Argentina

From September 27 to October 1st, then October 6th to October 8th, 2022

Day 1

We flew in from Rome and landed in Buenos Aires around 10am. We checked in at the Park Hyatt Palacio Duhau, had a short while to shower and clean up before heading out on a 4 hour bike tour around the city.
We started our tour in the Recoleta neighborhood, which is considered an upper class area and biked over to Palermo, another high class part of Buenos Aires. We moved onto the Retiro neighborhood where we stopped at a leather shop called Bettini Rizzi. She’s an “establishment” around the neighborhood, and all of us ordered custom leather jackets to be shipped back to us in the US. Purchasing leather goods in Argentina is a must.
We stopped for lunch at Nápoles Bar in the Barracas neighborhood on Avenida Caseros.
We stopped off at the Faena Puerto Madero, up and coming neighborhood for private tango lessons. They taught us a few sequences, then we had to put on a performance of our own.
Later that evening we went for cocktails at Tres Monos (#27 on Worlds 50 Best Bars) and met up with other YPO locals.
We walked from Tres Monos to a boutique dinner at La Carniceria Restaurant - very local and highly recommend! Can’t imagine a more authentic meal.
We finished the evening with cocktails at La Floreria (#18 on Worlds 50 Best Bars). This was the best bar we visited in BA.

Day 2

We woke up to take a boat tour through Delta de Parana. We got to see traditional old housing on and along the water. There were a large number of homes, schools, parks and other little communities organically sprouting up along the water front. While touring through the delta, we stopped off at Descanso Gardens; a private property but open to groups for events. Descanso Gardens was an oasis in the wetland area… it had clean cut grass, bridges, unique art installments (by contemporary Argentine artists such as Julio Le Parc, Pablo Reinoso, Gastón)
Díaz, Carlos Gallardo and José Fioravanti, small ponds, beautiful gardens, and a few buildings to help support whatever events the outdoor space might host.

Day 3

We took a ride out to the polo club, The Jockey Club in San Isidro (20 minutes north of Buenos Aires). At the club, the fourth most important High Handicap Open in Argentina was held 70 years ago. Now, every year the best players, horses and teams in the world compete for the trophy.
Patricio Amespil and Pablo Bagnardi, club polo captains, taught us a few things about our activity for the day. We were taught by the polo club members the rules of polo, the history of the game, techniques for hitting the ball correctly. Before too long, we were mounting horses to play a polo game ourselves. After about 30 minutes of our polo scrimmage, we took back to the stands to watch the amateur polo players play a game. They put us to shame.
That afternoon we headed to the airport to catch a flight to Bariloche. The flight was about 2.5 hours.
Once arriving, we checked into our hotel, Las Balsas at Villa La Angostura (Relais & Chateaux property). The property was surrounded by 20 hectares of native forest that is protected in the natural vastness of the Nahuel Huapi National Park.

Day 4

Boat ride around Nahuel Huapi Lake, a natural environment with magnificent landscapes, clear crystal waters and incredible secluded beaches.
We stopped off at Isla Huemul where you we took a small trek to see the remains of an old nuclear lab testing area. This was the place where the Nazis were said to have been working to build a nuclear program. It all started in 1947. Shortly after the end of World War II, many German engineers (including Austrian Ronald Richter) who were not punished for their relationship with Nazism - were left in a vacuum: without the possibility of working in their country, they began to look for other outlets, in many cases in the direction of South America. The place chosen to carry it out was Huemul Island, in Lake Nahuel Huapi. It was a perfect place: with clean air for the appliances, plenty of water as a source of energy, and, above all, isolated from the world, which would allow Richter to work without anyone knowing what his true goal was.
After learning history of the island, we took our boat ride a little further through the lake at a great spot near San Carlos de Bariloche named Fuegos Restaurant.
We stopped off to do a site visit at El Correntoso Lake and River Hotel, a small and beautiful hotel on the lake.
Dinner was at Tinto Bistro, owned by Martín Zorreguieta: a musician, a bartender, a specialized man in wines: a MUST when visiting town.

Day 5

Took a helicopter ride from Espejo Lake (15 minutes from Las Balsas). After an hour and a half we arrived at Senderos Lodge where we waited for our guide to take us across the border to Chile to explore the Chilean side of Patagonia.

Upon returning to Argentina a few weeks later, we went to Mendoza.

Day 1

We landed from Santiago to Mendoza and checked into our hotel Cavas Wine Lodge. The hotel was about 40 minutes from the airport and the hotel picked us up from the airport.
Our hotel scheduled lunch and a wine tasting for us at Bodega Lagarde, so once we dropped our bags we headed out. Bodega Lagarde was incredible and a great first impression of Mendoza. We could have sat there and enjoyed for hours.
We finished the evening with dinner at the hotel restaurant. It did not disappoint.

Day 2

We started our morning with a tasting at Matervini - a winery with beautiful view and property. There were many people touring around.
We had lunch scheduled at Abrasado Restaurante - incredible food, very authentic, great atmosphere
We scored reservations at 1884, a Francis Mallman restaurant that had just opened up that day after a 1-2 year closure. They were happy to be back and we were happy to have a seat!

Watch:

The movie, Evita
Anthony Bourdain, Parts Unknown (he eats with Francis Mallman at Mallman’s favorite restaurant)
The documentary, Los Desaparecidos
The show, Chef’s Table: Francis Mallman

Brazil