Wednesday morning rose beautiful and sunny, and we headed down for our breakfast spread. The hotel is lovely and though small, has inviting public spaces and a lovely restaurant area with one wall of glass that faces a flowery courtyard. It’s here we enjoyed sweet pastries, coffee and tea, and omelets to order.
Andrea and Francisco picked us up at 9:30 and off we went to explore several of the neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. We are staying in Old Palermo, and as you can tell from the name, before and after World War II, there was a large influx of Italian people. In fact, even before that, the wealthy families of the city would send their children to Italy, France and England for education, and hire architects and designers from those same countries to come and design/build government buildings and homes to the standards that they wanted to live.
Anyway, we headed to the main downtown square, with the requisite church visit. This is not only the church where the current Pope preached, but also where General Jose de St. Martin is buried. He is the leader who came to the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata (present day Argentina), raised an army of local men (standing army at that time comprised entirely of Spaniards) and gained independence for the country from Spain. He then proceeded with his army over the Andes, rested one day, and then secured independence for Chile, before heading up to Ecuador to do the same. Quite a hero, needless to say (needless). As you can see, he is guarded by men wearing the same uniform he rode in to liberate so much of the continent:
beautiful church arches:
Further around the square was the pink parliament building, with security fences that are used in times of protest to keep danger further away from lawmakers.
Back in the car and out to La Boca, a very poor but incredibly colorful neighborhood. Geographically very low, it has been a victim of flood, and hence disease, all throughout history. It remains rather poor, but definitely benefits from tourism.
and a sample of a very traditional sweet that Andrea says all schoolchildren carry in their pockets for snacking:
Next stop is Recoleta, and the famous cemetery where Evita is buried with her family. We heard the stories of several other notable crypts, and I delighted in snapping photos of many, many of the beautiful doorways into mausoleums.
The last shot above is the family mausoleum where Evita is buried, along with a dozen other family members.
Tour over, we met Michael near the Teatro de Colon for a wonderful lunch. Homemade pasta, and mom and he shared a steak, which was about 4 inches tall, and split between the two of them.
mom’s favorite: gnawing the bone!
Wine, laughing, and a wonderful time accompanied another true stuffing of my face. We walked over to the Teatro for a tour, but they were sold out for the day. Bought tickets for tomorrow at 11 am, then continued walking through town and to see the beautiful El Ateneo Grand Splendid. As you can see from the photo(s), it’s a former movie theater – the first in Buenos Aires – that’s been turned into a wonderful bookstore. The cafe is situated on what was once the stage, and book collections by subject on balconies and differing levels:
Hopped in a cab back home, and then mom took a 2-hour nap while I rested. Michael returned about 8 pm, and we were picked up shortly after that for the Faena Hotel and our Rojo Tango dinner/show. The hotel was spectacular – we were beyond impressed with this riverfront Phillip Stark designed confection. Words cannot do it justice – if you’re really interested, just google it.
Anywho, Amongst the pool area, beautiful library/piano bar room, completely white restaurant decorated with large crystal chandeliers and unicorns, was the small, red dinner theater area. Our table was in the second tier of tables from the stage, and we enjoyed our meal (not really too hungry, but def a step above usual dinner theatre fare) and then the incredible dancing. Sorry, but no photos allowed, but suffice it to say, the tango we viewed was incredibly well staged, athletic in its movements, and beautifully decorated with glittering costumes and jewels. In case you don’t know, and we sure didn’t, tango originated years and years ago as a method of “dating”. Buenos Aires was a very male-dominated city, as men would come over to make their money, then send for the wife and children. In the meanwhile, brothels were very busy taking care of their needs. In order to select just the right companion for such “dating”, the women, all dressed in their finery, would sit in the parlor, and the men would dance with them. The tango (so Andrea told us) was the first dance in which the man actually held/touched the woman. The dance became very popular, but in order for it really to spread among the more refined population, distance between the man and woman was added, as well as the mirrored, non-moving upper bodies, which contrasted greatly with the wild stepping of the legs. The more “drawing” done with a women’s leg (figure 8’s and swinging around), the better dancer she is judged. Also, tango is not only dancing. It is also a particular style of music and singing. So, in addition to the group and individual dancing, there were song solos and musical (only) performances. Very fun, but around midnight, we started turning into pumpkins, and so quietly crept out.
Our driver was waiting for us out front, and we headed home in the quiet.