Today was a day to regroup, repack, etc. We were exhausted, and slept through breakfast, so it was early afternoon by the time we had absorbed sufficient amounts of coffee and were able to get out of the hotel. The weather was very cool today – overcast, and damp. We certainly didn’t think we would need jackets in Buenos Aires, but we were glad to have them today!
We walked along Avenida Santa Fe, which was busy with Christmas shoppers. It was a great street on which to window shop, even if we weren’t buying. Our destination was a restaurant that was supposed to have really good locra (meat and bean stew) and empanadas. I know it sounds odd, but yesterday in the coffee shop in Ushuaia, I was flipping through a Spanish version of “Food and Wine” magazine, and came across a single article in English. The article recommended three restaurants in Buenos Aires for good “regional” food. Of course, I had no pen or paper with me, so instead, Mark took pictures of the article, so that we could go back and reference it later. La Querencia, one of recommended restaurants, was our destination today.
We arrived just as the lunch crowd was beginning to disperse, so we were given the only table available at that time. It was a small table in the middle of the restaurant, but plenty big enough for the two of us. The waitress provided menus in both Spanish and English, but we had spent several minutes outside perusing the Spanish menu, so we already knew what we wanted – a couple of empanadas, and the locra – all to share, of course.
I ordered in Spanish, and horrible though I know it was, the waitress understood. She spoke English, but we did our best to converse in Spanish instead. I think she appreciated our trying.
The food was every bit as good as the magazine article suggested, and very cheap too! For example, the empanadas were 5.50 Pesos, or about $1.35 each. The restaurant was definitely a “local” place, where everybody knows everybody. And, it is certainly one that we would recommend to visitors.
Since the weather was so drab, we made our way back to the hotel lounge, where we spent the evening watching CNN, and playing games on our iPads. We are really ready to head home – but you may recall that we booked our tickets with miles, so tomorrow, 12/24 was the earliest departure available. So, in the meantime, we will just be boring tourists hanging out in the hotel!