Tag: Buenos Aires

Out with a bang!


So we had to finish off our fab adventures in Buenos Aires with a proper culinary sendoff. So what better way than to finish it off at El Bistro, the in-house restaurant at the renowned Faena Hotel + Universe?

What’s Faena? Well, Alex Faena is sort of the Donald Trump of Argentina, but with considerably more taste, style, and flair. The Faena Hotel’s interior was designed by none other than Philippe Starck, one of our favorite designers. On many of our vacations, we’ve sought out his hotels – we’ve been to the Clift in San Francisco, the Delano in Miami, and now Faena in Argentina! Ironically, one that we haven’t visited is the Mondrian, which is right in our backyard in L.A.

Anyways, this was one stylin’ and upper crust meal. We’ve seen chefs prepare “foam” on Top Chef & the Food Network all the time, but this was the first time we got to actually try not 1, but 3! – during this meal (in between courses). And, as you can see above, the space is striking. It’s ornate, but nearly ALL in white with red accents peppered throughout. And the food and wine? Exquisite. Here’s a sampling of the amazing setting in which we dined:

Oh, as a little bonus, after dinner we walked outside the hotel and saw a monument to Juan Manuel Fangio, one of history’s greatest racing drivers and of course an Argentine. His heyday was in the 1950s when he drove Formula 1 for Mercedes-Benz. Here’s Ed posing next to the statue.

We leave first thing in the morning, returning back home. Buenos Aires is a most captivating and gorgeous city, one that will remain with us for a long time. Adios, Buenos Aires!

International political discussion

Just a quick update today: we had a full conversation with our cab driver, en español! The summary:


Him: ¿Americanos?
Us: ¡Sí! Vivimos en California.
Him: ¡¡¡SCHWARZENEGGER!!!
Us: ¡Ha! ¡Sí!
Him: Obama o McCain?
Us: OBAMA!
Him: Todos americanos quién tienen 20 años – Obama. 30 años – Obama. 40 años, 50 años, 60 años … McCain!
Us: Pero, nos padres tienen 60 años y los quieren Obama – pero vivimos en California!

There was a little more, but you get the picture. Also, this is not the first time we have gotten the “Schwarzenegger” response after saying we’re from California!

Mausoleums and Monuments …

Today we headed out to visit the Cemetario de Recoleta, where there are hundreds of the most ornate gravesites you ever seen – the most famous being the grave of Eva Perón. After our history day yesterday, we felt like paying some respects. These graves are fascinating – they are huge and very old, some going back as far as the 1700s. Walking through the grounds is like walking through a concrete maze. Call us morbid, but there was something kinda magical about it. Either that, or it was the kick we were getting out of humming the Haunted Mansion theme song during the stroll (wait, that’s kinda wrong, isn’t it?).

Kinda spooky:

As we mentioned, this is where Eva Perón has been laid to rest. The aisles are narrow and the monuments are huge, so it was difficult to get good pics of the site, but here is her tomb:

We even got a short kitty fix, as there were lots of cats hanging out at the cemetary …

ThoseScaryKims:

We decided to lighten up and go visit the polar opposite of the cemetery – the Floralis Genérica, which is a monument depicting a living flower. It’s pretty amazing actually, and the severe size and materials of it are akin to a Gehry building. The “flower” actually has built in hydraulics that make it open up in the morning, and close at night – just like a real flower.

It really stands out in the park, as it contrasts with the majority of the classic French architecture in Recoleta. We dig it.

Lucky we caught all this today, as its raining again tonight in Buenos Aires!

Happy to be tourists

Today, we decided to just bite the bullet and go on a guided tour. The tour line we picked was pretty cool – it was a small bus that drove us around, and randomly, we would pull over to the side of the road (or not) and they would show us a video that explained some of the facts relating to the particular area we were in at the moment. This is a HUGE city, divided in many sections, and we just really needed to get our bearings.

So, here we begin with one of the first stops. In America, the president lives in The White House – in Argentina, the president lives in The Pink House (Casa Rosada)! Here is The Pink House:

The area where the Pink House is located holds a lot of history for Argentinians. It was kinda cool getting a mini history lesson about this place. Below is a photo of a large monument in front of The Pink House commemorating Argentina’s independence from Spain. Lots of political turmoil and victories have been celebrated in this place, Plaza de Mayo.

After Plaza de Mayo, we headed to La Boca, which is a very colorful, very old and also very poor part of town. It’s called La Boca (The Mouth), because it was the huge port way back when where all the Italian immigrants lived. They were so poor, they built houses out of whatever found materials they could find, and painted them bright colors with the leftover paint they had from painting the ships that would come in to the port. The guide said sometimes 30 families would all live together in one tiny house! It’s very historic – and pretty cool. There are also tons of tango cafes where people just dance in the street. The place that we stopped was a famous tourist street called El Caminito (the little street) which is very close to the huge soccer stadium La Bomborena (The Candy Bowl). Argentinians are SERIOUS about their love for soccer! We watched an entire video of just how much Argentians love soccer, how important it is to them, and how their soccer heroes have been elevated in the society to almost saints! All this sports information was a little lost on Carrie, who doesn’t give a rip about sports. But we digress …

Here are a few pics of El Caminito:

We also visited Recoleta – a very rich area that basically looks like Rodeo Drive, Puerto Madero – which is an old port that has been recently revitalized and has a famous new modern bridge called Puente de la Mujer:

The architect who designed this bridge says it’s supposed to reflect a couple doing the tango. Um, we don’t necessarily know if we see it or not, but it is beautiful nonetheless.

Our tour guide said that Argentina’s most famous author described people from Buenos Aires as Italians … who speak Spanish …. who were educated by the British … but want to be French!

Anyway, ciao for now – we are off for some empanadas!!!