Mental Meanderings: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Meanderings

Nov 16

MENTAL MEANDERINGS IS OUR ONGOING SERIES FOR ALL OF US WHO PROBABLY CAN’T HOP ON A PROPELLER PLANE TO BORNEO THIS WEEKEND BUT STILL NEEDS TO SATISFY OUR CHRONIC WANDERLUST.

We highlight a city somewhere around the world and give you all of the pieces you need to close your eyes and have a little 10-minute vacation. We hope you’ll be inspired to watch a movie, listen to a new song, pick up a book by a new author, or try cooking a new dish for dinner that brings a far-off corner of the world into your living room for a bit.

Happy daydreams!

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HERE’S HOW YOU CAN GET A TASTE OF THE CITY, AND BRING IT INTO YOUR HOME…

LISTEN

When thinking of music that embodies the soul of a place, some connections come more easily than others. When your mind drifts to Argentina, it takes approximately two seconds before strains of tango music begin wafting up over the cobblestones. This music is so entrenched into the essence of the city that it’s impossible to separate them. To be honest, there are so many incredibly beautiful strains of tango that it was difficult to know how to pick something to recommend. In the end, though, we find ourselves incredibly partial to the Nuevo-Tango stylings of Gotan Project. Here’s one of our favorites.

READ

There are so many different kinds of reading experiences set on this magical island, it’s hard to know how to even narrow down the field for you. We’ve gone with a pretty big smattering of options, from a historical look at the originally Dutch colony, a memoir of a traveler making a life for themselves in 1970s Ubud, a rollicky chic-lit story of a post-Elizabeth Gilbert attempt at finding yourself in Bali, and a good-old-fashioned mystery, just to round things out. Happy reading!

WATCH

Argentina has a really fantastic film industry that is absolutely worth exploring. One of its most famous exports is El Secreto de Sus Ojos (The Secret in Their Eyes), which won Best Foreign Film at the 2010 Oscars. If you want to be transported into a winding stretch of South America, beginning in Buenos Aires, there is always the sprawling Motorcycle Diaries to take you there. For our pick though, it really had to be Evita.

EAT
Other than just frying up a big ol’ steak, the best way to taste Argentina is to grab yourself the flaky little pocket of pastry heaven known as the empanada. Here’s an incredibly approachable recipe from Bon Appetit. Pull out a box of frozen puffed pastry and suddenly these little treasures become pretty darn simple to bring into your kitchen. Give it a go!