Top Takeaways - #6

Sarah and I are wrapping up our time in Argentina this morning. Our flight to Brazil is delayed but that gave me the perfect opportunity to share our top takeaways while we wait.

Argentina's National Congress building (and fountain).

1. If you ever travel to Argentina you should bring US Dollars ($100s if possible) and exchange them on Florida Street. Yes, it is sketchy - I ended up locked in a room-sized safe negotiating the rate - but the guys were very nice and as professional as they could be, given the situation. We got 12.5 / 1 when the official rate was around 8.5 / 1. Psych yourself up and do it! Tourists do it every day and it makes your money go a lot further.

2. La Boca is safe. We'd read so many cautionary tales about this neighborhood that we were practically expecting a war zone when we arrived. It is no worse than any heavily populated area in NYC. That said, all the people catering to tourists made it feel more like Times Square than we were expecting - it's worth seeing if you are ever here but it wasn't a highlight for us.

3. Argentina is cheap (based on our New York standards). We were surprised how cheaply we could get high quality food and drinks - even our "splurge" meal at La Cabrera only cost us around $100.

4. Malbec is great and we've under-appreciated it so far. The wine tastings in Mendoza really opened our eyes to how good Malbec can be - next time you're having a steak consider a Malbec (or Malbec-Cabernet Sauvignon blend) instead of a Pinot Noir. You won't regret it.

5. Personal space courtesies / etiquette that we're used to in New York do not exist in the same way down here. It's much more "Every man for himself." For example: the plane has landed, the seatbelt sign is now off - time to let those seated in rows ahead of you get off, right? Wrong. Time to bum-rush the aisle and jockey for position to exit the aircraft. Sarah and I had to fight just to stand up (multiple times)!

6. B&Bs are a good way to save money on lodging (versus a hotel) but they really are hit-or-miss. We've had good ones and bad ones (but even the good ones have something I would change about them - usually cats roaming around, bothering my allergies). It's worked out fine, just be prepared to deal with some sort of incremental inconvenience at a B&B.

7. Iguazu Falls is awesome! Puerto Iguazu (the town on the Argentinian side) is not. The only industry is tourism and the town is just tolerable enough for tourists to visit the Falls for a few days and leave. Poverty is pretty bad too - homeless children asked us for money at every meal (even when seated inside). We had an incredible time at the Falls and definitely recommend it to others, but be prepared to be underwhelmed by the town itself.

8. Argentina has a very well developed long-haul bus system. It was fun to try it out, but next time we'd prefer to fly. The cost of the "suite" class bus ticket to Mendoza was only marginally cheaper than a flight. We did save the cost of a hotel night each way, but Sarah caught a cold on the bus there and we didn't feel well rested after either overnight trip. We're glad we tried it though!

9. Medialunas = delicious, sweetly glazed croissants. They were available at pretty much every coffee shop (including Starbucks), restaurant and hotel we stayed at. The traditional Argentinian order is "Café con lechce y tres medialunas" but who needs three sticky croissants with each cup of coffee? We usually settled for one to share and that was enough to satisfy our sweet tooths (teeth?).

10. Messi is everywhere. For those of you who don't know Lionel Messi, he is an Argentinian soccer player who plays for FC Barcelona but is also beloved at home for his role on the Argentinian national team. His image can be seen advertising chips, drinks, cell phone plans, clothing, etc. If you didn't know his face before you visit Argentina, you will know it when you leave!

Peak: The views of Iguazu Falls

Pit: Cold, cloudy weather in Buenos Aires (not every day, fortunately)

Next Stop: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

La Cabrera

We wanted to write a brief post dedicated to the meat-party-of-a-meal we had during our last night in Buenos Aires. After being told numerous times that we had to experience "the traditional Parrilla" meal while in Argentina, we saved our steak dinner until our last night, dining at La Cabrera, which was recommended to us by many of our friends.

I was expecting somewhat of a tourist trap, similar to Andres Carne De Res in Bogota, so was pleasantly surprised to arrive at a small, traditional-looking steakhouse with a homey interior.

After a brief review of the menu (sorry vegetarians - I seriously cannot recommend you visit this restaurant!) we decided to try a few traditional dishes: chorizo, provoleta (basically grilled cheese with meat) and bife de chorizo (steak fillet). Even though I read about this place ahead of time and knew that ordering side dishes was not necessary, it still felt like we over-ordered!

The "half" portion of the chorizo appetizer.

Provoleta: grilled provolone cheese, prosciutto and sundried tomatoes. Amazing!

Seriously, are those a million mini side dishes?

Our steak - delicious!

The meal was delicious - the meat was well prepared, the wine was great and our server was excellent. A few minor gripes though (should you find yourself in search of a meat-heavy meal in Buenos Aires):

1. The chorizo appetizer arrived literally one minute after we ordered it . Whether by design or coincidence, it felt like the first of several signals that we were being rushed out to accommodate the ever-growing line of would-be diners.

2. The steak had a thick layer of fat along the edges and I'm not used to that. We could easily cut off the inedible portion, but obviously this counted toward the steak's total weight - I just though it should have been more clear.

3. The "side dishes" (well really they're small sauce dishes) are mostly mayonnaise-based and not that great. Vegetables slathered in mayonnaise are not my preferred accoutrements for steak. The fries (not ordered) were great though!

Overall, we had a great meal and really enjoyed our parrilla experience at La Cabrera - we would definitely pass along the recommendation!

Iguazu Falls - Part 2

Today we explored Iguazu Falls from the Argentinian side. In the longstanding debate about which country has the better view of the Falls, Brazil wins. Hands down. It was still incredible to see the Falls today, but the up-close-and-personal feel of the Argentina side cannot compete with the beautiful panoramic views from Brazil.

We explored all of the paths that were open (the Devil's Throat path was closed, unfortunately) for a couple hours and took a ton of pictures. Our favorites are below - enjoy!

Another day of perfect weather.

The sound of the crashing water was much louder on this side given how close we were to the Falls!

According to some of the signs in the park, 1.5 - 3.0 million liters of water flow down the Falls every second (depending on the season). From here, I believe it!

Still plenty of rainbows on this side!

More beautiful waterfalls.

Definitely "up-close-and-personal" as advertised.

After we were done walking the paths we headed back toward the park entrance to eat lunch. Like yesterday, we packed lunch because we heard the restaurants inside the park were overpriced and didn't have great food (both true). We paused on our way back to the entrance for sodas - during which Sarah set her backpack (with our lunches) on a bench. In only a matter of seconds, a troop of Coati had grabbed it and were trying to run away! Coati are these Raccoon-like animals that roam around the Falls on both the Brazilian and Argentinian sides. We knew to be careful with our food around them, but it wasn't even unpacked! I was able to get the bag back and we both decided it was wise to walk well-clear of the jungle before really stopping to eat!

Here are some Coati we saw earlier in the day - I didn't have a chance to snap a picture of the 15 or so that descended on Sarah's backpack!

Tomorrow we fly back to Buenos Aires for a day, then on to Rio (our last stop in South America!) on Monday. Hopefully some of our Gringo-Spanish skills translate to Portuguese!

Iguazu Falls - Part 1

Our last day (well, technically second-to-last since we will be back for one night before flying to Rio) in Buenos Aires was pretty mundane: resting after another 14-hour bus trip back from Mendoza, making sure our laundry was done and hitting up one more restaurant recommendation from a friend.

We headed to Las Pizarras (thanks Jennifer!) for a great meal with fantastic service and great wine. The menu changes daily and is presented on multiple chalkboards, but definitely has a strong Argentinian / French Bistro / hope you love meat attitude. The standout for us was actually the steak tartar appetizer - it was substantial, really well-seasoned (capers!) and very different from what we would have gotten in NYC (small mound of raw steak with an egg yolk). So far, all of our restaurant recommendations have worked out pretty well!

I'm not even a big fan of steak tartar normally but this was delicious.

Thursday morning we woke up and headed to the airport to catch our flight to Iguazu. We had originally intended to take another bus, but after learning the trip was actually 24 hours (!!), we opted for a quick 2 hour flight instead.

We arrived at Casa Yaguarete, a small B&B I had found via Trip Advisor (of course!) and were warmly greeted by our hosts, Lorena and Andrea. Lorena promptly gave us an overview of the property, told us which tours we should take (and on which day), gave us a map of the city and provided hand-written directions for everything else. We headed into the small town of Puerto Iguazu, Argentina (about a 40-minute walk) and took a look around before grabbing a quick meal and heading to bed.

Friday it was time to head to the falls, starting with the Brazilian side as recommended by our kind hosts. A note on the geography: Brazil and Argentina each have their own national park, small tourist town and accompanying airport to provide access to Iguazu. Crossing the Argentinian / Brazilian border via bus and going through customs was actually very easy (thanks for picking up our visas Nick!) and we arrived at the national park in about an hour. From there we took another bus and headed deeper into the park and closer to the falls, which was clear as soon as we heard the sound of rushing water. There were many paths to take to continue observing all of the different falls from various vantage points, but I'll let our pictures do the talking here!

There was actually a line of people to get a photo at this overlook. We saw some other tourists scoff and move on, but figured it was worth a five-minute wait to get this shot!

Sort of the "gateway view" of the falls.

One of the various "platforms" between different waterfalls.

Another waterfall "platform."

More waterfalls.

I wondered how many individual falls actually comprise Iguazu.

Given all the mist in the air, there were many different places to see rainbows around the falls!

It felt like the falls just kept on going.

We walked around for a while, taking in the view from each overlook. There is apparently a lot of debate over which side is preferable - Argentina vs. Brazil - but it's hard to imagine the views from Argentina can top the ones we had today. We'll find out tomorrow!

Bicycle Wine Tour

Sarah and I took a wine tour yesterday for our final day in Mendoza. Since many of the vineyards are near one another, a popular way to visit several over the course of a day is on a bike tour: we were picked up from our B&B in a van, driven to the first vineyard, then rode bikes to the second, third and fourth stops. The weather was gorgeous again so we were happy to spend most of the day outside; plus, the health benefit of riding 15 kilometers helps offset all the day drinking along the way, right?

Our first stop was Cecchin Winery, a smaller, family-owned, organic winery that only produces a few thousand liters of wine each year (as opposed to the bigger, more industrialized wineries which produce millions of liters annually). It was a good start to the tour - we had a very informative guide who explained the organic wine making process and we were able to taste four wines. That said, I'm glad this was only the first stop because the wines weren't that good! Guess I'm not an organic wine fan...

Fun fact: winery is "bodega" in Spanish. Not exactly the same as the bodegas we're used to in NYC!

Another cloudless day. It's a dry winter in Mendoza so the vineyards looked a little barren - but still a great view!

The house sommelier? Based on how the wines tasted, he might be!

Our next stop was the much bigger Vistandes winery. Our guide here gave us a tour of their facilities then let us taste five wines...and he had a heavy hand when it came to pouring each glass. Our bike guide was a little concerned by the end - he asked several of the other people on the trip if they thought they were still able to ride their bikes! "Are you sure? The van is very comfortable." Ha!

We liked the wine so much that we bought a case of one of their "Grand Reserve" series - so keep an eye out for a FedEx package from Argentina, Mom & Dad!

Much different feel than the first winery - lots of big, new wine-making equipment.

The owner's wine cellar.

We tasted wine #3 outside so we could savor the view.

Vistandes turned out to be the highlight of the tour: the third winery was a "boutique" that only let us taste one wine and the last stop was a beer brewery that had run out of their famous Red Lager. Their Blonde brew was good, but our bike tour guide had been getting us excited for the Roja Cerveza all day so we felt a little let down.

Posing for a picture on our bikes.

From the brewery we were taken directly to the bus station to catch our overnight bus to Buenos Aires. I was a little less excited about the trip this time. Even though we both slept pretty well, I think we'll take it easy for the rest of the day today. We both want to be fresh for our trip to Iguazu Falls tomorrow!