ellen sent me this and…wow.
So much geeking out, so little time.
battlestarprops.com
Pasadena Convention Center
A group of us headed down to Long Beach for whale watching and it was the perfect day for it: over 80 degrees in January and plenty of whales in the ocean.
dude down the street changed his ‘la cucaracha’ car horn to the theme from ‘the godfather’.
Game night started with Settlers of Catan, but then Cameron and I finally had some takers for Super Jenga, a hypothetical game we’ve been itching to try since we realized we both had Jenga. What if we put the two Jenga sets….together? Into ONE TOWER??
Turns out, Super Jenga is more entertaining/nervewracking than we could have imagined, especially since the tower lasted way longer than we all anticipated. This was our Friday night, folks. 🙂
second time in less than a year. wtf. good thing i don’t have a job or i would’ve caused quite the scene, writhing on the floor in a cold sweat.
On our last day in Argentina I got up and packed, then ate an alfajor on the balcony and watched San Telmo wake up.
We hit Hipopótamo for breakfast croissants, ran across a fresh-meat truck, then went to the el Zanjón underground museum. It was super cool and we suspect the last-minute tour guide was the project manager, or maybe the owner of the property. He had a lot of fun inside stories about the discovery of the ruins and development of the project, and he clearly loved the project a great deal.
We took a cab to Belgrano to have lunch at a high-end restaurant called Sucre (on Calle Sucre). We had an amazing meal that would’ve cost at least $100 each in the US for about $30 each: i had Famiglia Bianchi sauvignon blanc 2007 (we split a bottle), risotto with orange, dried tomato, pine (matsutake) mushrooms and parsley, procuitto and cheese croquettes, dulce de leche volcano cake with green tea ice cream, orange chocolate cheesecake, and some dessert wines. The food was amazing, the service was fantastic, and the restaurant itself was a glass and cement masterpiece. The bar had a two story lighted wall of bottles, the door was a 10′ tall 4′ wide section of the wall that swung open effortlessly, and a large temperature-controlled wine vault dominated the dining room, while splitting it into different areas.
After lunch we walked across the street to Plaza Mexico and took some photos – we told a little story in stills that was hilarious at the time, but I’m not sure what the end result will look like.
We went back to San Telmo to finish packing, then walked to Puerto Madeira for dinner. We ate at a huge Italian-y place called Capisci (narrowly beating a tour bus-load of people) where I had the caprese cappionetta. We ran back to the apartment to meet our check-out time then took a taxi to the airport.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! over christmas i found out that my cousin (who lives in DC) and her mom are going to the illinois inaugural ball. after considering a trip to DC to just be in the city for the inauguration, and then rejecting the idea due to lack of job, financial responsibility, etc etc…i got a surprise call today that my mom is going to pay for my flight to DC and my grandma is buying me a ticket to the ball!! the ball! of obama’s home state! so he’s practically guaranteed to make an appearance! OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG i can’t believe it! SOOO!!!! EXCITED!!!!!! BEST PRESENT EVER!!!!
We took a cab to Congreso to have lunch at a Peruvian restaurant recommended by a couple of our guide books. But of course, since it’s Argentina, the restaurant wasn’t going to open until an hour later than posted. So, we went to la Moncloa for licuados and coffee to kill some time. Then we walked around the block a few times in an effort to avoid a creepy probably-homeless guy who was trying but not trying to sell some weird rings, and was (maybe) attempting to teach us some words in Spanish. We were all really uncomfortable until I remembered to say, “No molestar!” and we scurried away.
Finally Chan Chan opened, and it was really good! The restaurant was brightly painted (including the bathroom) and the food was plentiful and cheap. We ordered a ceviche sampler – five different kinds of ceviche – as an appetizer, but when it came out, each portion was big enough for a meal. I had lamb stew and there were some delicious little corn nut type things for snacks.
Sunday is market day in San Telmo, and we wanted to get some presents for people back home. Market day. Was. Crazy. The streets were completely filled with people – a complete about-face from the rest of our stay. We saw a great tango band, lots of neat antiques and jewelry, and a group of young people holding up signs offering free hugs! We went to Havana to buy dulce de leche and alfajores then headed back to the apartment to relax before dinner. On the way back, a pigeon flew by me and pooped on my foot. ON MY FOOT. AS I WAS WALKING. HOW!??? Anyway, luckily I was wearing flip flops so it easily washed off with water from one of our omnipresent bottles, but unluckily I was wearing flip flops so the poo was all over my bare toes and warm and slimy and so gross I wanted to cry.
We were at the apartment for an hour or so when we started to feel some weird vibrations. It was kind of a ‘Jurassic Park’ moment. It got closer and closer until we realized some drums were headed our way. We went out on the balcony and saw a drum and dance group heading down Defensa!
We had dinner at Manolo so we could have steak one last time. Cecile and I ate our entire steaks, making sure to slather them in Manolo’s delicious chimichurri.