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?

Today is the Day of the Boludo and that give us a chance to talk about Argentinean culture, yet again!

What’s a boludo, you ask? It’s basically an idiot, someone who’s not very bright. But the campaign for Dia del Boludo is doing its best to assert another definition: a boludo is someone who follows the rules. The opposite is a vivo, someone who’s clever and likely a cheat. Vivos look for opportunities to take advantage of others typically by breaking the rules.

Argentina is full of both boludos and vivos. But the culture sometimes seems to respect vivos more than boludos and that’s what the gang over at El Dia del Boludo wants to change. In fact, I pulled most of these quiz questions from their Boludo Testimonials page, which is full of people confessing to being boludos.

Happy Day of the Boludo! Try our quiz (15 questions) and then let us know in the comments whether you’d categorize the three San Francisco hippies in the picture at the top of this post as boludos or vivos????

Boludo or Vivo – A Quiz

Follow my blog with bloglovin

I‘ve been writing about soccer a lot lately and I’m not even a huge soccer fan. But I love the World Cup, and this is my first time being in Argentina during the World Cup. You really can’t be in Argentina right now and not feel the passion.

You also can’t be here right now and leave without knowing that Argentina’s flag is blue and white (even the stores are decked out patriotically). On May 25, Argentina celebrated its Bicentennial and last Monday was flag day. On July 9, they’ll celebrate Independence Day, so we’ve got a few more weeks of blue and white!

But back to soccer. Just what is it about soccer and the World Cup that makes people all over the world go crazy? I think Argentinean commercials do a great job of explaining the madness to those  who just don’t get what this soccer craze is. Watch these two ads with the ones we posted last week and two weeks ago, and I hope you’ll start to feel the craze, too (and root for Argentina on Sunday!)

A Sport for Everyone

In this spot from the 2006 World Cup, you’ll see your average guys pretending they can really kick butt on the soccer field (but typically not kicking butt at all). The point here is that soccer is something we all share and while we may not all be World Cup talents, the team represents all of those back home who would love nothing more than to be there, too.

The song is in Italian (soccer’s roots in Argentina come from the Italian immigrants) and it talks a bit about feeling your heart in your throat and a great adventure. Each time I watch this spot, I crack up at different parts. The guy who tries fancy moves and falls down, the attempted goal that hits the ref in the chest, the coach explaining the play to three guys who look totally lost. Hilarious.

The final words say, “Do it for all of those (us) who didn’t make it there.”

Love, Hate, Love, Hate

This one is a Quilmes ad from the America’s Cup in 2007. Two fans love and then hate and then love and then hate the team.

The final words say, “I love you. I hate you. That’s love.” And that’s soccer. And that’s Argentinean passion: love, hate, love, hate.

I Still Don’t Get Soccer

I’m not going to pretend I can explain the ins and outs of soccer, but that’s also not what I love about the World Cup. I mean, it’s not that I don’t care to understand how it’s possible that the US could have been robbed a goal (or two) by bad calls. I do care about those things when I’m watching the game. But that’s not the beauty of the World Cup.

For me, the fun is in watching all of these nations compete (a lot like the Olympics but not as time-consuming). Some nations are there for the first time and everyone is excited for them and rooting for them, to some degree. Some nations are going through difficult periods and everyone is hoping they can shrug off some of the humiliation of whatever it is they’ve been going through because we’ve all been there. Some nations are the powerhouses and you have to hope they lose (France and Italy this year) because they aren’t playing well and don’t deserve to be there. It’s shared globally and it feels good.

Want to read more? Discover Buenos Aires has a great post on World Cup Fever. And there’s another fun post at Road Games called Crazy for the Copa.

Are you a new World Cup fan? What do you love, hate, love, hate about soccer?

During World Cup matches, this tenth largest city in the world is silent and ghostlike. Want to know why they love it so much? We translate an ad about Argentinean futball and point out the cultural clues that help you understand why soccer is as great a passion as tango.

The game is on. During World Cup matches, when Argentina is playing, the streets of this massive city are empty and silent. Last Saturday, a friend and I were looking for a place for a coffee, but it seemed nothing (not even in swanky Palermo Soho) was open. The places that were open, were packed with people staring at the screen in silence. The only noise came during a good or bad play. “Ugh” or “Ah” or “Vamos! Vamos, Argentina!”

It’s nothing like watching sports in the States. The next two videos may help to explain why sports fans in Argentina are so different from those in the States.

Two Argentinean Passions in One Video

Fantastico! Seriously, aren’t they amazing? This was shot on Pasaje San Lorenzo right in front of the Casa Minima (which happens to be right up the street from our newest apartment which we’ll be announcing this week).

World Cup Horns

On Thursday morning, the sound of horns woke me up. Thankfully, it wasn’t those horrific vuvuzela horns (which I ranted about on my Facebook page), but I knew that it meant the same thing. Game time. I turned on the radio since I don’t have a TV. But the vuvuzela horns were so loud and annoying that I couldn’t really make out what the announcers were saying. If it hadn’t been a workday, I would have gone to Plaza San Martin to watch the match outdoors to watch the match on the big screen with hordes of others.

Watch the World Cup in San Telmo

If you’re in San Telmo and you want to watch World Cup matches, try Breoghan Bar, also on Pasaje San Lorenzo. We got a table there just before the start of the US – England match last Saturday and a table of Brits came in. When England scored, everyone in the bar cheered, then they looked over at the two girls from the States a bit apologetically. We didn’t expect to win, so the goal didn’t affect us too much. In fact, when the US scored, we weren’t even watching (so unlike Argentinean fans). Replays showed that it wasn’t a great goal, but we’ll take the tie.

Fantastic World Cup Ads

Here’s another World Cup ad that I love. The audio is in several languages with Spanish subtitles when it’s not Spanish. My translations with cultural references are below.  The reason I love these ads (this one and last week’s) is because they illustrate points about Argentinean culture that took me years of living here to figure out (the section below translates both linguistically and culturally the significance of the ad).

Ad from Torneos y Competencia – TyC Sport

It starts with Argentines complaining in a roundabout way about things Argentinean. Which brings us to the first cultural note: Argentines like to complain, but it’s more of a cultural art than a legitimate complaint. It doesn’t mean they don’t like their country, nor that they want to live somewhere else. It may not even mean that they want this thing they are complaining about to change. It’s simply that complaining, or being aware of their own national defects, is an understood, well-accepted part of being Argentine.

Spanish with English Translations

Tipo 1: Si me preguntas a mi esto no tiene arreglo. Escuchame, en Estados Unidos vos pones un pie en la calle y se paran todos. ¿Aca sabes que?

First Guy: If you ask me, this makes no sense. Listen, in the United States, you put one foot in the street and everyone stops. Imagine that here.

Culture: Pedestrians NEVER have the right of way in Argentina.

Taxista: Por ejemplo, en Suiza aunque sigas trabajando cobra la jubilacion igual, hermano.
Pasajero: Europa es Europa.
Taxista: Sí, Europa es Europa… pero aca no ligamos nunca ninguno.

Taxi Driver: For example in Switzerland, even if you keep working, they still give you your pension, brother.
Passenger: Europe is Europe.
Taxi Driver: Yes, Europe is Europe. But here we can’t get one break.

Culture Note 1: Taxi drivers are the best Spanish and culture teachers. They like to talk. They have strong opinions. They tend to talk about important subjects.
Culture Note 2: Everyone is everyone’s “brother” in Argentina. If you want a discount, call the vendor your hermano.

Potro: En España, agarrás una bicicleta, la usas, la dejas, y se la lleva otro.
Asador: Aca tambien se la lleva otro.

Cute Guy: In Spain, you grab a bike, you use it, leave it, and another person comes along to take it.
Grill Guy: The same thing happens here.

Culture Note 1: Don’t leave your bike (even locked up) when in Argentina. It will be stolen. Maybe in Spain bikes are part of the public transportation system. Here, they’d laugh in your face if you suggested that.
Culture Note 2: Sarcasm is alive and well in Argentina.

Primer Tipo: En Alemania, tirás un papelito, y se te acercan y te dicen “Señor, se le cayo esto.”
Segundo Tipo: Es cultural.

First Guy: In Gemany, if say you throw out a piece of paper, they’ll approach you and say, “Sir, you seem to have dropped this.”
Second Guy: It’s cultural.

Culture: Argentines don’t use trash cans. (Ok, that’s not 100% true, but there’s plenty of trash and dog poop dog on the sidewalks and even Argentines, who are used to it, complain about it.) In their defense, they do collect the trash every day except Saturday and there are lots of workers whose job it is to pick up the trash. But it would be nice if the trash wasn’t thrown on the street in the first place.

The next parts are in other languages. Basically, it’s Europeans talking about Argentina, or Argentinean soccer. Since the parts are already subtitled in Spanish, I’ll just write the English translations below.

First German Guy: It’s incredible. They throw millions and millions of papers every time the team comes out on the field.
Second German Guy: It’s cultural.

Culture: Argentinean fans are awesome (have a look at our video of the Boca Juniors match for an idea of just how awesome they are).

Guy (maybe Belgian, I’m not good enough in French to know): It’s just not important there. Whether they are wining or losing, these guys just keep on singing.

Culture: Argentinean fans are loyal to the bone. It’s not that they don’t care if the team is winning or losing; it’s more about loving the team no matter what.

Italian Guy: With a sock. I’ve seen them play with a sock. They grab it, they roll it into a ball, and they play in the street with this sock. It’s something I’ve never seen in my entire life.

Culture: Rich or poor, it doesn’t matter. When it comes to soccer, you play with what you’ve got because you love the game. It doesn’t even matter where you are, you can always find something to use as a soccer ball.

Guy (I have no idea what language he is speaking): His heel was the size of your neck and he played anyway.

Culture: Argentine players may throw themselves on the ground like weaklings after every other play (which I think they may have learned from the Italian immigrants that came here), but that’s just show. Even if they’re hurt, with an elephant-sized swollen heel, they play the game.

British Dude: If they lose, they don’t go to the cinema or to the theater. They do nothing.
Second British Dude: The fans?
British Dude: The fans and all the players.

Culture Note 1: Argentines feel a loss in their bones. They may be loyal fans who cheer whether their team is winning or losing, but if they lose, gloom and doom set in. After all, this is the home of tango, a pretty melancholic music, albeit a beautiful and passionate dance.
Culture Note 2: If you are here during important games, you had better hope that Argentina is winning, so you can go out and celebrate with them. Otherwise, you might want to go to the movies where you are assured you’ll get a great seat.

French Dude: These guys don’t play with their legs. They play with their hearts. With their hearts! I mean think about it, in every great team across the world, there is a great Argentinean player.

Culture Note 1: Ok, ok. Brazil has won five World Cups and Argentina has only won two. But…. but, if you look at the great teams, seriously great teams, around the world, there’s always an Argentine. And, the Argentine is always one of the best players. So, while Argentina may not be able to get it together as a team, they have the best players in the world.
Culture Note 2: We are the best!

There you go. That’s your cultural lesson for the week. Seriously, these ads are giving me such magnificent ways of showing parts of the culture here (even if we all know these are stereotypes and you can find tons of people who’ll dispute them).

What say you? If you have some experience with Argentina, do you think these cultural clues from the ad are accurate or not?

Get out your blue and white (celeste y blanca) flags, it’s World Cup time! Actually, it feels like we’ve been surrounded in blue and white for months now since just a few weeks ago Argentina celebrated its 200th anniversary. There are some amazing photos here and here and here of the light shows on buildings, the parades, and the reopening of Teatro Colon, which has been closed since late 2006. The Bicentennial celebrations brought a reported 6 million flag-clad people to the city.

Where to Watch World Cup Matches

The crowds have left but the party is still going on. The government of the city of Buenos Aires called my home phone yesterday to let me know that there would be a huge screen in Plaza San Martin broadcasting the World Cup matches. Can you believe that? They call you at home. Then my buddy Naty called and told me that if I need to buy anything or have any work done over the next month, I should forget about it. No one will be working since the games will be during the day. Vamos, Argentina!

If you’d rather be inside, there’s a sports bar in Recoleta called Casa Bar that serves delicious buffalo wings and hamburgers. And if soccer isn’t your thing, Casa Bar also broadcasts the NBA finals. Oh, and there’s another advantage to going to Casa Bar. They have the widest variety of booze around. They even have Kettel One vodka.

Great Quilmes Commercials

With all these celebrations here in Argentina, we’re also getting some fantastic commercials. This first one is about the Bicentennial. Argentina’s most famous actor, Ricardo Darín (who starred in this year’s Academy Award winning El Segreto de sus Ojos) tells the story of Argentina’s most famous beer, Quilmes (with English subtitles).

Quilmes may not make great beer, but they definitely produce great commercials. And those poster ads from the 40′s. I’ll be out looking for them in San Telmo’s antique fair. Here’s one of the most famous Quilmes ads for the World Cup (with English subtitles).

Talk about a great way to learn something about Argentinean culture. These ads are sooooo Argentine. We’ll add more this week because they’re just too much fun to stop at one or two.

Do you guys know of any other places to watch World Cup matches?

One of the best things about Argentines is their creative use of language. We’ve covered this topic before here and here. And you can find all of our posts about language in the category speak.

The first list below is just the essential words that we’ve already talked about in the last two posts on money: 15 Money Tips and Money in Buenos Aires. The second list covers the slang words dealing in some way or another with money.

Basic Vocabulary

cajero automatico – automated teller machine (or ATM)
banco – bank
billetes – bills (or banknotes)
monedas – coins
cambio – change
cambiar – to change or to exchange
casa de cambio – places that exchange foreign currencies
tarjeta de credito - credit card
efectivo – cash
plata – money (they use this more often than dinero, although they understand dinero)
trucho(a) – fake or false (you can also say falso)

Fun Language

Spanish here in Argentina is called Castellano. We talked about this distinction here. For many travelers who already speak some Spanish, understanding Argentines is way more difficult than they imagined. It’s not just the pronunciation and intonation difference or the fact that lots of things are called by a completely different name here. It’s because Argentines use a ton of slang. Here are some examples that, of course, deal with money.

1. mango – peso (it’s like using the slang buck for dollar)
2. seco(a) – literally it means dry, here it means broke
   “¿Tenés un mango para prestarme?”
   “No, estoy seco.”
3. guita – money
4. afanar – to steal or rob
   “Ese tipo nos quiere afanar la guita.”
   “They always think foreigners are made of money.”

Cheaters & Swindlers

1. vivo – a person who is sly and not going to give away a penny
   “Ese tipo es un vivo.”
   “Yeah, but he doesn’t know that I lived in Egypt and can haggle with the best of them.”
2. chanta – cheater or swindler
   “Dale, no sea chanta.”
   “Who me? What are you talking about?”
   “Los 100 mangos son truchos.”

Moochers & Penny Pinchers

1. garronear; gorronero(a) – to mooch or always ask for money; a mooch or freeloader
2. manguear; manguero(a) – to mooch or always ask for money; a mooch or freeloader
3. pedigüeño(a) – a mooch or freeloader
4. tacaño – a penny pincher or cheapskate
   “¿Otra vez garronenado un café?” OR  “Pagá una birra no seas tan tacaño.”
   “I promise I’ll get it next time. All the ATMs were out of money today.”

Puro Lunfardo

Lunfardo is a lingo that developed in Buenos Aires and other cities around the Río de la Plata towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. You’ll find a lot of Lunfardo words still commonly used today. Oftentimes, the word in Lunfardo uses the same syllables of the Spanish word but in reverse of in a different order. Look at these two examples.

1. sope – peso (notice the letters are the same, but the syllables are reversed)
2. garpar – to pay (the Spanish word is pagar, so it’s the same syllables but in reverse)
3. laburo – work (this one comes from the Italian word for work which is lavoro)
   “En el laburo no me garparon ni un sope.”
   “I hear ya. They throw me two mangos and nothing more at my job.”

What did I miss? Got any other expressions or words to add to this list?

I’m compiling a list of 100 things you should know before you come to Argentina. Our fist category is about money. It builds upon our last post regarding the basics about Money in Buenos Aires. Thanks to all my friends on Facebook for adding their two cents.

Getting Money: Banks, ATMs & Cambios

1. ATMs are not easy to find in all neighborhoods. Look for banks with the signs of Banelco or Link outside. These typically have 24-hour ATMs.  They’re called cajeros automaticos here. You can also often find cajeros automaticos in gas stations.
   

   Look for the Banelco sign for an ATM.

2. ATMs often don’t work, especially before a long weekend when they run out of money right away. Try more than one if you have to, but if you know a holiday is coming up, get your cash early.
3. ATMs charge for each transaction. It started at 11.43 pesos, but now it’s just over 15 pesos (in just about four months really).
4. ATMs limit your withdrawal, in some cases only giving you 900 or 1000 pesos at a time. If you need to take out more than that, you’ll have to do two transactions and you’ll be charged a fee for both.
   

   Look for the green and yellow 'Link' sign for ATMs.

5. You can’t change money in a bank. Ok, some banks will change money, but not many. The majority will only change foreign currency if you have an account with that bank. So, you’ll have to find a Casa de Cambio to change foreign currency. There are many downtown near the pedestrian street Florida, but none in San Telmo, for example. You’ll need your passport to change money.

UPDATE: An exchange office has just opened in San Telmo. It’s on Defensa, right after Plaza Dorrego (between Humberto Primo and Carlos Calvo).

6. A Casa de Cambio may give a better rate than an ATM. But make sure you go to a legitimate one. In downtown, you’ll hear people on the street saying “cambio, cambio, cambio.” Steer clear of these guys and go to the ones that have their exchange rates posted on the windows and require your passport. Fake bills are common, but in the legit places, you shouldn’t have that problem.(*When you stay with us, we’ll show you a fake bill and how to recognize it so that you won’t get stuck with fake money).
   

   The closest ATM is 2 blocks away. There are 2 others in the area.

   Spending Money: Tipping, Credit Cards, & Fake Bills

7. Taxi drivers are notorious for giving fake bills. The way they typically do it is if you want to pay with a 50 or 100 note for a 30 pesos ride, you’ll hand them the money asking if they have change and they’ll hand you back a fake saying yours was fake. It’s always better to have small bills for cab rides. You can usually tell a bill is fake because the color is off and the texture isn’t right. Also, hold it up to the light to see if there is a watermark (be sure to look at both sides because sometimes it’s printed on one side instead of being a real watermark).
8. There’s no need to tip taxi drivers. Most will round down or up so as not to have to use coins. If you want to tip, you might just tell them to round up to the next full peso.
9. No one has coins. Ok, I’m exaggerating. The coin situation has improved in the last year. But it was awful before.
10. The credit cards most commonly accepted are Visa and American Express. Mastercard is often accepted, but the Discover card is not.
11. Let your credit card company and bank know you’ll be abroad and using your cards and ATM in Argentina before you leave home. Sometimes they will block purchases or withdrawals when the card is being used overseas.
12. While most places accept credit cards, some don’t. If you’re going to a restaurant, check the Guia Oleo for that restaurant before you go to make sure you can use a credit card.
13. If you’re making a big purchase ask if you can have a discount if you pay in cash (efectivo) or if you pay in dollars. Some places will offer a 10% discount for cash purchases.
14. Many credit cards charge about 3% for foreign currency purchases. It’s a good idea to check with your credit card company before traveling to see what their policy is on purchases in a foreign currency. This can really add up if you’re always using your credit card.
15. Sales tax is 21%. It can be a shock if you’re used to 8% or 9% sales tax.

Did we miss any money tips? Let us know in the comments below.

Our next three posts will cover some of the most common questions we’re asked by our guests who rent our apartments in Buenos Aires about handling money issues here in Argentina. We’ll start off with the facts, and tomorrow, we’ll put up a list of useful tips. Then on Thursday, we’ll teach some vocabulary (lots of slang here).

Here are the basic facts with some explanations about things that can be a little confusing when you first get here.

Money Basics

Currency: Argentine Peso (ARS)
Exchange Rate : Currently one dollar gets you 3.86 pesos. For the past year, the exchange rate has risen or fallen just slightly, staying at right around 3.8 pesos to the dollar.
Inflation Rate: Some sources say the inflation rate is at about 8%, others argue that’s way too low. They’re findings show the inflation rate to be as high as 18%. From a practical standpoint, when we moved to San Telmo a year ago, a kilo of ribeye cost 24 pesos and now, in April 2010, a kilo of ribeye costs 36 pesos at our local butcher. One of the major newspapers, La Nacion, drew this out very clearly in this article with the below graphic, which is interactive and shows prices from 2007 – 2010.

Interactive Beef Graphic from La Nacion

Prices are definitely rising, but the government disputes this and stands by their statistics. For more on this topic, check out what The Argentine Post had to say about inflation back in February.

Currency Symbol: They use the same symbol as we use for dollars, $. So if you see prices with the dollar sign here, it’s actually pesos. When the price is in dollars, it will be shown with a US before or after the dollar sign, e.g. US$ or $US.

Price list for beer in pesos. Notice the symbol is the $.

Decimals: In the States, we use a comma after a number in the thousands and a decimal to show the cents, e.g. $US 1,200.50 (one thousand, two hundred dollars and fifty cents). Here in Argentina, they use a comma before the cents and vice versa, so the same amount in pesos may be written like this, $1.200,50. Some people may wonder if this is 1 peso with a whole lot of cents, but it’s really one thousand, two hundred pesos and fifty cents.

Front side of the banknotes.

Banknotes (billetes) come in the following denominations: $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 (more info here).

Back side of banknotes.

Coins (monedas) are like gold here because you have to use coins for the buses. There are 5-cent, 10-cent, 25-cent, 50-cent and 1-peso coins. There are 100 cents in a peso.

There are two colors for the 25 cent coins. Both are in use.

Frequently Asked Money Questions

1. Are credit cards accepted?
   Yes, but not always and not all credit cards. The most commonly accepted ones are American Express and Visa. Discover is not accepted anywhere in Argentina. If you’re going to a restaurant and you want to pay by credit card, check the Guia Oleo listing for that restaurant to see if they accept credit cards. When shopping, you can sometimes get a 10% discount if you pay in cash instead of using a credit card. And some places may actually charge a surcharge for credit card use.
2. Can we pay in dollars?
   Sometimes. You can always ask if they’ll accept dollars. Typically, you’ll be given the official exchange rate and in some cases they may even give you a discount for paying in dollars. It can’t hurt to ask. I’d reserve this technique for larger purchases when you might be able to negotiate the price.
3. Should we get pesos before we leave?
   I don’t think it’s necessary. You can use the ATMs at the airport (though they often don’t work) to get pesos when you arrive or exchange dollars there at the airport (though you’ll get better rates in the city than at the airport for exchanging). Also, you can pay in dollars for your taxi to wherever you’re going in the city if you use the taxi service in the main lobby of the airport just before the doors that lead outside. Once you’re in your area of town, you can get cash from the ATMs.
4. What’s the best way to handle getting money while we’re there?
   I’d come with some dollars (for emergency use) and count on using my ATM to get cash and using credit cards for most purchases. But, a lot of credit card companies will charge a 3% fee for foreign currency charges. Check with your particular company before leaving home. Some American Express cards don’t charge this and I believe Capital One cards also don’t. Make sure you tell your bank and credit card companies that you’ll be traveling overseas. Sometimes they’ll put a block on a card if it’s used abroad unless you’ve already told them you’ll be abroad.
5. Should we bring travelers checks?
   No. This one is easy to answer. Travelers checks are not accepted in stores, hotels, restaurants, etc. They’re not easy to change either and there is often a 10% charge for exchanging them. Outside of Buenos Aires, it will be nearly impossible to exchange travelers checks.

Got any other questions about using money while here in Argentina? Let us know in the comments below.

It’s Easter weekend so John and I decided we’d go to our favorite fishmonger to see what looked good. Since it was Good Friday, and since Catholics (which most Argentines are) aren’t supposed to eat meat on Good Friday, the market was busier than we’ve ever seen it.

Look at that line all the way out of the door.

We learned about El Delfin from a restaurant we ate at a couple of months ago. It’s a great, albeit a bit pricey, restaurant in Puerto Madero called Chila. They had oysters on the menu and while we didn’t order the oysters that night, I asked the server if they typically have oysters and where they buy them. She directed us to El Delfin in Barracas.

Map to El Delfin from San Telmo

We’ve been to El Delfin a couple of times now. They don’t always have oysters, so if that’s what we’re looking for we usually call in advance. They had oysters yesterday and we bought a dozen or so. They even had fresh shrimp (not frozen and not already cooked). This is a goldmine find here since most fishmongers sell shrimp either frozen or already cooked.

Fishmonger, El Delfin, in Barracas

For dinner last night, we had raw oysters with a sweet sauce. The sauce was made with rice wine vinegar (1 cup), a minced shallot, 1 chopped tomato, one inch of grated ginger, sugar (1 tbsp), cilantro (1/2 cup), and fresh black pepper. They were amazing. We’ll cook the shrimp with garlic this afternoon and then grill calamari to go with them. It’s a real treat to find a great fish market just a few blocks away from us.

Oysters from El Delfin

If you’re here in Buenos Aires and staying in an apartment or vacation rental, keep El Defin on your list for one of the nights you plan to cook and hang out with some wine and music instead of heading out to a restaurant. In this land of beef lovers, great fish markets aren’t very common.

Seafood Empanadas from El Delfin

You might even want to just run over there for some of their exquisite seafood empanadas or a dish of paella. Look at these. They’ve got tuna, cod, octopus, calamari and several other varieties. It’s no wonder the line was so long on Good Friday.

Pulpo a la Gallega and other Fishy Dishes

Felices Pascuas y Buen Provecho!

Useful Information:
El Delfin Pescaderia y Marisqueria
Deliveries call 4301-6079
Azara, 99 (Barracas)
http://www.e-eldelfin.com.ar

Way up there on the list of reasons to visit Argentina is excellent wine, so you’d think that finding good wine tasting options in Buenos Aires would be easy. It’s not.

Our friend Andy, whose love of wine has led him to invest in a wine bar in Seattle, came to visit in January. Like most people outside of Argentina, Andy was mostly familiar with Malbec. I wanted to have him to taste the other great Argentine varietals, namely Bonarda and Torrontes, and I also wanted to be sure I was having him taste really great wines from boutique wineries that he wouldn’t likely find in the States.

Because Andy knows wine, I put him on the task of choosing where to go for a wine tasting. Our guidebooks had no recommendations, so we took to the Internet. Argentina’s Travel Guide had the best collection of wine-tasting options and very good descriptions of each. But Andy wanted more information. He wanted to be reassured that the wine tasting was going to be run by professionals who would not only pour from bottles but be able to answer his questions and guide him to the must-visit bodegas (wineries) on his trip to Mendoza.

We decided to call the various places. Several places were not able to answer our questions at all. In essence, you go there, pay to taste the wines, and have zero guidance or discussion about what you are tasting and why these wines were chosen. Also, we didn’t want a full dinner with the wine tasting. We really wanted to focus on the wines. Paired with the appropriate foods, yes, but not a full meal.

Wine tasting at Anuva Wines in Buenos Aires.

Sarah, the Tasting Room Director at Anuva Wines, answered the phone. She answered all of Andy’s questions and showed such knowledge and professionalism that we knew Anuva was the place. In hindsight, as I write this I realize that a lot of our questions were actually answered on Anuva’s FAQ page, but we were still glad to speak to a person in charge.

Why I Recommend Anuva Wine Tastings

• it’s easy to book right there online
• before booking you can speak to an actual Anuva person (not a call center or recording) to ask questions
• they’re fluent in English (native speakers) and Spanish
• they’re friendly, knowledgeable and professional
• they serve fantastic wines from boutique wineries across Argentina
• the wine and food pairings were excellent
• they don’t skimp on the wines (not in terms of cost or the amount they serve)
• they live here in Argentina but know their wines from around the world
• the discussions were tailored to our audience of both novices and experts (read testimonials)
• the wines came from wineries I rarely see in shops here or in the States
• the price is unbeatable ($40 US per person as of January 2010)
• it’s fun!

Daniel answers our questions and makes us laugh.

The 5 Wines We Tasted

The white wines we tasted.

1. Hom Extra Brut (Winery: Cava la Carmela) – We started with a sparkling wine from Mendoza. Made of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Chenin, Anuva calls this wine “the crowd pleaser.” We were certainly pleased. It was a great beginning, light and refreshing with the right amount of sparkling.
2. Torrontes (Serrera) – This is one of my favorite Argentinean varietals. I don’t typically like white wines that much. Some of them leave a bitter sort of acidic aftertaste in my mouth. I like Chardonnays that have a heavy oak taste and Pinot Grigio because it’s light and goes well with so many dishes. But I tend to go for red more than white, so when I moved here to Argentina I was excited to taste Torrontes and find a white wine I really enjoy. I’ve mostly tasted Torrontes wines from the regions of Salta or La Rioja here in Argentina. This one is from Mendoza which is pretty odd since Mendoza is not known as the ideal location for Torrontes (not high enough in altitude). Anuva calls this Torrontes “an undiscovered gem from Mendoza,” and right they are! It’s light and not too sweet, just right.
   

   The red wines we tasted.

3. Bonarda (Aguijon de Abeja) – Yes! Yes! Yes! I loved this wine (and it wasn’t my favorite of the five wines we tasted). I really wanted Andy to try a great Bonarda. They aren’t easy to find here in Buenos Aires even in the specialty wine shops. But it’s a varietal I’ve always loved. Part of why I love Bonarda is that I like smoked meats and wild game (see my review of Les Anciens Combattants for a restaurant that serves food that goes sooooo well with Bonarda). Another part of why I love it is that it’s less common, so when you taste it you can’t help but say, “hmmm… what’s that? It’s really good.” Bonarda just hasn’t gone mainstream like Malbec. This Bonarda is from Mendoza and it’s made by two brothers whom you can learn more about on Anuva’s blog.
4. Malbec Roble (San Gimignano) – I can’t tell you how surprised I was that the Malbec was my favorite wine of the five. Having lived here for three years, I’ve had my fill of Malbec. But this Malbec, from Maipu in Mendoza, so dark and smooth with a hint of red pepper (I like spicy wines… and food) reminded me of the first time I ever tried Malbec. I couldn’t wait to get a bottle, head to the cheese store, and invite over some friends for an afternoon on the terrace.
5. Don Juan Reserve (Las Perdices) – This was the crown jewel of our wine tasting. The most interesting and complex of the five wines we tasted; also from Mendoza,  Don Juan Reserve is a blend of 70% Malbec, 11% Syrah, 10% Bonarda, 9% Merlot. We smelled and tasted it immediately after it was poured, again 5 minutes later, and again 15 minutes later. Gorgeous. I felt like I was getting to taste a wine that had been saved in someone’s cellar for just that right moment. One of those wines that you bring to Thanksgiving with people who love food and wine and want to be surprised and then want to discuss the experience while enjoying another glass. When I realized I could taste and smell the evolutions, I felt sophisticated. An absolutely wonderful ending.

We each left with a bottle of our favorite. If I had been buying wine for my uncle, who’s a connoisseur, I would have bought the Don Juan Reserve. But we were headed to an asado (barbecue) at Naty and Gonzalo’s house, so I bought the Malbec.

Anuva’s Wine Club Ships Great Argentinean Wines

Our friend Andy, the wine guy, signed up for Anuva’s wine club. He received his first shipment of 12 bottles a couple of weeks ago and threw a party for some of his friends and other investors in the wine bar there in Seattle. They drank 11 of the 12 bottles and were “blown away,” he said. If you’re in the States and you want to buy great Argentinean wines, I highly recommend Anuva’s wine club.

Thanks Daniel and Sarah for a great experience and another tip to offer our readers. If you’re interested in learning more about Argentina’s trio of varietals, check out Daniel’s post “More than Malbec.”

Has anyone else done a wine tasting in Buenos Aires? Got any extra tips to add?

(Full disclosure: Anuva has since become San Telmo Loft’s first sponsor. If you click on the ad in our sidebar, you’ll be taken to the online booking page of Anuva’s website through an affiliate link which will help to support our efforts to bring you the best that Buenos Aires has to offer. I hope to get more sponsors in the future, but I will only select those I can wholeheartedly recommend. Anuva Wines is the first.)