Lost in Translation

I've never been very comfortable with foreign languages. I barely managed to finish two semesters of Spanish when I was at Tulane, and never became as fluent in German as I should have considering that I lived there for three years when I was in the Army.

Some of the Spanish came back when Lisa and I were in Argentina last September, and it's overwhelming the little bit of Italian that I managed to learn before we left Seattle; I keep asking for the bill in the wrong language.

Given my troubles, I'm always encouraged to be reminded that I'm not alone in my frustrations with translating thoughts into words.

Here are two classic examples we've discovered hanging by the doors to some very nice restaurants we've enjoyed - the first is from a place in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome, the second from Orvieto.

Enjoy!

The weather could be better...

But the food is fantastic!

We haven't been blessed with the weather I enjoyed when I was cycling my way through Tuscany three years ago - it's only in the mid-60s, and overcast during the days, although the sunsets have been great.

But the food is every bit as good as it ever was, and even better sharing it with Lisa and friends.

Here are the highlights of yesterday's lunch at an out-of-the-way spot in Pansano:

Antipasta

Bruscetta

Pappardella with wild boar

Ravoli with spinach and ricotta

Tuscan wild boar stew

Today will feature a battle of the towns... and their wines: Montepulciano and Montalcino!

Who will win? Brunello di Montalcino or Vino Nobile di Montelulciano?

Tuscany

We arrived in Poggibonsi via train on Monday and were met by Kurt & Jamie at the station, who drove us up to our remarkably cute place in the Tuscan hills.

Our friends Gilles and Daria were delayed in France - their flight to Rome cancelled due to a temperamental Icelandic volcano. But they managed to get a train to Florence and then arrived at our place just as we were returning

from a day trip to Siena.

Last night we enjoyed a home-cooked meal of sauted atrichoke hearts followed by a pasta, washed down with several bottle of Chianti and a Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

Vita Bella

Poggibonsi or Bust

We’re on our way – almost...

Saturday evening Lisa and I will be en route to meet friends in a lovely little villa just outside of Poggibonsi, a village in Tuscany about half-way between Florence and Siena.

Yes, I know – it seems like one of those wispy vacations invented by Jane Austin or by Hollywood for a romantic comedy: three couples sharing a country farmhouse for a week, including one couple that lives far away and hasn’t seen the others in years, another couple that’s just announced that they’re having their first baby, and a third couple consisting of “the new guy” in a woman’s life whom the first couple hasn’t met yet.

FOR CLARIFICATION: I’m “the new guy,” and Lisa and I are NOT the couple having a baby!

After our week in Tuscany with friends, Lisa and I will spend a week in an apartment in Rome – just the two of us. We have an extra night in between, and I’m surprising Lisa with an overnight stopover in...

Well – you’ll have to wait to find out, just like she does!

In the meantime, keep checking in to find out about:

• A potential flight delay caused by an Icelandic volcano...

• The meeting of friends in our cute villa...

• The historic sights we’re seeing...

• The fabulous wines we’re tasting...

• The incredible food we’re eating...

• And so much more...

Ciao!

Steve

Uco Valley Wine Tour

Located about 4,000 feet above sea level on the eastern slopes of the Andes, the Uco Valley has a micro-climate characterized by greater fluctuations in evening and daytime temperatures than the lower Luján de Cuyo and Maipú areas. This, along with the favorable soil and a regional snow-melt fed irrigation system, has encouraged huge investment into new wineries in the region.

The Andes rise above vineyards in the Uco Valley

The three wineries we visited in the Uco Valley were all huge, new, modern operations funded by foreign investment - in some cases as hobbies by very wealthy individuals simply for ability to say "I own a winery."

The first was Bodegas Andeluna, owned by the same family as the Frito Lay potato-chip empire. Their enormous showcase facility has a one million liter tank capacity, a 1,200 barrel aging capacity, and a 720,000 bottle storage capacity - which we toured after sampling some very nice Malbec at their tasting bar.

Andeluna Winery

Our next stop was at a Clos de los Siete's (Vineyard of the Seven), a collection of seven wineries on a single huge estate, where we enjoyed a rooftop tasting at the Monteviejo Winery which included the 2007 Clos de los Siete (50% Malbec, 30% Cab., 10% Merlot and 10% Syrah), the 2007 Flechas de los Andes Gran Malbec (which seemed surprisingly mild for a young Malbec) and the 2004 Lindaflor Malbec.

Tasting Table at Monteviejo

Our final stop was at the Bodegas O. Fournier, where workers were still putting some final touches on the new state-of-the-art, gravity-fed wine-making facility.Touring these big places was bit overwhelming - it was more like being on a factory tour than a wine tour. We didn't buy any wine at these places because they were all huge operations centered on the export market and we can probably find there stuff at a good wine store back home.

Although we definitely enjoyed visiting the smaller family-run places more than these big industrial operations, we were still glad to be able to see the full range of what's happening in a booming wine region. And everything we tasted was great!

Plus, we got to enjoy yet another gourmet meal that was an experience in itself - four courses paired with seven wines!

APPETIZERS:

Causas limenas with pickled vegetables

Steak Tartar with Pastry Ring

STARTER:

Pumpkin Soup with ginger, coconut, toasted almonds and chard

MAIN COURSE:

Mixed Ragu of Veal & Lamb, garnished with polenta with white truffle.
There was also an option for crispy pasta filled with vegetables on caper sauce.

DESSERT:

Torrontes (white wine) Sorbet

Philo Pastry Tower with Dulce de Leche Creal

Frankly, I can't remember what this was...
it was sort of like a crispy meringue shell.

These were accompanied by several of O. Fournier's "Urban" line of wines, with a choice of their top-line wines to go with the main course. We each ordered a different one, and shared:

2003 B Crux - 60% Tempranillo, 20% Malbec, 10% Merlot and 10% Syrah. Aged 12 months in French oak

2002 Alfa Crux - 60% Tempranillo, 35% Malbec, 5% Merlot. Aged 17 months in new barrels (80% french and 20% American)

Can I get there from here?

Getting to and from - as well as around - Buenos Aires is easier than most Americans might imagine.

Argentina is about as accessible as Europe, especially if you're in a major city in the southeast U.S. since there are non-stops from D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Houston and Dallas. From Seattle we took a five hour flight to D.C. followed by a ten hour overnight flight to BA.

There's no need for a car in Buenos Aires - BA has taxis all over the place, as well as a great mass transit system that includes hundreds of bus lines and a 6 line, 74 station subway system that carries nearly two million passengers every workday.Although the average fare for a trip on these systems is amazingly low by American standards (AR$0.80 = about US 20 cents!), we decided to use a transportation method that's shockingly primitive...

We walked!

Yes - in a densely-populated metropolitan area of 12 million people we managed to get around entirely on foot, except for our transfers between the airport and hotel.

How the heck did we manage that?

First, we're in pretty good shape. We routinely spend our weekends hiking or bicycling, and managed to put in hours of hoof-time every day during our vacation. The only exception was on our travel days between cities and the two days we were on wine-tours in Mendoza - and even then, we took long walks in the evening to and from dinner.

Second, even though traffic is pretty crazy in BA, almost every street is one-way - crossing them is so much easier and safer than dodging two-way traffic.

Walking really helped us to get a feel for the flow of the city, and exposed us to sights, sounds and smells that we'd never experience if we were driving around.

Check them out...

Is that a fire in the middle of the street???

No - it's Lunch!!!

San Telmo Street Scenes

BA is a huge, diverse city - it's practically impossible to take it in all at once, which is why we decided to break our recent trip into segments.

The first third involved staying at the Hotel Bel Air, which was in walking distance of the upscale parks, restaurants and shops of the Retiro, Recoleta and Palermo barrios of BA.

The second portion of our vacation involved a trip out of the city for a mid-week stay at the B&B Plaza Italia in the province of Mendoza - the heart of Argentina's wine industry. We enjoyed two days of touring the regions wineries, and had some amazing meals where each course was paired with a great local wine.

After wine-touring Mendoza, we flew back to Buenos Aires and moved into the Mansion Dandi Royal - a hotel / tango academy located in the San Telmo area of BA.

San Telmo, along with Boca directly to the south, is definitely more of a working-class barrio than the other BA neighborhoods we visited.

Our hotel, along with most of the shops and even some of the restaurants we went to, kept their doors locked and required us to be "buzzed in." The sidewalks were narrower here, the streets were cobbled rather than smooth-paved, and both were dirtier than elsewhere in the city.

That being said, we never felt unsafe - even though we'd adopted the local habit of going out to dinner after 10 p.m. and often wandering home after midnight - and the street life here definitely had a colorful appeal.

This was most obvious on Sunday, when the weekly street fair turns Avenida Defensa into a mile-long pedestrian-only thoroughfare bursting with life - check it out!

You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Buenos Aires?

VINCENT: You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?

JULES: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?

VINCENT: No, they got the metric system there, they wouldn't know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is.

JULES: What'd they call it?

VINCENT: Royale with Cheese.

JULES: Roy-ale with Cheese. What'd they call a Big Mac?

VINCENT: Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac.

JULES: Le Big Mac. What do they call a Whopper?

VINCENT: I dunno, I didn't go into a Burger King.

------

I didn’t go into a Burger King either, because with all the good Argentine steak I'd been eating I didn't feel the need to subject myself to what they were advertising...

But curiosity did get the better of me, so I walked into a McDonald's to check out the menu – a Quarter Pounder with Cheese is called a “Cuarto de Libra con Queso.”

I finally got up the nerve...

I can take it or leave it...

Back in Seattle

Just got back to Lisa's place in Seattle - everything intact (including the 11 bottles of wine we brought back)!



More updates to follow - after we begin to recover from our vacation!

And now - Some More Tango!

Lisa and I took some tango lessons while staying in the San Telmo neighborhood of BA - here's some video of us putting on a little show for the Sunday crowds in Boca!

Ferry Facts – Argentine Version

What you are about to read is a true story – this is not a joke, and the images have not been photoshopped.

With the end of our vacation in Argentina approaching, Lisa and I decided to take advantage of the lovely weather and leave Buenos Aires for a day-trip to Colonia – a cute little town just across the Río de la Plata in Uruguay most easily accessed by ferry.

We arrived at the Buquebus terminal – a massive, modern complex for both bus and ferry service on the BA waterfront – about 15 minutes before the noon passenger-only fast ferry was scheduled to leave.

Anyone who complains about the process for boarding a WSF ferry should visit BA; while the Buquebus terminal is sleek and clean, and the staff exceedingly friendly, they do require passengers to jump through a few hoops before boarding a boat.

First, reserve a ticket.

Yes, I said reserve a ticket – even though the boat is leaving in 15 minutes, we had to stand in a reservations line because all seats on these ferries are reserved, and I’m talking about a walk-on, passenger-only ferry.

The ticket agent was very nice – we booked a pair of regular tourista-class seats for the outbound trip, but only first-class was available for the return.

Second, pay for our tickets.

I list this as a separate step because that’s exactly what it is – we had to go stand in a separate line to pay for the ticket that we’d just reserved.

Third, get a boarding pass.

I list this as a separate step because that’s exactly what it is – we had to go stand in another line, this time to show our receipts for the tickets we’d just paid for one minute ago and twenty feet away so that we could get an airline-style boarding pass (and check luggage if we desired).

Fourth, go through security.

I imagine this was because the ferry was an international run between Argentina and Uruguay. It was basically just like going through security for an airline flight back home, minus the humiliation. We had to put my daypack through an x-ray machine and walk through a metal detector, but we got to keep our shoes and they didn’t seem concerned about the possibility of someone trying to sneak more than three ounces of toothpaste onboard.

Fifth, and finally, fill out an immigrations form and go through customs before walking through the “jet way” to board the boat. Again, it makes perfect sense since it’s an international run.

I couldn’t get a good look at the ship as we boarded, because it’s a “side loader” and the huge terminal obscured any view of it from the street – but it sure was impressive once we got on board!

Before us was an amazing lobby, with a duty-free shop to our left and a grand stairway leading up to “Primera Especial Class” seating that overlooked the midships area. I managed to go up and take a look just as the ship was getting under way, and it was incredible: a very small cafeteria where “especial” passengers could order “especial” meals, which were brought to their seats by a steward!

The stairway to “Primera Especial Class”

The “Primera Especial Class” galley - note the wineglasses in the foreground!

The seats look like something that belonged in the space station on 2001, or Star Trek, or I don’t know WTF, clustered around tables alongside the huge picture windows.

The seating in “Primera Especial Class”

I instantly though of the comments on the Kitsap Sun website that readers in Bremerton frequently post; about their perceptions that Bainbridge passengers have Red Hook and sushi on their runs, while the Bremerton passengers are treated like the “red-haired stepchildren” of WSF. They’d scream if they saw this!

Alas, our tickets were “Turista Class” so I made my way back downstairs and forward, and was again shocked at what I found.

It was a large seating area similar to that at either end of a WSF vessel, but the seats were like those on a commercial airliner – but with more cushioning, and leg-room for humans!

Tourist-class seating, looking back from the cafeteria line

Instead of a picture window with a view ahead, there was a cafeteria with excellent food and beverage service that included top notch wines (and probably Red Hook, though I didn’t check since I’m not a beer drinker).

Tourist-class seating, with cafeteria in front

There were large, flat-screen televisions mounted on the bulkhead in front of us that played an airline-style safety video before switching to a soccer match for our one-hour crossing to Colonia.

The ride was very smooth, and looking out the window I got the impression that we were traveling at least 50 percent faster than a WSF vessel. Considering that the crossing from BA to Colonia across the Río de la Plata is much longer than most Puget Sound crossings but was only going to take an hour, that made sense.

Eventually I made my way to the head. I was smaller than the large institutional-style facilities on a WSF vessel, but much nicer and very clean. You’ll have to take my word on this, since prudence prohibited me from taking photos inside a public bathroom…

As we approached the port in Colonia, the football match on the big screens was switched over to a “pilot cam” view of our approach to the harbor, and before we knew it we were docked.

Looking back as we disembarked, I got a partial glimpse of the vessel I’d been cruising in: the beak-nosed superstructure looked more like a spaceship than a ferry and she had a sleek catamaran hull, which finally explained why the crossing was so quick and smooth.

The ferry "Atlantic III"

Our return voyage in first-class yielded one final surprise: champagne!

Yes, champagne!

As we entered the “Premera” cabin, a “flight attendant” checked our boarding pass – and offered us each a champagne flute of sparkling wine, and we settled into air-line style seats even more comfy than those on our outbound voyage.

Lisa took a short nap during the one-hour return trip, and a steward took our empty glasses as he delivered food and drinks to passengers which they had ordered in the café!

Yes, I know what you’re thinking.

A one-way, tourist-class ticket on this vessel cost 130 Pesos, about $34 U.S. at the gate. You can reserve on-line, which probably yields a discount.

There’s also a slower passenger/auto ferry (3 hours) that costs 99 Pesos per tourist-class ticket, about $25 U.S.

First Class?

188 pesos, or about $48 U.S. for the fast boat and 144/$37 for the slow.

Bon Voyage!

And now - Some Tango!

Lisa and I took tango lessons yesterday at our hotel before heading out to El Querandi, a great tango venue that serves an excellent dinner prior to a fabulous tango show which demonstrates the evolution of the dance over the years.

The video?

That's Lisa and I on stage!

Yea... Right...

Is 9:30 a.m. too early for a wine tasting?

Question: Is 9:30 a.m. too early for a wine tasting?

Answer:

A) Drinking, yes... but Tasting... no.

B) When you're on a tour, you have to do whatever your guide tells you to do!

C) Well there's a 4 hour time difference between Argentina and Seattle, so 9:30 a.m. in Mendoza is... damn, that's not going to work in my favor, is it?

A meal fit for...

Yesterday we had a wonderful day of wine tasting, thanks to our local guide Javier – whose mother owns the lovely B&B Plaza Italia where we’re staying in Mendoza.

We made stops at four different wineries in the Luján de Cuyo area just south of Mendoza. They ran the gamut from small, family-owned Mendel – a true gem of an outfit where Cecilia Albino gave us a personalized tour through the entire operation – to the large, Mondavi-style outfit at Catena Zapata.

It was a fun-filled day – particularly the fine five-course, wine-paired meal we enjoyed at Ruca Malen.

To start, a bruschetta of goat cheese, Granny Smith apple and lemon zest paired with an awesome Sauvignon Blanc – so awesome, I forgot to take a picture.

Next, slices of filet mignon cured in olive oil, paired with the 2006 Ruca Malen Malbec (86% malbec, 8% petit verdot, 6% tempranillo aged 12 months in second use barrels and another 12 in the bottle). I managed to get a photo of this before I finished it off.

Third course – wheat croquets served with wild mushrooms and caramelized onions, accompanied by the 2005 Ruca Malen Merlot (87% merlot, 13% tempranillo aged 12 months in oak and 12 in bottle).

The main course was an awesome roasted beef tenderloin served with squash, white wheat, sweet corn and smashed tomatoes – with lavender salt on the table.

The wines?

The 2007 Kinien Malbec, a special vintage that is only bottle in outstanding years. 95% malbec and 5% cabernet sauvignon, aged 14 months in new oak barrels (90% French, 10% American), and then laid down for another year in the bottle.

And...

The 2006 Ruca Malen Cabernet Sauvignon, a great wine with 90% cabernet sauvignon, 5% merlot and 5% petit verdot aged 12 months in second-use oak (80% French and 20% American) followed up with 12 months in the bottle.

To cleanse our pallets, we had a nice little pre-dessert of granite made with chardonnay, yerba mate (a sort of tea-like herb) and honey.

Finally, a dessert of white chocolate soup and seasoned fruits.

It was a great lunch – a meal fit for…. Us!