Palacio Paz

Yesterday we went back to the neighborhood of Retiro and took the English tour of Palacio Paz.  It was beautiful.

Palacio Paz was once the residence of Jose Camilo Paz, founder of La Prensa, a newspaper still running to this day.  He was obsessed with France, so almost everything in the mansion was imported from France and he hired a French architect.

Construction on Palacio Paz began in 1902 and took 12 years to complete.  Unfortunately Jose Camilo Paz died before it's completion, so his widow, children and grandchildren were the inhabitants of the house (9 people total) with about 70 servants!  Cray cray!

This stuff is at the entrance:

This is made entirely of marble:

as were most of the columns, walls and floors:

First room we went into was a waiting room (not much furniture in the house, as the family took it all when they left):

That was our tour guide, Ignacio.  He was extremely detailed, almost to a fault.  The tour gave a lot of good information, but it was pretty dry and LONG!

Intricate detailing on the walls and floors:

Ballroom:

Most of my pictures are really bad, just because the lighting from the chandeliers was so low.  Apologies.

Next we went into a hallway where guests were led from the entrance to the waiting room.

It's gothic style and all the wood is walnut, which is super hard to carve, yet every piece is so detailed.

We went into one of the 7 dining rooms (there were also 3 wings, 4 floors, 7 elevators, 40 bathrooms=140 rooms totaling 130,000 square feet).

Ceiling:

Fireplace:

Music room:

It's behind the ballroom, so the musicians can practice or tune their instruments before going into the ballroom to play.

Ladies room (for having tea, hanging out, etc.):

Wall detailing:

Stained-glass window:

Another dining room (it was thought that it was supposed to be Jose Camilo Paz's office, but it was converted after his death):

sliding doors:

Then we went to the waiting room, specifically for guests to come and wait for the members of the family to grace them with their presence.

Ceiling:

Floor:

Absolutely stunning!  

Since now part of the mansion is used as a military officer's club and the Museo de Armas (we went there last week), this is all of the inside we were able to see.  I was bummed because I wanted to see some of the bedrooms and the servants area, but oh well.  I'll just have to keep watching Downton Abbey to get my fix.

We went out back:

Small garden:

Since the family vacationed 6 months out of the year in France, they didn't need a large garden area.

We were led back out front and this was the end of our tour.  In total it was about an hour and a half.  Ignacio gave us so much detail, but I didn't find it necessary to enjoy the house itself.

Then we went to a nearby cafe and shared a chicken, bacon and carrot sandwich:

Weird combination, but really tasty.  We hung around Retiro and hit up a trendy bar in the basement of a flower shop:

They make their own gin, infused with mint, grapefruit, eucalyptus and yerba mate (the special tea they drink here):

It's called Principe de los Apostoles.

We went downstairs to the bar:

They have a full menu:

There were 4 pages just like this, but we only wanted drinks:

Aaron got a Bloody Mary with fresh grilled and blended tomatoes (he said it was kinda thick and not his favorite, but not bad) and I got a gin and tonic with grapefruit (I tried their homemade Principe de los Apostoles gin) and it was good, but really sweet.  Much more bearable after the ice started to melt.  The drinks were really expensive (almost $25!), so we made our way to the Subte and back to Palermo.  We went to Tazz Bar and played pool and had some reasonably priced fare:

We met some really nice people, especially a guy named Jesus.  Once they warm up to you, Argentinians are very sweet, welcoming people.  It does take awhile for them to warm up though, especially if you don't speak the language.  Fun night!

Today we are relaxing and will maybe head to the movies to see George Clooney's latest: Tomorrowland.