THE EXPERION EXPRESS                                 JUNE  2007


TRAVELING

We had such a great trip that we will begin this latest edition of The Experion Express with our travel section. As mentioned in February’s edition, early March saw us traveling to Argentina. We spent the first week fishing for the world’s largest Brown Trout on the legendary Rio Grande River. Then we changed pace and flew to Buenos Aires for a wonderful week exploring the home of the tango.

So hold on, here we go on a whirlwind tour of Argentina.

The inscription on the restaurant's sign in the photo below tells it all.  Translated it says, "at the end of the world". 

We landed late at night in Ushuaia--literally at the end of the world. This city of twenty thousand is the southernmost  city in the world and sits on a fjord-like bay at the end of the continent. A three hour car ride later, we mounted the steps to the welcoming front door of Aurelia Lodge, the center of a sprawling cattle and sheep ranch set among the rolling grasslands and wind-swept desolation of Terra Del Fuego.

The next morning we were awakened early, and soon our guide Marcelo had us on the wide, clear water of the Rio Grande, fly fishing for the river’s sea run Brown Trout. It was the hardest fishing I’ve ever done: long days with typically only one or two strikes. But are they fish? My god, yes. Bright silver bullets of up to thirty-five pounds of fighting energy, they are like no other trout in the world.

As with salmon, these browns go to the sea, returning to spawn after a year or two. Unlike salmon, they live to return to their river homes again and again. With each visit they are from three to six pounds heavier. The photo is of a 13 pound beauty. We caught fish from 9 to 21 pounds.

At the lodge we experienced a different way of life. Time slows down and stretches out. At noon we were brought back to the lodge for a lunch that would be a dinner anywhere else. Flavorful Argentine wines, tender beef, lamb, cheeses and desserts awaited us. This sumptuous meal was followed by reading, a nap or lounging about until 5PM, when it’s back on the water until 11 at night. The best fishing is when the last light evaporates into darkness, and you are absolutely alone in the night. Suddenly a huge fish slams into your fly and the night comes alive with shouts of encouragement as the battle rages.

By midnight we were back at the lodge sitting down to an immense dinner that had been preceded by cocktails, wine and delicious hors d’oeuvres. We were in bed by 1:30AM and back on the water the next morning doing it again. Phew, hard work.

The entire experience was doubly interesting and exciting because of the international character of the lodge’s guests. We shared Aurelia’s eight miles of river with four Russians, two Icelanders and a Scot, making for lively conversation and warm camaraderie around the dinner table.

Many of these travelers reached Aurelia through an online travel and fishing website we learned about called Lax-a.is. We were even lucky enough to meet one of the owners of the site, Vala Baldursson. Her husband holds many world fishing records, and she had stopped by to see if her customers were being properly cared for. Aurelia passed all her tests and she had several exciting days on the river as well.

After a thoroughly entertaining week at Aurelia, we retraced our steps and returned to Buenos Aires for a week filled with shopping, dining and exploring one of the world’s greatest cities. Pictures of the father of the tango, Carlos Gardell, are everywhere, as are tango clubs and shows. No trip to Buenos Aires is complete without a visit to one or both types of venues. For me, the tango clubs tell the tale of Argentine life and one of the best and oldest is La Viruta, located at 1366 Armenia in Palermo. Don’t even think about arriving before 11PM – there won’t be many people there – but if you are still there the next morning, at dawn you will be rewarded with medialunas (croissants) and coffee.

The city is huge, with a population of over fifteen million inhabitants that has been influenced by two waves of European immigration brought about by last century’s two world wars. There is a continental feel to the city. Wide boulevards crisscross the city –Avenida Nueve de Julio (9^th of July) is reputed to be the widest in the world with up to twelve lanes of traffic in each direction. There are innumerable parks, plazas and traffic circles, each with its great monument or statuary. The European influence goes even deeper; the indigenous recipes for beef, lamb, pork and seafood have been seriously altered by the presence of Italian, Portuguese and German populations. The food that has evolved is a sensational melding of tastes and flavors that can’t be beat.

Like New York’s boroughs and Paris’ arrondissments, Buenos Aires has its districts. Strolling the well-manicured boulevards of Recoleta, you could easily be in Paris. All of the exclusive designs and the associated glamour and glitz is there along with a completely different type of attraction: Recoleta Cemeteria. There is no grass here. It is a concrete warren of mausoleums stretching back to the 1700s. Take a free map and wind your way to number 57, and you are standing before Evita Perron’s well attended and flower strewn tomb.

There is a district for every taste: San Telmo, Palermo, Puerto Madero, La Boca, the names go on and on. We have been through most of them and while Recoleta has its attractions, the vibrant heart of the city for me is Palermo. A fast developing part of the Buenos Aires, which only six short years ago was an area of run down industrial and commercial buildings, Palermo today is hopping. It is one of the world’s great street scenes. Recoleta may have all the upper end designers, but Palermo’s got edge. Trendy fashion designers and their boutiques dot the busy streets.

While there are many fascinating streets to draw your attention, the lively atmosphere along Honduras never ceases to amaze. Especially at 5100 where Honduras intersects the Serrano traffic circle forming Plaza Cortazar. It is 360 degrees of jovial mayhem. Open air discos, bars and cafes stand in lock step around the entire circle and everywhere street vendors have staked out their patch of concrete, displaying their latest creations, to the delight of throngs of people strolling by on the lookout for the right bar, restaurant or person. You can’t go wrong: the food is delicious, plentiful and very affordable.

You can sit down anywhere and get a good meal, but there are a few places you should know about. Each is well worth going out of your way to attend. Argentineans are serious about their food, but nothing draws a more heated debate than beef. It is the center of their culinary world and here the Argentinean steakhouse, known as a parrilla, reigns supreme. Flames leap high through grand wood fired grills with every kind of steak, lamb, pork and all types of sausages sizzling toward perfection.

Everybody has their favorite, but for me the best steak in Buenos Aires is served at El Trapiche at Paraguay 5099, phone: 4772-7343. Life unfolds at El Trapiche. Get there early and stay late as people start streaming in around 10PM and by 11:30 it’s packed. The menu goes on for pages; it seems they serve everything, all with a wonderful, complex blend of Italian and Argentinean flavors. The restaurant serves an eclectic clientele – teens on their first date, older couples and whole families of ten to twenty gathered around large tables. Grandpas, daughters, sons and all the kids  eating superb food and having wine. By 1PM little kids are kissing their grandmas good-bye and everybody is heading home. El Trapiche is an enjoyable place to spend an evening.

As good as the food is at El Trapiche, there will be plenty of locals arguing with me that their favorite parrilla is the best, and many of those would be singing the praises of La Brigada in San Telmo, located at Estados Unidos 465, phone: 4361-5557. La Brigada is at the other end of the dining spectrum: a small elegant room with dark timber beams and white-washed walls. It is a quieter atmosphere for those serious about beef done to perfection. You will be paying more here, but the great wines and service are worth it.

Then there is that one spot, that one culinary delight that transcends all others, moving beyond just the steak to an international cuisine that encompasses the world. There are several such restaurants in Buenos Aires. From my perspective, Casa Cruz in Palermo is the gold standard. It is located behind massive, but otherwise unannounced, gold doors at Uriate 1658, phone 4833-1112. Upon entry you are greeted by an immense bouquet of vibrant flowers sitting atop one end of an oval bar, which is surrounded by comfortable seating. When your table is ready, you are escorted into the long dining room to red velvet banquettes whose highly polished dark mahogany accents seductively reflects the subdued lighting.

Wild game, unique seafood preparations, new turns on Argentine traditionals await your selection. They are paired with one of the country’s wonderful Malbec or other wines, a stunning dessert, Eau de Vie and coffees. At dinner’s end you are released into the world to spread the word and remember this special place.

Now, you are just starting to get a glimpse of this metropolis.

If you like art, antiques, collectibles, jewelry and unique treasures, another whole city now opens to you. Its heart is centered in the San Telmo district, specifically around Plaza Dorrego. The plaza is a venerable, tree studded square, a portion of which acts as an outdoor café for the overflow from The Plaza Dorrego Bar. The bar is an historic establishment serving strong coffee, cold beer and great sandwiches to generations of eager treasure hunters, all of whom have appreciated a break from the daunting task of perusing the area’s many fine shops.

While there are antiques and works of art from every genre and era and, it seems, almost every country, there are special treats in store for aficionados of art nouveau and art deco. For them, this is paradise. No where but in New York or Paris will you find the number and quality of pieces in hundreds of shops and flea markets. Once again history and coincidence play their parts in this convergence. Those generations of Europeans immigrating to Argentina brought more than just their cultural heritage, and unique works of art find their way slowly, year by year, to the art and antique shops surrounding the plaza.

Most dealers are open throughout the week, though some do close on Saturday, in part I think, to rest up for Sunday’s regular event. It’s the Feria De San Pedro Telmo, a rip roaring brawl of a street scene. It merges 100 additional antique dealers, set up in booths covering the entire plaza, along with tango dancers, musicians, bands and vendors of every persuasion and ilk, into a ménage of tremendous appeal.

I encourage you to see for yourself. You will love Buenos Aires.

The next edition of our Travel digest will see us touring the “Big Sky Country” of Montana.

Do to the length of the Traveling Section our WORLD VIEWS section will be eliminated for this edition and will return in the next edition discussing our shrinking middle class and the money flows that are the cause.

BOOKS

I just recently finished reading IMPERIUM by Robert Harris. For those of us who like historical fiction, Mr. Harris is one of the best. His previous novels Fatherland and Pompeii proved he is a master in the weaving of fact and fiction. IMPERIUM is no exception.

IMPERIUM chronicles ancient Rome and the rise of the great statesman and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero, whom history knows simply as Cicero. Through the eyes and words of Tiro, his lifelong friend, secretary and slave, we are provided a unique, oblique view of Cicero’s rise to power.

While Cicero is our main character, we learn much about the slave Tiro. Tiro, like the vast majority of us, is a throw-away in a historical sense. Harris has effectively resurrected Tiro from the scrapheap of history, giving him his due for not only assisting Cicero in times of great crises, but also for his brilliance in creating a method of recording the conversations and dictation of all those around him. Interestingly, Tiro was the inventor of the shorthand system used by generations of secretaries to keep up with their fast-talking bosses.

Cicero lived for 63 years, from 106BC to 43BC. IMPERIUM focuses specifically on the years 79BC through 64BC when he rose to power and achieved, perhaps, his most public success, the defeat of the Catalin conspiracy to overthrow the Roman republic. You learn about the man, what motivated him, why he was the champion of the masses and why he was both hated and feared by the aristocrats.

For lovers of history IMPERIUM is a fascinating book providing an insightful view of the inner workings of a foundational democracy. All the intrigue and backroom drama is here to compel you to turn another page. IMPERIUM is a book well worth reading.

IMPERIUM $26.00                                                                                                           Hardbound /305 pages                                                                                                             ISBN 0-7432-6603                                                                                                               Simon and Schuster

ANTIQUES

Since Buenos Aires is such a hot bed of art nouveau design and treasures, we will take a few lines to explore the foundation and beauty of art nouveau antiques.

At the end 19th century, the Victorian era was spent. European populations were fed up with restrictive moral values and strict lifestyles. They were ready to break out in new directions and different ways of interpreting life. Simultaneously, Admiral William Perry was in the process of unlocking the long closed doors to Japan. From that successful endeavor, Japan’s unique naturalistic art in paintings, ceramics, and textiles washed over the art world like a tsunami. Europeans were fascinated by the sinuous lines of this new art. A synthesis occurred and the curvilinear design of art nouveau with its subject matter of nature and the female form dominated the art world from 1890 to 1910. Twenty years of innovation and wild abandon ushered in the 20^th century.

The arts, sciences and technology blossomed. Moving pictures, the automobile, the airplane, new processes in lithography, new ways of molding and decorating glass, the breakthroughs go on and on. The world was dazzled and at the radiant center was Paris. Artists such as Toulouse Lautrec, Alphonse Mucha, Emile Galle, and Louis Majorelle crafted their magic and art nouveau swept through the city. Soon all of France and every country in Europe had its own distinctive art nouveau style and movement complete with a pantheon of exceptional artists, designers and architects. America was not left out. We too were smitten, and the works of Stickley, Rookwood, Van Briggle, Steuben and Tiffany became household names synonymous with beautiful designs and execution.

Among the rarest and most beautiful of the creations to emerge from the period were vases and lamps made of cameo glass. Cameo glass was crafted from an ancient process in which thin layers of colored glass were deposited one layer at a time upon a blown glass form such as a vase. Then floral and scenic designs were created using beeswax, acid and engraving wheels to remove or expose the underlying layers of variegated glass. The finished vase had a stunning, three dimensional effect, combining multi-colored design beauty with a translucent depth. Cameo glass reached its zenith in the art nouveau era. Its beauty and level of execution had never been achieved before nor has it since. It became so popular that small factories sprang up to meet the demand. The greatest of these cameo glass innovators was Emile Galle followed by Daum, Muller-Fres, Legras and several others.

The photo to the left is a Galle cameo glass lamp with a corn flower pattern of pale blue blossoms and brown to green leaves on a yellow ground.

Today because of its fragile nature and exceptional beauty, prime examples can command eye-popping sums at auction. But the wonderful thing about antiques is one never knows what lies beyond the next door you open.

In the next edition, the ANTIQUE section will discuss Art Deco design.

The Experion Express is a bi-monthly publication of Experience Publishing Co., Inc.

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