South America

After a long day of touring the most prestigious wine region in Argentina we are left with the strange realization that the ingredients for good travel are so similar to that of a fine wine. The wine given the honor of being named Aregintina´s wine, Malbec, is a French word oddly enough for ¨bad taste¨. The story, as it was told to us, started in France, yet the climate was not conducive to this variety of grape, and so it was bitter to the discerning connoisseur and the grapes waited for many years to reach their potential - until of course they found root in the soil of Argentina. We learned today on our wine tour that there are four basic necessities for the innate potential of this very particular fruit: a conducive climate for optimal growth, soil that invites the roots to flourish, sun to feed and sweeten the grapes, and the potential of the grapes themselves to produce flavors that enrapture the pallet.

And so like the Malbec our potential waited for the opportune moment to find its roots and its climate. For we like the famed grapes of Mendoza were lost in the wrong land, wanting to travel to the region of Patagonia, but we were left uprooted by an ash fuming volcano who painted the sky of southern Argentina and Chile. Like the Malbec wine we found our way to Mendoza, known for its sunny climate and disposition of its citizens, and we´ve been growing fat on the vines of this region, happy to be at rest and relaxing in a city so inviting to weary travelers. Tomorrow we will take in the healing waters of the Cuyo region (which includes Mendoza and surrounding areas) to refresh our spirits along with our bodies, and like the vines who soak in the warmth of the sun, our muscles will soak in the warmth of the waters.

And so here we sit with the tart taste of Tempranillo (our new favorite vino) wet upon our lips, just having left the embrace of each other´s arms as we learned the Tango. As our love for Argentina grows with every new town and every new experience, so too does our love of the Tango flourish. We are ever humble, and so it is with a blush that we tell you that an observer of our lesson wondered which was the teacher - Eric or Kriya, and was amazed to learn that as we practiced on our own, it was only after our first lesson. So now emboldened, we have scheduled a private lesson with the Tango teacher extraordinar, Alejandra, tomorrow at our hotel.

Since our return from the jungle and the spectacular falls of Iguaçu, Buenos Aires, or BA as the locals affectionately refer to it, feels more and more like home. Today on our way to the train to leave to the city of Tigre we were pleasantly sidetracked by a full military band commemorating some long lost battle (or so we assumed), and amazed by the murals gut-wrenching in their depictions and oddly placed in a mall, that we never did make it onto the train. BA in all of its mystery wouldn’t let us leave her borders today for any other city.

We must leave you now for a Tango show in Palermo to be followed by a night of dancing. Of course we wish you were here with us now to dance the night away in the city of passions, the city of Tango, the city that feels more like home everyday.

It is commonly asked of the traveler the first impressions of a new land, that moment that helps to define the way you will process the rest of the information flooding your senses. So, you might ask, ¨What were our first impressions of Buenos Aires?¨ They came in flashes, these impressions, quick like liquid memory. We saw cobblestone streets, tattered and broken, parks with only patches of grass, so well worn they looked like comfortable sweaters, a reminiscence of the opulence of the 1920´s faded now, but still remembered fondly.

As quick as our sight filled with new images our stomachs were aching for their own experiences and food was not far behind. We actually spent most of our first day eating with some sightseeing, if you can count the inside of cafes and restaurants as sightseeing. Our first meal in BA was at a small (maybe the size of a walk-in closet filled with kitch hanging from the walls and rafters) shop that sold empanadas. We split two delicioso veg and cheese empanadas and an Argentinean beer (I know it´s blasphemy to drink beer in a wine producing country) and thought we were in 7th heaven. Because we are ever so inter-na-tion-al we went to a Cuban restaurant for dinner called Rey Castro or King Castro. What an experience. Castro would have been pleased. The food was only the backdrop to the show, with singers, a salsa dancer, and of course a drag queen comedian. There was a dance floor on the third level that was only starting to fill at 2 am, but we couldn´t keep up with the locals and sleep called us back to our hotel. We will try, yes we will, to stay up past 2 (but as of today we´ve had little success.)

Today we practice the language of passion, the language of Tango. And this evening we will put into motion our new vocabulary at a Molonga.

We are about to leave for the airport, and finally got a blog set up! The next 15 hours will be spent on an airplane or in airports, but when we step off that plain we'll be in Buenos Aires, Argentina! Great information about our trip will be posted over the next month whenever we get a chance to be at a internet cafe.

All the best,
Kriya & Eric