Take an overnight bus to Iguazu. Bike from Patagonia to Alaska. Drive from North America to South America. Or hang out in Buenos Aires for three full months.

We’ve had some incredibly adventurous guests and many of them blog about their experiences. So, to say thanks to these guys for staying with us and to point other travelers to some of the best travel tips out there, let me introduce you to some of San Telmo Loft’s blogging guests.

Bike Across the Americas

Matt and Sylwia are cyclists riding from Patagonia to Alaska over the next two years. Never Tyred of Cycling is the name of their blog. Their posts all show up on one page, but go to the list of their entries on The Americas and check out their post on packing for such a trip. When they got here, I would have never guessed they had so much gear. Then follow their journey from Buenos Aires, to Iguazu, to Mendoza, and beyond. Last I read, they were entering Ecuador and headed to Quito.

Bicycles below El Chalten (Credit: Never Tyred of Cycling)

One of my favorite posts covers their thoughts on biking the barren and vast Pampas. These were the top ten highlights of the 500 km. they rode:

1. A fire’s smoke creating a cloud in an otherwise perfectly blue sky
2. A bird of prey standing on an alive sheep’s head
3. Gauchos with their cattle, spotted at some distance
4. Many shrines to St. Gauchito Gil
5. 2 dead armadillos
6. 7 dead owls
7. Golf course on the outskirts of Talalque
8. Lots and lots of cows
9. Lots of dead dogs
10. A river

Drive from one America to the Other

Rochelle, Nick and their gorgeous pit bull, Domino, spent a year driving from North Carolina to Buenos Aires and documented the entire adventure on their site The Ramble Writer. Some of my favorite posts are about the border crossings, their fun pictures in the salt flats in Bolivia, the post about making pizza while camping, and, of course, their post about The Pad and The Loft.

Rochelle in the Uyuni Salt Flat (Credit: Ramble Writer)

Be sure to look at her Guide to Buenos Aires. In the guide, check out the cute place they rented in Palermo before coming to San Telmo (a great idea, by the way, one week in Palermo and one in San Telmo).

Nick and Domino in Buenos Aires (Credit: Ramble Writer)

And if you’re planning to drive the Americas, get a copy of their book The Essential Guide to Driving North, Central and South America so you’ll know what to expect and how to deal with the unexpected.

Become a Local in 91 Days

Juergen and Mike (pictured with John and Angela at the top of this post) spend every 91 days in a different place and blog about the food, culture, people, music, language, architecture, street life, you name it, with humor and gorgeous photography. The For 91 Days’ coverage of Buenos Aires is so thorough, I’ve taken notes about things I had no idea existed. Their coverage of Bolivia is breathtaking.  And now they’re in Palermo, Italy, with posts beyond delicious and always informative.

Suggested Posts  

The portraits of two great local artists: Chancha via Circuito whose music is fantastic, and Alfredo Genovese whose fileteado work is stunning and fun, and so very San Telmo.

Alfredo Genovese (Credit: For 91 Days)

Their reviews of two of my favorite San Telmo restaurants: La Poesia which is down the road from The Depto. It’s a traditional cafe (bar notable, they’re called here) that serves food all day. A gorgeous setting and good standard food. Caseros which is down the road from The Guesthouse. I love this place, especially for lunch. Fantastic bread, beautiful setting, fresh lemonade, a simple menu of beautifully prepared, tasty food.

Steak at Caseros in San Telmo (Credit: For 91 Days)

The graffiti tour post is gorgeous. I took this tour a year ago and learned so much about the artists and the movement. And I love their impressions after having been here for a month. A fun read. Their photo reportages are wonderful. They always seem to capture the quirky, the beautiful, and the bizarre.  Here are their posts about The Loft and The Depto. They stayed in both.

From Asia to Sweden to South America

The Runaway Brit, Elaine, and her Swedish boyfriend, Nicklas, met in Cambodia and have been traveling together ever since. Elaine’s been keeping up a great blog for the backpacker, hostel-staying crowd filled with tips and beautiful scenery.

Elaine and Giang at The Guesthouse (Credit: Runaway Brit)

She stayed at and wrote about The Guesthouse. The picture above is of Elaine and Giang who was also staying in The Guesthouse. While chatting the first night of their stay, they realized they’d all met before while staying at a hostel on a lake in Cambodia. Small world. It’s not that surprising that they keep choosing the same places to stay.

Perito Moreno Glacier (Credit: Runaway Brit)

Be sure to look at her panamoric images from Iguazu and the lovely image of the Perito Moreno glacier on her Facebook page, and this great video of their whale-watching adventures in Patagonia. If you’re a budget traveler looking for fun and adventure, be sure to “like” her Facebook page. There are some great conversations about ways to cut costs and still have a wonderful adventure.

Buy a Car and Make it your Home for 9 Months

And our latest blogging guests, Kirsten and James left their jobs, Life Outside the Cubicle is their blog, to spend a year climbing mountains and traveling through South America while living mostly out of their car. They actually found us through Rochelle’s blog. Kirsten and James are pros at living out of their car and mountain climbing. I think they’re tied with Matt and Sylwia as the healthiest guests we’ve ever had.

Here’s their post about Getting Connected in Argentina and The Guesthouse. Stay tuned for their upcoming posts as they CouchSurf and drive through South America, leaving the cubicle behind for good.

Honeymoon in Buenos Aires

And the first blogging guest we had in The Loft, Katie of A Backyard Wedding. Katie’s blog about planning her backyard wedding on a budget of $10,000 US has remained popular years after Katie and Paul can no longer claim to be newlyweds. She’s a great writer with an amazing eye for detail and beautiful taste. Read her posts about Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls, San Telmo and about returning from their honeymoon and her final impressions. They also took my absolute favorite photo of The Loft.

Katie and Paul on their Honeymoon in San Telmo Loft (Credit: A Backyard Wedding)

After Katie and Paul spent their honeymoon in San Telmo Loft, we had a year of honeymooners. Looks like next year may be filled with adventure travelers.

Got any other great blogs for travel tips in Argentina you’d like to recommend? Just put them in the comments below.

Salta is the most colonial of cities in Argentina and the surrounding landscape and indigenous small pueblos make a visit of at least a week well worthwhile.

Hotel Options in the City of Salta

Arriving in the city in the afternoon is ideal so as to get to the hotel during the tranquillity of siesta. The evening and the following day will be sufficient to see everything in the city as it is mostly located around the main plaza, 9th of July.  I like the San Francisco Hotel or Bloomers for the proximity to everything and Legado Mitico for the design conscious. KKala hotel is absolutely lovely with a view over the city but is a fifteen minute walk from the centre. (See our map of the city of Salta for hotel locations)

Salta's San Francisco Church by bgblogging

Salta’s Museums & Cafes, a Walk & a Fair

If you are at the San Francisco Hotel you have everything within easy walking distance. Walk up Caseros past the San Francisco Church (check the Broadway musical curtains above the porticos). When you reach the plaza, visit the MAAM Museum (El Museo de Arqueología de Alta Montaña) to see the perfectly preserved Inca children sacrifices. Closed Monday. Entry 30 pesos. The café at MAAM is nice and has Wifi and a view of the sugarey-pink Cathedral. Also on the plaza – the Cabildo (government building) containing the museum of NW life and a good view from the upstairs terrace.  On the right hand corner is a modern art museum with a new café. (See our map of the city of Salta for locations)

Cable Car and City of Salta, by Emilia Garassino

For staying outside, walk along Caseros in the other direction from the hotel, past the old convent and left to Guemes street and the Guemes memorial (He’s a superstar around here for defending independence with his gauchos– his body is in the Cathedral). Take the ascending path – there is a small museum of anthropology – then walk up the 480 million year old Cerro San Bernardo for a good view of the city at the top (here’s a post about the walk). Take the cable car back down.

If it’s Sunday, Balcarce street for five blocks in front of the station is closed for strolling through the artesan market. With an extra day, take the 7E bus on San Martin outside the cable car to San Lorenzo. Walk in the cloud forest and have lunch by the river or in the castle hotel.

Eating and Music in Salta

There are two kinds of restaurants in Salta – the traditional parilla (grill) and the cocina de autor (innovative chef’s creations). El Charrua (Caseros 221) and Jovi (on the corner of Balcarce and Rivadavia) are my favourite parillas for steak also serving seafood. Monumental on the corner of Vicente Lopez and Entre Rios is very traditional in the smoking grill sense.

For a nouvelle meal, Jose Balcarce on the corner of Necochea and Mitre offers ‘Cuisine from the Andes.’ At Casa Moderna, Espana 674 (not at all modern – an old grocery) there is a bar-resto in the back for Spanish style snacking – have a bottle of Salta wine and some pulpo (octopus).

If it’s Salta it’s got to be folklorico. There are various peñas (folk taverns) on Balcarce. Or head a bit further out to  La Casona del Molino – take a cab up Caseros (20 blocks north of the plaza)- it’s full of locals and music.

Salta’s Spectacular Landscapes

After a day or two in the city, It’s time to see the varied coloured rock formations and try the local wines. There are two unmissable ‘circuits’, one to the north, the other south of Salta. Don’t even think of taking day trips and returning to the city at night, distances are large and the roads are small and you’ll want to enjoy the pueblos after the tours have left. To see everything in the area a minimum of four days is needed but six is ideal. The blog at Northwest Nomad Trips shows these trips in detail.

To the South, travel through the 65 million year old Quebrada de las Conchas to Cafayate and sample some Torrontes vino at the highest bodegas (wineries) in the world. 65km to the south are the Quilmes Sacred City ruins. From Cafayate a trip through the spectacular Quebrada de las Flechas takes you to unspoilt pueblos and to Cachi. From Cachi, you head back through the Cactus Park and a sometime hair-raising drive down the side of a mountain to Salta and on to the north.

Salt Flats or Salinas Grandes by zaqi on Flickr

The north is completely different from the south with highly indigenous adobe pueblos. Stay a couple of nights in Tilcara, where you can visit the 9^th century hill-top fort or Purmamarca for the Seven Coloured Hill (seen in the photo beginning the post) and drive up to 4200 metres above sea level and visit the Salt Flats.

The music, wine and food and the constantly changing landscape from rain-forest to high altitude desert is sure to enchant in Salta/Jujuy.

*This is our first guest blog post. I asked Tracy Johnson to write up a piece on Salta because our guests in San Telmo Loft that have booked tours with her company, Northwest Nomad, raved about Tracy and their tour.

Thanks, Tracy! We’re hoping to get up there next month and looking forward to seeing you again.

Rowdy folklore and dancing, skillful horsemanship, manly gauchos (Argentinean cowboys), inexhaustible amounts of grilled meat, empanadas, and other regional foods, fairly priced and beautifully handcrafted arts & crafts. Oh, yes. I do love the Feria de Mataderos. It’s one of my favorite Sunday activities in Buenos Aires. Watch our video to see if you want to add Mataderos to your list of things to do in Buenos Aires.

John and I went to the fair with an Argentinean friend and one of our long-term guests staying in The Pad. It was the first time any of them had gone. Sole laughed when I asked if she’d been to the fair before. “No, that’s for tourists, not porteños,” she said. Once we arrived, she realized her mistake. There are a few tourists, only those who’ve found the one paragraph most guidebooks devote to the fair or those who know someone here who has recommended it. But these are not your average tourists. Though we also didn’t see many average porteños (Buenos Aires locals) at the fair either.

That’s a large part of the beauty of the weekly Feria de Mataderos. It’s a neighborhood fair held for people who love folklore (Argentinean folk music) and it’s unlike anything you’ll find in the city.

Mataderos (i.e., Slaughterhouses)

Map of the barrios of Capital Federal

The neighborhood the fair is named after, Mataderos, is where the city meets the country. It’s one of the last barrios (neighborhoods) still inside the district of Capital Federal and in the past this was where the cattle was brough in from the provinces to be slaughtered and distributed to the rest of the country. In fact, Mataderos means slaughterhouse in Spanish. This neighborhood is also called Nueva Chicago because it share its slaughterhouse role with its U.S. counterpart.

Smoke from the grills and a stack of chorizos.

While the slaughterhouses have moved elsewhere, the fair is packed with parillas (grills) and loads of meat. Just look at the smoke hovering above the stands and under the trees in our opening shot of the video and you’ll get the idea.

My favorite part is the music and dancing on and around the stage in the main plaza. The Sunday that we went was El Día del Niño (The Day of the Children). There were groups of kids performing traditional zambas and chacareras (Argentinean folklore rhythms) on stage.

Dancers performing a zamba on the main stage.

I love how the boys in the chacarera show off their fancy footwork. And the handkerchiefs in the zamba with the girls’ flowing skirts, their rounded arms and slight embraces is just beautiful. The group of younger kids (mostly girls) in the video are playing the traditional drum of folklore. It’s called a bombo legüero and these kids were fantastic.

Gaucha, clapping to the rhythms of folklore.

Around the stage you’ll see plenty of other couples dancing, too. Some are dressed in traditional gaucho wear; others are in boots and jeans. I don’t really know the steps, but I’ve often been invited to dance with a local and it’s not that difficult to fake some ability to dance if you watch the women next to you and just do as they do. Jump right in if the urge hits you.

Gaucho Culture

Gorgeous gaucho stirrups.

The fair really is a celebration of guacho culture. Just down the road from the main stage you’ll see gauchos on horseback in full gear. Beautiful gear. Their stirrups look nothing like the ones you see back in the States. Gaucho pants are called bombachas (which incidentally is also the word in castellano for underwear). They use either a sash-like belt or a leather one with fancy medallions and typically have a knife tucked in at their back.

La Carerra de Sortija, or the Race for the Ring.

At about 3:00 pm, a group of gauchos will start warming up on Av. Lisandro de la Torre for the Carerra de Sortija (Race of the Ring) where they’ll race their horse down the road, standing up as they reach a metal frame with a small ring dangling from it. The idea is to use the stick in their hand to pull off the ring. It’s pretty impressive.

Agustin, the youngest gaucho, races for the ring.

As is fitting for El Día del Niño, in our video only the youngest gaucho actually grabbed the ring.

Street Food: What to Eat

The asador tending to the barbecue.

The fair offers some of the best regional food in the city. But don’t expect to be able to ask for your steak to be cooked medium rare. The meat is slow-cooked with lots of hands tending the fire. You might want to try the vacíopan (flank steak sandwich) or the choripan (sausage sandwich). There are plenty of other options, too.

Stuffing the homemade empanadas.

Homemade empanadas, little half-moon pies stuffed with meat, or chicken, or corn (called humita here), or ham and cheese, or onion and cheese. If you want something more hearty try the locro (a corn-based stew which sometimes has tripe) and tamales(corn dough filled with a shredded meat stuffing and wrapped in husks; tamales here are never spicy).

Damon digs into some locro.

In the main plaza, behind the stage, there are lots of tables and chairs where you can actually sit down and have a glass of wine or a beer with your street food. And, of course, there are several restaurants with outdoor tables all along the streets of the fair. The food there is pretty much the same as in the stands, but you’ll have a waiter and you can sit and watch the show or the people for as long as you like.

Shopping: What to Buy

It reads, "Hold on to me tight and suck on me slowly."

Another great reason to go to the Feria de Mataderos is to buy gifts to bring back home. The prices are much better than in the city and you’ll find a lot of traditional Argentinean arts & crafts that you won’t see elsewhere. Maté cups (cups traditionally made from gourds used for the ubiquitous tea-like infusion gauchos drink) and bombillas (the metal straws with a filter that you drink maté through), handcrafted knives with elaborate details, ponchos made from llama or alpaca, cool wine racks made from horseshoes, handcrafted jewelry, toys, and candles, you name it.

Handmade jewelry stand at the fair.

There are also a lot of stands filled with local foods like cheese, alfajores (traditional cookies that are like a shortbread sandwich with caramel in the middle), marmalades and preserves, liquors made from eggs or chocolate or even dulce de leche liquor. And if you think you might want to buy some gaucho bombachas, this is the place to do it. Way better prices than in the touristy shops in the city.

When The Fair Takes Place

The fair takes place every Sunday (from April through December) and on Saturday evenings starting at 6:00 pm during warmer months (in February and March). It’s closed in January.

Getting to Mataderos

It’s a bit of a hike (close to an hour bus ride) to get out to Mataderos. If you’re in the Palermo area, you can take the 55 bus. If you’re in San Telmo, you’ll need to get to Retiro first and then take the 92.

You could also take a taxi if you don’t want to try the bus routes. Our taxi from San Telmo cost us roughly 40 pesos (at 10 pesos each it was probably worth it to get us out there early). We took the 92 bus back to Retiro when time was not an issue. I also just ran across a review on Trip Advisor written by a guy here in Buenos Aires that offers trips to the fair in his Lincoln Town car.

Other Blogs on Mataderos

Buenos Aires Tours has a great post about the Feria de Mataderos and some videos of gauchos in the Carerra de Sortija. And another expat blogger, Sallycat, has a fun write up about her trip out to the fair which ended up being a trip to the neighborhood as it was summer and the fair wasn’t happening. And lastly, Travel with Pen and Palate Argentina has a nice post with some wonderful photos of the fair.

Have you been to the Feria de Mataderos? What was your favorite part of the fair?

On Sunday, January 3, we took the ferry to Montevideo where we rented a car and drove to Punta del Este. Our biggest worry was that we weren’t going to find a hotel room. Everyone told us we’d be sleeping on the beach. But since I’d taken this picture above just two years ago in January, we thought the beach might not be too bad.

At the port, all of the car rental companies were closed because it was Sunday and the information desk told us that there were no available cars for hire in all of Uruguay until the next week. We considered taking a bus to Punta del Este, but decided to go to the airport just to double check.

La Rambla by gamillos on Flickr

La Rambla in Montevideo

The taxi ride to the airport was beautiful but wild. The drivers, we had to take two taxis because there were five of us, clearly liked driving along the road that follows the beach. It’s called La Rambla. Anyway, it’s a wide and very curvy road. Everyone flies down it. We nearly hit a pedestrian who was crossing on red and not paying any attention at all to the oncoming traffic. These same two reckless drivers told us that we wouldn’t find any cars to rent but that they would be happy to take us to Punta del Este for $300 USD.

Rent a Car if Budget Allows

There were several cars to choose from with Hertz. Some of the other agencies didn’t have any cars available though. So, for $400 USD we rented a car for two days. Later on, we realized how having the car changed our trip completely. I’ll explain.

In Punta de Este, there wasn’t a hotel room for less than $200 USD and some of the rooms were so nasty that you really might rather sleep on the beach. I’d long wanted to go up north, so I convinced the others that we should at least give it a try. And here’s the first time having a car really paid off.

La Barra's Bridge by Chetito on Flickr

Trendy, Fashionable La Barra

Just north of Punta del Este, we crossed a wavy, roller coaster of a bridge and drove into a town called La Barra. It’s lively, walkable, and supposedly has good beaches with windsurfing and kitesurfing. We got there after dark so finding hotels wasn’t very easy. We stopped in a cafe and asked the owner if he knew where we might go. He sent us to the hostel called Backpackers and said that if they didn’t have space, they’d surely know where we might go instead.

Two Hostels in La Barra

Frog pond at Backpacker's, image from Backpacker's website.

Finding Backpackers was sort of like following a very old treasure map. There were signs on trees or poles with the word Backpackers and an arrow. But since it was so dark, it was hard to see the signs. We found it, parked the car and heard some odd sounds coming from a little pond right in front of the main building. Frogs. On their website, you’ll hear a recording of the frogs. How cool. The yard was gorgeous, the house was bustling but not like a party, in the back there was a pool, barbecue, and a bar, the buildings were all painted bright colors. We’d found the treasure.

They told us that they didn’t have any room and explained that trying to get a room the first week of January in this area was like going to Cannes during the film festival and looking for a place to stay. But the guy who runs the hostel was amazing. He gave us a list of other places and their phone numbers so we could call around before driving all night. He showed us around the hostel in case we wanted to come back when they did have some room available, and during this time that he spent talking to us, people kept coming up with request or question or whatever, he handled them and turned back to us without missing a beat. He’s a real professional and I can’t wait to be able to go back there.

Hostel Iguana in La Barra, from Hostel Iguana's website

Instead we stayed at La Barra’s second hostel, Hostel Iguana. It’s just down the road from Backpackers and while it’s nowhere near as inviting, it was what we needed. The people working there were kind and helpful (maybe this is just how people are in Uruguay). The rooms were clean and the bathrooms were clean enough considering they’re being used by tons of 20-somethings getting ready for clubbing. We lucked out and four of us got a private room. Our other friend slept on a bunk bed in a room with about 15 or so other people.

It was noisy at times, the lack of AC or fans meant we got eaten by mosquitos because we had to leave the windows open, and like all hostels, you have to be good at sharing. But for $44 USD per night, we felt pretty lucky to have found Hostel Iguana.

A Comparison

Beggars can’t be choosers, but if you are planning ahead and considering staying in one of these hostels, stay at Backpackers. First, there are only 8 beds per room and the beds each have a locker where you can store your bag. There isn’t a key for those lockers, but it’s better than leaving your stuff on the floor or out on your bed. At Hostel Iguana, our friend left 2 shirts and some sandals on his bed to “mark his territory” he said. The shirts disappeared and the sandals were out in the hallway. It’s to be expected really. In hostels, no one really knows who is sleeping where. But in Hostel Iguana, there were more like 15 beds in the regular rooms and it felt a little more disorganized.

In addition to having fewer people per room, Backpackers has some VIP rooms with only 4 beds and lockers with keys. These rooms also have AC, while the regular rooms each have a fan. I can tell you we would have loved to have at least a fan in our room at Hostel Iguana. We got lucky and had a more private room for 4 of us. But the heat was tremendous and leaving the windows open meant getting killed by mosquitoes while closing them meant suffocating. We’re not 21 anymore.

Additionally, the facilities at Backpackers were overall better. There’s a pool and a large yard. The breakfast is more complete, although the breakfast at Hostel Iguana was fine (pastries and bread and coffee). Backpackers is a bit more spread out, so if you actually want to go to bed earlier, you won’t be trying to sleep over partying 20-somethings. However, in either place you may want to bring earplugs. Also, Backpackers has 2 PCs and WiFi throughout the hostel. At Hostel Iguana, there’s one PC (and another one that if it’s not being used by the staff they are happy to let you use) but there’s no WiFi. We needed to book our return ticket and while the staff at Hostel Iguana called Buquebus for us, we had to book online and that meant waiting a good hour while others updated their Facebook pages for our turn at the PC. Oh, and they have bikes there that you can rent. La Barra is a very bikeable town.

Finally, the price is even better at Backpackers. We paid $44 USD each at Hostel Iguana, but the prices are not listed on the website (which reeeeaaaaallllllly bothers me). Backpackers has clearly outlined prices according to the season and some good packages for those planning to stay there a bit longer.

As I said, beggars can’t be choosers and we were very happy that Hostel Iguana had space for us. Plus, the staff really was fantastic. We felt welcomed. We knew they were there to help us if we needed their help. And they were interesting people who clearly love what they are doing.

Uruguay in three days? Ok, we obviously can’t see all of Uruguay in three days, but that’s all we have. We’re taking the ferry to Montevideo in the morning at 7:30. We’ll get in around 11:00 I think. We’ll spend the afternoon in Montevideo and then head towards Punta del Este and the beach. We have no plans other than the fact that we have a ferry ticket to get us there and we’re hoping to throw in Colonia so our friends can see it, too. Everyone is telling us we’re crazy and we’ll never find a place to stay.

We’ll report back in three days. Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s Eve and that 2010 brings you all sorts of happiness!

When my mom and niece came to visit at the end of July, I wanted to make sure they would leave wanting to come back again and again. Since my niece, who’s 15 years old, mostly wanted to shop and hang out in cafes people watching, and my mom mostly wanted to check out the architecture, eat delicious food, and see some museums and churches, I had to find something to do that would be a hit with both of them. Hmmm… what do we all have in common? Ah, yes. We all love to cook.

I researched online and found the options for cooking classes in Buenos Aires to be pretty scarce. Many of the classes in the city were oriented towards professionals. I was looking for something more informal, more fun.

Cooking with Teresita seemed to be the right choice. Apart from having a variety of options, I loved that she was located outside of the city. Taking the train from the Constitución station to Adrogué was easy enough. Trains depart every 30 minutes or so and Adrogué is about 30 minutes away.

Adrogué is a colorful, elegant town. Its houses suggest it was inhabited by wealthy families who wanted to get away from the city.

We walked from the station to Teresa’s house where she teaches her classes. It’s clear Teresa was a school teacher for years before opening her B&B and offering cooking classes out of her home. Taught in English, the class was well organized and very hands-on and Teresa clearly loves sharing her knowledge of Argentinean cuisine.

We learned to make the filling for beef empanadas first. We sauteed the onions until translucent and then added the ground beef. Next came the spices. Here’s the full recipe.

Next we prepared the corn filling, which is called humita. It’s a combination of onions, bell peppers and corn off the cob.

While we let the fillings cool off in the freezer, my niece prepared the dough (while I talked, of course).

It took us a while to get our circles of dough as symmetrical as Teresa and her granddaughter’s were, but we watched and learned.

Next we stuffed the empanadas and closed them up. We used two types of closures: one for the beef empanadas and one for the humita.

Most places that serve empanadas will tell you which type of closure is used for each filling. In some places, they may have 12 different types of empanadas. Checking the way the dough is folded will allow you to pick the empanada you want.

Teresa explained that a lot of people prefer baking empanadas to frying them, but the fried ones are much tastier. She was right. Half of our stash were baked and the other half fried.

While both were delicious, the fried ones, sprinkled with a bit of sugar before being served, were amazing.

We sat out in Teresa’s back yard, where she has a cottage that serves as a B&B for those who want to get out of the city and take some of her more advanced classes.

A bottle of Trapiche Malbec, and a bottle of Trapiche Torrontés were served with our warm empanadas. The two women staying at the B&B joined us.

Our day in Adrogué cooking with Teresa was the perfect combination of learning about the food, the culture, and the wine while enjoying wonderful company and fantastic empanadas made by our hands.

Here’s a video that aired on German television Teresa teaching a group of Germans how to make empanadas.
Cooking with Teresita

Most expats living in Buenos Aires have to leave the country every three months. The easiest trip to make is across the Río de la Plata to Colonia in Uruguay. It’s also a really nice way to spend a day. And the views of Buenos Aires from the ferry are amazing.

If you want those views though, take the slow ferry that has an outdoor deck. It’s three hours instead of one hour, but it’s nice to be able to sit outside as you cross the Rio de la Plata and if you want photos, you won’t be able to take good shots from the faster ferry (the windows aren’t spotless).

Colonia is, well, colonial. It’s colorful and quiet. The architecture is beautiful and spending the day walking along its cobblestone streets and checking out the views of the river is a fantastic change from Buenos Aires’ fast life.

Getting there – Buquebus has a fast ferry (one hour) and a slow one (three hours). The fast ferry leaves at 8:45 am and returns at 8:00 pm. It costs 190 pesos ($65 USD) roundtrip. The slower ferry leaves at 9:00 am with a return at 6:45. This roundtrip option costs 180 pesos ($60 USD). One thing we discovered though is that if you call to book your ticket, you get better rates. There’s a discount for going and returning on the same day that doesn’t get calculated if you are booking online. Another thing is that the first person we spoke to didn’t tell us about this discount, and we didn’t know to ask about it. There are also promotional tariffs on the website, so check those out. The promotion for the slow ferry, return trip on the same day, is 119 pesos ($40 USD).

Buquebus has a new fancy terminal at the northern end of Puerto Madero. There’s a nice description of the ticket-buying process here.

Upside – Colonia is stunning so if you’re into photography, take your camera.

Some of the buildings are left abandoned (they’re still pretty cool architecturally speaking), but those that have been maintained are flawless. There are flowers everywhere.

And another trademark of Colonia is all the old-fashioned cars that make you feel like you’re in Havana, Cuba.

There’s hardly any traffic. The people are friendly and they accept Uruguayan pesos, Argentinean pesos, and U.S. dollars, so there’s no need to exchange money.

Downside – It’s more expensive than Buenos Aires. As with most tourist destinations, good food is hard to come by. Considering most people go there for one day and either arrive around 10:00 am or noon, I’ve always found it amazing that there aren’t more cafes or tea rooms. Finding a nice place for coffee and medialunas (croissants in this part of the world) is really hard. You’ll probably end up having breakfast in a place with zero charm and decent coffee at best. Then you spend the day walking the streets, eat lunch at around 1:00 or so, and start walking some more. By 4:00 or 5:00 it’d be nice to sit down, watch people walk by, have a cup of tea and a pastry or a beer and some snacks. Places like this hardly exist there, so if you’re interested in opening a business in a quiet, lovely town with lots of foot tourists, Colonia needs a tea room.

Where to eat – I haven’t been to Colonia so many times that I know all of the restaurants, but the only place I’d go back to again is El Torreon. The view is beautiful (especially at sunset).

The food is expensive for Buenos Aires standards, but at least it’s good. The chowder was fantastic, but the calamari were a bit overbreaded.

I would have never chosen to eat at El Torreon, but I read a review from the food critic I must respect in Buenos Aires, Dan over at SaltShaker. If he recommended it, it had to be pretty good.

Where not to eat – We chose this little restaurant, Gibellini, because it had such charm.

We’d passed it in the morning (too early to sit down for lunch) and heard jazzy bossa nova coming from inside. Two people were setting things up. It felt very authentic. A man and woman running a restaurant, cooking dishes they like, and listening to excellent music. My kind of place.

But it’s wildly expensive. And while the food wasn’t bad, it wasn’t worth the cost. The first few items we ordered weren’t in stock. We shared an appetizer, an entree of swordfish and a bottle of wine. The swordfish was a bit soggy and the shrimp weren’t fresh.

The bill was $60 USD. Either Buenos Aires has spoiled us and we are completely out of touch, or this guy is gauging tourists. Too bad because the place really is charming.

Here’s my Flickr album on Colonia. I’m still adding photos, so come back to it later for a better idea of what Colonia looks like.

So, you’re visiting Buenos Aires and need to take gifts back to friends and family. Normally I’d send you to the fair in Mataderos, but during summer they move it to Saturday nights instead of all-day Sunday, and there are other things to do on a Saturday night. 

After all, it is summer (although the picture here was taken in winter), and getting out of the city to enjoy a bit of nature and sunshine is always a good idea. So I recommend a day-trip to Tigre (just north of Buenos Aires). Plus, you can literally buy every present you’ll need right there at about 1/3 the price in the city. 

 Take a 40-minute train ride from Retiro (the train station in the center of Buenos Aires) up to Tigre. Once there, you’ll probably want to head over to the tourist information office. It’s probably the most well-stocked one I’ve seen in Argentina. Head out the station and look for the McDonald’s arches. The tourism office is next door.Tigre is in the Delta. It was once the vacation spot of the elite. Now, it’s the weekend getaway for those who can’t spend the summer in Punta del Este. But I almost prefer it to Punta del Este. 

Boat rides through the rivers. Walks or bike rides along the islands. Rowing through canals past beautiful homes and screened in porches (bring mosquito repellent). Delicious restaurants. And, the amazing fruit market at the port of Tigre. They sell much much more than fruit. 

The market is huge. People from Buenos Aires often go there for furniture (particularly wicker furniture and hammocks). But you’ll also find great souvenirs.Here’s a list of presents I’ve taken back home that seemed a success. 

For men: belts, knives, ponchos, gaucho hats, bolero tie clasps, wallets, or soccer shirts for sports fans.

For women:jewelry, leather anything, or shawls made of wool or llama. 

Standbys: dulce de leche (a type of caramel that’s fantastic on bread. It’s sort of the Argentine nutella), alfajores (cookies with dulce de leche inside… to die for), CDs (of tango or Argentinean folclore if you are buying for country music fans), mate and yerba (the haylike infusion you’ll see Argentines drinking EVERYWHERE).  

Here are some amazing dining options in Mendoza.

Bistro La Tupiña in the Altus Bodega – This is my favorite for lunch. It’s in Tupungato so you can see that beautiful valley and the stunning Andes. The entire dining experience is unique. You´re greeted near the open oven by the chef who mingles with the guests and explains that every ingredient is from the valley. The lunch begins with tapas and white wine, then moves on to the dinning room where we had a stew (locro), then a meat course (chivito-baby goat) with vegetables, and an amazing dessert. Each course is served with a different Altus wine. There are tables inside and outside. The whole lunch took about four hours.

•  La Sal – Unbelievable steak, live music (but not loud), beautiful decor, yummy desserts, great wine list.
• 1884 – I had the best chivito of my life here. The place is gorgeous and the menu is filled with local flavors done imaginatively. We also had an pears, prosciutto, and parmesan shavings dressed with olive oil and herbs that was scrumptious.
• Azafran is just around the corner from La Sal. We couldn’t get a seat without a reservation. The place was packed. It looked delicious. Maybe next time.
• Club Tapiz – Lots of people have recommended Club Tapiz. I haven’t eaten there, but it’s on my list.