For the longest time a trip to Argentina has occupied the top spot on my imaginary bucket list, patiently waiting for its time. Talking about my dream to visit Argentina became such a part of my life that after finally getting it done, I might be at a loss of subjects to discuss in a polite conversation. In any case, the trip and the country of Argentina turned out to be everything I imagined it to be and much more, and became the longest, the most expensive and the best trip of my adult life.

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Since my previous post on the subject I’ve found a few more photos of winter in Moscow. Sadly, no Russian bears got into the photographer’s viewfinder, but rest assured, the bears are there, probably in hiding or something.

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Anyone can be a restaurant reviewer in Johnson County. I like reviews from this guy: he works, he eats, he complains. Once in awhile a man has to go back to his hunting roots, he has to procure his food in danger, surrounded by hostile environment and hard-to-find parking. That’s when I get out and go to the Independence Ave. to look for new lunch spots. There is probably not a day goes by without this area being in the news in connection to drugs, murders or prostitution. TV reporters spend so much time freezing in the street with their live reports which occur at least 12 to 24 hours after the event that they would be better off just renting an apartment and looking out of the window.
On the other hand, some of the most unique, authentic and cheap places to eat are located there, albeit with metal bars on the windows. Last week I ate at El Michoacano Taqueria (listen) which is a small family-owned restaurant. I ordered three tacos from the menu below: Carne Asada, Lengua and Chorizo. They were very tasty and they even gave me a lime to go which was a nice touch. The salsa was authenticated and approved by a Mexican co-worker. It’s not a chopped-up tomato salsa you normally see in a majority of Mexican Restaurants, theirs it real thin but flavorful and hot.
If you don’t speak Spanish please know that Lengua is tongue, Birria means goat, Tripitas is Tripe and Buche is some kind of internal part of a pig. While I enjoy a Lengua taco once in awhile (STFU Chimpo!), don’t blame me if you unknowingly eat a goat.
If you are not afraid of drive-by’s and/or mugging please try this restaurant.

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The 1960 U-2 incident occurred during the Cold War on May 1, 1960 (during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower) when an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. At first, the United States government denied the plane’s purpose and mission, but was forced to admit its role as a covert surveillance aircraft when the Soviet government produced its remains (largely intact) and surviving pilot, Francis Gary Powers. Coming just over two weeks before the scheduled opening of an East-West summit in Paris, the incident was a great embarrassment to the United States and prompted a marked deterioration in its relations with the Soviet Union.

Although the American plane was shot down long before my time, I knew about it from my parents. The Soviet leadership made the biggest possible deal out of this incident with a show trial, press conferences and even a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
The U-2 flight was just one in a long line of the CIA failures and the aftermath embarrassed President Eisenhower who was reluctant to authorize the mission in the first place.
If you have some spare time you can read the original Life Magazine articles about the trial here and here.

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev at the press conference.

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Preface:

Haphazard, light-on-planning style of travel we practice is not for everyone. Before leaving on the summer trip to Europe I haven’t done a lot of research, instead I directed my kid to find and write down everything she wants to see and do, while I would take care of the travel arrangements. So upon arrival, when I asked her what’s on her list for London, she said “Everything!”. That and Nando’s Chicken. And that’s exactly what we did.

Tourists roam Europe with textbook-sized travel guides constantly checking if they are doing it right. Someone on a large travel forum suggested taking a course in French gastronomy before visiting France. That’s in addition to a basic French language course and an overview of the French history. Visitors start their days with detailed and perfectly timed itineraries. A little more planning probably would’ve helped us to see more, save a bit of money and not show up at Versailles on the only day when it’s closed and leave the visit to Louvre for the day when its art gets a day off. People with a plan don’t have to wonder if they will have to sleep at a railway station because their credit card was declined when they tried to buy a train ticket at the last minute using a WIFI they found at a random Starbucks. People who didn’t spend their pre-trip days posting funny photos on Facebook don’t miss their stop on the way to the airport.

And then there are people like us, who get up every morning with just a faint idea where to go, or, sometimes, only a direction. We are the ones wondering around trying to make sense out of a souvenir map. We are the ones taking trams in the wrong direction all the way to the final stop wondering why our hotel is not there. We are the ones eating Mexican food in Amsterdam where the restaurant owner proudly calls it Argentinian, but which turns out to be neither. There is something to be said about spontaneity and sense of adventure, and we are the ones saying it. Loudly.

Don’t try this unless you are sure you won’t be divorced, disowned or dumped.

Face:

When God created London he said to the English people:

I will give you an awe-inspiring mix of the best architecture in the world,

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