30 Things or So To do In Buenos Aires
I am looking at our cats lay peacefully on the kitchen floor next to a suspicious looking yellow toy dog. The smiles on their faces tell me just how strung out on cat nip they are.
Stuart and I experienced a similar sensation of lethargy this past week induced by large quantities of steak, cheese and wine. Stuart’s dad came to town for a few days.
There are several sites on the internet listing things you must do while in Buenos Aires. As you can imagine I have accomplished several; 30. Sprinting across Av. 9 de Julio in one bolt,
31.Spending an afternoon reading in Ateneo’s book store,
32. Eating pizza from Guerrin on Av. Corrients etc http://www.pizzeria-guerrin.com.ar/
But even with all my time in Buenos Aires there were a few I had missed. Chip’s visit motivated Stuart and I to get out and cross of a few more experiences. Thursday morning when Chip arrived, we walked around to 1.Plaza 1.Plaza de Mayo and up Av. de Mayo to Café Tortoni.
2.Café Tortoni http://www.cafetortoni.com.ar makes everyone’s list. I’d passed it with long lines of tourists waiting to get in. The interior of the space remained a mystery however, as all the windows are closed with heavy curtains. We walked in and my jaw dropped, marble, wood stained glass and waiters in tuxedos. We took a seat and ordered a 3.traditional Argentine breakfast; 3 media lunas and café con leche. .
Afterwards we walked through our neighborhood of San Telmo and showed Chip a few of our favorite spots like 4. Plaza Dorrego , , and 5. Defensa Street before stopping in at his hotel. Later that afternoon the two headed for 6. Recoleta Cemetery, http://www.recoletacemetery.com/ another staple on the list. I stayed in to work, something that you should avoid at all costs if visiting BA.
7. La Cabrerra, BA’s most famous steak house. http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/central-and-south-america/argentina/buenos-aires/60725/la-cabrera/restaurant-detail.html , We heard the rumors. We read the reviews online. But nothing could prepare us for the monster cut of steak and smorgasbord of sides they put before us. We walked out with half a cow in a doggie bag. Stu read recently that Argentina has a per capita consumption of beef per year of 143 lbs. I am convinced La Cabrera has something to do with this. http://worldfocus.org/blog/2009/07/20/meat-lovers-mourn-argentinas-disappearing-beef/6393/o
But no matter how much steak you eat there is always room for 8. Gelatto We tried to walk a bit of it off by passing 9.BA’s narrowest house in San Telmo.
The next morning we woke early. I made crepes, delicious and not on the list but the 10. Dulce de Leche I filled them with was! We boarded the bus and headed for 11. The Mataderos street fair. Sadly death took on a new meaning in Mataderos as we took the 45 minute bus ride out to discover there was in fact no fair that day. We wandered a few blocks noting the roughness of the barrio; dead dog, broken glass, cracked pavement and headed for the nearby safety of 12. a Hole in the wall parilla, where we 13. ate asado and 14. drank Quilmes.
On the way home Stu and his dad repeated # 8.
15. We napped. Naps are universal for all travel lists.
Around 6 we went to 16. The MALBA for some modern art. On top of the permanent greats like Frida Kahlo and 17.Plastic Potatoes we swung to the top floor for a peculiar temporary exhibit. Lots of multimedia including a frustrating video of an “artist” stacking Styrofoam blocks. We walked out scratching our heads as one should when leaving a modern art museum.
Potato
We walked around a bit before heading back to our place. We made the night extra special by opening Stu’s 18. Good bottle of wine, the Las Perdices Don Juan. The boys taunted the kitten with more catnip and small chunks of cow from the night before. 
For Chips last day in town we walked around 19. La Boca, probably my least favorite on the list aside from 20. Dog poop. It continues to amaze me how exhausting two blocks can feel when you are harassed by people trying to sell you something. “No I don’t want to buy a pair of jeans for my dog. And no I would not like to “prove” a cup of coffee”.
From there we took a taxi for # 21. Conversation in broken Spanish with a Porteno cabi- This one includes several parts or cannot be considered complete. You must talk about a) Politics, both Bush and Obama. b) asado and meat. c) Soccer and currently d) Michael Jackson.
We exited at 22. Plaza Serrano in Palermo. The afternoon was spent walking around the neighborhood with a stop for lunch in one of the city’s top rated restaurants; Sarki’s. We enjoyed some wine and excellent food. This place makes my list at # 23.
We continued walking and made our way through Alto Palermo and past the 24. The Pollo Fields. We showed Chip the Anuva Head Quarters and experienced a rare phenomenon in this city, rain, not on the list.
Walking some more we all felt the need for a little caffeine. Stuart indirectly repeated #8 again with a coffee milk shake. We warmed our bones and relaxed a bit before splashing through the streets to La Cava Jufre.
We made reservations for a jazz concert and arrived early to snag the giant velvet couch. We ordered a terrific bottle of wine and waited for the show to start. We could not have asked for a better night. We enjoyed a Jazz quartet’s long set with the best seat in the house.
By 2 am we made it back to our apt. The 4 days flew by so quickly it felt weird to say good bye. But we felt proud for accomplishing so much. Next time we will have a few more things to cross off; including 25. Peruvian Chicken with Bruce, 26. Wine Tasting and oh yeah maybe 27. Tango, 28. Leather, and 29. Mate.
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