traveling to argentina
 

gaucho,

thanks for the bringing up one of the most beautiful countries in the world. i have the privilege to have visited argentina more than 2 dozen times for work and pleasure. on one occasion, i brought ten friends from boston and gave them a personal tour. some who have returned every year.

my trips to argentina include visits to buenos aires, the paris of latin america, patagonia, where the valleys, mountains and skiing will mesmerize you, peninsula valdez, where the whales start their migration north (what a sight), el tigre, the beautiful city a few miles to the north of ba, and mendoza, where i drank my way through and didn't want to leave.

during one visit to mendoza three years ago, my friends and i were having dinner at the mahlman restaurant at the catena winery (they also own the seasonal mahlman 1863 restaurant in the hamptons). we toured a few vineyards and saw how they still use the old irrigation system built by the natives hundreds of years ago with water from the andes.

the restaurant is an old fort with a grass inside patio and lit by candelabras, where we sat under the clear night, watching the total eclipse of the moon. we had purposely planned the trip to watch the eclipse, which was visible from the south hemisphere. the house wine is mahlman 863, a malbec, syrah and cabernet blend that we all agreed was one of the top five wines we had ever tasted. it was truly a memorable experience.

the following is general information on argentina:
1. places to stay: i like the hilton on puerto madero because it's in the city, has easy access to everywhere, great walking paths on the canal, walking distance to everywhere and in a great area. the hotel is relatively new, very modern and the rates are inexpensive.
2. wines: the catena house is my favorite for reds. the famous catenas, catena alta, catena zapata and angelica zapata will delight any discerning palate. other reds include luigi bosca and los nobles. for whites, the norton sauvignon is one of the best i've ever had. like montalcino, many wine stores will make arrangements to ship to the us.
3. ricoleta: great market on sundays to buy just about everything.
4. places to see: teatro colon (will remind you of la scala), 9 de julio avenue (the widest in the world - 24 lanes), the cathedral, the plaza de mayo, the pink house (modeled after our white house, but pink), whose original paint had bull blood to give it it's unique pink.
5. restaurants: la ca......iza. the best! owned by cattle ranchers. the stock roams freely around the pastures eating grass and drinking fresh water from the streams. all restaurants are great. the real inventors of bar-b-q. nothing artificial.
6. antiques: san telmo. although the stores are closed on sundays, you have to visit the market and watch real tango on the plaza. during any other day, the shops will take you back in time.
7. florida street: starts next to the marriott. all the shopping you can do.
8. cigars: tabaqueria inglesa on paraguay street, off florida street. only 3 blocks from the marriott. they ship cubans to the us. ask for luca, the owner, and tell him his friend from boston sent you.
9. leather: bring any picture from any fashion magazine and they'll custom make it for you the same day, including jackets, skirts, pants or whatever you want. the winter coats are amazing.
10. if you have time... i recommend: 1). mendoza. it's about an hour flight from ba and cheap. the park hyatt is a good place to stay; 2). the iguazu falls in brazil. it's a short trip from ba and worth seeing one of the most beautiful falls in the world.


i highly recommend visiting argentina. the people are very friendly, respectful and are some of the best mannered in the world. they also love americans.

enjoy your trip.

Some excellent advice above. Just a clarification, the Mendoza restaurant mentioned is Mallmann 1884 and is located at the Escorihuela Gascon winery.

thanks for the correction. mallman 1884 is the name of the wonderful restaurants and wines we had. however, escorihuela gascon is another winery that also in mendoza. the owner, who i met along with his wife at the hyatt in mendoza, is an american, also from boston, and gave us a personal tour of his vineyards and processing plant. he was the one that showed us the irrigation system, which they activate a few days a week on a schedule from the town because there's not enough water pressure for every winery to irrigate at the same time. we had dinner with him and still communicate via email. you can buy the gascon wines at trader joes or most liquor stores. it used to be cheap, about $5 a bottle, but the popularity and quality rose the price to about $ 15. still, a good buy. btw, i forgot to mention the perito moreno glacier and bariloche as places to visit if you have time. aerolineas argentinas will get you there. also, it's better to buy the ticket when you're there because it's cheaper than buying through a us agency. enjoy!

FarRider-- please note that Francis Mallmann 1884 Restaurant is located inside the Escorihuela Gascon Winery.

This thread has been amazing and has helped us decide to head to BA for New Years.
Might you guys be able to help with a few questions.

Background: Thanks to AA and TAM we've got two r/t J/F tickets from JFK, arriving 12/27, leaving EZE 1/3. That leaves us with 7 days.

Should we stick to BA or head out of town for a couple of days? If we head out, I'm leaning towards Salta...or maybe the beach?

Hotels: I'm SPG plat and have tons of Starpoints so my choices are basically Park Tower, Home or Bobo (if available). We're both in our 20s, so hipness is a bit of a consideration. I don't mind spending money and saving points if it's a better decision. I might also consider the Hyatt.

I'm sure that more will come up.
Thanks in advance.

For more of a contemporary feel, I'd go with some of the following:

Bobo, Home, Faena (considered a lousy value by some), Hilton, Sofitel, Park Hyatt.

Crowd is often (but certainly not always) younger at the first three in the list than the later ones. Personally, I do the Hilton the most. The Park Tower is good but it's not "hip" in any real sense.

Starwood points don't work at Bobo or Home. There are three Starwood properties in the city proper, and of those the Park Tower is the best.

I agree with those that find the value at Faena to be questionable.

I know that starpoints won't work at Bobo or Home, was just stating that those were my options. I could, then again, make a trade for HHonors points.

I wouldn't call Hilton "hip", but it is contemporary. "Hip" and pretty decent value would be Bobo or Home. I prefer the Hilton to Park Tower not because the Park Tower isn't good but because the Hilton is a wee bit closer to Cabana las Lilas. You won't go wrong with any of these options.

Make your reservations early at Bobo or Home, - they were both full 3 months in advance for the end of november, but the delightful folks at Home worked with us and got us a consecutive week with changing rooms once.
We are a mature gay couple so who knows if it is too hip for us but we can do hip, if necessary . After all, we are from L.A :)
WE have been to BA twice before and stayed at a gay b and b near Palermo and the last time we were there we were very disappointed as the owners, who were very hands-on and delightful guys, became absentee and the management was left to staff with the expected outcome. We won't be back.
If you want to get to know the city, there is a group of guys who give tours- moderately priced and personalized- I think they were gay- but not sure--
but spoke good English and knew the city. Separate tours of recoleta ,etc and even the tigre Delta .Great experience. these were walking tours.
Even a gay night life tour if one is of the persuasion.
PM me if you'd like their contact- I have it somewhere on my wretched PC.

A quick phone call reveals that Bobo and Home are sold out.

It might just be the HIlton. Time to get on finding HHonors points.

south america
 

VRBO.com for rentals Hope that helps
My question for someone who can help me as I am new to the thread but travel often and have been acquiring AA, United, NWA miles and want to go from
Los Angeles to Buenos Aires EZE? and then fly to Rio de Janerio GIG and fly back to Los angeles from Rio ...and do want to upgrade with my miles .. am I making a mistake not flying round trip to and from the same city? seems it may be alot more costly doing it this way... any thoughts?
:cool:

Does anyone have the link to Gaucho100's wine shoppe website?
I've searched this thread, but it's just simply too big.
Thanks,
Rita

http://www.terroir.com.ar/

John