Part 3 – Into the Fray

By the time we got back to Crobar, it was a bit after 1AM and the temperature had dropped even further, making me seriously rethink my short of a T-shirt – brrr!  Of course, the club still wasn’t open and now there was a long line forming.

In line and effin freezing

Finally, a bit before 2AM to the cheers of the gathering mass of clubbers, they started letting people in a bit at a time.  The club had a large outdoor patio, which on a night like this, would probably stay pretty empty ,that eventually led to the main entrance.

The warmup DJs – the Festa Bros – were already on the decks as we entered the massive club.  The interior of the club was very impressive.  It was built underneath a large bridge so the ceiling height was very high.  There was a long walk up bar and the dancefloor took up the rest of the main room.  It was really too dark for any decent pictures but this is the best I could do.

Main room dancefloor and bar

After about 30 minutes or so, it began to really fill up.  We were checking out the main floor when these 2 guys, clearly already having a really good time, came up to us to ask where we were from.  After they found out we were Americanos, they told us to look down and there on the floor in front of them were 2 full bottles of Absolut vodka they had smuggled in.  That was a first for me.

They told us “anytime you want drink, we give to you.”  However, in exchange for that, they asked if we could help hide the bottles.  The absurdity of the situation amused us so much how could we not help protect their precious cargo.

I felt like an emperor penguin protecting his baby.

Digweed came on a bit after 3AM and by then the club was absolutely packed to the gills.  I continued my bottle centurion duties for awhile but eventually had to get out of the mass of humanity.  As I was getting ready to leave, one of the guys gave me a ticket and told me to go get them some orange juice for the vodka.  Again, the absurdity of the situation made me agree to go do that.

I made my way to the side bar, which took all of my crowd moving skills, and handed over my coupon.  I was expecting to get a glass of OJ.  Instead I was given a full pitcher along with 4 cups with ice.

Trouble with a capital T

Undaunted by the challenge, I somehow made my way across one of the most crowded dancefloors I’ve ever seen and eventually made it back to the guys.  By this point, I had more than earned my own vodka naranja and poured a nice, strong glass for myself.

The crowd somewhere got even larger and the energy in the club was incredible.  I hadn’t experience anything like it since Ibiza all of those years ago.  Digweed was really feeling it too and played a fantastic set.  Chris was making new friends and I was just soaking up the entire experience.

Finally, at about 7AM, my body told me it was time to go.  The club was still rammed and looked like it would probably keep going for at least a few more hours.  I had already broken my home before sunrise rule – d’oh! – but didn’t feel the least bit guilty.  The sun was shining and the weather was still cool but very pleasant.  We walked back to the loft, laughing and reminiscing about all of the craziness we had just experienced.  It was time for a long, well-deserved rest.

So much for my home before sunrise rule

Part 2 – Into the War Zone
After our premature arrival at Crobar and subsequent flee from security, we started walking back to our neighborhood.  The streets were still pretty empty as midnight approached but now there was the distinct sounds of fireworks exploding in the distance, echoing all around us.  The booms got louder and louder until we approached an intersection where we saw 3 guys setting off fireworks.

These weren’t your typical Black Cats or even M80s.  These were fireworks that are pretty much outlawed everywhere in the US for mere civilians.  You can see the video evidence of the chaos here thanks to Chris’ combat footage.

As we continued to walk, there were more explosions and it began to feel like we were in enemy territory during a war.  To make things even more interesting, the temperature had dropped rapidly along with 20 mph winds, which made some of the fireworks not exactly go their intended paths.  Let’s just say that we ran for cover more than a few times.  People were shooting off fireworks on the streets, on top of buildings, everywhere.

It was in a word… awesome.

After cooling our heels for a bit, it was time to head out to Crobar, again.

Part 1 – A Trek to Nowhere

After a couple of hours of Malbec and meat digestion, it was time to see what a Buenos Aires NYE was all about.  We had already purchased tickets for John Digweed at Crobar and decided that even though it would probably be pretty empty early, we might as well go there for the countdown.
I had read that most Portenos spend the countdown at home with family but I didn’t realize how true that was until hitting the streets around 11PM to walk to the club.  There was absolutely no one around at all.  It felt like a scene out of a zombie movie, with everything eerily quiet.  Fortunately, we saw a happy couple walking by so it was a safe assumption the zombie apocalypse hadn’t occurred…yet.

Crobar was apparently only a 15 minute walk away but when we got to where the map indicated its location, there was nothing close to resembling a massive nightclub.  After 3 failed attempts to get various building security guards to give us directions, we were able to flag down a cabbie, who gave us the right directions.

It turned out that the club was located at the end of park, which was also completely abandoned and no signs for a club anywhere.  However, at the end of the path, underneath a large bridge, there it was…. with no one in line or even walking around near it.  Chris noticed an outside area and decided to go check it out.  He was soon met by a gruff security guy with an equally gruff large dog.  They told us to come back at 1AM as it wasn’t opened yet.  So much for a countdown.

It was only 11:30 so we decided to go get a drink somewhere and come back.  Little did we know what lay ahead.

Since it was raining, I didn’t feel too guilty about taking a nice long siesta before prepping dinner.  3 hours later (don’t judge!) I finally got to cookin.

My first challenge was trying to figure out the rather odd (and very small) range/stove.  I eventually determined that the Star icon was to light the various pilots and away we go!

My next dilemma was how to use the oven without – a) any kind of oven mitt b) no apparent temperature gauge and c) no vent for any excess smoke.  Fortunately, I’ve used enough ovens to be able to guestimate a temperature when I open the oven so that should hopefully be OK.

Your guess is as good as mine.

The other challenge was that this cooking equipment was apparently made for dwarfs, not giants like myself.

Tall man, little kitchen

Amazingly, I was able to put together a pretty damn good meal.  Rib eye with a Malbec mushroom sauce.

Our bellies full of meat and Malbec, it was time to relax and prepare for the looong night that awaited.

Your internal body clock can do some strange things when trying to adjust to a new time zone.  I didn’t think the 3 hour difference (given I started in Dallas vs. LA) would be that dramatic but I guess my body had other ideas.  As much as I slept soundly yesterday, today was nothing but fits and starts all night/morning.  I tried as much as I could to sleep and when I was up, at least attempted to be productive – such as marking out every possible route to Crobar, downloading a Spanish dictionary and other assorted tasks.
Hunger finally roused me permanently from my fitful slumber and we headed out for lunch once again at Plaza Armenia.

The weather was decidedly less settled as we walked, with gusty winds blowing all manner of dust and grit as well as the occasional rain drop.  We luckily arrived at the Plaza just before a major downpour began and chose a central spot called Bartok.

The restaurant was filled with locals and had a very nice, low-key vibe.  Since I’ve been neglectful in documenting previous meals (bad foodie, bad!), I took pics of both of our respective lunches.

To go along with his hot chocolate, Chris opted for the chicken wok:

Whereas I opted for the mustard chicken with caramelized onions and vegetable risotto.  Both were quite good.

Next up was a stop at the only supermercado I had seen so far to grab some stuff for tonight’s dinner.  It was slightly surreal waiting in a typical checkout line but realizing it was in Buenos Aires.  While I was shopping, Chris captured this genius bit of packaging:

It started to rain again as we made our way back home but even the rain didn’t stop people from being civilized while waiting for the bus.

The final stop was at the local butcher where I picked up these 2 beauties for only $8 total.

I was both anxious and a bit nervous to try my hand at cooking Argentine beef but that’s for another post…

After being able to check out some NFL games thanks to Fox Sports 2 and ESPN Deportes, it was time to check out another part of Palermo Soho – Plaza Armenia.

All photos in this post are courtesy of Chris Forrest.

A rare shot of yours truly, contemplating what to order.

It was still rather hot and muggy but there was a slight breeze to make it all bearable.  The plaza was chock full of people – in cafes, bars, restaurants or just strolling down the street, families, young and old couples alike.  It was a very convivial and inviting scene.

We ended up at Minga, a very stylish but homey parilla that specialized in all things wood grilled.  As tempting as it was to have yet another slab of meat, I instead opted for the daily grilled white fish, in this case, corvina.  Since my trip to Lima, I’ve really enjoyed trying different South American fishes and this one was excellent.  Sometimes referred to as white sea bass, it had a very firm texture that worked great with the charring from the wood grill – delicious.

I had purposefully chosen something not too heavy so I could finally have one of the gelatos I had seen everywhere in my various walks.

This one had quite the line forming so I assume it would probably be good.  That was a good guess on my part.  The system was a bit confusing but to keep things simple I decided to get a small cup of the dulce del leche gelato.  At first I thought it looked way too small but after a couple of bites, I realized that cup would be plenty.  It was truly one of the best gelatos I’ve ever had.

Action shot of my crucial decision

We headed back to the loft, me blissfully consuming my gelato and Chris enduring my frequent outbursts of how damn good it was.  The temperature still hadn’t really dropped much but a slightly stronger breeze made it a fairly pleasant walk home.  It was time to call it a night as tomorrow would bring NYE Buenos Aires style and that would require all the energy we could muster.

Anyone who has traveled over a large number of timezone (and miles of course) knows that eventually those time changes catch up with you.  That happened to me yesterday.  What I thought was a nice night’s sleep turned into the shock of finding out it was just after 2PM.  Ooops.  Fortunately, Buenos Aires is a fairly late rising city so all was not lost.

It also wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for a late start as the heat and humidity were oppressive – lower 90s but felt closer to 100 with the heat index – yecch.  Because of that, I broke my “no shorts in foreign countries” rule as otherwise it would just be too effin hot.  We headed back down the main drag of Thames to go check out an ex pat spot called Magdalena’s Party.
As we walked in, we were greeted by a very American sounding young woman who had just moved from Philly.  The vibe was very cool and funky, from the handwritten signs for the weekly specials to the very eclectic mix of music playing.

View from our table . Chris wanted to try something different, such an artiste.

We both decided to get the American Diner Special, which was a truly American brunch of home fries, 2 eggs (mine sunny side, his scrambled), toast and bacon.  It was a nice taste of home and provided some much needed fuel.

After being roused from my siesta with visions of 2 for 1 mojitos with Havana Club rum that I had seen advertised earlier, it was time to vamamos.  We headed back down to Plaza Serrano, which was now a busy beehive of activity.  Unfortunately, the offer I had seen was no longer valid.  This turned out to be a blessing in disguise though as we decided to go directly to the famed house of all things meat, La Cabrera.

Nestled on a busy street, Cabrera, natch, the restaurant opens at 8:30PM but there was already a long line by the time we got there, around 8:20.  We didn’t have a reservation but were told to check back at 8:45 for any cancellations.  As we saw the line grow even longer, we were pretty much resigned to putting our names in for tomorrow.  Fortunately, as luck would have it, there was a bar next door which had the same 2:1 mojito offer except with a different rum.  I was able to negotiate swapping out the house rum for Havana Club so it all worked out in the end.

I went back to check at exactly 8:45 to our pleasant surprise, we were given a table outside right in the heart of the action.

When the menu arrived, it was clear that this was a place where vegetarians feared to dread.  The entire back page consisted of pretty much every style of meat you could possibly want, from rib eyes to bone marrow to sweet breads.  It was overwhelming.

Decisions, decisions

I decided to get the biefe de ojo (rib eye) which is one of their famed cuts.  Chris opted for the aged bone-in strip.  We got a fairly decent house Cabernet from Mendoza to go along with it.  When our dishes arrived, we knew were in for something special.

Come to Papa

And yes, that’s the half order of the rib eye in front!

I had read about the crazy number of sides that come with the meals and they weren’t kidding.  I didn’t take a picture of those as they kept coming but here’s at least a partial list:

Sauces:
– Mustard
– Ginger soy
– Chimichurri (por supuesto)
– Horseradish
– Pico de gallo

Side dishes:
– Mashed Potatoes
– Cauliflower au gratin
– Baked apples
– Stewed onions
– and more I can’t remember

Suffice to say after all of that, we were stuffed.  We walked back to Plaza Serrano and now the Plaza was teeming with people.  All of the temporary shops were gone and the bars were now packed.  However, with our bellies full of meat, the idea of standing around in a crowded bar did not appeal.

We decided to head back to our street as we had seen a cool bar only a couple of blocks away called the Whatever Bar.  When we got there though, it was basically empty.  Of course, it was only 12:30AM, early by their standards, but at least that allowed us to snag one of their comfy leather chair and couch combos.

I loved this bar.  They were playing some great downtempo tracks, had a fantastic cocktail list, including a very authentic pisco sour, and a great staff.  We agreed we’d be back soon.

After some much needed rest, it was finally time to start exploring the new ‘hood.  It turned out that our travels the previous day had us at the very outskirts of Palermo Soho, which was a relief as I wasn’t very impressed with what I saw.  Now heading in the right direction, it became quickly clear why this is such a popular part of Buenos Aires.  The streets are lined with large trees, providing some much needed shade as the temperatures and humidity have climbed rapidly over the past few days.

We walked down one of the main streets, which was filled with bars, restaurants and all kinds of cool shops.  I had read that the Plaza Serano was the place to be on Saturdays and that turned out to be true.  The entire plaza had been taken over by vendors peddling their various wares.

The surrounding bars also became satellite shops making the entire Plaza into essentially one big marketplace.  We decided to cool our heels at one of the bars and get some lunch.  I went with the special of the day, which was fair at best and Chris had what he dubbed a deep dish sandwich – no bueno.

I was suddenly no longer the tallest person in Plaza Serano.  Bastid!

After walking around some more for a couple of hours, we retreated back to the air conditioned loft for a siesta and to recharge for the night ahead.

For the first part of my trip, I will be joined by mi amigo Chris Forrest, pictured here last night during our first dinner in Palermo Soho.  As is usually the case when I travel long distance, the first dinner is basically a wash so I normally go somewhere close and cheap.  This place fit the bill more or less plus cheap prices on this Argentine staple: