Entries Posted in ‘Buenos Aires’ Category
December 22nd, 2009
Carrie’s Current countries visited
visited 15 states (6.66%)
Create your own visited map of The World
On our trip through Central America, I got to add 6 countries to my map of visited countries. It’s too bad not all of them have a stamp representation in my passport.
I’ve actually been to more countries that this, but I didn’t spend the night, so they don’t count. I’ve been to France numerous times when I lived in Germany, and I also drove through Austria. They’ll be added to the list sometime soon through.
April 30th, 2008
Tango In Buenos Aires: What About The Tango
We have linked to a few web sites (below) in English which talk about the tango experience in Buenos Aires, but we’ve really only seen Tango in a few places. Cafe Tortoni (where they put on a show for tourists), the San Telmo market and street fair (where they dance in the square with the purpose of getting you to come and do tango with them at a club/ballroom), and Confiteria Ideal.
Our favorite place was, by far, Confiteria Ideal. People actually go there to learn, meet new partners, make new friends, and generally have a good time.
We’re sure there are other places to tango dance in Buenos Aires. In fact, there are probably hundreds of other places to dance tango, and learn tango, in the city – we just didn’t visit those places.
Continue reading "Tango In Buenos Aires: What About The Tango" »
April 22nd, 2008
Vegetarian vexed while visiting Argentina
 |
| Meat Eaters’ Paradise |
I knew before coming to Argentina that the country was known for its beef. The meat in Argentina is supposed to be some of the best in the world. For all you carnivores out there, that’s great news; however, for those who eat less meat, it can be a bit daunting.
Now I’m not 100% vegetarian. I still eat meat, just very occasionally. I do eat cheese and eggs on a regular basis though. Because I don’t consider myself super strict when it comes to meat consumption, I can generally find a few vegetarian options (3 or more) on every menu, at least in the United States.
Here in Argentina, it’s a different story. About 90% of the restaurants here do have an option for vegetarians. The challenge lies in that there is only ONE choice. (Even a majority of the salads here contain some form of meat.) So, if you’re not feeling like spaghetti for the 3rd night in a row, then you’re out of luck. For example, three of the last four restaurants we ate in offered only one vegetarian option. All of them were a variant of pasta. (Pumpkin ravioli is the most popular option.) I’m not a huge pasta eater. I like it occasionally, and usually for lunch. However, down here, I have eaten more pasta than probably anything else.
Continue reading "Vegetarian vexed while visiting Argentina" »
April 17th, 2008
Buenos Aires Is Burning: Smoke Is Everywhere
Okay, so it’s not quite as dramatic as the subject line would suggest. But it is VERY smoky in Buenos Aires today. Seems that hundreds of thousands of acres of land are being cleared to the West and North of here (primarily along Route 9 (the route we took to Cordoba) from what we can understand with our limited Spanish) to make room for grazing cattle.
The land that was once used for cattle to graze is apparently now being used for Soybean production, so they need to have more land available for use.
Not really sure how all that works, or who controls what happens in the provinces outside of Buenos Aires. There is a 400 year old history of the provinces not really getting along with the city/province of Buenos Aires, so the provinces may not care that much if their smoke is engulfing Buenos Aires. Difficult to say really.
One thing is for sure. Carrie and I don’t smoke, but our apartment smells like someone smokes, and the visibility here is pretty poor at the moment. The smoke got REALLY thick last night, and has done some clearing today, and hopefully the fires will die down so that we can be without smoke once again.
(More interesting news is coming soon from the variety of things we’ve been doing over the past few days, but just thought we’d update you on the latest in Buenos Aires.)
Continue reading "Buenos Aires Is Burning: Smoke Is Everywhere" »
April 11th, 2008
Crazy Crunched Cockroach Continues to Crawl in Buenos Aires: Plus A Weekend In Cordoba
We had a cockroach in our apartment. It was big. Not huge, but big.
I suppose this comes with living in a big city.
But it was actually rather comical. I was sitting at the table in the main room, and Carrie was in the bedroom with the twin beds.
Suddenly I hear this “Whoa! Whoa! Yuck!”
Followed by a couple of swats with what sounded like a flip flop.
Jonathan: “You okay?”
Carrie: “Yep. Cockroach.”
Jonathan: “Yuck. Big one?”
Carrie: “Uh-huh.”
So I get up and go into the room where there is a cockroach which has clearly been smacked because it’s sort of oozing. (Sorry to be gross.)
Carrie: “I’m just surprised how fast it moved!”
Jonathan: “You’re sure it’s dead?”
Carrie: “Yep. I heard it pop.”
Jonathan: “Want me to throw it away?”
Carrie: “Yes, please.”
Jonathan: “Sure it’s dead?”
Carrie: “Yep.”
So I moved a suitcase to get closer to pick it up. Despite the oozing nature of it, the thing took off and freaked both of us out.
So I asked Carrie for a bigger shoe.
Carrie: “But I heard it pop.”
Jonathan: “I know. I saw it oozing.”
A few solid heel swats later with a dress shoe, and the cockroach was definitely dead.
Mostly, he just freaked us out with his erratic moving. We didn’t know just how crazily or fast a big cockroach moved.
I wrote a poem/limerick (below) in response to this incident.
April 2nd, 2008
Buenos Aires: Galleria Jardin, The Botanical Garden Cats, San Telmo Market, and the Casa Rosada
So now that we’ve had a little time to get adjusted into our home for the rest of the time we’ll be in Argentina (although we’re still getting acclimated to our new surroundings… just takes a while to settle in), we are getting out to do some of the toursity things. Kevin and Annmarie are down here, and like us, they like to walk.
It’s really the best way to see things, and really experience the place where you’re at.
(Not to mention the health benefits of walking.)
So, this post will catch you up on what we’ve been up to over the past few days.
But first, since most of the visitors to our site are American (and Americans are notoriously bad at geography) and because it might help someone wanting to visit Buenos Aires, we’d like to offer a little refresher about where in the world we are, and familiarize you with the neighborhood a little bit.
March 30th, 2008
Buenos Aires Apartment: Troubles With Our Palermo, Buenos Aires Apartment
We’re finally in an apartment in Buenos Aires that we REALLY like.
But up until now, we have been having some big issues with our Buenos Aires Apartments. We went through a real estate agent who is from Buenos Aires and is based out of Florida.
We told her that we wanted a nice place that was quiet (and obviously clean, if we were going to be paying $1400 or $1500/month for the time we were here).
The apartment we originally had reserved, we got talked out of and got talked into this one. We saw that it was on a busy street, so we asked (before confirming our reservation) if it would be noisy. The real estate agent confirmed that it would not be noisy.
When we got to the apartment, it was both noisy and dirty.
Continue reading "Buenos Aires Apartment: Troubles With Our Palermo, Buenos Aires Apartment" »
March 27th, 2008
10 FAQs about our stay in Buenos Aires (so far)
1. What’s your apartment like?
We’ll answer that soon…
2. What’s the weather like? Is it summer there?
We’re in the southern hemisphere, so the weather is the opposite season as the northern hemisphere. This means that it is just the beginning of fall down here. So, just as we were beginning to see the very first buds and even a flower or two right before we left Colorado, we are just beginning to see the leaves change colors and drop from the trees here in Argentina. The weather is still rather warm (high 70s to low 80s), and pleasant. It is definitely more humid here than in CO (but it’s hard not to be).
March is the rainiest month here. We’ve experienced a few rainstorms. The rain here is very different. It comes down in sheets. It downpours for about 20-30 minutes, and then stops. It might do this 2 or 3 times during the night.
3. What’s the food like?
Continue reading "10 FAQs about our stay in Buenos Aires (so far)" »
March 23rd, 2008
Buenos Aires: How Is This Possible?
We got and get a lot of questions about our travel to Buenos Aires.
“You’re staying at like, a resort, right?”
“How did you get that much time off of work?”
“Do you have friends who are Argentinian?”
“I’m sorry…How many weeks did you say you’re going for?”
Most of these questions revolve around the basic question that no one’s really asked directly, which is:
“A six-week “vacation” in South America? How Is That Even Possible?
We hope that by our example, we inspire others to do similar things in their lives, but here’s the real answer to the question no one’s asking directly.
How Is This Possible?
——————-
In a lot of ways, I don’t really know what to tell people about the idea that we’re spending a good deal of time here in Buenos Aires.
Most people’s lives are based around working a certain number of hours every week or every month at a JOB. That job is usually based in a specific location.
Emily and BoRyan (friends who are down here), are fortunate to have jobs with a company which allows them to work virtually.
But most people have that traditional job which requires that your life be structured around your work.
March 21st, 2008
Important lessons from the first four hours in Buenos Aires, Argentina
We made it!
So, we’ve been in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a total of four hours.
And here are the most important lessons we’ve learned so far…
Lesson #1: Language Learning
No matter how much you listen to language tapes, (at least beginning ones), nor the help offered from friends and family who soak a language (thank-you SO much for spending the time with us Laura) they just don’t prepare you for what you’ll need to know to get around.
So, we’ll be struggling our way through our minimal Spanish (just as we’ve both done before in German), screwing things up, probably offending people (on accident of course), and working to laugh at ourselves the whole time.
Hopefully we’ll be able to convey the experiences well enough through our writing on this site to be able to have you laugh at with us as well.
Lesson #2: Taxis and streets
Continue reading "Important lessons from the first four hours in Buenos Aires, Argentina" »
- September 03, 2010 01:52 PM : Christchurch Earthquake: Not there
- August 26, 2010 10:16 PM : Seal Snarl at Kaikoura, New Zealand
- August 24, 2010 02:11 AM : Living in a New Zealand Campervan
- August 23, 2010 10:04 PM : Lake Wanaka and Lake Tekapo: New Zealand Lakes of Note
- August 20, 2010 07:00 PM : The riskiest thing we’ve done
- August 20, 2010 03:50 PM : Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier
- August 19, 2010 03:35 PM : Pancake Rocks and Blowholes
- August 19, 2010 02:13 AM : New Zealand Fur Seals at Cape Foulwind
- August 18, 2010 03:31 PM : No Donuts in Springfield
- August 17, 2010 04:18 PM : A Winter's Day at Cornwallis Beach
- August 16, 2010 06:27 AM : Hell’s Gate in Rotorua, New Zealand
- August 14, 2010 04:50 AM : Maori for an evening: Te Puia in Rotorua, New Zealand
- August 11, 2010 06:32 AM : Dark chocolate and pear cake
- August 10, 2010 05:41 AM : Piha and Bethells Beach, New Zealand near Auckland
- August 08, 2010 05:59 AM : Te Papa Museum, Wellington, New Zealand
- August 08, 2010 05:49 AM : Waitomo's Glow Worm Caves
- August 06, 2010 04:42 AM : The Largest Volcano in New Zealand
- August 05, 2010 02:51 AM : Chocolate Chai Cupcakes
- August 03, 2010 04:45 AM : Being Home: Housesitting in Auckland New Zealand
- August 01, 2010 04:44 AM : Thank-you
- July 31, 2010 04:46 AM : Interislander New Zealand: Tops Among Travel Experiences
- July 30, 2010 11:55 PM : First Fur Seal Sighting North of Kaikoura, New Zealand
- July 30, 2010 11:12 PM : “Renting” a Campervan in New Zealand
- July 29, 2010 10:34 PM : Christchurch, New Zealand: Top 10 Favorites
- July 28, 2010 08:51 PM : A Tribute to My Uncle Walter
- July 27, 2010 06:59 AM : What Carrie and Jonathan Say
- July 26, 2010 07:07 AM : Dinner with the Clendons
- July 25, 2010 10:01 PM : Skiing in New Zealand: Skiing Broken River With the Nutcracker
- July 25, 2010 05:27 PM : How can you afford to travel? -- The rest of the story
- July 19, 2010 09:50 PM : 7 Travel Questions: 7) Best Gems of Advice for Us
- July 15, 2010 06:16 PM : Funny! Musical Lyrics Expressed as Math Graphs
- July 13, 2010 06:06 AM : Akaroa: The French side of New Zealand
- July 13, 2010 01:56 AM : Maruia Springs - hot springs near Christchurch, New Zealand
- July 12, 2010 09:57 PM : 7 Travel Questions: 6) How To Pack and What To Take
- July 05, 2010 09:41 PM : 7 Travel Questions: 5) Banking While Traveling
