Epilogue: The BA Confessions II

We spent the last 24 hrs in Buenos Aires having dinner with some friends at Bar Uriarte (Wednesday) and enjoying the warmest and the most beautiful winter day by strolling around the city (Thursday) in short sleeved shirts.

The month have come to an end and it's time to head back to what we call home. The experience has forever changed us, to the better I think. The luxury of having time to explore, reflect and think is priceless. Especially together.

The mission of life is to get to know and understand thyself with the result of personal insight and growth. But it's also to connect with your fellow neighbor. Traveling accelerates that process and forces you to process much more data, often very conflicting, at a higher speed.

Our stay in Buenos Aires, as well as our time off, has been a very healthy and productive mental katharsis. A lot of the negative byproducts from a life in the fast hi-tech lane (stress, urgency, competitive disease, machiavellian encounters, greed, fear...) are flushed out and left is a lot of positive energy.

I realize that everything that I have experienced over the past few years and especially over the past year was a must, a necessity to get me to where I'm today. It started out as a feeling, evolved into an intuitive thought and then into action.

Many a times I've doubted the decision as well as felt anxiety beyond my wildest dreams but realized that this experience is essential. A life withour context and purpose is a very poor life.

The positive energy, the great kharma, the ecstacy I'm feeling as I write this (partially derived from an excellent bottle of Bordeaux as well as jetlag) is few and far between and can only be described as the elixir of life.

We are back to our beloved San Francisco, writing this as we watch the sun set behind the Golden Gate Bridge. The palm trees are swaying outside our windows and the sky is filled with a warm haze. There is a sense of unity, of divine connection and of happiness that makes all the sacrifices completely and utterly worth it.

Our next phase in life is about to begin!

Santa Rita - Saving The Best For Last

Third time is truly a charm and we - finally - succeeded in booking a night at a real Estancia - Santa Rita outside of Lobos on Pampas. Santa Rita was built in 1790 by the Ezcurra family who sold it to senator Carboni in 1890 whose grandchildren then sold it to Isabel Duggan and Franklin Nüdemberg in 1988.

The estancia was in dire need of restoration after more than 70 years of negligence. Today the former staff building is almost completely restored and the main building (picture) is partially restored. The resoration is financed by having a few visitors at a time.

We got to Santa Rita on Tuesday afternoon after a 90-minute bus ride and a 40-minute cab ride on a very wet dirt road. We were greeted with wine and then a 45-minute horse ride around the 200 ha property.

We had the opportunity to hang out with one of the owners, Sr. Franklin Nüdemberg, who gave us a quick tour of the buildings and it's history. We learned that there are secret tunnels under the property, from the main building to the stables, to make an easy escape if attacked. Scary!

Gimme Some Sugar

Traveling is, believe it or not, hard work. Impressions, new cultural biases and strange rules take a lot of energy. So once in a while it's really nice to just revisit an old culinary friend - Sucre.

This excellent restaurant is among our top three favorites in Buenos Aires and is owned by the team behind Bar Uriarte (Palermo Viejo) and Bar Danzon (Recoleta).

They serve a fantastic Ojo de Bife and an exquisite Chocolate Volcano but have lots of other great meals on the menu as well. The only negative is that the location is all the way over in Belgrano, a 20-minute taxi ride (AR$10-12). And it can be hard to find a return taxi on slow evenings.

The Next Phase In Life

It's the silence in music that defines a masterpiece. It's the reflection in life that creates perspective. It's the failure / success that generates experience.

Life is a marathon with a lot of more or less important races. Inbetween the races there is need for charging the engine, refocusing and consolidating one's world view.

I feel that I've processed the past enough to be able to charge ahead with the present towards the future.

Crisp, Cold But Sunny - The Best Of BA Winter

A crisp and sunny winter morning saluted us as we left our pad for a brisk walk to San Telmo - the old Italian neighborhood. By now, the city map is tucked away and we solely navigate on memory, street names and compass direction.

We started out on Pechego de Melo, to Callao, Arenales and then the east and sunny side of Avenida de 9 de Julio, all the way down to the famous Obelix. There we took Avenida Corrientes to Balcarce and followed it down to the center of San Telmo for a great lunch at Abril. To tell you the truth, it's quite a walk. Took about 2 hrs.

Abril is a great low-key bistro with a very affordable lunch (AR$12-16). The food is well thoughout, original and well-tasting without being pretentious. I had curry meatballs with potatoes and the Missus a very tasty pasta with tomato sauce. Wine and coffee (Cortaditos) included.



Our walk back (oh yeah) went past Casa Rosada (The Pink House) which is the presidential palace on Placa de Mayo (Celebration of the independence day May 25, 1810), on Diagonal Norte up to the Obelix via Teatro Colon, Talcahuano, Arenales, Las Heras and Pechego. That took about 2 hrs, as well.

I'm not big on hiking but walking in a beautiful sunny city when time means nothing is a great adventure. We took about 60 pictures of all different kind of interesting things, people and buildings that we ran into on our walk.

Everything is Not What it Seems to Be

We finally got to Malba today to enjoy a somewhat obscure - but free - exhibition of Roy Lichtenstein's drawings. It wasn't that great and I almost got thrown out for taking pictures but a museum is a museum. We then walked to the intersection of Avenida Libertador and Sarmiento, and turned down towards Plaza Italia to find a good spot for lunch in Palermo Viejo.

The weather has been great (high 60's with blue sky) but we are expecting rain anytime now. Today we hit 72 degrees with a lot of humidity and dark grey skies.

We ran into the thinnest house in BA on the way back from lunch at Social Paraiso. It's in Barrio Norte on Arenales and could not be deeper than 10-12 feet. It looks like a Hollywood facade. Very unusual.

Being Foreign Ain't That Bad

[This image doesn't really have anything to do with the story except to illustrate the change, growth and challenges that the Porteños are experiencing. We took it today on our walk from Recoleta to Puerto Madero's Faena Hotel where we had lunch.]

When I ran down to our local Bodega - Armesto - to chat with my homies (the wine guy and the cheese guy) I realized that we are really settling in here. Sure, people look at me as if I came from Mars and insist to speak English with me eventhough I'm speaking Spanish. The general response - which I don't really know how to interpret - is "Wouldn't it be easier if we all spoke English?". Well, a kick in the balls would be more subtle.

Anywho, once you have graduated from the misery life of being a tourist to a traveller to a human being new doors open, both physical and metaphysical. The only way to create trust is to walk the talk, i.e. being here and keep on keepin' on. People start to accept you after a while. Accept the fact that you won't go away or that you are different. Worthy of getting to know and different from the fannie pack wearing crowd.

At the same time the language starts to work for you. All the TV watching and magazine reading is paying off. You start to construct sentences on your own that actually makes sense. It's nothing fancy but people understand. You connect. There is love. No wonder that you are so tired every night. All the impressions are exhausting.

Back to the wine and the cheese guy. We discussed wine and cheese for quite some time. Not bad. The conversation was rather simple but we connected and they send me off with a bottle of Lagarde, a Camembert and a smile. Sure, it was a monetary transaction but I felt something. A sense of beloning.

And He Smokes A Phattie...

I don't need more proof of character than Italy's coach Marcello Lippi lighting up a cigar and shedding a tear. The Italian team - except for a few players - has been great (talent + character) all through the tournament. They have played very well, been humble and finally celebrated the win like true champions. The Italians penalty shoot out was the most professional in this tournament. They simple nailed it as they should.

Zidane's unforgetable and unforgivable assault resulted in a great let down of his team, a loss in the shoot out and the sad end of a great career. Just shows that talent is not always accompanied with great character. ¡Viva Italia!

My Name is Pepe

Kharma is a funny thing. Two days ago I had an epiphany, or a breakthrough insight if you will. The solution to the challenge that I've been struggling with suddenly seemed very clear. Almost effortless. And it had everything to do with great kharma.

The half empty pint of Guinness suddenly became half full. It also meant that my journey is about to come to an end. The things I set out to do on this time off hiatus are almost completed. Sure, there are always room for improvement but the goals are met.

So right after I had the realisation as described above, three things happened. First, we got an offer to rent one the the coolest penthouses in Pacific Heights. Second, we wrote the outline - effortless I might add - to the book we are planning to write. And third, I got a very interesting job offer at a killer high tech company.

So do I believe in good kharma? Oh yeah - it's all about the kharma. Kharma is the currency of life, it's the glue that connects everything, it's why we are here.

Lomo - When You Want The Best Meat in BA

One of our favorite restaurants is Lomo on Costa Rica and Almería in Palermo Soho. Lomo means tenderloin in Spanish and is supposedly the best cut of meat. I personally favor both the Ojo de Bife (rib eye) and the Solomillo de Pulmon (hanger steak). That said, the Lomo grilled a punto is great.

Lomo - the restaurant - is a very unique place, a mix of a bar, a restaurant, a lounge and a music store. The only negative is that their main courses are quite pricey. Lomo a la Lomo, which is their signature dish with tenderloin, potato gratin and sauteed mushrooms will set you back AR$38 and the Lomo Mulata with tenderloin marinated in soy sauce and honey AR$35.

Unfortunatley they don't allow for free sharing of main courses but charges an additional 50% if you care to. That is silly and to my knowledge the only place that does among our favorites. Sharing a dinner, being able to try more things is one of the true joys of eating out.

The result is that we usually skip starter and the desert to make up for choosing two main courses instead of sharing one. There is no way we would be able to eat a three course dinner each. That said, their dishes are delish, the enviroment pretty cool and the service excellent.