When I think of Buenos Aires, I automatically think of EVITA. In the early 1980's, my friend Marty (previously mentioned in posts from Budapest) introduced me to the musical EVITA. We were roommates at the time, and he played the soundtrack from the Broadway production (with Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin--far superior to Madonna's later rendition) nearly every day for months (well, it seemed like that anyway) and we eventually saw the musical in San Francisco. I ended up being completely captivated by the story of Eva Duarte, and developed a dream of someday visiting Buenos Aires.....Here it is, 28 years later, and I not only went Buenos Aires, but I also visited the Evita Museum (pictured below). Once again, dreams do come true!
The museum was one of the best I have ever been to; I was able to listen to Eva's early radio shows, see clips from her films, view newsreels of her eventual marriage and political activism with Juan Peron, and view footage of her corpse--it was exhumed 16 years after her death. What a fascinating life! Here is a picture I took of a display featuring a few of her many exquisite gowns followed by a few lines of lyrics from the musical:
"I came from the people, they need to adore me
So Christian Dior me from my head to my toes
I need to be dazzling, I want to be Rainbow High
They must have excitement, and so must I"
Allan and I also visited the cemetery where Eva is now buried, and I was surprised at how small and ordinary the tomb was; an ironic end to a life that is still celebrated (and maligned!) in Argentina.
But Buenos Aires isn't only about Eva Peron! It's a huge, sprawling city filled with art, delicious food, beautiful buildings, and tubs and tubs of Dulce de Leche!
There is so much Ducle de Leche in this city, that it is somewhat hard to find a gallon of milk for sale. I do believe that so much of all the milk in Argentina goes into making this gooey, sweet, caramel deliciousness, that hardly any of it is left over for drinking! When Allan and I saw the brown coastal waters of BA, I turned to him and said, "Look! Even the ocean here is the color of Dulce de Leche!" For those of you that have not tried it, and can't find it in the store, at the bottom of this post will be a recipe for it. Stuff it in a croissant like the Argentines do, or drizzle it on ice cream. You can make an Alfajore by sandwiching it between cookies and then dipping it all in chocolate. It's a sugar rush like no other. Argentina is not shy about it's love affair with sugar, as we noticed when we entered most grocery stores:
And since we were here for Christmas, stores also had stacks and stacks of Pan Dulce.
In addition to that, delicious facturas can be found all over town, and eating them is a daily tradition, which Allan and I were happy to embrace. ("Factura" is Spanish for...well, "pastry" I suppose, but that is not really accurate either...) My favorite factura was this flaky pastry wrapped around a big glob of Dulce de Leche and then sprinkled with powdered sugar. A sugar coma immediately followed, but boy, it was delicious getting there!
Aside from Eva and Dulce de Leche, I was also taken by the creative arts and crafts that thrive here. On Sunday, the neighborhood of San Telmo puts on a crafts market to rival all crafts markets. For as far as you can see, vendors display their wares and/or antiques, which Allan and I found to be wonderfully creative and fantastically inexpensive. If you like to shop and don't like to spend a lot of money, Buenos Aires is your town! Here's a few shots of San Telmo, one includes an iconic painting of Che Quevara--the other political icon of BA.
And if you can't make it to the shops to buy stuff, people bring the shops to you on the subway. While riding the Metro, someone will get on, place an item in your lap (and everyone else's lap that will let them), then come back in a few minutes to collect your money if you want the item.
And speaking of the Metro, it only cost 30 cents to ride it! How cool is that??
And speaking of good deals, great food can be had for SO CHEAP in BA. A gourmet plate of veggie lasagna in an upscale restaurant will only set you back $10. And for you carnivores reading, a huge steak is like, I don't know, $7 or something. BA is the Meat Capitol of the World, and you can eat copious amounts of the carnage for a pittance. We were told that the only vegetarian item we would find in BA was cheese pizza, but oh, were we told wrong! Where we stayed in Palermo, we were walking distance to about 6 vegetarian/organic restaurants, all of them fantastic and unique. Oh how I will miss Spring, an all-you-can-eat veggie buffet where Allan and I stuffed our faces on the most fresh and delicious food for a mere $7 each.
Speaking of food...we bought the movie Julie & Julia on the street for $2, and watched it one night. Meryl Streep was so fun to watch, but I cringed many times when the character, Julie, went on and on about her precious blog....some of her obsession over her blog hit a little too close to home; I have spent many hours on this trip worrying that no one was reading this blog, or if they did, they thought it was boring or too opinionated, or simply self absorbed (uh, I guess that's what a blog is all about? But still, it feels weird.) Allan and I have even had a few "arguments" (if you can call them arguments) over who is going to write about what. Many times I have been ready to stop this "blog business" altogether because I didn't like how obsessed I was getting over it (like Julie), but several friends and family have told me how much they enjoy it, and in the end, it will make a great travel diary for us to remember our journey around the world. I doubt Hollywood will make a movie about Allan and I, but if they did, I'd want John Krasinski from The Office to play me. (So what if he's 20 years younger!) Tell me... who should play Allan??
In addition to seeing movies and seeing the sights in Buenos Aires, I was able to meet up with my good friend Matias, who was in BA to visit his three daughters and his mother, Petra (also a friend of mine) for the holidays. Matias is originally from Argentina, and was also influential in making me interested in visiting Buenos Aires. We were house mates many years ago when he lived in Salt Lake City and attended the U of U, and he introduced me to the national beverage, Yerba Maté tea. It is served in a gourd, also called a maté, and you drink it with a metal straw called a bombilla. I find maté gourds and bombillas to be so beautiful, it was hard not to buy 10 of them! (If you are interested in experiencing Maté, I believe Whole Foods sells both the tea, maté's and the bombillas, or you can get Yerba Maté in tea bag form....but the maté and the bombilla are so much a part of the experience!) Matias now lives in Albuquerque, and is an Asst. Professor in the Dept of Economics at the University of New Mexico. We had a great day of swimming in Petra's pool, and I loved playing with Aylen, Francisca, and Lola.
As an economist, Matias was able to help us understand the economic troubles that Argentina has faced this past decade. It isn't pretty. The currency rate used to be 1 Peso=1 US Dollar. It is now about 4 Pesos=1 US Dollar. Around 2001, most people lost all or most of their life savings. While it may appear that the economic crisis is over, poverty and hard times are still a harsh reality of life in Argentina. Yet the people of Argentina were friendly, and seemed happy...but then, we spent most of our time in Palermo, which used to be a very poor neighborhood, but is now considered to be the "elite and trendy" part of Buenos Aires. Matias seemed to indicate that we would be having a different experience in another part of town...On a positive note, Matias told us that the poor people of Argentina do vote, which makes a difference, and helps their cause...
For a bit of culture, we went to the National Museum of Fine Arts where we were both captivated by the Adolphe William Bouguereau painting, The First Mourning (1888), which depicts "the first human death" of Abel, Adam and Eve's son. Bouguereau had just lost his son before painting this scene, which may be why I felt such powerful emotions while looking at it. The details were so true to life, I felt like I could have touched the canvas and actually felt flesh instead...
There was much more to see and do in BA, but for the most part, Allan and I spent most of our time just walking around Palermo, or sitting in our apartment, taking in the view. Oh, and we also took Spanish lessons! The manager of our apartment referred us to a great teacher, Pat (who is coincidentally a vegetarian!), and we ended up taking three classes a week for a total of 10 classes from her. Here's a photo of the Tres Amigos!
It was a lot of fun, and my brain has really gotten a good workout! From reading the book, The Brain that Changes Itself, learning a new language is one of the best things you can do for your brain's health! If you feel like your senior moments are getting more and more frequent, or if you know someone that has suffered from a stroke, or if you know a child that has autism, this is a great book to read!
In addition to being a language professor, Pat also rescues cats and dogs from abandonment, or from owners that mistreat them. Each of our Spanish lessons were also filled with stories of the latest animal she had rescued. It is her passion, and she spends most all of her free time and money helping these poor animals. It is one of the reasons she became a vegetarian. She found it contradictory to love and rescue animals by day, and then eat animals for dinner....
Finally, we celebrated Christmas in BA, which didn't really feel like Christmas at all. The temperatures were in the 80's, the sun set at around 9:00, and they don't make Christmas all commercial in BA like they do in America. It is more like a family celebration, where family and friends get together for a nice dinner and then party into the evening--or into the next morning in some cases! In our neighborhood, parties went on all night, complete with music, dancing, and fireworks--yes, fireworks! I was awoken at 2am to the sound of a huge fireworks display a few miles away. Matias said Christmas in BA is more like Thanksgiving in America (with a little bit of 4th of July thrown in). I thought it was great, and I actually prefer it to all the gift-giving stress that Christmas has turned into in Corporate America. Still, we did see a few nativity scenes and decorated trees in shops here and there, but none of the trees were real trees, of course. The only decorated outdoor tree I saw in our neighborhood was at an apartment complex around the corner. Discovering it was my Christmas Mood Moment.
And what I really enjoyed most was calling friends and family on Christmas Day. I was even able to Video Skype my family while they had their Christmas party, and it was so cool to see everyone...I actually felt like I was there!
Allan--the sweet, good man that he is (he's Dulce de Leche personified)--made me the most lovely display of pine cones and tree bark (with heartfelt notes written on the back) as a centerpiece to our dining table to wish me a Merry Christmas--rounded out by a delicious homemade dinner of stuffed butternut squash. It was artful and beautiful, simple and elegant, thoughtful and heartfelt....so "Allan", and so much of what the holiday should be about. It will linger as a comforting memory of our Christmas in BA, 2009. I hope yours was as loving and special as ours was!
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Here are two versions of Dulce de Leche I found online. The second recipe is less sweet, and is infused with vanilla.
Dulce de Leche 1
1 quart milk, whole (see note)
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Combine all the ingredients in a large, heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer the mixture briskly, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until thick, caramel colored, and reduced by half, 30 to 40 minutes. (You will need to adjust the heat, now up, now down, to keep the mixture at a brisk simmer, but without it boiling over. The traditional test for doneness is to pour a spoonful of caramel cream on a plate. When it gathers in a thick puddle and no longer runs to the edges, the mixture is ready.) Transfer the caramel cream to a serving bowl and cool to room temperature. You can eat it now or cover and refrigerate if you prefer to serve it chilled.
Note: You must use whole milk for dulce de leche. Skim milk will burn during the reduction process.
Dulce de Leche 2
2 quarts whole milk
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon of sea salt
2 vanilla pods (optional)
Add milk, sugar, and salt into a pot large enough that there are a few inches between the level of the milk and the top of the pot. Cut the vanilla pods lengthwise, scrape the seeds from the pods and add everything into the pot. Turn the heat to medium high, whisk or stir the mixture constantly until it comes to a full boil. Turn the heat down to barely simmer, and continue to cook, uncovered, for 3 hours. When in doubt, turn the heat lower. If the heat is to high your milk will boil over and develop a rough skin on top, which won't dissolve no matter how much you whisk later. Whereas when the heat is too low you'll just have to cook it longer, no harm done.
Check the consistency at about 2.5 hours. The consistency you are looking for is a loose caramel. (It will thicken a bit after it cools.) When it gets there, remove the vanilla pods, whisk until smooth. Pour into small jars and let cool. When cooled completely, put the lid on the jars and keep in the fridge.
David, next time you have an "argument" with Allan about what you post, tell him "the actress hasn't learned the lines you'd like to hear"! ;-O
ReplyDeleteI nominate Clive Owen to play Allan to your John Krasinski...
And, BTW, the date on your BA post is wrong (12/29).
Keep up the entertaining posts... just 60 days left!