People Like Me...

So Catdoggg has been telling me that I don´t get it. I don´t get the fact that when you travel you meet new people. Kiki is one prime example. But we all know he is special. :) As for the rest, I am from Boston and am more open then most but still a little stand offish when it comes to new peeps. Well let me tell you about tonight...

After searching through one of our Argentina travel books. We found a restaurant that we wanted to go to. Everyone has been telling me that when I am in Argentina that I have to go to a restaurant that specializes it Parilla (Steak) Evidently Argentina has some of the best. They were not kidding.

We sat down at the restaurant, (La Vieja Rotiseria) Very cool, Very friendly establishment. We ordered red peppers with garlic, and two orders of Bife de Chorizo (Sirloin steak, thick and juicy) Let me tell you. Catdoggg does not normally eat Carne, but myself... I love it. But being a Taurasi (My last name), growing with my mother, she always liked her meat burnt. Hockey puck style. So inevitably before we got old enough to make our own steak, my sister and I were subjected to this diservice. So I now as an adult, I appreciate a good steak. Man Town USA Baby... That was for you Craig...

The steak here was brilliant. We ordered them Punto (Medium) and they were lushish. Catdoggg even enjoyed it. Then our waiter brought over some Chimichurri (Basically a marinade with olive oil, garlic, parsley, pesto and other goodies.) It totally enhanced our meat.

This whole time a Spanish looking dude sat beside us. Go figure. :) I was making fun of him because he had put ice in his red wine. To me that´s a sin, but I am not about to correct someone about their wine etiquette.

Well, before we went to have Parilla. I was writing down some translations so we got what we wanted and it was cooked they way we wanted it to be. It made our night a bit easier.


When I was researching I found a dish that is called Parrillada. It consisted of these meats. Now remember when I read this it said that any or all of these meats could be in this dish.

Chorizo (spicy sausage)
Pollo (chicken)
Costillas (ribs)
Carne (beef)
Chinchulines (small intestines)
Tripa Gorda (large intestines)
Mollesa (thymus gland or sweet bread) Don´t ask me why...
Ubre (udder)
Riñones (kidneys)
Morcilla (blood sausage)

So here we are, sitting next to this guy who has ice in his red wine. Who am I to judge? Peoplelike what they like and... What plops down in front of him? Parrillada...

It was on it´s own mini grill with charcoal underneath to keep it hot. It looked just like I thought.

Anyway, we notice it. He notices us noticing it. He leans over and says something indiscribable and we just nod. After a while we figure out he was inviting us to join him with his dish of Parrillada. We were staring at the Blood Sausage. Evidently Catdoggg was familiar with it because of her Irish backround. I on the other hand thought it was "Different" He hands over his knife and fork and offers us a piece of the "Blooood Sausage." Catdoggg refuses, but for some reason I feel the need to try it. Hey, I´m probably only going to be in Buenos Aires once in my life. Why not? So I have Catdoggg cut a piece off for me.

Really squishy, just different. There was no blood oozing out. Thank God.

We then start talking to him. He was actually from Brasil and of course spoke Portuguese. Oh, and he really didn´t speak any English. Through emotions and gestures and some Spanish, we were able to understand eachother. It was really cool. In fact I was better able to understand Portuguese than Spainsh. Go figure...

Now, he calls over our waiter and requests two more plates. I picked up on this real quick. Catdoggg wasn´t very happy. Well she wasn´t upset, she just wasn´t happy that she might have to eat some of this stuff.

Also, he had mentioned that he usually eats Morcilla (blood sausage) with a shot of tequila in Brasil. So that should tell you something.

He then puts a piece of Riñones (kidney) on Cat´s plate and I get a piece of Chinchulines (small intestine) and Tripa Gorda (large intestine) on mine. Catdoggg tries hers and from the look of it I didn´t think she liked it too much. The intestines to me tasted like a burnt steak, ala Mom Style.

Knowing that the blood sausage was tough to eat or he was just being even more nice, he ordered a beer for the table. Let me tell you it truely helped with the swallowing of our food. At least mine.

This gentleman was so nice and gracious to us that we ended up passing names along with addresses and e-mail addresses. If everybody was as open as him, the world would be a better place.

I know I might butcher it by accident, but his name was Euggnio or Guggnio. I apologize if I got it wrong.

Guggino/Euggino, Thank you for opening my eyes to another culture and appreciating meeting new people. It was a pleasure and I hope that we can keep in touch in the future. Have safe travels my friend...

This is what traveling is about...