Fernet con Coca

Last thursday I met with Alejandro, an Argentinian friend from that Bar hopping nite in Auckland.. We went out for an asado (mixed grill with various types of meat) with some friends of his and then he said he´d introduce me to Fernet Con Coca, a more important though less well known Argentinian tradition than drinking yerba mate (pronounced: mah-teh, a type of green tea)..

At first I thought that Fernet was a brand of whiskey but it turns out that is a kind of bourbon made from mixing different herbs and spices. Its drunk with coke by filling up a container and sharing it amongst friends. I think that night I was up til about 3am talking with Alejandro and his friends from barrio Palermo, mostly listening about his trip to Australia and New Zealand and watching photos of the things he´d done on the trip spiced up with tales of success with the female gender. :)

Argentinian men are very friendly. In spain when you meet someone you only kiss them if they are a woman or your immediate family but here when anybody meets, be it even two males, they always kiss on the cheek, just once, not twice like in Spain. Even when you are being introduced its better to be over friendly, with a hug and a pat on the back, than reserved as the later can make you seem like a cold person.