Second half of an epic day in the BA

It was immediately apparent upon landing that the summer down here (it is towards the end of summer now) is a lot like DC. Hazy, hot and humid. I was very glad that I had brought several short sleeved shirts!

JD welcomed us to Uruguay 1217 1A and what a place it is! A spacious three bedroom apartment with a servant's quarters located near the Recoleta neighborhood, it is the perfect base of operations for maneuvers around Buenos Aires. We got settled in and in a bit of foreboding for the events to come, the lights had gone out in half the apartment and MD had called the owner's cousin, Ballesario, who was serving as the rental agent. Just prior to Ballesario's arrival I saw the lights flicker back on but didn't think much of it. When he got here, all appeared in working order. The clan from Ohio arrived shortly after we did and we all were excited that the band was all back together (well, except for the two from Baltimore, but we'll see them in Chile)!

After a bit of cleaning up, we ventured forth on our way to see the sights of the Recoleta Cemetary. First, though, we were a bit famished from our travels. A couple of blocks away we found Nucha a small cafe, with an enticing looking menu. FF helped with the translation and soon a respectable looking spread arrived on the table.

Food's up!

MD and DC both got the Tarta de espinaca. VERY good.

I got the quesadillas de pollo which was also VERY good. That small dish at upper right is guacamole salsa. Outstanding stuff, it's kind of a guacamole, garlic, tomato, onion relish. So delicious!

You know I couldn't get out of there without dessert! This is a brownie, with caramel and walnuts on top.

FF got a tarta de jamon y queso (ham and cheese).

After that fantastic lunch (almuerzo), we wound our way through the neighborhood to the Recoleta cemetery, a cemetery founded in the early 1800s. Initially founded for use by the middle class, it quickly became the spot to be buried in Buenos Aires. Families paid large sums of money to construct elaborate mausoleums, presumably for generations to come. The architecture of the mausoleums is varied, detailed and rich in materials. We wondered around for a while and eventually found Eva Peron's mausoleum. In case anyone is interested, the mausoleum next door is for sale at about $150,000US. After exploring the cemetery, the sun was beating down so we decided to head back to the apartment to experience the custom of the siesta.

Apparently the Portenos have discovered the elusive 25th hour!

Recoleta Cemetary.

The mausoleum of Eva Peron.

Unfortunately, shortly after we returned the electricity in our apartment ceased functioning. Upon investigation, it appeared to be isolated to just our apartment so MD called Bellesario. The rest of that story is worthy of a separate post, so you'll have to stay tuned. I did manage to catch a few sweaty winks of sleep before we changed to head out to dinner. We managed to procure two taxis and our taxi driver was very helpful and educational in describing the features of BA and correcting my broken Spanish. He was very insistent that we understand the rich nightlife (the discotecas open at 2AM!) and restaurant fare (gastronomia).

After a ten minute drive we arrived at our restaurant for this evening, La Cabrera. I hope to upload pics soon (we are in the Santiago airport and I'm on the iPad mini), but The dinner was epic to say the least. FF handled the ordering as we had many questions. We started with so many appetizers that the waiter cut us off from ordering any more!

We started with provoleta, a baked smoked provolone cheese dish with prosciutto and sun dried tomatoes. We actually finished most of the three we ordered. I'm forgetting some of it so I'll just post pictures!

The varied and eclectic interior of La Cabrera.

I'm not sure what this was for besides butter for the bread.

An appetizer of papas v cebolla. Aka fries with grilled onions. Mmmmm.

The famous Provoleta! It may not look like much here, but the dish it was in was three inches deep!

A Caesar salad with bacon, of course!

The steaks for FF and DC. Easily three inches thick. Now, that's a sirloin.

My dish on the left. Since I don't eat beef, I thought I'd have the pork shoulder, stuffed with bacon.

FF tackling the whole cow that was his steak.

Most of the whole spread. Missing are the two bottles of wine. I also wish I had taken a picture of the tackle box full of condiments that was a yard long. All of the small dishes above came from the tackle box.

The dessert selection. Chocolate volcano in the middle with apple pie, vanilla ice cream, strawberry ice cream, flan and tiramisu.

Pictures are worth a thousand words, right? The pictures above are worth ten million calories after the exchange rate!

We waddled to a street corner to hail a cab. Our drive back to the apartment was like a rally race. Lane markings and traffic lights are mere suggestions. Luckily we made it back and miracle of miracles, the electricity was back on! Another late night, but on to another day.