I realize this took like six weeks to finally post, but …. yeah that’s all I have.
Sorry about that.
Let me regale you with my pre-Antarctica-cruise-tales. Eventually, I will also release that recap, but for now, come with me to Argentina for my birthday week shenanigans.
If you want to see how much everything cost – click here and check the budget breakdown.
Monday, December 15th
We technically took off on the 14th, but you don’t really need to know the details of all that.
Flight was Toronto to Miami to Buenos Aires, landing in the morning on the 15th with American Airlines.
The line at customs took an oddly long time, but at least we didn’t have any requirements as Canadians to enter Argentina (visa etc.)!! Yay. A win.
I had flown with two checked bags, because one was literally packed with Buenos Aires clothes and the other with Antarctica clothes – and never the twain shall meet.
All three bags (two mine, and one my bestie Sherry’s) did arrive promptly on the carousel and we made our way out to the arrivals halls. I had pre-arranged a taxi, that never fucking came. Something about his tire falling off on the highway, I don’t know, we were exhausted from the overnight flying so we just opted to get an Uber.
Do not expect the Uber to help you with your luggage, FYI. Not sure if we were just super unlucky with transport this morning, but make sure you only bring what you can hoist yourself into a small vehicle’s trunk.
More to our unlucky streak, when we did finally load up our luggage and leave the airport, we ended up stuck behind a car accident somewhere along the way. Granted, I suppose those people were more unlucky than us, but yeah, just some more nuisances this morning on our entry into Buenos Aires.
After 90 minutes of a very slow drive, we finally made it to our AirBnB.
Thankfully, the AirBnB was one of those self-check in situations so we didn’t have to wait for a host to let us in. Prior to leaving Canada, the host had already sent us the QR code that we had to scan to enter the building and the code that we had to enter into our unit door. No keys at all.
This was also the first time I had ever seen one of those ‘digital concierges‘ somewhere. I had only heard about them and occasionally seen a TikTok or two, but in person? I’m not sure I’m a fan. Being a concierge myself for the past 14 years, I can’t imagine dealing with residents via only video.
This building having, I guess, a very modern concierge was especially funny once we went to use their elevator. Holy old school with the no space and the sliding metal doors. Not to mention the crazy jerk the entire elevator would do upon arriving to your floor. Total adventure for us.
I don’t think the AirBnB was anything special. I mean it was clean, it had functioning air conditioning, and the location was superb. The link to the AirBnB can be found here. If you need a cheap place to stay in Buenos Aires, truly, look no further. This will totally get the job done. No complaints, it was exactly as described.
Nap time!
Initially, we didn’t have any plans for our first night in Buenos Aires. We thought we’d just chill and see whatever we could get into. However, a day or two before the trip I got a notification from AirBnB about a $70.00 credit towards any experience I’d like to book on their site.
Naturally we chose a bar tour. The name of it was ‘Buenos Aires off The Beaten Path‘ and our guide was the lovely Elizabetta.
The first stop was CoChinChina – beautiful bar, chill vibes and delicious food. Great starting point!
The second stop was a place called Nicky Harrison – IF YOU LIKE NICE DRINKS AND AMAZING BARTENDERS? YOU MUST GO HERE. PERIOD.
We loooovvvvved this bar, I think Sherry and I would have happily stayed here for the rest of the night. The bartenders were a total vibe and it was one of those PRO-bartender situations. What a sight. Definitely left here more drunk than we anticipated. 10000/10 experience.
The third and final stop of the tour was a place called Trade Sky Bar – I was about to bring in my birthday on a rooftop in Buenos Aires. Yes.
Elizabetta had bought us the famous Fernet con Coco to try. Do not ever try that shit. Ever. That may be one of the worst tasting drinks I have ever tried. Think if black licorice, Jager and unhappiness had a baby. Exactly. Not good.
However, there was plenty of rum for me to joyfully start my 39th year of life and they brought me this cute snack with a candle on it as well.
If you go to Buenos Aires, especially solo, you definitely should book this tour. The drinks (and/or food) are not included in the price, but if you want to check out bars and rather do it with a local or other travelers, this would be especially useful for you. Sherry and I had the BEST time and I’m pretty sure we got Elizabetta slightly intoxicated with us. Sorry.
We walked back to our AirBnB from the rooftop bar, as it was only a kilometer or so away and being from Toronto, we just HAD to stop and get some glizzys.
Please see photo of enormous hot dogs covered in chips below.
Tuesday, December 16th
Yaaaaaaaaaaaay woke up thirty-FINE today, and hungover.
For my birthday brunch we had reserved ourselves a spot at the very old and beautiful Confiteria La Ideal.
Bring your camera for this brunch, you will have a feast for your eyes before the feast in your tummy. It is really beautiful. The architecture of this building is so luxurious and decadent.
We opted to get the ‘Ideal Grand Tea‘ which included finger sandwiches, croissants, orange juice, tea and our newfound addiction – alfajores.
Post-brunch we walked around a little bit to do some shopping.
Although we found the Ubers, souvenirs, food and alcohol to be very well priced in Buenos Aires, don’t come here to buy clothes. I have never seen such inflated pricing for clothing. I think both of us were shocked at how much just regular jeans and shirts cost. I would understand if it was some fancy pants designer stores, but I mean in basic stores too.
The biggest shock was walking into a Zara and seeing a cotton beach dress for $200.00 USD. Yes. AMERICAN.
I may have been in no less than 20 Zara’s across the planet, I don’t think I’ve seen a single item over what would be $100.00 USD, like a really nice blazer maybe. But a regular dress? No way.
Then, on a random side quest, Sherry suggested we should get tattoos. Within the hour, Sherry literally found a tattoo spot near our AirBnB, spoke to the artist, got us a quote and BAM – here we are in this (very handsome man’s) studio getting tattoos.
Sherry has lots of tattoos, so she got a small one behind her ear and I decided to get a penguin on my wrist with the #75 to commemorate Antarctica being my 75th country visited. This is only the second tattoo on my body, and I love it. So cute.
And for those wondering, it has been six weeks and I have not fallen ill nor gotten any infections because I understand saying ‘hey yeah, got tatted by a random man from WhatsApp while in Argentina‘ would probably set off some alarms to normal people.
This was the intermission for another nap and then it was birthday dinner time. After brunch, shopping and a tattoo – all that was left was gluttony.
Sherry booked us a reservation at the very fancy, Michelin-star restaurant named Fogon Asado.
The reservation? A chef’s-table experience that includes a FOURTEEN-COURSE TASTING MENU. Yes, fourteen.
I’m going to assume if you’ve made it this far, you’re literate and you can just read the menu below to see all the items.
My highlight out of the fourteen was the asado. It was the most heavenly piece of meat that barely required any chewing. I’m not a steak girl at all, but Argentina was going to be the place to change my mind.
We thought with the small amounts of food per course that we wouldn’t get full, but let me tell you, by the tenth or so, we were both happy we had something stretchy on.
At the end of the meal the staff also gave me a chocotorta to try as a birthday treat. Aside from alfajores, and I am now also addicted to chocotortas. It is really never ending with me and food obsessions when I travel.
The cost of the 14 course tasting menu at the Chef’s Table is $151.50 USD per person and we both thought that was a really good price for the amount of food and the quality of it. Make sure that if you plan on going to eat here, you make the reservation a couple of months ahead. It is literally only like ten seats and for you wine drinkers, they do offer a wine pairing option for $85.00 USD per person.
We chose to drink whisky instead. Degenerates.
Following this hefty meal, we went to a club that Elizabetta and some of the bartenders had suggested to check out named Uptown.
This place is really cool because it is designed like a New York City subway, but without smelling like pee. How wonderful is that?
You walk down these long set of stairs and through an actual subway cart to enter the club. It was neat.
The music was for the girls (think Britney Spears, J. Lo and Gaga) and we loved that. The only qualm I have is the bar itself. I was a bouncer for a long time and I sure club a lot, those are my qualifications in giving this opinion.
I don’t think fancily-curated drinks belong in nightclubs. There, I said it.
Nightclubs are a volume business. Pour the tequila shots, make the rum & coke, the Henny & cran and keep it moving. This place was trying to do the Nicky-Harrison-level drinks but in a super busy club. Why are you spraying lemongrass bitters or whateverthefuck in this situation? Mass. Speed. V0lume.
Wednesday, December 17th
Woke up nice and late today because we didn’t have anything to do until a food tour!!! I love food tours. Sherry loves food tours. Buenos Aires has amazing food. I knew this was going to be amazing, I just knew it.
(I ended up being right, duh)
The tour we booked was ‘Historical Sherpa Food Tour of San Telmo with Street Food, Drinks‘ and our amazing guide was named Lucia.
First stop: Bar El Federal – old pub-like place, had some food, Lucia offered us beer (I don’t drink beer) and we found out the top part of this restaurant used to be a brothel. I’m not sure why that is relevant to my blog post today, but I sure went to use the washroom up there to see if there were any lewd writings on the wall. Sadly, none.
Second stop: Mercado San Telmo – yeah so like Nicky Harrison, you 1000% need to stop by this market when you visit Buenos Aires or I will find you and tell you I’m not happy. Yes, that serious.
I wish I was smart enough to write down everything that was on the first item we ate. This was like a pastry with salty things on top. It was a total party in your mouth, there was so much flavour in it.
Then we had what I would consider life-changing empanadas. No exaggeration, these were crafted by someone who is meant to live a long and prosperous life. Not only were they visually perfect, they were fucking delectable. I think myself and Sherry probably could have eaten six of these each.
Third stop: El Refuerzo Bar – if you are keeping score, I have slowly become obsessed with alfajores, chocotorta and now, something called provoleta.
They had this as one of the courses at Fogon Asado, but until I ate it at El Refuerzo, I was not a convert. This is grilled provolone cheese. Best way to describe it. The exterior is a little crispy and the inside is so melty. Cheese heaven. I love cheese. I now love provoleta.
The other course was something with meat, I wish I remembered the name but it was also very good and I had lemonade with everything that was perfectly tart.
Fourth stop: Dulce de Leche & Co. – Lucia will pay for her crimes showing this place to me and Sherry!
We tried an alfajor and some dulce de leche liqueur. That was cool.
I won’t even get into the amount of product from this company that I ended up bringing back to Canada, from candles to alfajores. Dangerous company.
Final stop: Iceland Helados – yaaay ice cream!
As if I wasn’t already hopped up on sugar from the dulce de leche place, now it was time for some more sweet goodness. I had two scoops and I chose the Nutella and the Dulce de Leche. You should too. Hell of a combo.
This was the end of our tour.
You need to do this tour as well, and I hope you are lucky to have Lucia with you when you book. She was so darn nice and explained the history of the neighbourhood we were walking through to us and all the restaurants too. Really enjoyed this.
You guessed it, nap o’clock after the food tour.
We hung out for a bit and then I had made a reservation for what is ranked #10 best bar on the planet – Tres Monos.
I’ll be quick here, I don’t exactly understand this ranking. We were completely unimpressed. After the amazing bars we had gone to so far in Buenos Aires, this place was the highest ranked? We found the menu to be really basic and I mean the drink I got was OK, but, otherwise it was hardly impressive.
We each got a drink and some small eats and couldn’t wait to leave. How disappointing.
Down the street from the bar we noticed a Vietnamese restaurant and decided to get some Pho and spring rolls. Yes, I know this is Argentina, but sometimes you want the comfort food from Toronto. So we had that, not bad.
Thursday, December 18th
Today we were moving out of our AirBnB and moving into a super fancy hotel.
The Alvear Palace Hotel.
Part of our Antarctica package was a one-night stay in this hotel prior to leaving for the cruise the following morning.
This place is swanky as fuck. Luxury, like, old luxury you know? Not trying to be hip and new, you can sense old money at this hotel.
We arrived three hours before it was time to actually check in and went to the Seabourn people to let them know we arrived. They gave us luggage tags to put on our bags for the following morning so they could ship our things to Ushuaia and then to the cruise.
At the check-in counter for the hotel the lovely man at the counter told us we had been upgraded to a nicer room. Love that for us.
It wasn’t until we got upstairs we realized HOW NICE.
This was a two-bedroom, two-bathroom suite. There were three chandeliers, a living room and my bathroom had a TV above the tub. Sheesh. Gorgeous room.
I looked it up online, if we had tried to book this room for fun – it was $6000.00 CAD for two nights. Lordy. I am too broke for that, but we sure were thrilled to get the experience that day.
We had to leave our fancy palace for a bit because at noon we had reservations for what is considered the #1 steakhouse on the planet – Don Julio.
To give you some idea, I made this lunch reservation two months prior to our trip because it was either noon or midnight. Those were the two option for the entire month of December.
As we got out of the Uber, we were immediately greeted by the hostess with some white wine and an empanada. I don’t drink wine, but that empanada was delicious. I think this is what they offer to people who are walk-ins while they wait, we thankfully did have a reservation and still got to enjoy the free empanada.
Naturally, we had provoleta again and our main courses were a tenderloin and a short rib. The short rib was good, but that tenderloin?
Wow.
I want whichever cow died for that piece to know, it was not killed in vain. It was used for something that brought a lot of tasty joy.
All the food and the service was very impressive. I want to note one specific moment though that really made this feel like a real Michelin-star restaurant. Sherry had brought purse and placed it on the seat next to her while we ate, and the seat just happened to be under direct sunlight. One of the servers came by and covered her purse with a napkin, so it wouldn’t be hot or damaged by the sun.
I know this seems kind of insignificant amongst the ambiance and delicious food, but I thought this was special. Some places are not worth the hype, but I need to tell you that Don Julio was worth it and then some. So impressed.
After eating our weight in meat and potatoes, we stumbled upon another Dulce de Leche & Co. store, and yes, bought more candles and desserts. We couldn’t resist.
We promptly then returned to our luxurious hotel because if we only had one night there, we sure were going to use as many amenities as possible.
First we went by the pool and really had the whole place to ourselves. That was pretty awesome and relaxing. Following that, we had a prior reservation for massages at the Alvear Palace Spa.
My massage was great and afterwards we hung out in the hot tub for a bit and had some finger sandwiches, snacks and tea while sitting in our plush robes.
In the evening we just opted to go to the rooftop bar at the hotel and take in the nice view. Also, yes, more provoleta and some empanadas. Just in case.
Friday, December 19th
Woke up at 4am today.
I was so annoyed, all these days of late sleeping and gluttony in Buenos Aires had come to an end. I also really didn’t want to leave my king-size bed in the fancy room. But fine. We are up outta there.
Seabourn had a big breakfast buffet on the first floor of the hotel for all us cruise people and then we were all whisked away on buses to the airport.
To be continued in the Antarctica recap…..
Loved Buenos Aires, would fly back in a heartbeat just to eat again. I know it’s beautiful to look at and be there, but focus people, focus. Go there and eat your heart out.
What a fantastic food city.
- Mirna
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