southampton: holiday 2012

© anita aguilar

AMO the ARG: "foto!" and friends...

last summer, i returned from our big, happy family trip to the mother island with a better sense of the place, but wishing i'd had the chance to do one thing--walk. on foot, you can absorb sights and smells and the noise, and feel the surround of space. you discover the pace, the energy, and maybe even your place within it all. but for many reasons (like the hot, heavy air and security concerns), manila doesn't seem to be suited for long strolling. and anyway, no one in my family was going to allow it. it was drive-by discovery.

buenos aires is the perfect opposite. you (and i) can walk for hours. i think you'll notice the folks there are not shy with eye contact. also, porteños aren't transfixed by phones and pdas --instead of talking to the air, they're talking to each other. headphones and ipods? a rare sight, at least for now. (is that what made the energy of the city special--that they seem alive to each other? what makes them so open and friendly? is it that they're all hopped up on caffeine and sugar, god love'em?)

what i do know--and won't forget--is they made me feel a welcomed visitor.

i hope if you make it down there, you'll have the same experience.

***

in recoleta. our first day, and our first "foto!" encounter...

followed shortly by this one...in palermo.

this gentleman called out to me while waiting for the bus in san telmo...

can you see the bus driver here?
he beep-beep-beeped for a bit before i realized he was trying to catch my attention.
i missed the shot of his wave.

our friend from the spanish embassy, in palermo...

young friends at the havanna. they serve the very best "cafe havanna" (a signature coffee, made with condensed milk ), coñitos, and alfajores...
on avenida pueyrredon, recoleta, ba.

i was trying to catch a photo of one of the buses, but got this thumbs up instead...on the way to alto palermo mall.

at cafe tortoni, a landmark, in monserrat.

with dario, at cabana las lilas, in puerto madero.

z, with guillermo--our wonderful handyman--at the apt in recoleta.

and last but not least, our friends at the locutorio on avenida pueyrredon, near santa fe...

we saw them every day, sometimes a few times a day. how do i not know their names?
we simply greeted each other as "amigos"..."chau! chau!"

AMO the ARG: the "i enjoy being a girl" edition...

though i didn't come close to z in terms of pace and volume, i too got my "girl" on--squeezed in little bit of real shopping--during the week. i bought scarves and bags, candies and a great art book--some items for me, others to give. carla danelli, the very last store i visited, is one of my favorites in part because of the store itself. the entrance on carlos calvo 372, off calle defensa, is easy to miss, especially if you're not familiar with the brand name. (i found my way there by following a plain brown sign that said "leather goods.") it exemplifies a restored "chorizo" house, so named because of the structure's elongated space; rooms are located one behind the other with galleries and patios connecting indoor and outdoor spaces.

behind the store's front door and up a few steps, is the open-air patio with hanging plants, a green wall of ivy, even a "santo." the brick and wrought iron are painted a pale pink and white; marble and colorful tilework add old argentine flair. the sun glowed softly through the doors and windows, i could hear quiet city sounds. it was a combination retreat/retail experience.

and there's the stuff: carla danelli, an exclusive brand created by merecer, s.a., one of the most renowned leather goods manufacturers in argentina, has some beautiful pieces in its collection (some of which you can see here. i came home with 3 chic and reasonably priced bags from the summer line).

but my favorite part was chatting with joanna. like most everyone i met during the trip, she was open, forgiving of my limited language skills (which incidentally petered off toward the end of the week. i think i was getting tired?), curious about my impressions of buenos aires, and generous with suggestions for where to go next time. and we talked a little about new york--she's never been but wants to visit someday. to her it is "like...a wonderland..."

very nice words to carry home.

the lovely senorita joanna.

AMO the ARG: sunday night lights

z had to make some phone calls; i waited outside the locutorio and decided to experiment with/under various sources of artificial light.

this is sunday night--'round midnight--in recoleta:

AMO the ARG: sunday reflections

plaza cataluna...

march 20, 2010.

march 20, 2010.

all photos © anita aguilar

AMO the ARG: shots of color (san telmo, day 7)

all photos © anita aguilar

AMO the ARG: and, on the seventh day...

a quick spin through neighborhoods that share a border, but not much else in terms of scale or style...

san telmo




***
and monserrat

piramide de mayo

the casa rosada

all photos © anita aguilar

AMO the ARG: where the streets have no...

people...


or cars...

avenida 9 de julio

avenida 9 de julio

***
and a few floors up...

avenida alvear

an apt in one of these buildings would be nice, i think:

avenida alvear

maybe here, too:

plazoleta carlos pellegrini

all photos © anita aguilar

AMO the ARG: cabaña, round 2 (day 5, parte 4)

z and i decided to hit the town for our one and only saturday night in BA. destination: puerto madero. she got dolled up. i threw on some heels. it was a balmy, beautiful night.

the only thing missing? everyone else.
where the heck do they all go on the weekends? not that i really cared. ghost town, BA meant we didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes for a table at cabaña las lilas.

***

this is where the real action is:




***
the folks at cabaña really outdid themselves--they greeted us as friends and were even more generous than before (free champagne cocktails! free sides!). the american girl sitting at the next table was seeing green (we know--she was a loud-talker).

i didn't want to have the same exact dinner i'd had before. so instead of the rib-eye, i (innocently) ordered the steak of the house.

i thought it would be a dainty little filet.
we all had a good laugh when they set this down. but...did they doubt me?

done. and done (almost).

for my encore: hojaldre las lilas con crema y dulce de leche, their version of a "napoleon," which has pastry cream and dulce de leche.
the contrasts here really work: thick, sweet cream set off by crunchy, airy pastry.

they gave us the bonus cookie tray (to go with the coffees, i imagine).

ha! i look spent. but...i won...
(z and i both did. it was, once again, totalmente perfecto.)

mil gracias a cabaña...

all photos © anita aguilar