The Jetpacker

I don’t know if our trip is evolving into a fun vacation because it’s getting easier or because we’re getting used to the city.  Either way, Buenos Aires is starting to grow on us.

It took a while to get into gear today.  I had to wait about 20 minutes in line at the bank to exchange money.  Then I had to go back to the hotel because I forgot my camera.  And two blocks after we started our walk, we realized we were going in the wrong direction.  Travel fail?

We decided to stray from my itinerary and check out a different place for lunch.  (I’ll admit it, I’m a nerd.  I’m anal about preparation, so my itineraries are very detailed.  I plan trips for weeks, blocking out various routes on Google Maps to find the most efficient and most entertaining journey.  I write very detailed directions and instructions.  I corral at least 5 sources to make sure I get the most complete information — and this is the first trip where it didn’t help because so many things have been unexpectedly closed.  I don’t plan our walks to the minute because that would be too stressful, but my itineraries usually look like book reports.)

Lunch was at an upscale Italian restaurant called Marcelo.   The waterfront view was blocked by well-dressed businessmen and women that were hopefully their wives.  Our waiter recommended splitting one dish; usually we don’t obey that instruction, but for some reason we decided to take his advice.  Thank goodness we did.

Our cheesy risotto with beef in red wine sauce came on a plate the size of a bathtub; it was so big we couldn’t finish it.  The food was delicious and I don’t want to downgrade it or anything, but it tasted like a really elegant Hamburger Helper or Rice a Roni.  Because we split an entree, got a cheap appetizer (pizza bread) and only had a small bottle of red wine, lunch was like $40 US.

A quick cab ride later and we were in Plaza San Martin to see the General Jose de San Martin monument (the founder of the Argentine nation), Palacio San Martin (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building), the Falkland Islands War Memorial (a monument honoring the 700+ Argentine soldiers who died during the short-lived Falkland Islands conflict), the British Clock tower (aka: the Big Ben of Argentina, it was a gift from the British in 1916) and Retiro Estacion (a massive train station built by the British in 1915; it looks more like an opulent blimp hangar than a train station).  That probably sounds way too academic to be fun, but we couldn’t help but get wrapped up in the wonderful architecture.

Another major sight in the area is the Kavanagh building.  The exterior isn’t all that interesting, but the story behind it is.  In 1934, one of Corina Kavanagh’s daughters was engaged to be wed to one of the sons of the Anchorena family.  The Anchorenas were a wealthy, aristocratic family; they lived in Palacio San Martin and they commissioned the construction of a church across the plaza.  Well, they disapproved of the engagement and called it off.  So to avenge her daughter’s broken heart, Corina Kavanagh used her entire inheritance to build the largest skyscraper in South America to block the Anchorenas’ view of their church from their palace.  Revenge is a dish best served Art Deco style.

Next we hit the world famous shopping street, Calle Florida.  In the past it was famous for its abundance of leather shops and boutiques, but today there are less leather shops and more big chains.  The architecture is more interesting than the stores; some of the buildings are almost 100 years old, including the Falabella department store which has a Spanish colonial style façade that’s intensely elaborate.

The oddest attraction is a 3-story Burger King.  The first floor is so modern, you wouldn’t think anything of it.  But the top floor contains remnants of an opulent early 1900′s home; there’s a stained glass dome and wooden ceilings and even a giant fresco in one room.

The big thing to do on Calle Florida is visit Galerias Pacifico, widely considered the most famous shopping mall in Buenos Aires.  The designer stores are expensive even by American standards, but the real attraction is the frescoed dome in the center of the mall.

The paintings are supposed to depict the history of mankind, but the artist(s) must have taken some creative liberties because I don’t remember reading about that many naked, busty women and people without skin and guys with wings flying around.

We grabbed a couple bottles of water and took a break in the food court… and who do we see when we look over?  The girls we met in the Evita Museum!  There may be 13 million people in Buenos Aires, but it really is a small world.  I mean, what are the odds?  Sure, you could say we all have the same guidebook and the same points of interest marked, but how likely is it we’d be at the same place at the same time?  Shout out time: hi Smita and Kati!  (Now I feel like a ‘tween on some pop-y radio station.)

The top level of Galerias Pacifico is home to the Centro Cultural de Borges.  Various guidebooks recommended visiting it but I’m not sure why.  It has a great view of the mall but the space is largely empty save for some rotating art exhibits that weren’t that interesting.

Before leaving Calle Florida, I stopped in a book store to look at the DVDs.  (How sad does that sound?)  I saw a lady perusing the Argentine cinema section so I figured I’d ask if she spoke English in the hope that she could point me toward some good Argentine films.  Luckily, she spoke English fairly well and ironically, she said she was doing the same thing for a friend who lives in Switzerland.  The woman was so nice — she picked out a few recommendations and even wrote me a list of titles to search for in other stores.  (Argentines are becoming more hospitable by the day.)

For dinner, we went to Cabana las Lilas, widely regarded as one of the best parillas (steak houses) in Buenos Aires.  Jackie and I agree… it was the best steak we’ve had yet; it was juicy and soft and more flavorful than other steak we’ve had (the steaks we’ve had up until this point were all good but there wasn’t a lot of flavor).  However, that doesn’t make this our instant favorite restaurant.

First off, we felt uncomfortable by the amount of random things dropped on our table that seemed like they would cost money.  We didn’t want to want to touch anything in fear we’d get a big additional fee.  As soon as we sat down, we were given a huge plate with cheese and roasted peppers and other things.  We looked on the menu and saw that a similar item listed for 21 pesos per person, optional charge.  So we quickly had them take that away, just in case.  Then they gave us champagne, which we ended up drinking (and didn’t get charged for).  And before they dropped off the check, they gave us two shot glasses and two bottles of mystery alcohol — one of which was an unsafe cloudy green, perhaps toxic.  In retrospect, the items were probably complimentary and we probably missed out on some fun pre- and post-meal extras.

Second, it’s really expensive.  Two steaks, two sides, an appetizer and few bottles of water cost about $80 American.  Yeah, it was good but it really wasn’t worth that much.

Other thoughts:

–We’ve encountered way more people who speak a little English than we did the first two days.  And every time we talk to them, one of their first questions is, “Our country is beautiful, isn’t it?”

–There’s a popular mini-mart called “Open 25 Hours.”  ???

–The cab ride from Calle Florida to Cabana las Lilas was very short, but I feared we wouldn’t make it… because the cab was on empty.  The gas light was on, the car was heaving its last breaths of gas, and the arrow was well below “E.”  It was the first time I’ve noticed it since being here, but Jackie told me she’s seen it a couple of times.

–Remember that weird dog/rabbit-like creature we fed at the zoo?  Today we found out what it was: a Patagonian hare.

–There’s no point continuing with the stray dog count because by now you realize we see ‘em every day.  But what I found interesting was seeing the same two stray dogs in the exact same spot today.  It made me uncomfortable that their spot of choice is in the middle of a street (luckily it’s not a highly-trafficked street).

–Maybe it’s leather… maybe it’s not?

–Argentina runs on a later schedule than any other country.  Lunch and dinner start 2-3 hours later than we’re used to, and many restaurants, bars, clubs and tango joints don’t close until early in the morning.  In fact, we can pinpoint the time: 4 a.m.  From 10 p.m. on, our hotel is quiet.  But as soon as it hits 4, the loud elevator just outside our room doesn’t stop moving for about 20 minutes.

–The current exchange rate is almost 4 pesos to $1 US.  But now that we’ve gotten used to the price adjustment, we’ve suddenly become picky.  Usually a bottle of water is 4 pesos, but anytime we’ve been to a nicer restaurant, the water has been at least twice that. And then we’ll be like, “Damn, the water was 10 pesos here!  What a rip off!”  In reality, that 10 peso water is still only $2.50 — cheaper than it would be in most American restaurants.  But because we’ve gotten used to paying less for things, even a little increase in price seems expensive.

I know it’s customary for nicer restaurants to jack up the prices of wine like 500%, but I was never more aware of it than tonight at dinner.  We passed on wine because the average bottle was like $25 American.  Before getting back to the hotel room, we stopped in a market to pick up some snacks and water, and I checked out the extensive wine section.  Not one bottle was over $15 — and that bottle was an 8-year old red wine.  Most of the wines were from ’05 or ’06 and only cost $5 American.  Friends and family back home better start liking wine because I’m leaving my clothes behind and filling my luggage with bottles of wine.