Cafés
Last night I had some friends over for dinner at home and one of them asked me Why do I love Buenos Aires. For the first time I thought about it not in a classic-sales-pitch perspective. Because, lets face it: Buenos Aires is a beautiful huge city among many others in the world, and also very dense, awful traffic, dirty, definitely not safe if you get caught in the wrong place and time. So, why? I may be able to understand the tourist seeking for and "adventure" in the far south, but besides them, why do I love the city?
To able to have a café the proper way. That's it. That was my best immediate answer. Let's see. One of the things I miss the most is to be able to sit down at a Café, order un cortado en jarrito and work on my stuff, whatever that means. For me, those places are study rooms, gathering point with friends, reading rooms, dating places, restroom -of course, among many other uses.
I have to admit that I barely knew Buenos Aires until my teen age. The apartment I lived for most of my life was small and I used to share the bedroom with my brother. We are kind of a loud family, so to stay in wasn't usually a good option. But before downtown-cafés, I was mostly sailing in the River Plate. Escaping the city. Different reasons made me look back at her at the early 2000s, and since then many things really kept me on the ground. Nowadays, the strongest characteristic that hypnotizes me is her literary potency. Buenos Aires is a literary city. Not because of it's writers or readers (which are decreasing), it's the immanent atmosphere. I will explain that sometime later...
Now, living in Winnipeg, cafés means a total different thing. And somehow they represent the different ways this societies are. Coffees here are something you get to-go. While in Buenos Aires that is almost inconceivable, here seems to be the standard. So, there's no physical space, no meeting point, coffee is just a paper mug on your hand while you walk. No a fan of drinking with a lid. Plus, most of the times, coffee here is drip coffee, espresso is more rare and specific. Finally, I changed my habits mostly because every time I found a place where to sit down, have un cortado and read my book, I am treated, surrounded and ultimately feeling like a hipster. Regardless what that means and it's connotation, I just want a cafecito, an that little ceremony can't be reproduced here. It's just not quite the same. Ironically the only possible place in the city, since I work there, makes impossible for me to sit down without getting distracted with work-related observations. Definitely a BsAs thing.
Along with mate, I guess that the beverages ceremony has quite a place in Argentinian lifestyle. Meanwhile, I think that my rushed answer to the question wasn't as inaccurate as I thought.
To able to have a café the proper way. That's it. That was my best immediate answer. Let's see. One of the things I miss the most is to be able to sit down at a Café, order un cortado en jarrito and work on my stuff, whatever that means. For me, those places are study rooms, gathering point with friends, reading rooms, dating places, restroom -of course, among many other uses.
I have to admit that I barely knew Buenos Aires until my teen age. The apartment I lived for most of my life was small and I used to share the bedroom with my brother. We are kind of a loud family, so to stay in wasn't usually a good option. But before downtown-cafés, I was mostly sailing in the River Plate. Escaping the city. Different reasons made me look back at her at the early 2000s, and since then many things really kept me on the ground. Nowadays, the strongest characteristic that hypnotizes me is her literary potency. Buenos Aires is a literary city. Not because of it's writers or readers (which are decreasing), it's the immanent atmosphere. I will explain that sometime later...
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| Café los Galgos. Lavalle and Callao, two block away from grandma's house (Photo Cred. todobuenosaires.com) |
Now, living in Winnipeg, cafés means a total different thing. And somehow they represent the different ways this societies are. Coffees here are something you get to-go. While in Buenos Aires that is almost inconceivable, here seems to be the standard. So, there's no physical space, no meeting point, coffee is just a paper mug on your hand while you walk. No a fan of drinking with a lid. Plus, most of the times, coffee here is drip coffee, espresso is more rare and specific. Finally, I changed my habits mostly because every time I found a place where to sit down, have un cortado and read my book, I am treated, surrounded and ultimately feeling like a hipster. Regardless what that means and it's connotation, I just want a cafecito, an that little ceremony can't be reproduced here. It's just not quite the same. Ironically the only possible place in the city, since I work there, makes impossible for me to sit down without getting distracted with work-related observations. Definitely a BsAs thing.
Along with mate, I guess that the beverages ceremony has quite a place in Argentinian lifestyle. Meanwhile, I think that my rushed answer to the question wasn't as inaccurate as I thought.
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