Crawling the Streets of Buenos Aires (Fri 3/19)

Stats:
- 1 run
- 1 sick puppy sleeps until construction starts
- 1 aborted subway ride
- 1 cup of coffee at McCafe
- 1 awesome pizza, but only 1/2 with cheese (there was also only 1/2 with anchovies)
- 1 below ground tour
- 2 gringos and a cab driver NEARLY smashed 
- 1 fantastic Italian dinner selected by 1 sick gringa now wearing one of the last remaining "Breath Right Strips" belonging to the gringo (I argued that he should wear it as I am taking Benedryl, so it will be okay that I can't breathe as I try to fall asleep).

Okay, before we went to bed last night, I dipped into the "medicine chest" (or arsenal --- depending on your point of view).  After the ripio riding, you need to get the right image in your mind. First, most of the reddish coating on the Advil is gone. It has been bounced off.  Second, Aleve is a much lighter shade of blue. And everything, I repeat EVERYTHING is covered in the dust of Vicodin and aspirin (I started carrying these after a Cardiologist said they were good to take or administer if someone had the symptoms of a heart attack. I met this guy on our cruise, with our parents, to the Panama Canal --- seemed like a good idea to add them to the "kit").  What does this mean?  Think!!! People, think!!!! Everything out of my med kit has a bitter and fowl coating!! It must be swallowed quickly and with a strong tasting fluid.

So Arn went for a run this morning. Being sick, I was sleeping hard and never heard him leave and only barely moved when he returned.  After he showered, we had breakfast and headed out for the day. We decided to take the subway across the city to check out an "underground tour".  After four or five stops on the subway line, we had to get off. Arn was melting down in the heat, humidity, and crowd on the train. I have had this experience in Santiago and you think you are going to die. It is a horrible feeling. So, with 5 stops left, we decided to walk. It was a long, long walk. However, it was not without it's rewards. First, we gained a better sense of the massive size of Buenes Aires. At one square, I am guessing I could count 50 buses within my field of vision. The road held at least 16 lanes of traffic. As a pedesterian, it was a sea of humanity over flowing with activity.  The noise was incredible --- buses, motorcycles, taxis by the hundreds, people walking by the thousands. Don't get me wrong, I grew up just outside of Chicago, I've been to New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and London, yet this seems almost oppressive. Maybe the heat and humidty have something to do with it. 

Along the way, we decided to stop in McDonalds for a break. Despite the heat, Arn was able to enjoy a cup of coffee from the McCafe. I found the bathroom and discovered a "first ever seen" in McDonalds --- an Internet kiosk with computers for rent!  We continued walking and found ourselves in the neighborhood for dentists. Arn was fascinated and I was creeped out. There were all these store fronts showing the lastest dental equipment --- tools, drills, chairs, etc. I couldn't look too closely, but it went on and on for several blocks. There were even places to go in for treatment. The chairs faced the street so everyone could watch you having your teeth cleaned or whitened. Weird!!!

We also walked through the financial district. The taller buildings provided better shade from the sun. On many streets, the pedesterians took over. They filled the sidewalks and street. While cars were still 'allowed', they didn't dare to attempt it. It was like watching water that overflowed the river bank and just spread everywhere. The people overflowed the sidewalks and filled the street. 

Eventually, we reached the location for the tour. We pressed a call button and talked over the intercom. The tour was scheduled to start in 90 minutes. So, we made a reservation and went off in search of lunch. We found a great looking pizza place with a real brick oven. The pizza was awesome and our Coke Zero was served in glasses bottles.  My 1/2 of the pizza included tomato sauce, cheese and fresh tomatoes. Arn's 1/2 was tomato sauce, garlic and anchovies. He merged the best of his slices with the best of my slices and enjoyed the combination he had expected. 

Our underground tour was a cool look into the past of Buenes Aires. This guy bought this run down, condemned property for very little money in the mid 80's. His plan was to build a restaurant and art gallery. As restoration work commenced, the history of the place started to be revealed. At the lowest level, they found three small houses built in the 1700's. In the mid 1800's, a wealthy family built a large property right ontop of the older houses.  This house included rooms for servants.  They found the cisterns used to collect and hold water. From 1880 to 1965, the house was used as a boarding house for immigrants from Europe. The most interesting feature was the fact at one time a river ran under the house. It ran under most of the buildings in the neighborhood. People built over the river and those that could afford it, built tunnels to enclose the river. The rivers were used as the sewage system and smelled terrible. 

So, rather than building a restaurant and art gallery, the owner decided to restore this piece of history. On the tour, we walked through the old courtyards and tunnels. The river was diverted to run under the street and these tunnels are now dry. We could see the old walls from the original house, the house as it was built in the 1800's, and the tunnels. It was a very interesting look into the past. 

Given our long walk in the morning, we decided to catch a taxi. Yes, the subway would be both cheaper and faster, but neither of us were up for the sardine in a can in 80 degrees with 100% humidity. It was actually interesting to experience the traffic of BA from inside of a cab. First, the people cycling (yes, there were a few), were insane. Several rode "no hands" and without helmets. It looked like a death wish to me. Second, the motorcyclists were also crazy --- wearing helmets but most not strapped on and tipped slighty off their heads. They wove through traffic like bees navigating through flower beds. For all the traffic, the painted lines on the road marking the lanes were merely there to suggest which direction traffic should be headed. No one drove within the lines. They bobbed and weaved like the motorcycles. It was one huge game of chicken --- who would touch the brake first.  Of course, this was all played out at high speed with little respect for red or green lights. At one point, our taxi driver slammed the brakes, locked up the wheels, and the taxi started sliding and twisting. We thought for sure we were headed into the car in front of us. Once it looked like we might stop in time, I looked back expecting to see another car headed for us. Luckily, there was no one there. And seatbelts? What, there were no accessible seatbelts in the back of this taxi!

For dinner, we stayed close to our hotel and tried a great Italian place. We sat outside and made good use of the warm weather. We shared an eggplant parmasean thing to start. For dinner, Arn had a steak dish with Rosemary potatoes and garlic spinach and I had some kind of fish with tomatoes, eggplant and asparagus and a cheese soufflé.  We passed on dessert. Arn said he wants my tiramisu and that will certainly not be what he gets. After we paid the bill, the waiter offered and brought us two glasses of champagne. It was a nice ending to our last in Buenes Aires.