11-16/09/24

I must put up my hands and admit to having taken a break from writing for the last 10 days or so! Honestly it’s been a combination of having a nice time, seeing lots of things but also needing a bit of R&R after a very fast pace of travel, never really more than 2-3 nights in any one location. So I’ve not really been in the headspace to write! But R&R was what we got in Buenos Aires with a solid 5 nights in an AirBnB with its own washing machine – hurrah! But before all that…

Our plane from Mendoza was a late one, so rather than trek into Buenos Aires and find our AirBnB in the dark, Alex had sensibly booked one night in one near the airport. It was a sad little place, where lots of identical white boxes have been set up in an approximation of a neighbourhood right by the airport. We wandered around for a bit after the taxi dropped us off as the house was numbered incorrectly on Google maps. Bizarre. We set off all the neighbourhood dogs too; so I’m sure we were popular. A bloke walking some of them helped us and pointed out the one that is used for AirBnB. Alex found the key box and we were in. It’s a sad, damp little box but it’ll do for the night!

We set off the next morning, the sad little neighbourhood looking 10x less sketchy than it had at 11:30pm. It was about an hour taxi to the neighbourhood in which we were to stay, and we couldn’t check in until 1pm, so we settled down in a nice cafe which did one of the best cappuccinos I’ve ever had.

We then went to our flat and met the woman with the keys. I had been told that people in Buenos Aires had an unusual accent, but I was not prepared for it in practice. I hadn’t expected to not fully understand people until I reached Brazil but honestly this woman’s accent was impenetrable. She rattled on with a load of extraneous information about the boiler, which then turned out to be not necessary to know. We eventually resorted to Google translate because it didn’t sound like any Spanish I’ve ever heard before.

Awkwardness over, we headed out for supermarket snacks and other supplies, like Fernet Branca for Alex the weirdo (but what else would you expect from a man who actively enjoys liquorice?). I also hadn’t been feeling great so a little trip to the pharmacy for something to help. We headed back to the flat and settled in with our snacks and wine (and Fernet).

Something I didn’t realise is that the Argentinians can give the Spanish a run for their money when it comes to late dinners. We left the flat for dinner at 9:30pm and didn’t arrive at our location until 9:45. I’m not a huge fan of eating late so may have been a little on the stroppy side. The steak we had was (unsurprisingly) phenomenal and cooked to perfection. Alex was in heaven and only had some token salad because I made him.

Having eaten so late, it took me a while to fall asleep and thus I woke way later than I like to. We then headed to the botanical gardens which were very pleasant with lots of nudey statues.

A delicious lunch followed and I went off piste with some white wine and pasta.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon back at the flat reading and relaxing. Alex was keen for a “two steak day”, having already had one at lunch. But by the time it got to Argentinian dinner time I had rather lost my appetite and we went to bed instead. How mean of me!

The next day was another late morning followed by something of an Argentinian institution: Pizzeria Güerrín, which opened in 1932. The pizza here is pretty American in style and would probably make most Neapolitans come out in hives, but gosh was it delicious. We had something called a “Fugazzetta” which was basically dough stuffed with cheese, topped with ham, more cheese and loads of onions. If I had to break down the ratios of this pizza it would be 40% cheese, 30% dough, 15% ham and 15% onions. This is a good ratio, in my opinion, and I am most thankful that I’ve had my troublesome gallbladder removed because I could not have eaten that a year ago.

Something else to note: the pizzas came in two sizes named “chica” and “grande”. Chica means “girl”. So it’s like “oooh if you’re not up to it, have a girl pizza.” Felt like a challenge. So we went grande based entirely upon my executive decision. Alex would like it known that his masculinity is not fragile enough to be threatened by a chica-sized pizza. In hindsight, he was right and this was clearly all part of their marketing plan; we should have gone chica because I struggled and Alex had to help me out with the 4th slice. Let it also be known that the “Ass Burner Sauce” was mildly piquant at best.

We did a gentle walk to the main square, made famous by Madonna as Eva Perón in the tedious musical, Evita. I resisted the urge to burst into “don’t cry for me Argentinaaaaaaaa”, took some photos, went into the cathedral, took a few more photos and decided that was quite enough for one day. Needless to say, we didn’t need dinner that evening either.

Having actually woken up in good time for once, we decided to make the most of it. We were heading for the Japanese Garden which actually took us through a free zoo. It looked like there was a queue to get in, but it turned out it had just opened. This was great, as we were able to immediately overtake all the families with slow toddlers and walk through, seeing various animals before they got too bored and bothered and buggered off into their enclosures. Can’t say they had the most space, but it was well maintained. There were also these weird rodent things that looked like a skinny capybara crossed with a deer and a rabbit, called a Patagonian Mara.

We then made it to the Japanese garden which was ticketed but not too spenny, and really beautiful inside, if a little full. I imagine that it differs vastly from actual Japanese gardens, which I reckon don’t have J-pop playing from tinny speakers dotted throughout, ruining the tranquility of the place.

Next up: an Italian place for lunch, which was fancier than expected. The waiter was super chatty and friendly, and easy to understand (turns out he was Venezuelan which explains the clearer accent). He gave great wine recommendations and kept giving us free tries of other wines, and they were generous pours!

More park walking followed, some beers in a place with the opposite type of waiter to our wine friend: singularly skilled in the art of looking around the tables without actually making eye contact. I went to ask someone, who had been standing by a laptop for ages, rather pointedly if we had to order inside, and looked “surprised” when she said it was table service.

We only stayed here for 2 which still passed about 2 hours worth of time (felt like anyway), before we headed on to another bar that had craft beers on tap. This was dangerous. After many, we had a late and possibly unnecessary dinner with okay steak but some of the best chimichuri I’ve ever had.

My hangover the following morning was both savage and deserved. We had to pack up and be out by 10am, which did nothing to help matters. A visit to a really good cafe nearby for one of their fantastic cinnamon rolls which helped a bit. Also an iced latte and a kombucha. This set me up a little for what was to come: a 9 course tasting menu at a grill place. When we first walked in the heat of the grill hit me and I thought I was going to be in for a bad time, but soon forgot all about that after the delicious welcome cocktail that provided the right amount of hair of the dog to fix me.

I’m not going to go through the tasting menu course by course because all you need to know is that it was utterly delicious and that maybe I am a fancy tasting menu person after all. Their grill was custom built for their specifications and watching them cook, plate up, serve and clear was like watching a well-rehearsed ballet. Flawless!

A wonderful way to end our time in Buenos Aires and a meal that will live rent-free in my head forever. I would like to end on this note, however when we got to the airport, there was a very tense 20 minutes or so when, whilst queuing for the lounge (already not great… I didn’t think queuing for a lounge would ultimately be worth it) Alex discovered that his passport was nowhere to be found. Yikes. He had dropped a few things at the security gate when trying to repack after putting the bags through the scanner, so he went straight back there whilst I explained the situation to a very understanding lounge attendant who was incredibly helpful. Thankfully, Alex’s passport was indeed at security. We both had a lounge negroni to calm our nerves before getting on our flight. Next stop: Iguazú Falls and abundant nature!