Our South American adventure which started in Santiago, Chile has turned into more of a Kardashian style diva trip in a palatial palace in the upscale part of Buenos Aires called Recoleta. Santiago remains a city that surprised me with its well planned out plazas, markets and clean streets with remnants of neoclassical architecture on formal government buildings and modern high rises. It's a marriage of old aesthetic pleasure and new microcenter cities in South America. It was relatively clean compared to other cities in North America and relatively expensive! I still can't figure out how much 10,000 chilean pesos are really worth but I knows its almost enough to buy a decent platter of cod, oysters and octupus with some house wine at the Mercado Central, the central seafood outdoor market that houses family run restaurants and grocery marts catered for locals and tourists.
By midnight of our second night in Chile, I may have spent 150,000 chilean pesos on platters of oysters, clams, tilapia and some pisco sours, the drink of choice in Chile. I think this may be a lemoncielo but no one in Chile will tell you the secret ingredient - the Brazilians say its because they don't actually know. I'm not sure what that means to me in USD or damage to my checking out, or if it was appropriate for me to take out my iphone at midnight to divide by 465 when we got the bill on the street at a dive bar in the Bohemian part of the city.
My friend Hartej enlightened us by given us insight into the expansion plans of the Chilean government. He was called over by the government to start a small internet business venture and seems the Chilean government is quite active in calling over young entrepreneurs. I think it might be high time for my long lived dream to start my Punjabi Biscotti store - Cocktails with Karen.
The highlight other than spending lots of monopoly money on squid, was a night out at the Bali Hai, a restaurant that can house the most grotesque of large India weddings. It could house 800 people and in the middle of our seafood platter dinner, dancers in coconut braws and straw pants and skirts came out to wind and grind to tempting beats of traditional Chilean music. (A picture attached of me in a competition with my Chilean partner who was sorely disappointed that I couldn't wind as low as him.)
We have been in Buenos Aires for 24 hours and it brings me home. I feel completely at ease, running through Palacio San Martin, on the sidelines of hotels that rival New York, through pedestrian Florida street, down to the river. It's the marriage of Europe, a sister city to London in South America, with large squares surrounded by Pristine government buildings with metal gates encased in gold, palm trees adorning squares, and of course Tango. I think I'm also feeling quite at home in my Argentinian mama's modern day 6000 square foot apartment in the center of the city. It's reminiscent of living in an apartment in Victoria, London. European style pillars, arches, marble bathrooms with clear doors and modern kitchens all in the center of a bustling city. Off to see the wizards of passionate dance to learn the forbidden Tango. You will likely see some Tango pictures soon.....
A last thought - If anyone makes it down to Mendoza, wine country, make sure to stop over at Achaval Ferrer, one of the smaller vineyards which has limited production and export but some of most delicious Malbecs I have ever tasted. The grapes burst in your mouth and fruit juice fermented just doesn't get better. In particular I found a liking for Quigmera, a 5 blend Malbec, whose name means to strive for perfection. I found it quite fitting.
There's another picture of me practicing what Tyra Banks taught me - pose in motion - infront of a famous door in Via Del Mar - a famous port in Chile, that was productive before the Panama Canal came around 100 years ago.
