A busy Thursday in Buenos Aires

After having done 3 entries on Wednesday we were too busy to do any yesterday but I did put some of my photos on Facebook. 

It felt like it was going to be hard work for she who goes everywhere by car when we set off however we walked talked ate and drank for 12 hours. 

Buenos Aires is different to anywhere else in the world when you are booked on a tour usually you are collected from the hotel and away you go. Not in Buenos Aires! Instead we had to find our way to the Malbec tour which is on the other side of town via the subway and a bus ride. The traffic is very busy so the subway is best. 

Luckily the tour was not until 3pm and we set off after we had changed US$ for local pesos.  Everyone recommends not to do it at the bank the official rate is 8 and on the street it's 12 so the hotel changed it for 11.5 and we went off to buy a sube card for the subway. We walked 3 blocks to the Subway and went to Retiro the above picture is Retiro. 

The view at the subway in Retiro. We walked through a Square and saw a man on his horse 

Passed some busy narrow streets 

Then found Florida a pedestrian way of about 2kms long

The sellers on the street were persistent and lots of money exchanges and offers to see tango for $190US. No thanks! YouTube is cheaper. Then we stumbled on a gorgeous shopping mall Pacifica

The architecture was amazing!

The ceilings were incredible and the shops were exclusive 

I

Craig was hungry and didn't want to linger and the food was sweet or Starbucks. We headed off back down Florida and found a cafe and had impenada for lunch. The locals eat them little pies that are cheap and not even $2 in fact coffee is more than double the price and usually we drink bottled water with our coffee.  At the cafe people helped us plan how to get to Palermo on the subway which was walk 5 blocks and catch the subway there. They are very busy like London but people always give Craig a seat which he needs for balance. 

When we got to Palermo some nice random stranger told us which bus to take and we got to the start of the tour and met Elizabeth and had our first Malbec with sour dough bread being served by the owner 

We then walked and talked about History of neighbourhood and arrived at the next tasting which was amazing 

Tapas to go with the wine 

And of course Craig's favourite was

Yummy

The final stop on this tour was coffee at Havanas with chocolate biscuits that we cut up and shared to taste it all. There was so much we left chocolate biscuits on the plate. In all honesty we had eaten enough but we were now booked on a gourmet food tour which Elizabeth was once again our guide and we were joined by Candy another guide in training. 

We caught 2 buses across town to Recoleta and walked and walked around the exclusive neighbourhood where Evira lived and the Avear family. Candy joined us at this point and we needed to walk to digest the food and drink from the last tour. The first stop was a typical Argentinian restaurant and we had an Impenada and they gave us the recipe that they cook at home. They look like mini Cornish pasties but half the size and the filling is different. They buy the pastry in the supermarket and the filling is made by Elizabeth by cooking onions and garlic and as much meat as onions by boiling in a pan to onions are translucent then adding cumin turmeric paprika salt and pepper. Then she cooled the mixture in fridge over night then put mixture in fridge over night and then put in pastry and cooked in the oven and they are best eaten hot but you can freeze them and re heat. 

Candy's mother makes them by keeping the onions and garlic in one pan and flash frying the rump steak which has been chopped up finely and then adding them together with similar spices. They also cool mixture in the fridge before putting in pastry. They also can add in red peppers and potatoes. 

They can also get Impenada delivered like we do pizza. 

The pastry is like a cross between bread and flaky pastry. Maybe thin short pastry. 

Food food food!

We walked and walked and walked around Recoleta looking at palaces and 5th Avenue style shops with only Hermes left as not enough wealth here for other designers so they have moved away. Then we went for dinner at Clarks. We had our first vegetables for days a starter called chard morsels which was silverbeet bhajees that were yummy and then sirloin steak and salad which I had half of and Craig said we could have shared a meal so he was struggling too. They insisted we have dessert and Craig ordered fruit salad and I ordered caramel profiteroles Candy ordered caramel bread and butter pudding. I had a teaspoon taste of all 3. Craig had half his and a taste of the others. Then Elizabeth and Candy said it was time for ice cream and I couldn't even finish my Malbec but Craig came to the rescue so we went to Freddo ice cream parlour and I ordered dulce Lehrer which is vanilla and Craig ordered chocolate 

Too full

With Elizabeth 

We then took a taxi back to our hotel at 20.30. Too tired to write blogs. Full as 2 bulls. Recommend don't do Malbec and gourmet food tour on the same day. Both excellent. We loved  them!

Today is Labour Day a public holiday and a rest day for us at this stage. Time for Blog writing and planning. A walk might be good maybe visit The Punk House our Beehive I think. Maybe the Art Gallery but it is nearly 1pm and life is good. 😘