Buenos Aires – Day 1, 2 and 3 (part 1)

We arrived in Buenos Aires (the capital of Argentina) on Saturday at around 7am.  We were all hungry, sleepy, and pretty much all in need of a shower!  The 10 hour flight from Miami, was pretty uneventful… except for the fact that one of my friends got her ass upgraded to First Class (we are all still giving her the evil look!).

We checked into the Inter-Continental hotel and after dropping the luggage, we all set out to find something to eat. 

We ended up walking into Café Tortoni, which open in 1858 and it’s the oldest shop in the whole country.  Just the thought of the amount of painters, writers, musicians, not to mention politicians (Hillary Clinton) and in some cases Majesty too. (His Majesty Don Juan Carlos de Bordon, King of Spain) that have visited and enjoy the place in the last 150 years; it sort of makes you stop and take stock.  It has manage to preserved the flavor of old times, offering the best of the past with it rich 18^th century décor. 

We started our culinary adventure by having some breakfast which included a “café con leche” (Cappuccino) and a couple of selections of Sandwiches de Mija, which are delicate sandwiches made with crustless buttered white bread, very thinly sliced and filled with different options, I chose the basic ham and cheese, while the other were a bit more adventurous and ordered gorgonzola with brie.  We topped the whole breakfast with some hot churros (fried-dough pastry-based snacks) and then we set off to walk it all off in the city streets.

We walked a bit and admired the architecture, which its mixture of old Spanish colonial and splashes resembling Barcelona, Paris and Madrid.  Walking on some streets we felt transported to those European cities. That is not to say that Buenos Aires has not joined the 20^th century…Newer modern high-technology buildings by Argentine architects include the Le Parc Tower by Mario Álvarez, the Torre Fortabat by Sánchez Elía and the Repsol-YPF Tower by César Pelli.

We decided that the best way to get to know the city was to take a quick city tour.  And if you ever travel, that is the fist thing you should do… it will give you a quick taste of the city, and this way you can make notes as to which locations you would want to go back and explore with more time.  The tour bus, took us to all the major landmarks… starting with the famous “Plaza de Mayo” (May Square) which is arguably the nerve center of Buenos Aires and witness to many demonstrations (In fact during the 6 days we were in Buenos Aires, and the numerous times we passed this square there was always some time of demonstration going on) and pivotal events in the Argentine history. Its also flaked by several of the city’s major landmarks: the Cabildo (the city council during the colonial era), the Casa Rosada (home of the executive branch of the federal government), the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires, the May Pyramid, the current city hall or municipalidad, and the headquarters of the Nación Bank. The Buenos Aires financial district (microcentro), affectionately known as la City also lies besides the Plaza.

Buenos Aires is made up of different neighborhoods (there are actually 48!) and we continue on to our next stop: San Telmo, which is the oldest barrio (neighborhood) of Buenos Aires and also fairly well preserved area.  It’s mainly known for its cafes, tango parlors and antique shops that line up the cobblestone streets, which are filled with artists and dancers.  The main attraction of San Telmo is the Antique Fair that takes place every Sunday in the main public square.  Here you can bargain for antiques and catch plenty of locals dancing tango on the streets not to mention people asking for “FREE HUGS” and getting them.

The most interesting barrio that we went to was La Boca, and this is the home of Boca Juniors, one of the worlds top football (as in soccer) clubs.  It’s a popular place with its colorful houses and pedestrian streets.  While it was not one of my favorite places, it had its unique identity and I really loved the street art and the large sculptures.

We then continue on to Puerto Madero, occupying a significant portion fo the Rio de la Plata riverbank and representing the latest architectural trends in the city… and it also was the meca of the best known restaurants in the city.  This was my favorite “barrio” in Buenos Aires. 

All of the streets of Puerto Madero are named after women. (Hell yes).  The “Puente de la Mujer” (Women’s Bridge), by the Spanish Santiago Calatrava, is located here, linking the east and west docks of Puerto Madero.  The bridge has a single mast with cables suspending a portion of the bridge which rotates 90 degrees in order to allow water traffic to pass.  When it swings to allow watercraft passage, the far end comes to a resting point on a stabilizing pylon.

This location represents the largest wide-scale urgan project of the city and it has undergone an impressive revival in just a few short years, making it the most successfull waterfront renewal projects around the world.

And then we come to Recoleta… (part 2)

Going Steady

Artist:   So, I told them, my girlfriend made them…

Me:       Your girlfriend? Who is your girlfriend?

Artist:   ah, well…you are… I consider you my girlfriend

Me:       Wait, are you asking me to go steady?

Artist:   Well, aren’t we?

Me:        Can I have your jacket?

Artist:    You are a barrel of laugh aren’t you monkey?

Me:         How Cute! I just been asked to be a girlfriend, Cool beans

Artist:     Hey! Quit, or I may have to rethink the girlfriend part.

Me:          Like IF!

I care for a man

I care for a man… one that kisses me until I’m breathless, that touches me with passion and makes me sigh with pleasure, one that sees me as no one else does, one that knows what makes my heart beat fast and my inside fill with happiness that I never thought I find.  My loneliness has gone on an extended vacation, with no return ticket on sight.  My life has exploded in bright colors that dazzled me and entice me to color outside the lines and break rules left and right.  I care for a man…who takes me as I am.

There is an upside to these side effects

As I type, a yummy cocktail of codeine cough syrup and sweet tea is snaking its way into my belly – hopefully it will take over very soon. You see, I haven’t slept well in two nights and my doctor swears I don’t have the historic flu Worst Flu Season Ever flu, but he did agree that I definitely had a fever and a nasty cough. And my body is sore. And a killer headache. And the chills. And wheezing lungs. All of this earned me a shot and a super strong, and naturally disgusting, prescription.

Which doesn’t have much to with anything other than to say that I’m heavily medicated and lacking sleep, which is a dangerous combo. Indeed.

So, whats the up-side?  While I been feeling icky and totally out of my element in my most comfortable PJ’s (the ones that are so old they have holes in them, but I-just-cannot-bring-myself-to-toss-them-to-the-garbage kind) while fermenting a love-hate relationship with my box of Kleenex….another kind of a relationship has been crawling up my side…

This one involves an honest-to-goodness-man, the breathing kind.  Who makes me laugh until my insides hurt more than my sore chest and gives me back deep conversations and knows when to call my shit up and shucks it back at me for me to stand on attention.   Its a great feeling among these drug induce days…call it a second high if you will.  And like anyone else out there, a high is a high, but a high of the heart is the best side effect of them all.

Notables

Wedding bells for Italian Girl.  It was romantic, fun and had a full bar, could we ask for anything more?

The continued deviation of weather here in Florida (hot, cold, hot, cold – it just cannot make up its mind) has zap me again, and I once more I find myself fighting it out with the cold gods.  And this cold has whoop my ass.  So most of my weekend was spent talking sweets nothing to the box of Kleenex and some heavy duty usage with over the counter cold medicine. 

There is a high on all of this… 

 

I seem to have acquired nursing favors from the “artist” in the form of delivered breakfasts, replenishing of Kleenex and lots of attention while I cough up a lung.

Kiss the girl

I’m very hard to impress. My jaded dispositions have placed me on the “dark” side of the spectrum. While I do see possibilities around me, I tend to argue that the “glass” is not ½ full or ½ empty but “it has water”… and if you drink it, well, there you go,  neither ½ of anything….

And now what are you going to do with that empty glass eh?

Yeah, totally ready for some professional help.

So of course this bit of thinking is part of my dating world.  For the most part, the men I have dated have to really work hard to “wow” me.  Some have given it a shot and failed miserable, some have gotten close and got some points… but the “wow” factor, yeah, not anytime soon – the “wow” has not showed itself in my backyard in a long, long time, forcing me to totally give up on seeing it again.

So yesterday I had the second date with the “artist”. And while I knew we were going to have fun – (he sense of tickle is way up there)… I was not expecting anything but a great evening with good company and good food.

He had other ideas…

Beep goes my inbox and I get this:

An introduction into the freedom of a random reality. Brought to you via a moment of happy thoughts, Now on to the show… I come here as an observer but yet I decide to join the dance. Once again I have stuck my head out of the hole and did not get scared back in by my own shadow. I have felt a bit of a romantic tickle down my spine here lately and it is an added bonus to why I exist. The new friendship I want to embark on seems to have quite the passenger list. A chance to experience intellectual wit and deep thoughts. A time to smile and enjoy the company. A place to laugh and be in the moment. Kind words and high energy abounding like fireflies in June.

But here’s where it gets tricky. Here is where I am at, do I take a chance with a romantic experience or do I remain the gentleman and refrain from kissing.

Hmmm something to think about, what to do? What to do?

Yeah, can we say he has turned it up a notch?

The “wow” factor has been fully implemented (with bells and whistles).

Now, I’m taking bets, who thinks he kiss the girl?