Embassy of Argentina

May 7^th myself and a group of friends went to visit Embassy of Argentina and it was amazing! The food and the hospitality was beyond excellence. Watched a movie about Argentina and I had no idea how beautiful it was. I hope to visit someday soon. They welcomed us with food from their country which was extremely good. The Embassy was filled with beautiful pieces.

Argentina (the country) Notes
I’m sure the embassy is 5 stars too.
From the US Buenos Aires about 11 hours in the air. From Europe its a few hours more. Most international flights are overnight and land in Ezeiza airport. This airport is 30 km from the BUA and this about an hour travel to the city with moderate traffic — and the traffic is always at least moderate. There are two toll stops between this airport and the city and they stop progress in the most horrific way. Allow for a minimum of three hours (read: minimum of three hours) for transit to the airport when leaving the city. International flights out are at night and traffic in the evening is terrible.
Taxis are reliable and consistently priced. I had a wonderful line of dialog last week as I was traveling from Buenos Aires to Neuquén about 600 km away. I had to change airports and in so doing needed to travel directly through the city at morning rush hour. I entered the taxi at 9:30AM.
Driver: What time is your flight?
Me: Eleven. Can I make it?
Driver: It’s complex.
He drove as aggressively and cagily as any Cairo cabbie ever did. We made it to Jorge Newbery Airport (the other city airport for mostly domestic flights) at exactly 10:30. I walked onto my plane at 10:50 — amazing really.
Time zone in Argentina is ET+1. Its south of the equator so the seasons are turned upside down. August in Argentina = February in say… North Carolina.
Money is the peso. 100 pesos = $ 18USD (as of this writing)
There is a lot of inflation in Argentina. Dollars and Euros are welcome in most places and you’ll get a better exchange rate than at a machine or from a credit card or worst of all choices — a money exchange (never use these unless its absolutely necessary).
Food is quite good and a good value.
Buenos Aires has a great vibe — modern, progressive, safe (it’s all relative). Truly you could believe you were in any one of a dozen European cities if. Amazing wine selections — Malbecs abound. Cafés are open amazingly late. It’s a lot like Paris except the service is somewhat (sic) more attentive.
I was impressed with Neuquén (pronounced «new ken») — it’s a happening smallish city in the middle of the Patgonian desert. At Santino’s they have steak dinners, sandwiches, coffee bar and wi-​fi all in one place. Mega comfortable.
They say Argentines consider themselves special. After several visits, I understand why.

Jason C. pretty much called it like we saw it. I accompanied him to the Argentinian Embassy tour for Passport to DC. We had a great time sampling simple small bites, wine, and course dancing the tango! I was able to tango with one of the main demonstrators when they asked the crowd to jump in and participate. All in all, I had a fantastic time and loved how hospitable the embassy staff were. It was a great privilege and look forward to attending again next year.

I had the good fortune of visiting the Argentinian Embassy for the 2013 Passport to DC cultural tour. For those who don’t know, this is the one day of year where the embassy is open to the public. Of the 6+ embassies that I visited throughout the day, this by far was the best experience.
1. Engaging staff. Unlike other embassies, the staff initiated the conversation and were eager to explain the culture and history of Argentina. We also got information regarding the different rooms and paintings inside the embassy.
2. Personal meet and greet with the ambassador. We were personally greeted by the ambassador and had the opportunity to shake her hand and have a chat with her. I couldn’t believe she was actively participating in the event!
3. Food & wine. Only a handful of embassies served food and drinks and of those handful, this embassy was the best. El Patio from Rockville catered and gave us 3 types of empanadas to sample (Corn, beef, and vegetable). To top that off, they brought a stellar Argentianian Malbec (which I’m going to find out by calling the restaurant). In my opinion, that wine tasted like a $ 25+ bottle and if it’s priced under $ 10 (which my gut tells me b/​c there is no way they’ll give something that expensive to a crowd for free), it will arguably make it the best value wine I’ve tried in the last 3 – 4 years. I’ll be buying a case of that wine soon.
4. Tango dancing. Argentina and tango are synonymous. We had a live tango demonstration by professionals followed by a short group lesson.
Great staff, great food, drinks, and a marvelous show. They hit a 10 out of 10 on all the major categories. Congratulations for pulling off such a fantastic job!

Went here for a free event, an exhibit opening, «Teloorika (with K as in Karma)» Charity Art Show — Paintings by Socorro Villa. Not sure if Villa was the wiry gentleman with the kilt, but his art had nice accompanying explanations, though the style didn’t capture my fancy. The free wine and empanadas were the draw for me, as was soaking up the stately interior of the embassy, with its grand spiral staircase and ubiquitous marble, though I’ll have to remember next time not to open my mouth, lest I reveal I am American. I think I got a couple of dirty looks for seeming like a party crasher, though my group kept to ourselves and politely sipped our wine and nibbled our empanadas, which are far superior to the much-​glorified delicacies from Julia’s. I definitely have to seek out more embassy events.