Argentina : Part II + Carnaval

Cities visited in Argentina: Merlo, San Luis, San Juan, Córdoba (January 3-9, 2011)

Holding up a bottle of champagne in the "cave" wine cellar!

Merlo:

Thanks to the suggestion of Cindy's friend, Mariana, a taiwanese who has been living in Bs.As. for 20+ years, we ventured our way to Merlo, a nice, safe and clean town with one of the world's 3 microclimates! What did we do? We hiked to a stream, dipped our feet and I was able to convince Sam to hitch-hike within the city back to the town. How did I convince her? Cuz we were running out of time to buy more yummy pasta,lol. A nice hippy couple picked us up in a pick up truck and we were able to have the YUMMIEST PASTA I'VE EVER HAD!


Hand made "sorrentinos", filled with 3 kinds of cheese and herbs. A nice mix of soft and chewy cheese with LOTS of flavour. We purchased it from a passionate Italian descent Argentinian man named Mariano who owns his fresh pasta store. A respectable man with professionalism and loves his food! I still remember Sam insisting on purchasing the tomato sauce without meat, to which Mariano refused to believe our denial to his fabulous "salsa a la bolognaise" which HAS to go with the Sorrentinos. He ended up gaving us a container of it for free. He even offered to help us if we needed anything, just let him know and he'll call his wife to lead us there. What else can we ask? Great food, great company and friendly Argentinians :)

** I don't know what did Sam say/do to Mariano, but upon our last visit (yes, we returned there several times!), Mariano gave us a free plate of canneloni... :) The power of a beautiful smile? You be the judge!

Conclusion: Merlo has stole our heart away with FOOD and with Mariano! Best pasta, best milanesa, and best Medialunas (croissants)! Seriously, Sam and I are thinking of returning one day... yes, it would be for the food !!!


San Luis: Quick visit of half a day. We had the yummiest "sandwich de miga" there :)

1/4 kg of ice cream!

San Juan: Goal? Wine cellars!! Try wines!! We were so irresistible that the waiter from the restaurant we ate at decided to become our tour guide of the city :) We tasted wines in different 3 wine cellars, had delicious ice cream (1/4 kg!), and continuously had lots of laughs throughout !! One of the wine cellar was even set in a cave, making it quite a sight to visit!

Córdoba: Argentina's 2nd biggest city with a beautiful historical centre!! What did we do? We shopped, ate deliscious "sorrentinos" and had ice cream with the "flan" flavour!! I am not usually the biggest fan when it comes to churches, but the one called Iglesia de los Capuchino, is one of the most impressive church I have witness to date.


Argentina, a huge country with potentials for so much more and with such varied landscape and climate. The lacking components are the corrupt government and the complacent folks. Had it not been for the economical conditions, I would definitely consider Buenos Aires as a place to live/work!! It is hard NOT to fall in love with Buenos Aires.


Thanks Sam for being my foodie partner!! The quest for the best medialuna (croissant) and pasta has been achieved.


Thank you Sam, for coming to visit me, and breaking up this long solo journey into an incredibly lively, fun trip and full of laughter!! I have never laughed so much in my whole trip thus far, thank you for giving me joy to life and for sharing with me the very needed girly times :) Your departure will make the next leg of my journey a little harder to bear, now that I have tasted the alegria of being with great company!! In company of a true friend alongside this journey is a treasure to be found. Thank you for bringing a little piece of Montreal to me, giving me the energy to continue my journey :)

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After parting with Sam, I stayed behind in Buenos Aires to enjoy the last bit of quiet time and plan my next steps. I was spoiled with Cindy's mom' taiwanese food on a daily basis, almost made me not want to leave!

That smile was meant for me!

Since I knew I was not going to make it to Carnaval in Brasil, I decided to visit the Carnaval de Gualeleychú (pics link on right) in Argentina, a small version of that of Rio. Still had a lot of fun!! And guess what? I finally saw the hot Argentinian men Sam and I was looking for, in little speedo and body glistering in oil !!! :D  I was a happy camper, lol. I had a good time, although after I come back, I realized that the opportunity cost of going on this mini trip had costed me 3 missed opportunities... one was possibly meeting a interested employer who wanted to meet me in Buenos Aires, a home made parilla (BBQ) and a free ride to Salta which could have saved me 100$. What does all this mean? I don't know yet but it really did bug me for some time. Hopefully the reasons would become clearer to me with time. There is no turning back, but I am hoping for clairvoyance for the events to come. 

Evening at a peña

Finally it was time to leave, said my goodbyes and onward to Salta, northwest city of Argentina, as a break-over for my onward destination of Bolivia. The highlight of the trip was the visit of a peña, a bar gathering where anyone with musical instruments can present themselves to play folkloric music in one of the available rooms available :)

Onward I go, finally making my to Bolivia, my long-waited Bolivia. I am not sure why, but Bolivia is one of the country that I had wanted to visit badly in South America. Finally the time has come, and let's see what it has to offer!