It’s time to get out of the house, don’t you think? Almost twenty months of being in or close to home has become a weird combination of comfortable and oppressive. And honestly, for the last many months, there’s really been no reason for it other than a federal government here (and elsewhere, yes, but here is where I have the direct experience) that finds restricting movement of the populace to be a good control tactic.
It’s not like they haven’t done it before – back during the military dictatorship, the government then just simply tore up all the railroad lines in order to keep people from intercity travel. Here, they kept all the intercity buses from running, and restricted highway traffic, and the effect was much the same. [And, having quite the impact in yesterday’s midterm elections, where, for the first time since the military dictatorship in the late 70s, the Peronist party has lost control of both houses of Congress. People were just fed up with their policies, particularly economic ones, and their hypocrisy, as it has come to light that while we were all being kept on a short leash, the top folk in all three branches of the government were partying away, and traveling about, ignoring all the pandemic restrictions that they publicly touted.] But that’s now a thing of the past, and while I’ve spent most of those twenty months really not going anywhere that wasn’t in walking distance of home, I need to get out and about again.
So, I started small. Strangely, I’ve never written up Bocas Abiertas, the annual outdoor gastronomy festival in the northern suburb of San Isidro. I’ve been, each year, except last (when it was held online in a weird, local delivery sort of fashion). It’s a couple of dozen tents, each run by restaurants from the area suburbs, and each offering anywhere from two to six dishes… most seem to settle on three as a good number. It’s a little pricey as food festivals go… they’re always a little pricier than the food ought to be, but given that this one is set in the somewhat posher part of the metropolitan region, it tends to have the highest freight. Plus it’s one of the few outdoor festivals that charges an admission fee (500 pesos, or $5).
It was a blazing hot day, and while when this photo was snapped it was early and there weren’t many people, it quickly got crowded, lines got long, and I decided I’d had enough. Some good food was had, some friends were seen, and it was a nice “breaking the bonds” with my first venture outside of the city in over a year and a half.
All this was leading up to A TRIP. We were invited to attend the wedding party of two of our closest friends in Azul, about 300 km south of Buenos Aires. And so, last weekend we headed to the Retiro bus terminal and hopped on to a four and a half hour bus ride. We’ve been to Azul before, in fact, with one of the grooms along with other friends, back in May of 2006. The two grooms hadn’t met each other yet, that was to happen a year later. At the time, I’d been here less than a year, I didn’t really speak Spanish yet, and I just sort of toddled along behind Henry and friends and other than a casual walk through the town square and a local park, most of the one day we spent there was at one of their houses for a birthday party. I did snap a few photos in town, but mostly, not.
We arrived early evening, checked into our hotel, and after relaxing for a short bit (after relaxing for the whole bus trip, but, so be it), we headed out to dinner. Several websites, and the woman at the hotel desk, touted La Fonda, San Martín 875, a short five block walk from the hotel, as the best restaurant in town. So, why not start there? We only had two dinners available for exploring. The place looks like a curio shop exploded.
There’s no real menu to order from. Everyone gets the same array of appetizers, some of which are pictured here. We could have simply stopped after those as our dinner – empanadas, tortilla de papas, morcilla croquettes, escabeche of eggplant, calamari rings, a charcuterie and cheese platter, and tomato bruschetta, all hit the table within a few minutes. The wait staff read off the evening’s main courses, a half dozen or so selections, you pick that, and away you go. Set price, though not specified (nor itemized on the bill, as a guess it was around 1500 pesos, or $15). Wine available by the pitcher (a roughly half liter pinguino), either red or white. Desserts extra.
Henry had spaghetti with tomato sauce, I had a chicken milanesa with a green onion cream sauce, accompanied by fries.
In for a centavo, in for a peso, we ordered desserts too – a flan and a tiramisu. Everything good, but not more than that – the tiramisu was probably the best thing we had all evening. And it all came in at 4400 pesos ($44) with tip.
Next day, Henry slept in, and I took a walk. Azul is not exactly the most exciting city around, it’s a small one, with about 66,000 people. Most of it is one story buildings, and while all paved, somehow or other all sort of dust and dirt feeling. The small downtown area is the one slightly more modern and built up (two and three story buildings, oh my) part.
When I mentioned where we were going, my friend Jamie got excited and mentioned that there were several architectural works from an apparently famous architect, Francisco Salamone, who was known for his Art Deco buildings and monuments around the province of Buenos Aires, all built in the late 1930s. There are apparently about sixty of those still standing, and four of them are in Azul. One of those was well outside the city, so I skipped it on my itinerary (it gave me a theme to my walkabout), but was able to get to the other three. The closest to the hotel is the portal at the entrance to the municipal park.
The central square, with a statue of General San Martín. Not a Salamone work.
The municipal cathedral, Our Lady of the Rosary. Also not his.
It’s hard to tell how much of this is Salamone’s style – a small house that he designed at a corner just a block or so from the central plaza. It was apparently re-faced and completely renovated about a decade ago, so I’m not sure how much it looks like the way he designed it. It’s currently a museum, the Casa Daneri, but wasn’t open yet – this was an early morning walk.
And, his most famous work in town, the entrance portal to the municipal cemetery! Also one of his most famous works throughout the province. Pretty impressive for a building that’s essentially an entryway.
Off to the main event for the weekend, a roughly nine hour outdoor party with lots of drink and little food (other than lots of desserts) at a quinta in the countryside a couple of kilometers outside the city. Marriages, and weddings, are a little different in Argentina that what we’re used to back in the US. And I don’t mean because this one was presided over by a drag queen friend of all of ours. But getting married is a strictly legal thing, where the couple goes to a civil registry, and appears in front of a judge, accompanied by two witnesses who know them, and who are both citizens “in good standing”. It’s about a five minute ceremony that mostly involves signing some legal documents, and then, you’re done. Aside from that, you’re free to hold, or not hold, any sort of wedding event that you want, since it’s irrelevant to the legal marriage. For some folk, that means a church or synagogue or mosque wedding, presided over by a religious official. For others, like Jorge and Lucho, it’s a party with a dramatic reading by a diva.
The second most highly recommended spot, where we headed for dinner later, is Mucca, 9 de Julio 751, which was only three blocks from the hotel. Far nicer, and better food. A very interesting approach – it’s all comida al disco, or food in disc – which is a rounded bottom cast iron pan in which food is cooked over an open fire. The choices here are beef, pork, or chicken, and with about a dozen different sauce preparations. We decided to leave things in our waitress’ hands and just asked her to pick the one she recommended most. She picked the beef in mushroom gravy, which arrived in short order with four small steaks smothered in a delicious creamy blend of fresh mushrooms, peppers, and onions, and accompanied by excellent fries. All the servings are for two (they do offer a simple steak, and one pasta dish, as the only individual dishes). No appetizers. We did order a side salad. And, despite the day’s already somewhat heavy drinking (actually, I didn’t imbibe all that much), we ordered a bottle of wine too. And, all told, for a thousand pesos less than the previous evening’s fare, a far better and more interesting meal.
And, next day, an almost run to the bus station (as much as one can run with a suitcase and other things in hand), almost a mile away, when we discovered at checkout time that there’s no taxi or car service available on Sundays in Azul, unless you arrange for something in advance. Might have been nice of our hotel to let us know that. With only half an hour until the return bus was to leave, we literally arrived with five minutes until it pulled out of the station.
Successful venture outside the city. More to come!
