April 4, 2025 Iguazu Falls from the Brazil Side and Lunch at the Belmond Hotel Ipe’ Grill

April 4, 2025 Iguazu Falls from the Brazil Side and Lunch at the Belmond Hotel  Ipe’ Grill 

Today we spent our first official day of tourist activity driving to the Iguazu Falls on the Brazilian side of the Parana River.

Suzette drank coffee while I drank Earl Grey tea and ate the two small media Lunas we bought yesterday.

Then as we were leaving the bungalow breakfast was delivered, two waffles, an omelette, fruit salads, and glasses of fresh orange juice.  We put the breakfast in the fridge and I made us two mortadella and cheese sandwiches on the rolls we bought yesterday at the mini supermarket. We packed the sandwiches with the bottle of Torrontes and the Stella Artois beer in the ice chest and drove from Costa Del Sol to their resort and picked up Billy and Elaine and then drove across the Parana River bridge to the Iguassu Falls National Park Visitors’s Center in  Brazil.

We parked the truck, bought tickets, and took the shuttle bus to the falls.

Billy and Elaine departed the bus at the second stop in front of the Belmond Hotel and walked the three miles to the Devil’s Throat, which was the third stop where Suzette and I departed the bus.  

We walked down the hill to an elevator that descended to a lower level near the water’s edge and walked out to the observation deck in the Devil’s Throat through the mist and flecks of water thrown clear of the falls.

For sheer majesty Iguazu must be the most dramatic falls in the world. The boundaries of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina meet near the falls.

After seeing the Devil’s Throat where multiple levels of falls converge in a huge cataract, we walked back to the bus stop and road back to the Belmond Hotel, arriving at 1:30.

Billy had made a reservation at the Hotel’s Ipe Grill for 2:00 so we went to the bar for a drink to wait for them.

                               The bar at Hotel Belmont

Suzette had a red vermouth and I drank a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

When Billy and Elaine arrived at 2:00 we were directed to the IPE’ Grill near the pool behind the main lobby. The Hotel is pink and was constructed in 1952. It is exceedingly elegant with a very high degree of service.

We were seated and given menus and I asked for the wine list. Our waiter spoke surprisingly good English and excellent Spanish. I chose grilled sirloin steak, Billy ordered a grilled rack of baby lamb riblets, Elaine ordered a hacked beef dish from the hump of the cow, and Suzette ordered a raw Aji tuna appetizer. 

The waiter was trying to get us to order a red wine of the local Rio Grande del Sur region wine. We tasted a cab and a Merlot that we all hated. I decided to order a bottle of Sparkling Rose produced by Chandon in Brazil, which seemed to satisfy our waiter.  The sparkling wine was a blend of juice of Petit Meunier, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Riesling.

We all like the bubbly.

Soon our entrees were served. Billy ordered Chimichurri sauce with his plus sautéed Vegetables and mashed potatoes. I ordered sirloin steak with truffled aioli and asparagus and Mushrooms.

We all shared our dishes. I loved Billy’s tender grilled baby lamb riblets more than my sirloin that was chewy.  I remember that mother loved sirloin for its flavor and because she liked to chew the tougher sirloin. 

I also loved Suzette’s raw slices of tuna served with a slightly spicy guacamole. Elaine’s was interesting but not memorable. 

My steak was excellently grilled to rare medium rare.

I really enjoyed the steak and the truffled aioli was excellent.

After the meal we ordered dessert. Billy ordered chocolate Mousse and a glass of French Pear William and  Elaine ordered a warm chocolate covered gateau wit a scoop of ice cream flavored with a tropical fruit.

Everything was excellent and the bill was  $98.00 for each couple, which seemed exceedingly fair.

After lunch we rode back to the visitors’ Center at 4:30 and drove back to the Argentinian side of the border. I took an hour to clear Passport control at the border.

After dropping Billy and Elaine at their resort we drove back to Casa del Sol and shared a sandwich and the bottle of Torrontes in the half glow after sunset at 7:00.

We watched the planets and stars appear over the Parana River and Suzette took a Jacuzzi bath and went to bed and I  blogged and went to bed.

Bon Appetit

April 3, 2025 Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu

 April 3, 2025 Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu 

We woke up at 6:00 and went to the lobby at 7:00 for breakfast.

Breakfast was a buffet with many choices. I selected to toast a slice of whole wheat bread and garnished it with cured ham, prosciutto, and a slice of cheese.

I also took a small jar with a glacéd pear in sugar syrup with a baked ham and cheese sandwich with a cup of fresh orange juice and a cup of tea with milk.

We never even got to the scrambled eggs.

At 7:50 our taxi arrived and drove us to the National Airport where we took a 10:30 flight to Puerto Iguazu. 

When we arrived at 12:30 we went to Budget to pick up our car and found out that we had made a reservation to pick up our car across the River and border at the airport on the Brazilian side of the river.  The attendant was very helpful and told us that the only vehicle available on this side of the river was a large Nissan truck and he would drive us into town to pick it up.

So he filled out the paperwork and we rented the truck and he drove us into Puerto Iguazu to the parking lot to pick up the truck. It was huge and ran on diesel but given that we are in the middle of a jungle that may be a plus.

We drove to our bungalow at Costa del Sol stopping at a grocery store to buy bolillos, cheese, mortadella, water, a bottle of Torrontes wine, a Stella Artois beer, Mayo, and 2 media Lunas for breakfast. When we arrived at our bungalow it was cantilevered out off a cliff facing the Parana River with a view of Uruguay and Paraguay across the river. 

We then drove back into town to Restaurante Rueda for lunch. We split a dorado steak with a Passion fruit sauce and fried cassava at 2:30. The dorado had a dense white flake like albacore tuna and a Waldorf style salad with lettuce, blue cheese, toasted walnuts, slices of orange and apple and dotted with drops of reduced balsamic vinegar, a lovely salad.

We ordered a bottle of 2023 Crios Rose of Malbec that was light and lovely with a slight sweet aftertaste.

The meal was just what we wanted at $50.

We then returned to the room and I napped for an hour While Suzette sat on our porch overlooking the River and finished the last glass of rose left  from lunch.

When I awakened at 5:30 the sky was a dazzling mix of pinks, yellows, and blues.

At 8:00 we drove into the jungle to the resort where Billy and Elaine were staying to pick them up.

We all agreed to go to Rueda for dinner. Billy said it was rated the best restaurant in Puerto Iguazu.

When we arrived without a reservation, it was a 45 minute wait. Suzette and I drank Vermouths with soda  and Elaine drank a local Pilsner beer.

At 9:00 we were seated and Suzette ordered Grilled Pacu with tropical fruits, a flat white fish broiled, and Elaine ordered a Pacu fish grilled with grilled vegetables, Billy ordered sweet breads and i ordered a salad with eggs, peas, tomatoes, corn, and both red and white cabbage. We loved the clean non- flavor of the Nucete olive oil. Suzette ordered a bottle of Zucchari Torrontes that had a compelling balance between high acidity and lots of citrus fruit that we all liked.

Everyone shared bites of their dishes with me and I ate about half of Billy’s sweetbreads, which had not been prepared the way our mother did by slicing thinly, removing the sinews and soaking over night in milk to tenderize the sweetbreads. The Rueda dish simply threw the whole sweetbread on the grill and let the customer cut their way through the sinews to get to the small bits of edible meat.

We finished around 10:30 and waited a couple of minutes for Billy and Elaine’s taxi to arrive and then drove back to the bungalow where we went to bed for a good night’s sleep.

Bon Appetit 

April 2, 2025 Miami to Buenos Aires

April 2, 2025 Miami to Buenos Aires 

We got up and dressed and when we arrived at the lobby of the Sonesta at 6:05 the shuttle bus was parked in front of the hotel waiting for passengers, so we jumped on and arrived at the Miami Airport at 6:30.

Our plane to Buenos Aires departed at 9:05, so we stopped at a lovely pastry shop in the airport named Gilbert’s Bakery and I ordered an almond croissant and Suzette ordered a latte.

The almond croissant was big and stuffed with lots of baked almond paste so a very good almond croissant.

A good start for a long day.

We boarded the large Aerolineas Argentina Airbus 330 at 8:30 and it took off on time at 9:05.

The food in economy was not great. We were given a packet of three chocolate chip cookies with our first drink service at about 10:30.

It was a 10 hour flight.

At around 2:30 or about 1/2 way through the trip, we were served lunch. The hot entree was bow tie pasta with pesto and cheese.  There was also a cold spinach quiche with cherry tomatoes that was quite nice and the dessert was really good, a dense flan like Chungas garnished with a thick caramel topping. I loved it. I took a white wine and water and the wine was undrinkable. Suzette gagged down her red wine like a trooper.

We landed in Buenos Aires on time at 6:50. When we cleared Passport control and Customs we went to the taxi kiosk and took a taxi to our hotel, Vain Boutique, another old apartment house in an older part of town remodeled into a boutique hotel, except our room in this hotel was quite roomy and very quiet because located at the back of the property.

After the attendant helped us to our room and we deposited our luggage, we asked him for suggestions of where to eat and get a drink. He said, “There is one of the best bars in Argentina just down the street, called the three monkeys.”  

We exchanged $100 at the exchange rate of 1100 pesos to the dollar at the hotel, which was a little bit above the posted rate of 1073.8 today and a lot better than the taxi that charged based on 1048 pesos to the dollar.

We are feeling our way into use of the Argentinian peso.

So we walked the three blocks to the Three Monkeys. We were given a complimentary cocktail that was really delightful. Then we each ordered a vermouth, Suzette ordered a red and I ordered a white.  We actually liked my white better because the vermouths each had a pretty strong cinnamon flavor and that seemed to go better with the apple flavor of the white. 

Tres Monos

Buenos Aires, Argentina

• No.7 The World's 50 Best Bars 2024
• No.11 The World's 50 Best Bars 2023

Tres Monos is the definition of a good-time bar, but the drinks are very special indeed. The name translates as Three Monkeys, and there's a real sense of playfulness running through the whole joint, from the festooned lights and chilled-out service to the the cocktails, which are a perfectly-balanced hybrid of classic and innovative. Owners Charly Aguinsky, Sebastián Atienza, and Gus Vocke aren’t just shaking up spirits; they’re redefining them. From crafting their own sake and bourbon-style whiskey with local grains to producing vibrant wines like sauvignon blanc and pét-nat sparklers, they do it all. And in true Argentinian spirit, every ingredient they use is strictly homegrown.

We looked at the menu and decided to order Fish and Chips for 18000 pesos.

When the bowl of fish and chips arrived we were surprised that Instead of big slabs of Cod, the fish were small longish deep fried sardines and hand cut fried potatoes with Aioli sauce.  We were more than pleasantly surprised by the fried sardines which may have been slightly smoked.

So we shared an interesting light dinner with our vermouths and when the 38,000 bill came we noticed that Three Monkeys offered a 10% discount for payment in cash. I put down 40000 pesos and got change of 6000.

We went back to the hotel around 9:30.

We got ready for bed and I blogged this entry.

Another evening in an interesting neighborhood with good food. 

Bon Appetit