THE SHUNPIKE EXPERIMENT
A 15,000 Mile Trip from New Orleans to Alaska & Back
More from Buenos Aires
A local Parillida yesterday, Rudolpho (El Jefe) invited me to help after he saw me admiring his meat. 🙂
Rudolpho allowed me to wear his strongman apron and join him behind the counter. Good People
Dinner at Piegari:
A good combination of classmates from both the New Orleans and Houston campuses.
Mike & Alison after dinner outside the Four Seasons bar:
To note: Last night there were some crazy Americans swimming in the hotel pool after hours
Te Matare Ramirez (I will kill you Ramirez)
Much better weather today. A better day entirely. We are still tired but at least adjusted to our surroundings. The rain passed and we enjoyed a crisp, sunny morning exploring the Dietrich Auto dealership. Dietrich is a family owned dealership specializing in cars outfitted with body armor.
We were at the manufacturing plant where they shut down operations to give us a tour of the small disorganized factory.
An interesting business model that has a growing market in Latin America, particularly Mexico.
Now is the time at Dietrich when we wear welding masks.
After Dietrich we visited the Belgrano Business School campus.
A much more inviting location than yesterday’s campus.
Nice Mike como un Jefe:
We were joined by representatives from Arcor. One of the largest candy/chocolate manufacturers in the world. A good presentation considering we have a presentation on this company later in the week.
After another Carne lunch (I’m over beef at this point) we visited HSBC Bank.
Our session was with one of their lead economists. Very professional and informative. He hinted that Argentina is teetering on another crises as they are currently experiencing unsustainable growth without enough political will to control the growth. I am convinced that Argentina has more experience on financial and currency crises than any other country. Probably a bad thing.
We got out of class early and went directly to the Palermo Soho district. A hip, younger neighborhood. The district is full of apparel shops, coffee shops, art galleries, bars and restaurants. A magazine street for the Argentine St. Charles Ave.
Kyle had been here a few times before and suggested Bar 6.
We sat and relaxed for a few hours and I had a salad. Best salad I’ve had in a while. The food in this district was much less traditional with fresh, light ingredients, less sauces and a focus on real flavors. My style.
Speaking of less traditional, this evening we went to one of the most unique restaurants I have ever been to.
Te Matere Ramirez
This description does justice.
This is perhaps the most interesting and creative dining experience in Buenos Aires. Its symbol, an aroused fork…
…with an extended and upright prong, hints at the erotic nature of the restaurant, whose name (“I am going to kill you, RamÃrez)” comes from playful arguments the owner had with a friend who was a Casanova.
The food has sensual combinations, such as garlic and sun-dried tomatoes, mixed with sweet elements and poured over sautéed or marinated meats with deeply embedded flavor. This emphasis on contrasts creates some of the most flavorful cooking in town. Erotic art hangs on the walls and the lighting is boudoir red. Slow, soft music, such as jazz and bossa nova, plays as you eat, adding to the mood.
We didn’t quite fit the typical customer as we were loud and a bit obnoxious by the end of dinner.
The food was great the atmosphere unique and crazy but the best part of the restaurant, was this tiny “swing jazz” trio. I could have watched them all night.
Chilean Volcano
Ok.
So we are hearing news that a Chilean volcano (Puyehue) has erupted and that flights are being cancelled out of Buenos Aires.
We are scheduled to leave on the 11th of June.
Let me know of any news you hear on this.
Tengo Escuela?
Knowing that half the class and our professor have not arrived in Buenos Aires, I hold opposition to attending class today.
Tulane has set up an exchange week with Universidad de Belgrano, an urban university downtown. Apparently, there were some kind of protests this morning so our 30 minute bus ride took 90 minutes. A little extra nap time.
The Belgrano campus was unimpressive, aging high-rise buildings packed between aging high-rise buildings. The classes and facilities were dated; drab 60s-70s architecture.
We took elevators up and then stairs down and zigzagged through hallways to find our classroom.
¿cómo se dice aburrido en español
So it’s been raining today and there weren’t many interesting photo opportunities on campus so I tried a “Sketch Mee” app to help add some creativity. This app is a good tool to take a poor photo (out of focus, poor lighting) and make it presentable.
We did have an interesting speaker in the morning who gave us Argentinas 200 year history in about 2 hours. Highlights of the history lesson? 20 or so economic crises and 4 dozen Coup D’Etáts between 1900 and 2011. A dramatic history for sure.
Our second scheduled teacher was reportedly late and then never showed up. Apparently, caught in the protests.
We went to lunch and finally were joined by our classmates who were stranded back in the US. They were a little worse for wear but happy to have arrived, finally. Certainly a highlight for me to have them arrive!!
After the afternoon session we returned to the hotel via the Palermo district which had tons of statues, museums, Polo fields and a grandiose horse track. I missed getting a photo but hope to return to the horse track this week.
Statue in Palermo:
Certainly the highlight of the day was dinner with Crewlane.
We ate just around the corner from the hotel, near the Recoleta cemetery at La Lorenza.
Chris Kenney had Chorizo Beef for the 4th meal in a row. I am encouraging him to have this for every meal this week. Is there a guiness record for most consecutive Chorizo Beef meals.
Thad, Kyle, and Nice Mike chose to order the “Complete BBQ” Aka the “Mountain of Meat”
This must have been more than 10 lbs of meat. Incredible. They really do make this complete. Kidneys, heart, goat ribs, blood sausage, mystery meat, it was all there.
As usual, dinner with friends and family, good food and lively discussion is a favorite activity of mine. Plenty of supply here in Argentina.
Crewlane:
Buenos noches Buenos Aires
I have some catching up to do but thought I should include some posts from my trip to BA.
My tulane MBA class and our ‘sister’ class from the Houston campus begin a week of international business week tomorrow. Most of us got in today except the 15 or so students and our ONLY professor who missed a connection in Houston. Maintenance issues.
They had to wait it out and are enroute this evening. Continental kindly offered a few drink coupons for causing our classmates to miss 15% of their trip.
I arrived this morning after an overnight flight. I flew ‘non-rev’ on a pass from Uncle Brian. Business class (movies, wine, salmon) is so rad. I don’t usually gloat about shit like that but… I feel that, under the circumstances, a little THAT WAS SWEET is in order.
I was on a Delta flight with Chris Kenney (classmate) who was also flying non-rev.
We got in this morning an hour ahead of the Houston group. We, fortunately, realized that their flight arrived at another terminal and caught them getting on the bus heading to our hotel.
The city:
Buenas Aires is a place I have been wanting to visit. Michel and I were in Chile a few years ago and almost took a quick trip over. My head has been focused on our Alaska trip so I really haven’t done much research.
Jarlath and Lewis (two other NOLA classmates who avoided the continental connection debacle) joined Chris and I for a Sunday exploring BA.
Chris Steve & Lewis:
We found a tiny local restaurant by accident and had an excellent meal… Well, besides the Carne Kidneys I ordered. Hey, I like to try different stuff!! For class, we will be studying the after effect of the economic crisis in the 1990’s. Today we experienced it first hand. The steaks were great and cost $5. The restaurant was tiny, packed with locals, and had a great atmosphere. My kind of place. I forgot the name… I’ll get it.
The flight attendants made us promise to visit the Sunday market at San Telmo. Best market I’ve been to… Ever!! Even better that Pike Place. There is a ton of creativity and artisanship in this city. Local artist making their own loot. Not someone reselling an Indonesian made ‘Tibetan’ rug.
I could have spent many days watching artists, dancers and musicians.
I didn’t get a picture but I saw a fantastic puppet show featuring a drunkard who drinks himself into dancing with a fire hydrant a light pole and them ‘floats away’. Superb.
Some beautiful architecture as well.
We went in for a quick prayer:
Isn’t all of life a constant prayer?
Tonight we went on a recommendation from Chris’ guide book. ‘Best steak house period’. Rio Alba. I say… Pretty damn good. The sweet meats didn’t touch those we find in NOLA. The filet was tasty and tender (medium rare) but I still prefer the sizzling hot plate delivery from the boys at Mr. Johns.
An excellent local Cabernet pairing.
According to Chris K.. “A top 5 all time day for meals. Steak for lunch, wine for lunch, steak for dinner, wine for dinner, and a cold beer in between.”
Buenos noches Buenas Aires. I might have to play hooky tomorrow.
The Gorge at George
We spent an amazing 4 days in George Washington for The Sasquatch Festival at the Beautiful Gorge. Sasquatch was voted “best outdoor festival” last year, and I understand why.
We met up with some of Steve-o’s buds from high school and college. The Thielman Brothers and wives, Jimmy and Lindsey, and most importantly, Matt and Tirza Shaw, who provided us with complete VIP service.. Including:
Free Tickets and about 8 armbands a day allowing us to go anywhere and do pretty much anything..
A room at Cave B… A quaint hotel available to only about 75 people at the whole festival.
Above: the view from our room.
Below: a breakfast at Cave B lodge with Matt and Tirza, Ty and Tiffany. I ate yogurt with granola and French toast – both very delicious. For steve – an omelette.
VIP also included back stage passes with gourmet meals for dinner, gate access into the fest right next to our hotel room, and a jeep ride from one stage to another. Plus, all the free popchips you could possibly eat.
First night we watched Foo Fighters from our box #227 with comfy cushioned chairs and a blanket for miss grannypants michel who was absolutely freezing in the 40 degree weather. Some crazy northwesterners were in shorts and flip flops.
Foos were amazing.
Steve and I and Dave Groehl in the background.
Lindsey made us all matching t-shirts.
An extra special place the Gorge is for me. No more Yoda talk…
We have tons of memories from our summer youth. It’s an awesome place. Getting to spend some QT with the Thielman boys, their wives Monique and Tiffany, Jimmy and Lindsay means a lot to me.
Especially since Ryan and I had some dramatic come from behind “Corn Hole” wins!
Ryan just got a new Nordic…
…and displayed it’s “butt in the seat” power when we took it out between weather.
We also got a unique view of the amphitheater from below.
Shappy’s up there somewhere:
Michel mentioned this above but we are super lucky to have Matt and Tirza in our lives. They have visited NOLA on several occasions and we love then both.
Oh yeah, and we got the hook up for gorge shows. I am not sure if I can go to gorge and camp ever again (Michel definitely can’t). Being driven to your exotic hotel room beats walking a mile with tens of thousands of sweaty, wasted concert revelers to a dusty tent. Those days were fun though.
For some actual blog material, we saw a couple of new/newer bands that were impressive. I think the “show of the show” was The Head and the Heart. Good Seattle music that was some kind of cross between Mumford and Sons and Arcade Fire. We also were impressed with Yeasayer. I’ve listened to them a bit but their live performance was super fun.
-SG
We’re in the Band Pics:
Shapsatchella
Golden Shower
The Amazing Crater Lake
We drove up to Crater Lake this morning. (For those readers in the South, the lake is in Oregon.) This lake is the deepest of all lakes in the US, around 2,000ft – just a bit deeper than Lake Pontchartrain. It’s 6 miles wide and has a little island in the middle of it called “Wizard Island.”
We got to the lake at exactly the right time. The clouds had just opened up for a matter of minutes so we could see the lake clearly. Did I mention that it was in the low 20’s and snowing? It was freezing, but it was one of the most breathtaking scenes I’ve ever seen..
Steve, Sean, and Michel
Steve’s Pic from a tiny window inside the Lodge.
We ate lunch in the warm lodge – including clam chowder, a burger, an omelette, and hot chocolate and then bundled up to face the fierce snowstorm outside.
Martha Rambles on…
Ramble on… WE LOVE YOU MARTHA AND WE LOVE YOUR COMMENTS AND POSTS!!!
THE SHUNPIKE EXPERIMENT 