Updates- Lesnicks have come and gone

It has been so long since we last updated....sorry! Things were very busy when my parents came to visit, and we are in the final days of our Independent Study Project. We definitely have some restuarant reviews!!

My family arrived on Wednesday and I met them on Wednesday night for dinner. We walked around Puerto Madero, a newer area, full of tourists, businesspeople, and lots of new building developments. We ate at Cabaña de las Lilas, a steak restaurant and according to my Buenos Aires guidebook, home to the best steak in all of Argentina. http://www.laslilas.com/restaurant.php It was very delicious, with juicy steaks, but a little too fancy and minimalist in its platters to be a parrilla. Also, it was a little out of my personal price range. I´m lucky my parents were able to treat me! We wrapped up the night with my family´s first helado experience. Some of the yummiest food. I recommended flavors: Dulce de Leche granizado, chocolate amargo, and tramontana.


On Thursday, I gave my family a tour of Plaza de Mayo and Avenida de Mayo. We ended up stopping for a snack in the famous Café Tortoni (Jorge Luis Borges, Alfonsina Storni, and Carlos Gardel have all eaten there). It was quite pretty and traditional. http://www.cafetortoni.com.ar/ Igot delicious fresh squeezed Orange Juice. We ate lunch at Pizzeria Gurrin, a delicious old place with amazing pizza and empanadas (especially the meat ones9. It was Thanksgiving, but we did not eat any traditional Thanksgiving food. That evening, we got ice cream at one of my favorite places, Cadore, saw Joven Frankenstein (Young Frankenstein) and ate dinner at el Palacio Español. http://www.palacioespanol.com.ar/historia_en.asp Paella in Buenos Aires on Thanksgiving? Now THAT is globalization! Ari, Jamila and I went out to hip-hop night at Club Araoz, and called it an early night at around 4:30
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On Friday, we went to see a Tango show at Café Tortoni. The dancers were very good, but they were a little more broadway-esque than the melancholy tango dancers I had seen before. Nevertheless, it was a good show. We had a delicious dinner at Bella Italia Cafe. I had amazing penne with pesto. Although the waiter warned me it was heavy on the garlic, it was perfect for me. Oh, Porteños and their delicate palates. We wrapped up the evening with some more ice cream, this time at Volta, which is so rich and incredible.

Saturday was a day in Palermo, and we visited the Japanese Gardens, the Botanical Gardens, and the Rosedal. I loved the Japanese Gardens and the Rosedal, which was free! We went to a crafts fair at Plaza Serrano, where I bought a cute silver leather purse. My family bought 16 mates for friends/families. Saturday night we met my friends Luis and Michelle for dinner at an Armenian restuarant, called Sarki´s. It was delicious the food was plenty. Falafel, lamb kebobs, Morroccan rice, Persian rice, and of course, Baklava. It was super.

Sunday I slept in while my parents did some sightseeing. We had a lovely merienda at my host mother, Elvirás house, with alfajores, tea, cheesecake, and scones. I ate a dinner at Jamila´s host family´s house in honor of her birthday. It was the 29th, so we ate delicious gnocchi. So fluffy!! I bought some fizzy wine, called espumante, which was delicious. Jamila´s birthday is on the 30th, and it was bad luck to wish a happy birthday before midnight, but once the clock struck 12, we celebrated Jamila in style!!

For Jamila´s birthday, we got together with kids from the program, my family, Michelle, Denise and Luis at Las Violetas, a beautiful old café. We ate all sorts of treats, tea and deliciousness. http://www.lasvioletas.com/ For dinner, we got dressed up and went out just the two of us to Osaka, a Peruvian-Japanese fusion restaurant. I tried my first ceviche, which was amazing! http://www.osaka.com.pe/osaka_sp.htm We also ate some salmon rolls and I tried sake. All of it was delicious and very classy.

Tuesday, my family and I went to Tigre, delta town about an hour from the city. It was very pretty. We took a lancha colectiva, a boat down the delta, and walked to the Puerto de los Frutos, a large market. We took the scenic train back to BA, and before we knew it, they were on a plane to NY.

Our program is rapidly coming to an end, and I am a bit broke. But, I have had an amazing time, been able to experience so much, and will keep exploring in El Calafate and Mendoza!! I´m excited to go back to the US, but also sad about leaving this incredible experience.