Hippo Day!…First time sighting since our arrival…Exceptional dinner party…

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At first, with the naked eye, we thought this was a rhino from way across the river. Tom looked through the binoculars while I zoomed in for a photo to delightfully discover it was a hippo, the first we’d seen since our arrival. That’s a cattle egret near their head.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

Gecko on the orange wall at night.  Check out the “red-eye.” Where’s the tail?

With company coming for dinner and with most of the food prepped, we decided to take a drive to the Crocodile River since, after the rains, we’d hoped to see more wildlife.

 In my old life, I’d never have taken the time on a day company was coming for dinner when I’d be too busy to take a few hours for frivolities. This life is different, allowing me time and motivation to do exactly whatever strikes me at the moment.

We took off in the little blue car after stopping at the petrol station to add air to a low tire (which seems to be holding up OK), and off we went on the outrageously bumpy dirt roads that take us to the river.

Since hippos stay close to the water and the river so low recently, we hadn’t expected to see any hippos, not from Marloth Park or Kruger National Park.

It was hot, humid and the air felt thick.  Bugs congregated around us each time we stopped and got out of the car to scan the riverbanks for possible sightings. We stopped at the usual brick overlook structure but didn’t see a thing. 

A group of tourists relaxed on the tiered seating having lunch and drinks. It’s always busier on these roads and overlooks on the weekends when many South Africans from other areas flock to Marloth Park for a few days of “holiday fun” among the precious wildlife, often retreating from the “extra” humans in the park.

 We’ve noticed that generally, we have fewer visitors to our house on weekends. The only thing we can attribute this to is the added cars and people visiting. Could the wildlife prefer to stay “undercover” when there are so many humans milling about?

The hippo is responsible for more human fatalities in Africa than any other large animal from this site. The hippo is considered the most dangerous mammal in Africa. Male hippos actively defend their territories which run along the banks of rivers and lakes. Females have also been known to get extremely aggressive if they sense anyone coming in between their babies, who stay in the water while she feeds on the shore. Hippos can run at speeds of over 20 miles an hour, and they have enormous jaws which host up to 20-inch canines.”
I suppose the longer we’re here; we’ve become protective of this unique location, preferring it to stay natural and unencumbered with the likes of too many tourists coming and going, often staying for only two or three days.
Then again, the revenue generated by tourists is vital for many of the shops, lodges, and homeowners renting their properties to incoming tourists.

Sadly, some tourists ruin it for everyone, disturbing the quiet and easy flow of life in this veritable paradise for animal lovers and those seeking the serenity of this magical world, so far removed from everyday life.

We watched for some time, attempting to get a better photo of this hippo with a few oxpeckers on them, clearing off the insects.

As we drove along the river, eyes searching to the distant shore, we spotted something dark and mysterious across the river. Keeping in mind, we could be talking about a distance of up to one kilometer (.62 miles) from our vantage point, making photo taking with our less fancy camera a bit tricky to get a clear shot.

Tom maneuvered the car into a perfect place to park while we got out and walked through brush and grass to get as close as possible. Getting closer by 15 meters (50 feet) is nothing compared to the distance from the sighting, but we forged along anyway.

It was challenging to get a more explicit photo at such a distance, but we were nonetheless thrilled to get these photos.

The perception that moving even such a short distance closer would enhance the quality of our photos, spurred us on. Batting off flies and other insects, we steadied ourselves as much as possible to take today’s hippo photos.

We’d love to have seen more hippos like we had while in the Masai Mara, Kenya, in 2013. But, with the inaccessibility of the Crocodile River, we happily take what we can get, always thrilled in the process.  Here’s a photo of hippos we’d taken while on safari in Kenya:

We captured this “bloat” of hippos along the Mara River during our first hour on safari in Kenya in 2013.  Here’s the link from that date.

The above photo doesn’t in any manner make us feel, “Oh, that was then.  This is now.” Instead, we think in terms of our collective worldwide experiences. Africa presented these experiences to us. When?…is irrelevant, so it’s easy for us to revel in one hippo knowing we had the above opportunity long ago and perhaps will have more in the future.

Here’s another photo we posted on Tom’s birthday, December 23, 2013, of this glorious hippo at sunset as we crossed the Crocodile River:

As the sun went down, the reflection on this hippo in the Crocodile River on Tom’s birthday in 2013 was unique.  For the link from that date, please click here.
Yesterday, as we continued, we were breathless over other encounters on the road back to our property, photos which we’ll share in the next few days.  Each time we embark on a drive, we have few expectations, and, in one way or another, we’re always pleasantly surprised. This upcoming week, we’ll head back to Kruger, this time staying on the paved roads.

 As for last night’s dinner party of six, it was delightful.  Our friends Lynne and Mick and Janet and Steve were here for what proved to be a near-perfect evening. As always, the conversation flowed with ease, and the pace was low-key and stress-free. 
Each time we go to the river, the first animal we long to see is an elephant.  We’re seldom disappointed.

We were pleased they enjoyed our meal of mozzarella stuffed meatballs, topped with homemade marinara and two kinds of cheese along with a side of bacony green beans and salad. For dessert, we served ice cream bars and coffee with cream. After they left, at almost 11:00 pm, Tom had a lot of dishes to wash, but together we cleaned up and awoke to only a few things left to do this morning.

In yesterday’s post, I mistakenly mentioned Janet and Steve would be away for some time. As it turns out, they’ll be back in Marloth in no time at all, and we look forward to seeing them again soon. 

This big guy took water into his trunk and sprayed it on his back to cool off on a scorching day.

Lynne and Mick return to their home in Jersey (UK) for many months in a few days. We won’t see them again until November other than to run over to their home this afternoon to say goodbye and see their newly thatched roof (almost done). Later we’ll return “home” to some mighty fine leftovers.

Last night’s sunset, after our guests arrived, was hard to see through the trees.

That’s it for today, folks. Of course, we’ll always be on the lookout for more to share with each of you every single day! Have a great day!

Photo from one year ago today, March 25, 2017:

Volleyball competitors are warming up for tournaments in Manly, Australia. For more photos, please click here.

Settling in…Settling down…Adapting to the heat and other little challenges…Biltong…

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This is a typical street scene, with lots of trucks parked on the side of the road while the locals people stop in the various shops along the route.

Gosh, we’re happy here. The house is exceptional, perfect for us, with a plunge pool, a pool table, a comfortable bed and bedding, and the living room where we’ll spend most of our evenings nestled in the comfortable furnishings with the availability of a flat-screen TV (to which we can plug in our HDMI cord) to watch our favorite shows.

We couldn’t wait to buy “biltong” (jerky) in Komatipoort. It’s by far the best jerky we’ve ever had.  We purchased a bag of pork on the far left and a large bag of the traditional biltong, as shown in the center, for a total cost of US $17.29 (ZAR 206.23).  We don’t care for the greasy sausage sticks on the far right. There’s a shop owned by the Butchery, right here in Marloth Park, if we run out before heading back to Komatipoort.

There’s no dining room or dining table (space is taken up by the pool table), but we moved around a few side tables to make an ideal dining spot in the living room. This way, we can watch episodes of Shark Tank during dinner, if we’d like.

After selecting the type of biltong, we’d like the store clerk to grind it into bite-sized pieces making it easy to eat. Otherwise, the enormous amounts are too large to chew.

Louise and Danie, our friends and property managers, oversee the operations of many properties in the Conservancy and are on the ball for anything we may need. This morning we mentioned we needed an extension cord to be outside all day with our laptops. 

Within 20 minutes, they drove up to the house with a new, never-used outdoor reel extension cord. We couldn’t appreciate their thoughtfulness more, a scenario all of their holiday renters have enjoyed with the utmost in service and attention to detail.

Biltong hanging from a rack in the shop.

Now, as we sit at the long handmade wooden table on the veranda in the most comfortable padded chairs, we can relax, work on posts, future travel plans, and stay in touch with family and friends as we wait for Mother Nature’s African treasures to arrive.

If none come by today, before dinner tonight, we’ll take a drive around the park to see what we can find, a relatively easy task in the early evening, when wildlife come out from the shelter during the heat of the midday sun.

This batch is venison biltong which we don’t care for.

And hot it is…Today’s temperature is expected to be around 90F, 32C, and in the upcoming days, we could be looking at much higher temps. With air con units in the living room and bedrooms, we still prefer to be outdoors all day. So what if we’re hot and dripping sweat? 

It seems as if we’re already used to the heat, which we thought would be much harder to do after coming out of Antarctica.  Ah, Antarctica…we’re still reeling from experience and will for a very long time.

Next door to the biltong shop is the Butchery, where the finest cuts of meat are available at fabulous prices. We purchased six considerable pork chops, five large lamb chops, 4.4 pounds (2 kg) mince (grass-fed ground beef), and 6.6 pounds (3 kg) cheese sausages for a total of only US $55.30 (ZAR 660.14). In the future, we’ll purchase all our meat, pork, and chicken at the Butchery.

Sure, living in the bush in Africa has its challenges. Last night, we spent an hour dealing with ants in the kitchen after we’d prepared a simple meal of pre-cooked roasted chicken, green beans, and salad which we’ll repeat for one more night. 

Our way to shop in Komatipooert was reminiscent of seeing banana trees with blue plastic bags covering the growing bunches to keep the bugs and birds away.

Someone, perhaps a previous renter, had left a sugar bowl filled with sugar in the cabinet where dishes are kept. After dinner, I cringed when I saw zillions of ants scurrying about,  on all the dishes and all over the granite countertops.  

A small market where many of the local people shop.

We sprayed everything, and today Martha (pronounced Marta) washed all the dishes and the inside of the cabinet. Last night, I cleaned the countertops, sprayed the counters, and then rewashed the counters with water we boiled and soap to remove the residue from the insect spray. 

We are confident the ants will return, dealing with them as it occurs. Louise suggested we leave our dinner dishes for Martha to wash, but that’s not possible with the ants. Tom will continue to do the dishes while I do the cooking.

Tom, like me, was exhausted on the day we arrived, but we managed to unpack and go out to dinner.

And yes, we’ve found things that need to be repaired in the house; no hot water since we arrived; microwave not working; ice dispenser on freezer door not working, and items we regularly used not available in the kitchen cupboards. This is Africa, after all, not Scottsdale, Arizona. 

Phumula, the bush restaurant where we dined on Sunday evening.

Louise and Danie are so “on the ball” we have no doubt everything will be in working order within 24 hours. Danie came early this morning, after I was up and dressed, while Tom slept in and got the hot water working. Not that we minded taking cold showers these past two days as we adjust to the temperature differences.

My dinner of steak and prawns.  Grass-fed steak is often challenging. The price one pays for choosing this option. There were three prawns on my plate with heads still on. I had chilled white wine with my meal.

The water here comes from the Crocodile River, which is purified at a processing plant.  The locals are used to drinking it, but we won’t take a chance. Thus, the water dispenser in the fridge makes purified water, and we were provided with a large water dispenser. As soon as we run out of water, we’ll take the empties to the “water store” in Marloth Park to have them refilled for a nominal cost.

Tom had a side of mashed potatoes and gravy with this chicken schnitzel and for two beers. Our total bill was US $38.98 (ZAR 465), which we felt was reasonable.

As always, we’ll be back with more on life, living in the bush in South Africa, sharing the costs and details of grocery shopping, which presents particular challenges for my way of eating.

Have a glorious day! We plan on it.

P.S. As we’re about to upload this post, we have our first visitor. Photos were coming!

                Photo from one year ago today, February 13, 2017:

In Geeveston, Tasmania, We took this photo through the water-stained window to find this Black Faced Cormorant at the end of the dock. They stayed for a few hours in the rain. In Antarctica, we also saw these penguin-like birds. For more photos, please click here.

Off we go!…Busy day getting ready for our return to Africa…Final Expenses two nights in Buenos Aires…And, a new video of Elephant Seals as well as more new Antarctica photos…

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 Elephant Seals is doing some serious power lounging in Grytviken, South Georgia, Antarctica. Check this out for a bit of humor.

Yesterday was one busy day. Not only did we have to open all the boxes we’d left behind to lighten our load for the cruise to Antarctica, but we also had to take out everything we own and repack it literally.

Thousands of Albatross nesting Steeple Jason Island in the Falkland Islands.

Then, we had to check the baggage weight limits for tomorrow’s flights, weigh the bags and move things around as needed. As it turns out, we’ve made it all work, but we will have to pay US $80 (ARS 1602) for our third extra bag. Each of our two main bags is within the 51 pound (23 kg) limit, give or take one kilo or so.

An attractive small iceberg with glacial ice and snow.

Then, we scanned all of our receipts, tossing the paper from the past 20 days since we left Buenos Aires for the cruise, including our cruise bill, transportation, and miscellaneous expenses.

A Humpback Whale, one of many we spotted in Neko Harbor.

From there, we paid our two-night Prodeo Hotel bill in cash (trying to dispose of our remaining Argentine pesos), prepaid by credit card our taxi fare for today’s ride to the airport at US $50 (ARS 1001) using a credit card. 

This left us with enough cash to tip the waiter for tonight’s dinner (cash only for tips) at La Cabrera (we decided we needed to go one last time) and a balance of about US $14 (ARS) for the tip for the taxi driver and possibly a cup of coffee and tea at the airport.  Perfect.

It looks like the King Penguin on the left is nesting an egg.  Or, could it be the chick is tucked underneath the parent’s feathers?

Alessandro, our extraordinary hotelier, printed all the paper documents we needed to have in our possession since we won’t have yet purchased a South Africa SIM card for our phones which included:
1.  Flight information
2.  Rental car contract and information
3.  Directions from Nelspruit/Mpumalanga airport to our holiday rental in Marloth Park. (It’s been four years since we were there, and we needed a refresher.
4.  The address and instructions for getting into the property in Marloth Park when we arrive between 11:00 am and 12:00 pm.

Rockhopper Penguins are so adorable.

Gee…we don’t like having to carry “zee papers” with us, but in this case, without data access, it made sense to us. We didn’t want to be fumbling around with our laptops or phones to find what we need.

During intermittent breaks from preparing yesterday’s post, I ran upstairs to our room, did a little more sorting, folding, and packing. When I returned Tom did the same. By 2:00 pm, we both went upstairs and weighed the bags using our portable scale. So far, so good.

We missed a better shot of this whale’s fluke.  But, when whale watching, one takes what they can get.

At that point I went online to attempt to prepay for the bags only to be given a notice see a pop-up announcing we can only check-in at the counter at the airport nor could we prepay for our luggage (50% off to prepay) which again must be done at the counter. This has happened many times in the past. 

This is frustrating. Why should we have to pay double when we were unable to pay for baggage online. We’ll certainly take this up with the rep when we get to the airport if they attempt to charge us the higher rates.

This Caracara looks ready to find lunch.

Trying to stay positive, we moved on to the next thing, putting together the expenses for this quick two-night stay in Palermo, Buenos Aires. Here are the totals:

 
Expense
 
US Dollar
 
Argentine Pesos
 
Hotel – 2 nights
 
$ 140.00
 
2802
 
Taxi
 
$ 50.00
 
1001
 
Dining out- inc tips
 
$ 82.50
 
1651
 
Misc
 
$ –
 
Total
 
$ 272.50
 
5,454.00
 
Avg Daily Cost
 
$ 136.25
 
2,727.00
“Orcas, or killer whales, are the largest of the dolphins and one of the world’s most powerful predators. They feast on marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and even whales, employing teeth that can be four inches long. They are known to grab seals right off the ice. They also eat fish, squid, and seabirds.”

This morning we were up, showered and dressed early after a good night’s sleep. By 8:00 am, we were situated in the hotel lobby for a light breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, ham, and cheese. 

After all the whale watching trips we’d done on tours these past years, to see plenty in Antarctica was a dream come true finally.

Who knows when I’ll get to eat again? Airline food never works for me since the available options never fit my criteria. Oh, well, I’ll be fine. We’ll figure out something for dinner once we arrive in MP when we know we’ll be too tired to grocery shop.

We’ve received similar certificates on past cruises, such as transiting the Panama Canal, etc. We scan these rather than carry them with us.
We each received an Antarctica Explorer Certificate.
Sit tight, dear readers. We’re about to go for quite a ride, this time with more experience and an even greater passion for the world around us. Hop on board!

 Photos from one year ago today, February 10, 2017:

More than 400 pilot whales stranded themselves on a New Zealand beach on the evening of Thursday February 9.
Hundreds of pilot whales were stranded on the beach in New Zealand. at this time last year. (Not our photo). As we think about all the whales we saw in Antarctica this becomes all the more heart wrenching.  For more details, please click here.

We tried…An authentic Argentine dinner with offal and others…Tom, the supertaster…

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To us, these stuffed pig intestines, “Chinchulin,” were the least desirable items on the platter.  See description below:

 “Chinchulin / Small Intestines As you’d expect, it looks gross and tastes…well, it’s pretty particular and hard to describe, so you’re just going to have to trust me and try them. They should be well cooked and crunchy but never chewy. That means you got a dud plate. Squeeze abundant amounts of fresh lemon juice on top.

Parrillada in Spanish translates to “barbecue.” When we read online that Las Cabras is an authentic Argentine restaurant, especially popular with locals and known for their taste-tempting platters of meat, we thought we’d give it a try.

Located in the Palermo Hollywood district it was a direction we’d yet to walk except when we headed in that general direction to use an ATM located at a bank where we assumed fees would be less than other locations.  (We discovered this was not the case in Argentina. Using an ATM results in a fee of US $10 (ARS 186) regardless of the amount of local cash received, more than we’ve paid anywhere in the world).

Tom’s smile was as big as usual when I explained what was on the menu.

Earlier in the day, we had no hesitancy to venture out on this longer walk than usual for dinner. Also, there are a number of other restaurants in that area who’s menus we could check as we walked passed.

By late afternoon, it was raining hard but with a borrowed umbrella from the hotel, we decided to head out anyway. We never hesitate to walk in the rain especially when we have access to an umbrella. 

After all, we stood for 90 minutes in the pouring rain in Versailles in August 2014 (see story and photos here) without umbrellas and were soaked through to our underwear. We didn’t care as the rain ran down our faces. No walk to dinner in Palermo to dine would get us that wet. Off we went in the downpour. The experience was exquisite, memorable for a lifetime.

The bread was dry without butter and this little pat was definitely margarine which we don’t eat.

You may ask, “Why not take a taxi?” If a location we’re pursuing is within walking distance, we walk, rain or shine. (The exception to this may be when sightseeing when rain impedes the opportunity to take good photos)  It’s good to get out moving about after a big meal when the long walk back to the hotel would aid in digestion.

Unfortunately, no walk, no distance and no form of exercise could obliterate the heavy feeling in my gut after that meal or, for Tom…the taste in his mouth. Years ago, with his picky taste buds, I discovered he may be a “supertaster” as described here:

“A supertaster is a person who experiences the sense of taste with far greater intensity than average, with some studies showing an increased sensitivity to bitter tastes. It may be a cause of selective eating, but selective eaters are not necessarily supertasters, and vice versa. 

For additional details about supertasters, please click here.”

In most restaurants in Buenos Aires bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar are served at tables. Balsamic vinegar has a high carb count of 17 grams per 100 gram due to high sugar content and may contain wheat. Many olive oils used in mid-range (or less) restaurants aren’t pure, containing toxic canola and other vegetable oils we try to avoid.

Even in the rain, we enjoyed walking through the unfamiliar neighborhood of Palermo Hollywood, lined with apartment and office buildings and shops and restaurants although it was not quite as diverse and exciting as Serrano Plaza in Soho where we’ve dined most nights.

We easily found the restaurant only requiring a few turns, located several blocks from the Prodeo Hotel. I took a few photos along the way but found it difficult, preferring not to get the camera wet when the wind blew the rain.

At first, when this huge platter arrived, we anticipated it would be divine.  Once we left off the offal, there were only a few items we cared to eat. I took a taste of almost everything but I didn’t care for most of it.

Luckily, we arrived at an early enough hour there was no line. We’d read that at prime times, there can be a long queue to get inside the restaurant. Surprisingly, the restaurant was packed. The greeter suggested a table for two by the door, but we spotted one enmeshed within the other tightly packed rickety tables and chairs. after looking around.  

We seated ourselves at the other location and waited for a server with menus for quite some time. We’d read online that service could be slow so we stayed patient until a server arrived at our table with menus in hand, all of which was in Spanish. Why wouldn’t it be? I don’t recall menus in the US in other languages. We’d instead have waited for a table then take the busy spot by the door.

However, I can now read a menu in Spanish. There may be a few words I don’t know but over these past three weeks of dining out nightly, I made a point of learning more Spanish. I can’t speak fluently but I can use select words to get a message across.

After Tom became queasy after tasting some of the offal, he’d even lost his taste for the fries.

With the server too busy to wait while I got out enough words to ask about my dietary concerns, I threw caution to the wind and we ordered the “big meat” shared dish called “Parrillada” which translates to “barbecue” in English.

Surely, some of the meats wouldn’t be covered in sweet sauces and I’d find something that worked for me. Tom could enjoy the rest…so I thought. Silly me.

This time we ordered bottled water instead of beer and wine. Based on the huge platter of food we were anticipating, I didn’t order salad or vegetables. Much to our disappointment, shortly before our Parrillada arrived, the servers put huge wooden platters in front of each of us. I asked for “platos” for us instead of the wooden boards but she explained they don’t have “platos.”

The restaurant, Las Cabras, was busy at the early hour of 5:30 pm.

It’s not safe to eat on wooden boards. Often, bacteria get inside the grooves and the boards become a breeding ground for horrific diseases. Oddly, only a few days earlier, I’d read this article on Facebook on the dangers of eating on wooden planks or boards. It may seem fun to eat on these but it’s not worth the risks.

We could have left at that point but we decided to “wing it,” hoping we’d dodge a bullet and be safe eating the meat on their wooden platters. Next time, we’ll notice from online photos, if these boards are used instead of plates and we’ll avoid those restaurants. 

These wooden boards aren’t even safe to use in one’s home even with the utmost in care of the cleaning. A seasoned wooden plank may be fine for cooking the meat or fish at a high temperature but not to be used as a plate. Lesson learned.

The few pieces of beef ribs were fatty and chewy.

The sizzling platter of meats arrived at our table along with bread and fries for Tom. Again, there was no “real” butter and a pat of greasy margarine was served. Here’s another item we don’t eat…margarine…a hydrogenated, trans fat nightmare. We’ve yet to see real butter offered in any restaurant, except perhaps at La Cabrera (not to be confused with today’s Las Cabras).

I sorted through the meat trying to decipher what Tom (supertaster) would like only to discover there were few items on the platter he’d be interested in eating. At least half of the platter consisted of offal. See description below this photo if you aren’t familiar with this term.

Many pigeons walked around the restaurant as we dined. They didn’t bother us so we didn’t mind. We’ve had a variety of birds dining with us in various countries.

“Offal /ˈɒfəl/, also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, refers to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but includes most internal organs excluding muscle and bone.”

My taste buds aren’t picky and generally, I’ll try anything. After checking the items I determined there were a few items I wouldn’t be able to eat, mainly some of the stuffed intestines which contained oatmeal or wheat as fillers. Tom cringed and nearly gagged when he noticed the offal occupying a good portion of the platter. (See the main photo above).

We saw a number of other dishes served but most weren’t suitable for my way of eating, nor would Tom care for them.

There were more meats on the platter we didn’t care to eat including the following:

“Mollejas / Sweetbreads or Thymus Glands Not for the squeamish, mollejas’ unique gusto comes down to them being glands and not muscle tissue. Soft and delicate in texture, resembling pork on the taste buds.”

I’ve ordered sweetbreads in gourmet restaurants to find them moist and delicious in most cases but those on last night’s platter seemed overcooked, dry and chewy. No thanks. I passed on them as well.

I cut the blood sausage in half for this photo. We both tasted it. I could tell it contained some grain, but if it hadn’t, I wouldn’t have cared for it anyway. You should have seen Tom’s face when he took a tiny taste!

“Morcilla / Blood Sausage You’re gonna love ‘em or hate ‘em. Similar to black-pudding in the UK, they are made up of pig’s blood and ground up pieces of pork or offal and a few extra spices to make them taste less like pig’s blood. A much softer sausage than the chorizo.”

So it went. The traditional Argentine Parradilla was not for us. We asked a few of the hotel staff members when we returned from dinner if they cared for the offal and all said an emphatic “no!” Perhaps there were other items on the menu we may have enjoyed more.  

This was the first meal we’ve had in Argentina we found unappealing, and now as we wind down our remaining days, we look forward to returning to some of our favorite restaurants, mainly La Cabrera, Brave, and Diggs (BBQ).

Our total bill including tip was US $45.72 (ARS  850). Tom mentioned, “This was the first time I’ve ordered the most expensive item on a menu and didn’t like it.” So true…

Today’s a big football day.  Right now as I write, Tom is watching yesterday’s two NFL games and tonight after dinner at Rave, we’ll return to the hotel to watch the Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints game which starts at 6:40 pm. 

Go Vikings! Happy football day to all of our friends/readers in the USA and other countries!           

Photo from one year ago today, January 14, 2017:

Could this scenery be more beautiful than it was for us during the six-weeks we spent in Penguin, Tasmania? For more photos, please click here.

It’s a wonderful life but differences prevail…

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Saturnalia, a Sculptural group by Italian artist Ernesto Biondi at the botanical garden.

Of course, we appreciate every day of this outrageous life of world travel and, we are reveling in our 31 nights in Buenos Aires, where culture abounds in vast and fascinating ways. 

Last night at dinner at an outdoor restaurant that had mediocre food, we couldn’t help but notice how this area of Serrano Plaza reminds us of Uptown in Minneapolis, and yet is more compact with narrower streets and at least 10 times the size…not that we’ve been to Uptown lately.

Cactus garden.

As we sat in rickety chairs at a wobbly table for four that barely fit the two of us, we giggled over the irony of our lives.  What are we doing in Palermo Soho Buenos Aires? How far removed is this from our old lives of only six years ago, when it was around January 2012 we decided to travel the world?

A bowl of peanuts in the shell was delivered to our table shortly before the Spanish-only menus arrived, and we each gasped in sheer delight over the tiny bowl of nuts.  What a treat! Somehow, we always manage to figure out everything on the menu.

I believe this is a Nopales cactus.

As I readjusted my wobbly chair, we looked at one another and smiled. We didn’t mind the rickety furniture and the tiny bowl of nuts. We were happy to be dining outdoors in this big city in this peculiar little spot with the most rudimentary accouterments. 

The fork and knife are plastic, and the paper napkins are flimsy. The salt (“sal” in Spanish) is in little packets in the rectangular holder along with tiny packets of ketchup, salsa, and mayonnaise. 

The information building is on the grounds of the Buenos Aires Botanical Garden.

Since I can’t get sour cream in many of the restaurants, I use mayonnaise on my salads, opening multiple little packets for enough to give my frequently ordered salads a bit of moisture…a cup of arugula, a bit of dry deli chicken, a few tomato slices and a few chunks of cheese, consists of my dinner most nights.

Most other items on the menu would contaminate foods I can’t have; grains, starches, and sugar.  I don’t mind. After all, it’s just food, and I’m certainly not withering away, nor am I tired of this meager fare. 

However, I am looking forward to cooking again when we arrive in South Africa, which will be in about a month.  And, without a doubt, we’ll have exceptional meals aboard the Antarctica cruise beginning in a mere 12 days, a French cruise line offering gourmet meals for the most discriminating of diners. Surely, they’ll whip up divine and suitable meals for me.

There are numerous statues of nudes at Jardin Botanica in Buenos Aires.

Thinking back to spending afternoons in the refreshing pool in Costa Rica, it seems so long ago, and yet we left only 50 days ago. There’s a pool in this hotel, but it’s partially indoors. We don’t care for indoor pools. 

Instead, we’re content with our walks in the neighborhood often during the day and again in the early evening when we search for the next new restaurant to try. We’ve only done two repeats, Diggs and Rave, where we may go yet again.  

Interesting tree trunk.

The food at Diggs is excellent along with the service, although served in plastic baskets, on paper plates, and with plastic forks. Last time, the server brought me a flat plastic plate, and I was thrilled to be able to dump my salad on the plate from the smallish paper bowl.

Rave has real plates, flatware, and linen napkins but charges all types of service fees and a fee for the tiny bowl of dry bread without butter (Tom eats it anyway), and yet, a glass of decent Malbec is only US $2.95 (ARS 55). Go figure. 

A tree with leaves changing color after red berries had fallen to the ground.

We’re not complaining. We love all these cultural differences, finding them charming and enriching and, we thought some of our readers might find these morsels interesting. 

Today, after uploading today’s post and chatting with my dear friend Chere on Skype in about an hour, we’re off for a walk and to visit the mini-mart for a few items. Once we return, we’ll continue our research for upcoming travel bookings until it’s time to make the walk to discover where we’ll dine again tonight. It’s all good.

We hope you have an interesting and enriching day!

Photo from one year ago today, January 11, 2017:

While at Gnomon Pig Farm in Penguin, we laughed to see the white band on the newly born piglets, just like their mom. There were several breeds of pigs at the farm. For more details, please click here.

The Buenos Aires saga continues…Resolution of health issue at our hotel…A new find…

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Last night, we had an exceptional meal at Rave Restaurant.

One month from today, on February 8th, the cruise to Antarctica will end in Ushuaia, Argentina. That day, we’ll fly back to Buenos Aires to the same lovely Prodeo Hotel where our bags are being held, and we’ll stay two nights, and then, on February 10th, we’ll begin the two-day journey to South Africa.

We’ll ship all of our cold-weather clothing back to the mailing service in Nevada during those two days, where they’ll keep the items stored in our box for such a time as we may need them again. Perhaps, the Arctic at some time in the future? One never knows.

Now that I’m feeling well again, I wouldn’t say I like the idea of discussing more health issues. Good grief. Our readers have heard enough! Speaking of the Prodeo Hotel, we simply have to share a story of a situation here during our stay.

The decor was typical Argentinian, with a kitchen view, tables tightly packed, and a casual atmosphere.

Unfortunately, I have inherited several health issues from my mother’s side of the family, most of which are totally under control with a good diet, exercise, and a positive state of being. However, allergies are not necessarily controlled by my many efforts to stay healthy.

Until we arrived in Minnesota last May, after all the vacation/holiday homes we’d lived in, I’d never experienced any issues with a long-ago allergy to bed mites. Here’s some info on dust/bed mites (nothing comparable to bed bugs):

The light fixture over our head but like most local restaurants, they are dimly lit for both ambiances and saving on electricity.

“What are Bed Mites

The most common “Bed Mite” is the house dust mite. House dust mites can be a problem in any building, in any city, clean or dirty. They are not as bad in unoccupied buildings because there is not much to eat.
Dust mites are generally found in beds, pillows, upholstered furniture, rugs, or other places where people sleep or sit for long periods. Dust mites require a damp environment, and that is why beds are a mite’s favorite place to hang out.
Adult mites live for one to three months, feeding on various foods, including dog food, cereals, yeast, and their favorite food or dead skin. They like our pet’s skin too. Dust mites don’t bite…
The good news is it is easy to deal with dust mites and make your home pretty much dust ” Bed” mite-free.
The remainder of this article may be found here at this site.“
It’s always nice to have a linen napkin at the table.

In my 20’s I was treated with allergy injections after testing for various substances, including bed/dust mites. For these past many years, I’ve had no symptoms until we slept on the bed in the hotel in Minnesota, the bed on the most recent South America cruise, and here at the Prodeo Hotel.

Over these past few weeks, the itching became unbearable, and I was unable to sleep more than a few hours at night from sheer exhaustion. I was in a quandary as to what to do. I approached our hotelier Alessandro for a possible solution. Alas, he had an immediate answer in mind.

For the first night in a long while, I slept for seven hours. What a relief! And, what a fine thing this excellent boutique hotel did for me! Within 24 hours, we had a new hypo-allergenic mattress replacing the other bed, new pillows, a new comforter, and bedding.

This dish may look messy, but it was the best meal I’ve had since we arrived in Buenos Aires.  It included white salmon, prawns, mushrooms, zucchini, red peppers, onions, garlic, all cooked in real butter. It was perfect for my way of eating and delicious. I can’t wait to have it again.

Not every hotel would be so accommodating. We couldn’t have been more pleased. Although I still itch a little from stuffed furniture, pillows, and dust that flies through the air, I’m able to sleep. 

I’m beginning to think of our next shipment when we may need to purchase a hypoallergenic mattress, box springs, and pillow covers to carry with us, just in case. Initially, when we first began our travels, we carried these items with us, but we eventually donated them due to the excess weight when we had no issues.

Changing the mattress may not be possible for most vacation/holiday homeowners. I’ll have to dispose of some clothing to compensate for the weight of these items, but it will be worth it to me.

Tom’s risotto contained chicken, mushrooms, onions, celery, and garlic.  He loved it!

Recently, in Costa Rica, I had no issues, so for now, we’ll play it by ear and see what transpires. There’s always a solution for most problems that arise, although, at times, they may be costly and inconvenient. 

So, for now, we’re content, enjoying our time at the hotel and our walks through the city both during the day and at night. My FitBit is smoking up a storm, more than it has in a long time. 

Today, we have to enter our entire new itinerary into the Cozi online calendar we’ve been using since Minnesota.  Once I enter the items on my online version of the calendar, Tom can access the information or add more data to his version at any time. It’s a great app for busy family and business activities that are shared with multiple users. What a find! Here’s the link to the free app.

Last night, we had an exceptional meal and service at Rave Restaurant, located only a few blocks from the hotel. We’d walked by many times during our nightly search for a new restaurant, only to find them closed night after night. 

Soon, it would be getting dark. We dine earlier than many locals who generally have dinner after 9:00 pm. We eat so little during the day; an earlier dinner is best for us.  Also, neither of us cares to go to bed on a full stomach.

Now that the holiday season is over, they’ll be open all day from noon to midnight. Most certainly, we’ll return after last night’s exceptional experience.  Our meal, including tax, tip, bottled water, and two glasses of Malbec, came to a total of US $46.26 (ARS 918). 

This was one of the more expensive meals we’ve had in Palermo these past weeks, but we were pleased by how great affordable food is in this part of the world. Rave Restaurant in Palermo is well worth visiting if you’re in Buenos Aires sometime in the future. We’ll undoubtedly return during our remaining 15 days.

That’s it for today, folks!  We’ll be back tomorrow with many more photos. In a few days, we’ll be out sightseeing again.

Have a glorious beginning of a new week in 2018!

Photo from one year ago today, January 8, 2017:

Our friend and landlord Terry took this photo of a seal lounging on Sisters Beach in Penguin, Tasmania. We’ll be seeing some seals soon in Antarctica!  For more photos, please click here.

Happy New Year to all!…Tomorrow’s big reveal of future plans and “year in review” photos……

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A colorfully painted wall on a narrow street in the Serrano Plaza area.

Tomorrow and on future January firsts, we will post “our year in review” with photos.  We haven’t been consistent in posting this feature but plan to do so in future years. Please check back tomorrow to see our year in review. 

Colorful painting on walls in Argentina is a popular cultural activity.

Last year, while in Penguin Tasmania, New Year’s Eve was on December 30th due to the International Dateline.  Subsequently, the photo below from one year ago, listed as the “one year ago” photo was posted on December 30th.  We apologize for the confusion.

Most likely, we won’t be on the other side of the International Dateline again until a much later date in the future, not necessarily in the next few years.  Also, tomorrow, we plan to post our upcoming plans for the future.  Please check back to see!

Everywhere we walk, we encounter wall painting of this type.  Very entertaining!

Yesterday, we took a taxi to the other end of Palermo to Jumbo, a large supermarket, where we purchased food and drinks for tonight’s New Year’s celebration with our new friends and past cruise-mate, Margaret and Con. Again tomorrow we’ll repeat the same meal, based on the lack of availability of opened restaurants over this holiday.

The “Jumbo” supermarket is located in a mall.

As always, it was fun to visit a huge supermarket in another country.  The types of foods vary along with the prices.  Unfortunately, we were so busy trying to find the items, including drinks, on our shopping list for the four for of us for tonight’s and tomorrow’s celebrations, we were too distracted to take photos once inside the market. 

It was a huge market although not as well laid out as some markets in throughout the world.  We managed to find most of the items on our list but couldn’t find all of the ingredients to make my special turmeric tea which I’ve been having each morning instead of coffee. 

We wandered around the mall where the Jumbo market is located.

Drinking the tea has become quite a treat for me and each morning, instead of eating (not hungry), I consume a mug of the healthy tea which includes cinnamon, turmeric powder, pepper (pepper increases the bio-availability of the turmeric), unsweetened organic cocoa powder, powdered ginger and unsweetened organic coconut cream along with your preferred sweetener. 

A deli located in the mall.

We were only able to find a few of these ingredients at the market. It made no sense to buy some of the ingredients, never knowing if we’d ever find the balance.  At that point, I decided I’d give up the tea and wait until we arrive in South Africa where I’m certain we’ll find everything needed.

After we returned to our room and rearranged the tiny refrigerator, we managed to fit everything except the roasted chickens we’d purchased.  The hotel staff offered to store them for us and reheat them in their microwave each of the next two evenings.

Tom checked out the McDonald’s but didn’t order a thing.  Good.

Fortunately, in this wonderful boutique hotel, we’ll be allowed to use our own food for this particular occasion when no restaurants are open.  We’ll dine in one of the large booths in the bar.  As typical in boutique hotels, the small restaurant has nothing on the menu that I can eat nor anything Tom likes.

We took the cart up the steep escalator in the mall.  We’d seen a similar set-up in Bali, Indonesia and Fairlight, Australia.

This plan works well for the four of us.  Tonight, we plan to get together with Margaret and Con at 8:30 pm to dine, a little late for us but, fine if we all plan to stay up for the midnight fireworks.

The seafood display was filled with many types of fish and shellfish.

Yesterday afternoon, after putting everything away, we moseyed back to the lobby to continue working on future planning in order to fine-tune some of our objectives over the next few years.  This end-of-the-year objective provides us with peace of mind and joyful anticipation of what is yet to come.

These salmon kabobs looked great, priced at US $2.09 (ARS 39.99) per 100 grams which would be US $20.87 (ARS 399.90) for one kilo (2.2 pounds).

By 5:30 pm, we headed out the door to once again to return to the Serrano Plaza area to find a spot for dinner and further explore this exciting area we’ve visited over the past few nights. 

Once we discovered this trendy area, it’s been hard to stay away from the lively streets, colorful graffiti painted on walls, with dozens of restaurants and shops all of which possess a typical Argentinian feel.

The exterior of Bulls BBQ Smoke House.

After wandering the streets for a while we spotted a  lone diner sitting at an outdoor table with a plate of barbecue ribs that looked great. We couldn’t resist checking it out further.  Once inside the restaurant, we noticed that Bulls BBQ Smoke House not only offered exquisite barbecue ribs and other meats but also a smoked chicken breast Caesar salad.   Perfect!

Meat cooking on the wood-fired stove at Bulls BBQ Smoke House.

We ordered and paid for our food and bottled water (cash only) at the counter and found a table in the back of the restaurant.  The owner was delightful, paying special attention to my dietary needs and Tom’s upcoming plate of beef ribs, fries, pickles, and coleslaw.  See photo below.

Tom, waiting for dinner to be served last night.

The meal was exceptional as was the reasonable cost at US $25.57, (ARS $490).  We hope to return at least one more time before departing Buenos Aires in 23 days.  I devoured Tom’s coleslaw, along with my salad and, he ate everything on his plate, leaving him feeling stuffed.

The restaurant is small but friendly with the freshest of well-prepared food.

After dinner, we decided to walk off our meal, meandering further through the area.  By coincidence, we stumbled across an upscale gourmet “spices and oils” shop noticing they had unsweetened coconut cream but none of my other tea ingredients. 

Tom’s monstrous meal.  I ordered the guacamole for my salad and ate all of his sugar-free coleslaw.

The lovely shopkeeper who spoke some English suggested we walk back to the direction from which we came to find a health food store that may have the remaining ingredients we’d need. 

By adding the guacamole and coleslaw I had plenty to eat.

After a two block walk, we found the health food store.  Alas, they had everything I needed!  All of the remaining organic ingredients were available in bulk and the friendly two shopkeepers engaged with us in chatty broken English while weighing the items we needed, wishing us a heartfelt “Feliz Ano Nuevo” as we headed out the door.

Once back on the street we headed back to the upscale spices and oils stop which luckily was still open so we could purchase the remaining coconut cream from her.  After all, she was kind enough to point us in the right direction of the health food store which we appreciated and, we decided to give her the business.

The shelves of the gourmet spices and oils shop are neatly lined with cooking treasures.

Luckily, we had the small cooler bag with us as Tom carried the heavy package as we walked back to the hotel.  By the time we returned to our room it was 8:30 pm. 

We hunkered down for the evening to watch two shows on my laptop; season two of “Top of the Lake” (exceptional); and season one of Damnation” (good but not great).

What a pretty display!

Tomorrow, New Year’s Day, we’ll be back with our “year in review” photos, plus photos from our New Year’s Eve celebration and our new loosely planned itinerary for the next few years.

May each and every one of our dear readers/friends have a safe and fulfilling New Year’s Eve and year to come.  You mean the world to us!

___________________________________________


Photo from one year ago today, December 31, 2016:

Due to the International Dateline, we posted the “year in review” photos on December 30th.   From that date’s post, we included this photo of our visit to the Monkey Temple in Bali in May wearing the required sarongs.  For more of last year’s photos, please click here.

Exploring Palermo on foot…New discoveries…Winging it!…Making plans for New Year’s Eve…

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Painting on the wall outside a sushi restaurant.

Dining is a bit challenging here in Buenos Aires.  As we mentioned in earlier posts, most restaurants don’t open until later in the evening, long after we’d prefer to dine.

This is where we dined last night, San Serrano Deli & Drinks.

As a result, each evening, we’ve taken off on foot in search of a new restaurant to try, hoping after a few weeks we’ll settle in with a week’s worth of favorites, to which we’ll return for memorable meals. 

Guest started filtering inside when it was hot outdoors, although many patrons dined at tables near the busy street.

The most challenging part is my way of eating. If that weren’t an issue, it would be pretty straightforward. Thus far, all I’ve eaten has been one form or another of a Caesar salad with chicken which has been okay.

We stretched our necks to read this menu on the wall.  After a while, a server brought us menus.

Last night was no exception. But, this time, we wandered further away from our hotel to find another spectacular trendy neighborhood that sent us reeling with delight. It was the most charming area we’d seen to date. 

Tom passed on beer and opted for bottled water.  Tap water isn’t served in any restaurants since it may not be safe to drink.

After looking at several potential spots for dinner, we decided on a busy deli and bakery. The restaurant was busy was a good indicator the food might be good since we’ve seen others open at the early hour of 6:00 pm with few patrons.

Tom’s burger with ham, eggs, cheese, and beef plus fried potatoes.

Although service was slow based on the activity, we were fine, especially when we were handed the menus that included English descriptions. However, based on my dietary restrictions, the server asked an English-speaking server to ensure the modifications I required. It all worked out well.

My grilled chicken salad with grilled tomatoes.

As for tomorrow’s upcoming New Year’s Eve, we’ve met a lovely couple from the UK staying at this hotel and who was also on the recent cruise with us. Margaret and Con plan to dine with us in the hotel and enjoy some food, wine, and champagne. As it turns out, the hotel is not planning a party, so we’re planning our party.

Gated property.

Today, as soon as we upload the post, we’re taking a taxi to a big supermarket where we’ll purchase wine, champagne, liquor for Tom, and the food we’ll share with our new friends on New Year’s Eve and hopefully again on New Year’s Day. What a perfect plan for what may have proved to have been another meat and cheese holiday.

Lingerie shop.  There are many of these in Argentina.

Eating all that meat and cheese on Christmas Eve and day disagreed with me, so at least today at the market, we’ll be able to purchase some vegetables, salad, and a variety of foods suitable for the special event.

Sullivan’s Irish Pub, on a corner in the neighborhood we discovered.

The hotel will allow us to dine with our food and drinks in the otherwise quiet dining area. It should be a good night, especially when we hit it off so well with Margaret and Con.

The historic building we see each time we head down Gorriti road.

That’s it for today, folks. May it be a safe and satisfying holiday! We hope your plans for the New Year include exactly what you’d prefer, whether a quiet evening at home or a festive celebration of the upcoming New Year.

A decorated tree in the neighborhood.

Have a lovely day!

Photo from one year ago today, December 30, 2016:

This ÿear in review photo” was posted on this date a year ago. Tomorrow, we’ll do the same, posting favorite photos of us throughout the year. In this photo taken in 2016, we were on the Mekong River Cruise and tour in July, stopping at the Kampong Cham temple in Cambodia. For more pictures from last year’s recap, please click here.

Wow! An outstanding evening in Palermo Soho, Buenos Aires…What an exciting deal!…Wine lovers, take note…

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Monogrammed cloth napkins and plates were awaiting us as we were seated at La Cabrera last night.

When searching online for possible restaurants in the area, over and over again, La Cabrera popped up in our searches. This was one of the few restaurants open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, offering pricey fixed-price menus at the cost of US $104.25 per person (ARS 2,000, with a recent exchange rate drop since our mention in a prior post).

Tom ordered a local beer while I had a Malbec.  Wine lovers, see our notes below.

With an added tip based on La Cabrera’s purported good service, we could easily have spent US $300 (ARS 5,756) for each of the two holiday nights, especially with added cocktails since Tom wouldn’t have been interested in the included wine offerings. 

Based on our perception of the high cost of dining at La Cabrera, we didn’t give it much thought, although we passed it and its second restaurant located on the same block, many times during our walks through the busy district.

These side dishes are complimentary at La Cabrera. 

Yesterday, while checking the menu on their website hoping to discover their regular (non-holiday) prices (which weren’t posted online), I stumbled across this ad below:

The La Cabrera ad states, in Spanish in small print above the word “Happy,”  that happy hour is daily between 6:30 and 8:00 pm. Getting there by 6:15 pm is a must, or one may not get in for this excellent benefit.

Before dinner, we decided to find a local pharmacy to purchase some over-the-counter items for the upcoming Antarctica cruise, also buying enough for the first few months in Africa. We were impressed with the “caged” pharmacist’s ability to find everything on our list in the tiny space.

Roasted garlic in the finest of olive oil.

As it turned out, the Farmacia, which closes at 8:00 pm, was within a block or two of the restaurant, and we decided to head there first before walking to the restaurant.

When we arrived at La Cabrera at 6:15, we discovered a queue of a dozen people waiting outside to take advantage of the “happy hour” pricing as well. We found our spot in line and waited along with the others as several more diners arrived during the waiting period. By 6:40 pm, they started letting us “bargain hunters” enter the restaurant to be seated in a relatively tight space quickly.

A woman sitting alone next to us ordered this colossal steak and devoured the entire thing.

No more than five minutes after we were seated, they started turning people away. Most locals take a two-hour siesta between 2:00 and 4:00 pm, and they usually don’t dine until 9:00 or 10:00 pm or later, a little too late for us. Such early seating is unusual in Buenos Aires.

As early birds awakening by 6:00 am at the latest each day, we’re usually sound asleep by midnight. Going to bed on a full stomach is something we aren’t interested in doing, nor do we like to wait that late to dine, usually our only meal of the day. The “happy hour” concept works exceptionally well for us. 

This was my entree, a Caesar salad with grilled chicken (no croutons) to which I requested avocado. They added one and a half small avos, and to my surprise, I consumed the entire dish. They also included a lemon mayonnaise dressing (not bottled) on the side.

As we’ve walked the restaurant-lined streets of the Palermo Soho district over this past six days, we’ve noted dozens of restaurants where we’ll never be able to dine when they don’t open until 9:00 or 10:00 pm.  However, we’ve been able to find enough restaurants to suits our needs that open by 6:00 or 7:00 pm.

After last night’s spectacular experience, not only regarding the excellent food and service but also the highly cultural event, we certainly look forward to returning to La Cabrera several more times during the “happy hour” period. As a footnote, this restaurant is certainly worth visiting in the later hours at a total price for those who prefer to dine later in the evening when the pace may be more relaxed.

To reach my required 60 grams of protein each day, I added this egg and red pepper dish, cooked to perfection. This alone would have been a big enough meal for me with its four eggs. Good grief. I ate the whole thing as we took our time and dined at a leisurely pace.

We’d heard prices are high in Buenos Aires, and in most cases, they are. As a result, we budgeted US $100 (ARS 1,886) per day for meals while staying in a hotel for over 30 nights.

Last night’s meal, including wine, beer, and a generous tip, totaled US $46.23 (ARS 871.70) after the 40% discount. Wow! Subsequently, we’re averaging only US $34 (ARS 641) per day, keeping in mind that we only eat dinner out. This amount includes the food we’d purchased at the mini-mart for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day when we weren’t willing to spend the above-mentioned high prices for the fixed-priced menus on those two holiday nights.

Tom ordered the barbecue ribs, which was the equivalent of an entire slab with these three sauces. He ate all the juicy, tender meat and left the sauces. He’s not a “sauce” kind of guy, although he can be pretty saucy at times!.

Tom eats a light breakfast of coffee, hard-boiled eggs, ham, and cheese (pastries, fruit, and juice are available for others) in the excellent Prodeo Hotel, which is included in our nightly rate.

The food at La Cabrera was over-the-top fresh, hot, delicious, and beautifully presented on sizzling platters.  Both of us couldn’t have enjoyed the experience more and look forward to a repeat performance soon. Next time, I won’t order so much food since I’m still stuffed this morning.

This wasn’t a full-sized bottle of Malbec but contained two large glasses. I had one glass, and the waiter provided the cork to take the balance back to the hotel with us! See the notes below on Argentinian Malbec as compared to French.
“Learn the Difference: Argentinian Malbec vs. French Malbec (from this site)

Blog » Wine Tips & Tricks » Learn the Difference: Argentinian Malbec vs. French Malbec

France is the origin of Malbec, but Argentina is now home to nearly 70% of the Malbec vineyards of the world. Thus, your very first taste of Malbec could have been from Mendoza, Argentina. There is a dramatic difference in taste between the two regions, and this is because Malbec really shows how terroir affects the wine.

An instant definition of ‘terroir.’

Terroir encompasses all the regional factors that define the taste of a wine grape, including sun, soil, the slant of a hillside, proximity to a body of water, climate, weather, and altitude. Terroir happens before a winemaker even touches the grapes. Any winemaker worth their salt will tell you: great wine is made in the vineyard, not in the cellar. Read more about Terroir.”

After the New Year holiday ends, we’ll begin sightseeing. We won’t do another comprehensive post on this particular restaurant when we return during our remaining 25 nights in Buenos Aires. However, we will share some details of other restaurants we’ll visit along the way.

We’re looking forward to sharing those details with all of YOU.

After we finished our meal, the waiter dropped off this “lollipop tree,” encouraging Tom to take some with him. He did.

Have a delicious day, dear friends!

Photo from one year ago today, December 29, 2016:

The previous day while on a walk in Penguin, Tasmania, we spotted this White Faced Heron. For more photos, please click here.

We have to laugh…Our weirdest Christmas ever…Perils of world travel…

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Here was our Christmas Eve dinner last night, which we’ll repeat tonight, Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas to all of our readers, family, and friends!  May your lives be blessed with good health, contentment, and fulfillment of all your dreams. 

OK, let’s get into the details of this peculiar Christmas, like none other we’ve experienced since the onset of our travels. When we arrived in Buenos Aires on December 23rd, we knew we were taking a risk in not making reservations at one of the few open Christmas Eve or Christmas Day restaurants.

With the average cost of US $111 (ARS 2,000) per person for dinner plus beverages and tips, we’d have been looking at spending US $300 (ARS 5,360) for Christmas Eve and again for Christmas Day. The thought of spending this much for two meals didn’t appeal to us, especially when many items on the pre-planned menus didn’t comply with my way of eating.

Luckily, we purchased enough for both nights, not knowing it would have to be a “repeat.

When we arrived on the 23rd, we walked the neighborhood, stopping at many restaurants asking if they’d be open on either evening. The only restaurants open were those in this price range. Also, our hotelier Alessandro had spent considerable time researching before we arrived.

However, during our long walk, we stumbled upon “Rave,” which claimed they’d be open Christmas Eve from 12:00 pm to 12:00 am. We were thrilled and decided we’d head there around 6:00 pm for an early dinner.

As for Christmas Day, we were out of luck, and yesterday morning we headed to a local mini-mart to purchase deli meats, canned tuna, and cheese, just in case. Good thing we’d buy those items, or we’d have been without a bite to eat last night and today.

Yesterday, we showered and dressed for Christmas Eve dinner at “Rave,” making the five-block walk only to We headed back to the hotel to start preparing our meager fatty meal of tuna with mayo, deli meat, braunschweiger, ham, and a variety of cheeses. 

This is the restaurant where we’d hoped to dine on Christmas Eve but closed when business was slow.

Oddly, the only place to eat was in the tiny room in our hotel room with the bathtub, which included a table and chairs for two, facing the street. We’d never eaten in a room with a bathtub. Oh, well. We looked at one another, laughing out loud.  It was a small price to pay for the many otherwise beautiful days in our lives of world travel.

We had Christmas Eve dinner and will have Christmas Day dinner in this little bathtub room.

We’ll never forget this Christmas as memorable for its unique experience, along with the endless unique experiences we’ve encountered along the way. This is the sixth Christmas since we left Minnesota on Halloween, 2012. Here’s the rundown on where and how we’ve spent the past Christmases:

2012 – Family get-together at a vacation rental in Henderson, Nevada with three of Tom’s sisters and two brothers-in-law; my cousin Phyllis and her two adult daughters; my sister Julie; eldest son Richard; Tom’s nephew John and his daughter. We had a fabulous celebration! (In those days, we didn’t take many photos).  See the link here.

We made five giant Poppy Seed Strudels, rolling the dough with a tall bottle of water.  For the recipe, please click here.

On our way out the door on Christmas Day, we encountered this kudu. Tom said he ordered this for me for my Christmas gift. I couldn’t have been more thrilled! 2013 – We were in Marloth Park, South Africa, for Christmas and went to Jabula Lodge for Christmas dinner, the day we met and dined with new friends Piet and Hettie, whom we’ll soon see once again.

Our Christmas visitor on Christmas Day, 2013. The kudu’s neck will enlarge during the mating season. From the looks of our visitor, the mating season was imminent.  Look at the muscles on this big guy. Males can weigh as much or more than 700 pounds, 318 kg. This one was smaller than many we’ve seen, weighing perhaps in the 500 pounds, 227 kg range. Kudus can quickly scale a 5 foot, 1.5-meter wall. Soon, we’ll see more of these. For more details, please click here.

2014 – Our family of 12 came to visit us in Pahoa, Big Island, Hawaii, for the holiday season. It was during this period that the lava from Mount Kilauea was flowing toward the town. What an unbelievable experience it was for us and our kids and grandchildren to see lava.

We spent Christmas Day at the beach with the family. It was a great day, although cloudy and rainy. For more details, please click here.

2015 – We were in Pacific Harbor, Fiji, and went out to a buffet dinner at the five-star Pearl Resort. After eating this octopus, I began having issues with my gastrointestinal system, which only recently started to resolve. 

Yum, I said at the time, baby octopus. Those heads were a bit tricky to chew. I ate four of these, less one head. Now, as I look at this, it sickens my stomach.  Never again! For more details of that Christmas Day, please click here.

2016 – Last year at Christmas we were in Penguin, Tasmania. The adorable small town had decorated many of its Penguin statues, as shown in the photo below. Although we spent the day alone, we made a fabulous dinner and walked the town’s streets, enjoying the scenery and decorations. 

Penguin’s mascot, this giant penguin, is decorated for Christmas.  On Christmas Day, we walked through the charming town, enjoying the scenery.  For more details, please click here.

At the moment, on Christmas morning, we are seated in the lounge/lobby area of our boutique hotel. The meat and cheese breakfast didn’t appeal to me, so I stuck with my mug of tea while Tom ate a few hard-boiled eggs, meat and cheese, and coffee.

Adding to the peculiarity of our Christmas was the fact that we were the only guests in the hotel last night. I mean only guests…not one other guest was staying here! How odd is that? It’s another first for us!

Indeed today, we’ll head out for another walk to take photos and enjoy the sunny day in Palermo, Buenos Aires.  Later today, we’ll call and speak to family members on Skype.

May all of you have a spectacular day!

Photo from one year ago today, December 24, 2016
(due to the International Dateline, it was one day earlier):
Our Christmas Day meal.  The filet mignon was tender as it could be, the prawns sweet and delicious, and the plate of bacon and sautéed mushrooms, salad, and green beans were added treats.  For more details, please click here.