Noruega en Argentina

Animal Family Part II

Posted on October 21, 2013 by noruegaenargentina

Had to share this picture of the sweetest dog ever. After living here I could never have a dog in an apartment; I see what a happy life they have here.

Posted in Campo | 2 Comments

Animal Family

Posted on October 18, 2013 by noruegaenargentina

While my friends and coworker here are sort of like family, the animals also end up feeling like family. I have shared photos of Negrito before, the only dog I have ever loved, and he keeps being an integral part of my animal family. Then there is Erik the horse, lovely as always, and then, the cats. El gato negro has been stopping by my house ever since I came here, while four kittens arrived as tiny little babies in late May. If the vet is right about their age, they were only a month when they came, taken here by a staff member who had found them. So cute! I think I posted a photo of them back in June. Now they are close to six months old and very cute. They used to be four, but one was killed by the dogs. 😦 Sad, but nature’s course in the country side, I guess. The smallest is a little black female, which I have sort of adopted as my kitten. I named her Mitzi, and her brothers I named Mauro, Malachi, and Mimo (the one who died.) I am horrible at animal photography, but here is a photo of Mauro, then one of Mauro and Malachi, and then little Mitzi.

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How did the weekend go?

Posted on October 15, 2013 by noruegaenargentina

You might ask yourself… As I wrote about last week, we had a really big weekend. We had around 24 for lunch each of the three days, and big dinners every night. But it went really well! Monday was my favorite day, while we had lots of people everyone was relaxed, friendly, nice… And some returning guests even brought me a gift! They had been here three weeks ago and then wanted to come back, and brought me a beautiful gift set from Esencias Elementales (kind of like Bath and Body Works in the US) and I was stunned! I have gotten a gift before from some guests who left, and it was really nice, but this was the first time some returning guests brought me something and said they wanted to thank me for having treated them so nicely the last time. On Monday everyone was Argentinian, and I feel we have “made it” when the porteños are happy, because they have high standards for food – but that also means that they appreciate it when it is good. I had an interesting talk with an older couple who said that they loved the food and the service, and that often, in Buenos Aires, service is not good, so then the guests don’t behave nicely, and then you have a vicious cycle…

This coming weekend is looking a little more quiet, which is quite normal after a holiday weekend. It is also Mother’s Day on Sunday, which many people spend at home, so I am not too worried.

Posted in Campo, Canuelas, Hotel | 1 Comment

Holiday weekend coming up

Posted on October 10, 2013 by noruegaenargentina

There are a lot of holidays in Argentina, and many, if not most, of them will be put on the closest Monday as to make a long weekend. This coming weekend is what in the US is called Columbus Day, but in Argentina is now officially called “Día del respeto a la diversidad cultural” or “Día de la raza.” So either “Cultural Diversity Respect Day”, or “Day of the Race”, referring to the diversity of the Latin American peoples. In any case, people like spending this day in the country side, riding a little, having lots of asado and maybe watching some polo, so we are very full this weekend. I say “very full” because on Sunday we will have people check out in the morning, but stay to spend the day and eat even more meat, while other people check in at the same time, so it is sort of a double shift.

To prepare, we have (as always) ordered obscene amounts of meat: I picked up 100 sausages today, and Saturday we will go get 14 kilos of ribs, another 14 of skirt steak, six chickens, five kilos of tripe, 8 kidneys, two kilos of gizzard (the best!!), ground beef for empanadas, and deliciously tender filet mignon. So. Much. Meat. But this should be enough for three days… The Argentines have a different stomach than foreigners I think, they are unstoppable when it comes to asado. But we also got lots of vegetables of course, and today the kilo of tomatoes was more expensive than the kilo of filet mignon… Apparently it snowed in the north of Argentina right as lots of tomatoes were set to be harvested, so the prices are crazy. We actually spend a ton of money on fruits and vegetables, as we try to serve some health as well as meat… I didn’t want to go all the way to the Central Market so I went to a place close by that sells in bulk, and got 20 kilo bags of potatoes, onions, butternut squash and carrots, and two cases of oranges for juice.

Tomorrow is prep day, for desserts, breads, empanadas, cakes, and then we kick of the super weekend on Saturday morning.

Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural – Día de la Raza

Posted in Campo, Canuelas, Hotel | Leave a comment

Driving in the big city

Posted on October 9, 2013 by noruegaenargentina

I have mentioned driving in BsAs before, but before I have only really driven to the city, gotten off the highway and switched drivers after a few blocks… Yesterday was my first time really driving in the city. We went from the campo to Once where I dropped off my neighbors who were taking a bus to Córdoba. Then I drove from there to Villa Crespo, and later that night I drove home. And it went well! It was kind of cool to drive at night in the city, because there was less traffic and lots of good flow. I had printed directions but on the way back I didn’t really need them.

In the musical Evita there is a song called Buenos Aires, which she sings as she arrives in the capital. There is a line that goes “Rio de la Plata, Florida, Corrientes, Nueve de Julio”, referring to different avenues, and I felt pretty cool cruising down Avenida Corrientes!

Posted in Buenos Aires | 3 Comments

Not so glamorous

Posted on October 5, 2013 by noruegaenargentina

To some, the words “polo” and “estancia” give off an air of glamour and champagne and white jeans and red wine. Well, there might be a little bit of that, but that is a pretty small part compared to the more mundane stuff! Tonight, for instance, I spent most of my evening washing dishes. We don’t really have enough people, and I hadn’t gotten any extra help tonight, so then I had to be the extra help, clearing tables, serving, and washing dishes… I may be a manager, but I can’t be above any task in the hotel… At least we finished at 11pm today, which is early for a Saturday. We did leave some glasses for the girl who comes in the morning, because people were still drinking wine when we left. I feel kind of bad about that, because she already has to prepare breakfast for a whole bunch. I have to say I find that a difficult part of my job; feeling that I push my staff too hard. I work with some amazing people and I hate it when I feel that it is too much… 😦 And being short-staffed in one shift usually carries negative consequences into the next one, because we are constantly playing catch up. So I guess I will be washing dishes tomorrow morning as well…

Posted in Campo, Hotel, Norsk i Argentina, Personal | 2 Comments

Mexican food in BsAs

Posted on October 3, 2013 by noruegaenargentina

My few attempts at eating Mexican food in Buenos Aires have not been good. Today I walked by this place in Palermo , Flor azteca. Maybe worth a try?

Posted in Buenos Aires, Restaurants | Leave a comment

Monday morning

Posted on September 30, 2013 by noruegaenargentina

When we are in really high season, Mondays are not that different from other days. But since we are still having busy weekends and quieter weeks, Mondays can be rather calm. Today is one of those Mondays and it is nice! We were going non-stop since Thursday morning, so after we sent off the last eight of the weekend guests this morning, we now only have three people here. That means some time to catch up on admin and finance, it means cleaning everything profoundly, and maybe even sitting down to eat lunch! What a luxury! It also means no asado (barbeque) after we have had seven of them in nine days! The asados are rather big productions so lunch takes a lot longer.

Quiet hotel:

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Off to a flying start

Posted on September 27, 2013 by noruegaenargentina

So I will have to say that the spring season in the hotel is off to a good start. September has turned in to a very good month (I of course think it is because I am back haha!) and I really cannot believe that I have only been back three weeks and two days. Feels like forever ago that I was on holiday!

We have had a nice mix of day trippers, polo days, weekenders from Buenos Aires and foreigners. We have had weekends of only Argentinians, but now that we have entered spring, the foreigners are here in full swing. Today, for instance, we had Colombians and Americans, adding to the Argentinians and Frenchmen that arrived yesterday for a corporate retreat. That was a really fun group, they did both a polo lesson in the afternoon and then a cooking activity in the evening – they had to cook their own dinner with the help of our chef, and they loved it. It was really neat to see them in action and they left very happy this afternoon.

This weekend will be really busy and I am tired already… That’s the downside to the high season! Tomorrow we have the launch of a new initiative called Xpat Life BA, so that should be fun. Xpat Life did a cool video about Puesto Viejo earlier this month:

Posted in Campo, Hotel, Personal | 2 Comments

Astor Bistro

Posted on September 25, 2013 by noruegaenargentina

I eat so well in the hotel that I have actually come to feel that eating out in Buenos Aires can be a letdown, that I would rather eat in the hotel! I often think “Hm, I could have eaten this much better in the hotel…” So usually I go out for Asian or something that we usually don’t eat at the estancia. But I just went to a great place in Buenos Aires, in the area of Colegiales, called Astor Bistro. The place is super cute and the food was excellent – fresh, delicious, not heavy, and their lunches are very reasonable. Diez puntos!!