a bit on cafes

• favorite part of BA is the cafe culture...hands down
• I can safely say that this is definitely one thing (maybe the only...haha jk) I'll miss about living here

this photo has nothing to do with cafes...it's just a mural that I pass on my way to different jobs...kinda like it

• I often find myself getting work done/checking e-mail/recharging at cafes in between schools and classes...which is fun for me, because I get to try out a variety of cafes in the city...and compare how good their medialunas are (DANGER!)
• on that note...I have some shots to share
• if you haven't noticed yet, I have this thing for photographing food...I should really take a class on it or something to improve my skills...
• but anyway, some things are just too good not to document
• like this one:

DO NOT go here! corner of Paraná and Tucuman; Tribunales

• let me explain
• I was early to an interview, so I stopped in the cafe on the corner to try out their medialunas, I think it's called Paraná Cafe or something...
• most cafes have some sort of medialuna combo deal like "cafe con leche con dos medialunas por 20 pesos" or even better "cafe con leche, dos (or tres!) medialunas, y jugo de naranja por 22 pesos", or "cafe con leche, una medialuna, jugo de naranja y agua por 12 pesos" (you get the idea)
• this place offered the 12 peso combo^^^...what a steal!
• and if you can't tell...my water glass arrived at the table empty
• I got a kick out of this, but was not too surprised when observing the waitress a bit closer...she was literally talking on her phone while delivering people's food and checks...no surprise that she forgot to fill my water glass

• another day, I had a private lesson followed by an adult institute class...the private student cancelled so I found myself here ordering tea
• it came out like this:

• how fun! the little rooster was actually a pot holder, which you used on the kettle's handle to pour out your tea...nice!

• then there are sometimes when you get really pretty coffee, like at LATTEnTE in Palermo Soho (Thames 1891)

• moving on to churros, which happen to be popular here...so of course, I expect something similar to the delicious, hot, gooey ones at Taco Bell
• but when you buy them at a bakery here, they're cold...and since they were fried, they taste awful
• but after reading this review of the magical "churro/hot chocolate combo", I thought I'd better give it another shot
• so last week I hit up the #1 churro/hot chocolate place on the list, La Giralda
• OMG...

• it was exactly what you want in a fatty, greasy churro...perfect temperature, perfect filling, perfect amount of sugar...and combined with uber-rich, quality hot chocolate...
• I think my blood sugar level sky-rocketed...better cut out sugar for the rest of the week!
• this place is conveniently near two of my work locations...we'll see if I can stay away

• last, a note on the cafe menu in BA
• your most common beverages are:
• cafe con leche (basically a latte...half milk/half coffee)
• cortado (more coffee than milk)
• lagrima (milk with a tear drop (lagrima means tear) of coffee...who really gets this?...oh, I did, the pregnant lady over here decided to try it out...trying to cut back on caffeine, you know)
• here you can see all three next to each other...can you tell which is which?

• well, that's all I got for now...I'm sure you'll be seeing many more of my cafe photos in the future...
• there's just something about non-chain cafes...and coffee served with a little treat...(I think they do it to compensate for their not-so-tasty-coffee)...but really, just gets me here!