Hidden gems

The fun of being in a town this big is that you are always discovering something. Be it the most pleasant time to take the train (note: after lunch, around 1-2pm—the best musicians make the rounds and you can get a seat by the window), or a new favorite dive. Also, because the city is so gigantic, part of the challenge is finding the hidden corners and unknown gems that aren't so obvious to your tour-guide toting foreigners. Take last night's dinner, for example: there was no sign indicating a restaurant, and looking at the turn of the century house from the street of its residential neighborhood, you would never guess there was an especially delicious one hiding inside. Known only by word of mouth, and with a delicious rotating menu, you choose whether you want to eat in the dining or living room (I had sweet potato gnochi with herb cream sauce and Peter had beef curry with couscous). The entire dinner—sharing a comfy chair with Peter, chatting with friends, listening to and smelling the kitchen just through the next door—you really feel like you were invited to the best ever dinner party of hosts you've never met and with new friends just a table over.

Or, the weekend before—we ended up seeing an experimental music show/artist-made fun-fair located, of all places, in an abandoned factory. The machines were all left in their workspace and you feel like a definite trespasser making your way up the three floors to the industrial concert space. There were found-footage mash-up videos accompanying different artists destroying toy keyboards, ten foot tall collages being made in the moment, and questionable arts-and-crafts projects in all corners.
You literally have no idea what to expect in every turn of this city.

After six months, I still have that fresh-off-the-plane sense of excitement, sometimes within my own neighborhood. With only three months until we come back for family celebrations, we've gotten to the point where a certain end is within sight. But we know that we have to come back—if not for the simple fact that are curiosity won't let us rest with so much more unknown yet to be discovered.

Aniversario!

Our trip to Mendoza was unbelievable! The stars aligned and it just so happened to be convenient in our schedules to take a nine day trip during our anniversary to the gorgeous wine country and explore the Andes a bit. Everything was amazing--the clean, tranquil mountain town with amazing bakeries and Malbecs. I started trying to think about my favorite parts, and realized there's just too many--instead, here's my list to save you the agony of reading my indulgent detailing of everything amazing in the Andes:

Bus rides with three-course meals and beautiful scenery

Exploring the GIGANTIC park and all of the green space, taking naps in the shade and seeing mountains.

Fun restaurants and waiters who made fun of our "porteño"(Capital) accent

Completely nutso driver brought us through the Andes, thought I would die, but exhilarating. Gorgeous sights, took a hundred pictures.

Decided to stay a few days and explore Chile—so green, little streams coming down the mountain, cacti, trees, flowers…

Los Andes, el pueblo--probably the only tourists there, amazing ice cream, cute little town with music in the plazas at night.

More climbing and meandering around: hillsides not exactly made for tourists and we sort of made up our own “trails.”

Back to Mendoza—strange how much more “homey” it feels to be back in Argentina…especially when first arriving it felt so foreign.

What luck! Found an amazing apartment and we cooked some delicious meals to save money and enjoy our digs.

Rented bikes in Maipu and explored the different wine and olive bodegas. Tree-lined streets with fall leaves changing color, mountains in the distance, warm sun and cool air. We even made some friends at the last bodega and ended up sharing dinner together after.

Creativity on every corner! Painting, dancing, making music, free shows every night and lots of fun andando por los calles. Loads of people out and about, yet it felt completely relaxed.

Another luxury bus ride and it’s back home and back to work.

ps: See photos!! http://picasaweb.google.com/leeann.sit/ArgentinaOtono#