Day 4 - Cortadito

November 17, 2017 - Buenos Aires

Confession - details are a little foggy as I forgot to write for this day.  Lesson learned - if I don't write, I don't remember.  Thanks for helping us stay accountable to future selves :)

On Friday, we picked up groceries to make breakfasts at home, with an intent to cook at least a meal a day.  

(Side note: we are traveling for an extended period of time, therefore we are trying to be very budget conscious.  Unfortunately, Buenos Aires is not a very budget-friendly city.  Sure, you can do it on the cheap, but the city’s prices are definitely inflated, and the cost of lunch or dinner is similar to what we’d pay in the states.  Additionally, there are a lot of things that cost money that we want to do while here – museums, shows, etc…. we have come to grips with the fact it ain’t gunna be cheap.)

We walked to a neighborhood we hadn't been yet, in search of good coffee.  Our new friend from dinner was a barista and had pointed out his favorite spot.  The neighborhood was what our USA friend classified as the “Brooklyn” of Buenos Aires.  And the Buenos Aires locals we had met spoke about the area as “trendy”, and not in a positive way.  We quickly found out why – the area had some quiet argentine restaurants in the shadows of

hip, chic bars advertising “Happy hour” and “craft beer”.  While we haven't fallen into the craft beer scene yet, we find the menus to be quite cute.  "Irish beer", "Pale ale beer", "Pilsner beer".

We landed at the coffee shop. Latente.  Evan and I definitely approved - the coffee was quality, and the people were good.  We had even learned the name for what we'd both prefer to drink on most occasions, "Cortado", espresso, with a little bit of steamed milk.  Or, my favorite, "cortadito", just a wee little on!

There was a non-apologetic sign in Spanish stating that they don't have wi-fi, so talk to each other.   Preach.

For lunch we also tested out another place in that hood that was recommended to us, the entire menu was "choris", or a chorizo asada (grilled sausage) with different toppings.  Basically, a fancy hot dog shop.  It wasn't that impressive - the sausage was good, but the bread fell apart under all of the toppings, and the toppings were so mild that Evan and I both thought we had received the other person's order.

We didn't think too much of our less than stellar chori experience until the next night we walked by and the line was out the door!

I had read about a treat in Argentina called alfajores, and there aren’t many desserts I do not like, so I was keeping my eyes peeled. I found a packaged version at a popular dessert shop. Alfajores are basically cookies sandwiches, dulce de leche cream or caramel sandwiched between two cookies, and then perhaps dipped in chocolate.  It was nice texture, super rich, and the flavor pallet was just a little off, very subtle like maybe the difference in Hershey’s chocolate vs Ghiradelli.  I will keep looking for a homemade version.  Let me know if you want me to bring one back to the states!

Despite my grand plan to take Evan to tango lessons, followed by a late night "Milonga" or tango club, the rest of the evening I basically spent resting (maybe the crunchy bread and grilled sausage weren't exactly soothing for a sore throat?).  Evan picked us up a small dinner from a nearby cafe.  Crazy Friday night!  Will this cold please go away?