| Learn the local customs of Argentina. Tips and photos posted by real travelers and Argentina locals. Map |
 | Argentina Local Customs | Tips 1 - 10 of 113 |  |
 Mendoza for malbecs by TheWanderingCamel
Just as Malbec is Argentina's leading red wine, so the fruity, flowery Torrontes is the country's signature white. Originally from north-east Spain, it isn't grown (or sold) much outside Argentina these days, in fact you'd be hard pressed to find it anywhere other than Argentina at all. Perhaps more of a challenge than Malbec - this is a wine you'll probably either love or hate - served well chilled as a pre-dinner drink with some spicy sausage, it's a good drop. It also goes well with seafood and even holds its own with red meat. The best Torrontes comes from Cafayete in the remote Calchaquies Valley of Salta Province. Leave a Comment
|
 | |  |
Visiting Argentina?
Read reviews about Argentina Hotels
Real Reviews from Real VirtualTourist Members.
 Pass the mate by TheWanderingCamel
What is it? A bitter herb tea is probably the best description - made from the young leaves of a member of the holly family and definitely an acquired taste for those not born to it. And if you thought English tea had its little rituals, mate leaves that brew for dead.
So what are these rituals? Apart from the paraphenalia - a mate (the bowl you drink from, often made from a small gourd, more expensively from silver) and a bombilla (the metal straw/filter you drink through - everyone from the same bombilla and mate) you must observe the following niceties -
Number 1 - Mate is a social drink, always shared and never drunk alone.
Number 2 - one person is the server. When you finish drinking, the bowl is passed back to the server who refills it and passes it to the next person to the right
Number 3 - no token sips allowed - you must drink the whole mate, but don't slurp
Number 4 - don't disturb the bombilla in the bowl - you'll spoil the drink for the next person if you stir up the leaves
Number 5 - drink the mate as it is served - only the server can decide whether to add sugar
Mate is always served very hot - be careful not to burn your mouth
Even if you don't take to the drink, the mate bowls and bombillas make great souvenirs. They'll range in price from just a few dollars for a basic mate and base metal bombilla to a substantial sum for fine antique silver pieces. Leave a Comment
|
| | |
... the strains of the tango filter into the air of Argentina, part of the heartbeat of the country, and Buenos Aires is the source of the pulse. Born in the bars and brothels of 19th century BA, it was a fusion of Arican and Cuban rhythms with a little touch of Central Europe, and definitely not something for polite society. When it first appeared on the dancefloors of America and Europe in 1913 it caused a sensation, its sensuous rhythms and steps considered scandalous. Intensely intimate but precise and fast moving, tango is unique.
You can take your tango in a slickly choreographed show - expensive and very touristy, but undeniably showy and spectacular, or you can find your way to a milonga (a dance hall, where local afficionados dance the night away, starting very late and going on 'til dawn). There are plenty of classes on offer, more and more as the tango craze shows no sign of abating world-wide and people come to Buenos Aires just to learn. Or you can take your tango as you find it, well-rehearsed street dancers set up outside Galeria Pacifico on and off all through the day and evening (photos 1-3) whilst elderly couples take to the little dance floor in the food hall downstairs as the evening wears on. Outdoor performances take place on a stage at Sunday's Feria San Telmo (try to get a balcony table at the cafe at the corner of Humberto and Defenso for a bird's eye view) and if you have a drink on a weekday at a little cafe around the corner of La Boca's Caminito, you may well be the sole seated audience for a simple little show. One thing you can be sure of, whenever the music and the dancing starts, a crowd will gather. It may just be a passing party of school children but they'll all take a keen interest and stay until the music stops (photo 4). Leave a Comment
|
| | |
 Shrine to the Gaucho Gil by TheWanderingCamel
Antonio Gil, 19th century gaucho-turned-bandit has become something of a cross between a local saint and Robin Hood figure to the poor and dispossessed of rural Argentina. A folk healer whose refusal to fight in a provincial civil war made him an outlaw, Gil was known to rob the rich to help the poor. After his execution (unjust maybe, a pardon seemed likely) a legend grew that attributed the miraculous recovery of a young boy to his intervention. More "miracles" followed and the shrines proliferated, all distinguished by their red flags and streamers and the small offerings people leave behind - candles and long red ribbons from those praying for a safe journey; cars and models of houses and such from those seeking more tangible improvements to their lives.
Thousands flock to Corrientes to a huge shrine at the place of his execution where shops sell readymade votives to the believers in the way of all places of pilgrimage, but it's these strange, makeshift shrines and their sad little offerings that speak more tellingly of the dreams of those who come to them. Leave a Comment
|
| | |
 sharing mate - a tradition :-) by Trekki
It's more than drinking tea - it's a kind of institution, done all over the country :-)
A wonderful text exists about the philosophy of drinking mate - but as space is limited here, I have added it to "General Tips" - please see here:
Mate Leave a Comment
|
Visiting Argentina?
Read reviews about Argentina Hotels
Real Reviews from Real VirtualTourist Members.
He's remembered everywhere, with a statue, a street, a plaza named for him in towns and cities all over the country. General Jose de San Martin - soldier, Governor of Mendoza, liberator of Chile. Ferociously anti-colonialist but a royalist at heart, he wanted to see a constitutional monarchy installed to rule over his beloved Argentina. When the newly-independent country he had fought for failed to grasp the opportunities for an uncorrupted and unified future, he took himself into self-imposed exile in France in 1827, to die there in 1850, unremembered and unremarked for several years.
His body was returned to Argentina in the later years of the 19th century, to be re-interred in Buenos Aires' cathedral, marked by an elaborate tomb that is guarded by soldiers in period uniforms - a national monument (photo 2).
With only one or two exceptions, all the statues of the hero face west, (photo 3) to the Andes, in memory of the Herculean crossing made by him and his army of liberation - the Ejercito de los Andes - who crossed the mountains to free Chile. In its centre, Argentina's coat of arms bears the insignia of the Cap of Liberty borne on a pike (an ancient symbol of the power of freedom). San Martin's men carried a banner bearing this emblem with them on their historic campaign. A replica of the banner can be seen in Recolata Cemetery Leave a Comment
|
| | |
 Tango dancers in San
Telmo by andal13
y sin embargo te quiero..."
(Tango, you hurt me,
nevertheless I love you...)
Tango is a musical style, a sexy dance, a popular culture, a philosophy... This rhythm was born in the 19th century by Rio de la Plata, at the underworld; nowadays, its music is known all over the world.
El tango es un estilo musical, un baile sensual, una cultura popular, una filosofía... Este ritmo nació en el siglo XIX a orillas del Río de la Plata, en los bajos fondos; en la actualidad, su música es conocida en todo el mundo. Leave a Comment
|
 carved berries by kyoub
I hope that is true because I ate many berries while I was there. I also bought several jars of preserves home with me. Leave a Comment
|
 by ptitetoile
Most streets are in one direction! So when circulating in car, you have to know which street is in which direction (often is one on two) Leave a Comment
|
 Mate by trek06Leave a Comment
|
|
|
