my heart belongs to argentina

A waiter serves patrons at the famous Café Tortoni, a coffeehouse established in 1858.

Having been born in Buenos Aires, 

I feel a real connection to the Argentine culture and history. 

There's always a twinge in my heart 

when I hear someone speak in the throaty, 

melodic Porteño  accent. 

 Or, when I hear the sultry, sexy music of a Tango.  

Mendoza, Argentina is known for its delicious Malbec wine 

Argentina is similar to the United States

in that it's a melting pot of different cultures.

Known as the "Paris of South America",

Buenos Aires is mostly made up of European immigrants.

My mother's family immigrated to BA from

Italy after World War II,

and my father's parents came from Italy

in the 1920's and 1930's.

My father was born and raised there

and lived through the Peronista era

that made Evita famous. 

Pedestrians stroll Avenida Florida, in downtown Buenos Aires.

A musician plays his bandoneón—a featured instrument in Buenos Aires's
tango music in the funky Caminito neighborhood.

A tango demonstration in the San Telmo neighborhood.

In a small restaurant in Buenos Aires, a couple tangos for the diners.

I try to keep my heritage alive with my children by

 making them familiar with the delicious cuisine of Argentina.

My boys know how to make empanadas, milanesa and chimichurri, 

and they love Argentine food as much or more than hamburgers and pizza.

And, recently I have started drinking maté,

which is a traditional tea-like drink that is found in every home in Argentina.

I grew up watching both my parents sipping mate

with a silver straw out of a hollowed-out, decorated gourd.

Mate is now readily available as an iced drink.

I like the Guayaki brand.

Another beverage I enjoy is Melbec wine

which is grown in the Mendoza province.  

 The café La Biela has been a gathering place in Buenos Aires since 1850, 

 Buenos Aires serves up a colorful urbanity,
including innovative retail and restaurant venues along Calle Florida.

B

 Gauchos rounding up cattle on the vast Pampas in Rancul.

Just beyond the mist, Mount Fitz Roy at the border between Argentina and Chile. 

"Great water" to the Guarani Indians, Iguazu Falls stretches for two miles through the jungle
near the border with Paraguay and Brazil. 

On Calle Lavalle in Buenos Aires’s cinema district,
crowds visit shops, theaters, restaurants.

Drivers stream past the obelisk in the Plaza de la República in Buenos Aires.
The monument was built in 1936 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the city’s founding.

Playful porteño art imitates life in a mural depicting traffic on Avenida 9 de Julio
—along a stretch of the real Avenida 9 de Julio.

The ornate Librería El Ateneo Grand Splendid draws in bookstore patrons
as much for its setting in a 1920s theater as for its shelves of books.

A coastal neighborhood of Buenos Aires, La Boca was settled by Italian immigrants
and has some of the city’s most colorful real estate. 

Men and horses pause near El Calafate, a town just beyond
 Lake Argentina in the southern reaches of Patagonia

Polo is one of the most popular sports in Argentina. 

Two of the most infamous and facinating 
people that Argentina produced, 

Che Guevera and Evita Peron.

ciao! fabiana