Our last days in Buenos Aires
Trip Start
Jan 14, 2008
1
22
Trip End
Mar 05, 2008
Buenos Aires,
Argentina
Monday, March 3, 2008
We had two goals on Wednesday... one was to go to the Recoleta Cemetery, one of the most well known attractions in BA and the other to go to American Express to exchange our travelers checks so as to pay our rental company (who for some unknown reason cannot accept a credit card) for our apartment. We emerged from our apartment and went to a local cafe for some toast and cafe con leche and walked down Puerrydon to the cemetery.
Constructed in 1822 the cemetery is truly a work of art. Upon entering the cemetery, Andrew and I were confronted with a massive city of the dead. With over 4800 Vaults, one more extravagant than the next, we had to get a map to find our way around the streets that held past presidents, military men, explorers, poets, priests, writers and wealthy families. We spent the better part of two hours wandering around the streets, looking into the tombs that held so many caskets, skylights, sculptures, marble statues, crucifix´s and old photographs of the entombed. In our journeys we also came upon Eva Peron´s grave. It was pretty difficult to find, but we managed to follow a couple of American´s who were with their guide and finally found the reserved grave of the woman who Andrew Lloyd Weber made world famous.
After spending two hours in the cemetery, we made our way towards American Express on Alvear St. filled with fancy apartment buildings, exclusive hotels and expensive boutiques. It was 4pm by the time we made our way into a restaurant for lunch. We chose a restaurant right near the Four Seasons that was fantastic, but also expensive for Buenos Aires. By the time we were finished with lunch, I had a feeling Am Ex would be closed, which of course it was since it is only open from 10am-3pm, so we made our way down Av. Santa Fe where we shopped our way home. After what amounted to a 7 hour walk to American Express, we returned with no cash, a lot of bags and a wonderful experience at a world famous cemetery. Of course we were not very hungry for dinner, so we made our way out for a snack around 10:30pm before heading to bed.
We woke up on Thursday to rain, thunder and lightening. It was windy and gross outside, so there was no need for us to rush in getting ready. It was in fact a perfect day for a Museum. We had heard that the MALBA museum was well worth it, so that is where we would head today.
We took a cab through the rain drenched streets of Buenos Aires to the MALBA, a beautiful Modern Art Museum that features contemporary Latin American Artists. We were starving and were looking forward to visiting the cafe that the Lonely Planet says is quite fancy, only to find there was in fact no cafe. Looking at the torrential storm from the windows of the museum, we decided to brave the rain to head to the fancy shopping mall two blocks away. Upon exiting the museum we ran the whole way, but were still soaked upon entering the mall. We made our way to the top floor, admiring the fabulous shops along the way, to a very modern cafe where we enjoyed a healthy lunch before returning the museum.
After making our way through the excellent exhibits that reminded me a lot of a smaller MoMA, we returned to the shopping mall where we proceeded to do a little more damage to our credit cards before walking in the late afternoon emerging sun back to our place.
We had decided to go out in Palermo this evening and we had been told by friends that the super trendy Restaurant called Olsen was great. They had recommended it for breakfast, but seeing that they specialized in Vodka, we figured it would be more suited for dinner. We hopped in a Radio Taxi to Palermo where we entered the super hip, super trendy restaurant with its cool bar lined with Vodka´s from around the world kept at 18 degrees below zero. We honestly felt like we could have been in New York City with the crowd that entered the restaurant.
We scoped out what I could only describe as the very "interesting" menu and opted for the open faced sandwiches with a Vodka pairing, Gnochi and ahi tuna. Andrew was not overly enthused by the menu and when our open faced sandwiches arrived with smoked salmon, caviar, egg salad and shrimp, pork with jelly and cheese and pears matched with shots of bloody mary, absolut pepper, green tea vodka and raspberry vodka, all I can say is I think Andrew was happier doing the shots than eating the food. The shots helped though, as we made it through our meal successfully and though I wouldn´t say it was a great dining experience, it certainly was one I will never forget. Next time we will go for Sunday Brunch and have a bloody mary...
Friday was what could only be referred to as American Express day part II! We walked down Av. Santa Fe back to the American Express office, stopping for a light brunch at Cafe Francais across the way. Upon entering the office, we were confronted with a line of 50 people. With 2 people behind the counter, this was going to take forever. It was explained to us by some strange man from Oregon who was sweating profusely that it was the last day of the month and it was a Friday. A very bad day to come to the office. I wanted to curse Tomas from BA4U and his need for cash to pay for our apartment. With Wells Fargo charging me $5 every time I take out cash and the banks only allowing me to take out less than $100 at a time, I was not willing to budge on my commitment to get these travelers checks cashed.
Seeing no choice but to abandon the line, we went to customer service and asked what our options were. The woman responded that there was a place to cash the travelers checks at the Sheraton two blocks away. Already hating the Sheraton for stealing my money in Iguazu, it was either give them 2% in commission or waste a couple hours in line. We opted for the Sheraton. Of course the morning shift was switching over to the afternoon shift and they were closed for 45 minutes. We met a nice man who said he had been trying to exchange money for days... apparently we were not the only one´s. We also saw our travel agent friend from Rhode Island which was fun. Finally after an hour of waiting at the Sheraton, we were allowed to exchange our money in a 15 minute process that was almost unbearable.
After the debacle was over and done with, we made our way to Plaza de Mayo... La Plaza 25 de Mayo sits in front of La Casa Rosada (the Pink House) in other words the government buildings. This plaza is a central meeting place for many of the people of Buenos Aires and has also seen a lot bloodshed in the past. It is here that the "madres de los desaparecidos" (the mothers of the people who were disappeared during military rule in the 1970's) fought for justice, and where people came to demand security from the government during the economic crisis of 2001. The plaza truly bears the scars of decades of pain - broken pathways, graffiti demanding justice and a noticeable security presence. La Casa Rosada is heavily guarded and a large cordon ensures that you can only get close enough to take a general photo.
By the time we got there, we were exhausted and we saw the green line of the Subte in the distance that would take us back to our home. Efficient, fast, but hot, we made it back safe and sound and got ready for another dinner back in Palermo at my favorite restaurant in the whole world... Lo De Jesus.
We took a cab to Palermo and made 8:30pm reservations for dinner and spent the next 2 and a half hours walking around the shopping district filled with its bars, restaurants and boutiques. We shopped and went to happy hour at a fantastic white place called Mott where I enjoyed a champaign cocktail and Andrew enjoyed a Cuba Libre. We made our way over to Lo, where of course we were the first people there and enjoyed yet another unbelievable dinner of an antipasto platter followed by their signature Fillet with cracked pepper and an excellent red wine. As we were finishing our dinner our friends from Patagonia were peering in the window at us. Anne and John Fyfe had come to the place that I had told them about and I was so excited to see them. We talked about our travels, where we had been and what we had done since our time in Patagonia over 10 days before and on our recommendation they sat down to enjoy their meal as we left content that we had officially crushed Lo de Jesus for a second time.
Not much to report from Saturday as it was a fairly lazy day in the neighborhood. But we did have the most amazing dinner. On Abe´s recommendation, we went to a Tango show at the Faena Hotel. I am not sure what was more spectacular, the show or the Hotel. The hotel was just amazing. It reminded me of a much hipper Clift Hotel with unbelievable lighting, decor and despite being super modern, it had a classic old world Argentinian feel. I kind of wished that we had opted for one night in a hotel in BA, as this would have been it! We entered the small smoky room with its red lighting, small tables and felt like we were in some old French cabaret during a speak easy era. We enjoyed a fantastic three course meal with all of the champaign and red wine you could drink and watched unbelievably talented dancers perform variations of the Tango that would make your head spin to music performed by a live band dressed as if they were out of the 1920´s. It was a fantastic experience and if you ever find yourself in BA, it is a must do.
As for must do´s and don´t do´s, on Sunday we went to the San Telmo market. Held in one of the oldest sectors of the city, we had been told that San Telmo was a bit touristy and overpriced, but it is on the list of things to do on Sunday´s as we had learned that almost everything in the city is closed on Sunday from the week before. We stopped at Cafe Tortoni, the oldest cafe in all of Argentina dating back to the 1800´s and a favorite haunt of literary greats, for breakfast and coffee and made our way over to the crowded San Telmo market. There certainly was a lot of interesting things for sale and it could have been compared to 500 garage sales lined up on the streets of San Telmo. It was cool though, as there was music and tango in the streets, mime´s, stilt walkers and other interesting activity. If you only have a few days in BA, it is not a must, but it was interesting to see the difference between the different neighborhoods in BA.
We walked back home through the empty streets and got ready for dinner. We opted to go to Cabana Las Brisas for our last dinner. It was to be the last dinner of our trip and Cabana Las Brisas in Puerto Madero was the perfect spot. Though overpriced, it has arguably the best beef in Buenos Aires and with views of the harbor, a wine list celebrated with an award by Wine Spectator and great service, it was a must. We sat at the bar as we waited for a table to be ready and made our way outside where we enjoyed a fantastic dinner with wonderful food and excellent Argentinian wine. It was the perfect way to end our 2 months abroad.
Monday: the day of our departure... sad, sad, sad! We went to Mark´s Deli in Palermo for our last hurrah. We took the subway and walked in the cool overcast morning to a restaurant that had been recommended to us by multiple people and it proved to be the perfect place for our last lunch. We made our way through the shops in Palermo one last time to make sure we didn´t miss anything and made our way through the streets of Palermo and Recoleta back to our apartment to pack and get ready for our midnight flight home. I am in an internet cafe right now about to head back to our place and back to Andrew. With many amazing memories, quality time with my new husband, so many new experiences and our horizons widened, I think we are ready to go home and get back to the real world. This has been a great experience, one that I wouldn´t trade for the world. Upon returning home I hope to write my overall thoughts on this trip. In the meantime, Ciao and we´ll see you when we get home!
