During our first weekend in Buenos Aires, we went to the Parque 3 de Febrero, a huge park in the Palermo section of this city. We live on a pretty busy avenue, and two buses stop right in front of our apartment. We can take either the 10 or the 59 and be down at the park in about 15 minutes. The park really is an urban oasis. It has lakes, jogging trails, and a lovely rose garden. It really felt like summer. There were tons of people out with their families and dogs enjoying the sun. As you can see in the picture below, you can rent rowboats or paddle boats to take out on the lake.
One of our favorite pastimes here is to point out the Argentine version of various US celebrities. In one of the rowboats (pictured above) we spotted the Argentine Harold Ramis, star of the 1981 hit comedy "Stripes" and the actor behind Dr. Egon Spengler of 1984's "Ghostbusters". He was out with his kids in one of the rowboats and making very loud quacking noises like he was some kind of huge goose.
Our visit to the park was also the first time we realized just how prevalent mate is here. Mate is a drink that is everywhere in Argentina. Every couple or family at the park had some. What you do is carry around a thermos with hot water, a bag of mate leaves, and a little cup with a built-in straw and filter. When you want some mate, you pack some leaves in the top, pour some hot water out of your thermos into the cup, and sip away happily through the little straw. This realization also answered a lingering question that I had ever since our first day here. A lot of restaurants and little food stands had signs that they had "agua caliente". I thought to myself, "Who in their right mind would be drinking hot water on a day like this?" All of a sudden, it hit me that the answer was all around me.
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