Day 66 – Argentines Like To Start Sweet
Location: Ushuaia, Argentina
Date: Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Today I boarded a plane to the southernmost city in the world namely, Ushuaia, Argentina. For whatever reason, I’ve decided that instead of enjoying the southern hemisphere’s summer, it’d be a good idea to freeze my ass off in the unforgiving environs of Patagonia. Instead of taking 36 hours to get here by bus (or splitting the trip over a few days) I opted for a few hour plane ride.
The meal on the plane got me thinking. Argentines love their sweet breakfast. Medialunas you know about. But there’s dulce de leche, which is like thick caramel and is used at breakfast to spread over bread. (It’s like Argentina’s version of ketchup because it seems to go in or on everything.) Facturas, or pastries, are a breakfast staple. I’ve yet to have anything for breakfast resembling a meat or egg. Might be where I’m staying (cheap places, but I also haven’t seen a fruit.
I thought of this because Aerolineas Argentina served us breakfast. It consisted of two pieces of unfrosted cake, a sweet granola bar, a disk of milk chocolate, and a piece of hard candy. Dear gawd I’d hate to be a diabetic on this plane. The fumes alone from all the open breakfast boxes in this cramped space would have been enough for a seizure.
I’m just sayin’.
I’m also sayin’ that Ushuaia is cold. Since it’s “summer” here there’s no snow on the ground. That’s confined to the foothills behind town, which is, I guess, a good thing but is far from making this seaside town a beach resort. It’s colder here than the coldest day in winter in San Francisco. I can see my breath. I had to put on a scarf.
I think I miss Uruguay already.
The Overpacker 