They´ve got this stuff called Dulce de Leche and quite frankly, I can´t get enough of the stuff. Made of goats milk, it´s like the toffee caramel in a banoffee pie and it´s in everything. The Argentine people have more cakes and pastries per capita than I ever thought possible. Why the majority of the population are slim and healthy I can´t fathom. Still, I s´pose you can eat cake till the cows come home if you walk as much as the Buenos Airiens have to to get anywhere.
Had a lovely weekend. A friend´s sister - who lives locally - took us to La Boca. Reputedly it´s the poorest, roughest area of town and guidebooks warn tourists not to stray into areas unknown. It´s a port town where the Italian´s first arrived in the city. Legend has it that their boats were full of half used paint cans and when they got to shore they quickly set about decorating. Today, Caminito in La Boca is a myriad of charming, brightly coloured, immaculate, quaint tin houses. Such a welcome sight as you leave the choking stench of the river behind. Truly wonderful.
We were drawn by the sound of Tango emanating from a rustic bar and and settled for cervesas but no sooner had we done so, I was serenaded by the singer and sat thinking ´Pleeeeease don´t sing at me, have mercy!´ But alas, he had found his prey.
Had a lovely weekend. A friend´s sister - who lives locally - took us to La Boca. Reputedly it´s the poorest, roughest area of town and guidebooks warn tourists not to stray into areas unknown. It´s a port town where the Italian´s first arrived in the city. Legend has it that their boats were full of half used paint cans and when they got to shore they quickly set about decorating. Today, Caminito in La Boca is a myriad of charming, brightly coloured, immaculate, quaint tin houses. Such a welcome sight as you leave the choking stench of the river behind. Truly wonderful.
We were drawn by the sound of Tango emanating from a rustic bar and and settled for cervesas but no sooner had we done so, I was serenaded by the singer and sat thinking ´Pleeeeease don´t sing at me, have mercy!´ But alas, he had found his prey.
After sunset we - a little reluctantly - moved on. For it was Earth Day and there was a festival to be had. Transgressing culture or creed, the hippy has evolved as a highly adaptable species distinct and universally recognised. We could´ve been in Brighton!
Soon Sarah´s stomach got the better of her and we were promised a traditional treat. Pulperia na Serapia was a tiny little place,
simple chairs and tables with walls adorned with historical newspaper clippings and photos of a Buenos Aires past. It was time for an authentic nosh of empanada (a little like cornish pasties but smaller, filled with meat, veg or ham and cheese) quickly followed by humita (palm leaf parcels of spicy maize and cheese or beef and pork meat) The piece de resistance (literally, for veggie Sarah) was locro, a traditional corn, pepper and pork broth which I polished off with gusto while wondering how on earth Sarah would manage to pick all the meat out. I think a meat-free diet here is going to be more than challenging. It´s quite hard even to find a vegetable especially one that doesn´t come wrapped in pastry!*Big thanks to Claudia and her husband for being such fantastic tour guides!
