BACK IN BUENOS AIRES - Live in Argentina - 2012

In front of La Cabaña restaurant...

As you know Andrea from followed the three sold out concerts of AC/DC in Buenos Aires for AC/DC Abruzzo, while Matteo and Stefano were already in Australia preparing for the 11 Australian shows of February and March.

After three years AC/DC Abruzzo went back to Argentina. This time it was Matteo who visited this rock'n'roll country, for the first time.

We met with our good friend Christian with whom we had travelled together from Sofia to Bucharest in May 2010 (by train!). In the meantime, Christian had become worldwide famous thanks to the Live River Plate DVD documentary, "The Fan, The Roadie, The Guitar Tech and The Meat" where his crazy rock'n'roll story was told (he applied for a bank loan only to follow AC/DC on tour in Europe!).

What we heard was true. Argentina is a rock'n'roll country. And if you missed the AC/DC in 2009 just try and go see a football match and you will get an impression of what an Argentinian audience can do in a stadium. No other crowd compares to the Argentinian. No doubt.

Matteo Abruzzo and Christian at the Boca Stadium

Of course we also followed Brian and Cliff's advice and went to La Cabaña, the restaurant mentioned in the AC/DC DVD. Yes, the Kobe beef medallion will probably be the best steak you've had in your life! So juicy and tender that it melts in your mouth... Quite expensive for Argentina but still considerably cheaper than Europe. La Cabaña is in a nice new neighborhood called Puerto Madero, near the water with a few skyscrapers and modern buildings. 

Kobe beef Medallion (half - too late for the other half...)

But the most authentic places are areas such as San Telmo, the oldest "barrio"of the city, full of colonial buildings and tango parlors, with lots street artists and dancers. A bit like La Boca, created by Italian immigrants from Genoa in the 19th century. The streets of "Caminito", in the same neighborhood, will provide a nice and colorful portrait of the joyful Porteños culture, with lots of murales. Of course, we had to go and check out the "cancha" (the stadium) where we saw the football match "Boca Juniors - Independiente" (2-1). It wasn't easy to get tickets at Argentinian prices (15-20USD) but we managed anyway, using our basic Spanish and our local connections... If you don't have AC/DC Abruzzo skills in getting tickets (more than 80 AC/DC shows under our belt, remember!) just but a ticket at "Gringo price" (about 150 USD). It will be worth! Tickets for the entire seasons are sold out from day 1 (only season tickets are available)!

Satan in Caminito

God, according to Argentians

We spent most of our nights in the Palermo and Recoleta neighborhoods, which look quite European to us. Bars and clubs are packed during the weekend and you will meet a lot of interesting people who will become your friends in just a few minutes. Locals are very open and friendly, and you can easily guess that the heritage of most of the people from Buenos Aires is Italian or Spanish. Actually, we read somewhere that there were so many Italians back in the 19th century that the official language of Argentina should have been Italian. But "official" Italian language didn't exist at that time and there were only dialects so Spanish was chosen for practical reasons.

Tango culture

  

Food. STEAK! It is just impossible to describe how good the Argentinian meet is. We basically eat steaks 3-4 times a week. And steaks come with lots of tasty side dishes. In some places you can spend only 10-15 USD and eat as much 400g of "Lomo jujoso" (rare filet mignon). Of course if you order a good bottle of Malbec the price will be considerably higher. Our favorite spot was "La Cabrera" restaurant. If you don't mind eating "early" go there for the happy hour between 7pm and 8pm and you will get anything in the menu for half price. Argentinians generally have dinner after 10pm. We tasted also some fresh pasta (quite popular for the dinner lunch, like in Italy). And of course empanadas, "milanesas" and other typical recipes. We tried also MATE, the most popular hot beverage in Argentina, like coffee in Italy and Alfajores, typical sweats.

400g of limo

Girls. Yes, there are a few beautiful girls in Argentina and if you are an Italian from Italy, or from Abruzzo, you certainly have a competitive advantage. But the beauty of local women is overrated, a bit like Italy and Spain. Girls' attitude is definitely European, and this means women will make you invest a lot of energy and resources. We actually read somewhere that Argentinian guys are so much into rock'n'roll because they have to unleash the frustration they accumulate with women... Quite an interesting theory. :D So if you are looking for the South American "exotic" beauties AC/DC Abruzzo Travel guide suggests to Brazil, Colombia or Venezuela. ;D

...

TO BE CONTINUED

(Juan, Jennifer and the Recoleta Cemetery...)