Let’s get this out of the way from the start. I’ve got a good imagination and I dream BIG! I’m easily inspired and often want what I see without putting much thought into the process. I’ve learned during the last 3 years and 1 month to step back and look around before diving in, but I’ve got a long way to go. Suffice it to say I’m proud of myself for not upgrading that new Kodak pocket video camera or my Canon G10 and that I still haven’t replaced my Canon D60 DSLR. I did go to Club Med Food Blogger Camp on a whim, but it was a good one. So very, very worthwhile. But booking a 4 day weekend to jet down to Buenos Aires and back to check out this apartment is not one of the brightest ideas I’ve had of late.
I know how photos on the internet work so I haven’t made reservations … yet. I’ve experienced a couple of getaways to “resorts” when I lived in the Philippines and quickly learned that photos can distort reality.
But how can I pass up a kitchen like this? Look at the windows. The natural light. It’s a food writer/photographer’s paradise — by the looks of it. And although the shots are small and the resolution pretty much sucks, I think I see a tin of Amaretti cookies on the countertop next to the dwarfed microwave. Ahhh, Porteños … the Italian roots of the Buenos Aires resident is seen in even the smallest detail.
Two months ago I was bound and determined to fly off and set up shop in Merida, Mexico, the colonial town I’ve been told by Mexicans is THE place they’d move to if given the chance. But now that my eyes have landed on this beauty, I’m destined to move back to Argentina. The dream goes like this:
I book a 4 day trip down and back. It’s a quick 11 hour, non stop trip from Dulles International to Ministro Pistarini International in Buenos Aires. Grab a cab with my one small carry on bag and high tail it into the city to check into the hotel. I get early check-in since I arrive at dawn, clean up and have a bite to eat before meeting a friend so that we can drive into San Telmo together to scope out the neighborhood. When I lived in BsAs San Telmo was an up and coming neighborhood. It’s where we went on the weekends to walk through the incredibly large flea market filled with antique pieces from around the world. See, when the Argentine economy imploded in 2001, people had to begin selling off their households to feed themselves. Some of it ended up in antique shops like the ones in my Recoleta neighborhood and some ended up in the San Telmo market, among other places. Great finds for reasonable prices, but it was sad to walk through and see what people gave up. I imagined the lives of people that lived among beautiful furnitue with seltzer bottles perched in cabinets or on tables, wearing jewels that sparkled as they moved across the room. I suppose it’s not unlike a “stroll” through Craig’s List these days.
Anyway, back to the dream.
After checking out the neighborhood, we meet up with the real estate agent and head over to the apartment with the expansive green windows. It’s everything I’d hoped for and I’m immediately sold. Real estate deals abroad are not easy, usually aren’t quick and can be complex. Most importantly, in the case of Argentina, it requires 100% cash in hand. I have no idea how you get away with carrying a suitcase full of green out of the US and through Argentine Customs, but plenty of people buy real estate there so it can be done. I suspect you keep a wad of dough in hand for the Customs officer if you have to open your bags. I’m pretty sure that’s how it works. I doubt the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the fact that although the anti-bribery provisions prohibit offering a payment of anything of value to a foreign official for the purpose of influencing … blah blah blah … never runs through the agent’s mind. So you give him a few bucks and head out into the wild. In reality, there’s probably a “facilitator” involved to whom you wire the money and it ends up in cash form when you get to the table to execute the transaction.
We get the initial paperwork out of the way and my friend and I head out to a late lunch knowing that dinner won’t happen until 9:3o or 10:00. So, an empanada snack it is. And later a stop for espresso. And now I’ve got 2 more days in the city — the Paris of the South. I’ll go see more friends, meet their new husbands or wives and babies. We’ll cook together and explore restaurants and cafés. And I won’t do the tired circuit of heading to Boca/Caminitos or Puerto Madero or Plaza de Mayo. I’m going to roam the neighborhoods of Buenos Aires on foot, experiencing the best and the worst in food. I’ll seek out “underground” restaurants and patronize those that are hailed as the best. I’ll attend culinary school and meet with and interview chefs and personalities in the world of Argentine cooking and dining. Hell, Maradona looks like he can not only put away the “Goal of the Century,” but a good meal as well these days, so why not seek out this Argentine icon among others to get their take on food in The Paris of the South. Only one problema — Castellano is not my strong suit. This time I’ll have no choice. I’ll be 100% immersed in the culture and the language and I’ll have to speak it to get around, not like before when I was around English speakers at work all day and American television at night and when I was in a bind, they could help me out.
Metal Tulip in Buenos Aires
So, in my dream I’ll be a bi-lingual food blogging Porteño living in the most incredible vintage apartment (antiguo apartamento) in the San Telmo neighborhood — who rocks Milanesa Napolitana, Panqueques con Dulce de Leche and becomes a rabid fútbol fan who will be a host to scores of visitors eager to come visit to cook and shoot beautiful photos, to go cheer on River Plate or the Boca Juniors and to enjoy Argentine life.
In 2007 my career with a large, but shrinking high tech Fortune 50 \"left me,\" leaving a void in my life. While lamenting the loss and flying around the world looking for a new career to get married to, I discovered a way to use a familiar outlet during tough times -- writing. My blog-writing morphed into writing about my favorite past time -- Food! I purchase food, sell food, make food, watch food being made, broadcast meal preparation, photograph and blog about food. Like I said; Food! To change this standard text, you have to enter some information about your self in the Dashboard -> Users -> Your Profile box. 
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
WOW nice dream – maybe it will become a REALITY? You never know…right? And then I’ll come for a visit and cook in that gorgeous new kitchen with ALL THAT LIGHT! AAAAH! Now I’m dreaming too!
That place looks lovely. Just think of all of the wonderful pictures that could be taken in that kitchen. Just think of all of the money that could be saved on having hair done. Yes, that may be the place to go!
No kidding! That’s jus what caught my eye. I’ve sent mail asking for the asking price and availability and have just sent mail off to a woman that I worked with when I lived there to get the skinny on the neighborhood and some other technical questions. We’ll see. Probably nothing will come of this, but it’s worth checking.
{ 1 trackback }