Another Ooops, but with a quick recovery!

July 13, 2009

Monday we were scheduled to spend on a bus to Tucumán, however after being told to wait at the wrong platform and having the trip announced by a different company and with a different destination, we were left in Buenos Aires.

Luckily, Andesmar was sympathetic and placed us on the next bus at no cost, the following day. And, due to our complete lack of efficiency (see Saturday, 7/11), we had plenty to do to fill another day in Buenos Aires.

We were also starving. We stored our luggage and went to Recoleta for lunch.

Next, we checked up on Evita and Argentina's other rich, powerful, and dead celebrities in the Recoleta Cemetary. We visited the Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar, one of the city's oldest churches and the "generic flower" sculpture which was nearly closed for sunset.

Then we wandered to Puerto Madero for coffee at a swank Puerto Madero cafe with fancy sandwiches, pastries, and fresh-cut flowers. We returned to La Plata once again, but opted for a chill evening of empanadas and cerveza in my apartment. We goofed off on the computer and drank a lot of beer.

Buenos Aires--San Telmo and Caminito + Tango Show

July 12, 2009

Sunday we again got up at 10 and headed to the capital. We had lunch at this great place at the end of Defensa in San Telmo, El Desnivel. I had homemade gnocchi with a garlicky peso and beer.

We then wandered through the artisans and antiques fairs and gawked at the street performers as we made our way south to La Boca and Caminito. The weather was beautiful, so we took an outdoor coffee in Caminito amidst our browsing and photo-snapping.

We had reservations for a tango show at Complejo Tango that night, so we started making our way toward the show at nightfall. My limited knowledge of the bus system left us about 20 blocks from the show, so walking got us there right on time (and burned some calories from the meal and wine to come!)

The show included a half-hour tango lesson, which lost me after moving beyond the most basic steps, but I managed to snag the diploma certifying my knowledge of basic tango. Dinner came next, salad, pasta, dessert, and all-you-can-drink wine. The show was a lot of fun.

We had a nice, "silent" taxi driver take us back to Retiro at the end of the night, and were exhausted, but home by 1 a.m.

Buenos Aires--El Centro and a Milonga

July 10, 2009

Friday we woke up at 10 and were on our way to la Capital Federal by 11. We passed the Obelisco on our way to the political center of everything, Plaza del Mayo. At the plaza, we visited the city's ho-hum Cathedral (which had an entertaining translation of their request for donations "Please place money to support the cult here."), and visited the Casa Rosada. We stopped for coffee at the famous Cafe Tortoni, which turned into lunch (due to the late hour), then went to check out the Palacio del Congreso.

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Next, we visited the artwork and architecture of the shopping mall, Galerias Pacifico, and stopped for a coffee. After that, I took Tammy to Ateneo, the biggest bookstore in South America, housed in a former theatre, creating a rightfully regal setting for the merchandise.

We walked for hours to dine in Palermo, at La Bella Italia and ended the night at the milonga (tango dance hall), Club Gricel. The milonga felt a bit like a wedding reception, where nearly every guest is over 50. Although there was a $15 peso cover charge, the drinks were cheap.

Around 3:30, when things started slowing down, we found a taxi in the lobby area to take us to the Retiro bus station. I chatted with Tammy and Martín chatted with the driver, who kept turning the conversation back to tango.

We arrived at Retiro, and the driver turned to talk with us about tango. And talk he did!

The meter wasn't running, so I couldn't help but wonder the point of all his tango talk. He made Tammy and I promise to try tango, focusing on each of us individually, with a concerted effort, and finally, casually, commented about hooking us up with a professional teacher, before passing his card to Martín and excusing us, after nearly an hour parked in front of the bus terminal! We finally got back to La Plata around 6 a.m.