Holiday Portraits

Portraiture is by far my favorite photographic genre. In my college photography class, the professor said that my portraits were often too close-up. But I like the intimacy of a tight portrait, especially those with vivid facial expressions and engagement with the camera. I broke out the ol' Rebel during my family's Christmas Eve party (inspired by my cousin experimenting with his new Nikon digital SLR) and captured some great moments.

Argentina - part 4 - Excursions

Trail Ride in Mendoza

Paragliding (that's me!)

Asado (our lunch!)

Traditional Dances at the Gaucho Party

Estancia

I arrived in Argentina expecting to enjoy food and wine and sightseeing (which we did), but we also took advantage of some cool adventure opportunities, including visiting an estancia (ranch) and enjoying an asado (BBQ), horseback riding, and paragliding. Even the first-class overnight bus to Mendoza was a fun adventure. I was skeptical at first, but the huge, fully-reclining, comfy seats, champagne, and bingo convinced me!

Argentina - part 3 - Dining

The food is arguably the best part of any trip to Argentina. Well, if you like beef, that is! We enjoyed amazing meals every day, complete with fantastic Argentinian wine (and no, it's not all malbec, though if it was that would be ok with me!). In addition, there is a laid-back cafe culture and gelato on every corner. Basically you have no chance of ever feeling hungry.

A few logistical notes: 1. dinner happens very late (you're getting the early-bird special if you arrive at 9pm), but other meals are at the normal times. To avoid passing out during the 10 hours during lunch and dinner, people have la leche, which usually includes coffee or a snack around 5-7pm. We turned la leche into happy hour (i.e. a bottle of wine in the hotel), which was a very fun way to pass the time before dinner. 2. Portenos linger over their meals. If you go to a restaurant with a wait, expect to be waiting a while because waiters don't hurry people out the way they do in the US.

Some of our favorite meals were at:

La Cabrera, BA's most famous parilla (steakhouse). Steaks come with all these interesting little side dishes. Reservations are a must (this was the only place we needed them).

Azafran, a cool, eclectic restaurant in Mendoza. They are a little more experimental with the food than is typical in Argentina (where you tend to get perfectly grilled steaks but few frills/seasonings/side dishes). This could have been one of the best meals of my life. I had fillet mignon and hubby had pork with blueberry sauce.

El Palenque, also in Mendoza. Although it is owned by the same guy who owns Azafran, the food is much simpler. It's meant as a place for locals where Azafran clearly caters to tourists. We had a delicious "pizza" where the "crust" was french fries and the "sauce" was steak, topped with cheese, oregano, and other seasonings. The surprisingly good house wine comes in a traditional penguin pitcher and that was just fun.

Don Julio, in the Palermo neighborhood of BA. This was a great traditional parilla without the hype of La Cabrera. We ate here on the first night of the honeymoon and quickly realized that a half portion of steak is more than enough for a human of any size/appetite.

La Oveida, in the Recoleta neighborhood of BA. This was an upscale restaurant (not a parilla, where we ate most nights) which was a great change of pace. I had fish and hubby had ravioli.

Argentina - part 2 - Wine Tasting in Mendoza

Ok, my new married/homeowning lifestyle has distracted me from completing my Argentina postings. (Though we have hosted a couple of successful evenings at the new digs and I am quite proud to have updated a bathroom, with a little help from hubby.)

Wine tasting in Mendoza was probably my favorite part of the honeymoon. We splurged on a high-end tour from Ampora Wine Tours, and it was definitely worth it. Our guide, Luli (stong contender for the title of cutest person in all of Argentina), spoke perfect English and set exactly the right tone for the tour. She was knowledgeable and enthusiastic yet unpretentious and fun at the same time.

Wine tourism is relatively new in Argentina, so things like tasting rooms and tours vary widely. Some of the wineries are still more like farms and others--especially the ones that offer free tastings--often won't let you taste their best wines. Most places also require advance reservations. Ampora specializes in mid- to high-end vineyards and has a max of 8 people on its tours. We visited 4 different bodegas (wineries), got to taste some excellent vintages and Ampora took care of all the logistics (so nice after the wedding madness!), including transportation, reservations, private tours and tastings for our group, lunch, and some nice little amenities like bottles of water and snacks, which were crucial to helping me stave off an early AM low-blood sugar meltdown that could have ruined the entire day.

We headed out to the Uco Valley, an up-and-coming area for wine cultivation, about an hour outside of Mendoza. The valley is at the base of the Andes and the scenery is unbelievable. Interestingly, all of the vineyards we visited were owned by foreigners--in this case, French, American, or Spanish. We visited a really interesting project called Clos de los 7, where seven established Frensh winemakers cultivate their own vines and produce their own wines on a huge property. Some of my favorites wines we tasted were Pasionado (a blend at Andeluna), Festival (a malbec rose at Monteviejo), and the Gran Malbec at Las Flechas de Los Andes. We took bottles of the last two home to remember the trip. We finished the day with an amazing lunch at Bodega O'Fournier, where Area 51 meets wine.

Argentina - part 1 - Buenos Aires

I could not possibly hope to include everything about our amazing Argentinian honeymoon in just one post. I have therefore divided/sub-divided the posts geographically and somewhat chronologically. We started the trip in Buenos Aires (or "BA" to you cool kids). It was fantastic--cannot say enough about the delicious food, amazing wine, fabulous shopping, friendly people, cosmopolitan vibe...

The one downside was the prevalence of street crime, which prevented me from taking as many photos as I would have liked in the city. After the first day, when two locals--including a cop--told me not to display my camera in public, I mostly left it at the hotel. I did manage to get a few good shots, though, especially in Recoleta cemetery.

Over the course of about 10 days total, we made our way through the various neighborhoods of the city. I liked San Telmo, BA's oldest barrio featuring cobblestone streets, wrought-iron balconies, and a great weekly antiques market, while hubby preferred gleaming, modern Puerto Madero, along the canal (opposites attract, I guess!). But Palermo, Recoleta, and Microcentro also had their charms. La Boca was not quite what we expected. Having heard it was a dangerous, crime-ridden neighborhood--but still worth seeing for the iconic, brightly colored, corrugated metal buildings along el caminito--we took a cab directly there and left nearly all of our valuables at home. We were in for quite a surprise when we realized that el caminito was something of a mix between Disney World and Tijuana and was hardly the den of crime we had anticipated. It was extremely touristy and tacky and was the only place in the city where we saw people displaying valuable electronics--including cameras and even a PSP! We felt a little silly, needless to say. And that is why I do not have any photos of La Boca to post.

Movin' On Up!

Today is moving day! We are moving to a beautiful detached house that we never would have imagined we could afford, just a mile away from our current neighborhood. Of course I am tantalized by the many shopping/decorating/entertaining/DIY project possibilities that a house provides, but I am a little nostalgic about leaving our apartment. We had a great 3 years here. Last night I went up to the roofdeck to capture the view that sold us in the first place. I will miss it!

Foodfest 2009

When I started this Blog, I justified it to myself by saying that it would only be about photography and travel, my two favorite pastimes. No self-righteous rants or mundane drivel. But I have been on a quest for the past few months, and I am dying to report my findings somewhere. The anonymous blogosphere is the obvious venue. So here we are. Apologies to those who may be put off my the frivolous nature of this endeavor. Then again, what are you doing reading a Blog, anyway?

Washington DC Cupcake Tour
Although the Washington Post recently published "Cupcake Wars," I set out to do my own research. In fact, the Post and I were generally in agreement about the DC cupcake scene. Here are my results:

1. Georgetown Cupcake. Excellent variety of flavors, perfectly moist cake, frosting is delicious without being cloyingly sweet. We had them delivered for a party and they were a big hit (though pricey). Major downside of Georgetown is its cult following. The place is tiny, somewhat inaccessible (on a little sidestreet in Georgetown with no parking, far from a metro), there is always a huge line, and there's no seating inside.

2. Baked and Wired. Also in Georgetown. B&W is a coffee shop that sells other stuff so the cupcakes have not achieved the cult status noted above. However, they are quite tasty. Good cake:frosting ratio and the buttercream-style frosting is very yummy. I got something with coconut on top and all the flavors worked together nicely. The coffee shop setting also has the benefit of ample seating, and patrons chill on couches with books and laptops.

3. Red Velvet Cupcakery. I tried both the devils food (chocolate on chocolate) and "summertime" (lemon cake with white frosting and coconut shavings on top). It appears that the quality here is hit-or-miss. Summertime was fantastic--cake was ideal consistency with exactly the right amount of lemon flavor and the frosting was light and delectable. Devils food, however, could have come out of a box. Cake was dry and crumbly and the frosting was overpowering. Good location downtown and there is seating available next door at Tangy Sweet.

4. Hello Cupcake. Cupcakes here are perfectly adequate. Nothing to complain about. Nothing to really rave about either. Flavors have cutesy names--I tried "You Tart!" (lemon)--and it was ok. Too much frosting and said frosting was too sugary. Cake was not particularly flavorful but had a decent consistency. The space itself is inviting with several tables and the Dupont location across from the metro can't be beat. I would probably stop here again for an afternoon snack if I were in the neighborhood.

5. Cake Love. Ok, this place has a compelling story (attractive, dreadlocked black lawyer forgoes the law to open a bakery in a depressed DC neighborhood, encourage economic development, and give back to the community. Bakery is a success with a big yuppie following and opens multiple locations.) There's just one problem. The cupcakes are NOT good. At all. Cake is dry, flavorless, and frosting is too sugary. I give them credit for pre-dating the trendy cupcake wave by several years. But that also means that they had a head-start to hone their craft. I would sooner patronize Cinnabon than Cake Love (and I could, since they both have locations in Tyson's Corner Mall).

Know Your Limits

This week's photo class assignment (the last week of class--boo) was to set a small, mundane parameter for yourself and try to take some interesting photos. I chose the top of my dresser. I actually got a couple of neat shots of my necklace collection. This was a pretty cool exercise to train your eye to see things you probably never would otherwise notice.

To Market, To Market

Today I traveled to Eastern Market to use the new camera. My photo class has emphasized using "controlled experiments" to try out the manual camera functions so you don't have to worry about missing the shot (basically you keep shooting something that doesn't change much). The market presented a new set of opportunities and frustrations, since I frequently either did not have my camera ready at the right moment or if I did, the settings were wrong and the picture didn't come out well. Just gotta keep practicing! I did manage to catch this adorable shot of a little boy at a fruit stall, so the day was not lost.

Repeat: my camera is not smarter than me

Sometimes I am taking pictures and don't feel like dealing with the manual camera functions. I just want to put the camera on full automatic and get perfect pictures without thinking about it. This doesn't usually happen. Now that I know how to utilize shutter and aperture in different situations, it's not so onerous to keep the camera on manual (or at least priority), and the pictures really do come out better. Case in point: this shot of the master bedroom closets in my new house. When I initially took this shot in full automatic mode, it was totally underexposed because the light from the window was "tricking" the camera. Switching to shutter priority and lengthening the shutter time beyond what the camera thought was appropriate solved the problem and took no time at all!

A Capitol Idea

Our second class photoshoot was at the Capitol fountains. This was another opportunity to experiment with shutter speeds, aperture, and nighttime photography...D.C. is such a camera-friendly city!

You're a Grand Ol' Flag

I am taking a digital photography class this spring. It's been great getting back into it and re-learning all the manual camera functions. And after wanting one for years, I finally got a canon digital SLR camera, which is amazing. These photos are from a class field trip to the National Mall where we experimented with shutter speeds and tripods. Nighttime photography has always been a challenge for me, so it was nice to get some good pointers.

Franciscan Monastery

The Franciscan Monastery is tucked away in northeast DC. It's a pretty neat, if completely random, spot--it encompasses replicas of various holy sites in Catholicism (Jesus's birthplace, Roman catacombs, etc etc) all in one place! They're also much cleaner and nicer than the originals. The architecture and grounds make for some great shots, though.

Rome

Italy is a country I am dying to get back to. We spent about 5 days in Rome in 2007 and absolutely loved it. Just wandering the streets, soaking up the city and culture, was fantastic. And it was surreal seeing buildings side-by-side from different millennia. Next time I hope I can get to Florence/Tuscany and maybe Venice before it sinks!

Ireland

Ireland is one of the easiest countries to travel in. It's small, English-speaking, and has a very low-key vibe. Between the quaint villages and the scads of beautiful green scenery, there's something for everyone.

Mexico City

I loved photographing Mexico City because it was so colorful. I did not know what to expect from the city but I was very pleasantly surprised--the people were relaxed and friendly and there was a lot of incredible art and culture around every corner.

India

India is probably the most photogenic country in the world. Everything--even just regular people going about mundane daily tasks--seems so exotic to the western eye.