¡Buenos Dias Buenos Aires! After spending a week in Chile I got to spend a week in Argentina. Ine and I went immediately from the plane into her pool when we got there because it was so hot! On the first day we were pretty tired so we spent it at her house. We swam in her pool with her brothers, who were really funny and great about speaking in English. They made Chipas for us and we just swam and had a good time. That night we ate Empanadas with her parents, who were also amazingly great, and watched Netflix. It was a relaxing start to my stay in Argentina.
The next day was the day of food. We did a bit of window shopping on a busy street a couple of blocks from her house, and while strolling down the street we happened across an Argentinean bakery! It smelled deliciously like hot bread! There were cakes, loafs of breads, pastries, and most importantly croissants. I was told before arriving that their croissants rival Parisian cuisine, and while I wouldn't go that far they were amazing. There were plain croissants, sugared ones, creme filled ones, black sugar ones, Dulce De Leche filled ones, Dulce De Leche topped ones (I was told Dulce De Leche is considered a food group there), and many many more! We bought 18 of them so I could taste test them, which meant that I ate lots and lots of bread. Then we went to visit one of her best friends Luli and Gustavo to eat more croissants and drink Mate. Mate, which is kind of like a really strong tea, is very much a social event with rules and procedures. We spent a couple of hours there talking and playing cards. Finally we went back to Ine's house to eat a real Argentinean Bar-B-Que. Her brothers Javier and Pablo prepared it, though they made it very clear that my vegetarian version was a poor substitute for the real deal, and we all ate it out in their yard. They all ate different types of meat and sampled my vegetables, and I got to eat grilled pumpkin and cheese filled peppers! It was amazing, and her father informed me that I had proved my dedication to refraining from meat after making it through real Bar-B-Que, unlike those silly Texan ones. Ine and her siblings thought that we should burn off some of those calories by going bowling, and even though I lost it was still a fun way to end the day of food.
The next day was the day of food. We did a bit of window shopping on a busy street a couple of blocks from her house, and while strolling down the street we happened across an Argentinean bakery! It smelled deliciously like hot bread! There were cakes, loafs of breads, pastries, and most importantly croissants. I was told before arriving that their croissants rival Parisian cuisine, and while I wouldn't go that far they were amazing. There were plain croissants, sugared ones, creme filled ones, black sugar ones, Dulce De Leche filled ones, Dulce De Leche topped ones (I was told Dulce De Leche is considered a food group there), and many many more! We bought 18 of them so I could taste test them, which meant that I ate lots and lots of bread. Then we went to visit one of her best friends Luli and Gustavo to eat more croissants and drink Mate. Mate, which is kind of like a really strong tea, is very much a social event with rules and procedures. We spent a couple of hours there talking and playing cards. Finally we went back to Ine's house to eat a real Argentinean Bar-B-Que. Her brothers Javier and Pablo prepared it, though they made it very clear that my vegetarian version was a poor substitute for the real deal, and we all ate it out in their yard. They all ate different types of meat and sampled my vegetables, and I got to eat grilled pumpkin and cheese filled peppers! It was amazing, and her father informed me that I had proved my dedication to refraining from meat after making it through real Bar-B-Que, unlike those silly Texan ones. Ine and her siblings thought that we should burn off some of those calories by going bowling, and even though I lost it was still a fun way to end the day of food.
We hopped on the train to get to city center Wednesday morning. We were planning on doing a Hop on Hop off Tour, but the ticket cost $40 each so we decided to conduct our own tour using the city buses. We started off walking through the Plaza San Martin, where we met a couple from North Carolina that told Ine that her accent was American, which put her over the moon! We then walked down the Microstreet, doing some window shopping and avoiding all the street vendors. We made it to the Plazo de Mayo, where we saw the Casa Rosada, the Cabildo, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and many more as Ine gave me as much history as she knew off the top of her head. We walked over to the Piramide de Mayo, which is a giant monument, and we saw lots of sights and people. After that we found a bus to take us to La Boca, which was my favorite place in city center! We walked through the Caminito and all of the colorful buildings, watched dancers tango, ate Havanna cakes, and took lots and lots of photos. City center was very touristy and very pretty, and once we went back to Ine's house we ate AMAZING Argentinean ice cream! We bought 2 kilos of ice cream, and with each kilo you were allowed to pick 4 flavors to pack in! We ate chocolate and vanilla ice cream, along with different variations of Dulce De Leche.
On Thursday Ine, Luli, and I went to the islands on the Tigre Delta. Along this delta there are dozens of small islands where people can live or go camping. We took a boat that acts like a bus down the water, and on the ride we saw a market, an amusement park, and lot of little houses for rent. It was weird seeing how the grass grew right up to the border of the water. The plants were so green, the houses were colorful, and it was such a beautiful day. We went to this camping site and spent the day laying in the grass. The water was a gross brown color, but it was clean and we swam for a bit, though you couldn't see much. We spent the day tanning, drinking Mate, and eating cookies! Then that night we all went out to eat pizza!
Cakes and her pool and my hair
Shopping and her grandmas pool
On Thursday Ine, Luli, and I went to the islands on the Tigre Delta. Along this delta there are dozens of small islands where people can live or go camping. We took a boat that acts like a bus down the water, and on the ride we saw a market, an amusement park, and lot of little houses for rent. It was weird seeing how the grass grew right up to the border of the water. The plants were so green, the houses were colorful, and it was such a beautiful day. We went to this camping site and spent the day laying in the grass. The water was a gross brown color, but it was clean and we swam for a bit, though you couldn't see much. We spent the day tanning, drinking Mate, and eating cookies! Then that night we all went out to eat pizza!
Cakes and her pool and my hair
Shopping and her grandmas pool