Buenos Aires - Day 3

Yesterday I woke up a little early so I could check out the breakfast up on the club floor. I just went in real quick and grabbed a couple of rolls and a muffin, then I headed into work. The muffin turned out to be really good - it had some sort of cream in the middle, which was a nice surprise. I'm not sure what that cream was, but me gusta!

Work was uneventful - got some stuff done, but not much. For lunch we had empanadas...yet another food I have never had. They're like a cross between a giant perogie and a taco. All different fillings are put into a pastry type "shell" and then sealed. The way that the shell is folded tells you what is in it. The beef one was good...I tried the cheese and (I think) ham, and it was okay - there was another one that was cheese and onion...but it was a VERY strong cheese...I only had one bite of that!

From there, we hopped in the car, picked up a colleague that had just gotten to the hotel and headed off to the new building that they are constructing in the suburbs. It is still very much under construction, but we got a tour of it and had a meeting to get everyone on the same page of what is happening. Quite an interesting experience being in a meeting conducted in English, but every once-in-a-while breaking into a cavalcade of Spanish that can make you go loopy. I tried to follow - and every now and then would pick up on a word or phrase, but mostly I just checked my email on my Treo.

After we left there we headed back to the office as I had left my bag and laptop there. We finished up and went off to dinner!

We went to a place called Cubana Las Lilas, which Frommer's lists as very expensive but a great experience. We went with the traditional Argentine BBQ - which would give us each a sample of different meats and then steak at the end. We had two types of sausage to start, followed by blood sausage. The blood sausage wasn't that bad, but I doubt I would ever order it on its own. The bread they were serving was fantastic, and I noticed the locals would eat that sausage on a piece of bread. The beef in the end was good, as is all the beef down here, as I've noticed. The wine for the evening was Malbec, as usually, but this one was especially good. It was a DV Cantana, 2004.

After the main course we had dessert. I discovered the Argentine delicacy dulche de leche. It's like a sweet rich, slightly chocolate/caramel/dark custard. It came in a custard form or as ice-cream. I had the ice-cream, but we also had a plate of the custard there as well, so I was able to sample both. Turns out, the cream in the muffin from breakfast was dulce de leche! Muy bueno! We also had a lemon liquor which was very nice. My colleague, however, misunderstood what it was and drank it like a shot (it was in a small glass). Afterwards, while everyone else took a sip, he said "that was good" to which our very gracious host replied "how would you know? You didn't even taste it!!" A hearty laugh was had by all...even our guests that didn't speak English! There was another plate of dessert that was served...this one with little white chocolate balls (but not white chocolate) covered in cocoa powder. Those were good as well!

We got a ride back to the hotel, and my colleague and I (the one that had just arrived) decided to head out for a nightcap. After speaking with the concierge, we headed out a few blocks. Unfortunately, our concierge was mistaken on where I could find a Cuban cigar (hey, I HAD to try one!) and we walked a few more blocks. I found a bodega, and I'm sure I overpaid for it...but it wasn't too expensive. We then walked another block as my buddy wanted to sample a local beer.

We pass one bar that looked cool, but the next one said "Jaz" in the window. I figured it meant Jazz, so I said, "hey, what's this?" As we got closer, there were two guys that looked like bouncers or something outside of it, beckoning us closer, and I noticed that there were thick curtains on the windows and you couldn't see in. Well, my spidey senses kicked in and I decided - let's go to the first bar...that we can see in. After the guys kept saying "no no, venga aqui" I think we made the right call.

High school Spanish helped again as we ordered a glass of wine for me and a Quilmos for my buddy. The prices weren't bad and we stayed there for a half-hour or so. The big rivaly match was on TV - Boca vs River. Very big Futbol rivalry!! After that I showed him Plaza San Martin we decided to call it a night and headed back to the hotel.

So that was day 3 of my great Argentinean adventure! Stay tuned for another installment tomorrow. Hopefully I'll shake off this slight hangover I have right now.Hasta manana!