For mor pictures, see flicker at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bourlingue/sets/72157611283147050/
Buenos Aires – discovering its charms… (Part 1)
In Buenos Aires for all-week meetings. With André; Cynthia and Sylvia are with us. Most awake time spent in meetings but have the week-end, the evenings and a couple of holes here and there in the agenda to discover the city and make the most out of it (shopping is left exclusively to the ladies, while the men are in meetings, well almost exclusively...)
The Intercontinental Hotel is central enough, which allows us to walk to most places. Intend to explore the city by barrio by barrio (district). Recoleta is the first destination, walking along the main artery that is Ave 9 de Julio. Weather is on our side; the extreme heat that was experienced the days before we arrived has subsided; still, even under a cloudy sky, we are perspiring – it’s humid! (It was so hot the week before that major outages occurred throughout the cities, bringing down in the streets outraged housewives banging their pots in protest against the electrical companies being too slow in restoring power!)
Walking by Teatro Colon, hoping that in spite of the renovations that are underway, we will be able to glance at the interior of what is reputed as the most beautiful theatre in Latin America, but no chance! (One has to be satisfied with the detailed descriptions on its website http://www.teatrocolon.org.ar/site/index.php )
Makes it to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, which I confuse with the Facultad de Derecho y Ciencias Sociales across the street – it really looked like a museum! With its elegant buildings and stylish squares, this is the district that invites comparisons between Buenos Aires and Paris, especially along Avenida Alvear where you find the Alvear Palace, (http://www.alvearpalace.com/v2/home.php ) the grandest of BA’s old luxury hotels (we are told to visit the old-charm Orangerie for breakfast or tea – next time perhaps), and the much-hyped Palacio Duhau – Park Hyatt (http://www.buenosaires.park.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp where our meetings are to take place – we had later on an exquisite “end-of-the-week-long-meeting week” lunch on the terrace of its Duhau Restaurant & Vinoteca). A walk up further into the barrio allows us to appreciate it some more, and to get where we want to take lunch, at the Oviedo (www.oviedoresto.com.ar ), known for its seafood and not disappointing. (Although one presumes there is no causal relation, it happens to be kitty-corner with the German Hospital, the best hospital in town we are told.)
Further culinary exploration that evening, at Filo (www.filo-ristorante.com.ar) , a pizzeria (there are thousands of them in BA), this funky one though with a reputation to be amongst the better ones, and frequented by a mix crowd of casual patrons and business types from the nearby financial district (not on a Saturday night though!).
Thought of going to mass to see what the church next door to the hotel looks like (and to see if it was really a church – some amongst us had expressed doubts the night before!) The Church of San Juan Bautista, one like many others I suspect in BA. With little attendance for Sunday service; probably some familiar faces from the neighbourhood – a reflection perhaps on the state of Catholicism in Argentina ...
Sunday is time for San Telmo, the oldest part of BA, home of many antiques and self-appointed tango neighbourhood of the city. On the way there, we paid our due to official BA with a detour by historical Plaza de Mayo where the Casa Rosada (the Pink House), the site of executive power in Argentina, is (interesting to know that the color comes according to the legend from a mix of the white, symbolizing the Unitarians, and the red, color associated to the Federalists, when the two fighting political forces of the time came to terms to decide on the political structure of the country; others say that it is simply the color of a well used mixture in the XIX Century of lime and cattle blood!)
From there, went down Calle Defensa to our appointed lunch rendez-vous with our good friend at the local Society, Lida, who had been so generous with her advice on what to do and to see while in BA. Brasserie Pétanque (www.brasseriepetanque.com), with a decidedly French-bistro look to it and a great table, fits perfect in this “bohemian” part of town. After a stop at the store Havanna where Lida introduced us to a local delicacy, sweet delicious Dolce de Leche (brought some back home in various forms, including some to spread on toasts!) we are on fabled Dorrego Plaza, celebrated for its dominical flea and antique market, and for nostalgic illustrations of tango, performed on a small wooden platform sitting on the cobble stones street, by a suitably debonaire-looking gentleman of a certain age and grace of movements – charming!
A memorable evening at La Bombonera for a football game caps the week-end (see further down).
