Adventures in South America

Sunday Brunch

On Sunday afternoon we went to Olsen for Brunch. This place is always a little crazy on Sunday afternoons and we made our reservation two days in advance (the need to do this is unusual for Buenos Aires). For those of you that are avid readers of this blog, you will recognize Olsen as the preferred Brunch spot for Seth and I. In reality, it is one of the very few brunch spots, as brunch doesn't really exist here. It is more typical on Sunday to go to a Parrillada with your family to have grilled beef in it's many forms.

For this reason Olsen tends to attract many tourists who are longing for Omelettes, Bagels, Smoked Salmon, Champagne and other things that are reminiscent, but not quite the same, as brunch in the states. And forget about Pancakes and French Toast for breakfast. There are pancake houses, but these are more crepes that come in savory as well as sweet flavors, and they aren't usually for breakfast.

After brunch we hung out at Desiree and Gaby's apartment and watched a good movie called Luna de Avellaneda starring, who else, but Ricardo Darin. If you have watched any major, critically acclaimed Argentine movies made in the last 10 years there is a 50/50 chance that Ricardo Darin was in the leading role. He is one of Argentina's premier actors and he has been acting in movies for more than 20 years. Most of the movies from here that I have seen in the recent past tend to be more of a drama that is dialogue driven as opposed to action packed. This makes them a little slower, but for me it is nice to watch a movie with a good story line and acting as opposed to computer generated special effects. For Seth and I our favorite Argentine movie is Nueve Reinas, or Nine Queens of course starring Ricardo Darin :). It's a great movie and we recommend it if you are up for reading subtitles. It's fairly easy to rent in the states as it is probably the most acclaimed movie to come from Argentina in the last 5 years. 

posted by Kathy T @ 7:04 AM