Tourist2townie Blog

Hidden Gems in San Isidro

2010-03-07T18:37:13Z

To me, everything along the river in San Isidro feels like a hidden gem. To access most of the restaurants, pubs and riverside shopping areas you must make your way through residential neighborhoods and shopping plazas. As you pass by these magnificent homes towards the water you can see these elaborate summer gardens through the gates of their giant secured walls.

Even when you approach the road along the river it doesn't seem like much. Dirt foot paths and humble restaurant entrances open up to a wonderful summertime oasis. Watching kite surfers fly across the Rio while taking in some sun and listening to Daddy Yankee bump through the speakers definitely isn't a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon. You won't find a lot of tourists here, that's for sure.

After a late night at the bar friday and early morning basketball session on saturday I was ready for a relaxing afternoon. I met up with a friend on Libertador Ave. in La Lucila and we jumped on a collectivo and then walked a good distance to find our first destination, La Anita Restaurant.

La Anita Restaurant is an awesome little bohemian style place with a really cool terrace in the back. You could easily just pass by it because when you first look in it just looks like a little kiosko (convenient store). The food is healthy and delicious and the crowd is young and vibrant. The only disappointing thing about the place is that they teased me with this lemonade with mint and ginger on the menu but they were all out when I tried to order it... man that sounded good!

After a great lunch we headed down for a siesta along the Rio. The second stop of the day was Peru Beach. This was an amazing complex with roller hockey, rock climbing and kite surfing. There was actually a big roller hockey tournament going on that day so it was cool to seeing Argentina's play some puck. Gergs, Howard and Mase would have loved this place.

We busted out a blanket on the open grass area along the water and just enjoyed the day. After some excellent people watching I crashed for a good hour with the sun on my face and a summer breeze coming in off the Rio de la Plata. It was a solid day and I'm big fan of Peru Beach.

CLAUSURA 2010: Racing vs Huracán

2010-03-03T17:35:38Z

(Tired and broken hearted, Racing fans wait for Huracán fans to stop cheering so they can leave)

The second official tournament of the year, the Clausura 2010, is well under way here in Argentina. Most teams are about 6 games in on their 19 game season and the madness is in full swing. Last night I ventured out to Racing for my first game of the season with my Italian buddy Marco. He is a die hard Racing fanatic so I couldn't help but to get in the spirit of things. The Racing Club is known for having one of the most loyal and rowdy fan basis despite the lack of success from the team itself.

I was cautious at first because it was a night game (9pm start) and the stadium wasn't located in the best of areas outside Capital Federal. However, once within about a mile radius of Racing you could feel the electricity begin to mount and any fear I had immediately turned to excitement.

My First Police Shake Down (Coima)

2010-03-02T17:38:35Z

As we pulled through the toll on our way back to Montevideo from Punta del Este we were waved down by a police officer standing behind the booth. It was Thursday afternoon, the sun was out and the roads were quiet. I don't know if it was the rental car sticker on our bumper, that we were coming from Punta del Este or because we were 4 men packed in a small car but the officer definitely knew we were coming in advance. The Policia spoke into his walkie-talkie as if to confirm he got us as he walked over to the side of the road where we were now parked.

Devin was driving and I was in the passenger seat. The officer stood at the drivers side window and inspected Devin's New York Drivers License first. Then, he asked if any of us spoke Spanish because he didn't speak any English. I reluctantly said "Si, yo hago... mas or menos". He asked Devin and I to get out of the car and come around front. From there (from what I understood) he proceeded to tell us the problem. he explained that our lights were off and that it was the law that they needed to be on at all times and from what I hear I guess this is actually true. He then asked about the English translation for a few words like "light and "on/off" and he seemed to get a kick out of how easy it was (light - Luz). After a few minutes of awkward small talk and nervous laughter he asked Devin to get back in the car.

T2t Hall of Fame: Prince Akeem & Semmi

2010-02-28T19:57:43Z

February's Tourist2townie Hall of Fame Inductee goes to Prince Akeem and Semmi from Coming to America. These two affluent African men left their comfortable lifestyles in search of adventure, opportunity and a wife that will arose intellect as well as loins! They lived, worked and dressed like townies! They had some good lost in translation moments and even had some success with local women. Prince Akeem & Semmi you two are truly an inspiration. Well done guys.

Happy Black History Month!

Check out the first ever T2t Hall of Fame Inductee: Terminator

NEW PICTURES: Punta del Este, Uruguay

2010-02-28T00:18:00Z

Check 'em Out

Turning Lemons into Lemonade in Punta del Este, Uruguay

2010-02-27T18:56:00Z

(1-0 Dedos vs. Dudes: The middle finger proved to be our Everest)

Imagine yourself driving home from a nice evening out on the town. Maybe you had a big dinner with friends, drank some wine and had a few laughs. Now imagine as you're heading back to your condo or hotel along the water you notice a commotion in the distance. You look closer and see something happening where you took those nice touristy photos earlier that day. Then you think... man, I hope nothing bad happened, is it a fight? Is everyone okay?

The answer is yes, it is a fight. And no, not everyone is okay.

It was a fight between 4 grown men and their quest to summit the middle finger of a hand protruding from the beach at 3:30am in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Straight out of a scene from The Hangover, my buddies and I thought it was a great idea to try and conquer Punta del Este's #1 landmark... Dedos (fingers). We were able to summit the thumb and pinky fingers without hesitation but the 25ft middle finger proved to be our Everest. We tried human ladders and swinging each other up but we just couldn't reach the peak. After some fighting within the team, cursing at the sand and collapsing on each other we decided to throw in the towel. 1 - 0 Dedos vs. Dudes.

Luckily for us there wasn't a whole lot of people passing by that night. Actually, there really wasn't anyone in the city our entire trip. We probably couldn't have gotten away with this in January. But, Punta del Este was pretty much dead so we tried our best to turn lemons into lemonade!

The Best of Buenos Aires: Summer Edition

2010-02-21T16:55:19Z

Despite the constant sweat and weird smells coming from the Subte, summer in Buenos Aires has been nothing short of spectacular . I've experienced a lot of great things here in the city over the last few months and I wanted to share a few of my favorite spots. After you read this list please recommend other summer places you love and think I should hit before the weather starts cooling off. Enjoy.

Here is my "Best of Buenos Aires: Summer Edition" List:

Best For People Watching:

Walking down Sante Fe Avenue [Palermo to Pueyrredon] between 4 and 7pm passing by Alto Palermo in the process.
Taking the 152 Collectivo (bus) through the city (my favorite ride) you can take it down to Puerto Madero from Palermo or all the way to La Boca.
Pick a park or plaza and have a seat. You can watch everything from make out sessions to beggars to kids playing in the fountains.

Best Getaways:

Tigre, Argentina - (Pictured Above) Start at the Puerto de Frutos and end the day eating lunch on one of the many islands. It's cheap and relaxing.
Polo lessons with Fernando - Spend an afternoon at a true estancia (ranch) and enjoy the countryside, fresh air and riding horses. Fernando is fluent in English, a great guy and a pretty damn good polo instructor to boot.
San Isidro & Martinez - Take a stroll along the Rio de la Plata and stop to eat at one of the many waterfront restaurants. I passed out in the grass one day at the bank of the river for about an 2 hours while watching kite surfers and views of the city. My roommate Sergio also told me that he rented a boat one day for him and his girlfiend in San Isidro... what a romantic guy huh?

A Real Look into Rosario, Argentina

2010-02-19T08:13:53Z

When the bus came into the city of Rosario I knew immediately I was in for a change of pace and scenery. The first thing I saw were boney horses tied up on the side of the road eating garbage and groups of "homes" put together with shrap metal and plywood.

About a month ago I had a friend of a friend from Chicago contact me and said he was going to be in Rosario for a few weeks visiting his home town. It was such an amazing gesture for him and his family to open their home to me so I jumped on the opportunity.

Despite my bus being an hour and a half late from Retiro, pouring rain and bumper-bumper traffic on the way to Rosario somehow I knew everything would work out fine on this blind adventure. Even when the bus driver came upstairs to find me and tell me he wasn't going to stop at the stop I wanted a girl behind said she would help me get to my buddy's place. Without having to ask her she guided me from the bus station to a local bus stop and she paid for me to take a 25-minute bus ride across town. She told me all about Rosario and different things on the street as we passed them by. Finally she warned me to be careful and I nervously got off the bus as she continued on.

T2t Named #22 - Thanks For the Votes!

2010-02-18T08:13:00Z

I want to take a quick second and say thank you very much for everyone who voted for the Top 100 International Exchange & Experience Blogs of 2010.

Tourist2townie.com was voted #22 of the top 100... Sweet!

There is so much more I want to add to this site so it's awesome just to get nominated at this point.

Here's a map showing where all the nominated blogs are from (zoom in tight to see T2t):

The Top 100 International Exchange and Experience Blogs 2010 by bab.la and Lexiophiles

Japanese Gardens for Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T20:29:00Z

Even though they don't really celebrate Valentine's day here in Buenos Aires I was in need of some afternoon delight last Sunday so I decided to take a little lady friend over to the Japanese Gardens (jardin japones) in Palermo. It was a great idea except there was ton of people. It would have been a lot easier to harness my inner chi if we'd went during the week. Regardless I'm a big fan of Koi fish so it made it all worth it.

We even got to see a Samauri demonstration which was... interesting. It would have been a lot more believable if he didn't drop the sword so much.

All-in-all a great place to take a date here in Buenos Aires and a nice little getaway (during the week).

MORE INFORMATION about the Japanese Gardens here.