winding down

of course it would happen.  we have been seriously over eating and over drinking for ten days LOL. so we are winding down and preparing for re-entry into our daily lives.  yesterday we took the subte C to Avenida de Mayo to visit the Cafe Tortoni a local landmark.

it has been here for more than a hundred years and has ATMOSPHERE- LOL.

here are some photos from the cafe

 Georgia dancing tango!

a street scene backdrop where they posed for a BA style cafe photo.

afterward we walked down to the area of Casa Rosada and took the original Subte line- A.  they still run very old cars on that line and here are some photos.

we had dinner again at Sorrento and while the food was still very good the service was not up to par.  however we did end the evening in a very special way singing songs with our cab driver on the way home - including Hotel California and I Just Called (to say I love you).  It got us all laughing and recognizing the serendipitous moments we had on the trip.

today will be extremely relaxed - breakfast and then later high tea and then to the airport for the journeys home.  wonderful trip had a really good time with a lot of memory making!

san telmo market

today we ventured to the San Telmo market by Subte (subway)

we arrived shortly after 10:30 but it was already crowded.  I am not sure why.  it does have some fairly good street performers. 

and there is a small amount of original tourist art

but the place is filled with junk, and not much looks like it is being sold.

we were to meet CBGB at noon to decide how much longer to stay (or not) and we actually ran into them a bit earlier.  it was so hot in the sun we all decided to head to the Telmo Bar for drinks and some lunch.  and I was reminded of the last time we came here with Dick & Ali and the day was also very hot and we all had limited tolerance for the crowds.

no one seemed interested in spending more time there, so after lunch we came back to the hotel and took care of some laundry and arranged for transport to the airport tomorrow for our Mendoza flight.  it turns out the domestic terminal is no longer located conveniently to the city but is run out of EZE 45 minutes away.  this is truly a tragedy as the old domestic terminal was so close by. 

I went to the pool to go swimming but it is closed until the summer- LOL- it is 86* here (30* centigrade) and personally I call that summer. 

I ran into CBGB in the lobby and they were heading out to find some higher end shopping.  We have earlier dinner plans tonight because CBGB are headed to a tango show.  since we did this the last time we were here, we decided not to repeat the experience.  not that there's anything wrong with that....LOL

relaxed & easy

our day went well - still having beautiful warm to hot sunny weather.  we walked from the hotel to Recoleta for lunch at El Sanjuanino, an empanada place we knew from our last visit.  it's still great- we had a selection of empanadas - each picking a favorite after tasting more than a dozen.  GA and I liked the Napolitana (tomatoes, queso and rucola) and the boys favored the meat stuff ones... although the queso y cepolla ones also were in the running (cheese and onions)

after lunch we walked for a while and then decided to head towards the Palermo neighborhood.  we were dropped off near the zoo and CBGB wanted to visit the Evita Museum which was cool with us - we sat at a cafe nearby called Josefina.  we had drinks and ice cream and later CBGB came to join us.  GA ordered the flan she had been wanting for a couple of days and said it was fabulous. 

the afternoon was already getting away from us when we headed toward the Japanese Garden but it turned out to not take up too much of our time - it was limited in space and not particularly Japanese other than the red bridge in the center and the koi in the small lake.

we took a cab home to our hotel and relaxed before dinner.  we had reserved at Tomo I and found it to be a lovely meal.  we ordered the all inclusive menu.  we all chose similarly, starting with the shrimp and avocado napoleon, following with a lovely trout with almonds in a light lemon sauce with spinach for three of us and Phil had the pork shoulder.  we all had the chocolate dessert. 

the place was lovely and the service perfectly unobtrusive yet attentive.  Tomo I was well worth the slightly steep price. 

we made a plan to meet in the morning.  we intend to try using the subway to get to the Sunday market in San Telmo.  I will report on that adventure later LOL.

a quick note

busy day of city sight seeing.  so will make this a quick entry.  we did a city tour this morning and got the feel for where everything was.  among the stops was LaBoca - home of the Boca Juniors! 

there we did so pre-work for the Bavol holiday card

later we visited Recoleta home of world renown dog walkers 

and then we had a scrumptious lunch at Lola in Recoleta - with a table outside where we had lunch with wine and beverages and three courses for $25 each!

then back to hotel and planned for dinner much later at our favorite place in BA Cabanas Las Lilas.  thanks Johnny Apple! it is the home of big meat!

see you tomorrow! in URUGUAY!



we have arrived

so after the usual delays we arrived later than expected but got ourselves here- met GA & Chuck at 1 PM to get some lunch at Filo- fabulous pizza and some good inexpensive wine.  my husband, Phil, crashed during lunch having failed to sleep on the plane, so we went back to the hotel for a nap.  we later met Chuck & GA for dinner and went to a lovely seafood place called Dora

along the way we ran into some pirates (I must be a magnet for them- LOL) and here is a photo of GA with some of the Pirates- and then Phil, Chuck & GA in front of the restaurant Dora.

we had a wonderful meal of shrimp and jambon for starters and several amazing grilled fish dishes.  we dug in so quickly and were so convivial that I forgot until the end of the meal to take a photo.

the place was charming- hams drying from the ceiling and wine bottles lining the room-

we had a superb san felicien wine and later the waiter served us a lovely digestiva after the meal, which we liked so much we want to take a photo, to save the name for later. 

a stop on the way home at a bodega for water and we were back and ready to plan for tomorrow morning. 

we are taking a city tour for a half day to get oriented.  so lots more as we continue- we are already having a wonderful time catching up with our long time friends who live far enough away that we don't get to see them as frequently as we would like. 

by the way in Chuck's honor I had a shrimp dish serve with salsa de golf- LOL- since he won't get any golf in on this trip, we are trying to assuage his disappointment.  LOL

we are celebrating GA's birthday week and here is the loving couple from lunch-