Two+ weeks since my last post?!! Oy. My bad, guys. I’ve been super busy with a combination of real classwork for the first time this semester (blah), and, most excitingly, my momma’s visit! She’s now safely and soundly back in the US, and this post will largely sum up our fabulous time together.
My lovely mother touched down in Buenos Aires the morning of April 18th. DISCLAIMER: the entire premise of this trip was the famous Morningstar “you can sleep when you’re dead” mantra, so we hit the ground running and didn’t stop until she departed this past Tuesday night. First stop was Villa Crespo so that my mom could meet Rita and see my BsAs digs. After coffee with Rita at my favorite neighborhood cafe, Cafe Crespin (they have THE BEST alfajores ever, sin duda), we booked it to our hotel in Palermo Hollywood. But again, no rest for the weary, so we dropped our bags and headed to the Recoleta Cemetery for some walking. Here’s my beautiful momma chilling by the tombs:
We walked and walked and walked and walked and finally paused for the first time for some afternoon beers and a nosh. Then we walked and walked and walked some more back to our hotel, changed, and headed to dinner at Local. Delicious restaurant in Palermo Hollywood, modern Argentine food. All my BsAs buddies should check it out. Dirección: Arévalo 2063.
Day 2 began with a 4:30 AM wake-up call, followed by our Aerolineas Argentina flight to El Calafate. Just to give you an idea of where we were, here’s a pic of a handy map located in the Calafate airport:
The airport is located in the middle of nowhere. You land, walk out the doors and are surrounded by beautiful hills and a river and blue sky but absolutely no people. A cab magically appeared and we headed to our hotel, a good 20 minute drive away. Exhausted from our early morning flight, we took the afternoon to walk into town, admire the beautiful Lago Argentino, and for the first and last time of the trip, relax. That night my mom had her first true Argentina parilla experience at restaurant La Tablita. Patagonia goat, choripan (for my pork-loving momma), steak upon steak, potatoes, dulce de leche crepes, and, of course, malbec on malbec on malbec. It was a feast/nom-fest.
Day 3 was GLACIER CITY BAY-BAY! On Day 3 we visited the glacier Perito Moreno and it was awe-inspiring. Our tour picked us up at our hotel and drove us to the national park. The first part of our day was walking along the “balcones,” essentially cement paths, in front of the north side of the glacier. When we first arrived at the balcones, our view of the glacier was nada. It was cloudy, cold, misty, and we couldn’t see a darn thing. My mom and I looked at each other, sighed, tried to make the best out of our lack of a view, we were STILL in Patagonia, for goodness’ sake, and started back towards the lodge for a coffee. AND THEN. TAH-DAH! Out comes the sun and suddenly, SUDDENLY, we get this view:
It was something out of a movie. Over the course of about 30 seconds we went from grey clouds to blue glaciers. It was overwhelming, and prompted tons of photo ops like these:
Next up was actually walking around on said glacier. We boated over to the glacier’s south side, stuck on some cramp-ons and followed our guide over a the blue and white ice. Here we are about to hike on the glacier:
It was SO COOL. But also exhausting and a wee bit cold. Our tour for the day ended with alfajores (typpp) and a shot of whisky (delicious and much needed).
Day 4: We got up early to catch the bus to El Chalten, a tiny mountain town only settled in the ’80s and located 3 hours north of El Calafate. Chalten’s claim to fame is the granite-faced Mount Fitz Roy (also the mountain featured in the clothing company Patagonia’s label. FUN FACT!). Just LOOK at this baby:
We hiked for a good 2 hours before getting to the lake pictured above. After a picnic lunch of cheese, cookies, apples and more cheese, we descended back to town, scarfed down some yummy waffles at this cool cafe and headed back to Calafate.
Day 5 was back to Buenos Aires. We headed to my favorite cafe, Bartola, on Gurruchaga, for some munchies, then trekked to my Argentine history class at the famed and crazy UBA so that my mom could see for herself just how insane-in-the-membrane this place is. Her reaction was perfect, lots of “wooahhh”s and “how different!”s. It was cool to show her around (even if I’m still shocked myself every time I walk through UBA’s doors). Dinner that night was at Sudestada, the best lil’ Thai restaurant in BA, rivaling Bethesda’s famed Sweet Basil.
Day 6: Breakfast at our hotel, walking around El Centro, and a very teary good-bye at the airport.
All in all, a fabulous time with my momma. Can’t wait to welcome her back and welcome the rest of my fam to Argentina for the first time come July!
Chau chau!
-Eleanor
EK in BA 