Oh Argentina

As some of you know I changed things up this Christmas vacation and instead of heading north to Whistler I jumped on a plane and 23 hours later I arrived in Argentina. Yes I realize it doesn't normally take quite that long, but my trip consisted of three flights and a six hour layover in Lima. Despite an entire day of travel it was WELL worth it! For any of you considering the trip, I highly recommend it!

The trip started out in Buenos Aires. I arrived in the wee hours of the morning on December 28th. After collecting my luggage, clearing customs and finding a taxi it was nearly 5am. Our first day was a planned day of sorts. Marcelo, our gracious host and guide for the trip had arranged for us all to go to an Estancia for the day. This turned out to be quite a treat and exactly what I needed. Before I keep going, I should probably introduce you to the group. I traveled to Argentina with 20 of my business school classmates from Haas. Marcelo, one of my classmates used to live in Buenos Aires so he graciously volunteered to help coordinate and arrange lodging, transportation and other logistics for the trip...basically he was amazing and did far more than we can ever thank him for :)

So I'll start from the top:

Day 1, December 28th:

When we arrived at the Estancia we wandered around the grounds for a while before getting ready to go horseback riding. It was a beautiful day, nice and sunny with patchy clouds. We rode the horses out as a group around a few open fields and then returned back to the stables. It was a short ride, but still fun none the less.

After horseback riding it was time for a big Argentinian style lunch complete with all types of meat, wine and other miscellaneous foods. A few hours later after we were all content I wandered around the grounds some more before heading to the pool for some sun and relaxation.

Around 7pm we all piled into the vans to head back to BA for dinner and a night of dancing.

A Few Picts from the Estancia:

Once back in BA, we headed back to our apartments to get ready for our first night out. My apartment was on Guatemala street in the Palermo Hollywood district. It was a great area because it was close to fun restaurants, shops and clubs. Our first night we ate at a restaurant nearby before meeting up with the rest of the crew to hit the town. I must admit the first thing I had to get used to was the fact that dinner doesn't start until midnight! We were still eating at 2am.

Below are a few picts from the night out.

Day 2, December 29th:

One thing I did not realize was that my days would start much later than at home. Instead of rising around 8, I was lucky to go to sleep at that time...ok that's a bit of an exageration, but it was not uncommon to rise around noon, as we did on Day 2. Though we got a late start we still made the most of the day. Our apartment decided that we needed to explore our own neighborhood, the Palermo district.

Palermo is a fun, upbeat neighborhood with lots of shops, restaurants and bars. The eight of us started out together just browsing the area until we found a cute place for a late lunch around 4pm. Afterwards we soon split up as Ayse, Tanya and I decided it was time to check out some of the local shops!

Later that night (and when I say later I really mean that...I think we headed to dinner around 11pm), we met up with the rest of the Guatemala crew and headed to Campo de Fiore for dinner. We tried to see a Tango show, but couldn't get tickets so we made due with dinner and drinks afterwards. We even closed the restaurant, which is pretty hard to do in Argentina. After a tasty dinner of pasta, wine and even limoncello we all headed back towards home. A few of us decided to venture out and explore our 'hood' a bit more, but I'm embarrassed to say we ended up at an Irish bar...all and all we had a great time.

Day 3, December 30

Having gotten a late start on the 29th, we decided to make up for lost time. We started the day in La Boca. This area is known for the vibrant buildings and tango dancers you often see on the street. La Boca Jr (one of the many soccer teams in Argentina) also plays in this area. Check out some of the picts of the area. As a whole, the area was a bit too touristy for me, but it was neat to check out.

After La Boca, we headed over to San Telmo. Sunday was the perfect day to visit this area because the famous antique market was in full effect. The market was located in main square and there were various other antique shops around the area. We actually didn't spend a ton of time here but I did manage to come back at the end of the trip.

At this point, the day was just really beginning. Tonight's activities included drinks & appetizers hosted by Marcelo and his parents (including a scavenger hunt),a Tango show at the famous Cafe Tortoni followed by a classic steak dinner at La Cabrera. The tango show was great, though it was more of a performance than actual dancing. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to visit a tango hall as well. After the show we headed to dinner, which proved to be one to remember. I think we all over estimated the amount we could eat, but how were we to know that the meat would be the size of my head... :)

Day 4, December 31 - New Years Eve!

The highlight of New Years was clearly the Haas celebration. Anita and Jenna graciously hosted the entire gang for dinner and drinks to ring in the New Year. We all pitched in and brought something to share, so as you can imagine we had plently of food and drink to go around.

Around 1-1:30 we all headed out to hit the town. I ended up at a club called Cafe de Cuba. Unfortunately the whole group didn't make it in, but we also ran into other Haases from the 1st year class.

Day 5, January 1, 2008!
Happy New Year! Can't believe it's already 2008! Since most shops and restaurants were closed on New Year's Day, the day was pretty mellow. After lunch we took a self guided walking tour through downtown BA and down Florida street. Florida street is definitely a touristy area, so it was nice to see it when it was a little quieter than usual.

After that we all packed our bags and called it an early night because our flights to Punta were at 7am. It's on to Punta del Este! Check out the next post to see more!