Exploring Buenes Aires (Wed 3/17)

Stats:
- 1 more haircut
- 75+ kitties!
- 1st McDonalds in Argentina
- Best cemetary crawl ever!
- Shopping on steriods
- 1st Starbucks in Argentina
- 1st subway ride on oldest subway in Latin America
- 4 tired feet
- 2 "drown looking rats"
- Most memorable dinner
- Most outrageous statement by a local

If you get the idea that today was jam packed, then you are right. We started our day by walking to the Botantical Gardens.  In route, we discovered that the camera batteries were dead. The camera has this bad design where it seems to turn itself on, allowing the batteries to drain while inside a jacket, pocket, or pack. Arn discovered today's lack of "juice" when he went to take a photo of one of Buenes Aires many "dog walkers". This woman was about 110 pounds, walking about 600 pounds worth of dog. No joke, she had 10 or 11 different dogs and leashes.  So, we decided to split up and multi-task. I would stop in a hair salon for a haircut while Arn raced back to the hotel to put a quick charge on the camera.  

I had a haircut photo in my pocket (same photo I pester Molly with in Seattle when I get a cut).  So, it was easy -- point to the photo and say, "Como esto".  Then, I think she asked if I really wanted it that short, did I understand how short that is on top, do I know how to style hair like that, etc, etc, etc. I tried to explain how long ago was my last cut and yes, chop it off. In the U.S., there is an infinite number of styling products to make short hair stick up. In this salon, there were zero and probably because other than men, there has never been a woman with hair this short before. And, by my standards she trimmed it. I think she was too nervous to cut it as short as the photo. I'll see what Molly thinks in a month. My mom would say, "she gapped it". There are a few weird bits, but mud, gel, and clay can hide a lot for a few weeks. 

So, with a bit less hair and a bit of life in the camera, we resumed our pursuit of the botantical gardens. It is loved by people in search of beautiful plants. This was nice, but we have enjoyed awesome scenery, so we came for the second reason people love this park -- the feral cats. It is very sad to think about a pack of feral cats, living in a park, and most of them abandoned by their once families. Still, we wanted to check it out. It was unreal. There were kitties everywhere.  You could stand in one place and several kitties might walk up to check you out. We saw a woman sitting on a bench reading. On the bench with her was a cat splayed out, sound asleep. Under the bench there were two more cats. And sitting near her feet, were still two more. We found cats crashed out in the grass, sleeping with their tongues sticking out. We found a few doing the "sleeping on my head upside down" thing. We found bushes with three or four cats crashed out together. Surprisingly, most were in good shape, well groomed, and friendly. I particularly enjoyed watching the dogs getting walked on the sidewalk outside the park while the cats seemed to rule every domain inside the park and gardens.

Arn has this thing about trying McDonalds in every country we visit. Before today, we had never been to one in Argentina. This has been resolved. And for those that have requested some food photos, this one was been captured.  They were the best french fries since we left the U.S.

After lunch, we headed to the oldest cemetery in BA.  If you didn't know this about us, we love to visit old cemeteries. We have spent entire days crawling through them. We have even done this in Seattle. Today's cemetery wins the award for most different and most creepy. The whole place is walled in. From the outside, you can't see in. From the inside, you can't see out. It is a tall, solid wall. From the inside, there is nothing green other than a few palm trees. The cemetary is rows and rows of walled together "things".  I don't know the right term. They are these little above ground crypts. Most are set up the same way -- small room, a set of shelves holding two coffins (one stacked on top of the other), a metal grate in the floor, a staircase down to a lower level, and Jesus on the Cross on the wall. Some were very fancy little buildings --- granite, statues, stain-glass, turets up top, brass fixtures. Others were out of a horror movie --- crumbled brick, broken doors wired shut, coffins that were toppled off the shelves and cracked (no I an not bullshiting you on this), and ivy growing up through the floors. It was seriously spooky and not a place I want to be after dark and note: I grew up with a cemetary on the other side of the fence in our backyard. This cemetery is the resting place for "important", "wealthy", and "historical figures" in BA. Think presidents and military leaders. We took photos at Eva Perón's "place". Really, what do you call it?  Her "crypt"?  And where is she in there anyway as there are a lot of names on the door and only two coffins?  The oldest grave we found was from someone born ~1760 and died ~1830. And they are still packing them in there as we found signs of current activity. 

Leaving the cemetery, we headed to central shopping district. The "main drag" is closed to cars. Arn read that over 1,000,000 people walk this stretch of retail everyday. I think they were all there at the same time!  It was mayhem. I have never understood how someone could get pickpocketed.  However, the overwhelming nature of shopping here makes it seem like it would be very easy to get distracted and never notice it. It was a bizarre collection --- high end retail (say, "Izod") right next door to cheap boutiques selling plastic jewelry and flipflops. In the midst of it, we crossed a huge mall in a old and beautifully restored building. It reminded me of shopping in the Venetician Hotel in Las Vegas only much much bigger. Inside, we found a Starbucks. Arn learned that when you buy coffee here, you pay extra for the cream. 

With 4 tired feet, we decided to take the subway back to our hotel. We have been told the subway was built in 1913 and is the oldest subway in Latin America.   

We crashed for a while watching bad television and using the internet which only works in th hallway and lobby. While not private, it is at least fast.  Now, at some point the skies opened up and it began dumping rain. I mean it was a down pour. So, we figured we'd get a cab to dinner. The hotel called for a cab, but it would take 30 minutes and our reservation was in 30 minutes.  The girl tried to hail a cab. We finally gave up, borrowed two umbrellas from the hotel, and headed out into it. Within minutes, our feet were soaked, my nightgown-turn-dress was soaked, and Arn's pants were soaked. Now, maybe this is where I should tell you --- the streets in BA are not clean. There is a lot of trash. There is a ton of dog shit. And, my best explanation for the poor quality in sidewalks is that every business, building, establishmet is responsible for it's "out front sidewalk turf".  So, the surface material changes every 6 to 25 feet. Some is slick when wet. Much of it is busted and uneven with the equivalent of potholes.  So, add all this together --- rain, darkness, crappy surface, dog shit, and two people in sandals. You know we were glad to reach the restaurant. 

Tonight's dinner selection was the best recommended steak house. It was a place called, "La Cabrera".  This was truly the shock and awe dinner of the trip. We were told to order only one meal and share it. So, we ordered a cabresse salad and "one" order of fillet steak to share. Now, here is what came to the table:

1) bread sticks plus a basket of assorted rolls, roasted garlic, a jar with black olive paste, and a jar with a mayonaise garlic paste.  The capresse salad included fresh and dried tomatoes. 

2) "one fillet steak" --- FOUR pieces of fillet arrived. I estimate each to have been 6 ounces. And then, there were the 14 accompaniments!!! Yes, that was FOURTEEN!!! In one moment, this waiter deposited onto the table in front of us more variety in vegtables that we experienced in THREE weeks while on or near the Carretera Austral!  People could hear our giddy laughter and Arn repeating, "This is unbelievable, this is unbelievable, I mean really this is unbelievable".  This was the moment we needed to take food photos and didn't have the camera. And, you probably think we have lost our ability to count, so we are going to enumerate the dishes:
1. Baby potatoes roasted in a mustard sauce
2. Hearts of palm with homemade 1000-island type dressing
3. Sliced green olives with a chimichurri type sauce
4. Artichoke hearts with bell peppers of three different colors
5. Sundried tomatoes with mini corns
6. Black olive tapenade
7. Mashed pumpkin
8. Mashed potatoes
9. Pickled onions
10. Peas with mushrooms
11. Carrots with roasted garlic
12. Lentils
13. Roasted eggplant with tomatoes and onions 
14. Homemade stewed applesauce 

It was shocking and awesome and all of it was fantasic. We counted the dishes, we counted the unique number of fruits and vegtables, we compared it to our sum total for the Carretera Austral, and we continued to eat. If I arrive home and I look like I gained weight, you'll know it came from Buenes Aires. This meal was such a contrast to the days our eyes feasted and stomaches longed for something better. Really, if this meal was waiting at the end of the day's ride on the Carretera, I think I might still be cycling --- laps on the Carretera to earn this meal night after night. If you are ever in BA, this is a must experience. And the price for this "one filet and it's accompaniments"? $20!!!  

Our unabashed expressiveness and enthusiasm over this meal drew the attention of the table next to us.  It was so much so that we struck up a conversation. Arn explained where we have been, what we have done, and how far we had traveled by bike. They were a couple from Buenes Aires. He is a radiologist and she was a woman that kept referring to him as "the doctor". I don't know what this says about the relationship between them. Anyway, they, being Argentinian, enjoyed it when we said the people in Argentina are better cooks than the Chileans. The "doctor" was quick to say they are the best cooks in the world.  I both disagreed and I enjoy the ocassional "stirring the pot".  So, I added that yes the Argentinians are better than the Chileans, but the best in the world is a title the belongs to the Peruvians.  At some point, the conversation turned to the earthquake in Chilean. This comment will stick in our memory for a long time. And I quote  "the doctor"--- "We feel badly for the Chileans. Many have lost everything. But, as a result of the earthquake, they say Argentina is 20cm wider!!!"  Can you believe this?!?!  So many people have died and so many people have lost everything and this guy is talking about 8 inches of dirt!    

We finished dinner with strawberries flambé and vanilla ice cream.  This was a night worth returning to the hotel and washing my feet and sandals and declaring my dress too wet and dirty for anything other than the Lavanderia.