A grumpy start to a great day

There are some days when you wish you could just jump off the world and sleep the day away.  That’s how mine started today.

For the first night since I left home last night I dropped off to sleep straight away.  Yay!  Sadly it didn’t last.  It wasn’t long into the new day that a noise woke me.  The noise was one I hadn’t heard for many years and at first I thought it sounded like snoring.  Nah couldn’t be.  I’m in this room alone and the only thing next to me is a utility room.  But the noise persisted and as the night went on I heard coughs coming from the same direction and I realised that it was someone snoring, in the utility room.  It wasn’t long before it stopped.  That was worse as I then heard them in the loo. It soon continued and by now was about 4:00am.  Out came the earplugs, too late for sleeping pills but eventually I got to sleep.  Fortunately I had put the alarm on and I woke with that about 9:00, pretty grumpy but looking forward to my food walking tour at noon.

As soon as I checked my mail I wanted to go back to bed again as I had an advice from the airline taking me to Chile that my flight had changed from one at a respectable time to one that leaves at 2:00am and arrives at 4:00am. Oh for goodness sakes.  Who wants to fly anywhere at that time and it totally stuffs up the bookings I have made.  It took a while but eventually I got to speak to someone to see if they can do anything better for me.  Grumpiness gone up a few notches since I woke up.  

As I was leaving the hotel I told the Manager about my sleepless night.  I suspect that one of his staff is now in the poo as he insisted that no one was supposed to be sleeping in there but assured me that the person wont be doing it again.  Let’s see..

And so I go to meet my guide at the entrance to the cemetery at 12:00. I waited and waited and they still hadn’t arrived so I rang the office (a toll call back to a NZ number that bounced round the world!!!!). Eventually I am told that the guide is stuck in traffic (she lives in the central city and walks everywhere  so they had stuffed up) and she would be there at 1:30pm. What could I say!  I was tempted to come back to the hotel and flag it.  But I was hungry!!!!! Very hungry!

It was a stinking hot day (nothing like the expected temperatures I was expecting) and I was now hot and grumpy and hungry.  I spent some time in the shade of a massive tree.  The branches were so big and so heavy that they were propped up by steel supports under the tree and by the Atlas of Recoleta at the edge. A cool statute with a mission in life.

Luckily the guide arrived a bit earlier than the office had said.  She was a pleasant young lady called Allain and she soon grovelled sufficiently for me to get over my mood and get on with the day.

Our first stop a tiny wee dark, dingy joint that had a reputation for great empanadas.  San Juanino was named after the region that the owner comes from and is hailed far and wide as being the place to go.  Allain explained how the different empanada shapes were dictated by the filling, and the fillings dictated by the region the cook represented.   Traditional beef empanada has a sot of crescent shape, pointier at one end and a twisted join on the side.  Other fillings have different shapes. In the north where potatoes are plentiful they often have potato with the meat, in Mendoza they often have sultanas and the ones we had today had olives. Allain explained that Argentinian food was not usually spicy but at this place they do a spicy empanada and that’s what I chose.  Delicioso!  Soft silky pastry wrapped around lightly spiced mince with an olive for a bit of extra texture and flavour.  Nothing like the one I had the other day but if I have time I will be back for more.

Next stop we walk to a parrilla for Argentinian BBQ. Argentinians are the biggest beef eaters in the world after the people from Uruguay and grilled beef is second only to breathing for most the locals.  Kilos of beef per year so thats pretty much beef every day.  Our venue for lunch was Parrilla Pena in Recoleta.

Today at our parrilla we started with a provoleta; a slice of a round of provolone cheese grilled till soft and then sprinkled with oregano.  Divine and said to be the closest to vegetarian fare you will.  With the provoleta we also had fresh grilled chorizo accompanied with a tomato, onion and parsley salsa and a divine chimichurri (parsley, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes and a vinaigrette). Water was delivered to the table in its own siphon which was a bit of a laugh.

Each and every mouthful invoked a sense of great contentment and by now the grumpiness was well and truly gone.  Simple food, done well and for each the main ingredient was the one to stand out. 

There was so much food that we hadn’t eaten I was shocked when Allain said she had ordered Asado, beef short ribs, but she said she takes the left overs for the homeless.  I had’t noticed many up until then but apparently they had been moved out from the areas frequented by tourists and forced to sleep in other areas.  I am lucky to have chosen a time when there were few tourists as it sounds as though it can be quite manic at other times and very sad that people already homeless are moved off their patch just to make it look good for foreigners.

The Asado arrives together with a simple tomato, onion and lettuce salad.  Beef short ribs that melt in the mouth and fall off the bone, perfectly cooked rare and smoky from the coals over which they were cooked.  All I can say is ‘finger lickin good’ without the chicken.  Of course with the reputation that Argentina has for wonderful Malbecs we couldn’t have parrilla without a drop of local wine.  As ever I have always had caraffed local wines when travelling and this was no exception.  Damn good it was too.  

And for desert....... Sweet milk or Dulce de Leche (caramel) in Argentina is almost like pavlova is in New Zealand.  You can’t go past it.  Their local ice cream, Helado, has a pretty wicked reputation as well, made with the rich local milk in the slow churn style of italian gelato it is creamy and rich.  The place we stopped had about 50different flavours to choose from - too many but I settled for a house special dulce de leche, with a hazlenut chocolate. Yum but if I went back I’d stick to the dulce de leche and flag the other one.  I say that knowing I will be back for a second round and suspect there might be some attempts at making it at home too.

To finish off our afternoon Allain takes me to a small park where she makes us a ‘mate’ drink (pronouced mar-tay).  A herbal tea made from the dried leaves of the yerba mate plant, this is a hot drink popular through some South American countries and a few in the Middle East.  

It is made according to strict tradition with one person responsible for adding the dried leaves to a special handled gourd bowl in which sits a spoon with a hollow centre and small holes in the bowl. The leaves are placed in such a way as to be able to pour hot water down to the bottom of the leaves.  The holes in the bowl of the spoon are to allow water to pass through but the leaves are filtered out.

The person making the mate (the cebador) is the only one allowed to touch the spoon; she will first drink from the hollow stem of the spoon to ensure that it is ok to offer to others.  When the cebador has drunk enough from the straw that it begins to make a slurping sound it is time to add more water and pass the bowl to the next person (never with the spoon facing the person it is going to). Once that person has drunk enough to make the slurping sounds the process is begun again for the next participant.  Once each person has had enough they say ‘gracias’ (thank you) as a sign that they have finished.  An acquired taste but an interesting tradition that forms part of everyday life here. 

The tour over we bid our goodbyes and I take off walking, initially to go to the Colon Theatre but it was too late for that so I went wandering basically taking in a few landmarks as I went.

The pedestrian mall in Florida St was where I spent most of my time and much of that was watching a couple tango dancing in the street.  Lovely to watch and I am looking forward to seeing the real thing soon. 

There was no way I needed more food so after a bit of people watching I retreated to my nest and listened to Spanish spoken English movies while I finished this.

My day ended up pretty good after all.