Yesterday in the Recoleta Cemetary, I overheard another American tourist say "tomorrow is supposed to be the rainy day". I wasn't happy to hear it, and even less happy when I woke up this morning to see that it was the truth. Unfortunately I hadn't formed much of a contingency for such an event, I am not into musuems to begin with, and BA doesn't have any that attract my interest. A little rain won't kill any one, I thought, I am going to Retiro.
Retiro is another barrio to CT's north, it is probably the smallest barrio in area and doesn't have many tourist attractions. I figured it would be a good bet for a rainy day. Before setting out, it didn't look to be raining that hard, and I really did not look forward to getting on a crowded subte during the morning rush hour that was sure to be as humid as a green house. I have a rain jacket, I will walk it.
Bad idea. About halfway there it began to pour.....big time. The rain jacket provided little defense, and my shirt was wet in no time. By the time I got to Retiro I was pretty well soaked. Not to be dettered, I took in what Retiro had to offer, which included the Plaza de San Martin, an attractive public space on a rolling hill, the Edificio Kavanagh, a 120-story apartment building done in the art deco style, and the Torre de Ingleses, which is BA's Big Ben supposedly (a poor comparison really) that sits at the bottom of the Plaza de San Martin. At the beginning of the 20th century the British government gave it as a gift to the city, but during the Falklands War it was a target for British bombers (sounds a bit like indian giving). The bombers obvioulsy failed in their mission. The city's train station is also located in that part of time, but it wasn't anything special.
I returned back to my hotel to change, get dry and rest up a bit. I stepped out again, the rain had now let up, and first stop was a building called the Palacio Aguas de Corrientes, which used to be a water pumping station for the city. The exterior design is pretty spectacular, making it a worthy stop (just as a reminder, I will be posting all photos to my Kodak account after I return home, so you can actually see what I am describing). Next I decided to take a closer look at the Congressional building. I hadn't noticed before on the front gate there is a large ring that contains the symbols for all of the country's provinces, which was pretty neat. I then walked a little ways down Avenue de Mayo to a building known at the Palacio Barolo, an apartment building apparently designed in a tribute to Dante's "Divine Comedy". It has an impressive exterior, and I was able to walk into the lobby, which is supposed to represent "hell" (all the floors are purgatory). Eternal damnation didn't look at that bad, indeed, it was good for a few photos.
That ended of the day as far as sightseeing......but the adventure wasn't done yet......
Argentinian beef. Perhaps you have heard of it. The cows raised for beef here are fed grass from Las Pampas (Argentina's grasslands) and not shot up with steroids and fed corn. I was determined to try it at least once during my stay here. I decided that, since today was fairly light in terms of sightseeing, today would be the day I would go for it. The mission was a steak.
Yesterday I asked the young muchacho at the hotel front desk if there was a good, decently priced parilla (grill) place nearby. There was. "La Churrasquita" it is called, eight blocks up the road. "We think it is good", apparently meaning all hotel attendents, and it wasn't expensive either. Today, before setting out, I asked if casual clothing would be ok. "Oh yeah, anything, it is not fancy". Good, because I was wearing the plain blue Old Navy shirt one of Hayley's ex-boyfriends left at our place and my blue Arizona jeans that were now dirty at the bottoms. I left.
Eight blocks was a long way, I didn't think I would find it, and I was about to abort the mission for another day (I skipped lunch for some reason, perhaps to prepare for what was to come.....so I was in a bit of a rush) but then I came upon it. Portenos eat pretty late (that was one of the reasons I wanted this place as well, it was one of the only parillas open at six o'clock) and only a couple of other patrons were eating so early. It didn't look all that downscale though, definitely not an Applebee's, thats for sure. I was suddenly conscious of my dress.
Have you ever seen someone eating alone at a restaurant? They look pretty pathetic, like, "What kind of poor sap eats out alone"? Well, that was me today folks....take pity on me. Luckily, again, only a handful of people were there. The waiter answered my query of "hablas ingles?" with a "mas o menos". Not a good sign, didn't matter though, the language of food breaks down all barriers. I got the menu and ordered sausage beef, because it was the cheapest thing on the menu (hey, if you want the best, go and read Rick Steves or Travel and Leisure, I am on a budget here). The waiter grinned and said "excellent choice". It was on.
The wait for the meal felt long. Sitting there by myself it what felt like an upscale restaurant felt increasingly uncomfortable. The other guests were sipping red wine. I had my 2 peso bottle of water with me. Finally, my meal came.
The waiter set down my steak and fries and wished me "bon appetit". Holy shit. Bon appetit, this place is serious. I am used to "Hi, my name is Scott, welcome to Chili's". Here I am dressed like side-show Bob in a place where the waiters say bon apetit. I needed to eat quickly.
I stared down at the plate. There it was. Argentinian beef. No 'roids, no corn, just awesome. It looked good. I cut off a piece......
Not bad. It wasn't life changing or anything, but was pretty good. It was definitely better than anything you would get in like an Outback or something, but it also didn't blow my mind. If anyone was confused by the name "sausage steak" so was I, it was just like a regular steak, which I was content with.
I finished up, and by now the embarrassment of eating alone in a restaurant was reaching levels threating to human life. The waiter passed, I nodded my head, I was bailing out, and the bill was my parachute. Check please.
It was ok priced, a little more than I wanted to pay, but about what one pays in the US for a single meal, but probably higher quality here. That was it, I had done it, check that box off, Argentinian beef had been consumed.
Come back for more action tomorrow folks, weather permitting.
Retiro is another barrio to CT's north, it is probably the smallest barrio in area and doesn't have many tourist attractions. I figured it would be a good bet for a rainy day. Before setting out, it didn't look to be raining that hard, and I really did not look forward to getting on a crowded subte during the morning rush hour that was sure to be as humid as a green house. I have a rain jacket, I will walk it.
Bad idea. About halfway there it began to pour.....big time. The rain jacket provided little defense, and my shirt was wet in no time. By the time I got to Retiro I was pretty well soaked. Not to be dettered, I took in what Retiro had to offer, which included the Plaza de San Martin, an attractive public space on a rolling hill, the Edificio Kavanagh, a 120-story apartment building done in the art deco style, and the Torre de Ingleses, which is BA's Big Ben supposedly (a poor comparison really) that sits at the bottom of the Plaza de San Martin. At the beginning of the 20th century the British government gave it as a gift to the city, but during the Falklands War it was a target for British bombers (sounds a bit like indian giving). The bombers obvioulsy failed in their mission. The city's train station is also located in that part of time, but it wasn't anything special.
I returned back to my hotel to change, get dry and rest up a bit. I stepped out again, the rain had now let up, and first stop was a building called the Palacio Aguas de Corrientes, which used to be a water pumping station for the city. The exterior design is pretty spectacular, making it a worthy stop (just as a reminder, I will be posting all photos to my Kodak account after I return home, so you can actually see what I am describing). Next I decided to take a closer look at the Congressional building. I hadn't noticed before on the front gate there is a large ring that contains the symbols for all of the country's provinces, which was pretty neat. I then walked a little ways down Avenue de Mayo to a building known at the Palacio Barolo, an apartment building apparently designed in a tribute to Dante's "Divine Comedy". It has an impressive exterior, and I was able to walk into the lobby, which is supposed to represent "hell" (all the floors are purgatory). Eternal damnation didn't look at that bad, indeed, it was good for a few photos.
That ended of the day as far as sightseeing......but the adventure wasn't done yet......
Argentinian beef. Perhaps you have heard of it. The cows raised for beef here are fed grass from Las Pampas (Argentina's grasslands) and not shot up with steroids and fed corn. I was determined to try it at least once during my stay here. I decided that, since today was fairly light in terms of sightseeing, today would be the day I would go for it. The mission was a steak.
Yesterday I asked the young muchacho at the hotel front desk if there was a good, decently priced parilla (grill) place nearby. There was. "La Churrasquita" it is called, eight blocks up the road. "We think it is good", apparently meaning all hotel attendents, and it wasn't expensive either. Today, before setting out, I asked if casual clothing would be ok. "Oh yeah, anything, it is not fancy". Good, because I was wearing the plain blue Old Navy shirt one of Hayley's ex-boyfriends left at our place and my blue Arizona jeans that were now dirty at the bottoms. I left.
Eight blocks was a long way, I didn't think I would find it, and I was about to abort the mission for another day (I skipped lunch for some reason, perhaps to prepare for what was to come.....so I was in a bit of a rush) but then I came upon it. Portenos eat pretty late (that was one of the reasons I wanted this place as well, it was one of the only parillas open at six o'clock) and only a couple of other patrons were eating so early. It didn't look all that downscale though, definitely not an Applebee's, thats for sure. I was suddenly conscious of my dress.
Have you ever seen someone eating alone at a restaurant? They look pretty pathetic, like, "What kind of poor sap eats out alone"? Well, that was me today folks....take pity on me. Luckily, again, only a handful of people were there. The waiter answered my query of "hablas ingles?" with a "mas o menos". Not a good sign, didn't matter though, the language of food breaks down all barriers. I got the menu and ordered sausage beef, because it was the cheapest thing on the menu (hey, if you want the best, go and read Rick Steves or Travel and Leisure, I am on a budget here). The waiter grinned and said "excellent choice". It was on.
The wait for the meal felt long. Sitting there by myself it what felt like an upscale restaurant felt increasingly uncomfortable. The other guests were sipping red wine. I had my 2 peso bottle of water with me. Finally, my meal came.
The waiter set down my steak and fries and wished me "bon appetit". Holy shit. Bon appetit, this place is serious. I am used to "Hi, my name is Scott, welcome to Chili's". Here I am dressed like side-show Bob in a place where the waiters say bon apetit. I needed to eat quickly.
I stared down at the plate. There it was. Argentinian beef. No 'roids, no corn, just awesome. It looked good. I cut off a piece......
Not bad. It wasn't life changing or anything, but was pretty good. It was definitely better than anything you would get in like an Outback or something, but it also didn't blow my mind. If anyone was confused by the name "sausage steak" so was I, it was just like a regular steak, which I was content with.
I finished up, and by now the embarrassment of eating alone in a restaurant was reaching levels threating to human life. The waiter passed, I nodded my head, I was bailing out, and the bill was my parachute. Check please.
It was ok priced, a little more than I wanted to pay, but about what one pays in the US for a single meal, but probably higher quality here. That was it, I had done it, check that box off, Argentinian beef had been consumed.
Come back for more action tomorrow folks, weather permitting.
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