Before this year, did U.S. carriers have to fly around Cuba? Yesterday was the first day Cuba and the U.S. coordinated airspace. As with most things, the first time is not the best. Apparently, Cuba clogged their airspace, triggering delays for flights headed south. Ours was 90 minutes late. One can debate if that is a small price to pay for diplomatic progress.
Several friends said they like to hear about food on our travels. I will do my best to indulge the request. The tapas tour in Madrid was a great experience last spring, so I booked a food tour for our first day in Buenos Aires. This is a great way to get an introduction to the city, the cuisine, neighborhoods, and culture. This is All About Food.
Our group was five plus the guide. The other three were Americans living in Shangai on their way to Antartica. This was the second group we've met headed that way.
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| When you live in China, you have a selfie stick. |
The tour was in the Palermo neighborhood and started with chorizo y pan (sausage and bread) served with Argentina beer. Yes, we actually drank beer. Like beer everywhere, this company is now owned by Stella Artois. This not your abuela's choriza. I could have eaten more, but needed to save room for the next stop - empanadas.
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| Chorizo y pan served with chimichurri sauce |
Oh the empanadas .... At home, empanadas are typically fried. These are grilled. How do you know what kind you're eating before you bite into it? The restaurant has a decoder ring of the pastry shape.
Onto real meat ..... We knew beef is king in Argentina, so we started off on the right foot on the first day. What we didn't know was about the cheese. The first course at the third stop was disks of grilled provolone, not to be confused at all with fried mozzarella sticks. Served with it was sweetbreads. I've always been wary of sweetbreads and these were quite tasty. Perhaps anything is served with grilled provolone.
As if we had not had enough food ...
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| Sirloin and Ribs |
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| Tenderloin |
Finally, we stopped for ice cream (no photos). Argentinos use all the cow - meat, dairy, and leather. PETA would not like it here. Tonight is Italian; possibly vegetarian.
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| Mom & Dad shop is one step above Mom & Pop |
What We Learned
- The Cubans are still pesky.
- Hire a driver to meet you at the airport. It's worth it after 17+ hours of travel.
- MoPac has no traffic at 2:30 a.m. on a weekday.
What Surprised Us
- Our Spanish is abysmal compared to how it was in Spain. We are having more difficulty communicating.
- A local said their new president is much like Donald Trump.
- Tito's Vodka is popular in China.
Coming up tomorrow
- Money and how quickly (i.e. overnight) things change
- Dead people (i.e. Eva Peron)
* Carne Picante
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