Yes, THAT Cemetery

I am not a big fan of cemeteries. My dad died when I was 12 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Toledo. That was my first real exposure to cemeteries, which freaked me out at the time and for a long time after.

As an adult, I learned to enjoy walking around the lovely Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus (looking for James Thurber's grave with "the last flower" on the headstone) as well as windswept cemeteries on Nantucket, which feel haunted by drowned sailors and whalers. 

Even though I have had zero interest in touring Pere Lachaise when in Paris, I felt somewhat compelled to visit the grand necropolis of Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires. I did not rush there. We had been in the city for a couple of months before I ventured there on a beautiful spring morning. I went alone because Boy has been full of questions about death, skeletons, and ghosts lately. I know it is natural for children to be interested in death, but I am not always ready to give the answers.


I found the Recoleta Cemetery creepy yet serenely peaceful. Hearing mourning doves seemed appropriate, and I heard no city sounds at all (once I left the crowds behind who were wandering around looking for Eva Perón's grave). Feral cats sleeping in the sun added to the tranquil nature of the setting.

I enjoyed it so much that I ended up going three more times during our five months in the city. 

see the caskets???

Even if death or the celebrity of death makes you uncomfortable, one cannot help but marvel at the gorgeous, eclectic monuments and the overall scale (14 acres) of the place.

Although most of the facades and graves are well cared for, many are not. It is common to find dilapidated family crypts with broken glass and trash inside. Wooden caskets are completely visible as are family photos, dead or plastic flowers, and dirty lace coverlets over the caskets. 

Some masoleums have numerous tiny caskets stacked on top of one another -- not sure if they held babies or cremated remains. In the ones you can see inside, there are also narrow steps going down with five or so caskets stacked on top of each other.

Here are some beautiful things in the cemetery that resonated with me:

resting putto

a bronze relief honoring a doctor

a life-size sculpture honoring a woman who founded a school

larger than life, this is mounted against black granite

                               

                              art deco beauty and simplicity -- I love the typography

a sculpture honoring a blind woman with her dog: she was killed in an accident on her honeymoon

                        

                      one of the very few reminders of death in the Recoleta Cemetery

Hot Dining Trend: Puerta-Cerrada Restaurants

Husband wonders where the restaurant is located.

Puerta-cerrada (closed-door) restaurants are hot in Buenos Aires. I had read about the trend in Time Out and the New York Times as well as on a few blogs, so we were eager to try it. 

This dining experience was started by a few chefs who opened their homes and serve their specialties, their whims, what is fresh, what they can get their hands on, and/or what is coming up in their own gardens. 

Part of the fun is that you don't know if there will be two or 20 people dining with you. You also are not told the exact location until you make the reservation.


Comparable to speakeasies in the 1920s, we questioned the tax, health codes, and legality of the whole situation.

These dinners are cash only. We went with friends from the U.S., and had memorable, relaxed evenings. We also met some interesting foodie expats and travelers from around the world. Although we have had a lot of great meals in Buenos Aires, Husband and I were sorry to not try a few more puerta-cerrada restaurants. We highly recommend it.

I did not take pictures of the food some reason but here is what we enjoyed.

Cocina Sunae was by far the best Asian food that we had in Buenos Aires in five months. (We found Asian food in general to be bland and overpriced. Sushi in BsAs is particularly bad, with cream cheese used on most rolls -- yuck.)

• Primer paso: wontons with beef and pork, served with a Thai sweet chili sauce
• Segundo paso: Goi Con: fresh Vietnamese hand rolls with pork, shrimp, vermicelli rice noodles, mint, cilantro, and peanut sauce
• Tercer paso/Plato principal: Gaeng Gong: shrimp stewed with red curry and coconut milk, bamboo shoots, and cherry tomatoes, served with steamed rice
• Cuarto paso: fried banana roll served with homemade green tea ice cream

Cost was $95 AR per person, plus wine.

Casa Felix:

• Custom cocktail: Brazilian mojito with piperita mint
• Amuse bouche: nasturtium leaf with almond frittata
• Botana: chipa, paico criolla with sweet lime, fennel, and pea puree
• Appetizer: winter locro, suico pesto, grilled oyster mushroom
• Intermezzo: mandarin and kumquat granita
• Plato principal: pecan and quinoa encrusted sandperch; vegetable asado; Tempranillo, pine mushroom and strawberry reduction
• Postre: moist chocolate cake with aguaribay spiced pears

Cost was $150 AR per person, plus another $50 AR per person for the wine pairing. 

"Argentina's Napa Valley"

Alta Vista winery entrance with lavender and olive trees

In October, Husband and I sneaked away (sans Boy and Girl) for a quick trip to Mendoza, "Argentina's Napa Valley". Husband was invited there to give a lecture on the upcoming U.S.elections and the Tea Party movement, so I got to tag along.

Argentina has been producing wine since the 1500s, tracing its heritage to Spain, France, and Italy. Mendoza produces 70 percent of Argentina's wine. Much of the rest is produced to the north, near Salta, with only a few vineyards flourishing to the south, in Patagonia.

Until the 1990s Argentina primarily produced inexpensive table wine for the home market. Only with the infusion of foreign capital and investment (France, Italy, U.S., and China, more recently) was Argentina able to make its mark abroad and in the U.S., although Chile remains far ahead in exports.

Argentina's most successful grape, Malbec is enjoying its moment as the darling of critics and wine drinkers everywhere.

The region is framed on the west by snowcapped peaks of the Andes Mountains. (Well, that is what the books say and the pictures show, but we happened to visit while it was rainy and overcast.) Our wonderful guide, Gustavo Delucchi told us it only rains about 30 days a year. During our short stay, we neither saw the mountains nor did we take any pictures of the vineyards -- it was just too gray.

Mendoza irrigation

Since the area is high and arid, mountain snow melt is used for irrigation in a simple but effective way -- roadside ditches and channels that run through the vineyards. Very few vineyards use the drip technology that is common in other winemaking areas.

Mendoza has three wine regions: Maipu, Luján de Coyo, and the Uco Valley. Of the 800 wineries located in Mendoza, around 100 offer tours and tastings. Since we only had one day, Gustavo recommended that we visit Luján de Cuyo. He picked us up at the Sheraton Mendoza promptly at 9:30 am. The drive out of the city took about 30 minutes. 

We were glad that we had hired a guide and not attempted to drive ourselves -- the combination of multiple wine tastings and not-well-marked dirt roads would have taken away from the relaxing nature of the trip. 

Gustavo Delucchi

Gustavo was a perfect guide, giving us informative background information and history of the region, and on winemaking and local business practices. His English is excellent, but is clearly informed by MTV and reality programs from the U.S. He told us a couple of very funny stories, where, thinking he was being hip, he used words like "pimp" and 'ho" with clients from the U.S. and England. Husband and I laughed a lot. "For sure," also rolled easily off his tongue, although Husband has noticed that many Argentines say this when speaking English.

Gustavo's service was $550 AR (about $140 USD) for the day, which included transportation in a clean, newish car. We felt that it was well worth the cost. 

Our first stop was the Achaval-Ferrer winery where we joined a tour already in progress. Husband and I have toured wineries in Napa Valley and France, so a lot of the general information, process, and equipment was familiar. Where the tour differed though was when the guide took us into the inspection and labeling room. We were impressed that every bottle produced there is inspected under light (to look for sediment) before being hand-labeled and boxed.

Alta Vista cave

Next we visited Alta Vista. The first step down into the cool cave was almost intoxicating with the smell of oak and red-wine earthiness (you know this particular smell if you have toured wineries before).

The weekend before our trip to Mendoza, friends had shared a fabulous meritage from Benegas Lynch. Although it was not on our itinerary, Gustavo was able to make a call and get us in for a private tour. It turned out to be the highlight of our trip.

family dining room at Benegas Lynch A lovely woman named Cecilia (whose sister played field hockey at Ohio State -- small world) gave us a truly great tour of Benegas Lynch and the family dining room. A bodega with an interesting history -- including that it was once owned by the family that owns El Trapiche -- we saw meticulously kept business records from the 1890s as well as a guest book from the 1920s. Displayed throughout the home is an amazing collection of traditional ponchos collected by owner Federico Benegas Lynch (whose mother is a Norton -- another famous Argentine winemaking family). Lunch was late and long, beginning at 1:30 at Bodega Ruca Malen. We savored four delicious courses that were carefully paired with wines to complement the food (or maybe the food was to complement the wine -- not sure). Many of the courses were served by the chef himself. The whole experience was ridiculously indulgent. Here is our lunch menu ($210 AR/$52 USD per person: Appetizers: quinoa and lemon salad with Arbequina olive oil, green apple chip with citrus mousse paired with Yauquen Chardonnay 2009; spicy beef brochette; pumpkin and walnut empanada served with a chimichurri sauce made with Picual olive oil, paired with Yauquen Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 Starter: fresh cheese, leek, and olive terrine with pine mushrooms on toasted country bread with Arauco & Farga olive oil, paried with Ruca Malen Merlot 2005 Main: grilled beef tenderloin with cabernet and cassis sauce, fire-roasted eggplant and potatoes, and vegetable brunoise, paired with Ruca Malen Malbec 2007 and Kinien Cabernet Sauvignon 2002. Palette cleanser: chardonnay, lemon, and rosemary granitee Postre: banana wrapped in a crepe with white chocolate, cinnamon and honey sauce, paired with Ruca Malen Chardonnay 2007 And finally, coffee and petit fours. We were scheduled to visit Catena Zapata after lunch but decided to cancel since it was almost 4 p.m. We just could not ingest any more wine or food. We skipped dinner that night as well since the food/wine coma lasted about 18 hours.  Although we had one very full day in Mendoza, someday I hope to return for three or four days to visit each of the regions. Next time I would choose to stay at a vineyard with a spa instead of in the town of Mendoza. Something else to consider is that Mendoza is closer to Santiago, Chile than it is to Buenos Aires. Gustavo told us that he would drive to Santiago to pick us up and drive back to Mendoza over the Andes, which sounds fabulous. Can't wait for next time....

Benegas Lynch cave

Benegas Lynch degustation

Benegas Lynch cave