Argentina: Where the Steak Is Massive, the Wine Flows Like Water, and Dinner Starts at Midnight

Welcome to Argentina, a country so grandly dramatic, fiercely passionate, and hopelessly addicted to beef that vegetarians visit strictly at their own emotional risk.

It’s a land operating on a completely unique time zone. In Buenos Aires, the "Paris of South America," nobody even thinks about dinner until 10:00 PM, and if you arrive at a bar before midnight, you’ll be sharing the floor with the cleaning staff. You'll spend your evenings watching intensely fiery tango dancers in La Boca, sipping Malbec from Mendoza, and watching locals consume mate—a bitter herbal tea drunk through a metal straw from a hollowed-out gourd that everyone carries everywhere like a second spleen.

Then there’s the food. An Argentine parrillada isn't just a barbecue; it’s a sacred, hours-long religious ceremony where massive slabs of steak are grilled over wood embers until tender enough to be cut with a spoon. Leave room for dessert, because the entire country is legally fueled by dulce de leche, a caramel spread they put on pancakes, alfajores, toast, and probably their morning coffee.

Geographically, Argentina is just showing off. You can head north to Iguazú Falls, a deafening jungle spectacle of 275 crashing waterfalls that will soak your clothes instantly, or trek south to Patagonia to gaze at the jaw-dropping ice walls of the Perito Moreno Glacier. Down in Tierra del Fuego, you’ll reach Ushuaia—the "End of the World"—where wind-whipped sea lions lounge on rocks and penguins waddle around looking like tiny, formal-wearing flight attendants.

Between screaming yourself hoarse at a chaotic Boca Juniors football match, marveling at jagged Andean peaks, and eating your weight in flaky empanadas, Argentina is intoxicating, vast, and wildly romantic. Just adjust your sleep schedule, embrace the late nights, and never turn down a glass of Fernet and Coke!

March, 2010