Doug's Top Memories of Buenos Aires

Growing up on a farm, I was never much of a city person or “city slicker” as we called them in Illinois. And having spent the last 12 years living in surburbia, I have had little exposure to an urban lifestyle. It was almost surprising to myself how much I enjoyed living in Buenos Aires for 2 weeks, other than the difficulties associated with 5 people living in 750 sq ft. (don’t worry Mom, I’m not thinking of moving yet). Here are some of my favorite memories from our time in Buenos Aires (in no particular order) 1) Running in the city: Exploring the urban parks, dodging taxis and pedestrians, this is my favorite way to get familiar with a city. 2) Walking to everything: I didn’t miss our cars at all. We had a grocery store across the street, many cafes, restaurants, laundries, hardware stores, and anything we would need within a few blocks. And the exercise was great too. 3) City Playgrounds: Patrick, you picked up on this—I think we found every playground in Recoleta and Palermo. It was always easy to start a Spanish conversation when Sutton and Hudson were playing with someone’s kids. 4) My local Parilla: Two nights for dinner, we made salad and veggies at home and I walked a few blocks to a little hole in the wall parilla to pick up some meat to bring home. Inside, there is an old man tending a fire with a dozen chickens and several large pieces of meat slowly cooking. In my broken Spanish, I would communicate that I wanted “un pollo” (pronounced “pojo” here), medio kilo of asado (1/2 kilo of slow roasted beef), and tres chorizos (wonderful sausages that Brooke assured me were not very healthy). He would ask me questions I couldn’t understand and then take out a big machete and whack off a chunk of the beef and wrap it all up in brown butcher paper with the chicken and sausages. For $20, I could bring home enough meat for two meals. 5) Coffee, Coffee, Coffee: I sampled café, café con leche, cappuccino, cappuccino italiano, and submarinos in various cafes. I even looked forward to my own homemade brew on the balcony every morning. 6) Empanadas: We sampled empanadas at many different restaurants, including the following: meat, hot meat, ham and cheese, ham, cheese, and pineapple, spinach, 3 cheese, roquefort, chicken, napolitana (cheese, basil, tomato). Did I miss any? 7) The buzz of life: One night, I went down the street a block to our local pizzaria to order some empandas to bring home. The place was packed (it was about 10:00), and as I waited, I just closed my eyes, listening to the buzz of conversation, all in Spanish. I didn’t understand a word being said, but yet still felt part of it. Hard to explain, but the city teems with life and energy. 8) Time with the kids: I have never in my life had so much time with my kids. Of course this can be good and bad, and on a few occasions I have really wished we had a babysitter. But all in all, I have enjoyed the times in the park, reading together, and answering all of their kid questions. 9) This is a random photo, but had to include it. As we left our apartment for the bus station, there were some construction workers pouring the sidewalk outside. No Roach Coach for these guys--they were utilizing their wheelbarrow for something more important than concrete--some asado for lunch.