Ba Gringo

Americano breakfast at Scuzi in Recoleta.  WiFi here is much faster than at the apt.

Dinner @ Sottovoce

It was dinner time last night, and I was angling for some Italian. So I selected Sottovoce on Avenida de Libertador.  My guidebook placed it a full 3 blocks away from its actual location (grrr Lonely Planet) so it took us a bit longer to find it.

We were by far the youngest customers.  Place was pretty uppity.  The two old ladies next to us were clearly from old money.  But the food — Wow.  My tenderloin over steamed vegetables was the most delicious meal I have had in months!

Most spectacular bookstore ever

…at least of any bookstore I’ve been in.  Today I took the macbook to El Ateneo (theater turned bookstore).  Had some trouble with their wifi initially.  After resolving that, I settled in at the cafe area which is located on the stage area.  I had to capture the essence of the place somehow, so I went upstairs and snapped the panorama above.

Don't cry for me, Connecticut

Since I’m so close to the famous cemetery in Recoleta, I decided to take a walk over there yesterday and see what all the fuss is about… and to find Eva Perón’s tomb, because I’m a tourist and that’s what tourists are supposed to do.

The first thing I thought of when I entered the cemetery was my aunt Carol.  Two things I know she loves: The Milwaukee Brewers and cemeteries.  This has to be among the most memorable ones in the world, with hundreds of mausoleums lining these narrow pathways, each seeming more ornate than the one before.  The place is a labyrinth.  The only way to get your bearings is by the tall city buildings beyond the cemetery walls.  Also apparently a nice place for many stray cats to hang out.

They try to sell you a map when you go in, but I was determined to find Eva Perón’s mausoleum by scouting for it myself.  After about 15 minutes of weaving back and forth through the “streets” I finally found some tourists congregating around her family’s tomb.  I took some obligatory photos and continued exploring.

I found the entrances (facades?) of the mausoleums fascinatingly unique.  Some were incredibly decorative, others were more plain.  I took a picture of one, then another, then another.  Pretty soon it got out of control.  A couple of them had huge glass sections, so I took a self portrait.

I love the 80s

I’ve gotten a serious shot of 80s music since arriveing in BA.  It’s ubiquitous. Taxi drivers seem to listen only to 80s.  It’s played in cafes and stores.  Right now I’m at a cafe called Felfort in Recoleta and they are playing an entire Phil Collins album.

I was having lunch with Emilio and Buck recently and Aerosmith was playing.  Buck pointed out that Argentines love Aerosmith, but I have yet to hear them playing since then.

Boca Juniors!

Buck, Karen and I high-tailed it down to La Boca for a Boca Juniors game.  We were running a little late.  Probably because I didn’t get out of bed until 2.  Not probably… likely.  Anyway, we bought 3 tickets from a scalper.  They looked authentic, and they were.  The only problem was they were “menores” tickets — for minors, or kids.  We were deined entry everywhere because of this.  The match had already started.  Things were looking bleak.

Argentine Scalper 1, American Foreigners 0.

We tried one last time and somehow managed to get in when a man (who seemed in charge of things and looked like mafia) took our bad tickets and gave us three different ones and told us to go in.

You can see for yourself how excited we were.

The top of the stands were pretty crowded, making it difficult to see much.  We moved down to the bottom of the GA section to get a better view.  It wasn’t long before Boca scored the first goal of the match:

(Sorry for the bad cinematography.)  The match ended up tied 1-1.  After it was over, our entire section was confined for what seemed like an eternity while the visiting club’s section (above and behind us) exited.  These Independiente fans occasionally would spit and toss various shit down on us.  Only a minor annoyance, all part of the experience.

This was a really fun day and I’m glad everything turned out as it did.

Typeracing, part dos

A group of friends and I went out to a club, Cocoliche, near the city center.  I really liked the place.  The main act didn’t start till after 4am.  You could really sense the change of energy; they were really good.

Karen left early.  I didn’t get home till just after 5, and had consumed several more beverages.  She, sensing the clear advantage, challenged me in type racer.  She bragged about how she was faster.  Fine, let’s go.  I won the first race by about 15 wpm.

“Ughh, best two out of three!” she proposed.

I agreed.  We both struggled a bit on the second race and tied 76/76 but the site ranked her first.  In my mind it’s a tie.

Third race I smoked her by 10 wpm.

Now that this is settled, I’m going to bed.

Off to a friend’s apt, then Cocoliche in El Centro.

Bangalore & Bill Callahan

An Argentine friend of a friend was going to see Bill Callahan, an American singer/songwriter, and she invited us to go.  We first went to grab some Indian food at a place across the street called Bangalore.  It’s sort of a britpub, but serves Indian food — and pretty good Indian food in my opinion.  I don’t typically eat much Indian, but I liked it a lot.  There seemed to be a mix of locals and expats at the place.  One fella I talked to was Irish, but moved to BA two years ago and married a porteña.

Next we strolled across the street to see this Bill Callahan show.  I thought it was the type of music that I would have on in the background while entertaining friends on a downtempo evening.  To me it sounded melancholy, drowsy and overall low energy.  But the locals seemed to really enjoy it.  The place fit about 5-600, and they all stood in silence as he played a song (it was himself plus a drummer) and when he finished, they all erupted in applause.  Then back to silence.  Occasionally he’d say something to the audience in English and nobody seemed to react or understand.

Here’s some video:

1st gym day

I’ve been feeling pretty frail and doughy lately, so I went to the gym today.  It’s about two blocks from the apartment, called Wellclub.  It’s extremely small.  It’s one of those gyms which is in commercial space that was never intended to be a gym.  Not even close.  They fit machines in the tighest spaces possible.  There’s very little wasted space.

I didn’t mind converting everything from kilos to pounds.  What bothered me is that the heaviest dumbbell was 28 kilos (a little over 60 pounds) and they only had four 20kg plates.  I’m not a bodybuilder, but I did feel the place was definitely underequipped.  But then again, what do you want for $50 USD for a month with no contract?  I feel better, and I have some chicken and pasta going on the stove from the aforementioned Disco supermarket.