Merienda and The Playboy of Buenos Aires
Airbnb Experiences can put you in contact with folks you’d never have any business meeting
On the last episode of…
This wasn’t the first time I’ve been to Buenos Aires and I’m sure it won’t be the last. I was here in their summer last year, and it’s been a nice experience being here in the fall with Fiona. The city is a little less full and, like times throughout this honeymonth, we were the lone couple on Airbnb Experiences, one of which was getting a private bar crawl with the previous manager of Playboy Argentina. There are few times you get to meet a man who has fully forgotten the one time he partied with Hugh Heffner twenty years ago and this fully took us by surprise.
Tango lessons turned into tango shows with newly-minted Irish friends who were taking a six month sabbatical around the continent. We started working full-time this week again, so we found ourselves in one of the countless cafés, requesting too many cups while zeroing out inboxes. Thankfully, we were a few hours ahead of Chicago and could make the most of our mornings, checking out museums, walking around and getting a solid breakfast before putting our heads down again.
Recap
Total Miles: 13,087 mi
Miles Traveled: 6,403 mi
Current City: Buenos Aires, Argentina
My favorite moments of BA:
Buenos Aires is the home of “just-a-little-snack culture,” since it’s been codified throughout Argentina as their fourth meal: merienda. Around eight at night, the world breaks for a pre-dinner snack of maté or coffee, with a little sweet treat. You can’t go to dinner with an empty stomach right?
We necessarily didn’t break from our regularly scheduled programming of an earlier American dinner, but we did take full advantage of empanadas de carne cortada de cuchillo (knife-cut beef rather than ground beef), anything dulce de leche and ice cream shops. Rapanui was an ice cream chain that punched above its weight for not being overly sweet, but indulgent with some our favorites. Sambayón1, a marsala wine helado, and triple tentación (triple temptation), a dulce de leche (DDL, for those in the biz) ice cream with added DDL globs and Italian merengue.
Fiona booked us a night on the town through Airbnb, which was a good way to get us (read: Bob) out of the house and do something memorable after the grind of the week. In our finest hiking gear, we Ubered from Palermo to Recoleta and met up with the group around 8pm. Marcelo met us in the lobby of a building where we were to ascend to the rooftop bar. He was expressive and excited to see us and let us know that this would be a private night out. Frankly, Fiona and I were looking forward to meeting folks and diffusing the focus on us, but we had no idea what was in store for us.
We chatted in a mixture of English and Spanish and we learned he had a fondness for Chicago, since his sister had lived there for many years. Fiona found a new favorite drink, a Fitzgerald, and we generally froze in the cold, windy outdoor bar downtown. Marcelo had dinner on the mind and wanted to drive us to the Costanera to eat at one of his favorite places.
His Harley-Davidson customized, ’97 PT Cruiser2 was waiting for us right out front, illegally parked on a street sitting at an angle fit for San Francisco streets. He told us the value of the accumulated tickets was worth more than the value of the car at this point as we sped off to Costa 7070. He talked to us about his love for motorcycles, the Rolling Stones and his time meeting Mick Jagger at the Playboy Mansion. Between this and literally every employee greeting him at every establishment, we were in good hands to see bars we wouldn’t have otherwise found. He parked illegally everywhere went, bumped us to the front the line in exclusive speakeasies with a quick handshake with the bouncer. Milei may run the country by day, but Marcelo certainly is the manager on the night shift.
I’m grateful for Fi’s consistent and persistent seeking out of Airbnb experiences everywhere we go. There are so many interesting characters that are looking for the second or third act in this life, and want to give you a slice of their world. Life seems more full when you are in novel, one-time events because you stop to focus on them a bit more. Despite this being my second time in Buenos Aires, it feels like seeing it for the first time.
This loanword comes from the Italian dessert zabione, which is eaten in Uruguay as well. The dessert version is a light custard flavored with Moscato d’Asti, whipped to incorporate a large amount of air. As an ice cream, it’s a dream.
It was as sick as it sounded.