Stacey’s 30th Birthday Extravaganza

La Casa Rosada

Greetings friends and foes to the porteño version of the Extravaganza blog.  What is a porteño you might ask?  Generally this Spanish word refers to anyone who lives in a port city though specifically “porteños” are largely used in association with Buenos Aires and is what the locals refer to themselves as.  Delightful.  Now, what port exactly do these porteños live in?  BsAs sits on the southern shore of the Rio de la Plata…while the country of Uruguay sits on the northern shore and is a short ride away via fast catamaran or ferry boat (more to come from Uruguay next week so stay tuned for that).  Now if you think referring to themselves as porteños is odd…the other odd naming convention is itself the name of the city.  Those with even the most rudimentary Spanish skills know that “Buenos Aires” means “good air(s)”…sort of a strange name for a world-class city don’t you think?  I’ve heard two rumors about how this name came about…the first is that the city was named after the Sardinian sanctuary of “Nostra signora di Bonaria” which is Italian for “Our Lady of Good Air.”  The second rumor about this strange naming convention is that the city was named for the good winds that blew strongly towards the city bringing supply ships from Europe.  Either way, the names of the city and its people are here to stay so why don’t we get to know them better?  And what better way than with one of Stacey’s Patented Lists of Intriguement?

Plaza de Mayo

The Cabildo

El Congreso Nacional

View down one of the boulevards

Truly Intriguing Things You Did Not Previously Know About Buenos Aires 

1. With 13 million inhabitants, Greater Buenos Aires is the third largest urban area in Latin America.
2. Buenos Aires had the first subway system in all of Latin America with the inaugural ride occurring on December 1, 1913.
3. The majority of porteños have European roots…specifically Spanish and Italian.  Which is also nice for this tall, blond American as I don’t stick out quite so badly here as in more indigenous areas of the continent like Ecuador and Peru.
4. As the climate is considered to be humid subtropical, it doesn’t get too cold here.  In fact the the lowest temperature ever recorded in central Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires Central Observatory) was -5.4 °C (22.3 °F) on July 9, 1918. The highest temperature ever recorded was 43.3 °C (109.9 °F) on the January 29, 1957.  I’m sure you northern dwellers will find that low temperature positively tropical compared to what you’re used to…
5. Tango music was born in the suburbs, notably in the brothels of the Junín y Lavalle district and in the arrabales (poorer suburbs). Its sensual dance moves were not seen as respectable until adopted by the Parisian high society in the 1920s, and then all over the world. In Buenos Aires, tango-dancing schools (known as academias) were usually men-only establishments.
6. Because of the European influence, the architecture of BsAs is sort of a mix of Paris, Rome and Barcelona.  It is, without a doubt, the city in Latin America with the most European “feel” to it (currently at about a third of the price of those European locales).
7. Football is a passion for Argentines. Buenos Aires has the highest concentration of football teams of any city in the world (featuring no less than 24 professional football teams), with many of its teams playing in the major league. The best-known rivalry is the one between Boca Juniors and River Plate; a match between these two teams was named as one of the “50 sporting things you must do before you die” by The Observer.

View of Casa Rosada from the other side with monument to Christopher Columbus

Sarmiento Ship in Puerto Madero (a gentrified wharf area now known for its restaurants)

View of Women’s Bridge in Puerto Madero

Architecture of the San Telmo neighborhood

So I’ve been here a week.  And I think I could stay for the next year.  Lucky for my office I have a plane ticket home on March 25 though am already wondering how to arrange a transfer.  Just kidding everyone…I’ll come home for a little while before I think about leaving again!  🙂  Seriously…Buenos Aires is now atop my list of favorite large cities as it’s very Parisian in feel…very Latin American in price…and they speak Spanish rather than French.  Lucky me.

Some Parisian architecture

My first week here has been a lazy one where I wandered around in the center of town…enjoyed coffee at the outdoor cafes…had some lovely meals in the numerous restaurants…and did a bit of shopping.  I decided though that I needed to do something constructive other than just hang out and take up space so in a last ditch effort to cram a bit more Spanish into my brain I’ll be starting classes again on Monday for two weeks until my friends James and Morag from England arrive on the 18th of March.  Very much looking forward to that.

As I haven’t done much of interest lately I will be short today and merely leave you all with the first batch of pictures from Buenos Aires.  Enjoy and type to you soon!

Monument at the Plaza de la Republic

5 Amazing Facts about Mendoza (and Argentina’s) Wine Production

1. Argentina is South America’s biggest wine producer…and the fifth largest producer in the world (after France, Italy, Spain and the U.S.).
2. 90% of Argentinian production remains in Argentina at an estimated 45 liters per year per person.
3. The region surrounding Mendoza produces 70% of the wine produced in Argentina and there are an estimated 1,200 wineries in the Mendoza region.
4. The best known grape in Mendoza are the Malbecs which were, incidentally, a throw-away grape from France that has done very well in the Mendoza climate.
5. Speaking of climate, due to the high altitude and low humidity of the main wine producing regions, Argentine vineyards rarely face the problems of insects, fungi, moulds and other diseases that affect grapes in other countries. This permits cultivating with little or no pesticides, allowing even organic wines to be easily produced.

Weinert Winery…a medium-sized facility

These dusty bottles are the oldest in the winery…they sell for 500 pesos (US$166) and are from 1977.  A very fine year indeed.

At this point in the trip, I feel like I’ve done pretty much everything that I wanted to…tourist-wise at least.  Mountain-biking, rafting, ziplining, etc. and so didn’t feel much guilt when I decided that Mendoza was going to be a completely lazy and relaxing stop on the tour.  Lots of people far more ambitious than I, come to Mendoza to climb the famed Mt. Aconcagua…the highest mountain in the western hemispher at nearly 7,000 meters (22, 840 ft.).  This is an ambitious undertaking in physicality as well as time committment as it takes the better part of 3 weeks to do as you must go slowly to try and avoid altitude sickness.  I know a few crazy people who’ve done this…including Jonathan from Peru 12 who I went to the Colca Canyon with.

Some merlot aging in oak

The tasting place

By now you might’ve guessed that Mendoza is famous for its wine…and since Argentina is also one of the world’s biggest and best beef producers…its food as well.  Those who know me know that I’m a total foodie and wine-lover so Mendoza is pretty much my heaven-on-earth.  Even better for the traveler…since the 2002 collapse of the Argentinian economy and peso crisis…Argentina has gotten very cheap for the foreigner.  So not only is the food and wine amazing…it is also shockingly inexpensive.  For example, one of our best meals (I was joined by fellow foodie Rob whom I met in Chile a week earlier) that included a shrimp tart for starter, filet mignon for my meal, a glass of amazing Malbec and desert for under $30.  And that was the most expensive meal…others we had were equally as good and significantly cheaper.

Viniterra Winery (and industrial facility that produces 1 million liters of winer per year) with our intrepid tour guide

Putting labels on sparking wine by hand

So, back to Mendoza.  Mendoza itself is a charming small city surrounded by lots of vineyards and wineries.  As with other parts of South America…Mendoza was devastated by a major earthquake in 1861 that killed an estimated 5,000 people.  Since then, the city has been rebuilt with low buildings and wide, sweeping streets with large plazas to help prevent major damage in th case of another earthquake.

Oh my god was this food good…

As previously mentioned, most of the activities I took part in in Mendoza involved wine including a full day wine tour that took us to 3 different wineries and an amazing lunch which I shown a picture of above.  Another great wine tasting experience is in the Vines of Mendoza…an upscale tasting room run by a couple of Americans who fell in love with Mendoza a few years ago.  They specialize in boutique wines (small production with no means of export) and run the only wine club that ships to the U.S. and Europe in all of Argentina.  It is a nice place to try some new wines as well as enjoy a glass in their lovely courtyard.

The Vines of Mendoza tasting room

Mendoza is also a great place to wander around as it has a major pedestrian street (Paseo Sarmiento) with lots of outdoor cafes as well as the main plaza of Plaza Indepenencia as well as for smaller ones surrounding it.  On the edge of the main part of the city is also the huge St. Martin Park which houses the city zoo, a University, soccer stadiums and lots of green space. 

Rob and Stacey on the wine tour

Winery with vineyards in the background

St. Martin Park

I probably could’ve spent a whole other week in Mendoza but all too soon it was time for the final major journey to my last major destination…Buenos Aires.  The ride was a trip (no pun intended) as I traveled first class which means the seats fully recline, we play bingo for the prize of a bottle of wine, hot meals (wine included) and host service.  This definitely makes the 13 hour bus ride much more manageable.  More to come from the amazing city of Buenos Aires…type to you soon!

Mt. Aconcagua

The strange green color is caused by some reaction of sediments and minerals

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