We took a day trip to Colonia del Sacramento! It's only about an hour ferry ride from Buenos Aires and we went on President's Day, since the stock market was closed and Steph could take the day off. The ferry was a little challenging with the kids but we made it there and back in one piece. Our concierge booked our ticket for us which was really great since the website is super confusing. Luckily, there is always priority boarding for families with small children so we zipped through the check in and were able to find a seat near the window. The kids ran around the boat several hundred times, with each of us taking turns keeping an eye on them. We had coffee, orange juice and some seriously tasty dulce de leche alfajores from
Havana. (If you click on this link, you will see the most delicious snack!)
Here is Graham pleading with Juli for a lollipop.
When we arrived, we went straight to the visitors center to get some information and a map. It was perfect because the lady told us exactly where to go and how to rent a golf cart.
We rented a golf cart and drove straight to the historic neighborhood which is a Unesco World Heritage site. It has narrow cobblestone streets lined with sycamore trees and beautiful gorgeous open air cafes. Here are a few pics from our quick visit. I hope I can go back to get some more images, there just wasn't enough time!
Lulu says hi to nearly every dog in the neighborhood, it's so sweet!
Juli came with us and I am so glad she did! It was a huge help to have her with us!
We had lunch at this awesome little boutique hotel called
Charco Hotel. It wasn't in our guide book but we chose it because it had couches overlooking the water and since Graham had fallen asleep, it was a perfect place to plop him down for a nap. Check out this amazing Provoleta, it's basically grilled provolone cheese and it is a staple here in Argentina, it's so delicious!
The last thing on our agenda was to put our toes in the sand so we went to the beach before boarding the ferry. We drove our golf cart to a little campsite and let the kids go swimming.
Cheers to a fantastic trip!!!
Just a few pics from our first apartment in Recoleta, we LOVED it! This trip was so last minute, we planned it so quickly. I literally did not read my Lonely Planet book until I hit the ground here. The one thing we did really intensley research before we left were our accommodations, all of which we booked on
Airbnb. And we were so, so lucky to find Madi at
Buenos Aires Cultural Concierge!!! She was a huge help in our apartment search. We sent her a list of our top pics, she narrowed them down and then visited our finalists! Madi told us if the apartment was in a good neighborhood, or if the stairs were kid friendly, she basically made sure that this experience would meet our expectations, which was wonderful! I think where you stay really does play such a major part, especially if you need to spend a lot of time there while kids are napping or if you want to have a casual dinner at home every now and then! We are renting three different apartments/houses over the course of our stay here. Most people don't rent their homes for a very long period of time, which is how we ended up in both Recoleta and Palermo Soho. I think it was probably for the best so that we could experience two different barrios. Here are few pics from our apartment in Recoleta, it was classic and very French. We fell in love with our Super,
Carlos, who kissed the babies every day and let us park our stroller in the garage. He even took out our trash, we just left it in the hallway outside of our door, how convenient. The location was absolutely perfect. I was so sad to leave and wish we could have stayed a little longer. Here is Graham in the elevator (this provided hours of amusement for us).
Here are Steph and Lulu in the foyer. I should mention that the owner of the apartment is a Chef from
Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, so the kitchen was fully equipped. She also had a few photos of her, her family and friends and I love it when people leave these things out, it gives you a little glimpse into their life. I certainly will do the same if we ever Airbnb our house.
Here's Lulu on the way out for an adventure.
Here's Lulu in the morning with my favorite little lamp,
the Lumio, that I got for Christmas.
We picked up this little plant basket for like $4 at the Recoleta Feria but Lulu likes to wear it as a purse.
She is shouting "UNO, DOS, TRES"!
We spent a lot of time in this spot, watching the world pass by each day.
I love this shot, really shows the kids bonding. I think that this trip has really brought them so much closer! They only have each other to play with and it's been so sweet to watch this transformation between the two of them.
Our apartment was the entire third floor of this building.
Here's G in the kitchen with his Cindor chocolate milk.
Daddy home from work! Yah!
I apologize for the long post! I'm packing a bunch in to this post only because we've been so busy enjoying the trip and I'm playing catch up. The first two weeks were so enjoyable in our lovely Recoleta neighborhood, what a nice transition to Buenos Aires! It was relaxed and easy. I love this idea of staying somewhere for a month or two at a time. There is really no rush to pack it all in, you can take your time discovering new places and meeting new people and just sit back and soak it in! Here are a few pics from some of our adventures around the city. We went to the famous San Telmo Market on Sunday and I cannot wait to get back and dig through more of the stands, there were some amazing artists and some super cool antiques. We started the morning with breakfast at a traditional cafe called Bar Plaza Dorrego then wandered around the Feria.
We went to Recoleta Cemetery a few times because it was a leisurely 10 minute walk from our apartment. We would plan on getting a drink or ice cream on the way back with the kids. I loved wandering around the "streets" and peeking in the old crypts at the dusty coffins. This cemetery is 4 city blocks and contains about 4,800 mausoleums! Evita is buried here. It is truly a sight not to be missed.
Also, we got a STROLLER! I do not know what on earth I was thinking not bringing one. We are using it mainly for walks around our neighborhood. If we jump in a taxi to go somewhere, we usually don't take it. It's just for long walks around the hood or for safety reasons when we want the kids to be buckled in.
Lulu loved chasing the cats around the cemetery.
So typical...Graham in stoller, baby Lu pushing it...
One night we walked over to the Floralis Generica, which we like to refer to as the Buenos Aires "Bean". It's basically a giant solar-powered flower sculpture in a well manicured Plaza. It was a nice walk and we stopped by the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes as well.
I love this sweet image. Sometimes the best way to get a good image of your kids is to just let them play and run around! And chase after them with your camera!
Here is Recoleta at night. I am so impressed by all of the dogs off leash! They are so well trained here! I also loved watching people just sitting in the park writing in their journals or reading a book. Gentle reminders to try to chill out a little bit when I get back to the EEUU (USA).
The kids went to a talleres (workshop/camp) a few times, it was nice to try something new for them and I think they really loved it! Also, the teachers said that they were "perfect", which is like music to my ears!!! I was happy to give them some constructive play time with other children. It was a little like Play Garden for all of my Charleston friends, but with a little more structure. When Juli and I went to pick them up, they were singing songs in Spanish in a circle and my kids were hanging on one of the male teachers like he was a jungle gym. Since we were moving to Palermo Soho after two weeks, we didn't sign them up for regular classes. We will try some new things for the kids in Palermo Soho.
They loved it here and of course for snack they served Dulce de Leche on crackers!
A few pics from our short walk home from camp with Juli. Graham is positively in love with her!
There is a tiny little convenience store and Graham loves to stop and point out every super hero that he would like to purchase. He has a little pouch now and is saving up his pesos. He has collected a few so far.
Graham and Juli outside of our favorite little cafe, Josephine's. They have the best Limonada with mint and ginger, yummy! I also had a few of my spanish lessons here with Ivana.
There was this cute little creperie right outset of our apartment called "C'est Cool" and they had yummy fresh squeezed juices and crepes to go. These were taken on Valentine's Day so they had some pink balloons outside.
A few of my favorite memories from the first two weeks:
- Watching Graham take his first two taxi rides. He sat so still and was just taking it all in, I could not help but watch his little face try to figure it all out. Same with watching him learn how to use the elevator and the toilets!
- Hanging my laundry up to dry...I love this for some reason! Doesn't it just take you back?? Our Recoleta apartment had this cool pulley system so you could pull your clothes up to the ceiling and out of the way to dry.
- Trying Dulce de Leche with Juli
- Watching the kids play at Plaza Vincente Playground (another post on that later)
- Meeting sweet little Juli, the Superintendent's daughter, on our daily walks. You can see an image of her
here.
- Having coffee with four lovely gents at La Nucha one morning after my run, I love meeting new people!
- Having snack with the large windows open out to the street, this felt so very Parisian to me
- Lulu slept in her first big girl bed in Recoleta, Buenos Aires! Yah, Lulu! My sweet girl is getting so big!
- Walking to Tutte Panne for medialunas with Lulu in the morning.
- Taking my spin class and trying to figure out what the instructor was saying. Spanish is the sexiest, seriously! Arriba!
- Taking class with my instructor Ivana, she is so wonderful and it sounds like she is singing a song when she speaks to me! She is so kind, too, knowing that I no hablo espanol!
- A few late nights out with Steph. We tried our first Parrilla (Argentine bbq), called
Parrilla Pena and it was incredible! We also went to an Italian restaurant called
La Locanda and we got to speak to the chef and had the best wine and meal ever!
Juli taught us how to make Mate! We have been wondering what the heck this thing is...everyone drinks out of this vessel at the playground and around town, Steph thought it was tobacco or something, when in fact, it's tea served in an argentine gourd. Mate is a traditional tea drink made of dried leaves of yerba mate. You basically pour a bunch of dried tea leaves into the mug, then pour boiling water on top. The silver straw is actually an infuser. You can purchase these decorative gourds pretty much anywhere. I'm on the hunt for an antique one at San Telmo market. I probably won't use it for tea, maybe to store toothbrushes or something, but I love that this little decorative item can transport me back to this moment here with Juli in our Recoleta apartment. It tastes great although I take mine with a little bit of sugar. Graham loved it!
It took about a day to recover from the flight and get adjusted to our new apartment and living situation. Steph and I took turns napping and the kids slept a lot on day 1 as well. We met Juan from
Buenos Aires Cultural Concierge and he was able to change some money for us just to get by for a day or two until we were able to change more. This was so helpful! Typically, Steph and I love to figure everything out out on our own, isn't that one of the most thrilling things about traveling? But because this was last minute trip, we decided to hire a concierge service to help us. I cannot tell you how incredible this has been for us thus far. It's also been so helpful to have Madi, our Concierge, interpret some of the websites I've found for kids camps and things that are entirely in Spanish. She has arranged a ferry ride for us, offered suggestions on everything from yoga, the best parillas, estancias (farms), kid/mom cafes...seriously, she has covered all of our interests. She has made this trip such a breeze! Thank you, Madi and Juan from BsAs Cultural Concierge!!! I really did not even open my
Lonely Planet guide book until I arrived here. Here are a few pics from our first few days/week in the city we are calling home for the next two months! Pictured below is orientation day (pesos in the top right corner, medialunas in the top left corner, some notes on how Steph gets to work on the bus, how to call a taxi, etc)...so helpful to have someone come directly to you and welcome you to the city in this fashion.
We walked around our new neighborhood in Recoleta. I can only compare this to Upper East Side in NYC, maybe? It's the fancy part of town, very classic, very french, manicured parks and sidewalks...and lots and lots of beautiful people! Here is Graham at a corner flower market.
Lulu napping on day 1 after her horrible flight! Side note - this was her first time in a big girl bed! If you are a parent and you are looking for a great way to break habits or to move on to the next stage of toddlerhood, I think travel is a great way to do so! I did not arrange for a crib for baby because I thought it was a good time to move on...so we are making it work! The only "baby" things I brought for them are their blankets...I left all of their snack packs and small cutlery at home...they need to learn how to eat, drink, sleep like big people!
We found our FAVORITE park in the city, Plaza Vincente Lopez, about 2 blocks away from our apartment. We have been here every single day since we found it! The kids love it! I cannot say enough great things about this park. There is free wi-fi (YAH!) and each playground (there are two) are completely gated in for safety. The ground is all sand so if you close your eyes, it almost feels like you are at the beach! There are a zillion kids and it feels really safe. All of the kids are very nice, as are the parents, and my kids seemed to blend in instantly! I have so many pics from this park and so many wonderful observations, I'll have to do another post.
We of course met our new nanny, Juli! We LOVE Juli! She is so fantastic and we are so grateful she came all the way from Tucumon to come spend time with our family. We found a nanny through a friend of a friend in the US and it just felt like something we should do so that Steph and I would have more flexibility to see the city. It is so helpful to have her with us, her english is great and she is already in love with the kids and the kids love her! We can get around town much easier with Juli. Usually I spend the morning with the kids and Juli and then as soon as I get one baby down for nap, I am out the door to go shopping, go to a museum or go to my Spanish tutor. Here are the kids with Juli at her favorite childhood attraction,
Museo de los Niños. It's basically a giant Children's Museum in a shopping mall. It was closed when we went to visit (note to self, always check hours before you go!) but luckily, there were some cool games and things down the hall that occupied the kids. We will have to go back and check it out.
DULCHE DE LECHE! Ummmm......I have no words, this stuff is insanely good! I asked Juli to help me prepare typical Argentine snacks for the kids and of course she said "Dulce de Leche with bread or bananas or strawberries or really, anything"! She also said the one thing she cannot understand about the USA is the lack of Dulce de Leche. I agree, Juli! I need to post a pic of the choices in the store, there are a zillion! It's so awesome. Here is Lulu trying her first Dulce de Leche sandwich, this was an afternoon snack, she is of course hooked and will open the fridge and reach for it now.
Love at first bite.....
Lulu and I woke up one morning before the boys and went out for a little spin around the hood...
We went to Tutte Panne down the street for a few medialunas (sweet croissants). This place is seriously dangerous for me, I love everything there. Luckily, the gym is right down the street and we joined the gym so I was able to balance out my medialuna consumption with a few spin classes.
Here is Lulu right outside of our apartment building. She wanted to carry the bag of goodies home to the boys. I find myself looking at her wondering if any of this trip will sink in or have any impact on her, I hope it does. Maybe she will come back to this wonderful place one day and we can visit her when she is studying spanish or architecture or something cool!
Of course priority number uno on Steph's list is to find the best meat and cheese shop in town. I'm not kidding, he will walk around the whole neighborhood three times until he finds his top choices. Lucky for us, our Airbnb hostess left a little guide for us that listed her top delicatessens.
Oh, and I've been drinking Malbec every night since I moved out our our house in January! So great to be in Malbec central at last!!! We've been drinking yummy $4-$8 Malbec from Mendoza and it is crazy good!
And of course, I will end with this image because I feel like the instant we got to Bs As, Lulu aged a year...or 10! All grown up, I can see her here in 17 years in this same spot...
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