Ladies Weekend: Papallacta

In March, I was invited to Papallacta for a ladies weekend with some other teachers from school.  The timing worked out well....it was mid-March Madness....and since I had never been to Papallacta, I quickly accepted the invite.  Papallacta is a small town just outside the Cayambe Ecological Reserve with a higher altitude than Quito.  It's amazing to me that all of Ecuador is roughly the size of the state of Nevada, but traveling to new places often takes a long time as the Andes continually get in our way.  Papallacta is close, but still took us over an hour to climb up into the hills to get there.  I had heard about the town before and knew it was famous for its natural hot springs (both public and private baths) but not much else.  It's always been described as the perfect couples getaway or ladies weekend retreat.  Our little foursome splurged on the nice resort's cabin, that could sleep up to 6 and had its own fireplace.  (Papallacta gets very cold in the evenings!)

This is Wara and Christina, unpacking in our little cabin (the fireplace is behind Wara on the left)

The cabin was very nice and included 6 single beds.

We opted for the 4 beds in the attic so that we could have a little sleepover.

Because we were staying at Termas (it's like the nice hotel in Papallacta) we had access to all of their private baths.  Each of the baths is a different temperature and they have freezing ones available if you want to do the hot to cold to hot thing.

We tried a few out during our weekend, but were happy to stay close to our wine supply in our cabin.

This is the outside of our cabin...you can see how close it was to hop in and soak in the perfectly hot water.

We had a really amazing and relaxing time.  We were there about 24 hours and spent most of them soaking in the steaming pools.  I can see why it's suggested as a couples' getaway; the scenery is quite romantic and there isn't much else to do besides sit in hot water and chat.  It was really nice to go with the ladies though and get to know each of them a bit better.

Buenos Aires Part III

We started our Sunday with a trip to the San Telmo market.  We had heard it was worth stopping by, but we couldn't believe the size of it in reality.  There were a large number of booths in the plaza, but the sellers extended down the road in either direction for blocks and blocks and blocks.  The streets had more original work being sold,while the inner plaza resembled an odd sort of flea market, with each person selling their collectables.  None of us found anything worth buying, but it was interesting to walk around a bit.

Emma and Bobby scoping out some art on the streets of San Telmo

Here is just one example of the old collectables we saw...records and record players.  They were blasting out music as we walked by!

We also wandered into a warehouse type building that had even more sellers to browse.  Javier and I checked out a fruit stand to see if we found some familiar items from Ecuador, but were surprised at how different the options were.

Emma wanted to hit up some museums and we thought we were due for a bit of culture so we walked from the market to MACBA, a contemporary art museum.  It was pretty small and had an interesting design.  I thought some of the pieces were thought provoking, but others I simply didn't understand.

I thought this one was cool...it was called 'A Week' or 'Week's Schedule' or something like that...

us....getting cultured

MACBA was so small, so we also popped in next door to the Museum of Modern Art.  We gave Emma a bit of a hard time about nerding out in the museums, but we saw some interesting exhibits and it was nice to get out of the sun for a bit.

Javier....getting cultured

The Buenos Aires soccer team, Boca Juniors, had their first game of the season Sunday afternoon.  We looked into getting tickets, but they were ridiculously expensive.  (We even asked our airbnb host if he could help us out and he couldn't find cheaper options either).  But we decided it would be fun to walk around the stadium pregame and maybe find a bar to slip into to watch.

As we walked towards the stadium we started seeing fans decked out in their Boca Junios' blue and yellow!!

Here we are outside of the stadium.  There were tons of fans milling around...mostly playing pick up soccer games of their own actually.  There were also a ton of police officers (we assume because of the rowdy reputation of Argentine fans).  Emma and I also noticed that there were not a lot of women around.  It was a bit surprising, since we think of sporting events as couples events if not family affairs....just different I guess.

We were so close to La Boca that we decided to walk through and check out the neighborhood at a slightly slower pace.  (Have you guys noticed that Emma and Javier are sporting their Boca Juniors attire yet?)

These boys...

The brightly painted buildings really do set this harbor neighborhood apart from the rest of the city.

That night we went to dinner and drinks right in our Palermo neighborhood: dinner at Social Paraiso and drinks at the first spot we saw with an outdoor table.  Buenos Aires was an AMAZING city, but it was 100% hanging out with these friends that made this trip the best.  I never wanted to end our evenings cause we were having too much fun catching up.

Drinking beers out of wine glasses.

my friend :)

On our last day we decided to join a free walking tour to hear some history and see some city sights up close.  We started in Plaza del Congreso.  It was easily one of our hottest days, so we spent much of the tour trying to stand in the shade.  But our guide was incredibly energetic and informed.  I would totally suggest taking the tour if you're interested in learning a bit about the history of the city.

Emma and I in front of the Congress building.

The tour walked us down Avenida de Mayo where our guide pointed out this building.  This is the Palacio Barolo 'designed with the cosmology of Dante's Divine Comedy.'  The basement and bottom floor are supposed to represent hell, the middle floors purgatory and floors 15-22 heaven.  It was the tallest building in South America for a while and now operates mostly as office space.  It was certainly eye catching!

This is the famous Cafe Tortoni.  It is one of the oldest coffee shops in Buenos Aires and still operates with the wait staff in old attire and traditional decor inside.  This was the wait just to get in on the Sunday that we walked by.

Here we are at Casa Rosada or the Presidents house.

This is Javier and I outside of the Catedral Metropolitana.  It certainly doesn't look like a traditional Cathedral from the outside.  It looks more like it belongs on the streets of ancient Rome.  Outside there is an eternal flame that is supposed to remind the Argentine people of the struggles they went through to gain their independence (just over my left shoulder).

Inside the Cathedral, General Jose de San Martin is buried and guarded.  He was the Argentine leader of the independence movement against the Spanish in southern South America (with Simon Bolivar leading the movement from the north).

In the afternoon we headed to a big park to do some people watching and drink this wine.  I'll blame it on the plastic bottles we were drinking it out of...but the wine was not delicious so we packed up early to head home and rest before our big dinner out.

I had not bought any souvenirs so Javier and I ran out to a little market in Palermo for me to buy a fun glass bowl to remember Buenos Aires by.  Then we stopped in a little cafe to try two traditional Argentine drinks: the submarino.  It's basically a hot chocolate, but they heat up the milk and give you a full stick of chocolate to stir into it.  FUN!

...and mate te.  This wasn't the traditional way to drink mate, but we got an idea of the flavor....mostly I thought it tasted like herbal tea.

For our last night together, we had a big dinner at La Cabrera planned!  There is much debate about where you can get the best steak in Buenos Aires (because you can get steak everywhere) but the debate almost always includes La Cabrera.  It's so popular that they've actually opened up two locations on neighboring blocks to accommodate their reservations.

The Filars....all dressed up and ready for steak.

Cabezas anxiously awaiting our juicy steaks!

we started with some traditional empanadas, but were encouraged by our waiter not to order too much....he assured us that the steaks and their accompaniments would be plenty of food.

and boy was he right....these are our four ordered steaks and a million little ramekins of sides.  The steaks were SO good!  And we all ate to the point of discomfort.

After dinner we walked to a speakeasy that Javier had found online.  We knew there would be an unmarked door, so finding it was a bit difficult, but after a minor attack by some wild dogs, we were able to find Frank's.  After knocking on the door and providing the correct password, we all crammed into a phone booth and dialed the number as we were directed.  One wall of the booth opened to reveal a swanky bar lined with tables and sofas.  We sat down on a sofa and ordered some fancy drinks.

here are our fancy drinks

round 1 was a huge success 

we branched out a bit on round 2...each trying some fun options that Frank's provided

I believe there had to be some drink trading for round 2...

Either way, the atmosphere made Frank's a must-do on anyone's list for Buenos Aires.  It was such a fun way to spend our last night out when we were all dressed up and out on the town.

It was too hard to say goodbye, so we ended up visiting a few more bars before turning in for our 5:30am taxi pick up.  It was a late night for such an early morning, but worth it to spend those last precious hours with the Filars!  All in all, it was a fabulous trip and so good to see such dearly missed friends!

Buenos Aires Part II

After sleeping off my seasickness, Javier and I decided to walk around on our own a bit in the morning.  Javier's good buddy, Brian Allen, is Argentinian and spent a semester studying in Buenos Aires.  He was kind enough to send a list of 'must see's and 'must do's while we were in the city.  We thought we'd try to knock some items off the list while enjoying a slow start to our third day.

We had breakfast in the park with a view of the Torre Monument

Brian had directed us to avoid the numerous Starbuck options found in Buenos Aires and instead direct our coffee needs towards Havanna.  Done and done.  

Here we are outside the historic Teatro Colon.

This is the widest street in the world, 9 de Julio Avenue with a nice view of the Obelisco.

Here is the capital building in a square at the end of Avenida de Mayo.  The square includes one of Rodin's original 'Thinker' sculptures.

Here it is...apparently it was vandalized a few years back and quickly pressure washed by authorities which might have ruined it forever...glad we caught it before it crumbles!

Proof we were there :)

In the afternoon we joined a bike tour of the city.  We had been told by friends who went to Buenos Aires for Christmas that the tour was a great way to see the city!  I was a bit nervous...been a while since I was on a bike and even longer since I biked in a big city, but Buenos Aires was perfectly laid out for bike riding.  There were bike lanes everywhere and even crossing 9 de Julio Avenue didn't feel too bad!

we're so ready!

I grew comfortable enough to snap this mid-ride! 

On the tour we had a quick stop in La Boca which is known for its bright colors and tango dancers in the streets. 

We were able to walk around quickly, but knew we wanted to see the neighborhood again on our own time.

the helmets were optional, but I made Javier wear one cause I was so nervous....

The tour took us by Buenos Aires' Ecological Reserve.

We weren't sure that we'd get to walk through the reserve because it was usually crowded on weekends and closed on Mondays, but it was beautiful to see!

We also found a familiar sight in Buenos Aires!  Puente de la Mujer by Santiago Calatrava looks stunningly like the bridge he designed for the Milwaukee Art Museum.

here we are in Buenos Aires (or Milwaukee?!) and its Calatrava

We ended our bike ride at Casa Rosada and saw its pink walls for ourselves!

A phenomenon of closed door restaurants is spreading through Buenos Aires and we decided to try one out and see what the fuss was all about.  Emma found a great blog from a woman who carefully documented her trip to Buenos Aires (particularly the eating parts!)  She and her husband had gone to Casa Coupage with rave reviews so we made a reservation.  Sure enough, when we arrived the door was completely unmarked and resembled a residence more than anything else.  But we rang and headed in!  Tables and chairs were set up in what would have been the living room and dining room of the house.  We were sat in the dining room where there were three other tables set.  It was intimate and not overly crowded, but very bright.  It was a wonderful atmosphere for our big night out!

documenting Javier ringing the bell to our dinner (or that of a random house...yet to be determined)

before even ordering we were greeted with the most out-of-this-world pate (good start!)

we elected to go for the 8 course tasting menu - woohoo

first course - and wine tasting in the background...the owner of the restaurant is a sommelier  and made suggestions, but allowed us to taste each wine before deciding on it for a course

I'm tempted to show you every course, but I assume it would be less interesting to you...this was our sweetbreads course (one of my favorites!)

beautiful desserts

It was such a lovely meal :) We would recommend Casa Coupage and closed door dining to anyone!

We were so excited to wake up the following day (although after so much wine...we were a bit slow to wake up) because EMMA and BOBBY were arriving!  We piddled around in the morning and were waiting for them at their hotel when they arrived (giving them little to no time to settle or freshen up after an overnight flight...).  Needless to say, our first order of business was lunch.

We went to La Rambla, also recommended by the blogger, for some steak sandwiches.  They were YUM-O.

La Rambla was located right next to La Recoleta Cemetery our destination for the afternoon.  I have never been to New Orleans, but from the movies I've seen...La Recoleta cemetery reminds me of the scenes from a New Orleans funeral.  Right in the middle of the city is a huge cemetery filled with mausoleums.  Many of which, you could peek inside to see stacks and stacks of coffins.

Peeking in to see so many

aisles and aisles

This is Evita's grave.  A small line of visitors formed to walk by and take pictures.

some looked new and were very beautiful

some looked old

I was mostly disturbed by the number of cats that were hanging about.  What were they doing there?

cats cats cats cats cats

In the afternoon we stopped by El Ateneo, a theater turned bookstore.  The stage is set up as a cafe and different genres line each floor.  It was really worth stopping by to look around!

It happened to be Valentine's Day so, while it's a bit cheesy, we decided a tango show seemed appropriate for our evening entertainment.

We got all dressed up for our big double date (Me and Emma out with Javier and Bobby)

Aren't they handsome?  And you can see a bit of the theater we were in.

I'm not much of an authority, but we really enjoyed the show!  The dancing and costumes were excellent.

They had single performers and several group numbers...

We knew it was touristy, but hey....we were tourists.

Mostly, it was SO fun to be reunited with our good friends.  It was amazing how quickly we fell right back into chatter.  Emails and FaceTime are amazing for cutting the distance, but there is something so nice about seeing friends in person.  After only day one, I was so thankful that Emma and Bobby met up with us for vacation!