Author: hwilkie@mhwcom.com

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Happy New Year from Buenos Aires!

Welcome 2021 — we’re glad you’re finally here!

A group of us did our usual picnic down at the riverside area known as Puerto Madero. There weren’t as many people there as usual, but enough to make it feel like the fiesta we all desperately needed.

At the beginning we were just four people – Cecilia, Liana, Venetia and me. A friendly Italian stopped to chat, wish us Happy New Year and give us extravagant compliments. So while he was there, Cecilia asked him to take our photograph. He took quite a lot and most of them were out of focus! But this one survived the cut.

Later on, after midnight, Vivi turned up with some family members who were visiting her, which completed our party.

And finally, here is Venetia’s video of the fireworks that traditionally welcome in the New Year.

In Argentina instead of the full expression Feliz Año Nuevo, most people say Feliz Año. I don’t know if this is on purpose, but I always like that because it seems to offer good wishes for the whole year and not just when it’s new. So in that spirit, I wish you Feliz Año, and my best wishes for a wonderful 2021!

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Hogmanay 2020

In the Scottish tradition, we don’t wish people Happy New Year until it arrives, ie after midnight. If we do greet anyone before that, we say, “Happy New Year to you — when it comes.” New Year’s Eve is called Hogmanay in Scotland.

I’m sending you links to a beautiful, haunting three-part video made in Scotland using drones. It’s called Farewell — or in the Scottish version, Fare Thee Weel. It’s a special goodbye to this particular auld year.

Here is the beautiful and haunting Part 2

Part 3

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The trip home

Before we left Costa Esmeralda, we all went out for breakfast in one of the restaurants on the beach, called paradores. This one was brand new, and we all enjoyed the breakfast very much.

We got on the road home around 11 am and had quite a good trip. Even though it was the end of the holiday weekend, the pandemia has kept travel to a much lower level than usual, and the traffic was quite light.

We stopped for lunch in a place called Dolores, at this restaurant. It was a bodegon, which is a place that serves traditional Argentine food, and in Buenos Aires they can usually be relied on to produce good food. This one, however, was a disappointment. Venetia likes her steak extremely rare, and we all went to great pains to emphasize that, but it still came back overcooked. Adding insult to injury, the cook said it was fine and although she did get one that was better we had to pay for the first one!! We asked for it to go, and then gave it to a stray dog right outside the door — just to let them know what we thought of their steak!

But the rest of the trip went well and I was dropped off tired but happy around 7 pm.

It was my first Christmas on the beach, and I hope it won’t be my last! All in all, a great way to spend Christmas, and good friends to spend it with.

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Asado!

Venetia and I were the only ones who called it Boxing Day, but we celebrated December 26 very well!

First, we finally had our day of shopping and wandering in Pinamar, which was quite successful. As my sister-in-law Elise always says, we managed to get some money spent!

Then when we got home, it was time for our asado, the traditional Argentine barbecue. Here are some photos that show how it’s built into the wall on the other side of the kitchen. This is Luis doing the cooking. We had lots of meat, as well as veggies as we have a couple of vegetarians among us — yes, they do exist in Argentina!

By the time we finished all that eating and drinking it was time to fall into bed!

There were a lot of birds of prey in our backyard. I believe they are a kind of hawk, but Lina, who knows a lot about birds, says here they are called caracara. Anyway, this was a very lucky shot. Although not in sharp focus, it did catch it in flight.

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Christmas Day

Traditionally, Christmas Day is quiet here, as we celebrate Nochebuena, Christmas Eve, and this year was no exception. What was different, though, was our location!

After our late night, we had a lazy morning, and then went down to the beach. It wasn’t quite as hot and sunny as it was yesterday, but that was fine because we didn’t go to swim or sunbathe today — we went to drink champagne! And here we are, caught in the act!

While the others went for a walk, I took the chance to do a little sketch of sea and sand.

We had lunch at a little beach restaurant, but we kept it light because tonight we’re having a traditional Argentine asado. I’ll take photos of that as it happens, so stay tuned!

If you are in a country that celebrates the holiday today rather than yesterday, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope you are having a great day.

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More on Nochebuena

We certainly took advantage of our summer Christmas Eve! It started in Pinamar, as I described in the previous post, but then progressed to the beach back at Costa Esmeralda. Cecilia is always first to plunge into the ocean, and this time Luis was happy to join her.

Later in the day, we had our lovely dinner, cooked jointly by Luis and Venetia, and then opened the gifts at midnight according to Argentine tradition.

Luis’s paella was a thing of beauty! It made me wish I liked seafood, but unfortunately I don’t. So Venetia made a lovely pasta dish just for me — sorry I had started eating it before I remembered to take the photograph!

This is the group minus Luis, who took the photo. As you can see, we have finished our meal, except for the traditional Pan Dulce, which was also delicious. Of course it was all washed down with copious amounts of Malbec and champagne! Joaquin and Corinna, Cecilia’s son and his girlfriend, got engaged the other day, so that gave us one more thing to drink to!

Here are a few gift opening shots. The thing dangling from my ear is a blingy mask that Cecilia gave me!

Feliz Navidad everybody!

 

 

 

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First full day in Pinamar

We are planning a great meal for Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) with the family. Cecilia’s friend Luis is a very good cook, and he will make paella – which is exciting for everybody except me, as I don’t like seafood! Cecilia is going to make her special pasta dish for me though, so I know it will be good for me too!

The shops will close tomorrow midday until Saturday, so today we went to the big supermarket to buy all the seafood etc. We still have to get the meat for the asado on Christmas Day, but we will do that tomorrow morning as the fridge is jam packed!

Before doing the shopping, we went down to the beach just to check it out, and Venetia took these photos.

Cecilia and I by the Big Pinamar sign — just to remember where we were!

This brought back happy memories. Cecilia’s daughter Pia got married on February 29 this year at this place on the beach. They just got in under the wire, as lockdown started soon after. The people there remembered us, as we were apparently the last wedding before it all shut down!

In the supermarket, I found Johnny Walker and had to have my picture taken with him!

Tomorrow is the big day, but we are still hoping to squeeze in some beach time before we start cooking and getting all glammed up!

 

 

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Arrived on the Coast!

Well we left early this morning and drove to Costa Esmeralda on the Atlantic Coast of Argentina, where we plan to spend Christmas on the beach.

Cecilia’s son and his fiancée have rented a lovely house here for the month of December, and invited us to stay over Christmas, so we are here until Sunday.

There’s a pool in the back yard, so we made use of it this afternoon as soon as we arrived, as you’ll see from Venetia’s video of Cecilia and me. And I can attest to the fact that she really did join us after she took the video!

We went down to the beach just before sunset to check it out. It’s a beautiful beach, with very little commercialism. There is a restaurant, which is apparently very good for lunch, but not much else. I love that, as it just leaves sun, sand and sea to be enjoyed!

I wandered ahead of the others, and Venetia shot this video of me walking on the beach at sunset.

I think we’re going to like it here!

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We Have Liftoff!

The two chicks flew the coop yesterday morning, and I missed it! They’d been flexing their shoulders a bit the day before and I felt sure they were gearing up. One came back, so I stood patiently waiting with my iPhone, and this is the result.

And of course, that’s exactly what happened!

I’ll leave the nest there until I get back just in case they want to use it, but next week I’ll be cleaning up the mess!

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Last Buenos Aires Outing before Christmas

Yes, this is yet another eating and drinking event! Yesterday a group of eight of us went to a lovely bistro called Casa Cavia for lunch. I think it was originally a house (I think someone said that), but now it’s this lovely eating place, with a centrepiece of a tree in the middle of an infinity pool. Here are some shots of the “Ladies Who Lunch” — Venetia took most of them, but I took one so that she could be in it!

Apparently there is some lovely indoor eating in what they call the Library, so we’ll have to put it on our list to go again in winter!

I say this is the last Buenos Aires event for me, because Venetia and I leave tomorrow morning for six days at the seaside! Cecilia’s son Joaquin has rented a house near the beach at Costa Esmeralda, and has invited us with Cecilia to spend Christmas with them. To say I’m excited would be to understate it! I promise to do some blog posts while I’m away.

Meanwhile, I have a video update on the birds on my bedroom window sill — I’ll post that next.