Adventures in Gastronomy

As I expected, Randy’s cold is trying to take hold of my immune system. But I’m apparently fighting it. This is the third day I’ve felt the early symptoms but it hasn’t progressed beyond that (Randy had the early symptoms for one day before the cold kicked in).

Maybe I’m missing the worst of it?

Anyway, Randy is upset that I’ve not blogged about my moment of stupidity in Argentina – so here goes. There was a bakery on the first floor of our apartment in Buenos Aires. It smelled great every time we walked by. In the window, I noticed they had these little shortbread cookies with a big dollop of chocolate on top. They looked delicious and they were cheap! The sign said “1/4 = $6”. Now, a few clarifications. The symbol for peso is the same as the dollar. They distinguish between the two down there as such:

$ = peso
U$S = dollar

So, this meant that the cookies, in U.S. currency, were “1/4 = $2”. What a bargain! At that price, I decided to go with buying 1/2 instead of 1/4. And that’s where the problem was. They don’t measure in pounds…they measure in kilos. So it was 1/4 kilo.

Being American, I had no clue what that meant, but at $2 I assumed it couldn’t be that large of a quantity. Well, the clerk began placing cookies in a bag…then more cookies…and more cookies…and more cookies. I actually had her stop before reaching 1/2 kilo. I have no clue how much a 1/2 kilo would have been, but I walked away with an enormous bag of fresh cookies for less than $4.

Randy, being a chemist, knew all about metric measurements and laughed all the way home (and mocked me repeatedly the rest of the trip). In the end, I ate all the cookies and never went back for more.

However, since Randy mocked me, it’s my turn to mock him. Check out the photo above of Randy having an apparently hilarious conversation…with a stone pagoda.

November 15th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments

We’re back!

The last few days of the trip went well. The sun came back out but the temperatures dropped a bit so we wore pants instead of shorts, but it beats the cool temperatures I heard the Boston area had in our absence.

We spent Saturday exploring the Reloceta neighborhood of the city. This area is their high-end area with French-inspired architecture along Avenida Alvear and then the famous Recoleta Cemetery, where Eva Peron is buried. This cemetery is probably about the “french-est” part of Buenos Aires as it’s very similar to a Parisian cemetery (where bodies are above ground in individual mini-mausoleums). Outside the cemetery was an arts and crafts fair where we picked up a few things. A little bit more walking brought us to Palermo Chico – a very tiny neighborhood unlike the rest of the city in that the streets don’t follow a grid pattern. It’s home to some gorgeous little mansions with impeccably manicured lawns.

Finally, on our last day we explored the neighborhood known as La Boca (see photo above). This waterfront area has historically been the poor/immigrant part of the city. In recent years, it’s become a tourist attraction as a result of the architecture. Back in the day, the poor residents built homes out of scrap metal and wood. Unable to afford paint, they took whatever left-over paint offered by the shipping vessels that docked nearby. Since they only got left-over paint, they couldn’t pick the color or quantity. Consequently, they’d paint portions of their homes in different colors as the paint ran out. This left an unusual pattern of bright and fun colors on an otherwise dreary area.

The shipping industry moved to a new area (Puerto Madero) so now La Boca feels a bit more fabricated: shops have taken over the residences and buildings are being refurbished to appear old. Still, it was an interesting area.

The flight home went well. We arrived in Miami at 4:30AM on Monday with a three hour layover. Fortunately, Randy his status with the airline so we got to go to the lounge and take showers before the connecting flight to Boston.

And that was it – my first adventure to South America! And here are some final observations:

1 – There are dogs everywhere in Buenos Aires and the city has no pooper-scooper laws (or people don’t abide by them). Consequently, you can smell a lot of shit and have to dodge piles of it on the sidewalks (like landmines).

2 – I can understand why Argentina has one of the highest vehicular fatality rates in the world. The cab drivers are insane. Certifiably insane. More than one of our drivers would straddle two lanes to wedge himself between two other cars…at 40+ miles per hour…at a stop light.

3 – It’s a very green city once you get out of the Microcentro. The neighborhood streets are lined with plush old trees. It is odd, however, that nearly all large parks in the city are clustered together in the Palermo neighborhood.

4 – They don’t eat vegetables. Their idea of salad is plain lettuce with shredded carrots. The adventurous add raw onions, tomato, or egg. But that’s it. No dressing, no cucumber. Hell, no varities of lettuce.

5 – Argentinians don’t have much of a sweet tooth. One of the things I love about France is going to the grocery store and drooling over the candy aisle. In Buenos Aires, their confections suck. We had to go to Uruguay before finding a decent chocolate bar.

6 – Some things are unbelievably cheap. We had three course meals for under $12.00 each (salad, entree, dessert, bottled waters, bottle of wine). The subway was 23 cents per ride, most cab rides were around $3, a decent bottle of wine can be had for $4, and a 2 bedroom condo in a great neighborhood costs about $69,000 (all in U.S. currency). Oddly enough, they advertise their real estate in U.S. currency, yet everything else is priced in Argentinian currency).

7 – There’s a lot more to do in Buenos Aires than I’d thought. I’d have liked to explore the various neighborhoods in a bit more detail but the city is just enormous. I also would have liked to visit more areas outside the city: Tigre (west of the city along the river), Mar de la Plata (beaches along the Atlantic Ocean), gaucho country (farm country), Iguazu (waterfalls more impressive than Niagara), and Mendoza (wine country).

Still, by the 8th day I was ready to return home. And it’s good to be back…except that Randy managed to catch a cold the last few days there. And my nose is starting to run a bit.

November 14th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: Comments Off on Buenos Aires, Part Quatro: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

After blogging last night Randy and I headed out to the strangest…and longest…dinner ever. I read about this restaurant called “Te Matare, Ramirez” in an article. The name translates to “I’m Going to Kill you, Ramirez” in English. The name alone should give you an idea that this place would be unique!

Anyway, it was supposed to be about seven blocks from our apartment but when we arrived at the address a sign said it had relocated to the whole other side of Palermo Viejo. No big deal, though – it was a beautiful night so we went for a walk.

We arrived at the restaurant just after 9:30PM. The restaurant occupied two floors. The first floor was full so the hostess brought us upstairs into a nearly pitch black room. The options were to sit in low sofas along the perimeter or at candle light tables in the center (which is what we chose). The walls, floors, and ceilings were black, and there were blood red velvet drapes everywhere. In between the drapes was art. Erotic art. I’m not talking your casual seductive poses…I’m talking women with their legs spread open

Our black-clad waitress handed us our menus. We couldn’t read a thing as everything was written in Spanish and all items, from appetizers to entrees, were described in a sexual manner. In between items on each page were images (photos or renderings) of naked people or people actually having sex…full penetration!

But this was nothing compared to what was yet to come. After delivering our yummy appetizer, the waitress made a proposition: we could have our food arrive now, or we could wait until “after the show.”

Of course we opted to wait until after the show, so we brought our wines downstairs and waited for the performance to begin. In the corner was a small stage. Moments later, 5 men and women in semi-transparent black shirts ran through the room doing a little dance to Joe Cocker’s “You Can Keep Your Hat On.”

The all arrived at the stage and ducked down behind a black curtain. When they all arose, they each held a puppet and began to make the puppets dance and lip-sync. Within a few seconds, the pants came off all of the puppets and you could see vaginas and erect pieces. Large erect penises.

After the opening number, they performed various little skits – all resulting in the puppets having sex. Seriously – the puppets would very realistically begin penetrating each other and the puppeteers would moan and groan erotically. There was straight sex, gay sex, and group sex. Fastincating! It’s a shame we couldn’t understand a word that was being said. Still, I think we figured it out since most skits were your typical porn fantasies (a cop and distressed woman having sex, a man and women getting caught by her husband…then the husband joining in, etc…)

The show finished around 11:15PM and we went back upstairs to eat. And what yummy food it was. I ordered something randomly based on the few words I could understand. What was delivered was a home made ravioli with brie and pieces of beef inside, soaking in a red wine. By the time all was said and done, it was about 1:00AM. I’ve never had a dinner last over 3 hours before. But it was worth it.

We tried getting up early today to explore Recoleta…but even getting up early didn’t get us out of the apartment until after 11:00 AM. We headed in the direction of Recoleta, stopping in Barrio Norte first for some shopping. One pair of jeans and three shirts later, we returned home for lunch and a nap.

I really could get used to this.

November 9th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: Comments Off on Buenos Aires, Part Tres

The abundant sunshine became partly cloudy on Wednesday and nearly 100% cloudy today (Thursday). Fortunately, the rain has held off for the evening – but what a spectacular lightning show we had last night! Being on the top floor of a building with two story glass windows provides us with roof top view of the north and western half of the city so we got to see a fascinating display.

But before the storm we headed to Uruguay. It was quite the production getting out of the country. You had to wait in line to check-in, then go to another line to pay, then go back to the check-in line to pick up the ticket, then go through immigration/customs, then go through another line to board the boat.

And what a boat it was. This was simply a high-speed ferry – but it was NOTHING like the ones I’ve seen going to Nantucket. You enter on an upper level and into a large lobby with a curved stair case leading up to first class. There was literally a duty-free shopping mall in the middle of the boat. The room to the right (after boarding) had airplane style seating (10 aisles with 3 seats off each aisle). In front of everything was a cafeteria. Oddly enough, there were no outdoor decks or even windows in the front of the ferry. They did provide TV screens to show the harbor as we approached, but  we were over open waters, they showed cable television.

We arrived in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay (which is in a different time zone) and walked to the historic part of town. Colonia is the first colony in Uruguay and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The old part is pretty cool with old stone colonial buildings in various states of disrepair. It’s chock full of cobble stone streets and old cars. We ate lunch at an outdoor café called “Drugstore.” (Ironically, when we returned to Buenos Aires that night we ate dinner at a restaurant called “La Farmacia”)

Anyway, it reminded both Randy and me of Mendocino, California, in that it was small, deserted, and a day trip from a major city. Randy may have liked Mendocino better, but I much preferred Colonia. Mendocino was way too small (1,000) people and the buildings were few and far between. Colonia was filled with old buildings (many decaying or in ruins) and the main road into town was filled with shops and restaurants. Mendocino had no history, this place was filled with it.

Anyway, after more stupid lines for immigration/customs, we returned to Buenos Aires and took a sunset walk along Puerto Madero (an island just outside of the downtown). One of the guidebooks called this the most European of Buenos Aires’ neighborhoods, yet I found it to be the most Americanized. It’s an old wharf district that has been transformed into a living/eating/bar mecca for the city. There are modern high rises sprouting up all over the place and the area offers a decent view of the Buenos Aires (mainland) skyline. After a long walk, we took the subway home just before the heavy rains (and lightning) began.

Today (Thursday) we walked through Palermo’s Botanical Garden, Japanese Garden, and explored MALBA (their modern art museum.) I got in free as a student, Randy had to pay $12 pesos…a whopping $4 US.

Tomorrow is also supposed to be cloudy, but with a 50% chance of showers. We’re thinking we’ll do some “indoor” stuff. Then explore the Recoleta and La Boca neighborhoods on Saturday and/or Sunday. I’m beginning to think we’ll never make it up to Tigre (a river delta area 20 or so miles west of the city with small towns and plantations). But we’ll see.

Oh, and we dropped off some laundry to be cleaned this morning. Two people’s worth of clothing for 5 days came to $3: washed AND folded. I should send my clothes down here to be laundered!

November 8th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 2 Comments

Well, here I am day three into my trip to Buenos Aires. The weather has been spectacular, though today was a bit warm for my tastes (lower 80’s). I probably should have blogged more regularly since I’m already forgetting what I did yesterday, not to mention two days ago. But I’ll start at the beginning.

As a result of that tropical storm that was approaching the coast on Saturday, we changed our departure flight to Saturday morning instead of Saturday afternoon. That got us into Dallas/Fort Worth with a 6+ hour lay-over. To make it more enjoyable, we rented a car and drove to Fort Worth where we went to the Botanical Gardens/Japanese Garden and then onto the Fort Worth Stock Yards. How cool was that!?! We got to sit in on some sort of cattle auction in this enormous barn-like structure. In between the auctions a guy would come out and bull ride. It smelled like shit (literally), but it was fun.

The flight from DFW to Buenos Aires was quite nice – even at 10.5 hours. We were in business class of their retro-fitted planes. That meant we had these seating pods that would recline almost flat (almost…not quite). They had individual entertainment units that stored countless songs, movies, TV shows and games. You could either keep it in the back of the pod in front of you or take it out and put it on your lap. Sweet! Randy has made me accustomed to traveling a certain way.

So, we arrived in Buenos Aires on Sunday morning headed straight for the condo. As a result of a marathon, the driver brought us the back way into the city – through some pretty sketchy looking neighborhoods chock full of graffiti and empty buildings. Little did we know that that is what most of the city looks like (more on that later).

Our condo is located in the Palermo district, bordering Barrio Norte – which are two areas packed with shops and restaurants. We’re on the 8^th (and top) floor of building where each unit is a two story loft. That means we’re actually up around the height of a 16 story building. We have a decent urban view.

We weren’t feeling any jetlag since the flight is practically due south so after settling in and showering, we headed out to San Telmo. This is an old district that, on Sundays, has a public market/antiques fair. There were street musicians, tango dancers, and vendors everywhere selling useless things you can’t live without. The area was a bit gritty (and all guide books encouraged you NOT to visit after dark. However, during the day it felt quite safe.

It was here that we first noticed some gorgeous old buildings…in terrible states of disrepair. And this, so far, has been the common theme in all of the areas we’ve visited (San Telmo, Montserrat, Microcentro, Retiro, Palermo, Palermo Viejo, etc…) You can tell the city at one point was quite prosperous with architecture rivaling Paris. But decades of decay has taken it’s toll. Even the well-maintained buildings are tagged with graffiti on the lower levels. It’s a shame.

Anyway, we were exhausted by that evening so we headed to a local market, picked up some groceries, and had dinner in the condo. On our way back to the condo, we also discovered that the screen on Randy’s camera got cracked…and stopped working completely. Since I didn’t bring a camera, we’re now limited to taking photos using the tiny viewfinder and not the screen. This also means we’re unable to adjust camera settings for night time photos, or photos taken inside, outside, in sunny conditions or in shady conditions.

On Monday, we decided to explore Palermo Viejo (hip and trendy) and Avenue Cordoba (where you can buy ultra cheap clothes). One great thing about Argentina (for tourists) is that locals can’t afford to import clothes from other countries so there are countless local designers making handmade clothes. And they make some damn creative stuff. I picked up four shirts (3 well-stitched dress shirts and one polo shirt) for under $100.

But you can find better bargains at restaurants. For example, we had a toasted ham and cheese sandwich and two bottles of sparkling water for $5 (including tip). We had a dinner consisting of two appetizer, two entrees, two desserts, two bottles of sparkling water and a bottle of wine all for under $15 each.

Today we headed to the center of the city where all of the government and historic buildings are located (Congress, Supreme Court, Metropolitan Cathedral, etc…). Once again, some buildings were amazing – yet closer examination showed pealed paint, faux finishes, and lots of cracks. One of my highlights for the day was riding the A-line subway. It’s the oldest subway line in
South America – dating back to 1913 – and they still use the original train cars. They’re made completely of wood with double hung windows that you can pull down. And the lighting is frosted glass globes suspended from the ceiling. You also have to open the doors manually to get off (or on).

It was also on this subway line that I had my first experience with a pick-pocketer. He wasn’t able to get anything (I don’t carry a wallet in my back pocket) but he tried.

OK – slight distraction: I’m watching Argentinian television as I type this and a commercial for Playboy magazine just came on the air. It showed the cover of the current issue then flipped the pages open to show the naked photos inside!!! It’s 6:30PM on a Tuesday.

Back to today. After the exciting subway ride, we visited the gorgeous (yet rundown) Metropolitan Cathedral. This edifice rivaled churches you’d find in Europe, yet can’t find in North America. Such a shame.

We then walked down Calle Florida, a pedestrianized street filled with restaurants and shops. We had lunch at a café (bread, dinner sized entrée, two bottle of water…$8 each), then continued to Gallerias Pacificas – an old shopping mall designed like that famous one in Milan. It’s essentially like streets covered in glass it’s like you’re walking down a Parisian Street. The center has a gorgeous rotunda with frescoes.

And that brings us to now. I’ve got the hiccups, Randy is napping, and I’m seeing porn on network television. Our current plan is to take a boat to Uruguay tomorrow. WOO HOO – another stamp for my passport!

November 6th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments

I did it again – I jinxed myself. Not even a week ago I was commenting to a friend about how “life is good.” And it was – or so it seemed. Little did I know that trouble was brewing.

First – a freak late-season tropical storm threatens to botch our departure for Buenos Aires tomorrow. Here I’m thinking it’s early November and too late for tropical storms and too early for major snow. WRONG! I wouldn’t mind so much if our flight was direct (since we could just leave when we could leave). But we have a connection in Dallas with a 2-hour layover. If we miss that connection, the next flight to Buenos Aires is 24 hours later. Ugh.

Second – we decided to fly to California then drive through the desert to Phoenix for the holiday recess between Christmas and New Years. We contacted friends in both cities and things seemed good for places to stay at the beginning and end of the trip (in between we’d get a hotel for one or two nights near Palm Springs/Joshua Tree National Park). Our friends all seemed eager to see us and tentatively told us to do it. We found affordable tickets on Wednesday and put them on hold so we could finalize details with our friends that night.

A day later we finally heard back from my friend in California who was all excited and said to do it. But during that 24 period between putting the tickets on hold and buying them, they’d gone up $50.00 in price. However, Randy didn’t refresh the screen and it appeared it would allow him to book the tickets at the original price…so he did, and it worked. Then not an hour later did his friend from Phoenix call and say that he doesn’t think we can stay with him. ugh.

Third – and this is the worst of all – it appears that my sister-in-law, Heidi, isn’t doing well again. She went into the hospital in her hometown earlier in the week because she had fever and her feeding tubes appeared infected. They wanted to relocate her to a Boston hospital but had to wait for an available room in the infectious disease unit. They moved her on Tuesday afternoon and performed surgery on Wednesday to replace and relocate the feeding tube. By Wednesday night, she was inexplicably coughing up, and then vomiting, blood. As the night went on she had trouble breathing so they intubated her.

By yesterday she was on a ventilator and drugged to the point of being unconcious. This seems to be the most serious her condition has ever been. And it seems everything is gradually falling apart. She’s been wheelchair bound for over a year, and during that time she’s also become legally deaf. Now this.

Anyway, I guess when it rains it pours. And despite how crappy things suddenly seem to be, I do need to put things in perspective. I could have worse issues personally than just flight delays. I see what’s going on with my brother and his wife (and kids) and it makes me realize how lucky I am.

November 2nd, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: Comments Off on Jinx!

Excluding Halloween, this is my favorite time of the year. I like to extend the “holiday” season from Labor day through President’s Day since there is at least one work holiday every month during that period: Labor day (Sept.), Columbus Day (Oct.), Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving Day, Day-After-Thanksgiving (all Nov.), Christmas Eve, Christmas Day (both Dec.), New Year’s Day, MLK Jr. Day (both January), President’s Day (February). Oh, plus my office closes up shop between Christmas and New Years so there are additional days thrown in for good measure.

Of course the biggest of those holidays for me is Christmas. Yeah, yeah, yeah – I’m atheist…but there’s just something about the music, the lights, and the trees that sucks me in. Hell, I even start thinking about it at the beginning of the “holiday season” on Labor Day. However, I refrain from playing my music until at least Halloween – difficult as it may be.

But now that Halloween is officially behind us, I’ve loaded up my iPod with my Christmas music. Oh yeah, I’m ready. This morning I officially began listening to my happy holiday cheer as I commuted to work.

“It’s the most wonderful time….of the year.”

November 1st, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 2 Comments

I got together with a bunch of friends last night to see Sweeney Todd at the Colonial Theatre (the stage version – not an advanced screening of the Tim Burton film with Johnny Depp). The theatre was only filled to half capacity. Well, the balcony and mezzanine were (being so high up I couldn’t see but the first few rows of the orchestra level).

The show was fun…and from a distance, the lead character seemed rather hot.

I was disappointed in the lack of gore, though. I’d always heard this show was about a barber who kills customers and then sells pies baked with thier body parts (who comes up with this stuff?). Alas, by the intermission, only one person had been killed…and it wasn’t bloody at all! It was more ‘symbolic’ – the stage lighting would go red and an uncomfortable squealing noise appeared for 10+ seconds.

But one murder? Where’s the excitement in that? The second act made up for it in spades, though, with nearly every character but two ending up dead.

All in all, I guess I enjoyed it. But, being a product of my generation, I think I’ll enjoy the movie more. I can just imagine how creative Tim Burton will get.

Anyway, that was last night…and today is Halloween (my least favorite holiday). Being gay, it’s supposed to be my favorite. It’s not. It scares me. I don’t like strangers knocking on my door (hell, I don’t even like friends knocking on my door unless I know they’re coming), I don’t like people playing tricks outside in the dark, I don’t like drunk people, and I specifically don’t like drunk college kids (an unavoidable thing in the Boston area).

I’ll be happy when November first arrives.

October 31st, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments

This past weekend was full of challenges – but none necessarily bad.

On Friday night we got together with friends for dinner and games (a card game called Hands and Feet). On Saturday Randy and I did a bit of shopping (getting me some gym gear….I’ve gone to the gym 4x in a 8 days!) and then we had our friend, Deano, over that night for more dinner and games.

This time, Randy made his famous grilled pizza on the barbecue and we played Trivial Pursuit. Deano beat the pants off of Randy and me – he’s a pro at all questions in the sports, history, geography, and entertainment categories so you’ve all been warned. Still feeling comeptitive, we then played Scrabble where I kicked their asses…but only at the last minute as a result of a single kick-ass word.

On Sunday, Randy, Chris, Pete and I headed to Sterling, Massachusetts for the “world famous” corn maze. They claim it’s the biggest, but I’ve never been to another so I couldn’t tell you. But it was rather large. The theme this year was “Lost Vegas”…get it? Anyway, We managed to find the exit within 40 minutes but kept playing around for another hour so we could a) see all of the attractions hidden within the maze, and b) collect as much free candy as we could to offset the $14.95 entrance fee.

Well, I think that last one was only my goal – the other guys were just jonesing for some sweets.

Oh, and apparently over the weekend some local sports team won a game or something.

October 29th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 4 Comments

Okay, maybe it’s more of an inchstone…but Randy and I went to city hall yesterday and registered for domestic partnerships. We both entered into this “contract” with reservations, I must admit. But for very different reasons.

You see, Randy is only entering into it for my dental benefits at work. In fact, he tried figuring out every angle possible to avoid registering: why does Harvard require it be done at city hall, can’t we try enrolling for benefits without it, he even did detailed calculations to figure out how much…in dollar amounts…he’d save by joining my plan versus using his. In the end, he realized he’d save a lot (especially knowing that he has substantial dental work to be done next year).

The thing is, I don’t mind enrolling him in my benefits plans and I don’t mind registering as domestic partners. I just kind of wish he wasn’t so reluctant to do so. I mean, when the clerk at city hall had us hold up our right hands and swear (not on a bible, fortunately) that all of the information on the application was true, he started freaking out. Seriously! First was the look of shock and fear in his eyes, then came uncontrollable giggles.

And to be honest, if he didn’t want to sign up for my benefits, I would never have suggested registering as domestic partners, either. I was absolutely in no rush to do so. I will admit, someday (years down the road) I probably would want marriage – but not for the “contract” or “romance” or “ceremony”…I’d do it only for the benefits (mostly tax, inheritance, etc…). Well, and maybe to piss off the religious right.

I suppose it doesn’t matter anyway since Randy (being a child of divorce) isn’t a fan of marriage at all – even if only for the benefits it can bestow.

Oh well, just because we entered into our domestic partnership for all the wrong reasons and against our better judgment, it doesn’t mean we’re not accepting gifts. We’ve registered at Tiffany’s – so fork it over.

October 26th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 1 Comment