You win some, you lose some

[starlady]

Win: Coffee and apple strudel at Cafe Margot this afternoon. (Yes, this afternoon. We got up at 12:30. I could really learn to live with this whole "stay up late, sleep late" thing Portenos have going on.)

Further win: Flea market in San Telmo, excellent performance tango at the milonga, walking to Fundacion Proa in La Boca, back to the milonga at San Telmo for more tango and folklorica. 

Fail: C and I's attempt to order the sandwich we saw someone eating at Cafe Margot this afternoon for dinner there this evening, after the parilla we wanted to eat at for dinner originally was closed. We got very sad turkey sandwiches, devoured them, and then ordered a full portion of what v_o ordered for dinner, since we'd eaten about a third of her food too. But the steak was good, and so was the homemade beer. 

Yesterday we saw a lot of art museums (Fortabat and Belles Artes), and I bought an expensive excellent handbag, and I had the best coffee of the trip so far at La Biala, and we wound up hearing a tango singer in a bar while drinking fernet with coca cola after Peruvian food and a swing through the Abasto. We saw a kosher McDonald's in the Abasto! I was not terribly surprised because we walked through the Jewish quarter to get there, complete with Orthodox families strolling around and Hebrew on the buildings, but I have never seen or heard of a kosher McDonald's. This sort of explains the number of kosher sushi places I have seen around, actually. 

All of us Californians are continually sort of amazed at the sky-high displays of ancient bottles in bars and cafes here, as well as the (sometimes vaulted) brick ceilings. C: "I didn't even know you could have a brick ceiling!" I had forgotten. Also when v_o and I had tea at the Proa cafe we felt the building shaking a bit every so often. We looked at each other. I said, "It must be the bus" and we both sort of relaxed. Earthquakes! Tons of fun even when you're not in danger of them!

In sum: I love it here. 

Comments

[metaphortunate]

This all sounds so nice!

Also, yes. Everywhere else I go now, I boggle at all the brick.

[ninj]

That all sounds so nice and interesting! International travel for the win. As always you seem to find good food.

[seekingferret]

Having only seen kosher McDonalds in Israel, my general understanding is that they exist mainly for tourists who want the novelty of eating in a kosher McDonalds. I'm under the impression that they're not places that Israelis actually eat in. So I'm a bit surprised you'd see one in Buenos Aires, which is not exactly a well-known destination for Jewish tourists, though I know close to nothing about the Argentine Jewish community. This makes me want to ask all sorts of questions about the Buenos Aires Jewish quarter that you are no doubt ill-prepared to answer.

[starlady]

The only thing I know is that the Jewish population in Buenos Aires is the largest in Latin America and one of the largest outside of Israel.

[jesse_the_k]

kosher sushi the mind boggles. Well, of course it's possible, but I can hear generations of grandmothers saying, "The pot roast isn't done until it's gray."

Sounds like a fabulous trip!