I can´t really blame anyone but myself though so I will digress. One last thing I would like to point out is my utter shock at how such a beautiful culture that is responsible for the Tango, Evita, $10 succulent bife de lomos (i.e. filet mignons) and a high proportion of attractive women can tolerate, perhaps even encourage, the following social crime and constant source of irritation to me...DOGSHIT. Seriously it´s everywhere in BA. I think this point is obvious & transcends languages, culture and hopefully my future footsteps.
Well that´s all for today. I´m onto Mar Del Plata and Bariloche next. That´s right folks I´m just living the dream.
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